PERSONALITY TRAITSLoyal- So here's the thing with loyalty: it's a basic requirement to be a warrior. It's actually a necessity, otherwise you have no right to be in a Clan. Please please
please do not mention it in a review sheet, because it's a default thing, much like being a decent human being. You don't get brownie points for being loyal to the death.
Ambitious, Therefore Evil- I think I'll just quote Ailuronymy here. Kick it, Grey:
Ambition isn’t evil. Ambition is just the desire to succeed at something. Ambition is a really good trait to have, especially in your warriors - from a leader’s point of view, at least. You want your cats to strive to be the best they possibly can.
The only time ambition becomes a problem is when it’s entirely unrestrained and when that ambition is directed in a negative way.
Ambition has been brutalized in canon as meaning "evil", and it really doesn't. You don't have to add that your character has ambition but isn't evil, you swear. Go ahead and just say they have ambition!
The Cliche Medicine Cat- This she-cat ( and it's always a she-cat ) is empathetic, quiet, loving, patient, apparently intelligent, doesn't like fighting at all, has always wanted to be a medicine cat and nine times out of ten spends half her time wistfully sighing about not being able to have kits because she adores them, and is very perceptive to prophecies but is somehow always unable to tell exactly what they mean. If you have only one or two of these traits for your cat, then that's fine, but combined it makes for a very dull character. Not all medicine cats will be sweet! Some will be vulgar, some will be ugly, some will hate having to deal with kits, and some can't stand being interrupted or being spoken to unless it's a necessity. You can even have a cat who's violently protective of her Clan because she sees everyone as family, and her skills will make others talk about how the Clan is absent a fine fighter since she's an absolute necessity. Shake it up, and see what you get!
The Victorian Mother- A meek cat who's a good mother? Works just fine. A cat who turns meek and simpering because she now has kittens? I dunno if you've met any real human mothers, let alone cat mothers, but your personality rarely changes solely because you have a kid. And animals mothers, real talk, are absolutely terrifying. I've nearly been mowed down by a cow because I was slightly too close to her baby ( read: 50 feet ), and the mother cats I've met are the stuff of nightmares if you're the wrong person to be touching their kittens. Queens are vicious, ill-tempered, and barbaric - some queens will actually eat their kittens in times of stress. I thankfully haven't seen too much of it, but a warning to all to mind how you portray your character after she has babies.
Nice, But Mean if You Make Them Mad- This is kinda like saying "this cat is white, but can be brown". It paves way for an inconsistent personality, so the creator can be lazy and not have to worry about finding different ways for their character to handle anger. Simultaneously it is also redundant. Everyone gets a little sour if they're mad. Everyone.
Feisty- Like...can...can anyone tell me what that's supposed to mean? It's so vague! The description of feisty has been used so many times in the books it no longer has any meaning, and usually is stapled onto rather one-dimensional cats, generally females. Don't use it by itself, because I really don't know what you'll be trying to get across.
"Bipolar"/"Schizophrenic"/Other Quotationed Mental Illnesses- I don't get this much, but it reaaaally needs to be stated.
DO NOT USE MENTAL ILLNESSES ON YOUR CAT TO EXPLAIN ODD BEHAVIOR, GIVE AN EXCUSE FOR INCONSISTENT PERSONALITIES, OR BECAUSE IT SEEMS COOL. MENTAL ILLNESSES ALREADY GET ENOUGH MISREPRESENTATION AND FLACK IN MEDIA AND REQUIRE A LOT OF RESEARCH AND CAREFUL USE IF YOU WANT TO BE TRUTHFUL TO THE ACTUAL ILLNESS. IF YOU JUST WANT TO BE LAZY, THEN USE SOMETHING ELSE. The Shrinking Violet- This references a molly ( and it's always a molly ) whose most dominant trait is that she's shy. Almost always accompanied by sweetness and intelligence. These characters are rarely thought out beyond that, and in RPs are rarely ever shy. Here's a rule for character creation: disregard the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third, and fourth. Keep digging until you find something that truly fits and manages to be unique.
COAT COLORS AND BODY ISSUESWhite Warrior with Blue Eyes- White cats with blue eyes tend to be deaf. Most people aren't aware of that, surprisingly, but this is a pretty big color combo that the fandom loves, so I should warn you all now.
Tortoiseshell or Calico Toms- Tortoiseshells, and their coat color cousin calico, are almost exclusively female. The only way a male could have either of those coat colors is if he was a chimera, which is what happens when two embryos in the womb merge. As a result, these chimeras tend to be sterile ( meaning they can't have children ), and tend to get sick very easily. Cats like these are incredibly rare, and I don't suggest you going for it unless you feel up to some heavy research.
Icy Blue Eyes- Usually on a black cat. Strike one: black cats do not naturally get blue eyes. That is a recessive gene, which means it's only likely to come out on lighter colored cats. Strike two: icy blue eyes do not naturally exist on any cat. It's always a regular blue or maybe even a faint blue, but certainly not icy. Strike three: It's the deadest possible horse you can beat. We can be more original than this, people. Everyone and their mother has a cat with ice blue eyes.
Purple Eyes- Much like ice blue eyes, they don't exist naturally, with the smallest exception of albino cats, but even then it's more light pinkish or light blueish. The ones people tend to use are the deep purple ones, which are photoshopped, and I recommend against them. People seem terrified of green and yellow eyes, even though they look awesome.
Generally Odd Coat Colors- Well, it varies, but we've had some hard-to-justify colors on a supposedly realistic cat. Check it out folks,
here's a very nice diagram that helps describe how cat colors work! Go nuts with it.
Sharp/Long Claws, Therefore Good at Battle- Just because a cat has dangerous claws does not mean they will be good fighters. Long claws may cause issues, and may be dull as a result of not completely fitting back into the toe and scraping on the ground all day. Sharp claws, meanwhile, are pretty much a default for cats, so it's not worth naming.
An analogy: Imagine that you own a bow and a good number of arrows. The arrow heads are sharp and glisten in the sun, and the arrows are straight and fly true, but you don't have the slightest idea how to fire them from the bow. They're not going to do you much good if you can't shoot more than 10 feet, are they? It takes practice and skill to be able to make them deadly and effective.
If your cat happens to have long claws and is very good at battle, fine, but they will require the knowledge to get a cat on the ground and tear them asunder if they want those claws to be effective.
HISTORYLost a Loved One, Now They're Cold and Hate Everyone- Usually with -frost, Brokenheart, or Hollow- somewhere in there. Look, cats die all the time. That is a general thing that happens in the wild, and is barely worth noting. By all accounts, let your cat grieve, but don't have them completely shift their personality just because someone died. And it's always either a mate or a family member. They live in a group of cats that they're all fairly close to. Why don't they throw themselves down and weep about their deaths? Like, really. Come on.
The Little Orphan Annie- These are the cats that were born as loners, but their family ( or the majority of their family ) died or were being hunted down or some other third thing, leaving them forced to abandon their kit on the side of a Clan territory when the kitten was just a few weeks old. Nevermind the fact that these loners have probably had skirmishes with Clan cats or heard rumors of the Clans being fierce and willing to kill to protect their territory from strangers, or that there are probably other loners willing to take in a lost kit, or the possibility that the Clan cannot afford another mouth to feed. Clearly only the Clan cats are virtuous and morally right enough to take in any random, non-Clan baby on their doorstep. If you want a cat taken in by the Clan, that's fine, but I have heard this story a million times with little to no variation. Disregard this idea if you can, and just try something new or unexpected - like, I dunno, a Clan-born kitten.
Pointless Bullying- This, technically, falls under WTH (
Wangst-
Tailored
History), but it's popped up plenty of times. This happens when a character, as a kitten, was bullied and treated cruelly for...no real stated reason. Even if the kitten wasn't born in the Clan, they likely grew up alongside the other kittens as siblings and friends, so it's unlikely that a kitten would just randomly hate on someone their age ( keep in mind that hatred towards others is not bred, it's learned, so these guys would probably just think "Oh boy, a new friend! "). Adults especially wouldn't be allowed to bully younger cats - in fact, bullying in general isn't a likely thing to happen in a Clan, because the Clan is built as a family, and it doesn't matter whether your cat was born an outsider or has kittens with an unknown father. The Clan's core is taking care of, respecting, and helping each other no matter what may come.
Had to Become a Medicine Cat- If your cat is blind/deaf/mute/etc., they
don't have to be a medicine cat. Cats communicate mainly with body language, and, while they would be at a slight disadvantage when it comes to the socializing aspect of clan life, they
could still be a warrior.
