Warriors Musings: What's the Difference?
Part 1: Let's Get Physical
You may have noticed throughout this thread that one of my numerous complaints with the original series is the lack of separation between the Clans. I'm not just talking about territory here - I mean in personality, customs, accents, appearance, etc. Except for a title and a specific piece of land assigned to them, the Clans are strikingly similar; in fact, there's very little one can say about each Clan separately:
- ThunderClan, despite being the one Clan we spend the most time with, has no remarkable features, other than being the ProtagonistClan.
- RiverClan likes water.
- ShadowClan is the Evil Group.
- WindClan is fast and small.
I mean...really? Four series in and that's all you give us?
You can't even say that one group is prideful or snarky or wise, because every time they're described as such, the Clan rarely, if ever, acts accordingly. Even if they do, the other Clans act the exact same way, so why include that at all?
Some of you may have learned about this in school, but in case you haven't (or have, but forgot), I'm going to discuss an evolutionary theory: Allopatric speciation. This refers to the idea that members of the same species will diverge in biology when separated for several generations. In other words, if a group is isolated from other members of that group for long enough, they will evolve into different species over time.
Discounting any cats who have blood from other Clans, kittypets or loners, the Clans are very much separated from each other. For this, the idea of similar-looking Clans is bizarre, especially since they don't interact much save for passing patrols, battles and the Gathering. Their lifestyles are only remotely similar, and even that is at the bare minimum (two-part names, respecting elders, belief in StarClan) - everything else should be different. They should eat different prey, live in different biomes, have different fighting and hunting styles, everything.
See, one of the big problems is that the Hunters didn't take the territories themselves into account. WindClan is small, but they regularly eat rabbits, which can be almost the same size as them, and they live on a long hill, which would make tiny cats exhaust themselves before they made it halfway up. RiverClan has some accuracy (their fur being supposedly waterproof), but they have long hair, which would take ages to dry out, and if their ears aren't adapted, they'll get infections easily when they can't shake all the water out of their head. ShadowClan lives in the marshes and can stomach rotting food, but their appearances don't reflect this. ThunderClan is too nondescript to even discuss.
A Clan cat should be able to tell simply from a look where another cat lives. If a Clan lives on rabbits and is notable for their speed, they should be tall, with long, muscular legs and a thin, aerodynamic build (think of smaller cheetahs, perhaps). Swimmers would have small ears and short but strong legs with webbed paws and short fur that will dry quickly but keep the cat warm in the water. Cats with a tendency to scavenge would perhaps be considered sickly and almost alien by other Clans, but their durability and strong stomachs would be hidden behind large eyes and ears for nocturnal hunting and small paws for stealth. ThunderClan, living by sneaking through the underbrush and climbing trees, would look like Margays or leopards - not necessarily muscular, but well-built, with wide feet to displace their weight, agile bodies, and incredibly strong back legs.
Now, that's all well and good, but what about kittypets vs Clan cats? Well, I'd imagine that's even simpler.
I invite you all to examine these three photos of feral cats, followed by these three domestic cats. Take a good look at their faces. You'll notice that the feral cats look decidedly more wild than their collard counterparts, with long, solemn faces, while the domestic cats are more cute, with wide eyes and rounder features. In fact, if you look up a bigger wild cat (like a puma or bobcat), it's clear that the feral cats look more like them. Whether that is via evolution or simply a hard lifestyle is up to you.
Let's say Erin Hunter put some thought into the story, and kittypets and feral cats looked noticeably different. Fireheart would not have to smell of his home for months, nor would cats have to hear of him before mocking him. Instead, his face would make it very clear that he was born somewhere soft, and even when he becomes as wiry as his Clanmates, some of his ancestry would rest in his wide eyes and kitten-like nose.
Kittypets should all be babyfaced, because that is what we breed them to look like, while Clan cats are more hardened and forced to grow up by their lifestyle. It should be immediately apparent whether or not a cat has had to work a day in its life for food. Their soft bodies are described often, but a house cat can still go through a lot of exercise for fun, so that shouldn't be your only go-to. What about the sagging pouch that all fixed cats have, or the overabundance of loose fur that can only come from an animal that doesn't have to worry about their scent being picked up by a fox? The sleek fur, lack of scars, expressive eyes and loud voice should not be ignored either.
If the books had taken the time to describe the physical differences between the Clans and their neighbors, I think a lot of worldbuilding problems could have been solved, honestly. But that's enough gabber for now.
Thank you all for your patience and time!
