Naming Convention
Many of the characters in the Warriors novel series undergo a number of name changes. In most cases a character is given an individual "first" name by their mother upon birth, based on a particular physical or behavioral trait such as fur color (Cinder, Ash, Fire, Gray, White, Silver, Tawny, Brindle, Blue, Bracken, Oak, Russet, Dapple, Flame, Ivy), limb length (Spider, Half, Long, Tall, Mouse), eye color (Heather, Yellow, Blue, Green), resemblance to another animal (Hawk, Jay, Squirrel, Lion, Tiger, Dove, Eagle, Crow), disabilities (Tornear, One-eye, Crookedjaw, Brokentail, Halftail), anything occurring in their natural surroundings (Leaf, Breeze, Moss, Stone, Storm, Fern, Rain, Cloud, Echo), or sometimes passed down from a family member (Tigerstar and Tigerheart). The first name serves as the first half of the character's name, to be followed by a "suffix" name based on the character's position within the Clan. Kittens are given the suffix of -kit, while apprentices are given -paw. When the character reaches warrior status, the Clan leader selects a new suffix name for them based on another trait such as personality (-heart), appearance (-foot, -fur, -pelt, -claw, -stripe, -face, -nose, -tail, -ear, -fang, -whisker), in one case, choosing the suffix in honor of a previously fallen warrior, (-feather) or more recently, environmental condition or location (-pool, -shine, -frost, -blaze, -storm, -flower, -flight, -stream, -brook, -Willow, -Dust). All Clan leaders take the suffix -star and deputies retain their warrior name until made leader. An interesting side note is that warriors mentored by the current leader seem to have a better chance of becoming the next leader (Examples: Fireheart - mentored by Bluestar, Brambleclaw (mentored by Firestar), Brokentail (mentored by Raggedstar), or Bluefur (mentored by Sunstar).
Characters not belonging to the five "original" Clans (ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, ShadowClan, and SkyClan) typically do not follow a standard naming structure and do not have suffix names. SkyClan cats were driven out of the forest. They live comfortably in a gorge that is some distance from where the other Clans live. Additionally, the Tribe of Rushing Water follows its own naming convention, which is detailed below. All characters who have undergone name changes will be listed under their current (as of the end of The Forgotten Warrior) names.
Read more about this topic: List Of Warriors Characters
Famous quotes containing the words naming and/or convention:
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“No convention gets to be a convention at all except by grace of a lot of clever and powerful people first inventing it, and then imposing it on others. You can be pretty sure, if you are strictly conventional, that you are following genius—a long way off. And unless you are a genius yourself, that is a good thing to do.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)