Warrior Cat Clichès

Part 9 - Prophecies and Oh Mans

Because a disappointed 'oh man . . . that's really bad'/a sarcastic 'oh man, I wonder what this could mean?' is usually my reaction to the prophecies and omens that heavily populate Warriors fanfiction.  

Fine, it's also because I was trying to be funny again.  

Today, I'm going to give a few tips on what I think makes a good prophecy or omen.  Almost every fic in this fandom uses one, and most of the time they don't really work well with the story.  Personally, I'm actually against using them (unless it works for your particular story, and I will revisit this idea later) for this very reason.  Yes, I get that the Erins use them, and yes, the Erins are  amazing, but that doesn't mean that we all should do the same.  

However, since I would like to see some better prophecies and omens, here are first some tips on what not to do.

#1 - Out of the darkness, stars will come and defeat the evil tiger and holly!1!1!

This should be really obvious.  I mean reeeeally obvious.  The above is the prophecy from the infamous fic 'Starkit's Prophecy'.  What exactly is it about this prohecy that made everyone cringe, however?  

It's obtrusively simplistic, yes, but perhaps the most mystery-killing part of it is that it uses the names of the characters involved.  We know, even without reading the story, that Star_ is going to defeat Tiger_ and Holly_, who are the bad guys.  There are many other ways to go about this that make for a better prophecy, and one of the best examples I've seen that fixes this problem is from the books.

"Blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red."

Of course, it eventually meant that Brambleclaw would kill Hawkfrost (his blood relative), spilling his blood, and that that blood will run into the lake and colour the water.  Everything came together very nicely once it was fulfilled, but we were still kept guessing as to its meaning because we weren't explicitly told who was involved, or what exactly was going to happen.  If the Erins had been feeling less creative, the prophecy may have ended up something like this:

"Bramble will kill Hawk near the lake."  

Immediately, all suspense is lost.  The amount of difference that not using names (and instead creating a few double meanings) can make is enourmous.  

As a side note, if you really must use names, you can also use a name that the character has not yet received.  For example, in my horrible story Silver Fire (*shudders* first fics), the main character gets a prophecy warning her about a 'storm'.  The suffix -storm ends up being her warrior name, although at the time of the prophecy she was an apprentice.  

Another side note, to the side of the side, is that this is often done with omens too.  Using the image of a tiger for an omen about Tigerkit isn't very subtle, although sometimes with omens using first names or last names is necessary.  

#2 - Beowulf, the sequel 

(Oh, look at me, all cultured and intelligent)

I have seen, believe it or not, several prophecies which are over ten lines long.  When the prophecy is fulfilled, we see that it was basically a vague play-by-play of the entire book.  

Why????

Why would you do that?  a) It's not necessary, and b) no-one wants to read a super long prophecy (comment if you would, though, for some reason).  Prophecies, in the Warriors world, are generally sharp and to the point.  Of course, we don't want overly simplistic prophecies that are boring and easy to guess, but we also don't want to read an epic poem.  It may seem cool, but often they're just the above point with a bit of prose thrown in.  I'll use this prophecy as an example, but if the author is here or whatever I'm just trying to show how you can cut out unecessary parts of the prophecy:

"When darkness falls on the land,

Clans will hate other Clans,

Fights will come and go,

Even rogues will be their foes.

But when dusk and dawn rise, 

All the violence will subside,

Everything will come back to the norm,

Any hate that is there, will be carried by the storm."

Ignoring the first four lines, we see the names 'Dawn' and 'Dusk' mentioned as the ones who will return everything to normal.  There may also be a 'Storm' person involved.  Alright, so Dusk and Dawn will save the Clans.  That's basically the gist of it.  Looking at chapter one, we are now in the point of view of . . . You guessed it, Dawnkit.  Later in the story (it's unfinished), Dawnpaw meets a rogue apprentice by the name of . . . Yes, you clever duck, it was Dusk.  

Most long prophecies just don't work very well.  My recommendation is to aim for a more managable length, and make sure that it isn't just meaningless repetition with the characters' names thrown in.

#3 - The stock prophecy

Quite a lot of prophecies can be boiled down to _ will defeat _ and then peace will be restored.  

Boooring.

While this once may have been a creative storyline/prophecy, it is now a tired clichè.  If you want your story to stand out as something worth reading, think of alternate plot lines!  Some of the more unusual ideas that I would find interesting (with appropriate genres):

- A clue from StarClan as to who the killer is (Mystery)

- Relationship advice (Romance, maybe it's important because the protagonist's kit will save the Clans?)  

- A foretelling that the protagonist will destroy the Clans (only revealed to the main character, and only once they are an adult to avoid the 'everyone has hated me since I was a kit because of _' thingo that I've spoken about before) . . . which comes true, completely (Horror or something where the villan is the main character) 

- For a more humorous story, a prophecy that warns about the imending trollfic that is about the descend upon the Clans.  All silliness is hilariously censured to prevent the Clans crumbling into madness (Humour).  Anyone who starts using bad grammar is treated with suspicion.  

Anyway, that was my don'ts for prophecies (I realise that there wasn't much there for omens, so I may just have to do another small section later in the chapter).  Here are my do's.

#1 - The best medium for your . . . medium?  

Prophecies and omens have different purposes, obviously, and you should take some time to consider which would be the best way to send your message.  Prophecies are worded, involve word play, therefore, and often have a more precise message.  Omens are considerably more ambiguous, and are pictorial, involving the interpretation of these images.  For example, let's consider this part of a plotline:

Beechclaw is an ambitious, evil cat who wants to take over the Clan.  Tired clichè, I know, but bear with me.  A prophecy could work, but what if a beech tree fell and crushed the leader's den?  

Alternatively, consider the trollfic story idea above.  An omen wouldn't be easy to deliver, but a scared prophecy from StarClan outrightly telling the Clans that they are in danger of a trollfic would get the message across clearer and suit the storyline better.  After all, when the all powerful fanfiction author has decided to mess with the Clans, StarClan can't risk the cats not figuring it out in time.  It could also open up the opportunity for a relieved medicine cat to dramatically thank StarClan for saving them the pain of another riddle.  

Just ideas, you get the point.  Consider which is going to work best for your story.  

I think at this point, to go on I would end up repeating myself too much.  So thanks, guys, for reading this!  I hope you found that helpful, and I'll be back soon (says the clinical level procrastinator) :)