Briarstar

Briarstar was the former leader of ShadowClan, the father of Badgerfoot, and the mate of Dawntail. He was described as a dark brown tom with green eyes.

Briarstar's parents are unknown, and he has no siblings. He was mentored by Darkstar. He was mentor to no cat. Briarstar's warrior name was Briarclaw, which he received on the same day that Lionclaw received his. Briarstar was known to be a supporter of Lionclaw's movement and sympathized with the rogue ThunderClan warrior, allying his Clan with Lionclaw and his followers. After the final battle, he relinquished his leadership to Weaselstar.

Briarstar was named deputy after the ShadowClan medicine cat Blackwhisker thought he saw a sign from StarClan. However, the sign was created by the Dark Forest cat Stonetooth, who knew Briarstar supported his ally Lionclaw. Despite not being initially chosen by StarClan to leader ShadowClan, StarClan agreed to grant him his nine lives, believing him to be the only cat able and willing to lead ShadowClan after Smallwhisker, the originally chosen deputy, moved to the elders' den.

Briarstar became a leader alongside Lionclaw (who called himself Lionstar) and Shellstar. He believed that having all four Clans under the leadership of three powerful and wise leaders would protect the Clan cats from suffering and unecessary strife. He fought blindly to maintain DarkClan's power, but lost against Tallstar and the other leaders of EarthClan. He was sorely beaten by Weaselstar (then Weaselfur) and declared that he had given up. After Lionclaw was killed and DarkClan split, he moved to the elders' den, giving Weaselstar authority over ShadowClan. Several days later, he died, presumably because of a broken, weak heart.

Despite his allegiance to Lionclaw and DarkClan, Briarstar was seen in StarClan, and it is expected that he was accepted into their ranks despite his misjudgement.