━━━━ the warrior code is a list of sixteen different rules that should be followed by all clans, and was introduced after the founding four leaders took their names and nine lives. it's taught from the first moons of kithood, to when an elder is faced with death. it is said that as long as the clans follow the code, no harm shall come to them.

breaking the rules can come with consequences in the form of punishment. they could be anything as simple as scolding a cat, and giving them unpleasant duties or tasks to fulfil.

breaking the code can also result a cat being stripped of their duties and ranking, and then forced into the life of a normal clan cat.

in severe cases, a cat may be exiled.

there are some cases in which their is punishment after death, and are then sent to the place of no starts after dying. only the cruelest of cruel cats get sent here.

a lot of people forget the importance of the warrior code, or just forget that it exists in general. it's there to keep the clans and their inhabitants in check.

one of the leading issues, that i've seen, that have caused roleplays to die out is the lack of the warrior code — kits sneaking out of camp, apprentices not doing as they're told, constant trespassing.

while it can be fun to add in side—plots, such as one clan hunting on another clans territory due to lack of prey on their own, sometimes it is over—used.

𝘖𝘕𝘌 ━━ defend your clan, even with your life. you may have friendships with cats from other clans, but your loyalty must remain with your clan, as one day you may meet them in battle.

𝘛𝘞𝘖 ━━ do not hunt of trespass on another clans territory.

𝘛𝘏𝘙𝘌𝘌 ━━ elders, queens, kits and sick or injured cats must eat before apprentices and warriors. unless they have permission, an apprentice cannot eat until they have hunted to feed the elders.

𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘙 ━━ prey is killed only to be eaten. give thanks to starclan for its life.

𝘍𝘐𝘝𝘌 ━━ a kit must be at least 6 moons old before they can become an apprentice.

𝘚𝘐𝘟 ━━ newly appointed warriors will keep a silent vigil for one night after receiving their warrior name.

𝘚𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘕 ━━ a cat cannot be made deputy without having at least mentored one apprentice.

𝘌𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘛 ━━ the deputy becomes the leader after the previous one dies, retires or is exiled.

𝘕𝘐𝘕𝘌 ━━ after the death, retirement, promotion, or exile of a deputy, a new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.

𝘛𝘌𝘕 ━━ a gathering of all clans is held at every full moon, and a truce lasts for the whole night. there shall be no fighting of cats during this time.

𝘌𝘓𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘕 ━━ boundaries must be checked and marked daily. challenge all trespassing cats.

𝘛𝘞𝘌𝘓𝘝𝘌 ━━ no warrior can neglect a kit in danger or pain, even if it's from another clan.

𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕 ━━ the word of the clan leader is the warrior code.

𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕 ━━ an honourable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win their battles, unless they are outside the warrior code, or for self—defence.

𝘍𝘐𝘍𝘛𝘏𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕 ━━ a warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.

𝘚𝘐𝘟𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕 ━━ each clan has the right to be proud and independent, but in times of trouble they must forget their boundaries and fight side by side to protect the clans. each clan must help the others so that no clan will fall.

━━ cats on their way to the moonstone/moonpool are allowed to cross other clans' territories to get to their destination.

━━ cats may travel on other clan territories if they have something to report, or ask for help.

━━ the code is flexible about leadership challenges. cats may challenge a weak or cruel leader if their clan is in danger, and if their leadership threatens their clan, the code expects a warrior to challenge their leader.

━━━━ these rules aren't specifically stated in the warrior code, but are expected to be followed, and again, often go unnoticed.

━━ medicine cats cannot have a mate or kits, as they must be able to heal all cats equally without the worry of having to tend to a mate, or nurse kits.

━━ kits must stay in camp until they are apprenticed, and are not allowed to hunt.

━━ the safety of the clan is more important than the safety of an individual cat.

━━ clans must not unite together to push out another clan.

━━ clans must not force another to share clan territories.

━━ enemy patrols must not attack cats if they are on a mission that all four clans agreed upon.

━━ cats cannot eat when going to the moonstone to speak with starclan.

━━━━ throughout the books, numerous cats have broke the warrior code throughout all of the clans, and the warrior code has been broken more than once.

later on in the books, after ashfur's manipulation, a revised version of the warrior code was implemented and made to prioritise the rules in order of importance.

and with the breaking of rules, comes punishment to the feline, or felines, who broke said code. the following are the forms of punishment used:

━━ general punishment, such as scolding, giving a warrior apprentice duties, or giving an apprentice an unpleasant task to fulfil ,

━━ losing their rank, which is a typical punishment seen in medicine cats who break the code in regards to having kits and a mate, and results in them being stripped from their role and made a warrior ,

━━ in severe cases: being exiled. exiling depends solely on the cat in question who is dealing with the punishment, and the extent of what they did ,

━━ after death punishment typically goes to those who murder another for no reason other than their own enjoyment, and are then punished after death when they are forced into the place of no stars ,