The Rise of Scourge

The Rise of Scourge is a standalone manga in the Warriors series, originally written in English by Erin Hunter and Dan Jolley, with illustrations by Bettina Kurkoski. It tells the story of how the BloodClan leader, Scourge, rose to power, starting as a bullied kitten named Tiny and ending as a feared dictator.

The plot follows Tiny, the smallest of three kittens in a litter that includes his siblings Socks and Ruby. They constantly pick on him for his size. When humans adopt Socks and Ruby, Tiny is left behind, and Ruby warns him that unwanted kittens are thrown into the river. To escape this fate, Tiny runs into the forest, where he encounters a ThunderClan patrol made up of Bluefur, Thistleclaw, and his apprentice Tigerpaw. Tigerpaw tries to kill Tiny, but Bluefur stops him, citing the warrior code.

Tiny then flees to the city, where other cats mock him for wearing a collar. He finds a dog tooth and tries to tear off his collar with it, but the tooth gets stuck in the collar instead. When other cats ask about it, Tiny lies, claiming he ripped it from a dog’s mouth after killing it. The story spreads, and two loners, Bone and Brick, ask for his help getting rid of a dog that is keeping stray cats from a dumpster full of food. When Tiny confronts the dog, it is startled by his shadow and runs away. Impressed, the cats ask his name, and Tiny renames himself Scourge, recalling his mother’s words about forest cats being “a scourge on the name of all good cats.”

Later, Scourge is asked to drive away a gang of forest cats causing trouble. When they mock his size, he kills one of them to prove his strength, shocking both the gang and his own followers. The forest cats leave. After this, Scourge becomes a leader among the city cats but grows into a dictator, though he remains dissatisfied. Eventually, his littermates Socks and Ruby come to him, abandoned by their owners. He scolds them for their past cruelty but lets them eat before banishing them. Years later, Tigerpaw—now Tigerstar—arrives, asking BloodClan to help defeat his enemies. Scourge agrees, intending to take revenge on Tigerstar. During a meeting with the forest Clans, Tigerstar attacks him, and Scourge kills him by slicing him open from chin to tail with claws reinforced by dog teeth. This victory finally brings Scourge contentment.

In terms of reception, Lisa Goldstein of the *School Library Journ