Twilight is the fifth book in the second Warrior Cats series, The New Prophecy.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Almost Dead Guy: Cinderpelt tells Leafpool to be brave as she dies.
- Anger Born of Worry: Brightheart is furious when she finds Daisy's kits messing around in Cinderpelt's den, and Squirrelflight knows that the part of reason Brightheart is so angry is because she's afraid that the kits could have eaten something dangerous.
- Back for the Finale: Stormfur and Brook appear in the last paragraph of this book, just in time to be important characters again in Sunset, the finale of The New Prophecy.
- Bad Ol' Badger: The badgers who were displaced when the cats moved to "their" lake form an army in this book and attack ThunderClan's camp.
- The Bait: A pair of vicious house cats has been causing trouble for ShadowClan, attacking and killing any that they can catch on their own. To lure the cats out into the forest and away from their Twolegs, Tawnypelt pretends to be injured and alone while her Clanmates lie in wait.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Cinderpelt dies as Sorreltail's kits, including Cinderkit, are born.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Leafpool and Crowfeather are this; Crowfeather is prickly and warms up to few others, while Leafpool is a friendly, gentle medicine cat.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Near the beginning of the book, the ThunderClan cats have to drive a badger and her cubs off their territory. Fast-forward to the climax, and the cats are facing a massive ambush by the badgers that leaves many cats wounded and Sootfur and Cinderpelt dead.
- Dark Is Evil: The villainous cats Hawkfrost and Tigerstar are dark brown tabbies.
- Dead Guy Junior: Sorreltail names one of her kits Cinderkit after Cinderpelt, who died defending her as the kits were born. Cinderkit is also identical to her and unbeknownst to everyone is actually the reincarnation of Cinderpelt.
- Death Is Dramatic: Cinderpelt, one of the most beloved characters in the series, gets a dramatic, bloody death, killed by badgers when defending the nursery during the birth of Sorreltail's kits.
- Dies Wide Open: Sootfur, in the badger fight.
- Dream Intro: The prologue is of an unidentified cat (later revealed to be Cinderpelt) dreaming of StarClan and being warned of her fate.
- Ensemble Cast: This book focuses on Squirrelflight and Leafpool's points of view.
- The Faceless: The prologue has an unidentified cat speaking to StarClan and being told that they will die soon; by the end of the book, we know this cat to be Cinderpelt. Even the 2019 audiobook obscures the cat's identity, as the narrator, Macleod Andrews, does not do the usual voice he uses for Cinderpelt.
- Gender Bender:
- Hazelkit gets briefly described as male:
"If a badger stepped on me, I'd bite it!" Hazelkit boasted. "You won't get the chance," his mother mewed.- While correct in the book itself, in the original audiobook (read by Nanette Savard), there's a moment where "he" is misread as "she", while referring to the male Pebblekit: "And did she drink it?"
- Heroic Sacrifice: Cinderpelt is killed during the badger attack when she places herself between the badger and Sorreltail's newborn kits. This allows time for Leafpool and Crowfeather to arrive and drive the badger off, saving everyone else in the den. A kit is later named after her in memory of her sacrifice.
- Hit Me, Dammit!: Part of Cloudtail's training of Daisy involves him telling her to hit him, but she finds it hard to make herself do it.
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Feathertail with Crowfeather. While Crowfeather fell in love again with Leafpool after her death, Feathertail supported their relationship because she didn't want Crowfeather unhappy.
- Maternity Crisis: A heavily-pregnant Sorreltail goes into labor when ThunderClan is being invaded by badgers, who fully intend to kill every one of these uppity newcomers. She and her litter survive, but Cinderpelt gives her life protecting them.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Leafpool's mentor Cinderpelt dies at the end of the book.
- Monster Is a Mommy: Badgers are normally a danger to Clan cats. They find one with cubs in this book, and are even more determined to chase them away so that the cubs don't become a bigger problem when they grow up.
- The New Adventures: The New Prophecy.
- One-Word Title: Twilight.
- Polyamory: Smoky lives in a barn with, and is mates with, both Daisy and Floss (who happen to be sisters), and both of them bear his kits. The two she-cats are fine with it, although Daisy later mentions that she's always felt Smoky did like Floss a bit better.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: The authors also have joked that the badgers on the cover look like Rodents of Unusual Size.
- Romantic False Lead: Ashfur.
- Secretly Dying: In Twilight, an unknown cat in the prologue is told by StarClan that they are going to die soon. This cat ends up being Cinderpelt, and she never tells anyone until her death.
- Secret Relationship: Crowfeather/Leafpool, due to being from different Clans and Leafpool being a medicine cat.
- Series Continuity Error:
- In Dawn, Tumblekit and Willowkit are Dawnflower's kits. In Twilight, Willowkit is Mosspelt's kit (Tumblekit is forgotten), and Dawnflower has other kits.
- There's a moment where it mentions that Shrewpaw had died on their journey to the lake. He actually died before they left - chasing a pheasant onto the Thunderpath - in Dawn.
- Smart People Speak the Queen's English: The original audiobooks of Starlight, Twilight, and Sunset are read by Nanette Savard, an American actress. The narration and most of the characters are read with an American accent - except, for some reason, the medicine cats, who are read with a British accent.
- Sneaky Departure: Leafpool and Crowfeather sneak away from their Clans to meet up, and eventually run away with each other. Since they didn't tell anyone, their Clans each think that they went to the other Clan.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Crowfeather and Leafpool: not only are they in different Clans, but Leafpool is also a medicine cat. They run off together, but ultimately Leafpool realizes that her heart truly belongs with her Clan and her calling as a medicine cat.
- Stood Up: Leafpool accidentally does this to Crowfeather — she'd promised to meet him, but then had to come desperately to RiverClan's aid when Mothwing could not heal them alone.
- Switching P.O.V.: Squirrelflight and Leafpool.
- Technicolor Toxin: The source of RiverClan's poisoning is a silvery-green liquid leaking from a Twoleg object. Leafpool comments that the stuff even looks evil.
- Temporal Theme Naming: Most of the The New Prophecy books, including Twilight, are named after a time.
- Tonight, Someone Dies: Twilight opens with an unidentified cat being told that they will die soon, leaving the reader in suspense over who it will be. It turns out to be Cinderpelt.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Onestar. He's a Nice Guy early on, but after becoming the leader of WindClan, he becomes more of a jerk as he attempts to prove his Clan's independence.
- Traced Artwork: Several of the cats on the original cover appear to have been traced
from photos copyrighted by Dorling Kindersley that appeared in various editions of their Eyewitness Cat book. Although this was noticed by fans, no legal issues came of it. - Unexplained Accent: In the original audiobook, the narrator gives medicine cats a British accent, possibly due to Smart People Speak the Queen's English, despite all the other characters and the narration being read with an American accent. Medicine cats are just normal cats - born and lived with their Clanmates all their lives - and just chose a different job, so where did the accent come from? Are they born with it and for some reason all cats with this accent take the medicine cat's job? Or does healing cats suddenly give you a different accent somehow?
- Your Days Are Numbered: Twilight opens with an unidentified cat being warned of their impending doom. It's later revealed to be Cinderpelt.
