The Best Warriors Fan Video of All Time

With hours of Warriors fan content on YouTube, it’s a bit presumptuous to name any video as the best of them all. Yet, there’s a reason that “StarClan’s Chosen” would be my pick for the best Warriors fan video.

While “StarClan’s Chosen” is hosted by Nifty-Senpai, an artist well-known in the Warriors fandom with 140K subscribers on YouTube, it has 161 participants in total. I haven’t checked every single Warriors fan video ever created (it’d probably take at least ten years of my life to do so), but I am confident this video has the most participants ever. It’s also an incredible feat for them to have finished the entire video in under a year, considering it only took ten months; it’s typical for these videos to take longer with fewer artists. That’s not to knock other videos, I understand how much time and patience animating takes, but it’s a feat in itself to coordinate so many people in a short period of time.

The video is very heart-warming for a long-time Warriors fan like myself and others and is conceptually amazing. It follows multiple generations of Warriors’ leaders (with one medicine cat perspective to see a leader), watching as leadership is passed down through the Clans. They didn’t just give short snapshots of these leaders’ lives, but they showed every important moment of them. Not only that, but it gives nods to even Dawn of the Clans by including the original leaders in some of the shots. It’s an intense video with two or more separate scenes going on nearly every second–except for moments when they focus on specific scenes for a character–but I live for how rewatchable that makes it. Every time I play the video again, whether by myself or forcing my next “victim” to watch with me, I get to experience a different formula of paying attention to either side or frame.

Not to mention, this M.A.P. (multi-animator project) uses one of the best outros for an album I’ve ever heard: Jon Bellion’s “Hand of God.” It fits perfectly into the Warriors world as well. With all of the tragic events that happen in each character’s life, “Tears at a funeral, tears at a funeral, I might break/Angry at all the things, angry at all the things I can’t change,” are the perfect lines to show these sad moments. Similarly, since StarClan cats are the ancestors of Clan cats and essentially considered their “gods,” whenever the song repeats “Your whole life’s in the hand of God,” it is a perfect reference to StarClan and their guidance and touch on Clan life (for better or worse, as can be seen in the video).

Since the video goes in-depth into the Clan leaders’ lives, I will admit that it is riddled with spoilers, particularly deaths. Anyone getting introduced to Warriors through this may remember flashes of these spoilers when reading. Though their appearances correlate (almost) perfectly to the descriptions given in the books, they at least don’t give names. It’s also important to realize that since so much happens, it’s likely for a new fan to not remember specifics from the video. It’s a worthwhile watch for the story building, smooth flow of animation, and the uniqueness of every animator’s style.

Overall, this video is a splendid capture of the passion and love that fans have for the Warriors series. It is a celebration of 20 years (and now more) of Warriors content and books, and I look forward to large projects like this in future celebrations.

Interested in readings the Warriors books? Get started with the first six books: Warriors: The Prophecies Begin.