We've all met Hawkfrost, the second son of the great, dark Tigerstar. When his half-brother Brambleclaw was born, we found Brambleclaw had decided to be loyal to his clan, rather than his traitorous father. However, as we went along, we found out how much he liked being a leader—and we saw how much he wished to be deputy.
Now, we face Hawkfrost. A half-blind kit could tell he is very ambitious, like his father, and his brother as well. He had his first taste of "real" power when he was made deputy of RiverClan when Mistyfoot was captured by Twolegs. When Mistyfoot came back, he was demoted to the position of warrior, and was disappointed. In The New Prophecy, he gathers 'followers', and respect among the clan.
Now, we ask ourselves, almost suspiciously—wasn't this what Tigerstar/claw did in ThunderClan? Wasn't he respected among the clan as a powerful, fearless warrior? In Into The Wild, as Firepaw learned the ways of ThunderClan, Redtail died. Someone said, "At least, this time, the choice is obvious." Did that cat mean Lionheart, or Tigerclaw?
This comparison definitely suggests Hawkfrost is evil. It tells us he is too ambitious for his own good, just like his father. But there's more to this opinion. In Starlight, he teamed up with Mudclaw to kill Onestar, so Mudclaw could become leader. At the end, when Brambleclaw heard Mudclaw's theory: That Hawkfrost would help Mudclaw kill Onestar, and then Hawkfrost could become deputy of WindClan. Hawkfrost told Brambleclaw Mudclaw was lying, and Brambleclaw was convinced by his brother, but just consider this: What if Hawkfrost was lying, and Mudclaw was speaking the truth, even if he was doing a terrible deed along the way?
Our eyebrows raise a millimeter, and we look surprised. But then, we tell ourselves, that could be possible. Our eyebrows rise with surprise.
All this suggests Hawkfrost is on the dark side. It suggests he's too ambitious for his own good, (like his father, as I mentioned before) that he's lying—even to his own brother, and he's too much like his traitorous father.
However, we can't dwell on these thoughts forever. We can't always look at one side only. Now, we discuss the other side of this. Is Hawkfrost good?
This is also very reasonable. Hawkfrost claims that if he will ever rule RiverClan someday (which is very possible, considering when Mistyfoot was gone he took her place as deputy), he will rule by the Warrior Code. Unlike his father, no one we know of in the books has suspicions of a darker side of Hawkfrost, like when the young Firepaw, Ravenpaw, and Graypaw knew Tigerstar had killed Redtail.
When Hawkfrost teamed up with Mudclaw to kill Onestar and take over WindClan, he seemed truly regretful he had done what he had done. He apologized to Onestar, and told him that "You are Windclan's true leader, chosen by StarClan. Do with me what you will." –Starlight, page 319.
At first, it's hard to believe Hawkfrost would say such a thing—give himself to another cat, especially Onestar, in such a way. Nodding, we think 'Yes, he must be good. No evil cat would ever say that.'
Is all that stuff we thought was 'evil' just us overreacting, or Hawkfrost wanting the best for his clan, and having it messed up? Is the incident with Mudclaw just a mistake of his—no one is perfect, after all...Hawkfrost has to be a little like his father, they are related, of course! However, that doesn't necessarily mean Hawkfrost will be evil, though!
Both sides seem extremely possible, but the final decision is that of one of the Erin Hunters. We don't know if Kate/Cherith will make him evil or good!
Who knows what kind of cat Hawkfrost really is? We're going to have to wait for Sunset, because only time will tell what truly lies in the heart of the RiverClan warrior Hawkfrost!