Powerstrike

"'I do love you, Nothing! I love you so much it hurts! That's the problem, don't you see? Asra's teeth, you could have been a Hunt Chief! You could have been by proudest achievement. And yet... when I look at you, all I can see is who you could have been. It makes me feel... weak. 'Weak' is one thing a Pride lioness can never be. So I don't look at you.' —Powerstrike to Nothing in Episode 5: Escape."

Powerstrike is an African lioness, Nothing's mother, and the former Hunt Chief of the Sisters Steppe.

Powerstrike was born nameless at the Sisters Steppe to Sharptongue and Embermane alongside her sister, Waterhunter. After Starmane took over the Sisters Steppe, she took him as a mate, and had three cubs with him: Spark, Fire, and Nothing. When Quick killed Starmane and Spark to take over her Pride, her daughter, Nothing, received a permanent injury that would cause Powerstrike to neglect her. She later had Quickmane's cubs: Farleap and Silentstalk.

When Nothing failed to tell the Pride about a group of No-Manes in the area and put Fire at risk, Nothing and Powerstrike argued. During their argument, Powerstrike confessed to her that she did indeed love her, but it pained her to express it, as she could only see what Nothing could have been. She and the rest of the Pride are told by Proudmane that Nothing had been killed, but later learns through Longrun that it was a lie, and leaves the Sisters Steppe alongside Longrun - renamed Hover - and Farleap to search for her.

Personality

 * Powerstrike is seen to be brave, loud, fierce, and smart. She has an intense personality, and will lash out at anyone if she has nobody to direct her anger towards. She is also shown to be quite hypocritical, snapping at Nothing when she had only done what Powerstrike did. Despite having lived through three Manes in her former Pride, she tends to be way more aggressive.


 * Powerstrike hates weakness and neglects her daughter, Nothing, because of this. She is shown to be very sensitive but hides this in her strong and fierce demeanor. She is also fierce in defending her Pridemates, standing up and growling at Proudmane while defending Farleap and Hover.

Adult

 * Powerstrike has an orange pelt with dark cream on her underbelly, paws, and under her eyes. She has amber eyes, and a muscular build with two small dots on the beginnings of her eyebrows. She is also one of the strongest lionesses in her former Pride.

Voice Actor

 * Helen O'Connor

Episode One: No-Mane

 * Powerstrike calls her mother, Sharptongue, for a hunt, and leaves her cubs with their father, Starmane. She is shown to be devastated after she discovers both her son and mate are dead. A while later, Fire takes Nothing to Powerstrike, who is seen enraged with Quickmane, the murderer of her former mate and her son. She then begins to discuss Quickmane's fate with Sharptongue, arguing that he should be killed as he was bested by a cub.


 * After Sharptongue decides as Hunt Chief to let them co-exist, Nothing and Fire show up, and Sharptongue is relieved to see them alive. After Nothing attempts to walk to her mother, though, she trips, which worries Powerstrike as she hurries over to her. She explains that it hurts when she steps on her leg, to which Powerstrike pretends is fine.

Episode Two: Nothing

 * Powerstrike is seen giving Nothing her huntress assesment. Nothing, mentions how Sharptongue had turned ill and Powerstrike had replaced her as the Hunt Chief.


 * Sharptongue asks if she's sure that she doesn't want the name that Powerstrike selected for her, at which she replies that she doesn't want to be named Hobblestep. Quickmane interrupts their conversation, growling that it's disrespectful to keep the Pride waiting. Powerstrike reluctingly begins the assessment, telling her daughter that it's her last chance to turn back, but she insists to go through with the assessment. When she fails, Powerstrike names her Nothing, deducing that she has no useful assets in hunting.


 * Nothing later speaks with Hover, a Prideless lioness, and mentions how Powerstrike hates Prideless lions, to which Hover jokingly says that she sounds like she has a tree up her butt. Powerstrike, along with Quickmane, Farleap, and Silentstalk, find the two lionesses, and Powerstrike scolds Nothing. She insults Hover and tells her to get out of their territory.

Episode Three: The Calling

 * Powerstrike wakes up in the middle of the night, witnessing Nothing leaving the Sisters Steppe with Hover. When she returns, Powerstrike asks where she was before dropping the subject.


 * During a Pride meeting, Sharptongue goes into a coughing fit, and is incredibly worried about her mother. She's then seen leaving the Sisters Steppe to hunt with several other Pride lionesses. While she is gone, Sharptongue succumbs to her illness. She holds her funeral and is seen calling to Asra to guide her mother's spirit to the stars.


 * When she and the other Pride lions returns to the Sisters Steppe, Nothing introduces her to Hover before trying to comfort her. Powerstrike snaps at her, saying that she doesn't want her pity. She then says that she will judge Hover through a huntress evaluation the next day.

Episode Four: Outsider

 * Powerstrike briefly appears to hand over her nieces to Nothing, before leaving to go for a hunt with Waterhunter and Quickmane. She's later mentioned by Fire when he explains that she gave Nothing her name to be cruel.

Episode Five: Escape

 * After Quickmane tries to kill Nothing, Powerstrike steps in and declares that the Goddesses are angry when they send down rain. Quickmane runs off to kill Fire, and Nothing begs her mother to help her save him. However, she refuses, saying that Fire had made his choice. She then tells Nothing that she loves her, but that her injury only makes her think about what could have been and how she makes her feel weak. She says that Fire was weak for coming back to visit Nothing, and that if it kills him, so be it. She then leaves her behind.

Episode Seven: Hover

 * Powerstrike questions where Hover and Farleap have been, and ends up telling them that Proudmane doesn't want to be disturbed.


 * When Hover accuses Proudmane of lying, Powerstrike ends up turning her head towards them. During the argument between Proudmane and Hover about Hover's love for Nothing, Powerstrike intervenes and says that she and Quickmane were aware about the relationship between Hover and Nothing, but allowed it to continue, and that Proudmane should do the same. When Farleap saves Hover from Proudmane's blow, Powerstrike stands up for her huntresses and growls at Proudmane before leaving the Pride.


 * On the Stretch, Powerstrike questions Hover if she really thinks that Nothing is alive. Hover asks her why she came along if she thought she was dead. Powerstrike explains that it was for Hover, as Nothing loved her and that she is all that she has left of her daughter. When Farleap asks that where they start their search, Powerstrike ends up being clueless from where to start, as she has been outside of the Pride territory. Hover ends up taking the lead.

Nothing

 * Powerstrike loved Nothing when she was a cub, and was very concerned for her well-being when she found that Nothing was injured by Quickmane. By the time Nothing fails her huntress assessment, however, she turns out to be very cold towards her, even growling at her when Nothing came to comfort her on the death of Sharptongue. Later on, Powerstrike reveals that she loves Nothing, but refuses show it because it makes her feel weak.


 * After Hover finds out that Proudmane lied about the death of Nothing, she left the Sisters Steppe along with Farleap and Hover, in hopes to find Nothing. She states that she left because Nothing loved Hover, and because Hover is all she has left of her eldest daughter. She can't seem to understand why Nothing ever loved her, after how she treated her.

Fire

 * Powerstrike loved her son. On Fire's last day with the Pride, during the huntress assessment, Fire cheers up his sister, but gets growled at by Powerstrike for giving her support. When Powerstrike gives Nothing her huntress name, it makes Fire angry towards his mother. After Fire leaves, Powerstrike gives her son her best wishes alongside the Pride. Later on, Powerstrike tells Nothing she doesn't care if Quickmane kills Fire, as she doesn't think of him as her son anymore.

Starmane

 * Powerstrike loved her mate, and even had his cubs. She was devastated when she learned about the death of her Mane and mate.

Quickmane

 * Powerstrike had a hatred towards Quickmane for the murder of her son Spark and her mate Starmane. However, she accepted him as Mane in the end, had two cubs with him, Farleap and Silentstalk.

Sharptongue

 * Powerstrike loved her mother and often joked about her folklore. She also showed concern towards her when she became ill. She was devastated when she learned about her death. This made her emotionally unstable and tired. She had great love and respect for her as the former Hunt Chief of the Pride.

Proudmane

 * Powerstrike accepted Proudmane as the new Mane of the Pride, but is shown to not think positively of him. She despises him now that he is not as open minded as her former mate Quickmane, and as he attacked her daughter, Farleap. She also ended up growling at him while defending Farleap and Hover.

Farleap and Silentstalk

 * Although she cared for her daughters, Powerstrike's attention always fell back to Nothing. No matter how much her daughters perfected their skills, she never gave them their due attention, as she was too focused on her eldest daughter. Although they aren't very close, Powerstrike ended up standing up against Proudmane to defend Farleap and Hover. When Silentstalk stayed behind at the Sisters Steppe, she's seen looking at Silentstalk with a pained expression.

Family Members

 * Former mates: Starmane †, Quickmane †
 * Father: Embermane †
 * Mother: Sharptongue †
 * Sons: Spark †, Fire
 * Daughters: Nothing, Farleap, Silentstalk
 * Sister: Waterhunter
 * Nephews: Feather, Unnamed Lion Cub
 * Nieces: Sister 1 †, Sister 2 †, Nameless Lioness Cub

Trivia



 * Powerstrike's design in the original trailer is different from her final design; she had dark cream fur with a light cream underbelly and brown eyes.
 * Powerstrike was the largest lioness in the Sisters Steppe.
 * In the book, Powerstrike was named Swiftspring, and had a golden pelt and brown eyes.
 * In the book, Powerstrike dies at the claws of Proudmane after he takes over the Sisters Steppe, killing her for being pregnant with Quickmane's cubs. Powerstrike does not undergo this fate in the series.