Animorphs

Article written by: Abhiram Godavari, 6th grade, NJ
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Animorphs is a science- fiction fantasy series of books written by K. A. Applegate. The series revolves around five teens: Jake, Tobias, Marco, Rachel, and Cassie who stumble upon a crashed alien spacecraft. The badly injured pilot, an Andalite Warrior named Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, gives them the ability to morph into any animal they touch. He tells them that they must stop a force of aliens called the Yeerks from invading the Earth. Also, he warns them to never say in a morph for more than two hours.

Poor Tobias stayed in his morph for too long. Now, he is a red tailed hawk- with a boy’s mind- forever- until the Ellimist restores Tobias’ morphing ability in Book 4, The Message. In the same book, Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill is introduced. The Animorphs are:

Jake Berenson is the leader of the Animorphs. At first, he was reluctant to take the role. He found it to be worth doing when he found out his brother Tom was a controller.

Tobias considers Jake as his hero. The reason for this is because in his years of school, He was being bullied by some older kids who had stuck his head in a toilet. Jake told the to back off and help Tobias get his head out of the toilet. After that, they became fast friends.

Marco is Jake’s best friend. He is also the jokester of the 6. His dark side shows in #10: The Android.

Cassie was attracted to Jake right from the start. They kissed at the end of #26: The Attack. In #53: The Answer, Jake proposed to Cassie, but she declined. She agreed to marry him “a year after this whole war is over”.

Rachel is Jake’s cousin. Tobias is known to have a secret crush on Rachel, but does not reveal it.

Finally, Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill, or just Ax, is a fellow Andalite who befriended the animorphs. He is Elfangor’s Brother and has always been in his shadow. He is very loyal to Jake and calls him “Prince Jake”. This leads to a recurring joke between them:

Ax: (…Prince Jake.)
Jake: (Don’t call me prince.)
Ax: (Yes, Prince Jake.)

The thing that is most unique about animorphs is the fact that the characters morph into different animals.
In the original version the introductions, narrated by Jake said:

“We can’t tell you who we are. Or where we live. It’s too risky, and we need to be careful. Very careful. So we don’t trust anyone. Because if they find us… Well, they won’t find us. You should know, all of us are in trouble. Yeah, that includes you.”

As of #51, the introductions said:

“Here’s the deal these days: They know exactly who we are. They know exactly where we live. We’ve got a few secrets left, and we’re gonna use them. But just know that the end is coming. And we don’t know how much longer we can do this. How much longer can we fight. What about you? Where will you be when it ends? Think about it. Think hard. Because the countdown has already begun…”

In the re-release of Animorphs, the introduction is as follows:

“We can’t tell you who we are. Or where we live. It’s risky, and we have to be careful. But everyone is in danger. Yeah. Even you.”

The animorphs also had a chance to be on TV, and there were 3 animorphs games: Animorphs for the Game Boy Color, Shattered Reality for the PS1 and PS2, and Know the secret for PC and quite possibly XBOX 360.

In conclusion, Animorphs is a very great series that is suggested to read, watch, and play.