K.A. Applegate: Animorphs

ALLIES Here are the characters who are the Animorphs' most major allies throughout the books. ELFANGOR-SIRINIAL-SHAMTUL: An Andalite who made the choice to give morphing abilities to five scared human teenagers in order to give their world some hope. The Animorphs meet Elfangor as he is dying in the first book, learn about the Yeerk invasion and the powers and limitations of morphing, and witness his death at the hands of Visser Three. Elfangor's life story is told in The Andalite Chronicles, wherein the reader is introduced to his early years in the Andalite military, the part he played in fighting the Yeerks and his history with Visser Three, his encounters with the Time Matrix, Loren, and the Ellimist, and how he became the great War Prince the Andalites know him as. He is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill's big brother. As a morph-capable Andalite, Elfangor has the following morphs: djabala, kafit bird, Taxxon, and human ("Al Fangor"). EREK THE CHEE and the other Chee are ancient androids who are wired for nonviolence, and they help the Animorphs resist the Yeerks through information-gathering and espionage. They frequently have unique perspectives and hints to offer, and Erek and some of the others regularly use their holographic technology to take the Animorphs' place at home and at school while they're on missions or to trick the Yeerks into believing something or someone was destroyed. The Chee were created by the ancient (and extinct) Pemalites, and they live on Earth taking care of dogs because they contain the last traces of the Pemalites' essence. Erek once got a hold of the crystal from his ship which let him rewrite his programming to be able to commit violence, but he regretted it immediately and wrote his programming to revert. JARA HAMEE, KET HALPAK, AND TOBY: Jara and Ket are Hork-Bajir who were prisoners of the Yeerks, and they managed to escape under the protection of a mysterious voice (the Ellimist) and were led to safety by Tobias and his friends. An Eden-like valley is their home, and from that point they do two things: spearhead the Hork-Bajir resistance, and have a baby. Baby Toby (named after Tobias) is a Hork-Bajir seer, which means her intelligence is comparable to humans and her insight is to be trusted. As Toby grows up she becomes very important in leading more missions to liberate more Hork-Bajir, and toward the end of the series when the Animorphs need a place to live the Hork-Bajir gladly give them shelter. THE AUXILIARY ANIMORPHS: Late in the series, Jake and the other Animorphs decide to recruit disabled young people since their bodies would have been judged unfit for Yeerk infestation. With morphing powers, these kids with physical challenges can transform into animals and join the fight, as well as experience a break from their physical limits. In some cases the morphing heals their disabilities if they were caused by accidents. James, the leader of the Auxiliary Animorphs, was very much a leader before he was recruited, and he is very good at looking out for others and making decisions. He had non-functioning legs before the morphing technology, but it healed him. The morphs he collects during the series are pigeon, lion, peregrine falcon, and red-tailed hawk. Auxiliary Animorph Colette pretends to be injured due to extreme sports, but in reality she's always been a paraplegic. The morphing technology did not change her situation. She can morph pigeon and crocodile. Some other Auxiliary Animorphs are Kelly (who morphs pigeon, walrus, and bull), Julio (who morphs a bird--either a pigeon or a hawk--and a grizzly bear), Judy (who morphs a bird--either a pigeon or a hawk--and an elephant), Tricia (who morphs a bird--either a pigeon or a hawk--and a rhinocerous), and a character who was at one time named Timmy and later renamed Tuan because of an editing glitch (who morphs pigeon and bobcat). A blind girl named Elena morphs Rachel. AFTRAN 942 starts her role in Animorphs as an antagonist, but eventually, through discussion with Cassie, she develops an understanding of how and why peace should be reached between the Yeerks and the humans. She is the founder of the Yeerk peace movement and ends up nearly killed over her betrayal, but she continues to stand up for what she believes in. She deliberately traps herself in a humpback whale morph after the Animorphs give her morphing power to help liberate her. THE ELLIMIST: Sometimes the Ellimist's motivation doesn't seem clear, but in general he is on the Animorphs' side, backing their "horse" in the human/Yeerk war. He is an advanced intelligent alien with the power to manipulate space and time, which makes him seem godlike to people more fixed in space/time, and sometimes the Animorphs feel that their lives are chess pieces in his game. The Ellimist fights Crayak, a similarly powered being that wants to extinguish life instead of encourage it. The Ellimist began his life on a planet called Ket and spent much of his young life playing the alien version of video games. He was saved when his world was destroyed because he happened to be in a spacecraft. His journey toward becoming nigh-omnipotent was told in his own Chronicles book.