Canon Write Up
(some useful terms.)
Andalite: The "good guys," so to speak. Andalites are a race of mouthless aliens that resemble blue-furred centaurs with an extra set of eyes on "stalks" at the top of their head and a wickedly curved blade at the end of their tail. They invented the technology to morph into any animal they can accquire through the use of touch. The Andalites tend to be rather arrogant about their accomplishments.
Yeerk: The "bad guys." The Yeerks are a race of alien slugs with the ability to crawl through the ear of a compatible (usually sentient) species, wrap their bodies around the host's brain, and take over their body entirely, leaving the host personality helpless and unable to move. The Yeerks go from planet to planet in search of enough hosts for every one of them, and tend to turn the planets they take over into wastelands. Every three days, the Yeerks must leave their hosts and return to a Yeerk pool to soak up Kandrona rays, a ray found normally on their home planet, but that can be produced artificially with a Kandrona generator. If they do not feed upon the Kandrona rays, the Yeerk will die.
Gedd: The most common host for a Yeerk, the Gedd have only limited functionality.
Hork Bajir: Another common Yeerk host. Before they were enslaved, the Hork Bajir were a race of peaceful, simple-minded tree farmers. Because of the blades that cover their bodies, the Yeerks often use Hork Bajir as living weapons. Even under Yeerk control, the Hork Bajir have an imperfect grasp of language, usually relying on a mishmash of languages from various planets (including Earth) to communicate.
Taxxon: Another common Yeerk host. The Taxxon were almost entirely voluntary in giving up to Yeerk control. The Taxxon are a race of giant, carnivorous centipedes. A Taxxon's hunger is never- ending, and is so strong that many Yeerks who control a Taxxon are soon more Taxxon than Yeerk themselves.
Leera: Another race that the Yeerks are trying to gain control of. The Andalite military is more
focused on trying to save them rather than Earth. The Leerans are basically a race of psychic frogs.
Skrit Na: A rather odd race of aliens. They have a tendency of kidnapping alien species and performing medical experiments on them for no discernable reason. The Skrit Na life cycle is similar to that of a caterpillar and a butterfly: They start out as the Skrit, giant insects. The Skrit are relatively unintelligent and perform simple tasks. After a time in a cocoon, they become the Na, who look remarkably like the infamous "Grey" aliens reported by alien abductees.
Chee: A race of androids created by a long-dead species called the Pemalites. The Chee have been on Earth for thousands of years, hiding as humans by using holograms and force fields to appear as humans. The Chee are programed for nonviolence and try their best not to interfere with the course of human history. The Chee love dogs, which are all that remains of the essence of their creators.
Animorph: A term coined by Marco refering to any one of five humans- Jake, Marco, Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel- given the power to morph by a dying Andalite named Elfangor. The term could also be used to include Ax, Elfangor's little brother and friend of the Animorphs. The Yeerks are unaware of the Animorphs identities as humans, and think they are Andalite "bandits," refugees from the battle that led to Elfangor's death.
Escafil Device: Also known as "the blue box." This is the device than can gift those who touch it with the power to morph into any animal they accquire for two-hour intervals. The Andalites guard this technology jealously, but the blue box that Elfangor used on the Anirmophs wins up in the hands of a human kid named David.
Aristh: The lowest rank in the Andalite military, a cadet.
Prince: A rank of leadership in the Andalite military.
War-Prince: A rank of leadership in the Andalite military out-ranking a "Prince."
Nothlit: The term for any individual who exceeds the two hour limit for safely remaining in morph. This condition is usually considered to be an irreversable one. The only known nothlit to ever regain the power to morph is Tobias.
Estreen: The Andalite term for any individual who is particularly gifted in morphing, making the action aesthetically pleasing.
Shorm: An Andalite term literally meaning "tail blade," it is alos used to describe a close and meaningful friendship. Ax refers to Tobias as his "shorm."
Time Matrix: A device said to have been created by the Ellimist, it can be used to travel through time and change history. A Yeerk once gained control of it and tried to change the course of Earth's history to make the planet easier to take over, but he was stopped by the Animorphs. Elfangor knew of the existance and location of the Time Matrix, and was attempting to retrieve it when he died.
(people of note.)
Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul: The Andalite who gave the Animorphs the ability to morph. He is considered to be a hero of the Andalite people, and held the rank of "War-Prince" at the time of his death. When he was an aristh, he met and fell in love with a human girl named Loren. The two had a child together, but the Ellimist took Elfangor away from Loren before the child was born so that Elfangor could fight for his people. He left a note for the child to one day read and know the truth. Elfangor did get to meet his child once before he died- The boy was Tobias.
Axmili-Esgarrouth-Isthil: More commonly known as "Ax," he is Elfangor's younger brother and an aristh in the Andalite military. During the battle that ended up costing Elfangor his life, Ax crashed onto Earth and was trapped at the bottom of the sea until the Animorphs rescued him. Due to his lack of a sense of taste in Andalite form, when he morphs human, he will eat anything- including cigarette butts and engine oil. His favourite food is cinnamon buns. He and Tobias are close friends.
Alloran-Semitur-Corrass: An Andalite War-Prince who fell from grace afer he set a Quantam Virus loose on the Hork Bajir homeworld in an attempt to keep the planet from the Yeerks. He was captured by a Yeerk named Esplin 9466 Primary when attempting to retrieve the Time Matrix, and became the only known Andalite-Controller (an Andalite host for a Yeerk).
Esplin 9466 Primary: The Yeerk known more commonly in the book series as Visser Three, he is the Yeerk in charge of the invasion of Earth. Visser Three is an impatient Yeerk known to torture and even kill those below him in the chain of power (and their hosts, at times) if they do not live up to his expectations. He is the Yeerk who uses Alloran as his host. He has a twin brother who knows a secret way to survive without Kandrona rays, and would love to know the secret- but his brother isn't talking. Visser Three would prefer a less subtle approach to taking over the Earth, but has his orders from above.
Seerow: An Andalite Prince. He is infamous for giving the Yeerks the technology to move through space, an act meant to share the stars with the Yeerks, whom he pitied for being unable to see the stars on their own. This act made him infamous in Andalite history, and became known as "Seerow's Kindness."
Ellimist: An enigmatic, omnipotent alien who is playing a game with the Crayak, using the universe as their playing field. The Ellimist tries to save other alien species, although he claims not to interfere in the lives of others. He gave Tobias back the ability to morph, even going so far as to bring him face-to-face with his human form so that he could use that form once again. He is ultimately a good guy... of sorts.
Crayak: An alien on an equal level of power with the Ellimist, he brings chaos and destruction to the universe. The Crayak is said to have been expelled from another galaxy and wishes one day to return to destroy the power that expelled him. He appears in the form of an armless cyborg with nothing but a blood-red eye for a head.
Taylor/Sub-Visser Fifty-One: Taylor is a host who was originally a voluntary Controller, an individual that chose to let the Yeerk into her mind to control her. She gave up her freedom in exchange for her looks- her body had been horribly burned and mutilated in a fire. Taylor and Sub-Visser Fifty-One have a uniquely Yeerk version of split-personality disorder. Taylor tortured Tobias (for over two hours) with a machine that controls the parts of the brain that stimulate pain and pleasure. Tobias nearly went insane and almost died after recieving the alternating doses of pain and pleasure. After Tobias was rescued by the Animorphs, Taylor was stripped of her rank and was thought to be facing certain death at the hands of Visser Three, but reappeared, claiming to want to help build a democratric society for the Yeerks. This turned out to be a ploy, an attempt to destroy the actual Yeerk peace movement in a gas explosion. Taylor is currently thought to be dead, blown away by gas pressure. Tobias has the ability to morph into Taylor.
Arbon: Arbon was an Andalite aristh at the same time as Elfangor. He had an inability to be serious most of the time, and liked to compete with Elfangor. On a mission with Elfangor (under the supervision of Alloran) to return two humans to Earth after being captured by the Skrit Na, the Time Matrix was discovered, and they went in pursuit of it, ending up on the Taxxon home world. Arbon morphed into a Taxxon as a disguise, but ended up becoming a nothlit. He managed to escape from the Yeerks and joined the little-known Taxxon resistance against the Yeerks.
Loren: One of the humans that was captured by the Skrit Na, she was rescued by Elfangor and Arbon. She was on her way with them back to Earth when they got side-tracked by the Time Matrix. Loren fell in love with and married Elfangor, and had a son with him- Tobias. Loren lost her sight and memory in a car crash when the Ellimist took Elfangor away. Tobias is unaware of what happened to his mother, having been told merely that she dumped him on her relatives.
Hedrick Chapman: One of the humans that was captured by the Skrit Na, he was rescued by Elfangor and Arbon. He has no memory of this incident. Later on in life, he became vice-principal of the Animorph's school, and became a voluntary Controller in an attempt to prevent the infestation of his beloved daughter, Melissa. He is the head of the local Yeerk front, the Sharing, which is a club that promotes values and community togetherness.
Jake Berenson: The unofficial leader of the Animorphs and Marco's best friend. Ax often refers to Jake as "Prince Jake," much to Jake's eternal annoyance. Jake is driven to rescue his older brother, Tom, who is a Controller.
Cassie: An estreen and the most perceptive and gentle of the Animorphs. Cassie is an animal lover, and helps her parents run a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which often comes in handy in terms of giving the Animorphs access to different animals to accquire. She is romantically involved with Jake.
Marco: ...See thepiltdownman for information on Marco.
Rachel: Rachel is easily the most reckless of the Animorphs. She is violent, sometimes even sadistic, and loves to enter into a fight with her trademark cry of "Let's do it!" She is very much an adrenaline junkie. In stark contrast with this side of her personality, she also has a deep and abiding love of fashion. She is Jake's cousin and Tobias's unofficial girlfriend. Tobias loves her very, very much. She needs to show up in camp~
David: The so-called "sixth" Animorphs. David found the Escafil Device and unwittingly attempted to sell it, attracting the attention of both Visser Three and the Animorphs. The Animorphs manage to rescue David and the device, but David's parents get captured by the Yeerks. The Animorphs give David a choice between going back to his family or becoming an Animorph. David chose to become an Animorph, but goes insane after realising he can't have a normal life. He betrays and tries to kill the other Animorphs (feeling that it's not murder if they're just animals at the time), but they end up tricking him into a cage in rat morph. He becomes a nothlit and the Animorphs leave him on an island.
(Tobias.)
Tobias was born supposedly the son of Loren and a man who was never really given a name in canon. That man is unimportant, however, as he died when Tobias was very young. Loren did her best to take care of Tobias, but a tragic accident when Tobias was very young rendered Loren blind and amnesiac. Tobias was never told what happened to his mother, knowing only that she had "dumped him" on her relatives.
Tobias had a very lonely childhood. He was constantly being shuttled between various aunts and uncles on both coasts, none of whom ever really cared for him- he was often either ignored or used for free labor. He grew up to be a dreamy, shy teenager, and often attracted bullies. This was actually how he met Jake- his [Tobias's] head was being shoved in a toliet by some school bullies, and Jake told them to step off. Tobias developed a mild case of hero-worship towards the other boy as a result.
Tobias was actually the first of the Animorphs to notice Elfangor's ship crash-landing- he was staring up at the sky when he noticed it. Although all of the Animorphs were drawn to Elfangor, Tobias was the most reluctant to leave him to escape from the Yeerk's notice- he stayed by Elfangor's side and spoke with him for a moment longer.
Shortly after becoming an Animorph, Tobias became a nothlit, trapped in the morph of a red-tailed hawk when he was unable to escape from the Animorph's first visit to the local Yeerk pool in time. (It can be noted that the other Animorphs suspect that Tobias allowed himself to be trapped in morph on purpose, and his lack of willingness to remain permanently human again even upon gaining the opportunity would seem to support this.)
Tobias struggled at first with being trapped as a hawk, being unwilling to kill and eat in the manner of a hawk. He did not want to let go of his life as a human, fearing that any step away from the trappings of humanity meant he would lose himself as a human. But after giving in to his hawk nature and killing and eating as a bird, he managed to eventually become at peace with himself and his new life as a bird.
Tobias was manipulated by the Ellimist into rescuing a pair of Hork Bajir from the Yeerks and leading them to a valley where they could be free to live their lives away from the Yeerks. But Tobias grew angry upon realising he was being manipulated, and demanded some form of payment for being used. The Ellimist agreed, and gave Tobias back the ability to morph, but as a hawk- which initially angered Tobias, as he thought the deal was to make him human again. But after he was done rescuing the Hork Bajir, the Ellimist brought Tobias face-to-face with his human self and allowed him to accquire his own human DNA.
Tobias did eventually discover that Elfangor is his father. He was told one day that Chapman was looking around the school for him, trying to figure out what had happened to him. As it turned out, a lawyer named DeGroot had a will that was meant to be read to Tobias upon his next birthday. (More fun notes here! Tobias actually couldn't remember when his birthday was- the Animorphs had to look that information up.) Additionally, there was a woman named Aria claiming to be a cousin that wanted to take Tobias in. Aria turned out to be Visser Three in morph, though- The Yeerks wanted to find out if Elfangor's son would be useful to them. It was upon the reading of Elfangor's will that Tobias was told who his father really was. He managed to fake the lawyer and Visser Three into believing he was nothing more than a punk who didn't really care about the will, but after he left the building, he found a place to sit down and cry for the father he never got to know.
Despite gaining back the ability to morph, Tobias is often doing reconnaissance work for the Animorphs- using the time that the others are in school to find the various entrances to the local Yeerk pool, and being the eyes and ears that guide the Animorphs in battle.