Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: Jadedkoi on March 29, 2009, 04:02:20 PM
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Okay, so we've taken the first step and identified that we're all hopeless fangirls/fanboys for Animorphs. So is there anything, any scenario, any situation, that you which had been brought up or expanded upon in the series?
I always thought that once the "OMFG! Oatmeal is an addictive crazypaste drug for yeerks!" Thing was mentioned it should have been a recurring background motif in the series that worsened as the war went on. I mean, come on! Controllers randomly starting to go crazy and rant and rave in the steets? It's such a great way to explore yet more moral ambiguity. Shame, KAA. That would've been awesome.
One more, then you guys get to it: In the Post-War world I always wondered what would happen to the voluntaries. You've got a world that is more paranoid now about the future threat of any alien invasion and you also just have plain old human hatred and violence and inability to be tolerant. I could most definitely conceivably see some of the more prominent voluntaries being lynched right after the war ended, espescially by people who were tricked or dragged into slavery. I imagine that those that were would want to fade into the background and not make waves.
It's also an interesting study int the psyche of an individual that would choose servitude to a greater (and evil) cause over dealing with their own lives.
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I think it's probably safe to say that some terrorist act were against voluntaries.
David becoming a major villain to fight the anis and Yeerks, starting as early as book 27.
More done with the YPM and Auxilaries.
Toby and Aftran becoming greater characters. Inclusion into the team would have been cool.
Some continuance in the internet site mentioned in book 16. Yeah, it was started by V3's twin, but after he disappeared, you'd figure people would still be using it.
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I always thought that once the "OMFG! Oatmeal is an addictive crazypaste drug for yeerks!" Thing was mentioned it should have been a recurring background motif in the series that worsened as the war went on. I mean, come on! Controllers randomly starting to go crazy and rant and rave in the steets? It's such a great way to explore yet more moral ambiguity. Shame, KAA.
I always thought that was avoided because of the human controllers fates- if the Yeerk went crazy, the human hosts weren't much better off. They couldn't be allowed to be freed.
I always wondered why it took so long to start recruiting. The biggest problem they had was always being outnumbered or taken by surprise. If they had hidden the Blue Cube, made a play to rescue some people from the Yeerk pool (or kidnap them before they went in and forcing or killing the yeerk) and allow the freed Controllers the choice to join them. After all, the Controllers lives were already ruined.
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I always thought that once the "OMFG! Oatmeal is an addictive crazypaste drug for yeerks!" Thing was mentioned it should have been a recurring background motif in the series that worsened as the war went on. I mean, come on! Controllers randomly starting to go crazy and rant and rave in the steets? It's such a great way to explore yet more moral ambiguity. Shame, KAA.
I always thought that was avoided because of the human controllers fates- if the Yeerk went crazy, the human hosts weren't much better off. They couldn't be allowed to be freed.
*shrugs* yeah, but look how it was portrayed in #17 - a very clear comparison is made to "humans and their drugs" with the oatmeal, and it's obvious that once a controller starts eating the stuff it gets addictive fast. So why do jake &co. never encounter another addict? Why isn't it at least mentioned that *something* is being done to prevent oatmeal addiction?
I always wondered why it took so long to start recruiting. The biggest problem they had was always being outnumbered or taken by surprise. If they had hidden the Blue Cube, made a play to rescue some people from the Yeerk pool (or kidnap them before they went in and forcing or killing the yeerk) and allow the freed Controllers the choice to join them. After all, the Controllers lives were already ruined.
good point. Most of that was fear of another David or someone worse I suppose.
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I strongly agree that more could have and should have been done with Aftran, the Yeerk Peace Movement and the Auxiliaries.
And I agree the oatmeal thing shouldn't have just been throw naway when they were finished with it.
I also feel like it would have been nice to see the Andalites do something about earth beyond mourn Elfangor. If that group of undesireables can make the trip to and from earth why not at least a real commando squad? Why don't the Andalites that do show up or are already stranded on earth do more/anything respectively to stop the Yeerks? Other than Ax obviously, the Andalites act like the war on earth doesnt matter, but what other class 5 species do we hear of the Yeerks trying to take (besides the Anati if indeed they were even a species) the Andalites don't even consider going there to avenge the Galaxy Tree, they just seem to say "Oh, well there's a cadet and some human youths, it's probably fine."
This bothered me, those two Andalites who's names I refuse to waste the brain cells remembering (out of contempt) were content to live on earth and let the Yeerks take over, even sell out the Animorphs, those other four show up and do what? Snipe a couple hork-bajir and crash a ship? The Andalites main excuse for not defending earth at all (never mind properly, I'm going for "at all" once Galaxy Tree went down it's like they said "screw it, we lost Elfangor, that place is too rough") was that the trip would take a long time, that went out the window Ax's girlfriend showed up in 38 (I think?), granted that was more than halfway through the series, do you really mean to tell me that when they can muster thirty dome ships around the homeworld in addition to the homeworld garrison which Ax mentions at one point as being large, and in addition to the garrison occupying the Yeerk world, they can't send a single infiltrator with a commando squad, and the mere idea of sending a portion of that to Earth instead of all of it to Anati is totally beyond them?
Some allies. ::)
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I wish the Animorphs could have had a direct confrontation with the Council of Thirteen.
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I wish the Animorphs could have had a direct confrontation with the Council of Thirteen.
No. That is going overboard.
They defiantly should have done more with the auxiliary animorphs. They should have had another book where James and some of the others were narrators.
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They defiantly should have done more with the auxiliary animorphs. They should have had another book where James and some of the others were narrators.
Not as part of the main series though, they weren't "Inner Circle" enough for that. I could definitely see them as a really good chronicles though, which each chapter rotating because some of the important auxiliaries.
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better ending?
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Some allies. ::)
I know, right?
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*laughs* The oatmeal thing is really just one of several plotlines I really feel shouldn't have been so neatly tied up at the end of the book. =/
But really, what I'd really have liked to see would be more Yeerk hosts than just Hork Bajir/Taxxon/Human. Gedd, apparently, don't go to Earth, for some reason they stop using their Leeran hosts right after they're defeated on Leera (didn't they have some that weren't on the planet when they lost? I know some of them went to Earth for a short time.), I'd have loved to see more Garatrons (not many, just for the occassional high-ranking sub-Visser or something like that), and we never see Nahara, Sstram, Mak, or Ongachic. Plus, according to #14 (?), they can infest animals. So more shark-Controllers, or other animal-Controllers, would have been rad.
Or, at the very least, different. ^^
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I think the only time Gedds are seen on Earth is in book five. Which I assume are the small wrinkly ones. I could be wrong, though.
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But really, what I'd really have liked to see would be more Yeerk hosts than just Hork Bajir/Taxxon/Human. Gedd, apparently, don't go to Earth, for some reason they stop using their Leeran hosts right after they're defeated on Leera (didn't they have some that weren't on the planet when they lost? I know some of them went to Earth for a short time.), I'd have loved to see more Garatrons (not many, just for the occassional high-ranking sub-Visser or something like that), and we never see Nahara, Sstram, Mak, or Ongachic. Plus, according to #14 (?), they can infest animals. So more shark-Controllers, or other animal-Controllers, would have been rad.
Or, at the very least, different. ^^
I'd have loved to see more of the Yeerk Invasion on other planets, Like for the Anati. More exposition into the workings of the Council of 13 would have been rad too. I mean, the Yeerks are basically looking to conquer the galaxy at the very least.
I like to be optomistic and say that the Yeerks probably needed their leeran-controllers for the Anati invasion (since it failed). that's all pure speculation and wishing, though.
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Does anyone think the Animorphs should have run into Tom more during battles? It's one thing to be shot at by a random Human controller. It's another to be shot at by someone you know. Chapman as well.
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I think they should have given Toby morphing powers ..don't think they did. She would have been a great addition to the team
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I wish they had done something better with Toby, but I'm not sure about giving her morphing powers. She doesn't really need them to fight. They could teach her martial arts somehow.
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Not to fight just like Aximili doesn't need them to fight but there are other uses to morphing besides fighting.
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True. It may have been practical to do so.
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The series should have explored who those guys at the end #41 one were.
Also, the army of cloned Hork-Bajir that the Arn were making, or better yet, explain what happened to the Hork-bajir and Taxxon homeworld.
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i'd like to see them all acquire yeerks.
e.g. jake morphs yeerk, goes in rachel, morphs to yeerk, goes inside cassie.. etc.
it'd be a rather interesting nothlit. :D
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i'd like to see them all acquire yeerks.
e.g. jake morphs yeerk, goes in rachel, morphs to yeerk, goes inside cassie.. etc.
it'd be a rather interesting nothlit. :D
hahaha like russian doll infestation
that would be MESSED UP someone should write that.
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I'd have liked to see Gafinilan and Mertil show up again. Or at least Mertil, since Gafinilan probably croaked.... But his funeral would have been interesting.
And I'd have LOVED to see Marco's funeral after he faked his death, and Jake needing to pretend to be sad about it.
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Why did Marco fake his death?
Yeah, I would like to see Mertil again. Maybe see if he would be willing to get a prosthetic tail blade. Even if it's just for looks, it would keep people from gawking at his lack of a blade.
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Because he saved his dad from the Yeerks, and had become a target. Book #45. Faking his death was the best way to keep away and make sure the Yeerks didn't then target people he knew, such as Jake.
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Oh yeah, I forgot! I wonder why they didn't mention anything about the funeral. Nora would be there too, acting all sad. It might be a good place for some character development.
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I wish Visser 3 wasn't such a bumbling idiot. He's the highest ranking member in the Yeerk army and he's dumber than a pile of bricks and gets everything wrong. That's not the way to get promoted. A combination of his arrogance, ruthlessness, and Visser 1's intelligence.
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I wonder how I would implement a better Visser Three, but satill leave room for the Animorphs to always come out on top?
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Well the magic of the animorphs is that being a guerrila unit, they have anonymity, no home base, and small numbers which gives them high adaptability and I think really gives them a good upper hand.
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I wish Visser 3 wasn't such a bumbling idiot. He's the highest ranking member in the Yeerk army and he's dumber than a pile of bricks and gets everything wrong. That's not the way to get promoted. A combination of his arrogance, ruthlessness, and Visser 1's intelligence.
a continually threatening villain who always loses is really hard to write
Visser Three was a moron, but somehow I think he provided a good foil to the Animorphs. He had a few moments of brilliance to balance out his complete insanity too.
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Maybe there could be a very smart, Visser 1-like henchman who could easily defeat the Animorphs, but is held back by what Visser 3 wants to do.
If anyone ever watched the Aladdin series, it would be like Abis Mal, and that tall guy. That way the enemies fail, but they are still somewhat threatening.
Or you could just have more character deaths and whatnot. There doesn't have to be that one teammate death in the very last book. Character deaths would have been fine, and perfectly realistic, if it had been going on since the beginning.
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Maybe there could be a very smart, Visser 1-like henchman who could easily defeat the Animorphs, but is held back by what Visser 3 wants to do.
There was, he infested Tom and tried to run away with the Blade Ship :P
Actually Visser Three could have been a more impressive villain without succeeding in killing the Animorphs if the Yeerk invasion were more widespread, if he were so busy succeeding everywhere else that often bumbling Sub-Vissers and Sub-Officers had to deal with the Animorphs instead of him personally, it would have made him more of a treat to see and less of a joke, he could give orders and such through holo-transmissions, and when the Animorphs see him in the flesh they'd think "we're screwed" rather than "Oh look, it's uncle Visser Three come to play!" I like that he's barely thwarted in book one and in the early books he's still relatively feared. Anyone know what point it was exactly that the Animorphs started seeing him as a joke that could but probably wouldnt manage to kill them like kids dancing on railroad tracks?
The Animorphs were a small admittedly dangerous guierilla unit but they were relatively contained due to their lack of ability to consistently travel great distances it wouldnt be unforgivable for the Visser to focus on his main goals and let trusted subordinates deal with the menace since it just wouldn't be his direct problem, he could say "Yes there are Andalites, but they're contained and we're hunting them down, they're just alive because we've been trying to capture one alive to infest and thereby learn the location of the rest of them, still you know how it is when you try to infest Andalites, am I right? In the meantime I am focusing on meeting your quotas of infested humans, and have installed Dracon cannons on the planet's moon, they're cloaked so the humans don't see them and they'll make for a nasty surprise for any aditional andalite forces"
I mean seriously, Visser One and the council would have had so much less to rag on him about if he just focused on his real mission. He wouldn't be impressing anyone with the amount of time those guerillas went uncaught but if his success so overwhelmed their setbacks that their presence was more of a footnote isntead of the whole report he definately wouldn't have been losing any face. Instead the Yeerks wanted just one town and Visser Three made the Animorphs his personal project, this is why it was necessary that he be an idiot.
Also I disapprove of Yeerks interrogating anything they can infest. It's madening that they would do something so unnecessary.
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Maybe there could be a very smart, Visser 1-like henchman who could easily defeat the Animorphs, but is held back by what Visser 3 wants to do.
There was, he infested Tom and tried to run away with the Blade Ship :P
Yeah. Too bad he was such a minor character throughout. About the obnly time we ever see him is at Jake's house. Hardly ever on the battle field.
Actually Visser Three could have been a more impressive villain without succeeding in killing the Animorphs if the Yeerk invasion were more widespread, if he were so busy succeeding everywhere else that often bumbling Sub-Vissers and Sub-Officers had to deal with the Animorphs instead of him personally, it would have made him more of a treat to see and less of a joke, he could give orders and such through holo-transmissions, and when the Animorphs see him in the flesh they'd think "we're screwed" rather than "Oh look, it's uncle Visser Three come to play!" I like that he's barely thwarted in book one and in the early books he's still relatively feared. Anyone know what point it was exactly that the Animorphs started seeing him as a joke that could but probably wouldnt manage to kill them like kids dancing on railroad tracks?
The Animorphs were a small admittedly dangerous guierilla unit but they were relatively contained due to their lack of ability to consistently travel great distances it wouldnt be unforgivable for the Visser to focus on his main goals and let trusted subordinates deal with the menace since it just wouldn't be his direct problem, he could say "Yes there are Andalites, but they're contained and we're hunting them down, they're just alive because we've been trying to capture one alive to infest and thereby learn the location of the rest of them, still you know how it is when you try to infest Andalites, am I right? In the meantime I am focusing on meeting your quotas of infested humans, and have installed Dracon cannons on the planet's moon, they're cloaked so the humans don't see them and they'll make for a nasty surprise for any aditional andalite forces"
I mean seriously, Visser One and the council would have had so much less to rag on him about if he just focused on his real mission. He wouldn't be impressing anyone with the amount of time those guerillas went uncaught but if his success so overwhelmed their setbacks that their presence was more of a footnote isntead of the whole report he definately wouldn't have been losing any face. Instead the Yeerks wanted just one town and Visser Three made the Animorphs his personal project, this is why it was necessary that he be an idiot.
Yes, that could work. Visser Three could easily focus on other countries. Overseeing major pools under other major cities across the world, while Chapman and Taylor try to handle the Animorphs. And when he does show up, he has that aura of evil they talk about in the first books.
At first it's like they can't even stare him in the eyes without their insides churning with fear. I liked that. It didn't take long for the villain decay to start, though. Villain decay is a trope I read about in the tv tropes and idioms site that I like to go to. That describes what happened to Visser Three.
I don't know when exactly he became a joke, but I remember this. One of the first things Ax says about him is "He will kill us all! He killed Elfangor!", or something along those lines, as he swims erradically in fear. Then book twelve, when he sees a lebtan javelin fish he's like "Ooh, I always wanted to see one of those.". Also in that book, Rachel is more angry at JJ than afraid of Visser Three.
Also I disapprove of Yeerks interrogating anything they can infest. It's madening that they would do something so unnecessary.
I V3's case, I think it's mainly because he likes to hurt people. Though it does seem odd that any interrogation would take place when infestation is possible. And he could have all the time in the world to torture them, after he gains the information.
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Actually Visser Three could have been a more impressive villain without succeeding in killing the Animorphs if the Yeerk invasion were more widespread, if he were so busy succeeding everywhere else that often bumbling Sub-Vissers and Sub-Officers had to deal with the Animorphs instead of him personally, it would have made him more of a treat to see and less of a joke, he could give orders and such through holo-transmissions, and when the Animorphs see him in the flesh they'd think "we're screwed" rather than "Oh look, it's uncle Visser Three come to play!" I like that he's barely thwarted in book one and in the early books he's still relatively feared. Anyone know what point it was exactly that the Animorphs started seeing him as a joke that could but probably wouldnt manage to kill them like kids dancing on railroad tracks?
You know, a quirky mini-boss squad could have averted this problem very easily. In fact, that's one of my favorite parts about Taylor. She was like V3's second-in-command, right? There could have very easily been a group of three or four threatening-but-not-that-threatening Sub-Vissers to keep the Animorphs busy instead of always relying on Visser Three. Sort of like how Megatron has all of his henchman mess with the Autobots for the first two seasons of TFA.
The Animorphs were a small admittedly dangerous guierilla unit but they were relatively contained due to their lack of ability to consistently travel great distances it wouldnt be unforgivable for the Visser to focus on his main goals and let trusted subordinates deal with the menace since it just wouldn't be his direct problem, he could say "Yes there are Andalites, but they're contained and we're hunting them down, they're just alive because we've been trying to capture one alive to infest and thereby learn the location of the rest of them, still you know how it is when you try to infest Andalites, am I right? In the meantime I am focusing on meeting your quotas of infested humans, and have installed Dracon cannons on the planet's moon, they're cloaked so the humans don't see them and they'll make for a nasty surprise for any aditional andalite forces"
Haha this part usually kills me, the Animorphs are always all paranoid with their "We can't tell you our last names or where we live" stuff, and I'll grant them the last names, but really, why can't you tell us where you live? You only ever fight within your hometown, save a couple notable exceptions, and the only (or at least largest) Yeerk Pool complex is there, so the Yeerks already know where you are! You're not saving yourselves at all by keeping that information from your readers.
And I totally agree with the second part, too--if Visser Three really expended that much energy on capturing the Animorphs, how the hell did anything else even get done? The times where his plans actually involved infesting large amounts of humans or trying to advance the takeover were always the best books.
Also I disapprove of Yeerks interrogating anything they can infest. It's madening that they would do something so unnecessary.
This is my biggest gripe in the whole series. I get that Visser Three doesn't want any other Andalites infested, because his host wouldn't be unique anymore. It's a weak explanation, but it's there. But why the hell didn't anyone else ever infest (or at least express an interest to infest) the Animorphs, either for the morph-capable hosts or for the valuable information they certainly had? Why would Yeerks even need interrogation/torture? They are their own perfect interrogators. The threat of infestation was always there, and I think it was one of the more compelling threats, but it didn't get driven home anywhere near enough.
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I'd kind of like to have seen either Tom or Melissa join the team toward the end...if KAA still wanted Tom to die, it could have still happened. Imagine saving him and then he dies after that.
You all have had some good ideas too.
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Hey, I'm knew but know alot about animorphs and I honestly think, that Rachel shouldn't have died, too be honest i thougth it was gonna be Jake, but I was kinda glad she did, because, Rachel kind of scared me a little
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Jake and Marco together...
but that is just cuz Sakki is a dirty girl XD
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Let's see. What do I think about this?
1) Tobias should have been given a much larger role in the series. I mean, apart from his "eyes in the sky" bit.
2) In addition to the above: Tobias should have been given some sort of cool battle morph, aside from Ket Halpak.
3) Most importantly of all; a better return for David.
4) A confrontation between Esplin 9466 Primary and Esplin 9466 Lesser (a little sibling rivalry is always interesting, no?)
5) Have Tobias explain a bit more about what it was like to morph Taylor (not anything extreme, but you know...)
6) Leave out anything with the Helmacrons...usless little buggers.
7) Explain the Kelbrid, The Anati, and the One (who introduces more plot devices in the last book? An incompetent person!)
8) Have Tobias get his human body back at some point (Sort of ruins his whole character...but still.)
9) Should have been a Taxxon chronicles book.
10) Explain the origins of the Drode.
11) Explain the origins of Crayak
12) Explain the origins of the Time Matrix
13) Explain Sario Rips
14) Get minor characters like Jordan and Melissa more involved.
15) Dont have Rachel enter Marco's body in the Journey.
16) Explain the relation of the Garatrons (if any) to the Andalites.
17) Don't kill the Auxiliaries (at least, not James)
18) More about the Council of Thirteen
19) Give us the name of Tom's new Yeerk
20) Show us more Vissers