Pick your favorite morphs!

[A ghost you know]

(Note to the mods: there is a similar thread, but I haven't found any like this one. Feel free to lock this if I'm wrong)

Suppose you could have 5 morphs. Just 5 - no more. (Fewer is OK)
Which would you pick, and why? Keep in mind you'll need something for battle, something for surveillance, and something for hiding/getting into small areas. Also keep in mind that many daylight animals tend to have trouble seeing at night, which would pose a problem if you ended up in a night battle...

Here are my 5; I've tried to make mine as diverse as possible to cover as many situations as possible.

#1: Tiger. It's got good speed and agility, and the power is something you can't compete with. The roar scares the daylights out of people, too. Add in adaptability, night vision, and good swimming ability, and Yeerks have a real problem on their hands. Its only downside is little stamina, which means it would have serious problems with a long retreat or a long chase (both of which are fairly common for the Animorphs)

#2: ****roach. It's insanely hardy (they can go without air for 45 minutes, and some have survived being trapped under water for 30 minutes) and very fast. It has one serious downside, though: since most people hate ****roaches, if ****roaches regularly show up at the morpher's location, ****roach poison & traps are likely to be liberally spread.

#3: Sharp-shinned hawk. It's small, agile, and fast, which makes it perfect for surveillance or a quick escape. Unfortunately, there's probably not much attack power in it, though, as the birds are only about a foot long.

#4: Hammerhead shark. Excellent 360-degree vision, the ability to sense electrical signals (probably useful for finding ships, subs, etc.), good speed and maneuverability, and excellent attack abilities. I can't think of any downsides.

#5: Coyote. It's got good stamina, good speed, and the ability to function well during both night and day. It also has the ability to swim, which could be useful for retreats, and has decent adaptability as well. Unfortunately, this one has two downsides. First, it's small: according to Wikipedia, a coyote is 30-34 inches long, 23-26 inches tall at the shoulder, and weighs 15-46 pounds. I doubt it could take even one Hork-Bajir. Second, coyotes usually travel in pairs because there's too much fighting in packs. That could make life difficult for the morpher, since he would have to either A. split up the group or B. constantly fight the coyote instincts. Neither option is good.

[Chad32]

I've made a list before, but I had multiple morphs in each area.

Battle: Gorilla. It's a reasonably strong morph with opposable thumbs so I can actually hold things.

Stealth: Rat. It can get into a lot of places, and can chew through just about anything, including metal pipes. Dragonfly would also be good.

Flight: I think someone mentioned the swift was a great long distance flyer, and less noticable than something like a goose.

Sea: Shark. I only have one slot left, so my sea morph would need to be something that can breathe under water. Not sure what kind, though.

Ordinarily I would choose more, but if I only had five I think those would be my five. I'm pretty sure sharks can survive in fresh water.

[Cloudbreaker]

Lists like this are always fun.

#1: American Bison.  Big, powerful, and can trample you like a tank, but it isn't quite so big that it can't maneuver around inside if need be (although it wouldn't be easy).

#2: Dragonfly.  Small, fast, and have great vision for a bug.  Not to mention they are really cool.

#3: Screech Owl.  They can see well in the daytime or at night, they have camouflage, and they fly silently.

#4: Saltwater Crocodile.  They are fierce fighters on land or in the water, and they can hold their breath for a long time.

#5: Opossum.  They are good climbers, not unexpected in many urban environments, and I like them.

[CounterInstinct]

If it was just one morph, it'll be falcon. Flying seems to be the greatest extreme sport in the world. Not to mention you're fast and powerful (relative to a falcon's size).

[goom]

definitely a hawk of some sort. probably a red-tail, since they're relatively common and therefore wouldn't stick out (no bald eagle here )

bottlenose dolphin. who wouldn't love to swim as they did?
sure, a shark might have its advantages, but i think i'd prefer the dolphin in the long run.

my surveillance morph would have to be the good old roach. nothing kills those guys.

****roaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some can go without air for 45 minutes. In one experiment, ****roaches were able to recover from being submerged underwater for half an hour.

guessing you wiki'd that too, ghost.

for battle, i'd pick a howler. those guys are pretty beastly; not something a yeerk would want to mess with.

Their most fearsome weapon is the howl that gives them their name. The howl is modulated to affect the complex, intelligent brains of sentient beings, and will almost instantly disorient and cripple those who hear it. Howlers are very fast, extremely resilient, and highly talented at combat. Their super-fast regenerative abilities allow them to quickly overcome even the worst physical damage. The Howlers operate as a hive-mind; the experiences of any one Howler are shared amongst all of them, so that every single one may become the best possible combatant

last, for ground travel i'll take the (overused) wolf. no explanation needed here

[A ghost you know]

definitely a hawk of some sort. probably a red-tail, since they're relatively common and therefore wouldn't stick out (no bald eagle here )

The problem with any surveillance morph is that, eventually, somebody figures out that "well, that bird usually shows up before an attack on us, so it's got to be an enemy". I agree, though, a red-tailed hawk probably has a better chance of staying safe because it's common.

bottlenose dolphin. who wouldn't love to swim as they did?
sure, a shark might have its advantages, but i think i'd prefer the dolphin in the long run.

Interesting. I'd prefer the dolphin for a pleasure swim, but not for battle. When the Animorphs rescued Ax, one of them made a comment about how sharks are the perfect predator. Dolphins, on the other hand, are mostly peaceful.

my surveillance morph would have to be the good old roach. nothing kills those guys.

****roaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some can go without air for 45 minutes. In one experiment, ****roaches were able to recover from being submerged underwater for half an hour.

guessing you wiki'd that too, ghost.

Yep, I wiki'd all my morphs (including possible morphs that didn't make the final cut).

for battle, i'd pick a howler. those guys are pretty beastly; not something a yeerk would want to mess with.

Their most fearsome weapon is the howl that gives them their name. The howl is modulated to affect the complex, intelligent brains of sentient beings, and will almost instantly disorient and cripple those who hear it. Howlers are very fast, extremely resilient, and highly talented at combat. Their super-fast regenerative abilities allow them to quickly overcome even the worst physical damage. The Howlers operate as a hive-mind; the experiences of any one Howler are shared amongst all of them, so that every single one may become the best possible combatant

The problem with that is getting close enough to a howler to acquire it. Between their speed & their long-range weaponry (howl, Dracon beam, flechette gun, and goodness knows what else), most people would be sliced and diced a dozen ways before getting even close to them.
Or would you try a maneuver like Jake's to acquire one?

[Blaise Zebrataur]

My number one morph without a doubt would be a red-tailed hawk,it'd be so amazeing to fly and relax and enjoy the day that you was able to do so.I know it would just be for all,but I would be happy with just that.

[JohnBlaze]

Lion: B/c....it's a lion

Golden Eagle: b/c Rachel has the bald eagle
(yea, i noticed these are 2 of David's morphs)

Scorpion: idk....i dont recall anyone havin the morph

Squid: B/C.... who can say they've been a giant squid

Alligator: It's a tough animal to beat, especially in a water fight

[tobiasthehawk]

My favorite morph will forever be wolves. I admire those animals more then anything!

[Ferahgo]

...Apologies for off-topicness, but I'm too busy loling at the fact that the word that starts with a c and ends in an "ock" is a censored word, regardless of context. And this is the funniest context I've seen yet.

****roach is a dirty word! We should start saying penisroach instead, since it's more appropriate.