Why didn't they make a rule against killing Hork-Bajir?

[Patrick Ripoll]

it is sad that the animalmorphs were killing of Hork Bajir but Hork Bajir are indeed dangerous and have deadly blades so sometime it is about living alive.

[goom]

i think despite everyone being good hearted, aliens are still aliens....kinda like the lesson in ender's series. ^^

still, i'm sure that the animorphs viewed hork-bajir above taxxons for example.
not all aliens are the same, some deserve to live a lot more than others

[Azguard]

true that. but no one deserves more to live than humans.

[Slushie Man]

Cassie asked this exact same question in Book 9 and the answer she was given was: "Look, Cassie, you're human. Homo sapien. Your job is to keep yourself and your species
alive. That's all nature wants from you. That's the whole point of evolution -- to survive."

So basically what he's saying is humans come first for them, as any sentient species would do - Andalites would put Andalites first, Hork-Bajir would put Hork-Bajir first, ect. The protection of the human race comes first and anything else is only secondary to that.

[TheSoulEater]

It's easy to avoid killing a human. Disarm 'em, or knock 'em out, or whatever. But Hork-Bajir are tough as hell, and armed to the teeth. Death is the only reliable way to dispose of them.

And, yeah. The Animorphs were human, fighting a war to save humanity. They weren't so sympathetic to the Hork-Bajir, who were pretty much a lost cause, anyway.

[zaprowsdower]

How could they really fight the war if they didn't? ???

[Azguard]

well, if you let a hork bajir go,  that's more blades of glory the next time you see him. if you killed him, that's a few less razors to worry about. versus humans....naturally, we don't have much. except for some RAfians.

[Duff]

well from a reader standpoint, killing a human is alot different than killing an alien. I doubt any publisher would have allowed the books to include their heroes killing humans all the time. Which kinda concerns you that they had absolutely no problem letting the authors kill aliens even after it was established that they were sentient, feeling, talking beings exactly like humans.

I think by the time they found out that hork bajir were so similar to humans they had already killed so many it was just easier for them to keep doing it. they knew they had to kill them to survive the war but I think had they known they were sentient slaves from the beginning they never would have been able to make the first kill. But after the first one it isnt so hard

[Breakability]

The Hork Bajir being kind and peaceful at heart means nothing if they're infected with Yeerk nastiness. If I were them, I wouldn't stand around thinking, "Aww, poor thing, we should help it!" While a Hork came at me with slashing blades.

Their immediate reaction was survival, and saving them would not have kept them alive, in the beginning at least.

[Azguard]

yeah, its different when a Human came at you slashing with....nails.

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

I also think it was a mind thing.  They live with humans, are friends with humans, and ARE humans.  They couldn't just go around killing their species.  Because the Hork-Bajir were from a whole different galaxy (I think), it made it a lot easier to kill them.  They were unfamiliar.

[Gafrash]

The Hork-Bajir were a decent pacifist species, with their own sentience, yes, with their very own families, yes, but physically strong and lethal, and the Yeerks took advantage of this. With a 'slight' exception of Rachel, the Animorphs DID avoid them where possible! This was also obvious!
A rule against killing a human-Controller was about not losing sight of what they were fighting for. But I think a rule where they shouldn't kill Hork-Bajir-Controllers would be self-sabotaging.

I think the quote from #30 adds to what pretty much everyone has already said:

....

"And yet..." Visser One mused. "And yet, the casualty reports from Earth are always weighted heavily toward Hork-Bajir and Taxxons. In fact. . . I am trying to recall when I have ever seen a report listing a human-Controller casualty."

My guts were ice.

We had made a mistake. We had made a terrible mistake.

<What do I say?> Cassie demanded.

<l . . . I . . .> My brain wouldn't work. The thoughts wouldn't form into any sort of order.

Visser One had just put her finger on our greatest secret.

<Say something!> Rachel yelled.

<No, too late,> Jake interrupted. <Too late. Let it go. No choice.>

"Well, well, well," Visser One said.

She knew.

There was only one reason why a group of Andalite guerrilla fighters would inflict more casualties on Hork-Bajir than on humans: The Andalite guerillas weren't Andalites.

A human would spare a human life.

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Well, they were technically playing along as 'Andalite Bandits' fighting the Yeerk campaign on Earth. So, in Visser One's P.O.V., there should have been just as many casualties on the human side. Being a resistance for Earth, they should have responded something like <Perhaps we are not as willing to kill the people we are trying to save as you Yeerk filth are.>
But then the Visser would have spat some hypocrisy over the Hork-Bajir Homeworld rarara...
Damn! That moment really bites me. It's really hard to pick what they could have said there.

[Azguard]

hahha, good one huh? the yeerks are smart.

[Breakability]

I wouldn't say Visser Three is particularly smart, though. Children were able to thwart him time after time, and yet Visser One picks up on their act within seconds.

I could be wrong, though. I haven't read the series in awhile and I just decided to pick it up again.