Which Animorph had the best battle morph?

[Tim Bruening]

Always seemed weird to me Cassie stayed with the wolf, seems like a Hork-Bajir wouldn't have too much trouble taking that down.

Me too, Cassie's battle morphs aways seemed weaker than everyone elses. It's sad, she had some cool things (Buffalo, Kangaroo, Elephant, Anteater, Leeran, and Polar Bear), but she forgot about all of them.

After Book 18, why didn't the Animorphs use the telepathic Leeran morph to scan for Controllers, and/or scan for people who could be trusted with morphing powers?

[Chad32]

For the same reason Jake never used his Howler morph again, and no one ever busted out the T-Rexes after the second Megamorphs. They're not allowed to use the incredibly useful morphs they get from these off world/alternate reality/ whatever adventures they go on.

[Tim Bruening]

For the same reason Jake never used his Howler morph again, and no one ever busted out the T-Rexes after the second Megamorphs. They're not allowed to use the incredibly useful morphs they get from these off world/alternate reality/ whatever adventures they go on.

Where in "The Attack" is it stated that the Elimist/Crayark won't allow Jake to use the Howler morph again?  Aftermath of Megamorph #2:  The Animorphs didn't seem to know why they couldn't use the dinosaur morphs again, so hadn't been specifically told no by any superbeings.

[NickDaGriff]

I heard a theory somewhere, (not sure where, coulda been CinnamonBunzuh or Poparena) that Jake never morphed Howler again because that would open him up to the memory network again, which could potentially mean being instantly deleted or possessed by Crayak within the rules of the cosmic game.  Would you really want to expose your consciousness to direct contact with an incredibly powerful and evil extradimensional being?  It is something Jake had nightmares about for months, maybe a year before #26 rolled around, so you can understand how he'd be kind of uncomfortable about getting close to that subject.

They never used the dino morphs because those were acquired during a sario rip, which is apparently a sort of time loop that resets everything in the universe except for your brain.  Remember, Jake had a jaguar from #11, but he found out he couldn't morph it again at the end of the book because Jake ended up preventing the loop from happening, which meant that he never actually acquired it.

[Chad32]

He prevented the time loop from happening in 11, but they actually fulfilled the extinction of the dinosaurs in Megamorphs. That's a bit different.

[Tim Bruening]

I heard a theory somewhere, (not sure where, coulda been CinnamonBunzuh or Poparena) that Jake never morphed Howler again because that would open him up to the memory network again, which could potentially mean being instantly deleted or possessed by Crayak within the rules of the cosmic game.  Would you really want to expose your consciousness to direct contact with an incredibly powerful and evil extradimensional being?  It is something Jake had nightmares about for months, maybe a year before #26 rolled around, so you can understand how he'd be kind of uncomfortable about getting close to that subject.

They never used the dino morphs because those were acquired during a sario rip, which is apparently a sort of time loop that resets everything in the universe except for your brain.  Remember, Jake had a jaguar from #11, but he found out he couldn't morph it again at the end of the book because Jake ended up preventing the loop from happening, which meant that he never actually acquired it.

The above doesn't answer why the Animorphs never used the Leeran morphs again.

[DinosaurNothlit]

It's possible that, like the jaguar and dinosaur morphs, they never actually acquired those Leerans.  Keep in mind that all that was happening to the morph-masses extruded from their mosquito morphs, apparently during an instant in time from the perspective of their actual selves, since no time appeared to pass during the whole incident.  So, who knows?

[NickDaGriff]

He prevented the time loop from happening in 11, but they actually fulfilled the extinction of the dinosaurs in Megamorphs. That's a bit different.

Yeah, but MM2 threw a bunch of the universe's established rules out the window just because they could.  Point is, it was called a sario rip, so it hit the reset button for everything but their consciousnesses.  We can't really take that book as full canon because there are just too many plot holes.

It's possible that, like the jaguar and dinosaur morphs, they never actually acquired those Leerans.  Keep in mind that all that was happening to the morph-masses extruded from their mosquito morphs, apparently during an instant in time from the perspective of their actual selves, since no time appeared to pass during the whole incident.  So, who knows?

Oh god, I hope not.  That would kill my fanfic dead.

[Tim Bruening]

It's possible that, like the jaguar and dinosaur morphs, they never actually acquired those Leerans.  Keep in mind that all that was happening to the morph-masses extruded from their mosquito morphs, apparently during an instant in time from the perspective of their actual selves, since no time appeared to pass during the whole incident.  So, who knows?

Book 18: The Decision:  The Animorphs get taken to Leera, where they play a crucial role in implementing the Andalite plan to blow up the main continent so as to wipe out lots of Yeerks.  The bombs had failed to explode, so the Animorphs had to proceed to the detonator to arm it so that the Andalites could activate it.  The Animorphs have to fight their way to the detonator, as they disappear one by one.  Ax is the last one standing.  He arms the detonator and directs the Andalites to detonate it.  Just before the bombs explode and a Hork-Bajir shoots Ax, he gets snapped back to Earth several days earlier.  If the Animorphs were never actually there, then the main continent does not get blown up, and the Yeerks win!  I therefore assumed that this episode actually happened, so the Animorphs who acquired Leerans should still have those morphs!

[NickDaGriff]

It's not so much a question of whether or not it happened (because it definitely did), it's a question of whether it works on the vague sario rip rules.

[Quaf]

haha who was the other person who voted for walrus dude?

[Snakie]

Answer's gotta be Rachel.  That Bear got the Animorphs out of tight spots from the very first time she ever even used it.  Definitely the most powerful and durable of the primary battle morphs, the only limitation I can recall being stated was its poor eyesight.

And the Elephant, though it didn't get much use post-#7 The Stranger, was pretty awesome and iconic too.

I'd have seriously considered the Tiger if he hadn't gotten crushed by a relatively inexperienced David in lion morph.  Tigers were my favorite animal growing up, and I remember that being one of the most disappointing moments of the series for me.

Not sure elephants and rhinos should even be mentioned, though.  Doesn't everyone have one of those since #22 The Solution when they use them to break up the world leaders meeting?  It would be like mentioning polar bears.

Speaking of those, anyone else annoyed that Cassie and Tobias usually stuck with their wolf and hawk morphs despite acquiring polar bears and other more powerful animals?

[Tim Bruening]

But what about Cassie's Cape Buffalo (The Hidden)?

[pallosalama]

[unnecessarily long explanation about what happened in the book]

It isn't question of whether it happened or not, but more of did they acquire the morphs permanently.
Most likely they didn't, because of the "doubling" through zerospace. And also they were in morph during all those Leeran incidents.
Interesting thought, morphing while in morph...