I agree that, at least in-canon, the Helmacrons are passed off as a joke species. They're played up for laughs, and nobody really takes them very seriously.
But I've come up with a few of my own personal theories on their existence which have really intrigued me, and which have me like them a heck of a lot better than I think even the authors ever intended them to be liked. I may have gone into this in another thread, but I don't remember where that was, so I suppose I'll just repeat it.
Everything, every single thing, about the Helmacrons can be explained by the fact that they are a 'fungible' species (as Visser Three offhandedly points out, in what was almost a throwaway line); when a Helmacron dies, its consciousness is absorbed back into the rest of the species as a whole.
This means that, on an individual level, a Helmacron cannot die. Think about the implications of this for a second. Each and every Helmacron has been 'alive' for the entirety of the existence of their species. I imagine that their 'consciousnesses' might intermingle with one another as each is reabsorbed into the rest of their species, but, on some level, all of Helmacron-kind would have been self-aware for all that time.
Which explains why the Helmacrons, as a race, simply do not process the idea of 'death' the way other races do. And we know from the Yeerks' knowledge of them, that they've had interactions with other species. Thus, they would probably be aware that they themselves are unique, as a race that cannot die. They would have seen other species' cultural perspectives of death, generally as a terrible and tragic affair. They might be confused by this, possibly seeking to emulate it, and that's why they hold it in such high regard on the one hand, while also being completely dismissive of it on the other. You see that contradiction, in how they treat their dead, versus how quick they are to try to kill each other.
Is it really any wonder that they've become completely obsessed with death, while at the same time unable to even acknowledge its seriousness? They solve their problems by 'killing' one another until all the survivors can agree on a course of action. They use death as a kind of twisted reward for being promoted to a position of power, preferring to respect a dead figurehead than a living one. They charge headlong at species that are thousands of times more powerful than themselves, seemingly unaware of the danger (they're aware of the danger, just not why dying is bad). And they revere their dead rivals that they had despised while alive.
I could be over-thinking this, of course, and they could just be insane. But, on the other hand, maybe that could have something to do with the fact that they've all been alive for millennia, as well.
To sum up: I, perhaps alone among Ani-fans, like the Helmacrons.
