Minor Characters

[vivaria]

Thought maybe I'd make a general topic to talk about any of the minor/supporting characters. I hadn't seen any active ones, and there are so many characters! I even have come up with some headcanons and AUs about quite a few of them.

So! Who are your favorites, and why? Who do you wish had more screen time and backstory? What are your speculations or headcanons about them, if any?

[planetstella]

I really liked chapman in book 2. I was sad that he didn't have any important roles after that... I mean, he appeared a couple more times, and a buffalo morphed him once but that's still pretty minor for his character alone. Plus, Melissa basically got written off after the second book, too.

[vivaria]

I really liked chapman in book 2. I was sad that he didn't have any important roles after that... I mean, he appeared a couple more times, and a buffalo morphed him once but that's still pretty minor for his character alone. Plus, Melissa basically got written off after the second book, too.

I'm glad Chapman's Yeerk was... generous enough as one can be while involved in Yeerk military hierarchy to at least allow Melissa to remain free for the three years the invasion has endured.
 
I've said this in other places on the net, but I think that while it would have been too huge of a risk to the Animorphs, I was kind of expecting/hoping for Melissa to join them! She could have been a valuable spy or something if she could mentally handle it.

[planetstella]

Yeah, she actually was technically in the group in an alternate reality in Megamorphs 3

[Chad32]

Chapman's Yeerk was about as nice as one can be, while not defying Visser Three like the YPM. He made an agreement not to have Mellissa infested, and once told V3 that 60% of people who recently became full members also became voluntary hosts.

I would have really liked some occasional focus on the Chee, YPM, and Hork-Bajir. Certainly a day in the limelight book every now and then can help us get a clear picture of the other groups, while still keeping the Animoprhs firmly in the main character category. I think we can agree it would have been better than buffa-human and Australia.

I would have loved it if David came back as a villain who could morph.

[NothingFromSomething]

David has such a perfect, fitting, dramatic death though.  Bringing him back again could potentially feel really, really forced.  He sort of served his role already, the most personal & intrinsic villain they faced.  It'd just be retreading the same ground already covered in that three-book arc.

[Chad32]

Really? You think that was perfect, fitting, and dramatic? Never mind that it wasn't a death, unless you think he wouldn't survive long as a rat. Obviously they did bring him back, and Crayak had something to do with it. It was just kind of a waste of a good plot. Like the mutated Humans under the ocean. Why couldn't it have been proper aliens? You can't look at a nature documentary about life in the deep ocean, and think the idea of aquatic alien lifeforms is ridiculous.

Back to David, I just think he could have been an interesting villain, partly because he was a villain they created.

[vivaria]

I think David was an interesting character in an interesting predicament. He could easily have disastrous effects for the Animorphs during the war, all he'd have to do is tip the right person about who they are, and the Human resistance is easily destroyed just like that. As a rat nothlit, there's no chance of a Yeerk even wanting to infesting him, and his parents are already controllers, so what would he have to lose?

If David had gotten a deal similar to Tobais, in that he'd be a rat nothlit that can morph, that could be potentially thrilling to have him as a recurring villain. But at the same time, the Animorphs could so easily be defeated, especially during the events of books 20-22! But he didn't, and decided instead to plan with Crayak to get his own personal revenge, specifically on Rachel.

Also, I wish at the very least they could have addressed to David's parents about what happened to him, after the war. Even just to lie and tell them about how he "fought bravely and gave his life," or something like that.

[Chad32]

I would have played him as an enemy of the Anis and the Yeerks, so it's not like he'd go to the Yeerks and get them infested. I think there was some interesting potential, and if they were going to bring him back at all, they should have done more than what they did. Did David really have to be involved in a plot to make Rachel lose her mind and become a servant of Crayak? I don't think so.

[vivaria]

Ah I see! That would have been really cool...

Did David really have to be involved in a plot to make Rachel lose her mind and become a servant of Crayak? I don't think so.

Absolutely agree with you here. As great in terms of character introspection as the book was for Rachel, it was quite a mess and lost potential for David.

[skjaedigare]

Yeah, she actually was technically in the group in an alternate reality in Megamorphs 3

Yeah. I feel like she and "book 2 Chapman" had a lot of potential for a compelling narrative arch that just wasn't followed through. Pity, really. I would have liked to know what happened to them in the end.

[Chad32]

Probably the best book in the series that some people consider filler. KA can be quite the good writer when she's interested in a series.

[vivaria]

I know the last book is a sore subject for most, but I really wish we had gotten to know the new characters more and how they played off of each other and the old Animorphs during the rescue mission. I'd be so disappointed if they were intended to be nothing but simple replacement characters in almost every way for Rachel, Cassie, and Ax, with little to no individuality to them.

[Chad32]

Given that it's the last book in the series, that's pretty much all they can be outside of fanfics. Of curse if I was going to write a fanfic regarding the ending, I would have changed most of it.

[vivaria]

Personally, I liked the last book and I wouldn't change that much of it, but that's for another topic.

Judging from what little information was given, it's just kind of impressive and interesting to me that a First Officer would risk his job and rank, his Andalite body, and his life for this rescue mission. Especially since most Andalite military folks that we've all seen in the books were crooked in one way or another.

Heck, I want to know why the two newbie Animorphs volunteered too, knowing full well that it's a suicide mission. They aren't friends with any of the others, they don't really know them outside of books, media coverage, and their classes with Jake, and yet they put their lives up for grabs for the mission anyway.