David

[EmberGryphon]

I love your sig

What about the other David book, The Return? Comments?

Thankyou. =3

I'm gonna mostly agree with Terenia here... at first, I thought I was just being kind of slow, finding that book hard to follow. ^^() I mean, Cassie is there but she's not but she is. And the how of David's return doesn't seem to be... doesn't seem to be properly fleshed out.
(What I wanted was for Crayak to give David his morphing power back and send him back in time to acquire his human self, just like Ellimist did with Tobias. Human!David wakes up to see rat!David, and after establishing that it's just a dream, rat!David warns his old human self that the Animorphs are going to try to kill him. Like Tobias mentioned when he got his human morph, he remembers the dream, which acts as the catalyst for David betraying the Animorphs in the first place.)
It's what I imagined when I first heard David was coming back, and darn it, I was disappointed. I mean, I didn't expect that exact scenario, but I expected something slightly more thoughtful than what we got...

I liked the ideas in the book... I like Rachel realizing that the other Animorphs use her to do the dirty work. I like her trying to control her darker side, trying to keep herself human. I like her choice at the end. What really, really bothers me is that, in the end, once more, we get the exact same feed that we've gotten with Rachel every book since the Seperation- "I realized I'm an angry person, so I've been working on it. I'm better now. I don't enjoy it as much. Self-improvement. Making it all better."  Everything in this book felt like a turning point, but we couldn't just rest on the fact that Rachel has changed, and doesn't get to go back. We know she doesn't stop enjoying the fight. We know she doesn't stop doing the Animorphs' dirty work. We know she continues to be angry and difficult to deal with. But I guess when you've ended half a dozen books on the exact same line, it's a hard habit to break...?

[gecko52]

I just don't get it, does he die in the Return or live?

[RYTX]

Well really it's up to you to interpert it; they left it open for that.

I like to think I dies but not by Rachels hand.
I toy with the idea he was picked off by a random red-tail
Not tobias those; if he knew it was david he wouldn't, and if he didn't it'd just be cruel

[Chad32]

I don't know if he dies or not, but I don't like that he was made to live that kind of life. I kind of sympathise with him, but I also feel it was also his fault.

[EmberGryphon]

Personally, I think Rachel killed him.

Several books later, when Jake tells her what he wants her to do in 54, she warns him that if he sends her to do it, she will do it- she WILL be able to kill a human being she's known all her life. As though she's killed a human being she knew before, and therefore knows she'd be able to do it again. I believe her killing David was a huge turning point that was required to get her to the level of ruthlessness she needed to kill Tom later in the series.

But the end of 48 is left to the interpretation of the reader. So it's up to you whether you think she did or didn't.

This thread from the Animorphs LJ has some pretty sweet posts on the topic. Particularly the last one.

[gecko52]

Well, I just think it's not gone into enough

[SuperBlue]

I never liked David even when he was good(well...as good as he could get) I knew as soon as I heard about the David trilogy I thought "cool, a new Animorph...wander how long that's gonna last" and when I actually read "the Threat" David just gave off the vibe that he was gonna do exactly what he did in future books. that moment he had with Rachel where she jammed the fork in his ear was priceless, and I applaud Rachel for not just killing him on the spot like I would've LOL I would have take that fork and rammed it right into his eye and slowly twisted it until he bled to death, LOL just like how at the end of the return, I would have killed him. he's much too dangerous to the mission to be left alive.

I would have loved to see David as a main antagonist, maybe the animorphs would have found a way to kill the Drode so Crayak makes David the new Drode. I remember reading a fic where that happened, it was after Rachel died and the Ellimist made her his sidekick and gave her some of his powers so that she could fight Crayak and David alongside him. It was a pretty epic battle DBZish battle lol. But yeah, I would loved to see more of David, he was a character who had a lot of potential to be an even better villain than the Yeerks.

as for his "heroic sacrifice" I could see him dieing for his parents, but not anybody else, although Im pretty sure had he stayed on the team then Jake would have sent him on that suicide mission instead of Rachel. if David were to make some type of heroic sacrifise, it would most likely be......

 him and the animorphs fighting a bunch of controllers, his parents r finally freed, they're all surrounded by controllers, there's only one way to escape and it would involve one person(*cough*David*cough*) staying behind to fend off the controllers while the others made a quick get a way with David's parents following them

[visser101]

i agree with those that said David was not evil, a brat yes, but not evil. he lived a vary shallow life and lost it all in a few minutes then dragged into a war with little choice in the matter and given little hope of getting his past life back.

the big things i saw during the three books was how stressed the group was becoming and how much Cassie was holding out on them. two maybe three books earlier David may have been able too fit himself into the animorphs after 19... kid never had a chance.

[gecko52]

Both those statements are true, but he tried to kill them. Kill them! That kind of behavior isn't cool

[SuperBlue]

lol true but they should be used to people trying to kill them by now

[Chad32]

I don't remember all the details about Cassie holding back, but since this is right after the book where she quits, I'm not too surprised that she would.

[Phoenix004]

Seriously? I'm the first person to vote for David as the most evil of those three? I find that surprising. Yes I know Visser Three did a lot more terrible things, but that doesn't make him much worse than most of his fellow Yeerks. David on the other hand, was a human being who willingly chose to betray and try to murder his own people. In my mind, David is more evil than Visser Three. He may have just started off as a jerk, but it takes more than being a jerk to kill someone.

Nobody knows if Rachel killed David at the end of #48, but I don't think she did. Considering the way she felt and the things she said about being one of the good guys, I don't think she had it in her to kill David, even as an act of mercy. Hard to say for sure though, as I'd have expected her to talk about it with the others if she had spared him.

It could have been interesting to see David as a recurring villain, but it might have been difficult to pull off. And I think having him do a "heroic sacrifice" is a bad idea as that would create more sympathy for his character (not to mention the fact that he was too much of a selfish bastard to do something selfless).

[Chad32]

Betraying and murdering his own people sounds a lot like Visser Three to me. At least David had some standards. He only tried to kill the Anis while they were in morph. When Visser Three kills people, it's like <I told you to bring me UNSWEETENED tea!>*kills*. David had problems, and I didn't approve of his actions, but Visser Three is a lot worse.

I obviously already sympathise with David. Though a heroic sacrifice may be out of character for him. Even if his parents were involved.

[visser101]

Seriously? I'm the first person to vote for David as the most evil of those three? I find that surprising. Yes I know Visser Three did a lot more terrible things, but that doesn't make him much worse than most of his fellow Yeerks. David on the other hand, was a human being who willingly chose to betray and try to murder his own people. In my mind, David is more evil than Visser Three. He may have just started off as a jerk, but it takes more than being a jerk to kill someone.

Nobody knows if Rachel killed David at the end of #48, but I don't think she did. Considering the way she felt and the things she said about being one of the good guys, I don't think she had it in her to kill David, even as an act of mercy. Hard to say for sure though, as I'd have expected her to talk about it with the others if she had spared him.

It could have been interesting to see David as a recurring villain, but it might have been difficult to pull off. And I think having him do a "heroic sacrifice" is a bad idea as that would create more sympathy for his character (not to mention the fact that he was too much of a selfish bastard to do something selfless).

Visser 3 killed more yeerks then he did humans, going even as far as eating his fellow slugs alive.

David started out wanting respect, something he never understood. then he realized all the cumforts he took for granted was gone, the animorphs did not care and expected him too live off their charity! hell no, he had his pride and power too provide for him self, what ever he took was OK because he would be the one risking his life. Animorphs would not allow that. Well if they were going too be like that he would take his blue box and leave, the animorphs could fight they little war however they wanted. He knew they wouldn't give him the box back so he had too make them give it back, too show him respect. with his sense of right and wrong rooted only in what could be proven in a court of law the whole morphing thing made him seem beyond the law. Only illegal if you get caught. 

in the end thanks too his now twisted logic everything was right in the world again. the arrogant animorphs were humbled by his awesomeness. the last bit of his old life and key too his future was being returned. On top of that he was getting a somewhat normal life back by replacing a practical dead person AND sparing that person's parents the pain of watching their kid die. Where is the evil in that?

[RYTX]

On top of that he was getting a somewhat normal life back by replacing a practical dead person AND sparing that person's parents the pain of watching their kid die. Where is the evil in that?

  Actually, I find replacing Sadler perhaps the most evil of all the things he tried to do.
He'd be forcing a lie onto these people for the rest of their lives, and even if Sadler wasn't the greatest kid in the world do you really think David would treat the family with any sense of love or respect? Much as the truth would suck in that situation, do you think it'd be better than letting them life a lie?
Plus, wtf would he have done with the guys body.
David was messed up, and that plan was undoubtedly sick.
Still wouldn't put him past the willful malice of the Visser however