Second in command.

[Chad32]

I don't think Jake ever made an official second in command. The need rarely came up. But if there was going to be one, who do you think it would be? List pros and cons for each member.

Rachel

Pros: She's the closest thing the group has to a true warrior, besides Ax.

Cons: Her favorite morph is a Grizzly bear. It's powerful, but has poor eyesight. Meaning that sometimes she just can't see how many enemies there are, and on at least one occassion she mistakes Horks for Humans. Namely in book 7. That can cloud her judgement in a situation. she had a shot at being #2, and blew it when she suggested they all go polar bear. If given another chance, she may have learned from that, though.


Marco

Pros: He has a strategic and ruthless side that can be an asset in battle.

Cons: He's the least willing to fight. He's the complainer and joker. That's not really good leadership ability.


Cassie

Pros: She has the highest morals, and thinks beyond the moment.

Cons: Her morals are extremely rigid. Even though she shows some growth beyond this in parts of the series like book 35, she slips back into that rigidness. This has caused her to do things like quit the group so she doesn't become like Rachel, trap David as a mouse instead of giving him a quick death, and hand over the box to the yeerks.


Ax

Pros: He is the official warrior of the group. The guy that knows more about Yeerks, does most of the talking to the enemy, and oftn the one who demorphs first in case there are enemies in a certain room.

Cons: He can be arrogant, and is extremely biased towards Yeerks. This is bad in a morally gray universe.


Tobias

Pros: Besides Ax, he's the most driven to fight the Yeerks. This is because it gives him purpose in life. He is the official lookout of the group, and having a bird's eye view of a battlefield is good for a commander.

Cons: For thirteen books, be lacks the power to morph. He's also not really a leader type guy. Judging from his Human life, he's much more of a follower.




There you go. Add to it, contradict what I said, or otherwise debate on who would make the best #2 of the group.

[morfowt]

Cons: He's the least willing to fight. He's the complainer and joker. That's not really good leadership ability.

he was least willing to fight until the end of book 5... and him being a joker isn't always a bad thing. he does it to hide his true emotions or to keep the others from being zombies...

[SuperBlue]

I always thought either Marco was second in command up until the book where Jake left Rachel in charge, meaning Rachel was the unofficial second in command

[morfowt]

Jake didn't exactly leave Rachel in charge, more they had a vote and rachel ended up being in charge, unless you're thinking of another book...

[SuperBlue]

eh, close enough. Either way tht kinda made Rachel the unofficial second in command

[AniDragon]

He seemed to leave Tobias in charge a lot when it was Tobias, Marco and Ax. But Marco usually took over in these cases, so I guess that tells us that Marco at the very least has more charisma when it comes to leading.

[RYTX]

I think it's kind of circumstancal; of the rest only Rachel and Marco had any honest leadership drive (I'd say Ax, but he took his role of Artish everywhere otherwise he'd probably be fairly good at it.)
Marco would be fit to lead in planning and preperation
Rachel shined in spur of the moment and keeping up the charge.
So I'm torn between the too
That's what made Jake special; he could do both to various degrees

[anijen21]

there's a lot of interesting discussion on TVTropes, since the Animorphs tend to follow the formula of a "Five Man Band," which works this way:

The Hero
The Lancer (2nd in command, has tension with the Leader but also may be their best friend. Think Lancelot to Arthur.)
The Big Guy (The muscle, could be dumb, could be smart, but he's the one you always go to when you're in a physical pinch)
The Smart Guy (The nerd with the computer and glasses who always talks in tech-speak)
The Chick (I think they may have changed this to "The Heart" to be more PC, but essentially, they're the person who keeps everyone in line moralistically and offers moral support.)

All those articles go into it a lot more deeply.

I mean, it's hard with the Animorphs because they share a lot of the characteristics. It's clear that Jake is the hero, and Rachel is mostly The Big Guy (but sort of the Chick b/c she likes *shopping* and *girl stuff*), but Marco, Cassie, Tobias, and Ax are a little harder to categorize. Ax is mostly the smart guy with his Hitchhiker's Guide level knowledge of the galaxy, but so is Cassie, because she always tells everyone what to expect when they use a new morph. Cassie is also sort of the chick, because she *cares about the animals* and *always knows when something is bothering someone*, but so is Tobias, because he's very in touch with his emotions (lol) and he was sort of an outcast because he was a nothlit. BUT Tobias also has aspects of the Lancer, since he does lead the trio of him, Marco, and Ax, and he often contradicts Jake on the important stuff. Then there's Marco, who I personally think is the Lancer, especially since he's Jake's bff, and because he was most opposed to being an Animorph at first, but even he has aspects of The Big Guy (gorilla morph) and The Smart Guy (go-to strategist.)

Anyway, the point is, I like that they're hard to pin down, it shows the depth of their characters that they all had opposing strengths and weaknesses and they aren't just clear-cut archetypes. And, to be totally fair, I think they all played aspects of "second in command" at different points in the series, and they mostly decided everything together anyway, so there was never any real hierarchical structure, even with Jake being the leader.

[Terenia]

I vote for Marco for sure. He has the best leadership abilities, next to Jake, IMO. The only downside is that if Marco were in charge I can see them crossing quite a few moral boundaries much quicker. That would put a lot of pressure on Cassie and she might not be able to handle it.

[danpfeiffer]

I always felt like Marco would have made a good 2nd in command...his quick decision-making and tactical planning abilities are things definitely needed in a leader, and he seems to have a much better balance of qualities than the only other legitimate option, Rachel.

Rachel was dependable in a fight, but clearly lacks the planning ability needed to lead. She's more of the impulsive, act now think later type

[Chad32]

I don't remember much about the Marco, Tobias, and Ax moments together.

I do like the idea of Marco and rachel taking over in Jake's absence. Marco could make an overall plan, and once the battle starts, Rachel could make spur of the moment plans are things develop. It remeinds me of when a friend of mine used to play war together. I would be the Mwarco, and make an overall pre-battle plan. If it started going wrong, I would rely on my partner's think on his feet talents.

They all have some good qualities, but my opinion would fall on rachel and Marco working in tandem. If Jake and Marco/Rachel were absent, then one of them would be wise to lean on Cassie, Tobias, or Ax a bit. To help balance out the flaws. Cassie is a good moral compass, but she always point in one rigid direction without budging. Tobias is good at watching his friends backs, but he's a bit too much of a follower. Ax has some follower tendencies as well, mainly because of his rank.

[estrid]

i always thought marco BECAUSE he is such a good stratagizer. that is what you need out of a leader. And had there been an official second in command, book 37 could have been avoided (that is the 1 where they get the cheetah morphs right?)

[Dameg]

For me, Marco would bee the second in charge... Morfowt is right: Marco accept to fight, and he's the best for strategy.
Rachel can't be a leader, she's really too crazy! Would you follow a psychopath?
Ax can't be either for another reason: he doesn't know Earth very well, even after a while he makes mistakes, he still jumps on food... It's another reason for his "cons"

[Chad32]

Rachel is not a psychopath. Far from it.

[estrid]

Rachel is not a psychopath. Far from it.

agreed. would a psychopath stay in kitty morph purring for her friend till she fell asleep like she does in book 2? yes thats in the beginning of the series, but that person rachel was was still her, deep inside, as witnessed in the end of book 48