Cassie

[gecko52]

this forum is dedicated to Cassie, although I didnt like her i want your opnion

[Chad32]

I do not hate Cassie. I like her least of all, but I realize she plays an important role. Her morals are important, but she takes it to the extreme, and the universe seems intent on justifying her most contraversial actions. I would definitely like her more if she wasn't quite the moral extremist, and that she was called more on her mistakes.

Case in point: Cassie gives up the box, and Jake doesn't trust her anymore. He accidentally excludes her from the group, and Tobias says that is beyond wrong. How is that wrong at all, much less BEYOND wrong?

Why did everyone just go along with trapping David? Obviously Rachel was bothered, and she hated him the most. Ax was bothered as well. The no killing Humans rule is supposedly in place because the Humans are slaves to the Yeerks in their heads. In any given scenario, there might be a voluntary controller who has no qualms about the Yeerk using his/her body to kill what they both believe is an Andalite. However, David was not being controlled against his will. So why is that rule still in place?

Cassie letting Aftran into her head the first time was very risky, but she was trying to save Karen from Marco. Besides, it did pay off in a good way.

Lastly, she seems to overthink things a lot. Like in book 16 when she called herself a horrible person for telling a kid who knew about Yeerks that he couldn't trust his father, because of the Yeerk in his head. I never got that. Although he was young enough to think a wolf was a dog, and not freak when the wolf started talking.

[Uza-chan]

*comes back from months disappearance*

I like Cassie, I won't lie. So my thoughts on her may be a bit biased

Though she was my favorite character I do wish Cassie didn't take everything so seriously. And yeah, it's a war, but still, just like Chad28 pointed out the whole her being horrible for telling a kid who knew about the yeerks to just deal with it? Way too over dramatic.

At the same time, I think that Cassie just represented what a lot of people would do in a war, a lot of kids. Yeah, we all like to think had we been in their place we would just bite the bone and fight the fight and not think about what we did, but the truth is, we wouldn't. We'd probably be just like Cassie, feeling guilty, feeling torn, attempting to hold on to our moral compass as much as we can.

And I think that Cassie was an important character, ignoring the big thing she did do in the end, she was important. She was the person who made sure that no one stepped past the line. She was the one who made sure that whatever they did didn't mess their personal judgments. Because whether in war or not, she knew that letting go of your beliefs of what's right or wrong was letting go of a part of you you couldn't get back.

Well I did say I would be biased

[EmberGryphon]

I like Cassie. I do. But I feel like, towards the end, it became way too clear that KAA was, as she herself has admitted to doing, using Cassie as a mouthpiece for her own views on war, ethical treatment of humans, animal rights, environmental issues, and all that jazz. I feel like, towards the last arc, Cassie-as-a-moral-statement outshone Cassie-as-a-character, and suddenly, everything Cassie did was exactly right! Hey, that wasn't treacherous, to give the Yeerks the Escafil! Because Cassie knew that the Taxxons would revolt as a result of not getting the morphing power because, despite having never spoken to a Taxxon, interacted with a Taxxon, morphed a Taxxon or spent significant time talking about Taxxons, Cassie knew exactly what a cannibalistic alien worm would do in that very specific situation.
She knew.

Cassie interested me. She's not my favorite, not my least favorite; I like her. I think she made her compromises and her deals-with-the-devil, very quietly, along the way, and then struggled to forget them. I think, beginning to end, she wanted nothing more than to not lose the side of herself that her parents were proud of, her friends admired; the parts of herself that she, herself, liked- and, in trying to stay on the lighter side of that line, she did some things that many peeps think of as stupid, and, ironically, as morally suspect. And I think she came very close to losing that side of herself, and it scared her, and it made her interesting to me. Trying to hold on to morals in a war, where someone will die no matter what you do... it's an interesting conundrum imo.

I hated it when she was never, never wrong. And the whole MM4 "You're, like, the heart of the universe!" thing. She gets too many superpowers. xD

[Viss3r]

She was probably my least favourite character but I still liked her, and really her only "power" she had was the sub temporal grounding, but I really agreed with that Marco said in 28 that she would morph for Chimpanzee or whatever it was just to save the animals but when it came to people she would make a big deal about it, but in a way that’s real, and it was pointed out several times throughout the books that humans in general are Hypocrites in a way, Like what Ax said to Marco and cassie in 50 about Vecols.

But I thought it odd that in 24 and 39 she made the big deal about saying that the yeerk’s getting the Cube would be the worst thing ever, but then has a huge change of heart at the very end of 50.  Even in Megamorphs 4 the whole way through she knew something was up. They could of alluded to cassie thinking the yeerk’s getting the cube wouldn't be all bad a bit earlier on.

That’s what I think anyhow.

[filmstu2005]

Well FINALLY i am actually able to respond. I havent been able to log in here for months, its surprising.

Anyway, there was a huge thread on Cassie in another forum, that lasted several,several pages. Started by me of course.

But the main point we hit was that Cassie was, in more words or less, Mother Nature. It's really the only way to describe her. 

From the beginning everyone had their own personal humane issues with the Yeerk war that only worsened as the war went on. But what was so interesting about Cassie was that besides her moralistic views on violence, she had none. Nothing to sort of dig a bit deeper into her character. Cassie was then labeled as 2-Dimensional in comparison to the other Animorphs. An example used was "if you could sit and have a chat with Cassie, what kind of conversations would you have? What would she say?"

No one was quite sure. She wasn't really a full character. Other than taking care of animals or talking about the latest farm magazine, you wouldnt be able to figure out what Cassie would be doing on a Saturday night. Unless she was with Rachel, of course. The others were much more relatable.

We learn Cassie is a pacifist, a moral extremist unless in the face of danger.  She always knew the right words to say to soothe situations. She was breathtakingly brave and courageous, I mean, the things she did throughout the series, the missions she took on her own (mostly on her own, which is odd) and still prevailed in the face of danger were ridiculous. I could never understand how readers claimed she used her morals as an excuse to be a coward. Cassie was the farthest thing from a coward.

She was an estreen, a morph dancer, and that was very helpful. Then we learn she was sub-temporally grounded, an anomaly which sort of explained her peculiarity. And then there was that slightly annoying factor that Cassie was never, never, neVER wrong, and usually given a free pass, at least until the end. But then again, she still ended up being RIGHT. She had all these "superpowers."

All the other Animorphs were totally going psycho around her. Absolutely nuts. Jake questioning his ability to lead? Tobias battling himself internally for his humanity? Ax wondering if was better with humans or his own people? Marco losing his mom, getting her back, then losing her again and again? And dont even get me started on Rachel's dark demons and thirst for war.

But Cassie strangely maintained her cool through it all. She hit her peak in Book 19 The Departure. She discovered her issues with the war, got over them, and then from there its pretty much a flatline. She would make her moral statements, try to keep the others from crossing the line, but she always did what she thought was right. Her role in it all was to keep the other grounded. To keep them from totally losing it. Notice how in Book 35? The Proposal? She tried to be Marco's shrink when stress was eating at him.

Cassie is Mother Nature. Thats what she was intended to be as an Animorph. She was an integral part of the series, especially near the end. Something told her the Taxxons would revolt if she gave the morphing cube. She was known for making leaps of faith.

[filmstu2005]

Just thought I'd add this funny part i found on tvropes.com for Animorphs idioms

Beware the Nice Ones: The Sharing, "a Boys & Girls Club for everyone" responsible for a great deal of youth work and charity events, is a Yeerk front organization intended to recruit new Controllers.
Also Cassie, who is dangerous exactly because she's nice. Remember, she felt it would be kinder to trap David in rat morph on a tiny rock-island in the middle of the ocean instead of just killing him. She also lets Tom escape with the morphing cube, because Jake, his own brother, would have had to kill him to get it back, which caused Ax to wonder if Cassie could be more dangerous than Rachel.

[rocklobster]

Why is there so much hatred directed towards Cassie.  Sorry, I'm biased. Cassie is my favorite character.  I play her on an animorphs RP and it's really opened my eyes to why I liked her so much in the first place.  I think her morals are a strength, not a weakness.  I think it's great that she never really abandoned her principals and tried to come up with a peaceful solution.  At least someone tried!  And peace is always better than war and more death and more killing.  
Sorry, but I'm a die-hard Cassie fan and no one's gonna change my mind!  Hail the wolf girl!

[Alic]

I'm going to keep this short, or I can write a book on how much I dislike her.
I don't like her, I think she was too much of a risk. Although she helped in her own way, they could have done more damage if she would have, say, gotten killed early on. *shrug* I dont let weak people stand in my way for anything, and I wouldn't have let her either.

[Chad32]

By making Cassie be the only one who wound up happy in the end, KA sends the message that if they were all like Cassie, that they would have been better off.

So how do you think it would go if they really were a bunch of Cassies? How long do you think they would really last? I especially direct this to rocklobster, and other Cassie fans.

[rocklobster]

LOok, all i"m saying is that any team like the Animorphs needs someone to be the moral compass.  So why not Cassie?  What's wrong with sticking to your principles?
I don't think Applegate was sending that message at all.  Like I said, she should be applauded for trying to find a peaceful solution.

[Chad32]

A moral compass is always good to have. An extremist in anything is never good to have.

[Terenia]

Why is there so much hatred directed towards Cassie.  Sorry, I'm biased. Cassie is my favorite character.  I play her on an animorphs RP and it's really opened my eyes to why I liked her so much in the first place.  I think her morals are a strength, not a weakness.  I think it's great that she never really abandoned her principals and tried to come up with a peaceful solution.  At least someone tried!  And peace is always better than war and more death and more killing.  
Sorry, but I'm a die-hard Cassie fan and no one's gonna change my mind!   Hail the wolf girl!

I think that ideals are great and all, but in a war they can become unrealistic. Unfortunately the Ani's did not have the luxury of doing what was "right" all the time. While some of Cassie's moral dilemma's were good and brought about positive results (YPM for example), others were tedious and tiresome (should I morph a dolphin?).

I agree with filmstu. I vaguely remember the Cassie debate back on Classic, and the conclusion that she is, essentially, Mother Nature. She just isn't a relateable character. Somehow, no matter what she does wrong, things seem to work out for her. She took risks that the others would not have taken. They were dangerous and often could have turned deadly. She trusted Aftran, and that turned out for the best, but how easily could it have gone wrong? She let Tom have the cube and brought about the end of the war, but that too could have easily backfired. She makes very dangerous moves that somehow always seem to work out.

That, on top of her being an estreen AND an anomaly almost makes her psychic in a way. There's something supernatural there that is subtle, but distances her from most readers, I think.

[Liz]

I'm going to keep this short, or I can write a book on how much I dislike her.
I don't like her, I think she was too much of a risk. Although she helped in her own way, they could have done more damage if she would have, say, gotten killed early on. *shrug* I dont let weak people stand in my way for anything, and I wouldn't have let her either.

I think she was an important part of the group.  I don't agree with a lot of her reasons for doing or not doing certain things, but she influenced the group and kept them from going too far at times.  I think Jake said he began to rely on her in that regard.
And I don't think she was weak.  It takes strength to stand up for what you believe in, especially going against your leader (letting Tom go) or the group (in #43, not going along with Taylor's plan).

Apart from that, she was the one who got them access to and information about new morphs.   

[filmstu2005]

Cassie was anything but weak.

I should rephrase what I said. Cassie was not a moral extremist. She wasn't someone that tied her body to a tree to prevent it from getting chopped down. She didnt try to sabatoge the Animorphs plans that involved violence against Yeerks. She argued against it when it was unnecessary, but when absolutely necessary she went along with it. Not a moral extremist.  Saving skunks is not moral extremism. Taking down that crew at the natural pipeline gas station all by herself to keep the others from murdering everyone at the Yeerk pool is not moral extremism, and if u noticed, she helped blow it up at the end, seeing what was necessary.

So no, Cassie was not a moral extremist. And she was still good to have. I was fond of Cassie, as I was of all the characters. Terrenia's right about her "supernatural" abilities. They did sort of distance her from readers. She wasn't like Rachel, who in other threads was declared the most relatable Animorph. Rachel had this loyalty that I found impressive. When it came to her friends she didnt play around, and there were several references to this in the books.

Anyway, Cassie was not weak. In fact, I'd argue that she was one of, if not THE strongest, of the Animorphs based on her accomplishments. Her morals were good motivation.

And every group does need someone with high morals to keep them balanced. Nothing wrong with that. Everyone on here acts like if they were in Animorphs they'd be blowing s*** up left n right shouting "Die Yeerk! Die!" all gung-ho pro-Rachel-style. Lol.  Yeah, right. Even you would appreciate someone with morals

And to think of it, there's nothing really wrong with being a moral extremist either. It just means you care a lot more than others. I'd rather care than be an evil cold-hearted demonic SOB.