Romance in Animorphs

[Alexandra]

The subject of romance in Animorphs is an interesting one because, for a series supposedly aimed at children, Animorphs is pretty heavy on romances and romantic subtext.

Probably because of my tragic fangirl crush on Tobias I never liked Tobias and Rachel as a couple when I was a kid and reading the books. I'm still not really all that fond of it, but I think I appreciate their story more as a 22 year old.

My favourite couple have always been Loren and Elfangor, and I'm still not really sure why. I think the tragedy of their story, and poor Tobias being left behind despite the fact they both wanted him so badly, really hits me. He was raised by relatives who didn't want him (and may not have even been real relatives, depending upon whether they were relted to Loren or not), and bullied badly at school. And then he became a nothlit on top of everything! Good God!

So as to why I didn't like him with Rachel after all that, I don't know. But anyway...

Who is your favourite Ani-couple and why? And what do you think of the subject of romance in Animorphs? Did it merely weigh the series down, or did it add to it? Do you think the romantic backstories of the characters were expanded upon enough in the series?

[adeon222]

I take Dak and Aldrea, because they persevered through it all, and stuck together no matter what... They had loyalty, and that's very high on my list in romance...

I think that it added to the series... I'm going to write a novel, and include a pretty significant romantic element, and I think that it really adds to the emotion elicited from the fans, and adds a really good dimension to the books as a whole...

[Chad32]

I probably like the Tobias/Rachel one best. I could relate somewhat to Tobias, and I wanted him to have a happy ending. Though I'm not sure if Rachel wasn't drawn to him partly due to his circumstances, and not all because of who he was/would be if he never became a nothlit.

I never really cared for the interspecies romances, thought the characters themselves were interesting. That's just my personal tastes, though.

As for Ax and Estrid, I guess I like the idea of Ax getting someone. Marco doesn't get anyone, but I could see him as kind of a pimp. He's fine being single and hooking up with temporary women. I didn't dislike Estrid, although I also don't remember her very well nowadays.

[anijen21]

I agree with Elfangor and Loren, partly because I think I was sort of shocked by it. Like throughout the Andalite Chronicles, their relationship was kind of chaste and heroic, like Luke and Leia or something. But the ending still fit, because it showed what Elfangor had learned and how he had changed, which made the fact that the universe wasn't okay with that all the more tragic.

[musicman88]

I like the Tobias/Rachel relationship because, as Metallica put it, it's The Thing that Should Not Be.  It was great that Tobias had someone to prop him up when he needed it, but at the same time I was sort of expecting their relationship to start dissolving at any point.

[Phoenix004]

I voted for Elfangor and Loren. The Andalite Chronicles was probably my favourite book in the series and the chemistry between these two was brilliant and entertaining. Also, they're the only couple (besides Dak and Aldrea) that actually had a real relationship.

I'm not into romance books or anything, but it kind of annoyed me that they barely showed the relationships of the Ani-couples, especially after they've kissed and the feelings are out in the open. There was literally no reason why Cassie and Jake couldn't have been dating, but even Rachel and Tobias had a more serious relationship and he was trapped in a hawk's body! 

[DinosaurNothlit]

Dak and Aldrea, without question.  Dak probably would have been my favorite character in the series, except that he was only in one book.

For some reason, Dak and Aldrea's particular struggle really got to me.  Much more so than a human and an Andalite or a human and a hawk, an Andalite and a Hork-Bajir are simply two species that were not meant to fall in love with one another.  You've got a peaceful, stupid, innocent race on the one side, and a militaristic, highly intelligent, arrogant race on the other.  Yet they still managed to overcome that.  Throughout the book, you can see both Dak and Aldrea gradually growing towards the other.  Dak becomes more intelligent and even a teeny bit ruthless, and Aldrea becomes more compassionate and willing to do what is right rather than just what is logical.

I think Tobias/Rachel is incredibly romantic, and Elfangor/Loren was heartbreaking, but Dak/Aldrea was so romantically heartbreaking that I couldn't really choose anything else.

I didn't really like Cassie/Jake all that much.  Mostly because I didn't like Cassie, and as the team's leader, Jake gave in to Cassie's moral ultimatums far more often than he should have.  It struck me particularly in #46, when Jake basically said (and I'm paraphrasing, here), "We'll do whatever it takes to win, no matter what we have to sacrifice. . . unless, of course, Cassie doesn't want to."

Ax/Estrid bugged me, too.  Yeah, they started out all romantic at the beginning.  But they weren't meant for each other.  Estrid is your typical Andalite, with all the ruthlessness and cold logic that that entails.  Ax, at that point, had already become far too 'human' to really have a shot at someone like that.  So they couldn't have worked out together.  I think their 'relationship' in so much as it was one, was pretty much all hormones.

[Chad32]

Jake/Cassie was just too bland to get really interested in. I swear the only development they get past the first few books is 26, and anything else that may or may not have happened, happened offscreen so to speak.

[anijen21]

And then he proposed to her in #53! I was like WAT at least make out a little bit, round second, it's not like you guys are innocent enough to have a believable chaste relationship.

But this is America, where it's okay to show disembowelment on prime time TV but not a whole boob.

[Chad32]

Yeah the question of will they get married seemed a bit weird. Although when everything around Jake was crashing down, maybe he still had hope that something wasn't going to crash along with everything else.

[Hewlett Aldershot III]

Okay, I must say that my favorite is the Tobias/Rachel relationship, but with one big caveat; I actually enjoyed the sub-textual crush that Marco had on Rachel. Argue this one if you want, but I always got the feeling that Marco had a crush on Rachel and wanted to be with her, leading to his strained relationship with Tobias. Marco always seems to joke around about him and Rachel, for example in #32 where he says something along the lines of "Tobias gets one, I get the other." Just always thought that was a really interesting dynamic.

[Chad32]

Yeah, Marco liked Rachel. which may be a reason why he and Tobias never seemed to get much closer than they were in the beginning. Then again, all the characters had varying degrees of friendship between each other even as the years went by.

[Darth Revan]

Yeah, I like Tobias and Rachel's relationship best.

Jake and Cassie were going nowhere. They only ever said the like liked each other. They had one moment of kissing, but then they acted afterward like it never happened.

Dak and Aldrea was cool, but didn't carry as much baggage. It didn't have many hurtles. Her parents/family were wiped out, so she clung onto Dak, who she already had feelings for, but nothing solid at that point. Then they grew together.

Estrid and Ax were like flares, the burned bright and hot for a bit, but fizzled at the end.

Al and Loren were torn apart by the Ellimist so that the future could unfold as it should.

Rachel had liked Tobias before they officially met, that's why she had that pic of him so early on. If they didn't get pulled into the war I think they would've hit it off. But the war kinda shoved them together, so it pushed their relationship forward.

She had cared for him (i.e. feed and sheltered him) when he first was trapped as a hawk, and he looked up to her strength of character more than her beauty; although I'm sure her beauty didn't hurt.


I think the main reason I liked Tobias and Rachel's relationship, is 'cause I related with Tobias the most and I've always wanted to have a relationship with a down-to-Earth beauty.

[Phoenix004]

Yeah I thought it was weird how Jake and Cassie kissed in #26 and then nothing happened until #53 when Jake randomly suggests getting married a year after the war was over. Even in a book aimed at young teens they could have at least said they were dating "behind the scenes."

The Marco/Rachel thing was always entertaining, but I never used to think much of it. However, Megamorphs #4 proves otherwise since it shows the two of them dating in the alternate reality. It's also become more apparent to me in recent years that the Marco/Rachel teasing was almost like flirting at times.

I disagree about Rachel getting between Marco and Tobias though. They may not have got along to start with, but later on Marco and Tobias seem to have a far greater respect for each other. They both helped each other out when they went on personal missions concerning their mothers (#30 and #49 respectively).

The Rachel/Tobias relationship is a good one. It's the only long lasting relationship (at least in terms of the number of books it was in) that seems to go somewhere despite the massive amount of drama the two of them go through. Even early on the two of them hang out together (in books and between books) and they often went in search of the other for advice or comfort.

I think the main reason I liked Tobias and Rachel's relationship, is 'cause I related with Tobias

I related to all of them in different ways, but I also felt very connected to Tobias.

and I've always wanted to have a relationship with a down-to-Earth beauty.

Who hasn't ever wanted that? 

[Breakability]

Rachel and Tobias are my favorite couple, but only, as others have stated, because their romance was the only one that really developed. I liked the idea that children's books involved romance, but I think Cassie and Jake should have got their jiggy on if they had been given more attention.

Kids pretty much know about relationships and whatnot, so I think it's cool that they involved it, but sad that it didn't really go anywhere.