What's with the blue cube?

[Andalite_Shorm]

Yeah...lots of questions about it...
1) Does it have a name?
2) Why was it invented, or do the Andalites not have a natural ability to morph?
3) Does every Andalite have one?

(need to re-read books, badly)

[MoppingBear]

Escafil Device

They do not

No

[Terenia]

To elaborate on the third question....

The Escafil Device is a military weapon and only those who are enlisted are given the morphing ability. This occurs when they are still on the Homeworld, attending the Academy and involves a series of practice morphs with native animals.

There are a few exceptions to the military-only rule, the primary example being morph dancers - estreens who make a career out of their ability to make the process of morphing aesthetically appealing. We aren't told much about how they acquire the morphing power initially, but I would assume that it is a carefully regulated procedure that includes registering with The Electorate as a morpher.

[Chad32]

TAC abd HBC give good background on the box. It's an escafil device invented at about the same time the war started, and Andalites who haven't come into contact with it can't morph.

[FATELUVR95]

But doesn't Ax talk about school morphing in the earlier books?
Why does Ax have the morphing power at such a young age?

[MoppingBear]

But doesn't Ax talk about school morphing in the earlier books?
Why does Ax have the morphing power at such a young age?

millitary school presumably

[Phoenix004]

Yeah...lots of questions about it...
1) Does it have a name?
2) Why was it invented, or do the Andalites not have a natural ability to morph?
3) Does every Andalite have one?

(need to re-read books, badly)

The others have already covered these questions pretty well, but what the hell:

1) Escafil Device. Presumably named after the creator of the technology. In Hork-Bajir Chronicles (when the technology was still very new) Aldrea says she had a friend whose mother was one of the designers of the device.

Ironically, Aldrea also said that at the time, many Andalites still doubted the usefulness of the technology. Even later on in the series, we know that the Andalites used the morphing power for spying and little else. Considering the vast potential of the power, it seems rather foolish of them not to use it more, even if a lot of their battles were fought in space ships.

2) Supposedly created for spying, but not used at all by most of the Andalites met in Andalite Chronicles, Hork-Bajir Chronicles or #18. And no Andalites cannot morph naturally.

3) Aside from Estreen dancers (which are only mentioned in passing) the morphing technology was strictly for military personnel. Ax doesn't mention it when discussing his school days because he didn't have the power at the time. We can assume due to the war, Andalites were allowed to start military training at a young age. We know they are given basic morph training when they become cadets, but it is unlikely that Ax had used the power afterwards (until #4 of course).

[NateSean]

Ironically, Aldrea also said that at the time, many Andalites still doubted the usefulness of the technology.

Proof that as a species, we humans aren't so different from the Andalites. Look at what people said about the early days of TV, flying, Internet and other things we take for granted now to see why.

Personally I don't get why the Andalites wouldn't try to get around that two hour time limit. It essentially gives the most unstable warriors a proverbial gun with which to shoot themselves in the foot just to get out of the war. We see this happen too many times throughout the series to discount it as a statistic.

I wonder if there will ever be a Morphing 2.0 in the works.

[TobiasMasonPark]

I wonder if there will ever be a Morphing 2.0 in the works.

     I read a fanfic called The Warrior Chronicles once, by an author whose username I can't remember, who wrote about a device called Aldrea's cube that bypasses the two hour limit completely, and allows the individual to stay in any single morph for as long as he or she likes.

     Ironically, it seems that non-Andalites namely the human and Yeerk races (as well as an Ant and a Buffalo...yea...) use the morphing technology more often than the creators. I've always found it funny. Even the Helmacrons used the cube.

[Andalite_Shorm]

Cool D.
      D

Thanks!

[FATELUVR95]

I got thinking, and wouldn't morphing be more possible than to think? I know human DNA has certain genes that turn "on" and "off" so if morphing just acted like a mutation(switching codons around or leaving them) couldn't, theoretically, it be possible?

[TobiasMasonPark]

     Morphing also has a lot to do with Z-Space though. I'm not an expert, but from what I've read, your extra mass--the mass you don't use when you morph another creature-- is kept in Z-Space for two hours. We'll have to assume that there is no Z-Space in our universe.

     Besides, I never bought the whole "touch the animal and get its DNA". It never seemed plausible to me that entire strands of DNA could just SWOOOOOSH through your fingers.

[MoppingBear]

I got thinking, and wouldn't morphing be more possible than to think? I know human DNA has certain genes that turn "on" and "off" so if morphing just acted like a mutation(switching codons around or leaving them) couldn't, theoretically, it be possible?

genes are instructions for BUILDING the body.  if the genetic code of your cells changed, your body wouldnt change, your immune system would just recognize them as foreign cells and attack them.

[Unknown User]

There are many theories on morphing here at RAF, including my own, which I am rather proud of! I would most likely say that yes, eventually Morphing 2.0 came out. It is quite possible that after the war with the yeerks was over with and studied by the Andalite people as we now study the civil war, Andalite Historians and scientists viewed the Animorphs as a testement to how powerful their technology could be, took an interest in it.