What if the Yeerks used Kevlar?

[Darth Zakryn]

This is an interesting idea. Just a few minutes ago, I was watching a show (during one of those infernal annoyances we in the western hemisphere call "commercials" ) and I was thinking "Why don't the Yeerks equip their hosts with Kevlar armor?" Sure, it might not work against Dracon beams or other forms of ray guns, but against bullets and even some serrated weapons (like claws or teeth, hint hint) it would be hard to penetrate. Since they are invading Earth and know that inevitably one day they will be having to go to war against the humans at some future date (and that there are "Andalite bandits" who are currently giving them a hard time RIGHT NOW), why DON'T they use every weapon in their arsenal? Even human ones? And please don't give me that nonsense that their limited "uniforms" (the ones seen in #5. The Predator and #20. The Discovery) are Kevlar variants, because if they were, the Animorphs couldn't have escaped from the Pool ship because it would have hindered them greatly. Remember, their greatest asset came to them in the form of mostly-naked, always-unarmored hosts and their own naked-but-deadly animal bodies. This question, in my opinion at least, ranks right up there with "Why don't they install security cameras or automated defenses in their facilities and ships?" I like the Yeerks, they're a good enemy, but it's like poparena said: You really have to wonder if the Animorphs wouldn't have been killed in like two books if the Yeerks weren't so utterly incompetent.

A theory might be that Visser Three is this stupid, and that Visser One would have done things differently. Does anyone think this is a good theory? It would also show just how radically different the two are. Visser Three is essentially a brute who only owes his position to his Andalite host, whereas Visser One actually WORKED for it. Definitely a nice little contrast.

Ok, enough words. Theories?

[TobiasMasonPark]

     Yea, I don't really have much to say in terms of a discussion. Just wanted to say welcome back and where've you been? I have seen a decrease in slightly angry Animorph related threads over these past few weeks.

[Dogman15]

I think Animorphs could be even more realistic if the Hork-Bajir soldiers wore clothing or armor of some sort. I remember reading that once in a while, they would be wearing belts that held their Dracon beams and other weapons. Members of the Council of Thirteen, including those with Hork-Bajir hosts, wore red or yellow robes.

I agree with what you said about Visser One having more experience to gain her rank, while Visser Three only took over Alloran. Visser Three isn't dumb, he just doesn't care to study more about (or listen to advice about) Earth life, so therefore, he doesn't learn enough about Earthling measures of defense and attack.

Which is funny, because when Esplin 9466 Primary (same guy) was on the Hork-Bajir planet, he wanted to do everything he could to learn about Andalites from the computer. Maybe he's just obsessed with Andalites and has complete apathy towards humans in every regard?

[NateSean]

I'm sure most human hosts do use Kevlar. But in the case of Visser Three, having a number of meat shields handy works just as well.

[QIfry]

I don't think kevlar would have helped any, personally. The way that the Animorphs and Ax fought were striking in places like limbs, throats, etc. That and say if Rachel in elephant morph was to smack a person in the chest wearing kevlar, it's not going to change the force of the impact.

[wolfev]

Actually its not the force of impact but the smaller momentum.

That said, I think if Visser one was actually in charge, the Animorphs would have been a much shorter series. Visser three really is that stupid in regards to Earth. Its the same principle as the Almighty Tallest from Invader Zim. He's only in charge because he has an Andalite body and the knowledge that came with it. Of course he does pretty well for himself in the end, but that was when he was conducting full on alien warfare instead of being secretive.

A lot of the problems came from Visser one being in charge of Visser three. Visser three can't run a secret invasion very well, but was being ordered to by Visser one. However, Visser one was quite capable of conducting such an invasion. By the way, do you think she got the idea from all the body snatcher movies she must have seen?

Now here is the interesting part. All things considered the Animorphs were losing the war. They may have delayed the Yeerks considerably, but once the Yeerks expanded to other states or countries (why didn't they do this at first?) the war was finished. The only difference between Visser one running the invasion directly and running it through Visser three was the amount of time it would have taken. Visser one would have immediately the animorphs if she was directly in control. If she was kept in charge of Earth indirectly as she was from the beginning, Visser three wouldn't have caught the animorphs, but the Yeerks still would have won the war. In fact, Visser one actually liked the Animorphs! They made Visser three look bad and posed no direct threat to her plans