Seriously Though, Why Didn't the Animorphs Just...

[TobiasMasonPark]

     Refresh my memory, because I'm not sure: was it ever stated that the Chee were indestructible? For some reason I figured they were... Hmm...Maybe I imagined it.

[Chad32]

Why didn't they tell David to crash at Erek's house, since the main reason he was causing problems is because they wanted him to sleep in a barn full of animals?

They didn't trust David, and the yeerks didn't know about the chee.   They could have lost their spy network if David blabbed.

Blabbed about what? I'm not saying tell him about the chee. I'm saying "Here is a friend of ours that will let you crash in a guest bedroom with a TV. Just mind your manners, and you won't have to sleep on a haystack in the barn." I wasn't trying to say take him to the dog park.

[donut]

The series wasn't consistent with how hard it was to kill a chee.  In 26 Erik stood in the doorway and the howlers started blasting the walls out with dracon beams because it was faster than trying to kill Erik, but in one of the later books a single shot almost disabled one posing as Marco and his dad.

It never said they were indestructible though, just resistant to dracons. 

Yeah, but he might have stumbled on it, and it's a big risk for only a slightly better chance at keeping him from doing something stupid.  And he'd still point out the house he stayed at.  I doubt the chee could have relocated the dog park on a couple hours notice.

[Chad32]

There had to have been guests in the house before. I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but I would expect these people to have something in place that someone staying over won't accidentally stumble on the secret basement. Plus I don't know anyone who would be willing to stay in that barn with all the noise, the smells, and sleeping on hay. Jake got mad at him for sneaking into a hotel room, but I'm like what do you expect?

It honestly shouldn't have been a big risk.


I'll agree the durability of the Chee isn't very inconsistent, but the power of the dracons isn't either.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     While we're on David, why didn't he just get in to the hotel room as an insect instead of drawing attention to himself by throwing a rock at the window and morphing a golden eagle? 

      Unless I'm misremembering again.

[Chad32]

I think he made kind of a scene, but he may not have thought of it. Remember he was new to morphing, and I'm not sure he ever tried an insect.

[Snakie]

Because he was 13 or 14 at the time?

Its worth noting that a number of these questions can probably be explained that way.

[Chad32]

We don't really expect many kids to act their age, though, since most writers are adults.

[donut]

Plus I don't know anyone who would be willing to stay in that barn with all the noise, the smells, and sleeping on hay.

I dunno, ever tried camping?  Or throwing a sleeping bag down and throwing a poncho around it to try to keep rain out?  I've had to do that       I'm thinking a barn might be a bit nicer.

Yeah, David also struck me as someone who thought he was smarter than everyone else so he didn't have to follow their rules.  Kinda like, it doesn't really matter because they aren't smart enough to stop me even if they somehow caught me.

[Chad32]

You went camping with a bunch of different animals in the same room? Or practically the same room? Hey I'm a country boy. I'm used to the sound of crickets and frogs. I'm sure this went beyond that. I honestly don't think he just went to the hotel just so he could lay on a mattress and watch TV. Even the slightest bit of familiarity would help him in his current emotional state.

[Snakie]

We don't really expect many kids to act their age, though, since most writers are adults.

Still, David's actions seem fitting for a wreck-less kid who probably, at least in a sense, saw morphing as a new toy to play around with.

I definitely think most of these kids seemed much older than their years, even in the early stages of the series before it became realistic character development, but theres still a number of things like this, and like the various opening chapter hijinx, that show that they still are children.

[Tilas]

In regards to the Chee, I think they were underused on purpose, because they sorta were a get out of jail free or god mode card. It was established early that they were super powerful, and I think that needed to be limited really fast or else, well, they could have done most of the work and the story would lose a lot of momentum.

[donut]

No, a room would have been nice.  But the people I was with probably count as animals.     Point is, a roof, a pillow and blanket on top of hay would have been a lot nicer.  People do it.

But I really do think he had the idea that he was better than other people, so he should get to do what he wants, everyone else should be ok with it, and anyone who isn't was an enemy that needed to be eliminated.

In regards to the Chee, I think they were underused on purpose, because they sorta were a get out of jail free or god mode card. It was established early that they were super powerful, and I think that needed to be limited really fast or else, well, they could have done most of the work and the story would lose a lot of momentum.

^ agreed, but it's fun to find other reasons   

[TobiasMasonPark]

     I'm sure there are some people who would be okay with a barn so long as they had food, shelter, and warmth. But a large number--me included-- would throw a tantrum, start ranting and ****ing about how unfair everything is, etc. I don't think a lot of people want to admit that they would react as David did because he was such a prick in the series. Had he been more... human, I guess, then maybe people would be willing to say that they'd do the same. Of course, I'm talking about David's reaction to living in a barn--I'm not saying all of us would turn into murderers.

     His going axe-crazy with the morphing ability is pretty much the old "with great power comes great responsibility" bit. And, again, I think a lot of people would be very tempted to use their powers for personal gain--but hopefully not outright violence and identity theft.

     The kid has a superiority complex, an ego in need of stroking, that was probably the result of his moving around so much.

[DinosaurNothlit]

I can't believe everybody missed the biggest (in-character, rather than plot-driven) reason that the Chee were so underused.  Their programming.  They can't impersonate Tom while Jake starves out the Yeerk, because in the process the Yeerk dies.

I see them giving information to the Animorphs as a bit of a grey area as far as their programming goes, a point which has been made before.  It's technically against their programming, but since they don't directly see or know about the Yeerks/hosts that get killed as a result of their information, they are still capable of at least giving the Animorphs tips.  And I guess they've decided that it's for the greater good, and so, at least some of them, are willing to go that far.  But no farther.  That's sorta the end of what they can do.

Short of blackmail, of course.