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This page is about the book series Animorphs. There was also a television series called Animorphs inspired by the series of books described in this article.

Animorphs is an English language science fiction series of children's books written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. The first book of the series was published in 1996. There was a single-book parody of Animorphs called Vegemorphs.

On the surface, the series chronicled the lives of five average human teenagers and an alien (from a race called Andalites) who, with powers of shapeshifting ('morphing') granted upon them by alien technology, attempt to prevent the takeover of Earth by a race of parisitic aliens called Yeerks. As a whole, however, the series does not focus so much on the superficial elements of the plot as on how the war affects and changes them.

Template:Spoiler

Summary

In an undisclosed city on the United States Pacific coast, later revealed to be Monterey of California, five thirteen-year-olds, Jake, Marco, Rachel, Tobias, and Cassie walk home one night from the mall through a forbidden abandoned construction site. There, they spot a blue light in the sky, which they discover is an alien spacecraft. The petrified children watch as the craft lands, and out steps a strange creature from another planet. This alien calls himself Elfangor, and he is an Andalite. He tells them of an alien invasion by a parasitic species known as the Yeerks. The human race is completely oblivious, and it does not have the means with which to fight off this invasion. Elfangor's people are also two years away from sending another force to Earth, and by that time, the Yeerk conquest of the planet would be complete. The youths are disbelieving. However, Elfangor tells them that he can give them powers to resist the imminent Yeerk occupation; the ability to touch an animal, and then become it; a process known as "morphing". Incredulous, the teens argue amongst themselves, but quickly decide that they have no choice but to accept. Within minutes of Elfangor's landing, Yeerk spacecraft have located the hounded alien. The sinister beings land, headed by a Yeerk general, Visser Three, who is in possession of an Andalite body. The children escape, but Elfangor is left behind and consumed when the Visser morphs into a hideous monster.

Frightened and confused, the children are unsure of what to do. They are very young, and suddenly have the weight of the whole world on their shoulders. They instinctively turn to Jake, who becomes their de facto, albeit reluctant, leader. They decide to fight. After "acquiring" some animals' DNA, the children call themselves the "Animorphs", a name invented by Marco. Soon Jake discovers that his brother, Tom, is a "Controller", a being infested and governed by a Yeerk parasite. They quickly identify several other Controllers, including Hedrick Chapman, their vice-principal. The children begin to despair, having just scratched the surface of the immense Yeerk conspiracy. When Cassie is captured by a known Controller, the Animorphs stage a rescue operation in the Yeerk Pool, a vast underground complex where the species feeds. They save her and cause the Yeerks some damage, but Tobias stays morphed for more than two hours in order to keep the Animorphs' identity a secret and is trapped as a red-tailed hawk. This was the price of staying in a morph for too long.

A while later, they rescue a young Andalite aristh, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, Elfangor's little brother. The Animorphs destroy a Yeerk logistics ship. Jake is captured by his brother's Yeerk, and tries to find a way to save Tom and his parents. Marco discovers his mother is Visser One, while fighting to protect his father from constant targeting by the Yeerks. Rachel meets the Ellimist and finds a way to destroy the Yeerk food source while dealing with her parents' divorce and her own disturbing penchant for violence. Ax tries to adjust to life on Earth while remaining loyal to his own people. Cassie tries to hold onto her values while at the same time betraying them, while healing animals and being a good student. Tobias must cope with life as a human trapped as a hawk, straddling the line between human compassion and the animal urge to kill to eat.

For the next three years, the Animorphs wage a tiring, and increasingly desperate, guerrilla war against the Yeerk invasion. They visit new and strange planets, and encounter various species no human has ever known. They gain allies, lose friends, slowly lose their childhood innocence, and are forced to grow up quickly, make terrible decisions, and witness the horrors of war. All while trying to hold on to their normal lives - dealing with school, family and friends - trying to hold on to some sanity in their increasingly insane world. Ultimately, it boils down to one final battle in which the Animorphs attempt to capture the Yeerk pool ship and the former Visser Three, now Visser One, with it.

Ghostwriters

Nearly all of the books from in the 28-52 range were written by ghostwriters, who wrote out the story under the direction of the author and the plot she would provide for them. The only books fully written by Applegate herself after #28 are #32 The Separation and the last two (#53 and #54). The names of the ghostwriters appear above the usual thank you messages on the dedication page in the first few pages, the exact wording is: "The author would like to thank [the second writer's name is here] for his/her help in preparing this manuscript." The extent of plot input from either the ghostwriters themselves or the author is unknown. ^{[citation needed]}

Here is a list of some of the ghostwriters who worked on Animorphs:

Lisa Harkrader: #44, #48, #49, #51
Ellen Geroux: #33, #41, #43, #45, #47
Kimberly Morris: #37, #50, #52
Elise Donner: #30, #46
Melinda Metz: #29, #34
Amy Garvey: #28
Gina Gascone: #40
Elise Smith: #37
Laura Battyanyi Wiess: #39

The ghostwriters seem fairly indiscriminate; Harkrader wrote for the voices of Jake, Tobias, Rachel, and Marco. Some of them came back and did multiple books, while others only wrote one installment.

Note that the rest of the Megamorphs and both the Ellimist and Visser chronicles were still entirely written by Katherine Applegate.

Terminology

Characters

Others

Minor characters

Species

Major species in bold.

A

B

C

D

F

Folk

G

Galiash
Garatron
Gedds
Generationals
Gofinickilast
Gorks, a species of 'monster' from the Hork-Bajir home world.
Graffen's Children
Grasper

H

I

Illaman
Iskoort
- Isk
- Yoort

J

K

L

M

N

O

V

Y

Yeerk

Books

External links

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 For the next three years, the Animorphs wage a tiring, and increasingly desperate, [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] war against the Yeerk invasion. They visit new and strange planets, and encounter various species no human has ever known. They gain allies, lose friends, slowly lose their childhood innocence, and are forced to grow up quickly, make terrible decisions, and witness the horrors of war. All while trying to hold on to their normal lives - dealing with school, family and friends - trying to hold on to some sanity in their increasingly insane world. Ultimately, it boils down to one final battle in which the Animorphs attempt to capture the Yeerk pool ship and the former Visser Three, now Visser One, with it.
+==Ghostwriters==
+Nearly all of the books from in the 28-52 range were written by [[ghostwriter]]s, who wrote out the story under the direction of the author and the plot she would provide for them. The only books fully written by Applegate herself after #28 are #32 ''The Separation'' and the last two (#53 and #54). The names of the ghostwriters appear above the usual thank you messages on the dedication page in the first few pages, the exact wording is: "The author would like to thank [the second writer's name is here] for his/her help in preparing this manuscript." The extent of plot input from either the ghostwriters themselves or the author is unknown. {{citation needed}}
+Here is a list of some of the ghostwriters who worked on ''Animorphs'':
+*Lisa Harkrader: #44, #48, #49, #51
+*Ellen Geroux: #33, #41, #43, #45, #47
+*Kimberly Morris: #37, #50, #52
+*Elise Donner: #30, #46
+*Melinda Metz: #29, #34
+*Amy Garvey: #28
+*Gina Gascone: #40
+*Elise Smith: #37
+*Laura Battyanyi Wiess: #39
+The ghostwriters seem fairly indiscriminate; Harkrader wrote for the voices of Jake, Tobias, Rachel, and Marco. Some of them came back and did multiple books, while others only wrote one installment.
+Note that the rest of the Megamorphs and both the Ellimist and Visser chronicles were still entirely written by Katherine Applegate.
 ==Terminology==