Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

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Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Aximili is a young Andalite who becomes stranded on Earth when he is shot down by Yeerk fighters. In #4 The Message, he befriends the group of humans known as the Animorphs, who were given the Andalite morphing technology by his brother Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul in his final moments. Aximili becomes known to his human friends as Ax. He is an aristh (a cadet) in the Andalite military. After the end of the war he is promoted to prince and official Andalite liaison to Earth. As the Animorphs find fame on earth Ax similarly attains legendary status in Andalite culture, or at least the Andalite military.

Ax is the son of Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf (father) and Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen (mother), both of whom are on the Andalite homeworld. He is the brother of the deceased Prince Elfangor, whom he greatly admires. However, he often resents his brother for his hero status on both Earth and the Andalite homeworld, which relegates Ax to being "the little brother of Elfangor." Ax becomes close friends with Tobias, with whom he shares a forest habitat. Ax and Tobias call each other shorms, which is the rough equivalent in the Andalite language for 'best friend' - it literally means "tail blade", and its meaning is because an Andalite is said to fully trust a shorm should he, for no reason at all, place their tail-blade at the others throat. This bond is strengthened when the two discover they are related. (Ax is Tobias's uncle - His brother Elfangor married Loren, Tobias's mother.)

Throughout the series, Ax is torn between the Andalites and the humans. In #8: The Alien, it is revealed that he has been keeping secrets from his human friends and allies because of Andalite law. In many of the other books, Ax is forced to question his loyalties—because while he grew up as an Andalite in the Andalite culture he has found friends and a family away from home on Earth. Despite that, there are aspects of life on Earth that greatly trouble Ax—slaughtering other animals for food (Andalites are herbivores) and genocide, for example. However, time and again, Ax ends up siding with his Earth allies. Ax becomes somewhat obsessed with human culture, particularly food, his World Almanac, and TV (he is particularly fond of commercials, which he calls "These Messages").

As an Andalite, Ax absorbs nutrients from grass and drinks water through his hooves. As a result, he does not have the experience of tasting food that humans are accustomed to. This was revealed in #8: The Alien. When he assumes his human form, which was created by combining DNA from Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco, he has an (often comical) difficulty preventing himself from overindulging in novel human senses and abilities, particularly taste and speech. Ax has a strong affinity for cinnamon buns, and also enjoys chocolate, cigarette butts, popcorn, coffee and all varieties of junk food, and inedible things such as paper plates. Ax once narratively expressed an occasional desire to become a human nothlit, though he is not known to have ever mentioned this to his human friends. Ax's human morph is described as androgynous and unnaturally pretty for a male. While in morph, Ax either goes by the alias "Phillip"—masquerading as Jake and Rachel's Canadian cousin (or 'Canadese', as Ax once said)—or "No." The latter is thanks to a mixup with Marco's dad after Marco told him to only answer questions with either 'yes' or 'no'. When Marco's dad asked him his name, he replied "No."

Ax is portrayed as a consummate warrior, and places great importance on duty and his Andalite rituals. He is absolutely committed to victory, perhaps even at the cost of humanity, although he also values his friends on Earth. Ax is, first and foremost, a good soldier. Because an aristh must, by definition, serve under a prince, Ax adopts Jake as his prince and calls him "Prince Jake". Jake is often annoyed or amused by this.

Ax's sole love interest is an Andalite girl named Estrid, who is introduced in #38: The Arrival. However, their romance was short-lived, due to a plot Estrid was part of to infect the Yeerks with a virus that could kill their human hosts. Eventually, she returned to the Andalite homeworld. She is casually mentioned in at least two other books, but it is assumed their romance was never rekindled.

At the end of the war, Ax is elevated to the rank of prince. He also finally steps out of his brother Elfangor's shadow and becomes famous. He is considered to be the one and only 'expert on all things human' by Andalites.

After the war, Ax returns to the Andalite homeworld and ends up commanding a cruiser class vessel Intrepid. Unfortunately, this ship encounters a being known as The One, a Borg-like entity that "assimilates" its victims, including Ax. This may have been inspired by the Inteprid-class ship Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager, who often battle the Borg throughout the series. What this means for Ax, and his final fate, is uncertain, although many fans believe he, along with the rest of the Animorphs excluding Cassie, is dead.

In early books of the series the ones taking place from Ax's point of view are considered the most humorous; often before the actual plot begins there is a chapter or two about Ax's comical escapades. Due to the fact that in his Andalite form he has no mouth, he is usually playing with words and sounds, which he enjoys almost as much as he enjoys as the sensation of taste. Later on in the series there appears to be much less room for his antics and he takes on more of a serious role.

[edit] Family

[edit] Ax's Morphs

Ax's has no battle morph per se, as his natural Andalite form is extremely effective in a fight, and both he and his prince, Jake prefer that he enter battle as himself. In addition, Ax's remaining out of morph reinforces the Yeerks' belief that the Animorphs are in fact a group of Andalite guerillas, survivors of the destruction of the Dome Ship GalaxyTree (this only applies to Ax). Ax does use his rattlesnake morph on occasion, as well as a cheetah morph when he must fight around uninfested humans. One of his most common morphs is his human form, created using DNA from Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco, blended together to create a unique being using the Frolis Maneuver.

[edit] Trivia

  • In 1999, two different Transformers toys of Ax were made. One was a large figure which changed from Andalite to Scorpion, while a smaller one was created as a repaint of the Jake Tiger figure, and turned into a Panther (a slight remolding of the figure did give it an Andalite head which could replace the human one).[1]
  • A running gag is Ax misinterpreting human culture. In one instance, Ax walks around (in human morph) with no shirt on, and, after being reprimanded by Marco, states: "The men who are young and restless wear no shirts. I am young. And I am sometimes restless."

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.tfu.info
v • d • e
K. A. Applegate's Animorphs series
Main series:
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49–50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54
Megamorphs:
Chronicles:
Alternamorphs:
Animorphs:
Jake • Rachel • Cassie • Marco • Tobias • Ax • David • Auxiliary Animorphs
Secondary characters:
Aldrea • Alloran • Arbron • Crayak • Drode • Elfangor • Ellimist • Erek King • Toby Hamee • Visser One • Visser Three
Minor characters:
Species:
Andalite • Arn • Capasin • Chee • Gedd • Helmacron • Hork-Bajir • Howler • Iskoort • Ketran • Leeran • Mercora • Nartec • Nesk • Pemalite • Skrit Na • Taxxon • Veleek • Yeerk •Yoort Other species
Languages