Pemalite

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pemalites are a fictional alien species from the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate. In appearance they resemble dogs, though they walk on their hind legs.

[edit] Creation

The Pemalites were originally created by the Ellimist, along with many other species, as his way of spreading life and counteracting the destruction caused by Crayak. The Pemalites were the Ellimist's most fruitful creations, doing more good than even he was able to do, and seem to have followed his philosophy of kindness better than any other.

[edit] Extermination and Rebirth

The Pemalites were destroyed several thousand years before the main events of the series. The race was targeted for extermination by the Howlers, almost surely because their master, Crayak, opposed their service to his enemy the Ellimist. Having no weapons, the species was almost completely wiped out. The Pemalites who survived the initial attacks abandoned their planet and, along with the Chee, went to Earth. However, the Howlers had unleashed a genetic virus along with their attacks, and as a result the few remaining members of the species began to die, and reached Earth barely clinging to life. The Chee managed to save their essence, however, and transferred this into wolves, resulting in the creation of the domesticated dog, which, in the words of Erek King, are "all that remains of the Pemalite soul."

[edit] Behavior and Technology

The Pemalite ship, hidden in a crevice off the U.S. Pacific coast

The Pemalites were a completely pacifistic species. After an unknown period after their creation by the Ellimist, they in turn created the Chee, intelligent androids who, following their philosophy, are physically incapable of violence. The word Chee means "friend" in the Pemalite language. Pemalite technology is incredibly advanced---a single Pemalite crystal, used to program their computers, would be capable of taking control of every computer on Earth.

[edit] The Pemalites in Animorphs

A Pemalite spacecraft---the one used by the Chee to arrive on Earth---remains hidden on the planet, under the ocean. Shaped like a canine Pemalite itself, it contains powerful technology only accessible to those who know the computer's security code---however, since the Pemalites were so naturally trusting, the code is only one digit long ("six"). The Yeerks attempted to reach this ship at least twice---once in The Exposed and again in The Mutation. They were aided in their first attempt by the Drode, who also intended to use the occasion to wipe out the Chee; the Animorphs and Erek the Chee managed to foil their plans and rehide the ship. The second attempt to find it was unsuccessful.

In The Android, Erek the Chee mentions that the Pemalites chose to flee to Earth because they had visited the planet some fifty thousand years before the Howler attack. The Pemalite visit to Earth is never again mentioned in the series, though, given the Pemalites' nature, it is possible that life on Earth was somehow affected by this early interaction.