Auxiliary Animorphs

The Auxiliary Animorphs are a team of fictional characters from the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate. All of them were physically disabled in some form. The Auxiliary Animorphs first appeared in book 50, and were slaughtered in book 53.

Plot

After their identities were exposed in #49 (they sustained injuries in a blood bank and realized that the Yeerks could simply identify who they really were), the Animorphs promptly evacuated their families and relocated to the free Hork-Bajir valley. In #50, they decided to recruit more kids onto the team so that the new kids could continue to resist the Yeerks if the original five were captured or killed. The Animorphs chose to recruit physically disabled kids because they believed that the Yeerks would be uninterested in infesting them and to expedite the recruiting process (instead of waiting three days to guarantee a clean person). They also believed (in-fiction) that giving them morphing abilities would heal their physical disabilities.

In all, there were 17 new Animorphs, who were dubbed the Auxiliary Animorphs. The recruitment was done in three stages, initially taking four people on the first run and gradually turning more people into Animorphs. The first four (Colette, James, Kelly, and Timmy/Tuan) acquired a pigeon morph. The other two sessions were done at night, sneaking around The Gardens to acquire various morphs(where Julio, Erica, Ray, Tricia and Craig were introduced. Also where James, Colette, Timmy and Kelly along with the newer recruits got battle morphs, aquatic morphs, bird of prey morphs and additional morphs; both at The Gardens and at Cassie's barn). The Auxiliary Animorphs were only used in emergency situations when the original ones needed more assistance. Cassie remarked that they adapted easily to the acquiring process, having little trouble adjusting to and controlling the animals' natural instincts. Most likely this was because, being incapable of as much physical activity, they had conversely developed sharper minds.

However, when they were attempting to recruit kids from a school for the blind, Tom discovered them and seized the blue box. Just as Jake was about to kill his brother, Cassie stopped him. Jake was furious and the act was considered to be mutinous. Later in the books, however, Tom's seizure of the blue box led to the downfall of the Yeerk Empire. It was Tom's betrayal of Visser Three that allowed the Animorphs to sneak into and seize the Pool Ship to end the war.

An Auxiliary Animorph named Ray was killed by Dracon fire during one battle. The second was Tricia. The third, fourth and fifth were Julio, Craig and Jessie. The rest of the Auxiliary Animorphs died in The Answer (#53). The last seven were Colette, Erica, James, Kelly, Liam, Pedro and Timmy. They had sacrificed their lives to assist Sam Doubleday's diversionary ground force as the five original Animorphs and Ax invaded the Pool Ship. Jake hears the promoted Visser One gleefully order the Pool Ship's gunners to kill any animals in the fight below, until the gunners report none are left. It is unrecorded when the others died. Elena is still living in the free Hork-bajir valley.

Characters

• Andrew: was a hyper and fast-talking young boy, who was made fun of by Jessie because she thought he had ADHD. Andrew emulated marco and therefore decided to use a gorilla battle morph.

• Collette: claimed to have been injured in a skiing accident, although in reality she was born a paraplegic. She had to live in the hospital because her brother and sister-in-law could not provide sufficient care for her due to restrictions at the military base where they lived. She appears to be close to James, as she was able to tell the Animorphs about his accident and family situation. Her battle morph was a crocodile.

• Craig: One of the three who were healed and became one of James' lieutenants. His battle morph is a black panther though he could use his komodo dragon morph.

• Elena: A blind girl that acquired Rachel and relocated to the Hork-Bajir Valley. She is not considered to be one of the auxiliaries and was the only person that the Animorphs were able to reach in the school for the blind; shortly after Elena received the morphing power, Tom took the morphing cube. She doesn't return to the school, and lives with the Hork-Bajir. She has no battle morph.

• Erica: She was one of the three people healed by the morphing process and became one of James' lieutenants. Her battle morph was a fox or lioness.

• James: The leader of the Auxiliary Animorphs. He was in a wheelchair from a car accident until he is given the morphing power by the Animorphs, which healed his paralysis. According to Collette, he was abandoned by his mother and left in the hospital after the accident. His battle morph was a lion.

• Jessie: She is usually very sarcastic but has a kind heart. Like Cassie, she battles as a wolf.

• Judy: Judy's attack morph was an African elephant.

• Julio: A boy whose battle morph, like Rachel's, was a grizzly bear.

• Kelly: A cynical, sarcastic girl with cystic fibrosis. Her battle morph was a bull.

• Liam: He was a disabled boy. His battle morph was a polar bear.

• Pedro: The good freind of James, he was invited to join out of sympathy because he had been living on his back for 14 years. He chose a jaguar as his attack morph.

• Ray: The first death out of the Auxiliary Animorphs. He lost his life during the battle on the site of the new Yeerk Pool. The other children took comfort in the fact that he was instantly killed and had not suffered much. His battle morph was a leopard.

• Timmy/Tuan^[1]: He used a wheelchair and had cerebral palsy, which impaired his movement and gave him a speech impediment. He called it "hell on earth" that he had such extensive vocabulary and encyclopedic knowledge of musical theatre but could not say it. His battle morph was a bobcat.

• Tricia: The second Auxiliary to be 'killed'. Her attack morph was a rhino.

• Zoe: An often diplomatic young girl, she was the only member unsure about her battle morph. She later on chose a tiger, like Jake.

Morphs

• James: lion, falcon, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, goldfish, rabbit, Red Tailed Hawk and black bear.

• Colette: crocodile, bald eagle, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, rabbit, giraffe, and lion-cub.

• Timmy/Tuan: bobcat, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, goldfish, horse, and penguin.

• Kelly: bull, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, goldfish, rattlesnake, parrot, and walrus.

• Julio: grizzly bear, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, cat, tarantula, and python.

• Tricia: rhino, golden eagle, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, goldfish, beetle, and lion-cub.

• Ray: cheetah, harrier, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, cat, hammerhead shark, and zebra.

• Craig: panther, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, flea, and komodo.

• Erica: fox, bald eagle, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, horse, and lioness.

• Liam: polar bear, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, crow, and orangutan.

• Jessie: wolf, golden eagle, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, cat, and lion-cub.

• Judy: elephant, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, goldfish, mouse, kangaroo, and orca.

• Andrew: gorilla, bald eagle, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, koi, iguana, scorpion, and stingray.

• Zoe: tiger, osprey, pigeon, bat, dolphin, fly, koi, robin, sea turtle, and panda bear.

• Pedro: jaguar, harrier, pigeon, bat, dolphin, cockroach, koi, rattlesnake, and butterfly.

Controversy

The idea of Auxiliary Animorphs was controversial within the Animorphs themselves. Ax mainly objected on the grounds that these kids were vecols (disabled) and thus useless when not in morph; however, the other Animorphs said that they needed anybody possible to fight and that the auxiliaries wouldn't be that much more helpless in midmorph than they themselves had been at times, and the fact that they were disabled meant there was an extremely low risk that they would be Yeerk hosts. The Animorphs also agreed that it was the Auxiliaries' planet too and so they should be at least be given the chance to defend it. Cassie's dad was appalled when he found out that they were using such children for war, but apparently did not tell the others, as nobody else stepped up to talk about it with Jake or the other Animorphs.

References

1. ^ The character was originally named Tuan; however, Applegate changed it to Timmy before #50 was published. Due to an editorial oversight, the name Tuan appears in #52. (Source: Animorph Database)