Andalite Terminology Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nothlit

The morphing ability allows anyone to turn into any animal that they "acquire". There are rules to becoming an animal, including the rule to never stay in morph for more than two Earth hours. After the two hour time limit, the person is trapped in the animal's body, becoming a nothlit. Throughout the series there are several characters that become nothlits. Arbron was an Andalite that got trapped in a Taxxon body. Elfangor deliberately trapped himself in a human body until the Ellimist returned him to his original Andalite body. Tobias, during the first Animorph battle at the Yeerk pool, became trapped as a red-tailed hawk.

The Ellimist also helped him; he didn't return Tobias to being a human, instead Tobias remains a hawk with the ability to morph. Aldrea, an Andalite and Prince Seerow's daughter, made the decision to become a Hork-Bajir nothlit. Alftran, a member of the Yeerk peace movement, would have died from Kandrona starvation if the Animorphs hadn't allowed her to become a humpback whale nothlit. David is the only one that was deliberately trapped in a morph.

He became a nothlit rat. After the Animorphs won the war against the Yeerks, the Taxxons were permitted to become nothlits. They chose to become anacondas and other large snakes and were relocated to the rain forest. Some of the Yeerks were also allowed to become nothlits, as a means to escape their parasitic existence as well as their dependency on the Kandrona.

Answer: Burping DNA

The Hereth Illint means burping DNA. The allergy to an animal DNA creates uncontrolled morphing. In book 12 "The Reaction" Rachel acquires a crocodile morph and is allergic to the crocodile DNA. As a result of this allergy Rachel morphs into a crocodile, from that to a fly and then an elephant without returning to her human body in between morphs. Ax, the Andalite member of the Animorphs, explained that this uncontrolled morphing (called notallssith) is tied to emotions which causes the jump from morph to morph, and that the allergic animal DNA must be removed.

The infected person must perform the Hereth Illint, or burping DNA. This means that a new separate animal would be created from the matter in Z-space. After the Hereth Illint is completed, the infected person would be able to return to normal morphing.

Answer: Escafil Device

The Escafil Device, or the blue box, allows anyone that touches it to have the ability to morph. The Andalites created this technology and (except for the five human Animorphs and one Yeerk, Visser) they are the only ones that have the ability to morph.

The Andalites have specific laws saying that no one is to give this technology, or any Andalite technology, to other species. This is the law of Seerow's Kindness. Just before he died, Prince Elfangor gave the morphing ability and the blue box to the Animorphs, breaking the law.

Although the device or the blue box is mentioned throughout the series, the most humourous Animorph book is about the Helmacrons and the blue box. Book 24 "The Suspicion" has the approximately inch tall, ruled by egotistical female, Helmacrons fighting for the Escafil Device.

They wanted the device as it is a power source that would fuel their spaceships.

Answer: Shunned and usually exiled from society

For such an advanced species the Andalites are very intolerant of anyone that is not fully physically capable. A vecol is someone that is viewed as an inferior, a cripple, and not able to contribute to society, basically useless. Being physically disabled is bad if you are an Andalite because as a vecol you would be shunned and probably sent into exile.

When Prince Elfangor's Dome ship crashed, it is discovered that two other Andalites, besides Ax, survived. "The Other" book 40 introduces the readers to Gafinilan-Estfif-Valad who suffers from Soola's disease and Mertil-Iscar-Elmand, an Andalite who is missing his tail blade. Mertil is unable to morph because he is allergic to the morphing technology, leaving him unable to morph to an undamaged body. Later in the series after the Animorph's identities are exposed (books 49 "The Diversion and book 50 "the Ultimate") they decide to create the auxiliary Animorphs.

They decided to use physically disabled children, since no one would suspect them of being Animorphs. Ax strongly objects to giving these children the morphing technology because they are vecols.

Answer: Yamphut

The Tria gland is located in the Andalite brain; disease organisms collect there. The purpose is that the Tria gland keeps diseases from the rest of the body. When the Tria gland is not working properly it creates the yamphut. The gland swells and needs to be removed before it bursts.

It can be fatal to Andalites, but it only causes flu-like symptoms in humans. Cassie is left alone while the other Animorphs are home sick, saves Alftran (a Yeerk who is a member of the Yeerk peace movement) then Alftran helps Cassie successfully remove the Tria gland.

The readers get to learn a little more about Andalite physiology in book 29, "The Sickness."

Answer: Soola's Disease

Soola's Disease is a genetic disease that affects Andalites. There is no cure. It will slowly and painfully kill the infected Andalite. Soola's Disease causes muscles to degenerate and will cause blindness. There is some relief; the Illsipar root can be eaten to help with the pain caused by the disease. Gafinilan-Estfif-Valad, another Andalite survivor from the dome ship, suffers from Soola's disease.

This discovery that there are other surviving Andalites is not known until book 40, "The Other."

Answer: Thought-speak

Andalites communicate through thought-speak; when an Andalite is speaking, there are no actual heard sounds. Instead the words are heard inside your head. Andalites or anyone in morph is able to project their thoughts into another brain. Thought-speak can be private conversation, or it can be directed so that a few or groups can hear.

When Ax was trapped under the ocean(book 4, "The Message") he sent out a general thought-speak request for help, to any Andalite that might be within hearing range. Tobias can use thought-speak all the time, when he is a human or a hawk.

As a hawk he is a nothlit, and when he is a human it's another morphed body. Every book within the series has someone speaking in thought-speak.

Answer: Cassie

Ax said that Cassie is an Estreen. She is very skilled at morphing. When the other Animorphs morph it is unpredictable, each morph in a new morph doesn't follow the same pattern, even if it is an animal they have morphed before. Cassie was the first Animorph who was able to morph clothing when turning back into a human.

She is able to morph faster than the other Animorphs, and she manages to make each morph look artistic. Cassie can also control the morph and the order in which things appear and disappear (such as wings, eyes and other body parts). On the Andalite home world those talented and skilled at morphing would become professional Estreens; they use their abilities for entertainment. Throughout the series, all of the Animorphs have commented on Cassie's abilities when it comes to morphing.

Answer: Shorm

Both Tobias and Ax are unique members of the Animorphs, Tobias because he is a nothlit (trapped in a morphed body) and Ax because he is the only Andalite on Earth fighting the Yeerks. They both have more time to spend together and because of their uniqueness (the other Animorphs still have families, school and non-Yeerk obligations) have developed a close friendship.

In book 8, "The Alien" Ax said that on his home world someone of such close friendship is a shorm. Tobias is Ax's shorm. Shorm actually means tail-blade, meaning that a shorm is such a trusted friend that he could literally place his tail blade to your neck and there would be no reason to worry.

Originally Ax is concerned that Tobias can not be a true shorm since they are from different species, but he soon realizes that Tobias is his shorm and that even with the different species they are more alike than not.

Answer: Unschweet

When an Andalite does something deserving punishment, his commanding officer uses his tail blade to remove a patch of fur. This is a very noticeable, public form of punishment; it is a mark of shame. This is called unschweet. As the fur grows back, the shame lessons; when the fur has totally grown back the Andalite's honour is restored.

In an attempt to convince the Yeerks that their anti-morphing technology doesn't work (book 33, "The Illusion") Tobias had to morph an Andalite and allow himself to be caught.

The Yeerks believe that the Animorphs are actually six Andalites. Tobias' real body is a red-tailed hawk, something that the Yeerks don't know. Even if the technology did work, once he "morphed" to a red-tailed hawk, he couldn't be forced to "demorph"; he would remain a hawk.

After Ax performed the unschweet, he apologized saying that it was the only way he knew to make them appear to be physically different.