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Published: 2010-12-07 07:04:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 7185; Favourites: 210; Downloads: 70
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Yeah, I read Animorphs as a kid. Still do. Been drawing Andalites for years, trying to figure them out (I'm not really a fan of most of their cover art). It's an interesting problem because, see, they're a grazing species that evolved with no mouth (they eat through their hooves), no ability to physically turn their head back to see like we do (that's what stalk eyes are for), and since they didn't evolve from a brachiating species like we did, they... should not have shoulders like we do. By all rights they should be chinless sticks with rodent-like shoulder/arm forms and... well it wouldn't be attractive.But they're supposed to be.
So... here's the results of my battling against my nitpicky self in order to churn out something decently attractive.
(I still don't understand how they'd carry those tails when running. Book says curled over their back but gee that's not very aerodyna- STOPPING NOW)
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Comments: 31
Oh man, I'm glad someone else is obsessed with Andalites. I've been rereading the series in the past few months (because I never actually finished it as a kid) and this time around every time the Andalites show up my mind flips out at how their biology makes zero sense. I mean... absorbing nutrients through their hooves? How does that work? Is there an opening that can actually suck things in? Sometimes it seems like this is the case, because Ax comments about how he accidentally ate a snail and that's gonna give him too much protein. But then what happens if an Andalite, like, accidentally steps in some poop? How do they keep from ingesting if they're walking through a poisonous or hostile terrain? And if it's an opening on their hooves then they DO have mouths, just not in the usual place. OR, if they crush the grass and they simply "absorb" the nutrients through some kind of thin membrane... that makes the hooves a very delicate, sensitive area when hooves are supposed to be the exact opposite. D: Nevermind that a species that only has to walk around to eat and survive would be super unlikely to gain enough intelligence for sapience.
I feel like you could blame the Ellimist on some of this craziness, but it's made clear that he met the Andalites after they'd evolved most of these features. So in my headcanon they're the result of some other powerful entity basically playing Spore and making up cool-looking creatures without much thought. Basically, I think you have to say 'a wizard did it' because none of it makes much sense. And do the Andalites realize this? They are masters of genetic technology, surely once they figured out evolution they had to look at their history and go "wait, our biology makes no goddam sense."
(I mean, the Yeerks don't make much sense either. How is it that they are compatible across so many brain types? They never encounter pathogens in their different hosts that would attack them? Also, the ear canal does not connect to the brain unless you bore through the skull; they should really be entering through the nose instead, at least on humans.)
Aaagh I love Animorphs and their creative aliens but they do make my head hurt trying to make sense of them.
Lovely pics though!
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Oh man I know that feel, Andalites make me so angry haha THERE IS NO LOGIC IN THEIR DESIGN. I never viewed their hooves as having literal mouths/holes though, since Ax's comments about 'absorbing' nutrients and Elfangor's comment in the Chronicles about 'closing his hooves' to the debris of taxxon guts. But yeah, delicate hooves, I dunno. NO SENSE. Maybe these are very durable mystery sponge things, it could be possible. The world is a crazy place.
In terms of them gaining sentience, I dunno, I mean, they're stated to be a really old race. Lots of time to hone communication skills and kind of evolve from quick bodylanguage to more nuanced gestures? maybe that's how the hands and upper body kinda appeared. Hmm. Maybe I'll start exploring that.
And yeah at some point with alien biology (and sci-fi in general) there's a place where logic ends and rule of cool begins, haha. ANIMORPHS IS VERY DEPENDENT ON THE RULE OF COOL XDDD At least they're pretty unique and iconic for the series? Haha. Oh and thanks for the comment, glad you like XD Always nice to talk with people that are also headachey over this kinda stuff
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They're an awesome design, as are a lot of the other aliens in the series (I'm still trying to figure out how to draw Ketrans, they're super weird), and I give KA Applegate a lot of credit for making the aliens' biology influence their culture so much. Andalites are herd animals, so it makes sense that they have this rigid hierarchical society that is super conservative and resistant to change. Also, they completely suck at creativity. Like, they can do faster-than-light travel and crazy shapeshifting, but it never occurred to anyone to build prosthetics for injured Andalites? Fail.
The improbable sentience thing was a comment from my friend (who is much more knowledgeable than I about evolution/genetics/biology). I do see her point-- most of the very clever species here on Earth are predators, because a predator has to outwit its prey to survive. A prey animal just has to run away. It's not impossible that an herbivore would gain sentience, but it would be a lot harder, and for the Andalites who literally don't have to do anything but walk around to eat, there's not a lot of incentive/pressure to do anything else.
But again, rule of cool.
I'm really glad to find that there are others out there who are fascinated with this series; my roommate and I have long conversations about it, but most of our other friends look at us like we're crazy when we compare the amount of tragedy in Animorphs to something like Battlestar Galactica.
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Ketrannnnsss I haven't touched those guys yet. I wanna give that book a reread before I even attempt it. Loved how alien they were though. And yeah good point with the culture. I'm half under the impression that the lack of inventions for injured/differently abled Andalites more stems from their culture though. They don't seem very sympathetic to the ill at all. Basically oh, do you have bad genetics? WELL LET'S JUST CUT YOU OFF FROM THE HERD THEN. Andalites are jerks.
Hmmm the sentience thing is a good point... I wish we knew more about their homeworld. But then again, we can make crap up for ourselves. I wonder what kind of environment would work to shape that kind of mental growth, though?
... Man I just realized that they'd have like zero foraging skills with that kind of 'walk to eat' set-up too, oh man, how did they ever start problem solving? my world is being rocked with how even more improbable Andalites are, wow.
And heyyy I love speculating about this kinda stuff. It's always nice to see there's a few other people around that do the same. The Animorphs community is small, but the conversations are there XD
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I've recently been rereading/finishing the series because I never got more than halfway as a kid and my roommate owns them all. (I'm currently halfway through the last one and even though I was spoiled on a lot of events... ALL THE TEARS. Also, dammit Cassie you ruined everything. Kinda mad that no one really holds her accountable for that.)
Andalite culture is definitely very frustrating, what with the rampant sexism/ableism and their utter certainty that they're the best damn species in the universe. I don't know how they invented anything; I mean, this is a species that would have had to invent fire only when they got around to inventing, like, engines. Though I'm not sure how you think of engines if you can run anywhere you want to go at good speed and you don't use fire regularly. (I assume they don't need it for heat given Elfangor's confusion at the idea of living in too-cold environments.) Mostly, I handwave it as the Ellimist interfering a lot more than he implied he did.
KA Applegate did a fascinating job on the worldbuilding with this series, and she's definitely got some of the most alien aliens I've ever seen... but man, the more questions I ask the more confusing everything gets.
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I dunno, her relationship with all of them was pretty ruined for a while. I'm pretty conflicted over Cassie, gotta reread everything to refresh my memory. I feel like she ultimately did save their sanity for as long as was needed before that big final fight though.
And yeah god didn't Ax say that they invented the computer before the book? Does that even... Is that even plausible? I dunno. But yeah I figure... don't think about it. Honestly the species would have to be redesigned to kinda tie up or help with these problems. It's so weird to think but yeah man the only intelligent herbivores I can think of are elephants... but they still have to forage and stuff. Hm.
In conclusion, the alien stuff is... Yeahhh it's definitely all very rough XD I can't say I blame her too much for that, given how this series was written practically on the fly, but man what a pain to sort through.
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Cassie is definitely a necessary character; the issues she brings up are important to consider. However, I think what is harmful is that she's not just bringing them up, she's judging everyone else for their (necessary) choices. I don't hate her, but I do find her actions incredibly frustrating. And she's definitely not a person who should be on the front lines. I've been considering doing an Adult!Animorphs AU, and in that storyline basically sticking Cassie on auxiliary tasks: reconnaissance, negotiation, helping them acquire new morphs and possibly listening and advising on battle plans... but not being allowed to make any combat decisions, because no. She's a terrible soldier.
My roommate is reading Game of Thrones right now and suggested that Cassie is very much the Ned Stark of Animorphs. She always always sticks to her guns on morals, and that's respectable... but it leads to a lot of problems because she can't ever bend.
Well, Ax said they had computers, but was amazed by the invention of books, which I don't think the Andalites have at all. It doesn't make much sense. Still, the alien cultures and designs are interesting, even if they don't make sense on examination. They're still more creative than most other sci-fi series I've seen.
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Yeah, problem is also that the ghostwriters flubbed her and Rachel SO badly in the later books that I ended up handwaving a lot of Cassie being frustrating as 'this writer is an idiot'. There's no defending that lot of her ways were problematic and judgemental though, yeah. Also I never liked her choice of wolf morph. I think Applegate actually stated she kept it for a battle morph because it did less damage and just... No oh god why would you do that. I'd rather be killed fast by a freakin' grizzly than bleed out slow from being gnawed on, Dagh!
But I dunno, you take away her participation in battles and you lose something in her being considered a real part of the team, especially considering how little people they already have. Plus I dunno if it'd really be in character for her to sit out while her friends head right out into danger like that. I mean yeah, she briefly quit in book 19, but the girl was having a breakdown.
Hmn... I really wish we could get a reboot of the series sometimes, haha. Without ghostwriters. So many conflicting feelings about Cassie here XD As a kid I really liked her but man, she's got so many problems. Aaand I personally know nothing about Game of Thrones so I'll take your friend's word for it XD
I pretty distinctly remember Ax mentioning that Andalites invented the computer before books when he was comparing how humans invented computers only recently... It really stuck with me for quite a while because haha how does that even happen? But yeah, very creative aliens. I personally like the twist from the usual 'advanced aliens' trope with the Hork Bajir too.
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Well, since it would be an adult!AU, I'd probably have them recruit people ASAP after they get the morphing cube. Because really, the more people the better in this kind of fight. But there are a lot of things I think the characters might have done differently if they'd been adults and had any idea of actual tactics. (See also: morphing humans. Just have Ax teach you the trick of combining DNA and you have the best spying abilities ever.) So given a larger team and a much greater focus on surveillance, I think you could have Cassie head a team that wasn't involved so much in direct violence but still a crucial part of the team.
As far as Game of Thrones goes... basically, Ned Stark is a character who is super honorable, and who is asked to be a politician. (This is already a bad idea.) He goes in, manages to discover a huge secret involving the queen that got his predecessor murdered... and then TELLS the queen he knows. He had his reasons for doing this (the secret would have gotten the queen's kids killed and he didn't want that) but it was still a terribly stupid decision to make. He then refuses any and all advice that might have controlled the situation and refuses to lie about it, either. So the end result is that he is arrested as a traitor, his daughter is seized as a hostage, all the guards/servants he had with him are killed (100+ people)... and the entire continent is plunged into a vicious civil war that lasts for years. Because he wouldn't do anything even slightly "dishonorable."
Cassie didn't achieve quite that level of failure, although a lot of that is because she's protected by the author-- the chance that the Yeerk she stuck in her ear would be peaceful is super slim, and the butterfly thing was a really bad deus ex machina. Giving away the cube was just a disaster, though. I understand her stopping Jake from fighting Tom... but there was no reason for her not to simply chase Tom down and get the cube back herself.
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Ohh gotcha. Yeah haha that makes more sense, I thought you meant changing her role from the very beginning. Still, changing their ages would really change how events played out from book one as well. Like.. yeah, completely different books, motivations... It's odd to think about. Would make for a totally different series.
With Ned I guess I can see the parallel, though dayum. At least Cassie was never quite to that level of extreme ahaha. But yeah, there were so many things they could have done once they got the morphing cube, really. Everything seemed so frantically paced and just not thought through. Again, series flaw. Just too bad Applegate had that monthly deadline. Plus Cassie not chasing Tom down herself was a huge... ugh. Not gonna deny that I liked how the addition of morphing powers made the yeerk ranks get restless, but it wasn't explored enough. Heck, you'd think the yeerk peace movement would get more of a mention after that, but nope. So many dumb things going on in the later books.
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Oh yes. A big part of the series is that they are children, and so they make decisions (and mistakes!) characteristic of children. Adults would handle the situation very differently, which is why I'm really curious to see that explored. I don't know that I'll ever get a chance to write it... because holy crap do I have a ton of personal projects already I'd like to do, and not nearly enough time to do them... but I may do a general outline just to get it down.
Yeah, the parallel is clearer if you are familiar with Game of Thrones. I left out a number of details to avoid spoiling things too badly. And Westeros is a much harsher world than the one Animorphs is set in; the characters don't nearly have as much plot armor as the Animorphs do.
I liked that the Yeerks got restless... but since the Animorphs had had the cube for years, they could easily have offered morphing power to the peace movement before the final battle. The Taxxons, too. How much more useful would it have been if they could have given the Taxxons morphing power right then? Or the National guard? Or that awesome governor lady?
I think for what the series was, it's pretty well done and remains reasonably consistent. But it's also something that has a lot of possibilities for how things might have worked out otherwise, and it's fun to speculate.
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As someone who's been obsessed with Andalites since the first book came out, I've totally pondered just about everything there is to think about them 
As for the tail thing, I think they run with them curled over their backs depending more on the situation than for speed. You know Andalites and their ceremonies 
I love your depictions and the subtle hues and markings. I'm not so good with subtle... I saw these designs before on LJ and then found them here, hence the +fav spammage! Hope you don't mind my Andalite geekery!
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Oh hey, thanks for the indepth comment- as well as the faving! XD I've been stalking your comic on and off as well actually. Didn't realize you were on here as well! Let's be andalite-obsessed geeks together!
You have a good point about about the tail, actually. In casual situations it makes more sense to curl it over, but yeah when running it probably is stretched out behind 'em XD
As for the jaw thing, I'm not sure if it makes much evolutionary sense that they would lose a mouth in favour of developing a completely different system... It's difficult to say, though. They're such an old species and we have so little information on their planet or how they evolved. Still, I'm not really sure if there is any good reason for them to have such a humanoid face, buuuut I'll accept it anyway. It's easier to draw.
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Yay! A comic stalker ^^ You should join in the Ustream I have on Sundays and we can geek out about Andalites in real time! I announce when I'm streaming via @AnimorphsComic on Twitter.
I think the Andalite's tail is as utilitarian as you can get for an appendage. It's totally a status thing, as you can see when it gets sliced off, their social bearing goes down the drain. They probably really need it for steering and balance too, just like a cheetah. I tend to draw an Andalite's tail rather thin, to allow it to have the range of motion that the series describes. If it's too thick, then it only really serves as a counter balance and it wouldn't be able to strike quickly or very far in front of them. I still need to decide on a good way to attach the tailblade. I still add it on like the series covers had it, but I am liking your idea of how it attaches too! I'll figure out something.
I stick by the jaw thing only because it's the only way them having a jaw at all makes any sense. Plenty of creatures still have vestigial organs and appendages, I imagine the Andalite's jaw is just victim to the same phenomena. Depending how other creatures on the planet evolved (maybe all plant eaters evolved hoof-mouths), since we only got a smidgen of that from the Ellimist Chronicles, they conceivably lost their mouths early on in their evolution and maybe through selective breeding (in the sense that Andalites with jawlines were seen as more attractive than those without them), they kept their headshape.
Another possibility is they need that big of a head to be able to communicate. Maybe the jaw area serves another purpose entirely, like the melon area of a dolphin to help it echolocate. Backward deduction is all we can really do with any creature without a fossil record, so it's just kind of fun to be like, well, this is what they look like, now why do they look like this? 
I love the elegant face shape you give your Andalites. I'd really like to see how you'd render a female too! I adopted a bit of the nose structure you created into my Andalites as I like it a lot better than the old covers- very cool!
Ok, now I'm officially needing to go to G.A.- Geeks Anonymous
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I'll have to check out your sunday thing XD GO TEAM GEEK
And yeah I agree on pretty much everything with the tails. Steering, balance, mood indicator, source of status, etc. The issue I always found with the way the tails were depicted on covers was that they seemed very... stuck on. Like, the tail would be thinning considerably and then BAM giant blade popping out. It's not very streamlined and it doesn't seem like the most effective placement ever, is all I'm saying. It can work, I think, but it largely depends on the artist depicting it. There are sooo many possible ways to interpret the tail and blade attachment, haha.
You do have a point with the jaw thing. Selective breeding and whatnot could make sense, and at least put some basis behind the appearance other than the design decision of 'it looks good and is a face people can relate to', heh. I prefer the humanoid headshapes anyway, though oh man the more alien look is fun to play around with.
Actually, one way to think of it is that since a lot of the nose seems to take up the face, it's a respiratory thing. Maybe the jaw's just a side effect of framing for the nasal.. whatevers? Hmm.
Faw, thanks so much XD The noses are pretty difficult to draw. The three slit thing.. ffgh so hard to do without making it look phallic somehow ;;
And yeah I'll have to do a proper rendering of a female at some point. Probably Aldrea and Estrid for comparison purposes. XD
God I love dorky conversations.
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I missed this week's stream, but that was because I was obsessed with the animated morph sequence and was in total concentration mode.
Oh yeah, I didn't like a lot of the covers. The only Andalite tails I liked were the Andalite Chronicles and Hork-bajir Chronicles. The "photo-realistic" Andalites had very stuck on tails, not very natural looking at all. The blade design is also a little weird on the covers. I've kept it only because I need to concept it out more and play with tail blade designs.
Mmmm nasal whatevers... Yes, I agree
And yeah, I had a problem and kept thinking of the nose as sort of the opposite of "phallic" heh. I'm happy with my new nose design, I think it looks better.
And yesssss! An Aldrea/ Estrid comparison would be awesome (I'm a glutton for more Andalite art, what can I say?)
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You do animation as well? ... Oh wait I just ran and checked the comic. /Nice/, man XD
Yeah, honestly I'm not sure what they were thinking with the depictions of Ax in the regular books. He is a photoshopped mish-mash that somehow manages to land right between silly and horrifying. Haa. Thank goodness the chronicles came in and made them look badass XD I think they must've been going off the existing art, though, because... I dunno, what did you think when Andalites were first described in the books? Did you think of a tail like that? My initial impression was a super flexible scorpion tail.
Two hearts and two sets of lungs, right? Haha. Yeah, that's a pretty good idea to go with as well I think. Selective breeding plus the natural respiration needs, sure. I like your new nose design too XDD Flows nicely, but still calls back to the style of the covers XD
Okay so Aldrea and Estrid... Are being huge pains to draw. I never really was a huge fan of either of the characters, though I do agree that Estrid and co. disappeared in kind of a lame manner. ...That book was kind of weird. I was like B[ at Estrid for most of it- but now that I think on it, I think I should reread. Just to make sure I didn't overexaggerate her more irritating traits with memory XD Also with the difficulty I find in drawing her raaaahhh. You know I find drawing female andalites a lot harder in general? I think it's the purple. Stupid purple. Also for some reason they never, ever look right with headfur. Apparently my andalite chicks enjoy sporting the shortcut look.
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I wish I did animation for reals, I'm just learning it now
I really need to upload my very first image of an Andalite. It was... Horrible. But maybe kinda awesome. Honestly, it looked like a bizarre manticore more than an Andalite XD I totally misread the book at first and thought the nose went horizontally rather than vertically. It was a sight to see, for sure.
I still may fiddle with the nose design. I kind of like the idea of leaving out the middle nose line, just leaving the nostrils on the sides, but that might be too different, though aesthetically it looks ok.
I was wondering about Aldrea and Estrid. I've been seeing all your new updates and getting excited about the possibility of seeing those two! I need to reread that book because I came away thinking Estrid was awesome, but I'm not sure if I was substituting her with a fan-made character I had. I had a race of Andalites I made up, Mountain Andalites, and I drew them with headfur. Granted, it was more young "Simba-esque" headfur than very realistic. Maybe try lightening up the purple? I don't think it has to be the same shades as the covers
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I love it. X3. Interesting style you have there!
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Not to mention winging them over their heads without the momentum carrying them forward...
I know how you feel, being a scientist myself; there are some things that irk me from an evolutionary/physiology standpoint, but I try not to think too much about it.
For a while, a friend and I were discussing what kind of internal organs could possibly be in their deer/horse body section considering that they absorb nutrients directly into their blood streams (or so it seems) through their hooves, and as such wouldn't need a chambered stomach or intestines.
Ne-who, great job! I likes!
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Thankee, fellow animorphs artist!
Haha, as for the internal structure, that's a good point. I've always been more occupied by the external appearance... but now that I've got that thought-nugget, that's going to bother me too, heh.
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It is my life goal to implant such nuggets....Mua-ha-ha!
%^_^%
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TWO uploads in a month. I'm so proud of you <3
This looks pretty awesome...I love how Ax is looking up at Elfangor =3 And...well it may not be very aerodynamic, but centaur-like thingies aren't very aerodynamic to begin with, are they? Oo;
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I'm a rockstar! XD
Well, they're not that different in shape from normal horses/deer, right? The torso is the same size as what the animal's neck would be... The difference is the arms, haha. Look, I have no idea, all I know is that the giant tail just seems awkward is all XD
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I was always puzzled about the length of the tails..I mean, there's references to them swinging it in front of them and chopping something off an enemy that's at LEAST a foot away, so...what the hell XD
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