History Series / Animorphs

* ButNotTooBlack: Nadia Nascimento, Cassie's actress, is considerably lighter-complexioned than the Cassie depicted in the books' cover art.

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Variation; the series rarely used the signature morphs of the protagonists, most likely due to the budget. Rachel's bear and elephant morph becomes a lion, Marco's gorilla morph becomes a wolf. Cassie, whose primary morph in the book is a wolf, uses a horse morph most often in the TV series. Then the Transformers toys got into it, with things like a Jake-bear and Jake-stingray toy (neither of which Jake morphs), and most egregiously a FusionDance toy that portrayed Jake, Cassie and Marco all combining to fuse into a "Tri-Rex".

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Variation; the series rarely used the signature morphs of the protagonists, most likely due to the budget. Rachel's bear morph becomes a lion, Marco's gorilla morph becomes a wolf. Cassie, whose primary morph in the book is a wolf, uses a horse morph most often in the TV series. Then the Transformers toys got into it, with things like a Jake-bear and Jake-stingray toy (neither of which Jake morphs), and most egregiously a FusionDance toy that portrayed Jake, Cassie and Marco all combining to fuse into a "Tri-Rex".

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Variation; the series rarely used the signature morphs of the protagonists, most likely due to the budget. Rachel's bear morph becomes a lion, Marco's gorilla becomes a wolf. Cassie, whose primary morph in the book is a wolf, uses a horse morph most often in the TV series. Then the Transformers toys got into it, with things like a Jake-bear and Jake-stingray toy (neither of which Jake morphs), and most egregiously a FusionDance toy that portrayed Jake, Cassie and Marco all combining to fuse into a "Tri-Rex".

** This series also omits certain morphs, especially Marco's gorilla morph and Rachel's elephant and grizzly bear morph.

* AdaptedOut: David, the team's SixthRangerTraitor, never made an appearance in the show. Several extraterrestrial races, such as the Taxxons and the Pemalites, were cut from the show altogether (due to the show's very limited special effects budget), without even one mention of them (the Pemalites in particular were a bizarre case as their creations the Chee ''did'' appear, at least in the character of Erek).

* CryCute: Marco, the team cynic, breaks down into tears when talking to Jake about his mother (making him the only character to cry in the comparatively light-hearted TV series) but his tears only serve to make him more [[TheWoobie handsome and endearing.]]

* CharacterExaggeration: Eugene Lipinski's Visser Three. He was already kind of a [[LargeHam ham]] in the books, but Lipinski took it UpToEleven.

* ComplexityAddiction: The Yeerks are pretty good about avoiding this in the first season, but they take it UpToEleven in the second season, cranking out one hare-brained scheme after another and each more ridiculous than the last.

* [[HesDeadJim He's Dead, Jake]]: Tobias in ''The Underground''. [[UnexplainedRecovery Until his inexplicable recovery]].
* [[HeroOfAnotherStory Heroes of Another Story]]: The human resistance movement seen in ''Changes''.
* IdiotBall: The resistance movement, a fascinating concept unique to the TV series, was doomed to carry one of these. It led to their swift recapture by the Yeerks.
* TheIgor: The bald [[FanNickname Dr. Weenie]] is this to Visser Three.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Jake in ''Not My Problem''.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The Yeerks, when they bother to use their weapons.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Inverted with Tobias. In the flashback episode that bears his name, it's revealed he led a pretty comfortable life before becoming an Animorph, in stark contrast to his rough background in the books.

* AdaptationalCheerfulnessUpgrade: In the flashback episode that bears his name, it's revealed that Tobias led a pretty comfortable life before becoming an Animorph, in stark contrast to his rough background in the books.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Inverted with Tobias. In the flashback episode that bears his name, it's revealed he led a pretty comfortable life before becoming an Animorph, in stark contrast to his rough background in the books.

* AdaptationalCurves: In the books, Marco is described as being shorter and smaller than both Jake and Rachel. Boris Cabrera on the other hand is a weightlifting enthusiast and is quite buff compared to book!Marco. He even went on to become a fitness trainer later in life.

The series stars Creator/ShawnAshmore as Jake, Brooke Nevin as Rachel, Boris Cabrera as Marco, Nadia Nascimento as Cassie, Christopher Ralph as Tobias, Paulo Costanzo as Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and Eugene Lipinski as Visser Three.

* ThemeTune: The show received one titled "It's All In Your Hands".

* PowerCreepPowerSeep: The Animorphs all have significantly weaker battle morphs than in the books. Rachel goes from her grizzly bear and elephant to a lion (stealing SixthRangerTraitor David's battle morph), Marco goes from his gorilla to a wolf, and Cassie loses her own wolf in favor of a horse. Even Jake loses a little; he still gets a tiger morph but he's forced to trade in the formidable Siberian tiger for a smaller, less dangerous white tiger.
** Visser Three loses his menagerie of monstrous morphs. Aside from one (mostly offscreen) instance, the only morph he ever uses is his human morph.
** In Season 2, Erek the Chee gets to keep his durability and strength but loses the ability to project holograms around anyone but himself.

''Animorphs'' is a Canadian TV serie, based on the [[{{Literature/Animorphs}} books series]] of the same name. The premise revolves around a group of preteens giving the power to morph into any animal they touch, in order to fight off a parasite species known as the Yeerks. It was short lived, running for only 26 episodes on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} from 1998 to 2000.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Played with. Despite being saddled with a very low budget by Nickelodeon, the writers rarely played to this show's strengths, tending to focus less on the actors (which were by far Ani-TV's strongest point) and more on the setting (by far its ''weakest'' point). Locations from the books, most notably the Yeerk Pool, were also scaled down heavily.

* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: This series covers the whole gamut. Some episodes are very faithful adaptations of the source material (such as ''The Alien''), whereas others [[InNameOnly borrowed the title and not much else]] (such as ''The Reaction'').

* YouHaveFailedMe: Averted with Visser One. She threatens Visser Three with execution if he continues to fail, but several major failures later and he's still inexplicably alive.

''Animorphis'' is a Canadian TV serie, based on the [[{{Literature/Animorphs}} books series]] of the same name. The premise revolves around a group of preteens giving the power to morph into any animal they touch, in order to fight off a parasite species known as the Yeerks. It was short lived, running for only 26 episodes on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} from 1998 to 2000.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy:
* Rachel goes from a straight up BloodKnight to just a NiceGirl.

* BigNo: Visser Three in ''The Message'', when he realizes that, for him, everything is ''[[SubvertedTrope not]]'' [[PrettyButterflies better with butterflies]].

* [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Show]]: David. There was a teaser at the end of ''The Threat'' which implied he might show up in Ani-TV, but he never did and to add insult to injury, his lion morph was taken by his arch-nemesis Rachel.

* ThemeTune: "It's All In Your Hands,".

''Animorphis'' is a TV series aired on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}, based on the [[{{Literature/Animorphs}} books series]] of the same name. The premise revolves around a group of preteens giving the power to morph into any animal they touch, in order to fight off a parasite species known as the Yeerks. It was short lived, running for only 26 episodes from 1998 to 2000.

'''' is a TV series aired on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}, based on the [[{{Literature/Animorphs}} books series]] of the same name. The premise revolves around a group of preteens giving the power to morph into any animal they touch, in order to fight off a parasite species known as the Yeerks. It was short lived, running for only 26 episodes from 1998 to 2000.

The popularity of the ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' book series eventually led to a live-action television series. This was initially met with a ''lot'' of resistance within the fanbase, due to feelings that this would eventually cheapen the great book series, and that the books would translate more easily to an animated adaptation due to their truly alien aliens and the premise of morphing. But even in the midst of the backlash, Scholastic went ahead with production and the series premiered September 15, 1998 on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}. The series didn't gain the same popularity as the books, and only lasted 26 episodes.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Tobias has black hair here, while in the books his hair is described as dirty blond (and at least one book cover used an outright blond model for him).

* AdaptationalBadass: Oddly enough, two Animorphs get this treatment.
** Tobias is this from day one, due to being portrayed by TallDarkAndSnarky Christopher Ralph. In the books he's a meek, gangly bully magnet, while in the show he carries himself with quiet confidence, and due to Ralph being the oldest teen actor on set at 19 viewers got treated to the absurdity of seeing Tobias "bullied" by a boy who's both smaller and shorter than his supposed victim. And while Tobias is an often IneffectualLoner in the books, at least early on, Ani-TV definitely downplayed the "ineffectual" part of that trope with him.
** Marco, on the other hand, becomes one only in the season one finale (though instantly) when he [[spoiler:''single-handedly destroys the Yeerk Pool''. In line with his book characterization, he feels no remorse for this genocide.]]

* AdaptationalJerkass: All the television Animorphs are delighted at boiling several thousand Yeerks alive in the episode ''The Capture'', even Cassie. While they had not yet learned to empathize with the Yeerks at that stage in the books, they also viewed their actions as much less triumphant, with the Yeerk controlling Jake even saying that he's never happy when a sentient creature has to die, with Jake acknowledging that it was just what he would have said.

** Rachel goes from a straight up BloodKnight to just a generic NiceGirl.
** Very downplayed for Visser Three. While he's still the BigBad, he's not quite the [[AxCrazy murderous loony]] he was in the books,and never kills anyone except Elfangor.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In the books, Marco is a cynical, but sympathetic, SnarkKnight. His television counterpart, on the other hand, is an all-round sweet guy with a sense of humor who, despite the lightened-up nature of the show, just has bad things happen to him until he finally breaks down and cries.
** In a complete reversal of their book characterizations, at one point in the show, Marco makes a suggestion and Rachel shoots it down as too dangerous.
* AdaptationalWimp: More than a few examples, owing to the LighterAndSofter nature of this adaptation.
** Rachel suffers from this as a symptom of her BadassDecay. She goes from a legitimate ActionGirl (and eventual BloodKnight) in the books to a FauxActionGirl.
** Visser Three counts as well, due to the series simply not having the special effects budget to portray any of his wide range of alien monster morphs (except for the one very brief scene when he uses one to kill Elfangor in the pilot episode). Even outside of the alien monster morphs, the limited budget means that he spends most of his screen time in a human morph instead of his actual Andalite host body. While he is arguably more successful than his book counterpart, he doesn't actually accomplish much in his plans, and what he ''does'' accomplish is more due to the Animorphs' incompetence than his own efforts.
** Erek King can also be considered this, as while he is still shown to have enough NighInvulnerability to tank being hit by a truck, his OneManArmy scene from the books is cut entirely.
** In the same vein as Visser Three, Ax also suffers from this to a degree because of the limited budget requiring that he spends most of his screen time in a weaker human morph instead of his natural Andalite form.

* ButNotTooBlack: Nadia Nascimento, Cassie's actress, is considerably lighter-complexioned than the Cassie depicted in the books' cover art. Not nearly as much as it may seem from the article photo, however.
* ButtMonkey: Harold Nesbit, a CanonForeigner from ''Changes''.
* CallARabbitASmeerp: The Yeerks are described as slug-''like'' in the books, although they look more alien upon closer inspection. In the show, they're literally just slugs, with actual living (Earth) slugs used in every scene that needed a Yeerk.

* CoconutSuperpowers: One of the reasons why Ani-TV has such a poor reputation among fans.

* CompressedAdaptation: Due to Ani-TV's limited budget, numerous factors of the series were scaled down - the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons, the size of the Yeerk Pool, and the battle morphs of the Animorphs all got this treatment.

* EpicFail: The fight scene between Ax and Visser Three is probably the most triumphant example. Two Andalites, in a glorious wrestling match to the death!

* {{Flanderization}}: The characters in the TV adaptation were pretty much flanderized versions of their book counterparts.

* GratuitousSpanish: Marco often added Spanish words and slang in his dialogue, but in the books, Marco states that he barely knew any Spanish.
* HarmlessVillain: The Yeerks frequently come off as this. Even Visser Three, while memorable, is rarely a fearsome presence.

* ImprobableWeaponUser: One episode memorably focuses on the Animorphs attempting to weaponize ''instant oatmeal'' against the Yeerks [[ItMakesSenseInContext Via water balloons, even]]. Amazingly, this was ''not'' of the original episodes of Ani-TV, instead being adapted from more or less the same premise as the 17th Animorphs book, ''The Underground''.
* InNameOnly: Erek the Chee in Season 2. There's no mention of the other Chee, and no mention of the Pemalites, except when Erek cheerfully quips that "everyone looked like upright dogs on my planet!" With no mention of the horrible genocide that wiped them out.

* TheKlutz: Creator/BrookeNevin's Rachel is depicted as notably clumsy, which makes as much sense as anything else on this show considering that she's, you know, a ''gymnast''.
* KudzuPlot: The series three-part finale, ''Changes'', cobbles together a mishmash of plot ideas most likely intended for future episodes and attempts to resolve them all at once. The result, while superior to anything else in the second season, is deeply confusing and disjointed.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the books. Most episodes were rated PG, and later ones were often G. This resulted in some very clumsy [[ShadowDiscretionShot Shadow Discretion Shots]] when it came to the gory scenes.

* MagicalNegro: Fred, who randomly shows up in "Tobias" to offer encouragement. Fred moonlights as a walking BigLippedAlligatorMoment.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Of a sort. If somebody scratches at their ear in the show, it's a good sign that they're a Controller.

** Marco's dinosaur dream in ''My Name is Erek'' (which has nothing to do with anything in the rest of the episode) is a strange shout-out to the second Megamorphs book.

* StatusQuoIsGod: In ''Changes'' Ax builds himself a spaceship out of spare parts, preempting [[MemeticMutation Tony Stark]] by a decade. Though this was the series finale, Ax's spaceship still failed to get off the ground, presumably because he never left Earth in the books.
* StupidEvil: The Yeerks always had elements of this, but it went into overdrive in the mercifully-brief second season.

* ThemeTune: "It's All In Your Hands," which is admittedly pretty good.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Compared to their book counterparts? Pretty much everyone.
* UltimateJobSecurity: Visser Three. Despite being [[UpToEleven even more incompetent]] than his book counterpart, he somehow retains his position as leader of the Yeerk invasion.

** Or maybe because the 'Dracon beams' are just glorified flashlights.

* TheBadGuyWins: In "Not My Problem." Too bad for the Yeerks it's just an ItsAWonderfulPlot episode.

* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude

* ShoutOut: Rachel's dialog in the television adaptation of "The Stranger." After the Ellimist shows the kids what the future of Earth will be like if they continue to fight, Rachel asks a familiar question: [[Literature/AChristmasCarol "What you showed us...is it the definite future or just a possible one?"]]
** Marco's dinosaur dream in ''My Name is Erek'' is a strange shout-out to the second Megamorphs book.

** It's also speculated that we're seeing Aaron in all the other scenes of Ax-as-Jake, but information is scarce.

* MakingUseOfTheTwin: When Ax morphs Jake so that Jake can be tied up while his Yeerk is starved. Shawn Ashmore's twin Aaron Ashmore appears in the one scene with two Jakes.

* TheKlutz: Brooke Nevin's Rachel is depicted as notably clumsy, which makes as much sense as anything else on this show considering that she's, you know, a ''gymnast''.