History NightmareFuel / Animorphs

[[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld Wake up, go to school, save the world...]] [[{{Animorphs}} by morphing into different animals]] and fighting a violent maniac, [[EliteMooks walking salad shooters]], and [[HorrorHunger giant cannibalistic centipedes.]] WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Seriously, ''Animorphs'''s motto might as well be, "Scaring small children since 1996."

* ''{{Animorphs}}'' gave us the nightmarish puppetmaster Yeerks, the Taxxons, insane-with-hunger giant centipedes (who are also cannibals and will eat themselves if they are injured/hungry enough—and they're always hungry), and the Hork-Bajir, benign but enslaved bladed lizard men (who started out as mooks but turned out to be really sympathetic), as well as [[PainfulTransformation morphing]] in general and the terror at getting stuck in animal form—or, worse, between forms—in particular.

* The beginning of the first book, when we first realized this wasn't ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}''. The kids meet a dying alien that gives them the power to morph. In a gentler story, Elfangor would have become the quirky alien mentor or something. But since this is {{Animorphs}}, guess what? Visser Three turns into the first of his [[OneWingedAngel many horrendous morphs]] and ''eats him.''

* ''{{Animorphs}}'' gave us the nightmarish puppetmaster Yeerks, the Taxxons, insane-with-hunger giant centipedes (who are also cannibals and will eat themselves if they are injured/hungry enough--and they're always hungry), and the Hork-Bajir, benign but enslaved bladed lizard men (who started out as mooks but turned out to be really sympathetic), as well as [[PainfulTransformation morphing]] in general and the terror at getting stuck in animal form--or, worse, between forms--in particular.
** In one book, we get to see how a Taxxon thinks--which is basically a never-ending, overwhelming sense of fear of starvation. Oh, and Tobias attempts to ''eat'' his friends while in this morph. Not fun.

** Not to mention that Rachel and Ax are forced [[spoiler: to wait the two hours with him to make sure he's stuck.]] As Rachel said, you can't block out thought-speak, and she notes that she would hear his screams and pleads and threats everytime she fell asleep.

** All the worse because there's some evidence that her transformation took place not just because she wanted it to, but because her friends needed it to, even if they wouldn't admit it (Jake, for instance, expresses guilt at using Rachel for the dirtiest work - [[spoiler:given where it gets her, you can't blame him]]). Rachel herself doesn't really become conscious of this until her little tete-a-tete with Crayak, a conversation that culminates in an argument with Cassie. When Cassie starts (as usual) objecting to Rachel's latest morally troubling but wholly necessary choice:
---> '''Cassie'''': I don't think you can do it a second time.

---> '''Cassie''': (taken aback) I...I don't...

** Don't forget Alloran. Not only is he himself being forced to eat his previous protege, but he's from a non-meat-eating species, making the experience a whole new level of horrifying. In fact, Andalites are most likely a prey species. (V3 may very well have gotten into the habit of eating his Andalite enemies just to bully Alloran.)

* The Howlers [[spoiler: are literally children, and believe their constant mindless killing of other races is actually a game, ''and they enjoy it.'']]

* For a series about aliens, Animorphs made some of Mother Earth's own children into pure horror for many a child. In ''The Predator'' Marco describes Jake morphing into a lobster and his face "exploding" into valves. Imagine seeing a human being's face [[http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/151929993_93b08a7c11.jpg turn into this.]] Or in ''The Suspicion'', Cassie describes a giant (from her perspective) [[http://en.wikivisual.com/images/2/2a/Wolf_spider_attack_position.jpg wolf spider]].

* Marco exhibits some slightly Machiavellian tendencies, especially in the later books. He often talks about "the straight line". It's a personal philosophy of his; there is a straight line from A to B, the simplest way to do it, ultimate efficiency. Sometimes following this line forces you to do some things that you'd rather not (like kill your family), and thus, you diverge from the line. But the line is still the line, and for that ultimate efficiency, it must be followed through (to the hilt, so to speak). This philosophy led him to [[spoiler:plan in detail - and execute to completion - a plan to throw his own mother off a cliff to kill the alien in her head]]...

* Tobias getting tortured as a means to fool the yeerks into thinking the demorphing ray doesn't work. Tobias lost a sizable chunk of his sanity there, and it's really obvious.

** What's worse is that in the next book narrated by Tobias, he mentions how he has been [[SanitySlippage having audio hallucinations of her voice taunting him]], and things go FromBadToWorse [[spoiler: when she shows up again, and in the middle of a conversation freezes up and says in a quiet voice [[ParanoiaFuel "Don't trust her"]] ]]. It's never clarified whether the "her" referred is the yeerk or just Taylor herself.

* The Yeerks themselves. An alien slug forces its way through your ear canal and wraps itself around your brain - then takes over controlling your body while you are trapped helplessly in your own head.

* The fate of the Venber in ''The Extreme''. The Yeerks had cloned an extinct alien species, the Venber, to make shock troops specially adapted for cold temperatures. The problem is [[spoiler: a) they can't survive in temperatures above freezing, and b) the Venber clones are being controlled to follow programing instead of a Yeerk]]. So in the book's climax the kids run into area where there a large amounts of powerful lights. And the Venber follow. ''[[spoiler: They melt]].'' [[spoiler: And even as they slowly die [[{{AndIMustScream}} their programming forces them to twitch and writhe around and try to follow the Animorphs as their body liquefy]].]] Yikes.

* The description of the man's gangrenous leg that Cassie had to cut off in #44, The Unexpected.

* In ''The Experiment'', the Animorphs have to infiltrate a slaughterhouse using cow morphs. Ax, before he has a chance to demorph, is herded onto the killing floor, and sees the cows ahead of him in line die, one by one, as the butcher approaches...Even after he's rescued and demorphs, Ax "could not stop trembling...could not stop shaking."
* There's the BadFuture seen in #7 The Stranger. Apparently they made Rachel a controller and forced her to eat Tobias with barbecue sauce. Bad enough for friends and comrades in arms, but they were in love.

* In "The Underground" it's revealed that Instant Maple & Ginger Oatmeal drives Yeerks insane. The Animorphs' first encounter is when a host throws himself out a window trying to commit suicide. Later on the Animorphs shoot open a barrel of oatmeal in a Yeerk pool, and it's implied the Visser will simply let the thousands of Yeerks affected die.
* Rachel taking command in "The Weakness," where she decides to [[HarsherInHindsight fly a jet into a tower controlled by the Yeerks.]] Thousands of Yeerks die in the inferno, and before that one of her plans leads to Cassie being captured and tortured by the Yeerks.

** And everyone basically knew it was going to happen. Jake, at least, realised that it was the ultimate plan before Tobias himself did, but needed to wait for Tobias to volunteer. The team basically forced doubt and indecision aside and threw their friend in the grinder to protect themselves, showing a lot less consideration for his safety and well-being than they do for many of their enemies.

* Crayak. He's an EldritchAbomination portrayed mainly as a disembodied eye that lives in the space between dimensions thanks to that incident with the black hole. And his sole purpose in life is to destroy as much life as the Ellimist will let him, [[ForTheEvulz all for kicks]]. Applegate talked about him, saying she wanted him to represent true evil, on an existential level, much like Sauron from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

* The TV Series gives us such gems such as Marco attempting to morph into a rat for his first time, and getting stuck halfway, resulting in this [[http://i.imgur.com/7I2aC77.png]]

The TV Series gives us such gems such as Marco attempting to morph into a rat for his first time, and getting stuck halfway, resulting in this [[http://i.imgur.com/7I2aC77.png]]

** Rachel imagining sticking a fork in [[spoiler: David's]] ear was incredibly disturbing. We may need an '''Ear Scream''' page just for that scene.

** In "The Escape" Marco encounters Visser One while pretending to be a human controller, who reveals that its host (Marco's mom) is currently having a mental breakdown upon viewing her son and believing he's been enslaved, but the Yeerk has simply learned to ignore her pleas.

* The [[{{HiveMind}} Nesk]], plain and simple.

-->'''Ax:''' <''In a matter of speaking. [[{{HorrorHunger}} One half of it is consuming the other half.]]''>

* Rachel imagining sticking a fork in [[spoiler: David's]] ear was incredibly disturbing. We may need an '''Ear Scream''' page just for that scene
** "I fought back a nauseating urge to twist the fork, to make him squeal in pain." Rachel, ladies and gentlemen. Making plastic utensils a source of horror in one easy step.

* In ''The Threat'', Marco almost gets stuck in a flea morph. He manages to demorph into some...[[{{BodyHorror}} THING, that's described as a flea the size of a dog.]] ''A flea the size of a dog.'' Thank God Cassie is able to talk him through the morph.

* The nightmare-within-a-nightmare ordeal endured by Rachel in the same book, though she eventually [[spoiler:figures out it's all a hallucination caused by Crayak]].

[[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld Wake up, go to school, save the world...]] [[{{Animorphs}} by morphing into different animals]] and fighting a violent maniac, [[EliteMooks walking salad shooters]], and [[HorrorHunger giant cannibalistic centipedes.]] WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Seriously, ''Animorphs'''s motto might as well be, "Scaring small children since 1997."

* There's the BadFuture seen in #7 The Stranger. Apparently the Animorph-Controllers ate Tobias with barbeque sauce. Yeah.

* The ending of the last book where [[spoiler:Ax [[BodyHorror '''smiles''']] at them.]]

[[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld Wake up, go to school, save the world...]] [[{{Animorphs}} by morphing into different animals]] and fighting a violent maniac, [[EliteMooks walking salad shooters]], and [[HorrorHunger giant cannibalistic centipedes.]] WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids? Seriusly, this thing's motto might as well be, "Scaring small children since 1997."

---> Rachel: (snapping) You know what, Cassie? I don't think I can, either. So will you do it for me?

---> Cassie: I don't think you can do it a second time.

---> Cassie: (taken aback) I...I don't...
---> Rachel: I didn't think so.

-->'''Visser One:''' ''You must learn to control your host more completely. My own host is in here creating an awful racket, but I do not let her weeping and wailing disturb me.''
-->'''Marco:''' ''No, Visser. I will try harder to control my host.''

-->'''Visser One:' ''You must learn to control your host more completely. My own host is in here creating an awful racket, but I do not let her weeping and wailing disturb me.''

** Marco quickly realizes that [[spoiler: he isn't strong enough to be truly ruthless and can't go through with killing his own mother]] but [[spoiler: Jake does it for him]], while holding down a screaming and crying Marco.

** Forget the torture: Taylor, aka Subvisser Fifty-one, is pure nightmare fuel. The result of an insane Yeerk infesting an already unbalanced girl, she see-saws back and forth between the two personalities, sometimes the cold, power-hungry subvisser, sometimes a broken AlphaBitch, always sadistically insane and dependent on other people's pain to get through the day.

* In #31 Ax has a torture session with Chapman and Ax is not the victim. He still is an adolescent like the Animorphs. To make it worse, throughout the night he can hear Melissa Chapman calling for her father. It is such a terrible experience that Ax tells Jake will will never do anything like it again, saying <I will gladly fight this Controller and even, in fair battle, kill him, but I am not a torturer.>

-->'''Visser One:'''You must learn to control your host more completely. My own host is in here creating an awful racket, but I do not let her weeping and wailing disturb me.''

** When the Ellimist was talking about the origin of his battle with Crayak, he told the gang that Crayak was expelled from a far-distant galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago by an even more powerful entity.

* The One. Ax, of all individuals, being reduced to just another tiny part of an unbelievable being's consciousness is already creepy as all get out, but then there's the mouth...

* In ''The Threat'', Marco almost gets stuck in a flea morph. He manages to demorph into some..[[{{BodyHorror}} THING, that's described as a flea the size of a dog.]] ''A flea the size of a dog.'' Thank God Cassie is able to talk him through the morph, but no one could blame him for collapsing in tears.

** In "The Escape" Marco encounters Visser One, who reveals that its host (Marco's mom) is currently having a mental breakdown upon viewing her son and believing he's a Controller, but the Yeerk has simply learned to ignore her pleas.

* The Drode. He has the ability to make time stop, and appears in "The Exposed" to torment the Animorphs one by one, picking apart their weaknesses in front of everyone. He offers Rachel a deal to come work for Crayak: all she has to do is kill Jake.

** The implications of the Yeerk going about your life for you. Have a husband or boyfriend? Do a lot of casual hooking up? Anything in between? Well, your Yeerk is going to go on with it. Which means you don't get to decide when you have sex anymore, or how, or who with.