Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

For the Ax from the Amazon Sario Rip, see Ax

For the Ax from Visser Four's reality, see Ax

For the Ax from Back to Before, see Ax

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill
Real Name	Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill
Alias(es)	Ax Ax-man No Phillip Resident Alien Deer-man from Space Horse-Boy Pokey-Man Aximili of Earth The Living Legend The Great Aximili Max (TV series)
Species	Andalite
Gender	Male
Host to	Aftran 942 (briefly)
Eyes	Green
Hair	Blue and tan fur
Died	2003
Relatives	Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf (father) Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen (mother) Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul † (brother) Tobias (nephew) Loren (sister-in-law)
Title(s)	Aristh (formerly) Prince Liaison Captain-Prince
Affiliation	Andalite military Animorphs Chee (formerly) Free Hork-Bajir Colony Unit 0 (briefly; undercover)
First Appearance	The Message
Last Appearance	The Beginning
Acquired by	Tobias
Status	Deceased
Actors/Actresses
Portrayed by	Paulo Costanzo (TV series) Aaron Ashmore (TV series; when morphed as Jake)
Voiced by	Adam Verner (audiobooks)

"I had seen more battles, death, and destruction than many seasoned soldiers in our Andalite fleet. I felt my throat tighten and constrict. My hearts ached with a pain I could not describe. I wondered if I were dying. I felt not sadness. I felt pity. For myself. For us all. We were children no longer. And we never would be again."

―Ax

Captain-Prince Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, also known as Ax, was the sixth Animorph, the younger brother of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and the uncle of Tobias. In 1997, Ax crash landed onto the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean of Earth, off the coast of California. After being rescued by the Animorphs, he aided them in their battle against the Yeerks before officially joining the team as their sixth member. Ax then spent three years on Earth with the Animorphs, serving under Jake and becoming close friends with Tobias and Marco while learning about humanity.

In 2000, the Animorphs managed to bring an end to the Andalite-Yeerk War, which resulted in Ax being promoted from aristh to Prince. Serving as the liaison between Andalites and humans, Ax formed partnerships with Adobe, Microsoft and Nintendo to grant them Andalite technology. By 2003, Ax was revered as a national hero on the Andalite homeworld and had been promoted to Captain-Prince after he was given his own ship, the Intrepid. During a mission, he located the Blade ship where he encountered The One who then assimilated him.

Biography

Early Life

"In school, during Xenobiology, we had a section on humans. It mostly involved human television programs. News shows. Entertainment. Music."
"Music? You mean like MTV? You were watching music videos on the Andalite home world?"
"I don't remember what they were. I... I didn't pay very much attention to Xenobiology. I wish I had now. A warrior is supposed to be a scientist and an artist, as well as a fighter. But I didn't always enjoy that other stuff, so I didn't pay much attention."

―Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and Tobias

Official licensed illustration

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill was born on the Andalite homeworld in the Andalite equivalent of the 1980s on Earth. His parents already had an adult son named Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul but had been seeking approval from the Andalite Council to have a second child. He was raised by his mother Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen and his father Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf, the latter of whom addressed him as "Aximili-kala" affectionately. Aximili revered and idolized his older brother Elfangor, a war hero who was often away on missions, although Aximili often felt that he was living under his brother's shadow. During his youth, Aximili and his parents took a trip to the Elupera, where he saw tail-blade carvings made by ancient Andalite tail-blade masters. Aximili was an average student at school, but often struggled to retain information, as he would be distracted, often times by female classmates. Along with other students his age, Aximili took Xenobiology class in school, where he was exposed to Earth's television programming, and he was taught how to read and speak English. He was also taught how to read a written language used by the Yeerk Empire as well as Galard, the intergalactic language of commerce. He entered the military academy and gained the cadet rank of aristh, and like all other Andalites in the military, was given the power to morph via the Escafil Device and had to pass a morphing proficiency test.

While spending time with his brother, Aximili was told an abridged version of Elfangor's adventures with the Skrit Na and that Elfangor once had an aristh friend named Arbron. He also overheard Elfangor discussing that Vissers in the Yeerk Empire each had their own private army with their unique uniform colors, and learned that Visser One possessed a human host body.

Crashing to Earth

"The dome hit water! Boiling, steaming water It rushed over the dome. I was sinking! Sinking beneath the ocean of the blue planet. I was powerless. Terrified. Alone. After an eternity, the dome crunched heavily onto the ocean floor. Looking up, I could barely see the surface of the water a hundred feet or more over the top of the dome. I climbed shakily to my four hooves. I was standing on a vast, open plain that was a piece of my own planet. A blue-green park, hidden deep beneath an alien sea. And there I waited for weeks."

―Ax

In 1997, Aximili joined the crew of the Dome ship GalaxyTree as they prepared to fight Yeerk forces who were outside Earth's orbit. Although arisths were not typically assigned to such missions, Aximili was given a special exemption as he was the younger brother of Elfangor, who was also assigned to the same mission. However, the tide of battle shifted when the Andalite fleet was ambushed by Visser Three's Blade ship. Aximili was ordered to remain within the Dome while the others, including Elfangor, boarded their Andalite fighters to deal with the Yeerk forces. During the struggle against the Blade ship, the crew detached the dome in order to gain more maneuverability.

The Dome ship remained hovering in orbit but was quickly fired upon the Yeerk Empire, whose Dracon beams destroyed the Dome ship's ability to stay afloat. The Dome ship then plummetted towards Earth and ignited upon atmosphere. While the Yeerks believed that the Dome ship had burned up entirely, the Dome ship survived and crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Rescued by the Animorphs

Aximili stuck in the Dome ship

"I will fight for you, Prince Jake, until I can return to my cousins."

―Ax

Trapped on the bottom of an alien ocean, Aximili yearned to be rescued. One day, a tiger shark, a species native to Earth's oceans, entered the airlock. Aximili then stunned the shark and acquired it as a possible means to escape from the Dome ship. However, he was too fearful to venture out into the ocean and the subsequent surface world alone, and after weeks of confinement, he decided to reach out to his people using a mirrorwave call, which would enhance and broadcast the signal of his thought-speak. He hoped that other surviving Andalites would detect the call and come to rescue him. Instead, his distress call was detected by Visser Three, as he possessed an Andalite host body, as well as two humans. One of those humans, Cassie, swam to the Dome ship alongside three other humans named Jake, Rachel and Marco using a bottlenose dolphin morph.

Aximili meets the Animorphs. (Note: The graphic novel omits Ax's canonically green eye color and depicts him with droopy ears)

Aximili used a Shredder to knock them out for a while, and was surprised when the three humans revealed they knew of Andalites, Yeerks and Visser Three, since Aximili was told humanity was unaware of cosmic species. Aximili inquired as to how they had gained this knowledge and was stunned when he was told that Elfangor had informed them of the truth prior to being killed by Visser Three. Aximili struggled with the fact that his older brother was killed and asked if they fought or aided the Yeerk Empire. To his further surprise, the humans revealed that they were given the morphing ability by Elfangor prior to his death. Aximili realized that the situation would had to have been dire for Elfangor to violate the Law of Seerow's Kindness and bestow morphing powers to these humans, who called themselves the Animorphs. Aximili revealed that he was an adolescent Andalite, not old enough to be on the front lines, and Cassie replied that they were also children. Cassie then introduced themselves properly to Aximili, who in turn introduced himself, although the humans had difficulty with his lengthy name, prompting Marco to shorten his name to "Ax". Ax then asked the Animorphs who their Prince was, and when everyone else turned to look at Jake, Ax referred to him as Prince Jake and pledged to fight alongside him until he could return to his own people.

While giving them a tour of the Dome ship, Ax stated that the Andalites often carried pieces of their homeworld with them and that it angered the Yeerk Empire. When Cassie asked for elaboration, Ax revealed that the Yeerk Empire often rendered any planet they colonized barren, similar to the Yeerk homeworld, and also killed all plant and animal species on the planet except for those vital for sustaining the local host population. Cassie became horrified at this revelation, which caused Ax to ponder if the Animorphs even knew whom they were fighting, adding that the Yeerks weren't just infesting bodies but also destroying life as they conquered the galaxy. Cassie asked Ax how long it would take for Andalite reinforcements to help them, and Ax responded that it would take a year or two. As Jake gaped at the thought of five kids being the only ones fighting the Yeerks on Earth, Ax smiled and responded that there were now six kids. Rachel then inquired as to how the Yeerk Empire even got so powerful if the Andalite military was powerful, to which Ax responded that there were details he was not allowed to share with them, angering Rachel.

The Animorphs then decided it was time for them to leave the Dome ship, with Ax notifying them that had an aquatic morph. Just then, they noticed the silhouette of the Blade ship above them as sonar pings began to reverberate. They all ran to the airlock chamber and started to morph as water filled the chamber. They then exited the ship, Ax in tiger shark morph and the others as dolphins, just as depth charges shattered the reinforced glass of the Dome ship. As they made their escape, Ax asked the Animorphs what host bodies the Yeerks were using on Earth, and Cassie responded that they were using human and Hork-Bajir bodies. Ax stated that they should be fine as Hork-Bajir could not swim, but Jake then added that the Yeerks were also using Taxxons. Before Ax could disclose that Taxxons were capable of swimming, a group of them were dropped into the ocean from the Blade ship above. Ax remarked that his shark was a fighter and asked the others if this was true, and upon receiving confirmation, asked Jake if they should deal with the Taxxons. The five of them then attacked and killed the Taxxons with little difficulty.

The five of them continued to make their way towards the shore, and Ax asked them how they were keeping track of time; when the others responded that they had no choice but to guess, Ax divulged that he could accurately keep track of morphing time. However, they heard a noise coming behind them, and Cassie relayed the description of the unknown entity behind them. Ax recognized it as a mardrut, a creature that lived on one of the moons of the Andalite homeworld and expressed outrage at Visser Three acquiring and morphing into one of their animals. Ax was then shocked when he realized the Animorphs had already figured out that the mardrut was the Visser in morph and was surprised upon hearing that the Animorphs had fought him before and lived. The five children continued to swim for over thirty minutes although the Visser continued to pursue them relentlessly.

Visser Three then thought-spoke to them, stating that they could not outrun him and that he would either eat them or have them infested. Ax began to panic upon hearing the Visser speak to him for the first time, fearful that Visser Three was going to kill him just as he did Elfangor, although Cassie reminded him that the rest of them had heard the Visser's threats before and yet were still alive. With the five of them unable to keep swimming, Rachel declared that it was time to turn around and fight. Ax chimed in that they couldn't win, to which Jake responded that he would rather die in a direct fight than allow the Visser to kill them one by one in a chase. Ax remarked that Jake's response was something an Andalite would say and that they had a lot in common, adding that he wished things ended differently. Just then, a group of wild whales arrived and attacked the mardrut mercilessly, causing Visser Three to scream in rage and retreat.

With their morphing time almost depleted, the group all demorphed. The humpback whale which had saved them then offered to ferry them back to shore, and Ax joined the others in climbing on its back as it carried them towards land. The whale got as close as it could safely before the Animorphs and Ax were forced to disembark. Entering the water once more, Ax reassumed his tiger shark morph while the others turned back into dolphins and he followed them as they traveled from the ocean into a river estuary with brackish water, which his tiger shark could survive in. Upon reaching the riverbank, Ax joined the others in demorphing. Ax was curious when he noticed the humans putting on extra layers on their bodies, which he was informed was clothing. Just then, a bird landed above them, and Cassie introduced Ax to Tobias, a member of the Animorphs who was a nothlit, the Andalite word for someone who had been trapped in morph. Ax expressed his remorse and stated that they had paid a price for the gift his brother had given them, and Tobias stated that he had been with Elfangor in his final moments.

Jake then wondered what they were going to do with Ax, as they had nowhere to keep him and he could not travel in town with them. Cassie offered to hide him on her farm, as it contained forests, meadows and woods that extended into the national forest. Marco chimed in that they still couldn't bring Ax to the farm in his Andalite state. Ax then declared that he needed to morph and approached Cassie. Asking for permission, Ax acquired Cassie, Marco, Jake and Rachel in succession. Ax then blended the four acquired DNA strands into one unique strand; as the four DNA samples he acquired contained a balance of two male DNA and two female DNA patterns, Ax was able to choose the biological sex of his custom human morph and chose to make it male, as he himself was male. He was then asked by the Animorphs to get dressed with some of the extra clothes they had, but since he did not know how to, Jake and Marco helped him get dressed while Rachel and Cassie turned away. Although he had been taught to speak English verbally, this was Ax's first time having a mouth, and thus while speaking he began to repeat the words as he enjoyed the sensation of speaking. He also struggled to walk on two feet, but was supported by Jake. The Animorphs then escorted Ax to Cassie's farm.

Aiding the Animorphs

Building a Distress Beacon

Experiencing Taste

"He was racing like some lunatic from table to table, snatching up leftover food and shoving it in his mouth. [...] Ax couldn't care less. He had found a piece of Cinnabun. [...] The cops jumped at Ax. Ax decided it was a good time to throw the rest of the bun away. It hit the nearest cop in the face. [...] The stalks began to grow out of the top of his head. The extra eyes appeared on the ends and turned backward to watch the people chasing him. [...] People were screaming and running and dropping their bags as they caught a glimpse of the nightmare creature Ax had become. Half-human, half-Andalite. A fluid, shifting mess of half-formed features."

―Marco

While living at the national forest at the edge of Cassie's farm, Ax was visited often by Jake and Cassie, who spoke to him about what he wanted to do next. Ax admitted that he wanted to return to the Andalite homeworld, which he informed the two was 82 light years away from Earth. As no Earth aircraft could make such a journey, Jake believed they would have to steal a Yeerk spacecraft. Shortly after, Jake brought the Animorphs to the far fields of the farm so they could all meet with Ax and discuss the plan. When Marco brought up that the plan was dangerous, Ax stated that "the higher the honor, the higher the danger" but was quickly told that they did not fight for honor. While this confounded Ax, who wondered what else they would fight for, he quickly realized that they were all that existed in terms of Earth's resistance to the Yeerk Empire and that they needed to be more prudent. Marco then inquired how they would be able to summon a Yeerk ship as they could not just call one to them, to which Ax responded that they could call a Bug fighter using a Yeerk Distress Beacon and that the ordeal would be a minor matter.

Marco reminded Ax that a Bug fighter contained one Taxxon and one Hork-Bajir-Controller, and that the matter of dealing with a Hork-Bajir meant it was not a minor matter; Ax then asked Marco if he was afraid. Angered, Marco asked Ax if he had ever fought any Controllers before, and Ax bowed his head as he admitted that he had not. After a few moments of silence, Tobias asked Ax if he would able to fly home with a Bug fighter and whether he could do anything to help them. Ax replied that he believed he could fly back home and that, as the younger brother of Prince Elfangor, he believed he could convince the Andalites to expedite their reinforcements to Earth, assuring the Animorphs that the Andalites were intending to come regardless. The Animorphs then decided to help Ax get back home.

As Ax needed parts in order to build the distress beacon, Jake decided to take him to Radio Shack. One Saturday, Ax went to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, which was the barn on Cassie's farm. He then morphed into his human morph, which he had integrated the morphing outfit into, which consisted of a skintight shirt and bike shorts. He was then given additional clothing to wear, but struggled to put on his shoes, which Cassie and Rachel did for him. Ax then joined Jake and Marco as the three took the bus to the local mall. Upon entering the mall, Ax was enticed by the smell of food and drink, as it was a smell unfamiliar to him. Unable to resist, Ax left Jake and Marco and followed the smells, which led him to taking an escalator to the second floor. He then followed a scent to Starbucks, a coffeehouse, and saw humans waiting in line. Ax then mimicked them and waited in line as well, where he overheard someone in front of him order a double latte. When it was his turn, Ax asked for a double latte as well, but did not understand when the human behind the counter told him that his total was $2.95. As Jake and Marco caught up with Ax, Jake paid for the drink. Noticing the other humans putting lids on their coffee cups, Ax marveled at the concept of lids, finding it simple yet effective. While walking towards Radio Shack, Ax took a sip of his latte and was inundated with the sense of taste, a sense he had not experienced before.

Upon entering Radio Shack, Ax went to the pegboards at the back of the store and picked up many components, and remarked that one would serve as a primitive gairtmof and that the other was a primitive fleer, but added that they would work. He also grabbed other items, such as coaxial cable and batteries. He then notified Jake and Marco that he needed a Z-Space transponder, only for the two to be confused. Ax told them that it was to translate signals into Zero space, but the two were still confused, and Ax explained that it was the anti-reality dimension that allowed for faster-than-light travel. Marco then informed Ax that humans were not capable of faster-than-light travel and that not only did they not have Z-Space transponders, but that he had never heard of Z-Space before. As Jake went to go pay for the items, Ax caught a whiff and more scents and told Marco that he believed what he was smelling was connected to the sense of taste. Having finished his coffee, he asked Marco if he needed to continue carrying the cup, to which Marco responded that he could just throw it away. As a result, Ax threw the cup at the head of a Radio Shack cashier, and as Marco rushed forward to apologize, Ax was enticed by a particular alluring smell; Ax then ran out of the store. Following the scent to the food court, he entered into a frenzy and rushed from table to table, grabbing and eating other people's foods. He took a bite out of a slice of pizza before throwing it aside, intent on finding the exact food that he was smelling. He then found a Cinnabun and exclaimed that this was the smell before shoving the bun into his mouth, where he relished over the taste.

Just then, Marco, who had caught up to Ax with Jake, yelled at Ax to run. Noticing men approaching him, Ax ran, but found the two human legs difficult to run with, as he was used to four legs; in addition, due to not possessing stalk eyes, he could not look at his pursuers while also running forward. As a result, Ax began demorphing in the public mall. He plowed into a lady while he was demorphing, and eventually caused many of the shoppers to scream and flee when they caught sight of him. While running towards the exit, he found his path blocked by a mall cop, who was a Controller and recognized him as an Andalite. When the Controller pulled out his gun, Ax used his tail blade to slash at the man's hand, drawing blood while the gun flew away. Ax then ran out of the mall's exit with Jake and Marco beside him. Ax followed the two into a nearby grocery store, where more shoppers screamed at his presence while he struggled to run on the linoleum, causing items on the aisles to crash onto the floor. As real police officers had surrounded the store, Marco yelled out a bomb threat to cause all of the shoppers to rush out, which bought them some time before the officers, some of whom were Controllers, from entering the store. Ax followed Marco and Jake to the back of store, where Marco tossed him an animal known as a lobster, as his plan was for them morph into it. The three quickly stripped down to their morphing outfits as their clothing, plus the Radio Shack bag, were placed in a trash can. Ax then began to morph into the lobster, and when he had shrunk sufficiently, Jake and Marco pulled him up into the lobster tank. Ax then completed the morph as his two allies began to morph. As lobsters, the three criticized the lobster's poor eyesight. As they could not see outside of the lobster tank, Jake told Ax to keep track of their morphing time while Marco recommended that they remain in the tank as close to the two-hour limit as they could get.

After an hour, Ax, Marco and Jake were picked up by a store employee, who placed rubber bands on their pincers and tossed them in a bag of ice with other lobsters. The bag was then given to a woman, who had purchased them, and the ice caused the three morphers to feel sluggish. When they arrived in her kitchen, Ax told the others that they only had seven minutes left in morph, and the three began demorphing. As they did, the woman who purchased them began screaming, and her screams were increased when she noticed Ax. Marco then asked Ax if he could instantly remorph to human, which Ax confirmed he could, and began to morph again. Marco and Jake convinced the woman that she was dreaming and the three then left her house.

Stealing a Z-Space Transponder

"What kind of creatures are these? They have no self! I was lost! There was nothing to hold onto. They are not whole. They are only parts, like cells. Just pieces. What kind of foul creatures are these?"

―Ax

The next day, a Sunday, Ax met up with the Animorphs in the woods. With the Radio Shack bag retrieved from the grocery store trash can, along with the screwdrivers, solder gun, battery-powered drill, hammer, wrenches, pliers that Jake and Cassie brought, Ax successfully created a Yeerk Distress Beacon. Ax showed them the beacon when it was complete, but acknowledged that it was useless without a Z-Space transponder. Marco and Rachel both lamented over humanity not having such technology, but Tobias wondered whether the Yeerks would have a Z-Space transponder, specifically remarking that they had met a Controller with the human name Chapman who possessed a device that could communicate with Visser Three's Blade ship. Ecstatic, Ax confirmed that such a communication device would indeed have Z-Space transponders, adding that it would have multiple and therefore they could steal one of them without the theft being immediately noticed. Cassie asked Ax how small the transponder was, and Ax used his fingers to indicate that it was very tiny. Rachel was against the idea of re-infiltrating the Chapman Residence, as the Animorphs had done so once prior to Ax's rescue, and the mission had nearly resulted in Chapman's daughter Melissa being infested. As the group pondered in silence, Ax told them that he could not ask anyone to take risks for him; he expressed gratitude that they had rescued him from the bottom of the ocean and sheltered him, and remarked on how his own foolish behavior from the day prior nearly caused Jake and Marco to get killed. Cassie then came up with a suggestion that they morph into ants, an Earth insect morph that would allow them to enter Chapman's basement and steal the transponder without "Chapman" noticing them.

The next day, Ax went to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic where he and the others, minus Tobias, acquired black garden ants. They then went to the backyard of an empty house next to the Chapman Residence that was for sale and morphed into ants; however, they lost their sense of self and individuality. Upon regaining their consciousness shortly after, Ax, who was terrified, inquired what kind of foul creatures ants were, remarking that they had no self and were not whole, and likened them to being cells. The five of them made their way to Chapman's backyard, where Ax pondered that he knew enemies were nearby but did not know what enemies. Reaching the foundation of Chapman's house, they entered through a crack and found an enemy ant tunnel; when Ax reported that he could sense air coming from a side tunnel, Jake told him to follow it. They emerged into Chapman's secret office and demorphed, and Ax went to Chapman's desk, where he retrieved a Z-Space transponder out of the communication device. Noticing Marco looking for files, Ax smiled at him with his eyes and turned on a Yeerk computer that was on the desk. As Marco began to interact with it, Ax was shocked that Marco knew how to use a computer, to which Marco stated that while it was more advanced than what he was used to, he still knew how to use a computer. Ax then told Marco to go back to an earlier document that he had begun reading, and notified him that the report revealed that Visser One was coming to visit. Marco asked if Visser One was Visser Three's boss, and Ax confirmed it, adding that there were forty-seven Vissers in the Yeerk Empire and that Visser One had a human host body.

Not wanting them to stay too long, Jake told them to put the transponder near the crack and that it was time to morph back. Remorphing into ants, Jake and Marco went ahead through the crack while Ax, Rachel and Cassie pushed the transponder through it; as the three of them pushed the transponder, Jake and Marco cleared the way for them. In an instant, they were swarmed and ambushed by the native ant colony, to whom they were intruders; the five of them mentally screamed in pain as the ants stung them with poison and ripped out their limbs while using their mandibles to bite their waists in an attempt to bisect them. Realizing they were about to be swiftly killed, the Animorphs and Ax demorphed while still underground, and they burst out of the ground and into Chapman's backyard. Ax remained silent with the others talked and moved about before they escaped from Chapman's backyard and returned to their respective homes. With the transponder in possession, Ax was quickly able to finish assembling his distress beacon.

First Battle

"Do... Do humans fear death?"
"Yes. We're not crazy about death. How about Andalites?"
"We're also not crazy about it."

―Ax and Marco

A few days after the ant incident, Ax met up with the Animorphs on the far fields of Cassie's farm, where they discussed the perfect place to set off their trap since they could not use Cassie's family land, as it was the only place they had to keep Ax if the plan failed. Tobias informed them about a gravel quarry that was an hour's flight away that would work, to which Jake stated that if they were flying, Ax needed to acquire a bird morph. Cassie mentioned that there was a hawk about Tobias' size known as a northern harrier that was in her barn, and Jake asked Ax if he would be okay with acquiring it. Ax responded that he quite admired Tobias' form and thought it to be superior to the human body as it had talons and beaks as weapons. They then decided to initiate their mission on the upcoming Saturday, and Ax acquired the northern harrier not too long after.

Ax admiring the Animorphs' battle morphs. (Note: The graphic novel omits Ax's canonically green eye color and depicts him with droopy ears)

On Saturday, Ax morphed into the northern harrier and flew with the Animorphs towards the quarry. As he flew, Ax enthused about the experience of flying and praised the bird's vision, claiming it was better than his Andalite vision. When they arrived at the quarry, they demorphed, and found shelter in an overhang. As he activated the distress beacon, Ax watched as the others, minus Tobias, assumed their various battle morphs, which he had not seen before, and admired the variety of animals that Earth had; as he had no suitable Earth battle morph, he had been told to remain in his Andalite form. Ax then told the Animorphs that he believed that when the war was over, Andalites would visit Earth for vacations and would acquire their animals. The distress beacon they relayed a returning signal, and they took positions as they watched a Bug fighter descend. When it landed, a lone Hork-Bajir-Controller stepped out, who was quickly taken down by the combined efforts of Tobias, Jake and Rachel. Ax then ran alongside Cassie and Marco toward the Bug fighter in order to eliminate the Taxxon inside; however, before they could do so, their path was blocked by Dracon beams, and the six of them found themselves surrounded by a hundred armed Hork-Bajir.

Ax meets Visser Three for the first time. (Note: The graphic novel omits Ax's canonically green eye color and depicts him with droopy ears)

Visser Three then made his presence known, ridiculing them as he rhetorically asked if the Andalites thought that the Yeerks wouldn't have changed frequencies. Ax, meeting Visser Three in his Andalite form for the first time, began vibrating with anger and called out to the Visser, who was stunned to see a child and remarked on how the Andalites were using child soldiers. Before Ax could continue, Jake told Ax to remain silent. Visser Three then ordered them onto his Blade ship, which uncloaked itself, and told them that he would be transporting them to the mother ship in order to present them to Visser One. Ax followed the Animorphs as they were herded onto the Blade ship and confined in a dimly-lit room. The Blade ship returned to space, where a window opened up to show Earth. Ax remarked that Earth was a lovely planet, and that it was similar to the Andalite homeworld, but then apologized for their predicament, blaming himself for using the wrong frequency, although Cassie told him that it was not his fault.

The mother ship, also known as the Pool ship, then came into view, and Ax claimed that the Yeerks had generated the window to show them the Pool ship in order instill them with fear. When Rachel inquired how humanity did not sense the Pool ship through radar, Ax informed her that the ship was cloaked and therefore not visible to radar, and that the ship itself was usually invisible. Ax began explaining some of the functions of the Pool ship before disclosing that Yeerks had a weakness to Kandrona rays and that there was most likely a Yeerk pool in their city, although Marco chimed in that they were already aware of it. Jake then asked Ax how much time they had left in morph, and Ax responded that they had used up 40% of it. As the Blade ship prepared to dock with the Pool ship, Ax pondered on whether humans feared death; Marco responded that humans did, and then asked if Andalites feared death as well, which Ax confirmed. Entering the Pool ship, the Animorphs spotted the different uniforms of the Controllers, and Ax notified them that he remembered Elfangor mentioning that each Visser had their own private army, and that the army had their own uniform colors.

The Animorphs were then presented by Visser Three to Visser One, and Rachel remarked on how the two Vissers clearly did not like each other. When Visser One walked away, Visser Three deliberated on what to do with the "six Andalite bodies" and mused at the thought of giving them to six of his lieutenants. Infuriated at the thought of more Andalite-Controllers, Ax yelled Visser Three and called him filth and an abomination. Visser Three then asked them why Ax was the only one who had spoken to him and why the rest of the "bandits" still remained in their Earth morphs instead of demorphing; however, he then shrugged it off and ordered his guards to confine them to a holding cell. Inside the cell, the Animorphs discussed possible strategies of escape. Ax recalled that there was an Andalite saying "grace is the acceptance of the inevitable", indicating they should just gracefully accept their inevitable demise. Marco refused to accept surrender and instead suggested that they use the ant morph to escape; Tobias, who could not morph, told the group to do what was best for them and that he would take his chances, while Ax stated that it might work as the Yeerks might not expect an insect morph.

However, before they could enact their plan, the door to the cell opened, revealing three gold-uniformed Hork-Bajir-Controllers standing by a group of either knocked out or dead red-uniformed Hork-Bajir-Controllers. One of the gold-uniformed Hork-Bajir-Controllers notified them how to get to the dropshaft and that if they took it down fifteen floors, they would find an escape pod that was programmed to return them to the quarry. The Animorphs wondered why the Yeerks would want to help them escape, and Ax pointed out that the gold-uniformed Controllers were part of Visser One's guard, and that if they escaped, it would look bad for Visser Three. With a laugh, Cassie remarked that Visser One was helping them escape for political reasons.

As they ran out of the holding cell, Visser Three's Hork-Bajir-Controllers ran toward them. With no choice but to engage in conflict, Ax announced that it was a battle. For the first time in his life, Ax engaged in direct battle against the Yeerk Empire, as his only prior battle had been killing Taxxons while he was in shark morph. Using his tail blade, Ax severed the arm of a Hork-Bajir, which Marco praised. Gleeful, Ax praised Marco's fighting as well. While progressing through the Pool ship, Rachel informed them that she had found the dropshaft but that she did not know how to use it, and Ax notified the Animorphs that dropshafts understood both verbal speech and thought-speak commands and that they were to use thought-speak to get to their destination; he then added that it at least worked this way on Andalite ships. Ax then jumped into the dropshaft and joined the Animorphs as they exited onto the appropriate floor, where Ax led them to the direction of the escape pod. As they ran into the pod, Jake asked Ax how much time they had left in morph, and Ax replied that they had 5% left, which Jake translated to being six minutes left. The escape pod then deatched from the Pool ship and flew Ax and the Animorphs back to the quarry.

Further Missions

"I am not one of the Animorphs. But I fight alongside them against our common enemy, the Yeerks. And while I am on Earth, I have taken Jake for my prince."

―Ax

Ax's first mission assisting the Animorphs was during Jake's plan to sabotage the Yeerks' plan to control a hospital. During their fight at the hospital, Jake became a Controller, which Ax deduced. As the Animorphs held Jake captive for three days, Ax morphed into Jake to prevent his family from noticing his absence. Following Jake's liberation, Ax joined them on their trip to the Yeerk pool to locate the Kandrona, during which he and the Animorphs were introduced to the Ellimist. After Rachel realizes that the Kandrona is located at the EGS Tower, Ax joins the Animorphs during the battle at the EGS Tower, where they successfully manage to destroy the Kandrona.

Veleek Chase

After destroying the Kandrona, the Animorphs decided to enjoy a vacation. While Jake and Cassie attended a pool party, Ax joined Marco in mouse morph to infiltrate the party, where they encountered the Veleek, a creature from Saturn that was genetically modified by the Yeerks to serve Visser Three and seek out morphing signatures. After being kidnapped by the Veleek and brought aboard the Blade ship, Ax assisted Marco, who was also taken captive, into escaping their confines, although not before discovering the Veleek had a weakness to water.

Conflict of Interest

"I can't answer your questions! I can't! [...] Look... look... I have to follow the rules."
"Do you? Did Elfangor follow the rules when he gave us the power to morph?"
"I'm not Elfangor! Can't you see that? I'm not some big hero. I'm just a young Andalite, all right? You want the truth? Here's some truth for you: I'm not a warrior. I'm an aristh. A... a trainee. A cadet. A nobody."

―Ax and Cassie

Following the destruction of the Kandrona, the Ellimist had informed them that a replacement would arrive in three weeks. After two weeks of witnessing no signs of damage, the Animorphs begin to encounter humans raving about being enslaved by Yeerks. However, the Animorphs are shocked to discover that the humans are not living free lives but are instead murdered by the Yeerks. When Ax makes it clear that he knew the Yeerks would silence the freed hosts, this angers the Animorphs, especially Jake, who realizes his brother Tom could have been killed. Ax refuses to answer any of the Animorphs' questions regarding the Andalites and their history with the Yeerks, which causes them to distrust him. During a visit to Marco's house, Ax accidentally reconfigures Marco's father software program, for an observatory's telescope, into an inter-dimensional communicator. Enlisting the help of Tobias, with whom Ax has formed a bond, the pair travel to the observatory, where communicates with the Andalite military, where he is pressured with accepting the blame of giving the Animorphs the power to morph in order to prevent Elfangor's reputation from being tarnished. While speaking with his father, who reminds Ax that killing Visser Three and avenging Elfangor is his burden, a Controller named Eslin 359 interrupts the call. Eslin notifies Ax that Visser Three left the Yeerk he loved, Derane 344, to die of Kandrona starvation and thus wishes to exact vengeance. Eslin provides Ax the location of Visser Three's private feeding ground and asks Ax to kill the visser.

The Animorphs inquire on Ax and Tobias' whereabouts, with Ax once again refusing to explain. Despite Ax considering himself an ally of the Animorphs as opposed to being an official member, the other Animorphs consider Ax to be one of them, and Jake informs Ax that he cannot be a part of their team if he keeps secrets from them. Emotional and upset, Ax severs his ties with the team and decides to head out to assassinate Visser Three, using a rattlesnake morph he recently acquired. After biting Visser Three's Andalite form, Ax demorphs to finish the job, but is attacked by a Hork-Bajir-Controller while he is in mid-morph, defenseless and vulnerable. However, he is saved by Rachel in her grizzly bear morph, as well as the other Animorphs, who arrive to save and assist Ax. Ax discovers that Visser Three has abandoned his host body, Andalite War-Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, and cannot bring himself to kill the Andalite, despite knowing that by sparing him, Visser Three will re-infest him. Ax and the Animorphs spare Alloran's life, and return home.

Officially Joining the Animorphs

"Look, Ax, we don't want you to give us any Andalite technology. We don't want you to break your laws. We just want you to trust us. Tell us the truth. Be one of us."

―Jake

Ax is overwhelmed that the Animorphs decided to save him despite the way he treated them, and decides to break the Law of Seerow's Kindness once more, as his brother did, by explaining the story of Seerow and how the Yeerk Empire came to be. Declaring that he will no longer keep secrets from the team, Ax officially joins the Animorphs as their sixth member and makes another call to the Andalite homeworld, where he informs a military officer that he will share everything with the Animorphs, as he considers them his people as well.

As an Animorph, Ax participates with the other members of the team in preventing the Yeerks from destroying the forest, discovering the existence of the Chee, traveling back in time, dealing with Rachel's crocodile allergy, freeing two Hork-Bajir from captivity and discovering an Andalite toilet. During their mission on Royan Island, Ax attempts to kill Visser One, although he relents when Marco inform him that Visser One's host is his mother. Shortly after, Ax is held hostage by Visser Three's twin brother, although he is rescued by the Animorphs, and aids them in their effort of weaponizing instant maple-and-ginger oatmeal, a substance that causes drug addiction-like symptoms in the Yeerks.

The Ascalin Incident

"I couldn't help feeling that I was to blame. I was humiliated. I felt sick. I had turned away from my friends and trusted my own people instead. One of my own people had betrayed us."

―Ax

During a mission where the six Animorphs morphed into mosquitoes, their original excess mass, which was in Z-space, had been caught in the wake of a passing ship, the Ascalin. This caused the six Animorphs to become instantly transported into Z-space, with Ax signaling the attention of the ship before he and the others could die in space. On the ship, Ax was reunited with his people, namely Andalite captain Samilin-Corrath-Gahar and his tactical officer, Hareli-Frodlin-Sirinial. Samilin and Harelin questioned Ax on his presence in Z-space, along with the "aliens" who had accompanied him. Ax informed them of the situation on Earth, and, under the suggestion of his Andalite superiors, chooses to leave the Animorphs and join the Andalite military unit on the Ascalin, who were heading towards Leera to support the Leerans in their fight against the Yeerks. Additionally, Ax informs the Animorphs that Jake is no longer his prince and that he will not be returning with them to Earth.

En route to Leera, Captain Samilin sliced off Harelin's tail and announced to Ax that he was working for Visser Four, and that the Visser, who was close friends with Visser Three, would be delighted to receive the humans who had been causing him trouble on Earth. Ax sends a thought-speak message to warn the Animorphs, whom he believes are detained on the far end on the ship, although the Animorphs reveal that they are on the bridge in bug morph. The disabled Harelin manages to grab his Shredder and vaporize Samilin, and informs Ax that, contrary to what he said before, perhaps different species can work together; he asks Ax to escape the ship along with his human allies and make contact with Captain-Prince Galuit-Enilon-Esgarrouth on Leera. Realizing that they are behind enemy lines and that, if caught, the Yeerk Empire would receive many Andalite hosts, the numerous Andalites on board decide to perform a suicide maneuver, destroying the ship and killing themselves in the process. Ax and the Animorphs use bug morphs and are blown out of the hatch moments prior to the explosion.

Rejoining the Animorphs

"I made a mistake trusting Captain Samilin. I made a mistake dismissing all of you. You have... you have kept me alive and befriended me for a long time. All I can say is that none of you knows what it's like to be completely cut off from your own people."
"One of us does."
"All I can do is say I'm sorry. And I will consider Jake my prince until he says otherwise. You are my prince until you, and only you, say otherwise."

―Ax and Tobias to the Animorphs

After reaching safety, Ax is confronted by Rachel and Marco for abandoning the Animorphs in favor of joining Samilin, whom Ax realizes was not a Controller but a voluntary ally of the Yeerks. Ax apologizes, adding that the Animorphs do not know how it feels to be stranded on a foreign planet cut off from their people. Ax informs Jake, whom he had disregarded as his prince when he left the group, that he is placing himself under Jake's command once more and that Jake will be his prince until Jake himself discharges Ax. With Jake's approval, Ax rejoins the Animorphs and they head to Leera, where Ax relays the entire situation to Captain-Prince Galuit-Enilon-Esgarrouth. Galuit explains that, while all members of the Andalite memory possess the ability to morph, few have useful morphs, let alone the sheer number of morphs the Animorphs possess. Galuit tasks the Animorphs with detonating a bomb that would destroy Leera's land mass, although at this point, many of the Animorphs have begun to blink out of existence. Before Ax can disappear, he manages to detonate the explosive, granting the Andalite military and the Leerans a victory. Ax pops back to Earth along with the other Animorphs, once again in mosquito morph and realizing that, despite their adventures in space, no time has passed on Earth.

Sometime afterwards, a human boy named David has discovered the morphing cube. After a huge battle with Visser Three at David's house, the Animorphs reclaim the cube and decide to grant David the ability to morph, allowing him to join the Animorphs. However, the Animorphs are put in peril when David turns against them, deciding to kill them when Jake reminds him that the Animorphs would not tolerate him if he poses a threat. Ax assists Jake upon David's initial treachery and later helps the team to trap David in a rat morph. Not too long afterwards, Ax discovers that he is Tobias' uncle as Elfangor was Tobias' father, is introduced to the Helmacrons and is stranded in the North Pole momentarily with the other Animorphs.

The Animorphs are soon summoned by the Ellimist, who wishes to pit them and Erek King in a contest of champions on the Iskoort homeworld against the Howlers. Before heading to the Iskoort homeworld, the Ellimist shows them when he had transported Elfangor, in human from, from Earth. Ax's discovery that his famous brother, hailed as a war-hero, deserting combat to live as a human seemingly causes him to temporarily regress to his initial rigid Andalite behavior. After their victory in defeating the Howlers, Ax and the other Animorphs prevent Visser Three from acquiring the Pemalite ship at the bottom of the ocean, encountering the Drode in the process. Sometime before their next mission, to a meatpacking plant to prevent a supposed drug that would remove a human's free will, Ax constructs a scoop in the woods, along with cable television, and discovers a love for television, most notably commercials and soap operas.

Brain Surgery

"You must take it out. Or I will die. When temperature goes back to normal... Tria gland out. Or disease organisms kill."
"Okay. Okay, yeah. [...] But first you have to tell me where the Tria gland is. Now, Ax!"
"My head."
"I'm no brain surgeon. But it sounds to me like we're talking brain surgery here."

―Ax, Cassie and Marco

To be added

Unit 0

"It was all a deception. You misled us. You lied to your own people."
"No. I have learned something, Estrid. These are my people. Anyone who believes in freedom, anyone who resists tyranny, anyone who pursues peace is "my people." Andalite, Hork-Bajir, or human."

―Estrid and Ax

During a mission to rescue Mr. King from the Yeerks, four Andalites, known as Unit 0, arrived to the battle and told Ax that they know how to contact him. Setting up a meeting with them, Ax and the other Animorphs learned that the Andalite fleet to Earth has been delayed.

Since Unit 0 refused to work with them, the Animorphs staged their disbandment in order to have Ax join Unit 0 and serve as a spy. While serving with them, Ax began to develop romantic feelings and a physical attraction to Estrid-Corill-Darrath, even kissing her when they were both in human morph. As he learns, Unit 0 is actually on a suicide mission, using a virus that Estrid developed that can cripple the Yeerks but would possibly wipe out humans as well.

Ax, along with the other Animorphs and Estrid, headed into the Yeerk pool to stop the virus from being released, but Estrid, terrified and disgusted by the Yeerk pool, refused to demorph and fight to protect the humans, who are not part of their species. Ax then goes to protect his friends, telling her that she is beautiful and brilliant but he "doesn't think he likes her very much". Once the virus is destroyed, Estrid offers Ax to return home with her, but he refuses, citing that his fight is on Earth.

Further battles

"An aristh, a cadet, a warrior in training. But my existence in the group of humans that calls itself the Animorphs has, I believe, qualified me as a full warrior. An experienced fighter. Why do I fight for and with a people not my own? Because, in many ways, these humans have become my own. And the central, most important reason is that the humans are fighting off an invasion of an evil, parasitic alien species known as the Yeerks. The Yeerks must be stopped. It doesn't matter who stops them, or why. Maybe, just maybe, it doesn't even matter how."

―Ax

This section requires expansion

On a mission to stop "Operation 9466", a campaign to instigate World War III by having China and the United States engage in nuclear war, being lead by Visser Two Ax has an idea to threaten to destroy the Yeerk Pool unless Visser Two calls off the attacks against China. Jake rejects it, thinking that it’s too much of a gamble and it would put all of their families in danger. Saying that he’s sorry, Ax knocks Jake unconscious and takes a hostage Visser Two in a fighter-bomber with a nuclear weapon onboard. Ax’s plan works and Visser Two calls off the attack.

As Ax flies the plane back to the Animorphs, Ax remarks that he views the Animorphs as his family and that he also considers himself human in some ways, and wonders whether the Animorphs, especially Jake, will forgive him for his actions.

Endgame

"The stated goal would be to quarantine. The orders would say to quarantine. But what everyone would understand is that a quarantine would be impossible to sustain. To enforce a quarantine, the Andalite fleet would be forced to engage. And once they engaged, they would annihilate the planet and every living thing on it. Yeerk and human. Quarantine was the first step toward genocide. The high command had made its decision. The Yeerk conquest of the galaxy would stop here on Earth. The camp came into view. I wished I could just keep going. Perhaps become a nothlit. Be free of the terrible burdens of secrecy and betrayal. I remembered the Yeerk falcon. Five minutes away from freedom. But the price of that freedom was high. Maybe too high."

―Ax

During the final days of the Yeerk War, Ax secretly communicated with the Andalite fleet using the Z-Space transponder, where he received orders to prevent the other Animorphs’ current plans and let the Yeerks take control of the Earth so that the Andalite military fleet would quarantine the planet, resulting in the Andalites destroying Earth from orbit.

Ax, after some reflection in which he remembered that Elfangor had broken Andalite military law and trusted the humans, decided to maintain his faith and loyalty in the Animorphs as opposed to the military fleet, disobeying their orders.

Post-War

2000

"Captain Asculan issues the following orders: Four morphing cubes will be made available to aristh Aximili to use as he sees fit. Aristh Aximili is hereby elevated to the rank of prince. Prince Aximili is appointed liaison between the Andalite fleet and the people of Earth."

―Andalite Junior Officer

This section requires expansion

After seizing the Pool Ship, freeing Alloran from Visser One, and negotiating with the Andalite fleet, the Andalite fleet promotes Ax to the rank of prince and is appointed the official liaison between the Andalite fleet and Earth.

2001

"And Ax was doing great as well. He was an official prince and this huge hero back on his home planet. He had stepped out of Elfangor's shadow at long last, and was not only a hero but the one and only expert on all things human. [...] Ax worked out technology-transfer deals with some of the big corporations. They have to keep it slow because if you just dump a hundred years of technological advances overnight the stock market goes nuts. It worked out okay, though. The Andalites can definitely teach us a lot about computer architecture. But it was Microsoft and Sony and Adobe and Nintendo that came up with the killer apps."

―Marco

Returning to the Andalite homeworld, Ax was hailed as a hero and considered an expert on Earth and its human culture. Ax communicated frequently with Earth, working with some of its’ corporations to exchange technology between the two planets.

2003

"Even after the last year aboard the Intrepid, I sensed that my first officer did not entirely approve of my habit of explaining my actions for the deck crew. It was not usual. Captains typically played the part of far-distant and all-knowing gods. I preferred to continuously train and retrain. The more the deck officers understood, the more they would learn and the more valuable they'd be in a crisis. [...] I wasn't just the captain or a prince, I was Aximili of Earth. The Aximili. A living legend. I couldn't complain about being bored, of course. The fleet command had given me what was easily the best assignment around. The bulk of the fleet was engaged either in flying blockade around the Yeerk home world, convoying traders back and forth to Earth, or escorting scientific missions. The Intrepid was just about the only ship out "looking for trouble," as Marco might have put it. Every officer in the fleet was jealous of us."

―Ax

Two years after Esplin 9466's sentencing, Ax is charged with finding the Blade Ship, working closely with the crew to train himself aboard the Intrepid. He notes that the military is being shrunk back, and that he easily has the most interesting assignment. The ship eventually finds a mysterious DNA sample belonging to a polar bear aboard an unknown vessel. Realizing that it belonged to one of the Controllers, Ax lead the investigation into the vessel.

As First Officer Menderash-Postill-Fastill later recalls, the ship came alive and attacked. Menderash broke off from the ship, but they were then attacked by pirates.

Assimilated by The One

"The face that filled the screen and more was a shifting image, a slow dissolve from what might be a robot's face, a machine with a rat-trap mouth and steel eyes, into a sweet, feminine, almost elfin visage, and last, and most enduring, into the face of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. The face that belonged to our friend Ax split wide open across the bottom and revealed a new-formed mouth full of red-rimmed teeth."

―Marco

Menderash arrives on Earth and tells Jake about the Intrepid’s attack. Jake then recruits Marco, Tobias, Sergeant Santorelli, and Jeanne Gerard to go on a mission to find the Blade Ship and hopefully help Ax. After months of floating through space, they find the Blade Ship, only to discover that Ax has been assimilated into an entity only known as The One.

Appearance

"Up close he looks like a cross between a deer or a horse, and a human and a scorpion. Sort of like a mythical centaur. His upper body is like a boy's. He has weak-looking arms and a head with two movable stalks on top, kind of like antlers. Each stalk has an eye. The eyes are constantly looking left and right and back. Andalites are very hard to sneak up on. His body is covered in blue and tan fur, very short on his humanoid torso, a bit longer on his deer-like body. His four hooves are sharp and black. But it's the tail that grabs your attention. It's long enough that he can whip it up over his head and hit someone standing in front of him. It ends in a curved blade."

―Cassie

Aximili is an Andalite, and as such he has the standard Andalite features: centaur-like form covered in blue-and-tan fur, a long muscular tail with a big, scythe-like blade on the end, and two stalk eyes on the top of his head, providing 360° vision. He also has seven fingers on each hand and no mouth, instead communicating via thought-speak and eating through his hooves. His human morph, created through a Frolis Maneuver that combines the DNA of different individuals to make a new morph, appears "strange" to the Animorphs, because it looks as though Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Rachel were "put through a blender." 

Personality

"We could simply fly away. We could become something or someone else. Life would no doubt be simpler. Life would be a matter of life or death, survival or failure, simple, black or white choices. But in reality life seldom comes in simple shades of black and white. The choices in the real world, the choices we most often face, are all in shades of gray. And I lived in the real world."

―Ax

Aximili is extremely curious and interested in the various Earth cultures. He is somewhat arrogant, a common Andalite trait, but has tempered his arrogance over time, proclaiming more than once that the humans are his people as well as Andalites as he recognizes their commendable qualities. For instance, a group of human hosts in the Yeerk pool deliberately acted as shields to other Yeerk forces to give the Animorphs time to escape. Like all Andalites he places great value on honor and duty, to the extent that, on some occasions, he would side with humans over Andalites because he believed that the Andalites were resorting to particularly drastic measures while the Animorphs had not. He generally has a good knowledge of most of the advanced technology and alien races that the Animorphs encounter, but has admitted more than once that he didn't always pay attention in school and thus missed certain topics being discussed in detail.

At first he seems very serious. However, as he spends more time in the company of the Animorphs, he slowly develops a sense of humor, which they find slightly disturbing. Despite his usual seriousness, he tends to suffer from a loss of control when in human morph, demonstrating exceptional enthusiasm for exploring his sense of taste, which he does not have in his natural state, and treating human speech as a toy by repeating certain words, or even syllables, repeatedly out of the sheer joy he finds in using a human mouth. He considers the cinnamon bun one of humankind's greatest inventions, and also enjoys chocolate, cigarette butts, and just about anything with a strong taste. He has a good relationship with all of the Animorphs, but is especially close to Tobias because they both live in the woods, away from typical human habitation.

Relationships with the other Animorphs

"Jake. Rachel. Tobias. Cassie. Marco. The humans amazed me with their resilience, their ingenuity, and their bravery. They delighted me with their humor, their passions, and their capacity for play. Their food. But they truly sickened me with their self-indulgence and their childishness. But then, I reminded myself, they are children. And so am I."

―Ax

Tobias

"But Tobias is the only one I might consider a true shorm. A shorm is a deep friend, someone who knows everything there is to know about you. [...] Elfangor was his father, and, as strange as it is to think of, I am, in Earth terms, Tobias's uncle. But I think it is the fact that he is almost as unique on this planet as I am that makes us close. Choosing life as a red-tailed hawk has set Tobias apart from everything he once knew. We are both unique on this planet, and both very much alone."

―Ax

This section requires expansion

Of all the Animorphs, Ax is closest to Tobias, whom he considers to be his shorm, an Andalite term roughly translating to best friend. The word shorm literally means "tail blade," the expression being that a shorm is someone you would trust to hold their tail blade to your throat. They bond due to both being outsiders, and this is strengthened by the revelation that Tobias is Ax's nephew.

Jake

"I am often amazed at Prince Jake's ability to make decisions. I call him my prince because any Andalite warrior needs a prince to serve. But I know that he is just a human youth, as I am an Andalite youth. And yet he is very impressive for a human youth. He understands instinctively that making no decision is also a decision. So he accepts the responsibility. If he were an Andalite I have no doubt he would become a true prince. Still, he does very well for a human."

―Ax

This section requires expansion

Ax deeply respects Jake, his "prince," and comes to consider him as a true friend. At times, Ax is torn between his loyalties to his human prince and his loyalties to his race.

Marco

"Marco is highly intelligent. But he is also very afflicted by a condition the humans call "sense of humor." I have noticed that Marco's sense of humor sometimes makes him do strange things."

―Ax

This section requires expansion

At first Marco dislikes and distrusts Ax, but as time goes on the two develop a close relationship. After Marco's cover is blown and he has to leave his regular life, he goes to live with Ax at his scoop, and the two bond over electronics and soap operas.

Rachel

"The other Animorphs and I truly worry about Rachel. On the Andalite home planet, when a warrior becomes too fond of war he is shunned. A warrior should love only the cause not the killing. [...] For a long time, I have regarded Rachel as representing one end of the continuum of human nature. What all humans would become if the war went on long enough. That perception has guided many of my decisions. An entire human race of Rachels — angry, merciless, aggressive, and equipped with Yeerk and Andalite technology. It was a terrifying specter."

―Ax

This section requires expansion

Ax and Rachel rarely interact outside of a group setting. Ax worries about her bloodthirstiness and violent nature and voices his concerns later in the series, although he still respects her as a warrior.

Cassie

"I had thought I hated Cassie. But I did not. I felt for her as I felt for the others."

―Ax

This section requires expansion

Ax and Cassie rarely interact one-on-one, two notable exceptions being her inviting him to have dinner with her family (in his Jake morph) and consoling him after Estrid's departure. After Cassie allows Tom to take the Escafil Device, Ax compares her to Seerow and muses in his narrative that her compassion makes her possibly the most dangerous of them all. 

Morphs

Book Morphs

Morph	Book Acquired
Animals from the Andalite homeworld (possibly a djabala and a hoober)	Prior to The Invasion
Tiger Shark	The Message
Human (male, used the Frolis Maneuver to blend DNA from Cassie, Marco, Rachel and Jake to form one strand)
American Lobster	The Predator
Black Garden Ant
Northern Harrier
Cockroach	The Capture
Housefly
Human (Jake)
Mouse	The Andalite's Gift
Flea
Rattlesnake	The Alien
Termite	The Secret
Great Horned Owl
Skunk
Wolf Spider	The Android
Brown Bat
Spider Monkey (unusable; acquired by alternate self)	The Forgotten
Jaguar (unusable; acquired by alternate self)
Racehorse	The Unknown
Seagull	The Escape
Hammerhead Shark
Mole	The Underground
Mosquito	The Decision
Leeran
Bottlenose Dolphin	In the Time of Dinosaurs
Tyrannosaurus Rex (unusable; Sario Rip morph)
Human (adult male Controller)	The Threat
African Elephant	The Solution
Baby Ringed Seal	The Extreme
Polar Bear (Nanook)
Giant Squid	The Exposed
Cow	The Experiment
Bull
Chimpanzee
Hork-Bajir (Jara Hamee)	The Reunion
Mountain Goat (acquired but most likely never used)
Squirrel	The Proposal
Cockatiel
Orca (Swoosh)	The Mutation
Cheetah	The Weakness
Honeybee	The Other
Tiger Shark (unusable; acquired by alternate self)	Back to Before
Human (unusable; acquired by alternate self)
Taxxon	The Test
Human (male Air National Guard Captain Joseph Felitti)	The Deception
Human (male United States Naval Officer)
Human (male United States Navy Lieutenant)
Human (male United States Navy Admiral Carrington)
Human (male United States Naval Aviation Fuel Officer)
North American Beaver	The Resistance
Mallard Drake	The Absolute
Raccoon	The Sacrifice
Dragonfly	The Answer
Human (U.S. Army Soldier)

Television Show Morphs

Morph	Episode Acquired
Butterfly	The Message
Human ("Max", male, used the Frolis Maneuver to mix DNA from Cassie , Jake, Rachel and Marco)
Dog	The Escape/Tobias
Ferret	The Escape
Skink
Human (Jake)	The Capture, Part 2
Cockroach	The Reaction
Rabbit	Changes, Part 3

Books Narrated by Ax

The Andalite's Gift The Alien The Decision In the Time of Dinosaurs The Experiment

Elfangor's Secret The Arrival The Deception The Sacrifice The Beginning

Trivia

• Ax's middle name, Esgarrouth, is a reference to the town of Esgaroth in J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit, as K.A. Applegate is a fan. 
• Ax is one of the few known Andalites who actually knows and speaks English, along with Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, Estrid-Corill-Darrath, Arbat-Elivat-Estoni, Gafinilan-Estrif-Valad and Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, the latter presumably having learned it through Esplin 9466's control. While other Andalites rely on translator chips to instantly translate their thought-speak into English and for any spoken English to be translated by the chip into the Andalite's native language, Ax does not require it; he is shown to be able to read English as well as to speak it verbally while in human morph, both of these being features that the translator chip does not possess. This is most likely due to the fact that his generation on the Andalite homeworld had studied Earth and had access to its televised programming and therefore were taught the language.
• Promotional material from the Antioch ID cards lists Ax as 2½ years old in Andalite years while the manual for the GameBoy Color lists him as being 2 Andalite years old and that it is the equivalent of a teenager in Earth years. However, this info was created by the Scholastic marketing team and is not information conceived by the two authors. The Hork-Bajir Chronicles (which was written by both authors) indicates that 2 Earth years equals 2.1 Andalite years; as such, Ax is not actually 2 or 2½ and therefore the promotional entries are not considered canon.
  • It should also be noted that these promotional materials also listed different first names for the Animorphs' parents that were not the names the books used, further indicating that these promotional materials are not to be taken as canonically accurate.
• Ax and Tobias were the two main characters in the series who got the least amount of numerical books to narrate. The reason for this came from Scholastic, rather than K.A. They didn't think that kids would be able to relate as well to an alien character, or to a kid trapped as a hawk. As a result, they both got their books in rotations of every 10 books, rather than the 5 like everyone else. Tobias got all the 3's in the series (#3, 13, 23, etc), while Ax got all the 8's (#8, 18, 28, etc).  However, as it turned out, the books for Tobias and Ax were some of the fan's favorites, so both Ax and Tobias were brought into the equal rotation with the rest of the Animorphs near the end of the series (starting in The Familiar).   
• Ax was originally going to be introduced in The Visitor. This was changed when K.A realized that Animorphs was going to be a long running series.
• Ax's love of food while in human morph, particularly cinnamon buns, is an ongoing gag throughout the series. Ax often causes a scene in human morph either by voraciously and impolitely eating, or consuming things like cigarette butts and popcorn boxes that are not intended to be consumed.
• Although The Alien is Ax's first officially narrated book, it is not the first time that he has narrated. He narrates along with the other Animorphs in The Andalite's Gift.
• The Alien and The Experiment came attached with a pair of Ax bookmarks with it. The bookmarks come with humorous tear-off corners, as if Ax bit into them.

Gallery

"Someone took a picture of me? Not cool. Do you see what I'm wearing? I'm Spandex-boy. Totally not cool." The image gallery for Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill may be viewed here