Esplin 9466

Esplin 9466 Prime
Biographical information
Species	Yeerk
Hosts	Unnamed Gedd Unnamed Hork-Bajir † Fet Mashar † Unnamed Hork-Bajir Gah Fillat † Unnamed Hork-Bajir Hedrick Chapman (briefly; 1976) Alloran-Semitur-Corrass (1976-2000)
Gender	Male
Born	c.1966-1968
Family	Esplin 9466 Lesser (twin brother)
Occupation	Yeerk military officer
Affiliation	Yeerk Empire
Behind the scenes
First appearance	The Invasion The Hork-Bajir Chronicles (chronologically)
Last appearance	The Beginning
Cause	Imprisoned for war crimes
Portrayer	Eugene Lipinski

"The mistake was following the path laid down by you, Visser One. You and your Sharing, your one-host-at-a-time, your slow, steady infiltration. We took the Gedds. We took the Hork-Bajir! Took them! We made allies of the Taxxons, but if they had resisted, we would have taken them, too! Do you think we will infiltrate the Andalites when that time comes? Will we form little social clubs and talk them into becoming our slaves? No! When we are ready we will take them, too! We are the Yeerk Empire! We are not a race of sneaks and spies. We are rulers, conquerors!"

―Esplin 9466

Esplin 9466 was an officer in the Yeerk military. In his capacity as the leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth, he served as the Animorphs' primary foe. For most of the series, he held the rank of Visser Three, but was promoted to the rank of Visser One towards the end of the war. In addition to being one of the first Hork-Bajir-Controllers, Esplin 9466 also possesses the distinction of being the first human-Controller and the first Andalite-Controller in history.

Biography

Birth

"I come from no regular Yeerk pool. I was born from the decaying bodies of my tripartite parents, along with several hundred brothers and sisters, aboard ship. And one twin, naturally, as you know from the double-number designation. I have never lived on the home world. I was born in a sterile, titanium-alloy tank, beneath the warmth of a portable Kandrona. It was all I knew. [...] So we lived in our pool. As simple Yeerks must. And I would have lived happily enough. But then came the day when it was my turn to take "training.""

―Esplin 9466

Esplin 9466 was born between 1966 and 1968 in an artificial Yeerk pool on board a captured Andalite ship shortly after the Yeerk exodus from their home world.

Studious Ambitions

"I would never be a scientist. I knew I didn't have that kind of mind. But perhaps there was something else I could learn from the Andalite computer. Something that would make me fit for a host. [...] Know your enemy. That was my calling. That was the way to gaining my own host. I would learn all the computer held about the magnificent, powerful creatures called Andalites. Someday we would face the Andalites in battle. Then I would be needed."

―Esplin 9466

At the time, the Yeerks had only a small number of Gedds to use as host bodies, and so each of the quarter million Yeerks on the convoy were given fifteen minutes "training" in a Gedd host. When Esplin's turn came up, he was so overwhelmed by the experiences of sight, hearing and greater mobility that he made it his ambition to be one of the few Yeerks to always possess a host body. He had a twin brother named Esplin 9466 Lesser. To help increase his chances of achieving his dream, he immersed himself in Andalite culture, biology, and military tactics, taking a famous Andalite saying – "Know your friends well. Know your enemies better." – as his axiom. He quickly became the pre-eminent expert on all affairs Andalite in the gestating Yeerk Empire. Through this initial research, Esplin fostered a deep desire to one day infest an Andalite, so that he might truly understand them.

Hork-Bajir Conflict

Launching the Hork-Bajir Infestation

This section requires expansion

"Months went by, and slowly the memory of those few amazing moments in the Gedd faded. Others were called to assume hosts. I was not. But then it happened. Palp to palp, the message came to me. Esplin 9466 to the infestation pier! There was a new species to try. After failures with the Hawjabrans and only the few Ongachics, our wandering assemblage of spacecraft had found a new planet. With new creatures. Three had been seized from the surface and brought aboard. One was for me."

―Esplin 9466

Soon after arriving at the Hork-Bajir homeworld, the Yeerks capture two specimens to examine for their fitness of infestation. Esplin is called to the pier, and becomes the first Yeerk to inhabit a Hork-Bajir as a permanent host. He utters the words "Yes, these creatures will be our weapons," and seals the fate of the Hork-Bajir.

Andalite Hunting

"You see, I had already realized one very important thing: From now on, the host body one had would be an indication of power. Already there were lines of distinction between Yeerks who had Gedd hosts and Yeerks who were given the new, powerful Hork-Bajir bodies. These Hork-Bajir would be our shock troops. But there was still one host better than Hork-Bajir: Andalite. Yes, the Yeerk who could take an Andalite host would be more than a mere sub-visser. The Yeerk who could take and hold an Andalite host would be a visser, at the very least. And someday, who knows? A seat on the Council of Thirteen?"

―Esplin 9466

To be added

Newfound Promotion

"I heard the title and swelled with pleasure. I had been newly promoted. Up from Sub-Visser Seventeen, my first command rank. It was a jump of five places! Sub-Vissers Sixteen and Fourteen had been promoted. Sub-Visser Thirteen had been killed in battle against Hork-Bajir rebels. Sub-Visser Fifteen was being executed for incompetence and cowardice. [...] But I was in command. I was the twelfth highest-ranking sub-visser. Beyond that there were nine vissers. But every day there were promotions. Every day new sub-vissers and vissers were added. We were growing! These were amazing, heady days."

―Esplin 9466

When the first Andalite forces arrive, Esplin, now known as Sub-Visser Twelve, leads the fighter attack against the Andalites. Using his knowledge of Andalite tactics and technology, his counter-measures prove to be effective, and he manages to survive the struggle against the then-superior Andalite forces, though most of his comrades are lost. By the end of the conflict, Esplin has established himself as one of the most prominent Yeerks of his generation.

Taxxon Homeworld

Encountering Elfangor

"There is one other possibility, Andalite. There has never been an Andalite-Controller. None of us has ever succeeded in capturing an Andalite alive. Your warriors use that nasty Andalite tail blade on themselves rather than be taken alive. Such a waste. Really. See, I want to be the first to have an Andalite body. With that body, with the Andalite morphing power, I wouldn't remain a sub-visser for long. I could be a full visser. [...] Let me take that Andalite body. You'll live. It's the only way you'll live."

―Esplin 9466 to Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul

This section requires expansion

Esplin, now Sub-Visser Seven, is in charge of security on the Taxxon homeworld. He encounters Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, Arbron, and Alloran-Semitur-Corrass on the Taxxon homeworld, and their two human charges, Loren and Chapman.

Infesting Alloran

"He stood there, rage on his face. Alloran. War-Prince Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. But not really Alloran anymore. For the rest of my life I would remember that moment. The moment when I looked for the first time, upon the abomination. You see, Alloran was no longer Alloran."

―Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul

Esplin conducts a little signing negotiation with Chapman, understanding that the human race could be a useful new host species. During a skirmish with Elfangor, Esplin’s host is knocked unconscious, along with Alloran. Esplin uses the unguarded moment to acquire Alloran as a host body, becoming the first Andalite-Controller in history. He gives all his knowledge of Andalite fleet movements and modern tactics and technology to the Council of Thirteen, and they reward him for his efforts.

Using the Time Matrix

"Yes. We are falling toward a black hole in a dead ship. But we have a way out. The Time Matrix."
"In case you haven't noticed, Visser, the Time Matrix is strapped to the outside of the ship. The outside. In fact, it's probably drifting free. It was held in place with energy ropes. Those are gone."
"Gravity. There should be just enough attraction between the ship and the Time Matrix to keep it close."
"How do you propose getting to it?"
"We would have to work together, Andalite. And quickly."

―Esplin 9466 and Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul

This section requires expansion

Esplin later arrives when it becomes known that the Skrit Na obtained the Time Matrix, now Visser Thirty-Two. He becomes entangled with Elfangor and Loren, and the result of their meddling with the Time Matrix as all three of them try to use it to go home results in a warped universe, part Earth, part Andalite homeworld, and part Yeerk Homeworld. In a final stand-off with Elfangor and Loren, Esplin travels through a rift and apparently returns to the Jahar, falling into a black hole, but he survives under unspecified circumstances.

Later, when the Ellimist warps Elfangor out of his original timeline, Esplin has already reached his trademark rank, Visser Three. Elfangor rams his Blade Ship, and the battle ends with an Andalite victory as Esplin retreats his forces. This battle makes Elfangor a Prince.

Visser Three is given the assignment of assuming control of the invasion of Earth. It is a job he doesn’t seem to care for initially, but this reveals how important the Yeerks view the invasion. When the Andalites finally do send a military force to Earth, Visser Three hides his bladeship in a crater on Earth’s moon. The resulting sneak attack results in the Andalites being overwhelmed and ultimately destroyed except for Elfangor, who dies shortly thereafter at the Visser’s hands, and Ax.

Invasion of Earth

Encountering the Andalite bandits

"Earth is not ours because of the incompetence and treason of Visser Three. I left Earth in a position to be taken!"
"You left Earth before the Andalites landed a force of trained guerillas and saboteurs armed with morphing technology!"

―Edriss 562 and Esplin 9466

Visser Three moves the invasion along nicely, already in the later stages. He is soon confronted by the Animorphs, whom he believes to be "Andalite Bandits", his views on Andalites preventing him from considering the possibility that the Animorphs may just be humans with the power to morph. Within a few months, his main Kandrona generator is destroyed, and he gets into trouble when he captures the Animorphs and Visser One’s personal bodyguards discreetly set them free.

He orders two hundred Human-Controllers each month, according to The Capture in the town the Animorphs live. This included an entire hospital staff from the East Wing Hospital, writers, teachers, TV actors and hosts, and anyone in political power to join The Sharing. This will include the governor of where the Animorphs live, but it is unknown what happened to the state's governor. It is unclear whether the governor was infested by a Yeerk from the Yeerk pool, or the governor was rescued by the Animorphs when they 'captured' and starved Temrash 114, who had been assigned to be the governor's Yeerk.

Escalating the Invasion

"You've never understood anything but brute force and crude manipulation, Visser Three. Your plans are grandiose and absurd. You wasted how much time and how many resources inventing a clever potion to destroy human free will? A failure! As anyone who knows humans could have told you. You try and seize control of the head of state of the most powerful nations and end up alarming them, making half of them suspect our presence on Earth! You spend a fortune in pursuit of an Anti-Morphing Ray that doesn't work! Why? Because you cannot even manage to wipe out a handful of Andalite refugees!"

―Edriss 562

As the series progresses, Visser Three finds himself increasingly put off-balance by the Animorphs' actions, even if they manage to keep him ignorant of the scale of their involvement in some cases. Thanks to the Animorphs, not only do various Hork-Bajir hosts escape to start a new colony hidden in the mountains, but the Yeerks' plans to use the telepathic Leerans as host or genetically engineer the arctic species the Venber to act as a slave race are each cut off before they can progress beyond the initial stages. Attempts to expose the Yeerk Peace Movement or develop an Anti-morphing ray to capture his enemies are also disrupted by his enemies' interference.

Open War

When he discovers the truth of the Animorphs' identities and escalates the conflict, it forces the Animorphs to retreat to the Hork-Bajir colony with most of their families.

When the Andalites arrive, the Animorphs are able to force a stand-down, resulting in the now-promoted Visser One retreating from Alloran and accepting the decision to stand trial on Earth rather than with the Yeerks or the Andalites. Despite attempting to get Jake charged with war crimes, he is left incarcerated in his natural state on Earth for crimes against humanity.

Personality

"I understand you perfectly, Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six. You have the necessary brutality without the necessary subtlety. You are crude and emotional. You've made no progress with Earth. None. For all your grandiose schemes you are no further toward your goal than when you took over."

―Edriss 562

Esplin is a no-nonsense Yeerk, personifying the cold and heartless enemy the Animorphs are up against. He keeps subordinates in line with fear over incentive, and isn’t above the random execution, just to keep the rest in line.

Esplin's twin brother was initially his comrade in arms, but eventually the pair became antagonistic towards each other, with Esplin declaring his brother a traitor. The other Esplin became a cannibal, killing other Yeerks in order to sustain his own need for Kandrona rays, and suspected that Visser Three only kept him alive in hopes of obtaining this technique. The home of Esplin's twin's host body on Earth later burned down under mysterious circumstances; it is unknown whether this was perpetrated by the Animorphs or by Visser Three himself.

Esplin is a war hero to his people in a similar way Elfangor is to his, and the two share a bitter hatred towards each other almost from the moment they meet. Though Esplin isn’t as selfless and valiant as Elfangor, he appears to be far more cunning, as demonstrated in most of the battles of wits he has with Elfangor, he emerges the victor.

He does enter a rivalry with then Visser One, and their rivalry was something of a legend, even among Andalite circles. He has a close friendship with Visser Four, the head of the Leeran invasion; though, with Esplin’s personality, it is most likely a political alliance more than friendship.

Most Yeerks possess some kind of relationship with their hosts, often not a positive one, and Alloran long ago gave up his fight with Esplin so until book 54 he remained an entire slave, not even thinking to be free once more. In book 54, however, once defeated by the Animorphs and Tom the traitor, Esplin voluntarily relinquished his hold on Alloran, favoring the Animorphs' punishment to what the Council would sentence him to, and Alloran was overjoyed to be free again, once and for all.

Morphs

Morph	Book Acquired/Used
Djabala, Kafit bird	Prior to The Andalite Chronicles
Taxxon	The Andalite Chronicles
Hork-Bajir
Antarean Bogg	The Invasion
Unnamed Creature with Eight Heads and Eight Legs
Vanarx	The Visitor
Huge unnamed creature with three legs, tiny head, and a rock-like appearance
Mardrut	The Message
Human	The Capture
Amazonian Snake (unusable; acquired by alternate Esplin 9466)	The Forgotten
Lerdethak (morphed by alternate Esplin 9466)
Lebtin Javelin fish	The Reaction
Unnamed Giant Yellow Sea Serpent creature	The Escape
Unnamed Winged porcupine-like creature	The Underground
Human (Hewlett Aldershot III; possibly)	The Decision
Dule Fansa, Human (Tony)	The Discovery
Unnamed Lizard Creature	The Threat
Human (Aria)	The Pretender
Kaftid
Unnamed creature with a Medusa-like head, with a scythe-shaped blade on each of the "snakes"	The Suspicion
Anteater
Unnamed creature with an appearance resembling an eyeball, with long yellow tentacles for eyelashes	The Sickness
Unnamed Chameleon Land Crab creature	The Reunion
Luminar	The Mutation
Unnamed putrid creature	The Weakness
Unnamed tar creature	The Hidden
Bievilerd	The Revelation
Unnamed acidic crature	The Return
Unnamed creature, which resembled a mound of living, carnivorous, Jell-O
Unnamed creature, with an appearance like a giant squid covered in hard black scales, with twenty spike covered tentacles	The Ultimate
Giant Octopus	The Sacrifice

Books Narrated By Esplin 9466

• The Hork-Bajir Chronicles

Trivia

• Esplin 9466 has the title Visser Three from books #1-45 in the series. After the original Visser One is killed in book 45, he becomes Visser One for the rest of the series.

Gallery

Visser Three on the front of the VISSER book.

VISSER back cover illustration.

Visser Three as depicted on the inside cover of The Weakness.

Esplin when confronting Principal Chapman in the TV series.

Visser's human form as Victor Trent in the TV series.

Jake in tiger morph fighting Visser Three in an unnamed eight-headed morph. This illustration depicts a fight at the Yeerk Pool in The Invasion.

Visser Three in his Unnamed Creature with Eight Heads and Eight Legs morph, from The Invasion Game

Visser Three game piece featuring him in his unnamed eight-headed morph, from The Invasion Game

Visser Three Mega transformer from Andalite to Inferno Beast

Visser Three Ultra Class transformer which transforms from Andalite to Hork-Bajir to Inferno Creature.

Visser Three mega transformer (back)

Visser Three in andalite form from the mega transformer package art.

Visser Three folder produced by Plymouth, Inc. Note that this folder features The Andalite Chronicles cover picture of Elfangor as the foreground. The background cartoon depicts the eight-headed creature he morphs at the Yeerk Pool in The Invasion.

Visser Three's description from Animorphs (GBC Game), with an illustration of him in his Unnamed Creature with Eight Heads and Eight Legs morph

Visser Three in Andalite form in Animorphs: Know the Secret

References

Vissers in the Yeerk Empire
Visser One	Visser One | Visser One
Visser Two	Visser Two
Visser Three	Visser Three
Visser Four	Visser Four
Visser Thirty-two	Visser Thirty-two