- "I'm a sixteen-year-old kid named Jake Berenson, and I am the leader of the Animorphs. In the past it's been hard for me to say that, to take on the title of leader. In the past I've questioned myself. Wondered whether I was right, wondered whether what I did was good, wondered whether I had any right to make life-and-death decisions. [...] And I was, for better or worse, the only leader we had."
- ―Jake Berenson
Jake Berenson was the leader of the Animorphs, an author and a morphing professor for the United States Department of Defense. Revered as a global and national hero, he is heralded as the individual responsible for ending the decades-long Andalite-Yeerk War.
Biography
Early Life
Jake Berenson was born in 1984[8] to Jean and Steve Berenson.[10] The younger brother of Tom, the brothers were close and they often played basketball together.[7] His father was a pediatrician[11] and his mother was a writer,[7] and they lived in a well-off neighborhood[6] in California.[5] Jake was raised Jewish, with dinners as a family involving prayers[12] and no television.[7] He was also close to his maternal great-grandfather, Grandpa G, a World War II veteran whom Jake admired.[11]
While he was quite young, Jake met Marco, a boy who lived in the same neighborhood and attended the same school as him, and the pair became best friends. Jake spent time at Marco's house and met Marco's parents.[6] Jake and Marco often played video games and had comic book superhero debates. In 1993,[13] when they were nine, they had a blueberry pie-eating contest that ended with Jake throwing up.[14] Jake occasionally went to The Gardens, an amusement park-zoo with rollercoasters[7], one of which was his favorite,[3] and was able to afford the very expensive admission fee.[15]
Jake also had a paternal cousin[16][11] named Rachel, who was the daughter of his father's brother, Dan. Despite knowing of one another all their lives,[17] even being the same age and attending the same school, Jake and Rachel were not close,[18] and their families did not often interact. Rachel's mother Naomi's eventual divorce from his Uncle Dan also led to Jake not interacting much with Rachel's younger sisters. Jake also had another paternal cousin named Saddler who lived in another town, whom Jake did not like as Saddler was the type to break stuff and blame the destruction on Jake.[16]
Pre-Animorph Life
While in school, Jake once scored twenty-four points in a single basketball game, leading him to name his online chat ID as "Bball24."[2] In 1995,[19] Jake was there for his friend when Marco's mother Eva was reported to have died in a boating accident.[6]
Jake was quite tall and well-built for his age, and was described as having broad shoulders and looking two years older than he actually was.[17] Although he was tall, Tom nicknamed him "midget" as he was still shorter than him.[4] Jake soon developed a crush on a girl named Cassie,[7] and while he occasionally sat next to her on the bus as well as during classes and assemblies,[17] he never revealed his feelings to her.[7] In 1996, when they were twelve,[20] their friendship was strong enough that he was invited to her family's Thanksgiving, where her great-grandmother spoke to him about their family's Civil War history. During one of his trips to Cassie's farm, he took a picture of her putting a pill down a badger, which he then kept next to his computer in his bedroom.[3] As Rachel was Cassie's best friend, Jake and Rachel began to see more of each other. Jake found Rachel to be very pretty, although he did not like entertaining that train of thought as she was his cousin.[7] ]] Around the time he started junior high, also known as middle school, Jake found his relationship with Tom waning, with Tom spending more time at a club called The Sharing. Jake decided to try out for his school's basketball team in an attempt to mend that relationship as well as follow in Tom's footsteps, as Tom had been a basketball legend at their middle school. One day, Jake walked into the bathroom and saw two bullies tormenting a boy named Tobias by hoisting him above a toilet and giving him a swirlie. Jake told the two bullies to stop, which they complied with. Tobias then began to see Jake as his friend and followed him around.
Near their local mall was an abandoned construction site, which Jake and Marco often visited despite Jake's parents forbidding him from doing so. Jake and Marco often noticed beer cans and liquor bottles, and during one such excursion, Jake climbed one of the rusted construction cranes.[7]
Becoming an Animorph
Night at the Mall
- "My life used to be pretty normal. Normal, that is, until one Friday night at the mall. I was there with Marco, my best friend. We were playing video games and hanging out at this cool store that sells comic books and stuff. The usual. [...] Sometimes I think about that one, last moment when we were still just normal kids. It's like it was a million years ago, like it was some totally different group of kids. You know what I was afraid of right then? I was afraid of admitting to Tom that I hadn't made the team. That was as scary as life got back then. Five minutes later, life got a lot scarier."
- ―Jake
One Friday in 1997,[21] when he was thirteen,[1] Jake was informed that he had not made his junior high school's basketball team. As his older brother Tom had been star player in the junior high team and currently in his high school team, Jake was dismayed that he could not live up to Tom and worried what Tom might think of him. After school, he went with Marco to the mall, where they played video games and spent time at a comic book store. Upon running out of quarters and noticing that it was nighttime, Jake and Marco decided to walk back home. Jake then encountered Tobias, who asked to walk home alongside them, to which Jake agreed. As the three boys reached the mall's exit, they ran into Rachel and Cassie.
Jake deemed that the quickest way home was through an abandoned construction site, and asked Rachel if she and Cassie had planned to walk home through it, informing them that they should avoid it since they were girls and it was dangerous. Jake immediately regretted verbalizing his thought, as Rachel mockingly asked him if he was "a big, strong man" who would protect them. Cassie then interrupted to state that she was indeed scared to walk home and appreciated the boys walking with them. The five thirteen year olds then left the mall and headed towards the construction site.[7]
Gaining Morphing Powers
- "We were five kids taking a shortcut home from the mall at night. There was a ship. There was an alien. There was the destructive worm of knowledge: You are not alone. You are not safe. Nothing is what it seems. No one is who they seem to be. The knowledge of betrayal and terror. [...] But it was the power that turned fear into obligation, that laid the weight on our unready shoulders. We could become any animal we touched, the Andalite told us. Power enough to win? No. Power enough to fight? Ah, yes. Just enough, little Jake, here is just enough power to imprison you in a cage of duty, to make you fight."
- ―Jake
While walking through the abandoned construction site fearing for any murderers or criminals that might be lurking, Jake noticed that Tobias had stopped walking and was looking at up. Jake looked up as well and saw what he and Tobias both recognized as an alien spaceship. As the ship approached, Jake mused that the tail section of the ship looked to be a weapon, which Marco agreed with. Marco remarked that the ship seemed to have noticed them, to which Jake replied that they might get zapped with phasers on full power if they tried to run from it. When Tobias approached the ship to try and communicate with the alien on board, Jake pondered whether they would know English, only to hear a voice speaking English in his head.
Jake meeting Elfangor
Jake witnessed as a blue alien walked out of the ship and greeted them. Smiling, Jake was also surprised to find tears running down his face, feeling like the alien was someone he'd known and hadn't seen in a long time. Suddenly, the alien collapsed onto the ground, and Jake noticed a massive burn on the right side of the alien's body. Cassie told Jake to take his shirt off so they could bandage the wound, although the alien replied that it was pointless since his wound was fatal.
Upset at the thought of the alien dying, Jake exclaimed that the blue alien could not die since he was the first alien to come to Earth. The alien then responded that he was not the first alien to come to Earth, and that many other aliens, who were not like him, had already come to Earth to destroy humans. The alien explained that the other aliens were known as Yeerks and transmitted an image of a green-gray slug into their minds. He explained that the Yeerks were a parasitic species that take over bodies to use as hosts, after which they become known as Controllers. Jake remarked that they were just kids and that this information should be told to the authorities instead. The alien, revealing himself to be a member of a species called an Andalite, added that it would take a year if not more for the Andalite forces to come to Earth, and urged the teenagers to warn humanity of the Yeerk threat. Jake then looked at Marco, who lamented that no one would ever believe them.
Suddenly, the Andalite exclaimed that they should go into his ship and retrieve a blue box. Looking around at each other, Jake felt that everyone seemed to think he should be the one to do it. Although he was scared to enter an alien ship, Cassie smiled at him and told him that he should go since he wasn't scared. Not wanting to back out in front of her, Jake agreed and entered the ship. Noticing the interior and a picture of an Andalite family, Jake retrieved the blue box and returned back to the Andalite. The Andalite informed them that he could use the box to grant them the ability to morph — by touching an animal and concentrating, they could acquire that creature's DNA and transform their bodies into that of the animal's. As the Andalite asked if they wished to accept this power, Rachel noticed something in the sky and wondered what it was, to which the Andalite replied that those were the Yeerks.
The Andalite urged them to decide quickly, and Cassie asked Jake what he thought. Looking around at his friends, Tobias told them that they had to accept, and Jake agreed, citing they had no choice. All five of them pressed their hands against the box, and Jake felt a tingle run through him as he received the morphing ability. The Andalite warned them that they should not stay in morph for more than two hours or else they would be trapped before yelling at them to run since Visser Three was coming.
Hiding behind a low wall, Jake witnessed as the Blade ship and Bug fighters landed next to Elfangor. The five teenagers watched as tall, bladed creatures emerged from the Blade ship, and Jake quickly clamped his hand over Cassie's mouth as she screamed. The dying Andalite used his thought-speak to mentally communicate with them, informing them that these were Hork-Bajir-Controllers and that the giant centipede-like creatures that were also emerging were known as Taxxons. The five kids then tried to remain silent as one of the Hork-Bajir-Controllers positioned himself near their hiding spot. They then noticed an Andalite emerging from the Blade ship, which the dying Andalite explained was Visser Three — the only Andalite-Controller to exist.
Jake watched as Visser Three greeted the Andalite as Prince Elfangor and silently cheered when Elfangor attacked the Visser. As the Visser ordered his forces to destroy Elfangor's fighter, Jake noticed a group of humans among the Yeerks. The kids continued to observe as Visser Three morphed into a monstrous creature with multiple ringed teeth. As the Visser used one of his arms to lift Elfangor, Jake picked up a pipe and tried to jump into action, although he was restrained by Marco and Tobias as Rachel covered his mouth with her hand, with Cassie him that Elfangor was dying for them and that he wouldn't want Jake to die for him. Jake then watched with tears streaming down his face as the Visser ate Elfangor and heard Elfangor's mental screams as he was being ripped apart before he died.
Jake quickly heard human laughter emanting from the Yeerks' celebration of Elfangor's death, noting that one of the voices sounded familiar. Marco then threw up, prompting the nearby Hork-Bajir-Controller to look in their direction. The five teenagers then bolted as the Yeerks began chasing them. Jake and Rachel both noted that Marco and Cassie were struggling to flee as they were short while Tobias was out of shape, so the two athletic cousins served as a distraction to ensure the other three escaped. Jake then tripped, but yelled at Rachel to run when she tried to come back for him.
Jake then overheard another familiar human voice inform the Hork-Bajir-Controller that they were allowed to kill the fleeing witnesses, so long as they retained the heads for identification. Pursued by the Hork-Bajir with a flashlight, Jake ran into one of the half-constructed buildings that he had explored before with Marco, believing that his knowledge of the layout would be to his benefit. Running through the darkness, he accidentally kicked a sleeping homeless man. As the man yelled at him to get his own space, the Hork-Bajir entered the room and shone his flashlight at the homeless man. Jake fled, using the man's death as a distraction to successfully escape from the construction site and return home. He then contacted the others to ensure they returned home safely before going to bed.[7]
Testing Morphing Powers
- "I can't make plans and tell people what to do. I'm not the leader. You are."
"I'm not the leader of anything."
"Yes, Jake, you are our leader. You are the one who can bring us all together and help us defeat the Controllers." - ―Tobias and Jake
The next day, a Saturday morning, Jake was suddenly awakened by his mother knocking on his door, informing him that Tobias was here. Jake was surprised, as Tobias had never visited his house before. As Tobias asked if he could come in, Jake agreed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as Tobias disclosed that he had successfully morphed into Dude, his pet tabby cat. Jake refused to believe him until Tobias morphed into Dude in front of him before demorphing back to human. Tobias was embarassed to find himself nude and stated that perhaps they could learn to morph clothing in the future. Jake was hesitant to accept that he could morph, to which Tobias replied that they could all morph and that they needed Jake the most, as he was their leader. Jake responded that he was not, but begrudgingly accepted when Tobias convinced him that he was the one who could bring them together as a team to help defeat the Yeerks.
Jake then brought Homer, his pet golden retriever, into his room and acquired him. He then put Homer in the backyard and tried to concentrate on Homer. Believing it did not work, he laughed only for Tobias to redirect his attention to his hands, which had fur. Although Jake panicked, Tobias led him through the rest of the morphing process. Now fully a golden retriever, Jake found the happy dog mind enjoyable and began barking when his dog mind noticed another dog in his backyard, which Tobias reminded him was the real Homer. Tom then entered the room, wanting to tell Jake to silence Homer as their mother was on the phone, only to be stunned to see Tobias, who explained that he was Jake's friend and that Jake was elsewhere in the house. Tom then left the room, but not before telling "Homer" that he was a bad dog. While Jake was upset that his brother thought he was a "bad dog" he suddenly felt like his brother's voice reminded him as being one of the human laughter he had heard at the abandoned construction site after Elfangor died.
Jake then demorphed and got dressed before using the phone to call the others and ask them to have a meeting at Cassie's farm. As Tobias left, Jake was on the phone with Cassie when Tom walked in. Jake recalled that Tom would usually be the first person he shared stuff with, but refrained as he felt an urge to not share what he witnessed the previous night with Tom. Instead, Jake apologized to Tom that he did not make the junior high basketball team. To his shock, Tom merely shrugged and admitted that he did not care for basketball and had even dropped out of his high school team, adding that he had more important things to do with The Sharing.[7]
Investigating the Yeerks
- "The Andalite gave us the morphing power for a reason. It wasn't just for the fun of being a dog or a horse or a bird. He hoped we would fight."
"Then maybe Tom is the enemy. Maybe it's your own brother you'll end up destroying."
"Yes. Maybe that's what will happen. Maybe not. But the first step is to find out more. And I think maybe the way to do that is to check out this meeting of The Sharing. Tonight." - ―Jake and Marco
After finishing his chores, Jake got on his bike and headed towards Cassie's farm, where he spotted Tobias, Rachel and Marco. Rachel and Marco gave Jake a newspaper to read, which stated that residents near the abandoned construction site had called the police about seeing spaceships and explosions. However, the police claimed they had investigated the matter and concluded there were no spaceships and that the explosions were just teenagers using fireworks, whom they were now looking for. Jake wondered why the police investigating would lie, prompting Marco and Rachel to respond that the police officers, along with the media, were Controllers. As they sat in silence, Marco told them that they should just forget what they've learned and move on with their lives. Jake noticed that Rachel and Tobias both looked at him expecting him to say something. Before Jake could finish his retort, Marco yelled that they could all get killed if they get involved, adding that if something happened to him, his father would stop deciding to continue living.
Rachel then stated that Cassie was headed their way, and Jake watched as a horse approached them and began to demorph. Jake decided to look away as he remembered that he and Tobias had both been nude, but quickly noticed that Cassie was not and that she had incorporated a skintight outfit. He watched in admiration as Cassie demonstrated an ability to control the process, making herself equally half-human and half-horse. However, before Cassie could finish demorphing, a police cruiser suddenly pulled into the farm. Jake then commanded everyone to shield Cassie while telling Cassie to finish turning back into human. The police officer then approached them and asked if they had information about kids being at the abandoned construction site the night before. Jake quickly realized that the man was a Controller and responded that they did not know anything. The officer then remarked that Jake looked similar to Tom, and when Jake replied that Tom was his brother, the officer left, although not before inviting him to join The Sharing.
Jake then listened to the others argue about what they should do, supporting Cassie's belief that they wait before finalizing a decision. Jake told the others that they should not say anything to anyone and go back to normal life before the group disbanded, with Jake heading back to his house with Marco. As they played in Jake's room, they were interrupted by Tom, who asked if he play with them. After a while, Tom gave the controls back to Marco and asked Jake if he knew anything about the children who were at the construction site. Jake informed him that he did not every time Tom pressed. Tom then left, although not before suggesting that he join The Sharing, citing that it would be a way for him and Jake to be close again.
Shortly after Tom exited the room, Marco told Jake that Tom was a Controller, prompting Jake to punch Marco in the head. Marco managed to subdue Jake, promising to let him go if he stopped attacking. The duo were then interrupted by a red-tailed hawk outside Jake's window, who quickly revealed itself to be Tobias in morph. Tobias explained that he had acquired the hawk at Cassie's farm and that he had been looking for a Yeerk Pool. When Jake and Marco looked on in confusion, Tobias explained that Elfangor had given him visions and knowledge, including the fact that every three days a Yeerk must go into the Yeerk pool to absorb Kandrona rays.
Jake was then reminded by Marco that both Tom and the police-Controller had urged him to join The Sharing, suggesting that it might be a front organization for the Yeerks. Swayed by Tobias' declaration of wanting to fight the Yeerks in honor of the fallen Andalite, Jake announced that he could not choose inaction. When Marco retorted that Jake might end up taking out Tom if he joined the fight, thus losing a family member, Jake realized that he had not suffered familial loss the way Marco and Tobias had. Jake then decided that he wanted to investigate The Sharing before making any decisions, to which Marco and Tobias were in agreement. Jake then spoke to Tom, informing him that he and his friends wanted to attend a meeting. Enthusiastic, Tom replied that they were having a beach bonfire and that they could join. Jake then called Rachel and Cassie and invited them to join, having informed them of his plan.
Jake and the others walked from his house to the beach, where they had Tobias hide behind a dune and assume his hawk morph in order to spy from above. Arriving at the meeting, Jake played night volleyball with Tom on his team against the other members while also enjoying some barbecue, coming to believe that The Sharing could not be Yeerks. As the bonfire winded down, Jake sat next to Tom, who informed him that while the activities were fun, there was more to The Sharing once he became a full member. However, when Jake asked Tom how he could become a full member, he noticed one side of Tom's face dropping as well as a change of expression in Tom's eyes. Jake quickly realized that Tom was indeed under Yeerk control and that he had tried to gain control of his body to warn his younger brother.
Jake spies on The Sharing
As "Tom" excused himself and left to attend a private meeting for the full members, the others rallied towards him. Jake notified them that he wished to spy on their meeting in Homer morph, citing that they wouldn't pay much mind to a stray dog on the beach. Jake then flagged Tobias down from the sky and asked him where the meeting was held before ordering Tobias to demorph. Using his golden retriever morph, Jake walked up to the private meeting and witnessed as his assistant principal, Chapman, warned the others that Visser Three wanted the kids from the construction site found. Jake was then aghast to hear "Tom" reply that he suspected Jake might be one of those kids and they could have Jake infested or killed that night. Jake listened as Chapman responded that there was to be no killing at a Sharing event and that they could no go around killing the children they might suspect as the public would notice their deaths. Jake felt despair at the confirmation that his older brother had been taken by the Yeerks, although the dog's instincts prevented him from succumbing to its effects. Continuing to loiter at the meeting, Jake overheard "Tom" telling another Controller that he would be returning to the Yeerk pool on Monday to feed.
Jake then heard Cassie's voice speaking with another familiar voice and headed towards her, where he noticed her speaking with the police-Controller from earlier that day. He watched as Cassie was admonishged for entering the private meeting grounds and walked next to her as she retreated back towards the beach. Regrouping with his friends, Jake informed them that both Tom and Chapman were Controllers. When Marco stated that they should forget everything and continue their normal lives, Jake replied that he could not let Tom remain a Controller and that he would fight, with Rachel, Tobias and Cassie agreeing to join him. The group then decided to disband for the night and head home, but as they walked Jake pulled Cassie aside and asked her if she had any useful animals at the clinic as he intended to spy on Chapman. Cassie notified him that there was a green anole lizard who could be suitable, so Jake went back with Cassie to her barn to acquire it.
Jake morphed as a green anole lizard inside of his school locker
On Monday, Jake went to school and waited for the first bell to ring. After all the other students left the hallway to attend their first classes of the day, Jake entered his locker and began to morph the green anole lizard. Successfully morphing and escaping through the locker's ventilation slits, Jake tried to locate Chapman, planning to hide out in his office all day to learn any news on the Yeerks. However, much to his horror, his lizard brain spotted a spider and chased after it. Despite Jake's attempts to resist, his lizard mind commanded the body to swallow the spider whole, with Jake feeling the still alive spider kicking inside his stomach. He was then stepped on by Chapman, who did not notice, and was able to escape, albeit losing his tail. Jake followed Chapman and was surprised to find out that he was heading to the janitor's closet instead of his own office. Jake witnessed as Chapman turned a combination of knobs to cause the wall of the closet to reveal a hidden passageway, which emanated a weird smell. He heard the faint sounds of human screams and realized that the passageway was the entrance to the Yeerk pool.[7]
Acquiring the Tiger
- "I started to pull away, but then I hesitated. It was a strange moment, because right then I realized what I was doing. It hit me. This tiger was becoming part of me. All that power and confidence was becoming part of me."
- ―Jake
Jake escaped and demorphed, although he did not attend some of his remaining classes. He met up with the others after school at the mall, where he purchased nachos out of a desire to consume lots of junk food to forget the spider incident. There, he informed the others of his discovery and that he intended to go to the Yeerk pool to rescue Tom. Tobias, Rachel and Cassie voiced their support to join him, with Marco reluctantly agreeing as well, citing he was doing it only to save Tom and that he was done after that. The newly-formed team discussed that their current morphs were not strong enough to combat the Yeerks and decided to head to The Gardens to acquire more dangerous morphs. The five kids, dubbed the Animorphs by Marco[7] as a portmanteau for "animal morphers"[18] then left the mall and took a bus straight to The Gardens, where Jake took the opportunity to catch up on his homework. Arriving at The Gardens, the five pooled their cash to afford the admission, with Cassie able to get them an employee discount.
Cassie then led them to the employees' hallway, with doors connected to each of the animal enclosures. They first approached the enclosure of Big Jim, a Silverback gorilla, which Jake convinced Marco to acquire. Finding themselves at a crossroads, Marco decided to head in the direction of more dangerous animals while Rachel elected to go towards the dolphins. A security guard then noticed them and gave chase, prompting the group to split up, with Jake running after Marco while the other three went another away. The guard chose to follow the two boys, although they were to avoid him by stealing an electric golf cart. They were quickly spotted by two other employees, prompting the two boys to enter one of the doors. Both Jake and Marco then realized they were in a dangerous animal's enclosure when they noticed that the guards chose not to follow them through the doors.
Jake looks at a Siberian tiger
Attempting to sit down, Jake partially sat on a male Siberian tiger. Terrified, Jake decided to acquire him to place him in a trance, noting how the tiger's strength was being absorbed into him. As the tiger fell into a trance, Jake and Marco ran to the ladder on the other side in order to escape, only to be chased by one of the other tigers in the enclosure. Narrowly escaping, the two managed to return back to the public space, although the two guards were there. Noticing a crowd, Jake advised Marco that they should head into the crowd and hunch in order to blend in. Successfully avoiding the guards, the two boys managed to return back to the main entrance and found the other three waiting for them. They then took the bus back to their respective homes.[7]
First Mission
- "We hadn't exactly destroyed Visser Three, but we had come out of it alive, we Animorphs. [...] Tom was not freed. I was lying in my own bed, shaking and shivering and crying from the aftereffects of terror, when I heard him come home later that night. He never knew that I was the tiger. He never knew how close I had come to freeing him. He was a Controller again. The Yeerk was in his head once more."
- ―Jake
Jake returned home, where his parents and brother were about to sit down for family dinner. As they were eating chicken cacciatore, Jake's parents asked him where he was, and he replied that he had been with Marco. Still holding out hope that perhaps Tom may not be a host, despite having evidence otherwise, Jake asked "Tom" if they could play basketball, and when Tom declined citing other plans, asked Tom what those plans were. Tom brushed him off before leaving the house after dinner had concluded. Retreating upstairs, Jake called the others to inform them that Tom had left the house and that it was time to meet up across the school. However, when he called Cassie's house, her mother Michelle picked up, informing him that Cassie had not come home yet and that she was worried.
Jake then biked to school and met up with Rachel and Marco, and was infuriated when he saw that Tobias had already started his time limit as he had morphed into a hawk and was flying above. As Tobias descended, Jake was surprised to see him land on Rachel's shoulder as she then nuzzled him. Putting his observation aside, he informed them that Cassie was missing before the group entered the school through an unlocked window Marco knew of. Finding themselves in a classroom, Jake peeked out the doorway and saw a group of Controllers enter the janitor's closet. To his horror, Jake witnessed the police-Controller from earlier dragging Cassie into the closet and called upon Tobias to use his hawk eyes to confirm. After sharing this update with the others, they collectively headed towards the janitor's closet, where Jake input the combinations he had seen Chapman use. The four Animorphs then entered through the open passageway.
As they began descending the many stairs, they were stunned to discover that the passageway in the janitor's closet was not the sole entrance and that were multiple access points, as the Yeerk pool was revealed to be a gigantic subterranean cavern that was situated under half of their city. Jake noticed Cassie being dragged by the cop-Controller and wished to morph, although Marco prevented him from doing so. The group watched in horror as the Controllers re-entered the pool on one pier, with their screaming hosts thrown into cages, after which they would be brought to the reinfestation pier. Jake noticed a group of Controllers laughing as they watched television, which Tobias explained were voluntary Controllers. Jake asked if Tom was a voluntary Controller and was relieved when Tobias informed him that Tom was in the cages yelling at his Yeerk captors, finding comfort in the fact that Tom had been taken against his will. Tobias also disclosed that Cassie was on the infestation pier and that they had mere minutes to save her.
Jake, Rachel and Marci walked away from the stairs and ducked behind a shed; there, Marco pulled Jake to the side, telling him that while he was okay with the fact that he might get killed, he wanted Jake to ensure that he wouldn't allow him to become infested. Their conversation was then interrupted by a human-Controller, who found them to be suspicious and ordered his accompanying Hork-Bajir-Controller and Taxxon-Controller to take them. Rachel, who hadn't been noticed, stealthily manuevered herself behind the three Controllers and morphed into an African elephant. Rejoicing that she had successfully morphed, she popped the Taxxon and flung the human-Controller away. Jake then yelled at Marco to morph before transforming into a Siberian tiger, relishing in the power he felt surging within him. Roaring at the Hork-Bajir-Controllers headed their way, Jake lunged at slashed at them while avoiding their blows before scaring them off with another roar.
Along with Rachel and Marco, the latter of whom had successfully morphed into Big Jim, the trio ran towards the cages, defeating the Controllers who attempt to impede them with ease. Jake watched as Marco used the gorilla's dexterity to rip off the locks of the cages, freeing the imprisoned hosts. Finding himself face to face with Tom, Jake was about to use thought-speech to reveal his identity and powers to his older brother when Rachel interrupted by screaming that Cassie was about to be infested. Jake then ran towards the infestation pier as two Hork-Bajir-Controllers brought a screaming Cassie to the pier's edge. Although he was not fast enough to reach them in time, Tobias came hurtling down in a power dive and gouged out both eyes of the first Hork-Bajir, allowing Cassie to escape. Jake was then able to reach the pier and took out the second Hork-Bajir before urging Cassie to morph.
Using the fleeing prisoners as cover, Cassie was able to morph into a horse and the pair sailed over Taxxon-Controllers while leading the freed prisoners towards the stairs. However, their escape path was blocked by Visser Three, who believed them to be Andalites in morph. Turning into a giant fire-breathing monster with eight heads, Visser Three spat out numerous fireballs, burning and incinerating many of the fleeing prisoners. Jake ordered everyone to run up the stairs and told Rachel to start demorphing when her elephant body was struggling to do so.
Jake attacks Visser Three
Ascending the many stairs, more and more fleeing hosts were burned by the visser. Jake eventually found their path blocked by fire, with Visser Three slowly catching up to them from behind. To Jake's horror, Tom lunged at Visser Three and watched in horror as the visser swatted Tom away, causing him to fall off the stairs. Aghast, Jake launched himself at Visser Three, using his tiger's agility to twist around the visser's body and bite one of his eight necks. As the visser screamed and shot a fireball at the tiger's flank, Jake disengaged himself and managed to run back up the stairs and through the fire.
The four Animorphs, minus Tobias, successfully escaped from the Yeerk Pool and returned to their school's hallway, along with just one freed prisoner, a woman who had ridden on Cassie's back. Aside from Rachel, who was half-morphed, the other Animorphs were still in their battle morphs. They then split up, and Jake demorphed[22] before he returned home. He then went to bed, where he silently struggled with the bad memories and trauma of that night's terror as he cried and shivered. Jake then listened as "Tom" returned home some time later, and lamented how he had failed to save his brother and how Tom had never known he was the tiger before falling asleep.
Jake was awakened in the early hours of the morning by the sound of wings outside his window. Opening the window, he realized it was Tobias and expressed relief that he had managed to escape. Jake then told Tobias to demorph and offered to let him sleep on the bed while he slept on the floor. Tobias notified him that he had to hide out in the Yeerk Pool for over two hours in order to safely escape and thus was now trapped as a red-tailed hawk. This revelation caused Jake to start crying as he registered the fact that the hawk in front of him was how Tobias would look from now on. Jake looked up at the sky and mused that one of the stars up there was the Andalite homeworld which he believed represented hope. Tobias responded that one day the Andalites would come, but until then, the Animorphs would have to continue fighting the Yeerks.[7]
Early Adventures
Morphing Practice
- "That was so absolute! It's like now, being back in a human body, I feel like I'm handicapped or something. I feel like I'm glued to the ground."
- ―Jake
Jake allowed Tobias to live in the attic of his house, and removed a panel on the roof to allow Tobias to fly in and out, while also placing a blanket in a drawer. Jake also brought up containers consisting of his dinner or leftovers, unaware that Tobias' hawk body could not digest most of it. Jake also wrote and send two letters on Tobias' behalf, one each to be sent to his uncle and aunt respectively, claiming that he was now living with the other permanently.[23] At school, Jake secretly revisited the janitor's closet to check if the entrance to the Yeerk pool was still working, only to find that it was sealed off. Thinking of other ways to find a new entrance, Jake considered having Rachel use her friend Melissa Chapman, the daughter of high-ranking Controller Hedrick Chapman, to get close to Chapman and discover new intel. However, he chose to keep this thought to himself. Around this time, Jake was taught by Cassie how to incorporate skintight clothing, which included bike shorts, as a morphing outfit, allowing him to demorph without being nude. Jake also suffered from nightmares of his lizard morph experience, although he also had wonderful dreams of being a tiger.[24] Around this time, Jake morphed into a tiger and ran across people's roofs at night.[16]
Over a week after their trip to the Yeerk pool, the four morph-capable Animorphs acquired bird-of-prey morphs, with Jake acquiring a peregrine falcon. The four then walked to a run-down church near a beach by some cliffs and made their way to the abandoned bell tower. Stripping off their outer clothing, the Animorphs morphed into their raptor morphs for the first time and joined Tobias in the sky. Due to the falcon's small wingspan, Jake struggled to flap his wings for altitude compared to his friends, although he was able to speed past them while diving. The Animorphs were then shot at by a teenager, whom the Animorphs then attacked. They then made their way back to the bell tower and demorphed, where Jake gushed about the experience of flying and watched in awe as Cassie skillfully controlled her demorphing. As the group walked home, the Animorphs discussed how they could've used morphing to have a showbiz career. They then walked past the abandoned construction site, which brought back memories. When the discussion of trying to find another chance to attack the Yeerks came up, Jake informed the group about the janitor's closet entrance no longer being viable. Rachel then suggested that they follow Tom to find a new Yeerk pool entrance, although Jake quickly shut it down, stating that he did not want to risk the Yeerks noticing and killing Tom. Cassie then put her arm around Jake's waist and told him that they would save Tom someday, causing Jake to stroke her head before quickly pulling away, embarrassed. Jake then suggested using Chapman to find a new lead, intentionally not looking at Rachel, which caused her to realize that he wanted her to use Melissa. Rachel replied that she did not want to involve Melissa, to which Jake responded that Melissa was already a part of it due to her father being infested.
The next night, after school, Jake, Marco and Cassie were invited to Rachel's house, where Rachel informed them that Melissa was not open to hanging out with her; she also revealed that she had been harassed by a grown man while walking home, who tried to get her into his car before chasing her. When Rachel disclosed that she had partially morphed into an elephant to scare him away, Marco yelled at Rachel for risking their identities by publicly morphing. Jake, who like Marco did not register the true danger Rachel was in, also believed that Rachel had committed a mistake, although he told Marco to ease off. Jake then discussed what their next strategy to get close to Chapman would be since they couldn't use Melissa directly, to which Rachel divulged that Melissa had a pet cat that she could morph.[24]
Chapman Investigation
- "Jake, you were supposed to get away and be safe!"
"Yeah, right. Like I was going to abandon you. [...] I'm going to try a quick double-morph. Hope it works. Here goes nothing. Yeeee-haaah!" - ―Rachel and Jake
One night, the Animorphs traveled to the street where the Chapmans resided, bringing a cat carrier with them. Tobias flew towards them, informing them that he had located the cat, which Rachel revealed was named Fluffer McKitty. When Tobias mentioned that he could see rats and mice and that he found them to be juicy and plump, Marco berated Tobias, stating that he could not be friends with someone who ate rats, which angered both Rachel and Jake, with Jake reminding Marco that they were still friends despite the fact that he'd eaten a spider. Tobias then led them to the lawn where Fluffer was. As Jake and Marco waited, Rachel and Cassie crossed onto the lawn. Jake watched as Fluffer scratched Rachel and climbed up a tree, which prompted Rachel to acquire and morph into a shrew to get the cat to come down. As Fluffer pounced, Marco snatched the cat, only to nearly let go when he'd been clawed. Jake managed to grab Fluffer by the nape of his neck and stuffed him into the cat carrier with Cassie's help. Noticing Rachel's discomfort when she demorphed, Jake mused that should have used his lizard morph to lure Fluffer; when Rachel responded that Jake had been traumatized by the experience, Jake merely replied that now Rachel was traumatized as well. Jake noticed that Rachel was feeling unwell, and when Rachel asked if they could postpone their infiltration for another night, Jake readily agreed.
The next morning, Jake got on the school bus and sat next to Rachel, who he noticed looked tired and asked if becoming a shrew had freaked her out. Rachel immediately became defensive, wondering whether Jake thought she was bothered by the experience because she was a girl, although Jake quickly assured her that he was asking in general and revealed that he had a nightmare when he became a lizard. The pair then discussed their dreams and the possibility that they might have to morph into bugs someday. Jake then assured Rachel that her upcoming morph would be better since Tobias enjoyed being a cat and added that he personally enjoyed being a dog and that he wished he could morph into a dog every time he felt depressed. The bus then reached the school, where Rachel noticed Melissa. She then bid Jake farewell, who reminded her that they were all in this together.
A few nights later, the Animorphs regrouped outside the Chapman Residence, where Tobias informed the group that the real Fluffer was nowhere near the house. Jake watched as Rachel morphed into the cat and waited outside the house along with the others as Rachel began the infiltration. An hour later, the team noticed that Fluffer was trying to return home and tried to capture him, to no avail. As Rachel now had less than an hour in morph, Jake became angry when he found out Rachel was choosing to stay in the Chapman house for a while longer and told Tobias to use his thought-speak in order to tell Rachel to leave. Tobias notified Jake that Rachel had told him that she would not leave yet because Melissa needed her, prompting Jake to remind Rachel, via Tobias, that her job was not to comfort Melissa, although Rachel refused to leave. The group waited outside until Rachel eventually rejoined them, with only ten minutes left on her morphing clock. Jake uttered that he hoped Rachel at least learned something useful, and Rachel divulged that Chapman had a way to communicate directly with Visser Three and that the Yeerks still believed them to Andalites.
The next day, Jake decided to hold a meeting at the church tower and informed the other Animorphs. Arriving at the tower, Jake was weary of a conversation regarding superheroes and comic books and tried to veer the conversation back towards discussing their next plans, even clamping his hand over Marco's mouth to prevent a retort. Rachel declared that she wanted to return to the Chapman Residence, which Jake did not think was worthwhile since they already learned enough; Rachel then added that she thought a return visit might cause her to learn the location of the Kandrona, which the Animorphs could then destroy. Jake stated that he did not want Rachel going back alone, to which Rachel made a flippant suggestion that one of them could morph into a flea and ride on her back. Tobias privately informed the Animorphs that Rachel was hiding something from them. Jake then agreed to let Rachel return to the house before the Animorphs disbanded for the day, planning to meet up outside the Chapman house later that night.
However, not trusting Rachel entirely, the other Animorphs hatched a secret plan. Taking Rachel's carefree suggestions to heart, Jake acquired a flea, and practiced the morph on Cassie and Marco. The quartet then traveled down the street of Chapman's house before Rachel was to join them, where Jake morphed into a flea and was picked up by Cassie. When Rachel appeared, the others lied that Jake was grounded and couldn't make it. Rachel then morphed into Fluffer McKitty, after which Cassie put her hand on the cat's back, allowing Jake to jump onto Rachel's fur. After a while, Jake made his presence known to Rachel, who was aghast at the idea that he had morphed into a flea and was on her back. Rachel then informed Jake that Chapman's Yeerk was in a holographic meeting with Visser Three and thus she was hiding, to which Jake replied that she shouldn't have to hide since she was a cat that lived there and thus it wouldn't be suspicious for her to be in the room. Rachel then divulged that she had been caught the night prior and that Visser Three believed she might've been an "Andalite in morph," causing Jake to yell at her for hiding it from them and still choosing to return. Rachel was then spotted by "Chapman" and Visser Three, which resulted in Rachel, and by extension Jake, being captured. Rachel was then placed in a cat carrier, who then informed Jake that both Chapman and his wife were rebelling and regaining partial control of their hosts, which shocked Jake. The Chapmans managed to regain control of their hosts, after which Chapman placed the cat carrier in his car. Jake thought-spoke privately with Tobias, telling him to follow the car and bring the others to wherever they ended up.
Arriving at the construction site, Rachel asked Jake to leave, telling him that she wouldn't demorph and reveal their identities but that she might die in the process. Jake refused to leave, stating that they hadn't been beaten yet and that there was still time. Rachel was adamant that Jake jump off her body and escape and began trying to scratch him off. Jake then agreed to leave and told Rachel that he had jumped off. Rachel then claimed that she had changed her mind and asked Jake to stay with her, although Jake correctly deduced that Rachel was just lying to check whether he was there or not. Jake then continued to remain hidden on Rachel's back and was able to hear a one-sided conversation between Visser Three and Chapman's Yeerk as he could hear the Visser's thought-speak. When the cat carrier containing Rachel (and by extension Jake) was placed on the Visser's Blade ship, Jake, who had ten minutes left in morph, decided to try a double morph.
Jake flees in tiger morph
Jumping off Rachel, Jake landed on a dark corner of the Blade ship, and rapidly demorphed from flea to human and then rapidly morphed into the tiger, with the entire double morph process taking less than a minute. He then rushed at Visser Three and clawed his Andalite body while avoiding the Visser's tail blade. Noticing that Rachel had freed herself from the carrier, Jake yelled at Rachel to run. While Jake was fast enough to outrun the Hork-Bajir-Controllers on his tail, Rachel was not, prompting Jake to tackle the Hork-Bajir pursuing them. Visser Three then morphed into an Unnamed Three-Legged Rock Beast and tried to kill Rachel, who was then snatched by Tobias and flown away. Jake then ran away from the site and successfully escaped.
A few days later, Jake reconvened with the other Animorphs, by which point Rachel had disclosed to the rest of the team that Chapman had become a voluntary host to ensure Melissa's freedom. Rachel then revealed that she had used her word processing program to print a cryptic letter to lift Melissa's spirits. Jake remarked that at least the ordeal resulted in the destruction of a Bug fighter, which Marco and Cassie had done at the construction site, along with Visser Three being more nervous of them. Marco then interjected that they also all came out alive, which Jake cheerfully agreed was the most important thing. Tobias then affirmed that the Animorphs would keep fighting until the Andalites came.[24]
Truck Ship Operation
- "The whole world would see. The entire human race would realize what was happening. And then we could go to the authorities. The Controllers wouldn't be able to stop us! We could tell all we know! [...] We'll have to get inside that ship. Want to know how?"
"Not really."
"Through the water pipes. As fish." - ―Jake and Marco
On a Saturday, Jake saw a live commercial for Dealin' Dan Hawke's Used Cars on television where a red-tailed hawk freed another captive red-tailed hawk while an elephant stomped on the cars. Immediately realizing that it was Tobias and Rachel, Jake, along with Marco and Cassie, made their way to Rachel's house and waited in Rachel's room until she got home. As Rachel returned home and entered her room as Tobias flew in through the open window, Marco yelled at them for their carelessness while Jake made the two promise not to do something stupid like that again. The argument quickly turned jovial, and the group decided to go their separate ways for the evening. Jake then asked Tobias if he was coming home; when Tobias said he would return later as he wanted to spend the evening flying, Jake told him he would leave some dinner for him in the attic, asking if Tobias was able to open Rubbermaid containers, which Tobias affirmed that he could. As the Animorphs left Rachel's house, Jake and Cassie secretly brushed their hands against each other.
The next day, the Animorphs convened at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic on Cassie's farm, where Tobias notified them that he had seen an invisible Yeerk ship coming to and from the mountains. As the team began an argument about their respective involvement, Tobias stated that he was going to the mountains the next morning regardless of what everyone else did. Rachel, Jake and Cassie agreed to come with him, although Marco pointed out the next day (a Monday) was a school day and that if they skipped school to attack the Yeerks, Chapman might suspect them. The Animorphs then decided to go to the mountains after school the next day.
On Monday, the Animorphs regrouped at the clinic. Deciding not to fly out to the mountains as their assortment of raptor forms could be spotted by bird-watchers, it was decided that they would get to the mountains by running through the forest as wolves. There was a pair of wolves at the clinic, one male and one female; however, Cassie stated that wolf packs had a hierarchy and there could only be one male per pack. Jake and Marco then flipped a coin for it, with Jake winning; Jake then acquired the male wolf while the other three acquired the female. As Cassie's farm bordered the national forest, they entered the forest on foot and walked a good ways in before morphing into the wolf, after which they ran through the forest at twenty miles an hour. As a male wolf, Jake constantly stopped to pee on trees to mark his territory. Tobias, who had been performing reconnaissance, informed them that there was a nearby lake surrounded with Park Ranger Controllers armed with automatic weapons alongside Hork-Bajir-Controllers. They then decided to walk to the lake in order to witness the situation for themselves; there, they marveled at the sight of the uncloaked disturbance that Tobias had seen, which was revealed to be a giant spaceship. Noticing that the giant ship had oxygen intake and was currently draining water for the lake, the Animorphs realized that the ship, which they dubbed a Truck ship, was carrying oxygen and water to orbit, most likely to the Pool ship.
Deciding to retreat, they returned to the forest, where they accidentally entered the territory of a rival wolf pack that had just killed a rabbit. The rival pack believed the Animorphs were encroaching on their territory to steal their kill, and Jake was forced to stand his ground as Cassie remarked that looking weak might cause the other pack to attack them. Tobias then swooped down and snatched the rabbit, redirecting the wolf pack's attention which allowed the other Animorphs to escape. As they ran through the woods, Tobias screamed at them via thought-speak to demorph, telling them that they had no time left in morph. While Cassie quickly demorphed without issue, Jake and the other two struggled with the process. However, as Cassie held his hands and urged him to come back to her, he successfully demorphed. With Marco and Rachel also managing to demorph, the four rejoiced at the fact that they were not trapped in morph. Tobias then flew away from them and Jake, feeling regretful, called out to Tobias, although Tobias did not return.
The next day, Jake called for a meeting in his room after school, with his house being safe since Tom would be away at a Sharing meeting. Jake then asked the team what they should do regarding the Truck ship. Rachel brought up the idea of destroying the ship, stating that perhaps the Yeerks might leave Earth if they ran out of air and water, although Cassie pointed out that they did not know how many other Truck ships the Yeerks possessed. Marco then brought up the idea of turning off the Truck ship's cloaking technology while it was flying above the city, thereby allowing everyone to see it. Jake and Rachel became excited at the prospect of the rest of the world discovering the invasion and letting the authorities handle it. Jake then announced that they would be using fish morphs to enter the Truck ship through its water pipes in order to uncloak the ship. With a plan set, Rachel and Cassie left, leaving the boys alone in Jake's room. Jake told Tobias that the next mission would have to be on a Saturday, as he wanted them to get to the mountains in the morning long before the Truck ship was scheduled to appear later that day. Jake then began to ask Tobias if he could scope out the area, which Tobias agreed to. Marco then asked if he should go to the mall to see Rachel or if they wanted to play Doom, although Jake told Marco that he had homework and that Rachel would attack him if he caused her to mess up her exhibition.
Jake was later informed that shortly after leaving his house, Tobias had flown to the mall and tried to hurt himself before fleeing. When Tobias did not return to the attic and disappeared, Jake became depressed. However, a few days later, on Friday night, Tobias returned to Jake's house and informed him that he had lost himself to the hawk mind and was now living in the wild as a true hawk. Tobias added that that he still wanted to commit to the original Saturday morning plan on going to the woods early. Early in the morning, the Animorphs gathered and solidified their plan: they would morph into wolves and travel to the lake, where they would then start fishing. Once they acquired a fish, they would practice the morph before retreating to a nearby bear cave that Tobias reported was empty. Then, when the Truck ship arrived, they would slowly make their way to the edge of the lake, morph into fish and swim towards the Truck ship, where they would then get sucked up into the ship. Rachel fashioned a tan-colored nylon pouch, which contained a watch, a fishing line, some fishing hooks and a lighter, and tied it to Tobias' leg.
At the lake, Jake and the others spent hours trying to catch a fish before Cassie caught a trout, which they acquired. Just then, Tobias informed them that the Park Ranger Controllers were arriving and the four of them ran into the cave to hide. They were shortly joined by Tobias, who notified them that Visser Three had arrived on the site, along with additional reinforcements. As they debated on whether to terminate their mission, since they could no longer walk to the water's edge without being spotted, Cassie suggested that they morph into fish while in the cave; since trout could survive outside of water for a few minutes and was small enough to be carried by a red-tailed hawk, they could morph in the cave and be flown into the water by Tobias.
Once Tobias deposited them all into the lake, they swam towards the Truck ship and were sucked in by the water pipes, where they found themselves in a water tank with a grate above them. Jake and Cassie then demorphed and tried to open the grate but were unable to. Realizing that they were now trapped within the water tank, the four agreed that they did not want to be taken alive and thus decided that when the Truck ship docked with the Pool ship, they would assume battle morphs and go down fighting. However, Rachel, still in trout morph, quickly thought-spoke with Tobias, relaying their predicament to him. Since the Animorphs did not want to risk being taken alive, she asked him if there was anything he could do to destroy the Truck ship, as it would kill them in the process.
As the four of them treaded water in the water tank, Tobias had seized a Dracon beam and destroyed the Truck ship's controls, causing it to lose altitude. The careening Truck ship then hit a Bug fighter, which collided into the water tank and exploded, destroying the tank. As the water poured out like a waterfall, the four Animorphs fell out of the hole and began hurtling towards the ground. Jake then rapid-morphed into a peregrine falcon as the other three also rapid-morphed into their respective raptors. They regrouped with Tobias in the air and the five flew into the woods as the Truck ship slammed into the ground, creating a concussive shockwave. The Yeerks then destroyed the grounded Truck ship to eliminate evidence as the Animorphs escaped and returned home.[23]
Rescuing Ax
- "Who is your prince?"
"Oh, give me a break. I am not anyone's prince."
"I will fight for you, Prince Jake, until I can return to my cousins." - ―Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and Jake
On a Sunday night, Jake was watching the late night news at home when he saw a broadcast where a man had found a weird piece of metal that had washed up on the beach. Jake recognized the writing on the metal fragment shown on television as having the same writing he had seen inside Elfangor's ship when he entered to retrieve the morphing cube. Jake then recorded the news broadcast on a VHS and put the cassette in his bag. The next day after school, the five Animorphs met at Rachel's house, where Cassie and Tobias revealed that they both been experiencing the same dream about a voice calling to them from the ocean. Jake then pulled out the video cassette and asked Rachel if they could use her VCR, and the team went downstairs to the living room. Jake inserted the tape and showed them the footage; he added that he recognized the writing on the fragment and believed that the metal fragment was actually part of an Andalite ship. Just then, both Cassie and Tobias fainted, although Jake managed to catch Cassie before she could hit the floor. Jake then saw a brief flash of a vision himself. When Cassie and Tobias came to, they revealed that the voice calling for them was stronger now and was definitely thought-speech, and concluded that it was an Andalite under the ocean who was sending out a distress signal. While briefly considering that the Andalite ship fragment and the Andalite voice from the sea could be a coincidence, Jake nonetheless decided that they should go to the beach that night to see if Cassie would experience another vision from being closer to the sea.
While at the beach, the girls wondered why Tobias and Cassie were the only ones on the team to receive the dreams; Jake theorized that the Andalite distress signal might only be accessible by those with morphing abilities, and Marco clarified that despite all of them being able to morph, he believed that it was only Cassie and Tobias receiving them because Cassie had a talent for morphing while Tobias was trapped in morph. Tobias, who had been flying above them, then informed them that a group from The Sharing was also on the beach with flashlights and that "Chapman" and "Tom" were with them; additionally, Tobias had eavesdropped on their conversation and learned that the metal fragment was indeed part of an Andalite ship and that Visser Three was also receiving the visions, which Marco believed was because he had an Andalite host body. Just then, the Controllers noticed the Animorphs' footprints and began to follow them. The four human Animorphs then ran towards the water; as it was nighttime, the Controllers could not see them clearly, although they could see their silhouettes, prompting one of the Controllers to shoot at them with a handgun. Jake then told everyone to get into the water and morph into trout, despite Cassie pointing out that trout was a freshwater fish and the ocean was saltwater. Struggling with the burning sensation that they felt in their gills, they were able to survive in the saltwater long enough to swim to another shore, where they demorphed and returned home safely.
As he did not spend his time studying, Jake failed a test at school and was assigned to write a paper as makeup work. The Animorphs then resumed their regular lives for a bit, although both Rachel and Marco inquired what their move would be. On a Wednesday evening, two days after the beach incident, Jake rode his bike to Cassie's farm, where he helped her shovel manure. Jake then notified her that the rest of the team was waiting on her to decide if they should have a rescue operation. Cassie initially did not want to decide and asked Jake if he could decide for her, to which he replied that he would do so if that's what she really wanted. Jake told her that he believed in her and that he and the others supported whatever decision she made. Cassie decided that she did believe her dream was real and wanted to help the Andalite calling out to them. With Cassie's approval, Jake affirmed that they would proceed with the rescue mission and added that they needed to acquire some aquatic morphs at The Gardens. Jake then rode his bike back home, although not before telling Cassie that he would rather shovel manure with her than do homework without her any day.
After school on Thursday, he took a city bus with Rachel, Cassie and Marco to The Gardens so that the four of them could acquire bottlenose dolphins. As they made their way through the park, Jake looked at one of the roller coasters and reminisced how it used to be his favorite thing in the world before, but that it paled now in comparison to being able to fly and dive as a falcon. The group then reached the dolphin tank, where Jake playfully greeted one of the dolphins before acquiring its DNA. The next day, the Animorphs did not have school due to a teacher conference. They met at a river estuary in a park since the river flowed into the ocean. Finding a spot that was isolated enough for them to morph, Rachel tied a Timex watch onto Tobias' leg so that he could keep track of time while the other four morphed into dolphins and swam from the river to the ocean. There, they spent forty-five minutes frolicking before sensing a humpback whale being attacked by multiple tiger sharks via their echolocation. The four of them charged forward and attacked the sharks, although Marco was nearly bitten in half. When the sharks left, Marco stated that he was going to die in the ocean just like his mother. Jake then urged him to demorph, and when Marco reminded him that he did not know how to swim, Jake replied that he was there to help him. As Marco demorphed, the grateful whale carried him to the surface. The humpback whale, dubbed the great one, then telepathically showed Cassie a vision of where the Andalite was. Ten minutes later, Marco remorphed into a dolphin and the Animorphs returned to the river estuary.
On Saturday, Jake went to Rachel's house to discuss their next steps with Cassie and Rachel. Cassie then made her way to Rachel's house, where she planned the mission with Rachel and Jake. Going over some maps with Jake, the pair determined where the Andalite's location most likely was. However, it was too far for the dolphin to get there in under two hours, prompting Rachel to suggest that they acquire and morph into seagulls in order to land on a container ship that would be traveling in that direction, after which they could jump off the ship and morph into dolphins. Sometime later, Tobias and Marco appeared and were filled in on the plan before everyone dispersed. Despite his house being in the opposite direction, Jake began to walk with Cassie towards her house. Cassie remarked on their mission being dangerous, which Jake acknowledged. Cassie then took one of Jake's hands within her hands and asked him not to get hurt, to which he laughed and declared that he was indestructible before leaving her and walking back towards his house.
On Sunday, the Animorphs went to Cassie's barn where seagulls were kept as patients and acquired them. Flying out of the barn, the four seagulls and Tobias flew towards the beach and across the ocean when they spotted a container ship called Newmar. The Animorphs all landed on the ship and found themselves a secluded spot away from the crew. Tobias then left them the watch before flying back to shore as the four human Animorphs demorphed. After an hour had passed, Jake announced that they were going to enter the water; since Marco did not know how to swim, Jake's plan was for him to morph into the dolphin on the deck so that the other three could pick him up and throw him into the ocean, although Rachel pointed out that Marco would weigh too much for them to support his weight. Jake admitted that he had not factored in the dolphin weight, but Marco began to morph while leaning against the railing, having come up with a solution where they would push him into the water while he was half-morphed. Jake then helped Rachel and Cassie push Marco into the sea before jumping in themselves and morphing into a dolphin.
They noticed a helicopter dragging a sensor through the water and realized that the Controllers were very close. The four Animorphs then dove into the water and swam to the ocean floor before proceeding onward, where they came across a Dome ship. Jake noticed a hatch and opened it, and the four dolphins entered an airlock that then began to drain the water. Having demorphed back to human, the Animorphs opened the door to the Dome ship's interior when they were knocked out by an Andalite. When they came to, they informed the Andalite of who they were and what they were capable of. The Andalite, an adolescent named Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, revealed that he was Elfangor's younger brother and offered to fight alongside the Animorphs until he could return to his own people. He asked them who their Prince was, prompting Rachel, Cassie and Marco to all look at him. Jake then grumbled that he was no one's Prince before Ax pledged to loyalty to "Prince Jake."
Ax began to give them a tour of the Dome ship, which Jake marveled at, likening the experience to being on an alien planet. Ax then notified them that the Yeerk Empire had a habit of making the planets they colonized barren, much like the Yeerk homeworld, and only kept enough species to sustain the local host population; in addition, he added that were now only three species left in the galaxy who fought the Yeerks, and that Andalites would not come to Earth for another year or two. Jake was aghast at the realization that it would take two years for Andalite reinforcements to come and that the five kids were the only ones who were fighting the Yeerks on Earth, to which Ax chimed in that there were six of them now. As the Animorphs decided to make their leave, Marco asked Jake how they were going to get Ax out of there, and Jake, who had not thought of this, asked Ax if he was capable of swimming; Ax responded that while he would not be able to traverse the ocean in his Andalite body, he had acquired an Earth sea creature that had previously wandered into the airlock.
Just then, the Animorphs 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, with Ax in tiger shark morph, and swam away just as depth charges shattered the reinforced glass of the Dome ship. While swimming, Ax inquired as to what host bodies the Yeerks were using on Earth, and Jake responded that they had only seen them use Hork-Bajir and Taxxons aside from humans. As multiple Taxxons were dropped into the ocean from the Blade ship, Ax asked Jake if they should deal with the Taxxons, to which Jake agreed. The four dolphins, alongside Ax in shark morph, then fought and killed the Taxxons with relative ease. They then continued to swim towards the shore, where Ax revealed that he had the mental ability to accurately keep track of their morphing time.
However, at that moment a large alien aquatic creature began to pursue them, which Ax confirmed was called a mardrut, a creature that lived one of the moons of the Andalite homeworld. The group realized that the mardrut was Visser Three in morph and pushed their bodies to continue swimming for over thirty minutes, although the Visser, who confirmed his identity by thought-speaking to them, gained on them. 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 fighting 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. Believing that they were about to die, Cassie began to try and confess her feelings to Jake, and he indicated that he knew and that he felt the same. Just then, a group of wild whales, led by the great one, arrived and attacked the mardrut mercilessly, causing Visser Three to scream in rage and retreat.
With their morphing time almost depleted, they demorphed, and Cassie notified them that the great one would ferry them back to shore. They then climbed onto its back as it began traveling towards land. Jake watched as Cassie fell asleep, and when she woke up, he smiled at her as he told her that they had only successfully saved the Andalite because she had trusted her feelings about the distress call. He then brought up Cassie's discomfort of turning into a dolphin, and Cassie replied that while she still felt that it wasn't right, she now realized their mission to morph into animals and fight the Yeerks was not just to save humans but all life on Earth. The great one got as close as it could safely before the Animorphs and Ax were forced to disembark; they then remorphed into their aquatic morphs and swam back to the river estuary.
The four Animorphs began to get dressed with some outer clothing they had hidden by the riverbank when Tobias appeared, and Cassie introduced Tobias and Ax to one another. 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.[3] Asking for permission,[25] Ax acquired Cassie, Marco, Jake and Rachel in succession. Jake then watched as Ax began to blend the four acquired DNA strands into one unique strand; as the four DNA samples he acquired contained two male DNA and two female DNA patterns, Marco wondered whether Ax was going to be biologically male or female, and the Animorphs turned away to give Ax some privacy. Jake then told Ax that he had an extra pair of boxers and a T-shirt and told him to get dressed. The Animorphs then turned around to find Ax holding up the shirt as his bottoms and wearing the boxers on his head like a hat. Jake then asked if the morph was biologically male or female, and Ax replied that he had made it male since he himself was male. Jake then told Rachel and Cassie to turn around while he and Marco helped Ax get dressed properly. Ax struggled to walk on two legs and began to play with his words while verbally speaking, as it was his first time having a mouth. As Ax nearly fell, Jake caught him, and the Animorphs walked Ax back to Cassie's farm.[3]
Helping Ax
Mall Fiasco
Following Ax's rescue, Jake and Cassie spent a few days visiting him in order to speak with him about his future plans, where Ax told them that he wanted to return to the Andalite homeworld. Ax told him that the Andalite homeworld was 82 light years away from Earth, and Jake tried to use a calculator to figure out the distance in miles, although he failed. Shortly after, Jake informed the other Animorphs to come to Cassie's farm. While walking, Marco informed them how last night he had saved an old man from being attacked in an alley by three men and that he had morphed into a gorilla to save him, only for the old man to shoot at him. Jake remarked that saving the old man was good but indicated that Marco should not have risked his life getting involved. Switching topics, Jake then told the others about Ax's desire to go home that they would have to steal a Yeerk ship so that Ax could fly there. When Marco wondered how they would do so, Ax informed them that he could signal a Bug fighter to come to them using a Yeerk Distress Beacon, and added that when he returned home, he could ask for Andalite reinforcements to come to Earth sooner. Jake then put the decision to help Ax to a vote, and the Animorphs decided to help him. A few days later, on a Saturday morning, the Animorphs gathered at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic; Jake had formulated a plan for him, Marco and Ax, the latter using his human morph, to take the bus to the mall so that he could buy the parts Ax needed for the beacon from Radio Shack. Despite basing their plan on the accurate timing of the bus schedule, the trio made it to the mall on time.
Entering the mall, Jake wondered where Radio Shack was, but quickly noticed that Ax was no longer with them and was instead on an escalator to the second floor. Jake began to run after him, but Marco grabbed his hand and reminded him that mall police might think he was stealing something and that they needed to not draw attention since there were probably Controllers at the mall. Jake and Marco eventually made their way onto the escalator and arrived on the second floor. Jake remarked that as long as Ax didn't demorph they were fine before he spotted Ax waiting in line at Starbucks. Jake and Marco then made their way towards him, where they overheard Ax place an order for a double latte. Jake pulled out three dollars to pay for it before he and Marco guided Ax into Radio Shack. Inside the store, they watched Ax removed several components from pegboards and grabbed other items such as batteries and coaxial cable. Ax then told them that all he needed now was a Z-Space transponder. Jake and Marco were confused, and Ax clarified that the transponder translated a signal into Zero space, and then explained to a still perplexed Jake and Marco that Zero space, or Z-Space, was an anti-reality dimension where faster-than-light travel occurred. Jake chimed in that they could worry about it later and took the items Ax had chosen to the counter to pay for it. As he finished paying, Ax threw his Starbucks cup at the cashier's head, prompting Jake and Marco to apologize on Ax's behalf and state that Ax had a condition; the cashier then responded that he was just glad Ax left the store. Shocked, Jake grabbed his Radio Shack bag and joined Marco as they ran out the store, where they noticed a crowd moving towards the food court.
Arriving at the food court, Jake and Marco witnessed Ax rush from table to table, grabbing other people's food and stuffing it in his mouth in a mad frenzy as a crowd pointed and laughed. However, when mall police arrived, Marco yelled at Ax to run. Jake and Marco ran alongside the cops as they chased Ax, who began to demorph, causing shoppers to scream and flee. Jake, Marco and Ax ran out of one of the mall's exits, with mall police still following them, with city police also began to converge on them. As they ran through the parking lot, Jake spotted a grocery store on the other side and the three ran into the store as city police surrounded the building. In order to prevent them from entering, Marco asked Jake to help him push the grocery carts towards the entrance; Marco then yelled out that there was a bomb inside the store to get more shoppers to flee, hindering the police's attempts to enter the supermarket. As they were surrounded, Marco indicated that their only way out was by morphing into lobsters as he pointed towards the giant lobster tank at the back of the store. Jake, Marco and Ax then acquired a lobster each before they stripped down to their morphing outfits and placed their outer clothing, along with the Radio Shack bag, in a nearby trash can. Jake and Marco waited for Ax to partially morph into a lobster so that they could carry him into the tank before he and Marco, who had climbed into the tank and were standing inside of it, morphed into lobsters as well. Due to the lobster's poor eyesight, the trio could not see outside of the tank, and Jake told Ax to keep track of their morph time as Marco recommended that they wait as close to the two-hour limit as possible. However, after an hour, Jake, Marco and Ax were pulled out of the tank and placed into a bag of ice with three other lobsters as they had been purchased by a woman. Arriving at the woman's home, Ax informed them that they only had seven minutes left in morph, and Jake told them to demorph regardless of the potential risk. As he demorphed, Jake found himself in a kitchen as the woman began screaming. Marco and Jake told the woman to calm down, assuring her that it was a dream, while Ax morphed to human. Jake then advised the woman not to tell anyone about her "dream" as it would get her in trouble with certain people, before adding that people would also think that she was crazy. As she nodded her head vigorously in agreement, the three of them walked out of the woman's house.[6]
Ant Morph Trauma
- "I shuddered at the memory of the ant morph. It had been like dying. The ant had no individual self. It was just a part of a bigger machine."
- ―Jake
The next day, a Sunday, Jake met up with the other Animorphs in the woods. With the Radio Shack bag retrieved from the grocery store trash can, Jake and Cassie brought screwdrivers, a solder gun, a battery-powered drill, a hammer, wrenches, pliers so that Ax could build the 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, and Cassie sidled up to Jake, giving him a sideways hug. Flying down, Tobias wondered whether the Yeerks would have a Z-Space transponder, specifically reminding them that "Chapman" had a device that he used to communicate with to Visser Three's Blade ship. Ax confirmed that such a communication device would have Z-Space transponders, and that they could steal one of them without the theft being immediately noticed. Cassie asked Ax how small the transponder was, and Ax indicated that it was the size of a pea. Rachel declared that they could not infiltrate the Chapman Residence again, as the last time they had done so, they nearly caused Melissa Chapman to be infested. As Jake agreed that they would not endanger Melissa, Cassie suggested a morph that would allow the Animorphs to enter Chapman's basement and steal the transponder without Chapman being aware they were there: ants.
The next day at school, a Monday, Jake approached Marco at his locker and told him that they would be morphing black ants, since Tobias had done reconnaissance and confirmed that most of the ants in Chapman's garden were black. Marco responded that he did not want to be a bug; Jake tried to assure him that it would be fine and mentioned his experience as a flea, but Marco immediately pointed out that he had sucked blood, to which Jake replied that it was Rachel's blood before clarifying that it was cat blood. Marco asked Jake if he ever listened to himself, and Jake mirthlessly stated that he tried not to. He then stressed the importance of their mission, stating that keeping Ax around was a danger since he could be spotted by Controllers, who would then wonder what he was doin on Cassie's land. Marco admitted that Jake was right, but claimed that unlike Jake, he was not the hero type and recalled how he had nearly been boiled alive the other day. Marco then told Jake that the upcoming Sunday was his mother's two-year death anniversary and that it would be a really bad week for him to be killed as well. Marco then walked down the hall, and Jake chose not to follow him.
As Jake knew that Tom had a meeting of The Sharing that evening, a meeting that Chapman would also be attending, the Animorphs planned to use this time to infiltrate Chapman's house. Heading to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic after school, Jake 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. Although they managed to regain their consciousness shortly after, they were terrified at what had happened. The five of them made their way to Chapman's backyard, with their ant minds informing them that they were in enemy ant territory and that enemies were nearby. Reaching the foundation of Chapman's house, they entered through a crack and found an enemy ant tunnel, where Rachel spotted an enemy ant scurrying away from them and Ax reported that he could sense air coming from a side tunnel, which Jake told him to follow. They emerged into Chapman's secret office, where Marco demorphed and turned on a lamp. Noticing the change in light, Jake told Marco to flick the light if it was safe, and when Marco did so, the others demorphed. Ax then went to Chapman's desk and retrieved a Z-Space transponder out of the communication device; while doing so, he activated a Yeerk computer and read a document, and notified the Animorphs that Visser One, who had a human host body, was coming to visit.
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 Rachel, Cassie and Ax 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 demorphed while still underground, and they burst out of the ground and into Chapman's backyard. Jake then inquired about Cassie, and she replied that she was okay, while Rachel grumbled about Jake not asking her how she was. Marco then picked up the transponder from the ground before Rachel started stomping on the ground, as well as the ants on the ground, to flatten the hole from where they emerged. As Marco told Jake that they shouldn't morph into ants again, to which Jake agreed, and the team escaped from Chapman's backyard. The next day at school, Jake and Cassie were in the cafeteria when they noticed Rachel getting into a fight with another girl.[6]
Meeting Visser One
- "Marco? Don't say anything. Don't do any thing. Do you hear me? Marco? Listen to me, man. You have to hold it together. Come on, Marco, stand up. Don't make them suspicious. Marco? That is not your mother. Not anymore. That is not her."
"Jake? It's my mom. Look, it's her."
"No, it isn't, Marco. Not anymore. They have her. She's one of them. One of them!" - ―Jake and Marco
A few days after the ant incident, Jake and the other Animorphs met up on the far fields of Cassie's farm, where Ax had finished integrating the Z-Space transponder into the Yeerk Distress Beacon. The Animorphs discussed where to set off their trap, and quickly ruled out 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; Jake told Cassie that Ax would need a bird morph, and asked Ax if he would be okay with acquiring one, to which Ax agreed. Jake then told the others that the best time to initiate the operation would be on the upcoming Saturday, and the meeting was adjourned. After saying goodbye to Cassie, Jake walked home with Marco, where they talked about the NBA and whether Spider-Man would win in a fight against Batman. However, Jake was able to tell that there was something Marco was not telling him, and asked him what it was. Marco then informed him that the upcoming mission would be his last as he was quitting, and stated that he had done enough. As they walked, Jake told Marco that he had done more than enough, and agreed when Marco said that they had had way too many close calls with death. Jake then asked Marco what he would be doing on Sunday, and Marco responded that while he wasn't sure, he did not want his father to leave flowers on two graves in the future.
On Saturday, Jake morphed into his peregrine falcon and flew with the others to the quarry. Upon landing and demorphing, they took shelter in an overhang and assumed their battle morphs as Ax activated the beacon, with Jake turning into his Siberian tiger. Marco, who was a Silverback gorilla, told Jake that he could kick his butt, and Jake retorted that he didn't think so; Rachel, who was in her African elephant morph, then walked up to them and declared that she could beat both of them. The distress beacon then relayed a returning signal and they assumed their positions, and watched as a Bug fighter landed and a Hork-Bajir-Controller stepped out. Tobias, who had been up above, plummeted down and raked the Hork-Bajir's face, and Jake used the opportunity to tackle the Hork-Bajir, knocking it down to the ground; he then rolled away as the Hork-Bajir began slashing wildly. Rachel then told Jake to move aside and she pinned the Hork-Bajir with her foot.
However, before they could proceed with their mission, the six of them were surrounded by a hundred Hork-Bajir armed with Dracon beams. Jake quickly told the others to stay in morph and not divulge that they were human. Visser Three then made his presence known, ridiculing them for using an outdated frequency before he praised their choice of battle morphs, specifically complimenting Jake's tiger morph as a morph he approved of. Ax began to talk to the Visser out of anger, but Jake interrupted and 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. Jake noticed Visser Three's tone when he said the name of his superior and asked Marco if he had noticed it, which Marco confirmed. Jake then joined his teammates as they were herded onto the Blade ship and confined in a dimly-lit room.
Stuck together inside the room, Jake remarked that at least they were still alive. He reminded the others to stay in morph, citing that if they demorphed, the Yeerks would learn their identities and then go after their families. A window was then opened up in the Blade ship, and Jake and the others saw Earth before the mother ship,[6] also known as the Pool ship,[1] came into view. Jake asked Ax how much time they had left in morph, and Ax responded that they had used up 40% of it; as Marco translated that they had been in morph for 48 minutes, Tobias suggested that they attack as soon as the doors opened, regardless if it meant death. Jake extended his tiger claws and conferred with the tiger instincts, but then retracted the claws and announced that they needed to retain hope, to which Cassie responded by nuzzling him. The Blade ship then docked inside of the Pool ship and a door was opened for the Animorphs to disembark. As Visser Three informed Visser One that he had captured the Andalite bandits, Jake spotted Visser One and immediately recognized her host body as Eva, Marco's mother.
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Upon seeing his mother, Marco immediately sat down, and Jake privately thought-spoke with him, and warned him not to do or say anything; he added that the woman in front of them was no longer his mother but rather a Controller. When Visser One walked away, Jake privately thought-spoke with Marco again, and urged him not to rush forward in an attempt to rescue her, reminding him that they would all get killed before they took two steps. Marco agreed but asked Jake to not share the fact his mother was Visser One's host body with the others, as neither of them had met Eva, to which Jake responded by stating that Marco was his oldest and best friend and assured him that no one would hear it from him. With Visser One no longer in the room, 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. When Ax retorted that Visser Three was filth and an abomination, Visser Three asked them why Ax was the only one of them who had spoken to him and why the rest of them remained in their Earth morphs rather than demorphing, although he then shrugged it off and ordered that the Animorphs be confined to a holding cell.
In the cell, the Animorphs discussed possible escape strategies, and Marco suggested using the ant morph to escape. Jake brought up that Tobias was unable to morph, and Tobias replied that the group needed to do what was best for them and that he would take his chances. Jake then agreed to the plan, but before they could begin, 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. Jake immediately noticed that Rachel and Marco were poised to attack the Hork-Bajir and told them to stand down. 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, and Jake decided that they would follow this new escape plan.
Rachel led the charge as they ran out of their holding cell, although some of Visser Three's Hork-Bajir-Controllers came rushing towards them. Rachel bemoaned that she could not turn around in the tight hallway, but Jake told her to keep moving and to make her way to the dropshaft. As Marco and Ax took care of some of the Hork-Bajir, Jake spotted two more heading their way and told the Animorphs that he would handle them. He then let loose a loud tiger roar, causing the two Hork-Bajir-Controllers to hesitate. Jake then lunged at one of them and sank his fangs into their neck, while the other Hork-Bajir-Controller decided not to engage. The Animorphs made their way to the dropshaft and used it to arrive on the floor with the escape pods; as they ran into the pre-programmed escape pod, Jake asked Ax how much time they had left in morph, and told everyone to demorph when he realized they only had six minutes left. As the escape pod detached from the Pool ship and flew the team back to the quarry, Marco privately thought-spoke to Jake and reminded him not to tell anyone about his mother, to which Jake assured him that he would keep silent.[6]
Infested by a Yeerk
- "Get out of my head! No! No!"
"Oh, I don't think I want to do that, Jake. Why would I abandon such an interesting host? So you are the one who has driven Visser Three half-mad with rage. A kid. The midget." - ―Jake and Temrash 114
During a mission to stop a plot involving a Yeerk-controlled hospital, Jake falls into a Yeerk pool and becomes infested by Temrash 114. The other Animorphs manage to get him out of the hospital, but Ax soon realizes what Jake is and convinces the other Animorphs on what they need to do.
Tying him up, the Animorphs hold Temrash in an abandoned shed for three days until he dies of Kandrona starvation. Temrash tries to escape, going through multiple attempts using Jake's morphs, but he dies inside Jake’s head. As he dies, Jake witnesses his pain and catches a glimpse of a "bloodred eye".[4]
Meeting the Ellimist
Return to the Yeerk Pool
To be added
Visit to Alternate Future
To be added
Battle at the EGS Tower
To be added
Trouble with Ax
To be added
Leader of the Animorphs
- "The others like to act as if I'm in charge. I don't think of myself that way, not really. But you know, whatever. If it makes them feel better to think I'm the leader, fine. It's just that when people treat you like a leader, you start acting like a leader. And like I said, that means making decisions. Even when you're just guessing."
- ―Jake
To be added
Embracing Leadership
- "I'm the unofficial leader of the Animorphs. I send us into battle. When things go wrong, when we get hurt or have to run for our lives, that's on me, too. I'm not complaining. Has to be done. You know? Someone has to make the calls. A good leader has to make tough, informed decisions. Recognize his soldiers' special strengths and use them accordingly. Fight to win with the knowledge that he may die trying. But most important, a leader won't ask anyone to do anything he wouldn't do himself."
- ―Jake
As the battle with the Yeerks went on, Jake was forced into situations that tested his leadership skills and made him start to make some tough decisions like deciding on how to deal with Tom on one occasion attempting to take out his father and teaming up with Visser Three to escape an underwater civilization.
He even once found himself in a possible future where the Yeerks won the war, which had taken a toll on all of the Animorphs, especially Cassie, who became more brutal and calculating than her original pacifist nature.
Losing his Family
- "This was not your fault, Prince Jake. You could not have known what Tom was planning. You could not have stopped him."
"Yeah, Ax. I could have. What's wrong with me? Why didn't I get them out last night? When I need to wait, plan, gather more information, what do I do? Charge in. Go for the surprise. Screw things up permanently. But when I need to charge in, to save the people I love most, I wait. I say, "Go home. Get some rest. Sleep on it." Great plan. I get sleep. My parents get Yeerks." - ―Ax and Jake
When the Animorphs realize that the Yeerks finally realize that the “Andalite bandits” are actually humans, the Animorphs plan to run away and take their individual families to the hidden Hork-Bajir valley for safety. Although Rachel’s and Cassie’s families are taken to safety, Tom’s Yeerk manages to infest both of his parents beforehand and set up a trap for Jake. Before escaping, Jake morphs into falcon in front of the Yeerks, wanting to show that he has been fighting all along to inspire fear in the Yeerks and hope in his family that he will rescue them.
Endgame
Proposing to Cassie
- "You know I love you."
"I love you, too, Jake."
"I guess if we win, if we survive, maybe we should, you know, get married and all. I mean, eventually. I know we're young, but man, we've been through enough that it should count for a few extra years, shouldn't it? [...] Look, Cassie, when this is over I'll be done with it forever. I'll go back to school, get an education, go to basketball games, get a driver's license, go to college, figure out what it is I really want to do. And be with you. You and me." - ―Jake and Cassie
Jake proposed to Cassie before the final battle against the Yeerks, although she suggests that he ask her again a year after the war ends, unsure of whether Jake can live a normal life post-war, should they survive.
One Final Plan
- "Look, if we lose this battle it's over, you understand me?! If we lose it's over. This is the battle. This is the last stand. We lose and here's what happens: The Yeerk fleet fights the Andalite fleet. If the Yeerks win they'll be free to enslave every living human being and kill the ones they don't want. If the Andalites win there's a very good chance they'll sterilize Earth: kill everything in order to end the Yeerk menace once and for all. So, you don't like me telling you what to do, you don't like your job, you don't like me, period? I don't really care. Before this night is over the casualties will be piled high and some of you standing here right now will be dead and I don't care because we are going to win. Is that clear? We're taking that Pool ship and before this night is over we'll have Visser One right here."
- ―Jake to James and the other Animorphs
During the final days of the Yeerk War, Tom’s Yeerk gives Jake a deal: allowing Tom’s Yeerk, along with a hundred of other Controllers, to take the Blade Ship and an Escafil device to make war on another species in exchange for giving Jake and the other Animorphs a way to enter the Pool Ship, control it, and defeat the Yeerks once and for all as well as promising the freedom of Jake’s parents and Tom. However, Jake is aware that Tom's Yeerk is planning to betray them and concocts a countermeasure, doing his own version of the plan while secretly ordering Rachel to follow Tom’s Yeerk.
Jake’s plan succeeds and ultimately ends the war with the Yeerks, but not without a cost. Not only were seventeen thousands of Yeerks killed in the Pool Ship’s central pool, but Rachel was forced to kill Tom, shortly before she, herself, is killed.
Post-War
2000
- "We Animorphs and the newly minted Prince Aximili, with our prisoner, landed Ax's official liaison ship, a sleek Fast-Courier, right in the middle of the Mall in Washington. Not a mall, the Mall, a sort of open green space with the Capitol Building at one end, the Smithsonian Institution and various government buildings on both sides, and the obelisk of the Washington Monument at the far end. We called ahead, not wanting to terrify anyone. There were roughly a thousand cops and twice that many newspeople waiting for us. It was, as Marco said, a "shiver-my-spine moment." A sea of microphones and video cameras and flashbulbs. Ax and Jake, and to a lesser extent Marco and I, gave a sort of brief explanation of what had been happening, and where things stood now. Needless to say, it was kind of a big news day."
- ―Cassie
To be added
2001
- "Jake was on his way to becoming this icon, this national hero figure. He had that whole tragic-hero thing going on. People knew about him sending his cousin to take out his brother and they ate it up. I am not kidding when I say that some congressperson actually suggested carving his face onto Mount Rushmore. [...] Of course this just made him into the strong and silent type and he always was a big, good-looking guy, so he got marriage proposals (and other proposals) from girls as young as twelve and women old enough to be his grandmother. [...] If he'd been old enough he could have run for president as the candidate of Democrats and Republicans both. Jake was the biggest hero the world had ever seen because he was a hero for all humans, not one nation. He had saved the lives and freedom of the entire human race. I mean, he could have snapped his fingers and had anything he wanted. The problem was, he didn't want anything. Except for Tobias to come back. For Rachel and Tom to be alive. For the chance to unlive one fateful moment when he gave the order that doomed seventeen thousand defenseless Yeerks."
- ―Marco
After the war, Jake is idolized as a national hero and is coveted by various colleges, brand deals and government institutions, although Jake refuses, become withdrawn and depressed, living with his parents, who are now freed, and visiting Rachel's memorial at night, sitting there for hours and hoping for Tobias to show up. Additionally, he and Cassie are no longer together.
Trial of Visser One
- "Your honor, this witness should himself be under indictment as a war criminal. If the alleged war crimes of the Yeerk military officer, Visser One, are to be tried in this court, it must be in the pursuit of impartial justice. Truly impartial justice cannot be applied only against one side in a conflict. If my client is to be tried for his actions in the human-Yeerk war, then so must the actions of this witness. With all due respect to this court, this witness is a mass murderer. A war criminal."
- ―Visser One's Lawyer
Jake, along with Marco, Cassie, and Ax, are called to testify against Visser One. During Jake's testimony, Esplin's lawyer dubs Jake a war criminal for his actions during the war, which bothers Jake. The other three Animorphs knock Jake unconscious and dump him into the ocean, forcing Jake to morph into dolphin, hoping that the dolphin's natural joy would override Jake's depression, although it fails. As Jake rages, he explains that being branded a war criminal bothers him, and reveals that he relished flushing the 17,000 Yeerks into space, which, while understandable to Marco and Ax, causes Cassie to become further distant with him.
2003
- "I needed a job. I needed to do something useful. And I was the reigning expert on using animal morphs for infiltration, surveillance, and combat. They called me Professor. A joke, obviously, I still hadn't formally graduated from high school. [...] I lived in Santa Barbara, now. After the trial of Visser One, and endless nagging from Marco (and his agent and manager and assorted Hollywood friends), I finally wrote a book. It was an autobiography, of course. I hated doing it. But it was a way for me to tell people more about Rachel and Tobias, the Forgotten Animorphs, as people called them. The book made way more money than I needed. I bought a house for my folks and finally moved out on my own. [...] The Defense Department was my official employer and they flew me in a private military jet from Santa Barbara to Twenty-nine every day of class. Flew me back in the evening. [...] They drove me back and forth in a Humvee with all kinds of security — a courtesy befitting my status as an official hero. I had been given the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a similarly exalted medal from pretty much every nation on Earth."
- ―Jake
Realizing it was time to move on with his life, that none of his action wouldn’t bring back Tom or Rachel, Jake got a job for the Department of Defense, working as a morphing professor. He also wrote his own biography about the Yeerk War, telling people more about Rachel and Tobias. Using the money from those sales, he bought a house for his parents and moved to a house closer to Marco, where they started hanging out again.
A New Mission
- "Look, for better or worse, this is what I do. This is what I am, not what you are."
"I'm still pretty good in a fight."
"Pretty good? Cassie, you're a one-woman army. But you're the soldier who has fought her war and moved on. That's good. It's not me, though. Come on, Cassie, we both know this is a lifeline for me." - ―Jake and Cassie
Jake developed a personality similar to Rachel by this point, becoming reckless, ruthless and enjoying war and the subsequent violence, a trait noticed by both Cassie and Marco. When Jake discovers that Ax has been kidnapped, Jake relishes the idea of entering another war, citing it as a lifeline for him, with Cassie surprised that she did not notice how much Jake's demeanor resembles Rachel's. After more than six months captaining the Rachel, a state-of-the-art Yeerk ship named by Tobias, Jake encounters a Blade ship—one containing the last fugitives from the Yeerk empire. Ax's captor, a monstrous being of unknown origin known only as "The One", makes its unsettling appearance through a communication channel between the Blade ship and the Rachel. Undaunted, Jake gives his final order, instructing the pilot to power up their engines and ram the larger ship.
Personality
- "He was a good guy, my dad. Not just because he was my dad. Because he was a good person. Because he did his work as well as he knew how and wasn't a jerk to the people around him. That doesn't make you a saint or anything, but I guess when I think about it, that's what I hope I'll do when I’m older: treat my family right, do my job well, not be a jerk to the people I meet. Maybe that's not a huge, ambitious goal, but it would be enough for me. I've done the hero thing. You can have the hero thing. Me, I wanted a day when all I'd have to do was be a decent human being."
- ―Jake
At the beginning of the Animorphs series, Tobias announces to the team that he thinks that Jake should be their leader. The other Animorphs quickly agree, and Jake reluctantly accepts the position. Few would disagree that he is naturally fit for the job, as he is brave, responsible, cool under pressure, and able to take charge during a crisis. He is described by his cousin Rachel as a person who can give orders without sounding overly bossy. At first, Jake doesn't view himself as a leader, and thus isn't willing to accept the role, but when he learns that his older brother Tom is a Controller, his desire to save his brother serves as the fuel to his unyielding determination in his fight against the Yeerks.
In the first book, Jake is the only character with pre-existing ties to each of the other Animorphs; Rachel is his cousin; there was a mutual attraction between him and Cassie; Marco is his best friend; Tobias was rescued by him from bullies sometime before the series began and had a mild case of hero-worship towards Jake. While Ax didn't appear until the fourth volume, The Message, Ax quickly accepts Jake as his "Prince" ("Prince" being a rank in the Andalite military hierarchy) and is deeply loyal to him. Jake's status as Ax's Prince led to a recurring joke between them:
One of Jake's more harrowing experiences occurs when he is infested by a Yeerk, Temrash 114. Fortunately Ax realizes something was wrong (because Jake's face momentarily twists into an expression of disgust when he sees Ax), and the Animorphs tie Jake up for three days until Temrash dies of Kandrona starvation. Jake gets his first glimpse of Crayak when Temrash died. He is also left with partial memory imprints of Temrash and his former hosts: a Gedd, a Hork-Bajir, and his brother Tom (who is now host to another Yeerk).
As the leader of the small band of guerrilla warriors, his leadership, his choices and mistakes, and the responsibility he assumes are recurring themes in the Animorphs series. Despite his best efforts, Jake never attains his main goal for joining the fight: saving his brother from Yeerk infestation. After he fails to save Tom from the Yeerks, he is left emotionally damaged and unable to lead. Before the final battle, Cassie manages to lift him out of it, but her success is short-lived. Eventually, Jake's personality becomes very much like his cousin Rachel's, to the point where he employs ruthless and reckless decisions and smiles amidst the carnage, unable to live without a war, with the similarity noted by both Cassie and Marco.
Relationships with the other Animorphs
Marco
Jake and Marco had been best friends for years before the war, and generally maintained a close relationship throughout the series, despite several tests of their friendship. Towards the end of the war, Jake and Marco's friendship suffers. In the post-war period, Marco is concerned for his friend and makes a plan with Cassie to try to get through to him.
Cassie
- "I loved Cassie. Always had. Still did. But there was this thing between us now. And I could never trust her again. She had put my personal well-being ahead of winning a war we absolutely could not lose. And, I knew, that her decision might have come in part from my own self-doubts, my own inability to throw off moral ambiguity. If I had been stronger... if I had been as strong as I should be, maybe Cassie would not have made her fatal mistake. I saw that clearly now. Too late for either of us."
- ―Jake
Jake and Cassie were attracted to each other ever since the start of the series, and their relationship kept growing as the series progressed. They end up kissing in The Attack, and admit the depth of their feelings for each other. After they kiss, Rachel remarks, "It's about time.". However, they grow apart towards the end of the series due to Jake's depression and his distrust of Cassie after she allows Tom to escape with the Escafil device. They make up before the very end of the series, and Jake even asks Cassie to marry him in The Answer, but she declines, saying she would marry him "a year after this is all over." At the time, Cassie correctly suspected that Jake had been changed by the war, and after it's over, he becomes too entrenched in depression and guilt to be able to pursue a romantic relationship.
Rachel
Despite being cousins, Jake and Rachel weren't particularly close until they became Animorphs, with both of them eventually loving the other. Jake found Rachel to be very beautiful and attractive, although he tried to not think about this as she was his cousin. As the war progressed, Jake became worried about Rachel's violent nature, and Rachel occasionally found herself wishing to challenge Jake's leadership, despite respecting him as her leader. Overall though, the two got along very well and were mostly on the same side of arguments. After Rachel's death, Jake mourned her passing deeply, often visiting her grave late at night and spending hours there in silence. He eventually came to adopt Rachel's demeanor, craving war and employing reckless tactics.
Tobias
- "Tobias is one of us. A friend. More than a friend. He's risked his life for me many times."
- ―Jake
Before Jake became an Animorph, he helped Tobias escape from bullies, and because of this, Tobias looks up to Jake and has a deep respect for him, almost never questioning his decisions. But after the end of the series, Tobias is unable to forgive Jake for his part in Rachel's death, although they make amends, Tobias realizing he cannot muster the rage he believes he should harbor towards Jake and putting aside feelings of animosity in order to save Ax.
Ax
- "Sometimes I'm secretly proud when Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, the Andalite cadet who joined us not long after we encountered his older brother Elfangor, calls me "Prince" Jake. Mostly embarrassed, but there are times when it feels okay."
- ―Jake
Ax deeply respects Jake, and calls him his "prince." This is a running joke between the two, as Jake is biologically younger than Ax, and holds no real rank. However, Ax does respect Jake's position as leader, and at times, Jake uses his "rank" to overrule Ax's objections. While Jake keeps a certain distance from Ax, as he is Ax's commander, there is a strong bond between the two. Jake is protective of Ax, believing him to be a soldier under his command, and therefore Jake's responsibility (when Ax is kidnapped in the final book, Jake describes him as "one of mine").
David
- "I'd gone into lots of battles against Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, Visser Three himself. I'd always gone in hoping to win. But I'd never gone in consciously hoping to kill. This was different. I didn't want to escape. I wanted to destroy David. I wanted revenge."
- ―Jake
To be added
Morphs
Book Morphs
- "Its DNA joined the DNA of how many species floating around in my blood? I couldn't even remember them all."
- ―Jake
Television Show Morphs
| Morph | Episode Acquired |
|---|---|
| Golden Retriever (Homer) | My Name is Jake, Part 1 |
| Skink | The Underground |
| White Tiger | |
| Iguana | On the Run |
| Butterfly | The Message |
| Cockroach | The Escape |
| Ferret | |
| Horse (off-screen) | The Leader, Part 1 |
| Dog | The Release |
| Human (Tom) | Face Off, Part 2 |
| Mouse | My Name is Erek |
| White-headed Capuchin | Changes, Part 1 |
| Gecko | Changes, Part 2 |
| Hawk (off-screen) | The Front |
| Bat |
Books Narrated by Jake
Trivia
- Jake's real WAA username is close to being Bball24. It is a reference to his best basketball game, where he scored 24 points.
- In the original idea for the series, Jake's name was going to be Matt and he was going to have a little brother named Joseph.
- Jake narrates a small portion of Cassie's book (The Departure) because Cassie was stuck in a chrysalis in butterfly morph.
- Jake has the most books in the series. He gets a part in narrating 17 books in total.
- A running gag between him and Ax involves Ax calling him "Prince," and him objecting to the title.
- In the Anibase, K.A. Applegate had this to say about a very memorable scene in The Attack:
- "The Jake and Cassie kiss was not only something Ani-Fans had wanted for a long time, it was our small homage to the first interracial kiss on TV, the famous Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Uhura moment. That long-ago kiss ignited a storm of angry response. For us, we always got lots of fan mail, and not a single letter that we ever saw complained about the kiss between a black character and a white character. Mostly what readers said was, 'It's about time!'"
Gallery
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"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 Jake Berenson may be viewed here |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Answer
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Warning
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Message
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Capture
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Beginning
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 The Predator
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 The Invasion
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Andalite Chronicles is said to take place in 1976 and states it is 21 years before Elfangor met the Animorphs, meaning the Animorphs met Elfangor in 1997. In #53, Jake states they were 13 when they met Elfangor, placing their year of birth c.1984
- ↑ Killed by a headshot after time-traveling back to 1776, although he was resurrected when the timeline changes were undone.
- ↑ The Diversion
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The Conspiracy
- ↑ The Alien
- ↑ Jake was 13 in 1997, placing the events of him being nine in 1993.
- ↑ The Extreme
- ↑ The Reunion
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 The Threat
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Back to Before
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Stranger
- ↑ In #1, Eva is mentioned to have disappeared two years prior. As that book takes place in 1997, this places Eva's disappearance in 1995.
- ↑ In #4, Jake refers to having attended Cassie's Thanksgiving "last year." They became Animorphs at the age of 13 in 1997, placing the Thanksgiving dinner in 1996 when he was 12.
- ↑ The Andalite Chronicles is said to take place 10 years after the 1966 Yeerk exodus of The Hork-Bajir Chronicles and 21 years before Elfangor met the Animorphs. This places it in 1976, meaning the Animorphs met Elfangor in 1997.
- ↑ Jake, Rachel and Marco had not yet learned how to morph clothing by the time they attacked the Yeerk Pool, which was on the same day Rachel and Marco acquired their first morphs, meaning they would've been nude when they demorphed during their escape. The graphic novel rectifies this by giving the Animorphs a day between acquiring their morphs and attacking the pool as well as adding a new scene where Rachel, Jake and Marco are confirmed to have learned how to morph clothing in the interim.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 The Encounter
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 The Visitor
- ↑ When Ax decides to acquire the four human Animorphs, he does not share this idea with the others; instead, he puts his hand on Cassie's face and says "With your permission." However, before Cassie can realize what he is doing and can even consent, he begins to acquire her. The others realize he is acquiring her before Ax starts to acquire them without asking for permission. However, the rest of the series continues to treat it as if Ax had received everyone's consent before acquiring them.
| Animorphs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Animorphs | Jake | Rachel | Tobias | Cassie | Marco | Ax | David | |
| Auxiliary Animorphs | James | Collette | Timmy | Kelly | Craig | Erica | Julio | Liam | Tricia | Jessie | Judy | Ray | |