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"Who am I? What am I? A bird. A boy. Something not quite human. Something more than human. The person Rachel loves. I discovered something amid the pain and terror and confusion. I discovered that the answer to what I am, to who I am, isn't something to be answered in a single word or a single moment. It could take a lifetime to figure out who I am. For now, I'm willing to hang in there, floating on a thermal. Biding my time."
Tobias is a founding member of the Animorphs and the first human in history to morph. He is son of Elfangor and Loren, and the nephew of Ax. He served as the "air force" member of the team, keeping an eye up above and performing aerial support and reconnaissance.
"That's what Elfangor did. He flew free. He came to Earth because he was in love with my mother, Loren. He morphed a human man and deliberately stayed past the two-hour time limit — became a nothlit — so he could live out his life with her. He must have believed she was worth it. Personally, I thought he was a little misguided. [...] But Elfangor stayed on Earth for years. Went to college, married my mother, created a life. Was happy, I think. I hope. Enter the Ellimist. The same all-powerful being who'd given me back my morphing powers and left me as a hawk. The Ellimist restored my father's Andalite body, returned him to the Andalite fleet, and erased all memory of him from my mother's mind."
Tobias was conceived in 1980 by Elfangor and Loren during the period of time when the Andalite Elfangor had trapped himself in a human morph and lived with his human wife Loren[8] in California.[5] Shortly after, a cosmic figure known as the Ellimist restored Elfangor to his Andalite form and returned him to the Andalite homeworld. Loren, who was currently pregnant with Tobias and had been rapidly aged by three years due to her usage of a time machine known as the Time Matrix, was transported three years into the future to 1983 by the Ellimist in his effort to repair some of the timeline changes she and Elfangor had done.[8] Tobias was then born in 1984,[note 3] with Loren having married another man, believing Tobias to be the son of this spouse[8][9] as her memories of Elfangor were erased.[8][10] However, this man ran off before Tobias was born.[4] After Tobias' birth, Loren was involved in a car accident that left her disfigured and rendered her amnesiac. Having lost her memories of her child, Loren found herself unable to care for herself, let alone the young son she was told she had.[10] She then arranged for her sister[3] who lived on the East Coast[note 4] to take custody of Tobias, believing her son would have a happy life and would be taken care of.[10]
Pre-Animorph Life
Troubled Childhood
"The food was better at my aunt's. She didn't pass out in my room. She had her own brand of fun. She'd work me like her own personal slave. That's how I knew what was in the attic: I cleaned it out. And she'd keep me out of school to run errands for her or just to "be there" in case she needed me. At least my uncle let me go to school. He'd have let me go to Australia and not cared. Not a nice feeling knowing that if you were ever kidnapped or whatever, there was no one around to bother and call the cops. But, hey, that's life. [...] My mom probably died, too. And my dad. I don't know. Everyone just says my mom ran off. Everyone says my dad ran off before I was born. Or sometimes they make up stories, like they both died in an accident. Sometimes I make up stories. The truth, if there ever was any truth, was lost a long time ago."
However, Loren's sister despised being given responsibility of Tobias[3] and refused to let him go to school and instead kept him at home, treating him as a personal slave.[4] However, her irritation at raising her nephew caused her to occasionally send Tobias to her brother, who lived on the West Coast.[note 4] While Tobias' uncle let him go to school and allowed him to live without restrictions, he was a drunkard who harassed and emotionally abused his nephew, along with occassionally passing out in Tobias' room.[4] Additionally, Tobias viewed his uncle's house as being more like a shack[10] and that the food he received was worse than what his aunt gave him.[4] For many years, Tobias was constantly shuffled back and forth between the East and West Coast every few months to alternate living with his aunt and uncle,[11] as neither wished to have permanent custody over their nephew.[6]
Tobias had been informed that his mother's name was Loren[3][10] and that she, along with the stepfather whom he believed was his biological father,[9] had died when he was very young.[6] However, Tobias' views on what happened to his parents constantly changed.[6][12][9]On some days, he believed that his parents had both died[6] and other times he believed that they had both abandoned him.[12] Occasionally, Tobias thought that his father might have been the one who left,[12] as he preferred to think that Loren had died, not wanting to accept that his mother did not love him and had chosen to walk out on him.[8] However, Tobias also sometimes thought that Loren was the one who had abandoned him while his father was the one who had died.[9] Tobias found himself unsure regarding the true status of what had happened to both of them, claiming that the truth had become lost to him over the years.[4]
During his childhood, he became a fan of dinosaurs due to spending time alone in his room playing with dinosaur toys.[13] He also liked Star Trek.[14] While living on the East Coast,[note 4] Tobias stole berries from a hilltop house, although he was caught by an elderly woman called Professor Powers who owned the house. Tobias prepared to run, although he was instead invited by the woman into her kitchen, where she fed him home-cooked food and told him stories.[3]
Moving Back to California
"I am what they call a bully magnet. I don't know why. I just am. Used to be these two other guys who had the job of torturing me. Their thing was swirlies. You know, they'd grab me by the ankles and knees and dip my head in the toilet while they flushed. Used to. This guy named Jake came into the boys' room while they were doing it. He told them to step off. That was it, but he had a way of saying it, I guess. Those two haven't bugged me since."
In 1997,[15] when Tobias was thirteen,[16] he was sent back to California[5] to live with his uncle once again.[11] After enrolling in the local middle school, where he was constantly bullied and was physically abused.[4] At school, he developed an attraction to a girl named Rachel[citation needed] and had an English teacher named Mr. Feyroyan whom he befriended and saw as an older version of himself. During art class, Tobias sketched something that was accepted into a state art show by a committee. Tobias was informed that there would be a prizewinners' reception and asked his uncle if he would take him, although his uncle refused as there was no prize money. Tobias then went to his room and began crying. Looking out of his window, he saw a mother and daughter exit their car and saw the mother holding her daughter's finger painting carefully. Tobias viewed this as a reminder how his life was not like other kids and how he felt truly alone in life.[3] While living at his uncle's, Tobias came to own a pet tabby cat, which he named Dude. One day at school, Tobias was attacked in the bathroom. As his head was being flushed into a toilet by two bullies, he was saved by Jake, and thus developed a sort of hero worship towards Jake as a result.[11]
Becoming an Animorph
Future Decided
Tobias speaks to a hawk, unaware that it is his future self
While sleeping one night, Tobias was woken in the middle of the night by a red-tailed hawk, unaware that it was actually his future self. The telepathic hawk informed Tobias that he should walk home through an abandoned construction site with Jake the following night. As Tobias struggled to go back to sleep, the hawk fluttered on his arm, and Tobias entered a trance and fell back asleep. Tobias then believed the entire interaction was a dream.[12] The next night, which was a Friday, Tobias went to the mall after school. He ran into Jake with his best friend Marco and asked Jake if he could walk home with them, to which Jake agreed. As the boys reached the exit, they ran into Rachel, who was Jake's cousin, and another girl named Cassie,[11] whom Tobias did not know. The girls decided to walk home with the boys as the five thirteen year olds left the mall and headed towards the construction site. However, unbeknownst to Tobias, due to his status as Elfangor's time-shifted son, the Ellimist had predestined for him, along with Marco and Cassie, to be walking home through the construction site that night.[4]
"Your mother... tell me about your mother, Tobias. Your family." "She... disappeared. When I was just little. I don't know what happened. I guess she died. People say she just left because she was messed up. They said she never got over my father. I don't know. But I know she has to be dead because she'd never have just left me. No matter what. But maybe that's just what I told myself. I don't exactly have a family." "Go to your friends, Tobias. They are your family now."
Tobias stared up at the night sky while he walked through the abandoned construction site. Noticing an alien spaceship above them, Tobias stopped walking and pointed his finger upwards, telling them to look. Tobias then began grinning as the teenagers witnessed the spaceship land in front of them. When Rachel suggested that they should communicate with whomever was on board, Tobias stepped forward and urged the alien that it was safe for them to come out and that they wouldn't hurt them. The alien then responded using a voice they could hear in their heads that he knew they would not.
Tobias continued to smile as he witnessed a blue alien exit from the ship, whom he greeted with a gentle voice. The alien explained that he was dying and that he was not the first alien to come to Earth. Tobias asked him if the other aliens were like him, and the alien responded that the other aliens, known as the Yeerks, had come to destroy humans. The alien transmitted an image of a green-gray slug into their minds and explained that the Yeerks were a parasitic species that take over bodies to use as hosts, after which they become known as Controllers. 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. When Marco remarked that no one would believe them, the Andalite suddenly urged one of them to enter his ship and retrieve the blue box that was inside. As they all looked at each other, Tobias declined, citing that he wished to remain next 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. He urged them that there was no time, and Tobias agreed to accept the morphing ability in order to fight the Controllers. Tobias told Jake that they had to accept, to which Jake agreed. All five of them pressed their hands against the box, and Tobias 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 as Visser Three, a Controller who could also morph, was coming.[11] While the other four teenagers ran, Tobias continued to stay behind with Elfangor. Elfangor then asked Tobias to tell him about his mother and his family, and Tobias informed him that he did not know her as she either died or disappeared when he was young and that he did not exactly have a family. Elfangor then told Tobias that Jake, Rachel, Cassie and Marco were his family now[8] He then placed his palm onto Tobias' forehead and transferred some of his memories and knowledge to Tobias[11] before telling him to run.[8]
Hiding behind a low wall, Tobias witnessed as the Blade ship and Bug fighters landed. As tall, bladed creatures emerged from the Blade ship, 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.
Tobias watched as Visser Three greeted the Andalite as Prince Elfangor before morphing into a monstrous creature with multiple ringed teeth. Rachel then held Tobias' hand as the Visser lifted Elfangor, but as Jake picked up a pipe to rush into action, Tobias quickly joined Marco in restraining Jake. Tobias then watched as Visser Three dropped Elfangor in his mouth and was forced to hear Elfangor's mental screams as he was being ripped apart. When Elfangor died, Tobias turned away and covered him face with hands. Marco then threw up, prompting the nearby Hork-Bajir-Controller to look in their direction. The five teenagers then bolted and ran their separate ways as the Yeerks began pursuing them. Tobias successfully managed to escape from the construction site and ran back to his uncle's house.[11]
"It was so amazing. It didn't hurt or anything. I was petting him, and thinking about the whole thing last night, right? So I thought, why not give it a try? [...] So there I was, just sitting on my bed, thinking about it. Concentrating. Thinking about becoming Dude. I looked down at my hand. What do you think I saw, Jake?" "I don't know." "I had fur, Jake. And I was growing claws."
The next morning, which was a Saturday, Tobias was petting Dude, his pet tabby cat, in his room while thinking about what had transpired the night before. Remembering when the AndalitePrince had said, Tobias focused on Dude and ended up acquiring it. Tobias then concentrated on the mental picture of Dude and to his amazement found fur emerging from his hands as claws formed from his fingers. Dude, who had witnessed this transformation, panicked and sliced Tobias' finger, prompting Tobias to put Dude outside his room. Noting that his uncle was still asleep, Tobias returned his concentration and succesfully morphed into Dude. Demorphing back to his human self, Tobias found himself nude. Getting dressed, Tobias decided to walk to Jake's house.
Arriving at Jake's house, Tobias was greeted by Jake's mother, who escorted him to Jake's bedroom. Tobias then thanked her as he entered Jake's room and informed him that he had successfully morphed. When Jake refused to believe him, Tobias morphed into Dude again to prove his claim. He then demorphed and found himself nude once more, and as he quickly dressed, remarked that perhaps they could learn to morph with clothing later. Tobias assured Jake that they all had the morphing ability which they should use to fight the Yeerks and informed Jake that he was the one who was to be their leader. Tobias observed as Jake acquired and morphed Homer, his pet golden retriever. Jake's brother Tom entered the room and asked Tobias who he was, and Tobias responded that he was Jake's friend. After Jake demorphed, he called the others and asked them to meet them later at Cassie's farm. Tobias then left Jake's house, stating that he would join them later.[11]
Investigating the Yeerks
"Suddenly the wimp is a hero." "Maybe I just found something worth fighting for, Marco." "You don't even fight for yourself." "That was before. Before the Andalite. Before he died trying to save us. I can't let that go. I can't let him die for nothing. So whatever you guys decide, I'm going to fight."
Tobias arrived at Cassie's farm and found Rachel already there. As Marco joined them, they read a newspaper 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. They then realized that the police and media contained Controllers, and when Jake arrived, they shared the newspaper and their realization with him. As they sat in silence, Marco told them that they should just forget what they've learned and move on with their lives, prompting Tobias to give him a look.
Cassie, who was in horse morph, then galloped towards them and began to demorph, revealing that she had incorporated a skintight outfit. However, before she could turn back into human entirely, Tobias heard the sound of a car pulling up and quickly warned the others that it was the police. He then joined the others in shielding Cassie from view as she finished demorphing. Tobias remained silent as the police officer questioned them about information on kids being at the abandoned construction site the night before. After getting no answers, the police officer suggested that Jake join the The Sharing before driving off.
As Rachel claimed that they needed to inform someone important whom they could trust to handle the Yeerks since they were just kids, Tobias responded that they could not trust anyone since they could be a Controller, which would result in their deaths and humanity being doomed. When Tobias declared that they should fight, Marco retorted that Tobias could not even fight off the bullies at school. Rachel then came to his defense and stated that she would align with his vote of them fighting, much to Tobias' gratitude. The argument came to an end when Cassie and Jake decided that they should take some time to think before deciding, and the group disbanded. Tobias then walked into Cassie's barn and spotted a red-tailed hawk with a broken wing in a cage, whom he felt bad for. Tobias elected to acquire and morph the red-tailed hawk and flew away from the barn.
While he was flying, Tobias experienced thermals for the first time and relished as he soared high in the sky. Sorting through the memories and visions that the dying princeElfangor had given him, Tobias learned that the Yeerks needed to return to a Yeerk pool every three days in order to feed from Kandrona rays. Tobias began looking at bodies of water from the air but was unable to discern which could be Yeerk pools. He then flew to Jake's house and entered through Jake's window. Demorphing, he informed Jake and Marco of the Kandrona and the Yeerk pool. When Marco asked what his next move should he locate one, Tobias confidently replied that they would simply destroy it as a means to fight the Yeerks. Marco then sneered that Tobias had never even fought for himself, Tobias was steadfast in his response that the Andalite had died for them and that he would fight for humanity even if Marco didn't.
Marco informed Tobias that Jake's brother Tom was a Controller and that he also urged them to join The Sharing, much like the policeman they had encountered earlier. Tobias realized that The Sharing might be a front organization for the Yeerks, and Jake decided that they should investigate to find out more. Speaking with Tom, Jake had them invited to a bonfire that The Sharing was hosting at the beach. Jake then contacted Rachel and Cassie to join them before the five departed from Jake's house. En route to the beach, it was decided that Tobias would be more useful spying on The Sharing from above. He then hid behind a dune and morphed into his hawk form while Marco put his clothes in his bag. Tobias then spent over an hour flying above The Sharing, watching the mice scamper through the grass while noticing where the full members of The Sharing held their private meetings.
As the other rallied back together, Tobias was signaled by Jake to descend and inform him of the location of the full members' meeting. Jake then ordered Tobias to demorph, which Tobias reluctantly complied with, citing that he felt imprisoned when returning back to his human form. When Jake returned from spying on the meeting, he notified them that Tom and their assistant principal Chapman were both Controllers. Marco advised them once more that they should forget everything and resume their normal lives, although Jake refused, stating that he would fight the Yeerks as he could not let Tom be a Controller. Tobias then joined Rachel and Cassie in their declaration of joining Jake in his fight, after which the group went their separate ways and returned back home.[11]
First Mission
"Look. I'm not asking anyone else to go with me. But I don't have a choice. I heard that scream today. And I know Tom is going down there tonight. He's my brother. I have to try and save him. I have to do it. For Tom." "I'll go with you. For the Andalite."
On Monday, Tobias met with the others at the mall's food court after school and listened as Jake informed them that the janitor's closet at their school held the entrance to the Yeerk pool, where he heard human screams. As Rachel mentioned that they needed to fight the Yeerks and opposed Marco's reluctance due to his familial situation citing that they all had family, Tobias solemnly added that he did not have family and that no one cared about him; however, Rachel quickly chimed in that she cared about him. Jake declared that he would go into the Yeerk pool later that night in order to rescue Tom, and Tobias, along with Rachel and Cassie, agreed to go with him, with Marco reluctantly joining the mission for Tom's sake. The newly-formed team then decided to travel to The Gardens, an amusement park-zoo in their city, in order to acquire more dangerous morphs. As they prepared to leave, Marco dubbed the five of them as the Animorphs,[11] a portmanteau for "animal morphers."[17]
Upon arriving at The Gardens, the five of them began pooling their cash to pay for admission. Tobias remarked that he did not think he should come inside with them since he did not want to morph anything other than the red-tailed hawk, to which Rachel informed him that she thought that would be a mistake since their only method of fighting the Yeerks was to morph and thus they should acquire as many animals as they could. Entering the park, Cassie led them into the employees' hallway, which contained the doors leading to all of the other enclosures. She guided them to the enclosure belonging to Big Jim, a Silverback gorilla, where she assisted Marco in acquiring it. Tobias remarked that the gorilla was strong enough to tear off Marco's arms, which Marco chided him for as it was affecting his concentration.
An employee who recognized Cassie then saw them, prompting them to return back to the hallway. As a security guard spotted them, Tobias followed Rachel and Cassie down one path while Jake and Marco ran down another; since the security guard chose to pursue the two boys instead, they were able to escape without worry. Returning back to the public space, the three stuck together and headed towards the African elephants, with Rachel deciding to acquire one of them. Both Cassie and Tobias elected not to acquire any additional morphs and thus the three returned to the main entrance, where Jake and Marco soon met up with them. The five of them then left The Gardens and took the bus back to their respective homes, planning to meet up at the school later that evening.
A few hours later, Tobias set out towards the school, although he elected to fly there in his hawk morph rather than bike. Meeting up with Rachel and Marco, he flew above the school waiting for Jake and Cassie. As Jake arrived, he expressed anger that Tobias had morphed, since it meant his time limit had already begun. Tobias then descended and landed on Rachel's shoulder where she nuzzled him, much to Jake's surprise. Jake then informed them that Cassie had gone missing. Deciding to continue their mission regardless, the four entered the school through an unlocked window Marco knew of, with Tobias flying in. Jake then peered out of the hallway and noted that there were Controllers entering through the janitor's closet before suddenly asking Tobias to verify something for him. Landing on Jake's shoulder, Tobias looked out into the hallway and confirmed that the police officer from earlier that day was dragging Cassie into the janitor's closet. The four then decided to enter the Yeerk Pool through the closet; since time was even more of an issue now that Cassie was about to be infested, Tobias was not given an opportunity to demorph.[11]
Trapped in Morph
"How long since I'd morphed to red-tailed hawk? An hour and fifty minutes? An hour and fifty-five? How long?! The others had escaped already. The other Animorphs, I mean. They'd dodged the visser's fireball gauntlet. They'd slipped out to safety, back through the janitor's closet, back into the school. Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Jake. Had I missed the deadline? Had I been more than two hours in morph? Couldn't have. Can't have. No. I'd be trapped forever. A bird. Independent, free, alone. Forever."
As they descended into the Yeerk pool, they realized that it was a gigantic subterranean cavern that was underneath half the city, along with the fact that the janitor's closet was just one of many entrances and exits. Flying above, Tobias kept an eye on Cassie as they watched the Controllers re-enter the pool on one pier as their screaming hosts were thrown into cages, after which they would be brought to the reinfestation pier. Jake noticed a group of Controllers laughing as they watched television, and Tobias explained that they were voluntary Controllers; Rachel disparaged the humans who had willingly allowed themselves to be infested, to which Tobias responded that certain humans turned to The Sharing and accepted the Yeerks in their heads as they believed becoming something different would be the solution to their personal troubles. When Marco retorted that some other humans turned to hawks in order to do the same, this offended Tobias and prompted him to fly away from them. Tobias took note of Tom rebelling in the cages and revealed this to Jake before notifying them that Cassie was on the infestation pier and that they had mere minutes to save her.
Tobias watched from above as Jake, Rachel and Marco morphed into a Siberian tiger, African elephant and Silverback gorilla respectively before they fought off Controllers and freed the prisoners from their cages. Rachel then screamed that Cassie, who was being dragged by two Hork-Bajir-Controllers to the pier's edge, was about to be infested. In order to save her, Tobias plumetted into a power dive and struck the first Hork-Bajir, gouging out both of his eyes and allowing Cassie to escape while Jake took out the second Hork-Bajir.[11] Tobias then flew back up and observed as Visser Three emerged; believing them to be Andalites in animal morphs, the Visser morphed into a giant fire-breathing monster with eight heads. As Visser Three shot off a gauntlet of fireballs, Tobias ascended to the rooftop of the caverns and hid while noting as the other four Animorphs escaped. Tobias remained in hiding for a long time while pondering how much time had passed; additionally, he remarked that he would be independent and free, albeit alone, if he was indeed trapped.[18]
Eventually, over two hours passed and Tobias found himself definitively stuck as a red-tailed hawk, unable to resume his human form. Tobias was then able to escape from the Yeerk Pool through another exit point and flew to Jake's house, arriving there in the early hours of the morning. Beating his wings on Jake's window to wake him up, Tobias informed Jake of his predicament. As Jake cried and claimed that one day the Andalites would come to save them, Tobias added that they would have to continue fighting the Yeerks until that day came.[11]
Life as a Hawk
Living in Jake's Attic
"I didn't really miss my home, though. See, when my parents died, there was no one who really wanted me. I ended up getting shunted back and forth between an unclehere and an aunt across the country. Neither of them really cared about me. I don't think they even missed me. I had arranged for Jake to leave a message with my uncle. We told him I had gone to stay with my aunt. Each of them, my uncle and my aunt, thought I was staying with the other. I had no idea how long that trick would hold up before one of them figured out I wasn't in either place. I guess when they realize it they'll call the cops and report me as a runaway. Or maybe they won't even bother."
Now forced to live as a red-tailed hawk, Tobias began living in the attic of the Berenson Residence, sleeping in a drawer with an old blanket while eating whatever leftovers Jake brought him, despite the fact that most of it was not digestible by his new hawk body. Tobias also had Jake write and send two messages on his behalf, one each to be sent to his uncle and aunt claiming that he was now living with other permanently. Tobias knew that the other Animorphs pitied him for his situation and his inability to return home, although Tobias wasn't as troubled as he never had a true home to miss.[6]
Early Adventures
"Flying is like the nicest thing in the world." "Yes, it is. One of the nicest things. But there are things you miss, too. Sitting back on the couch with a can of pop and a bag of chips and no school the next day and something good on TV. That's a good feeling, too."
A little over a week after Tobias became trapped in the red-tailed hawk morph, he joined the other Animorphs in traveling to a bell tower of a run-down church near a cliffside beach. There, he watched as the others morphed into birds-of-prey themselves for the first time, with Rachel morphing into a bald eagle, Jake turning into a peregrine falcon while Cassie and Marco became a pair of ospreys. As they took to the air, Tobias coached the Animorphs on how to fly. As they soared above the thermals, Tobias asked Rachel if she wanted to try diving with him, which she agreed to. The pair then plummetted towards the ground, where Rachel became worried that she might injure herself and die. Tobias then advised her to tap into the eagle mind and instincts to guide her. At that moment, the Animorphs were nearly shot by bullets, forcing them to pull out of their dive. Noticing that two drunk teenagers were shooting at them, Tobias became upset at the idea of people shooting birds. Rachel then coordinated a plan of attack and the Animorphs dove into the woods, where they ambushed the teens; Tobias raked the head of the shooter, forcing him to loosen his grip on the rifle, which Rachel then picked up with her talons. Disposing of the rifle in the ocean, the Animorphs returned to the bell tower, where Tobias watched the others demorph. As they all started to walk home together, Tobias flew above them, although he was too high up to listen to their conversation. When they passed by the abandoned construction site, Tobias descended and landed on the spot where Elfangor died to pay his respects.
The Animorphs soon decided to infiltrate Chapman's house by morphing into Fluffer McKitty, his daughter Melissa's pet tomcat. As the four human Animorphs hid behind a hedge, trying to find a way to locate the cat, Tobias offered to find him. Upon locating Fluffer in a nearby alwn, Tobias flew back to his newfound friends and informed them of the cat's location. Rachel was impressed that Tobias was able to spot him, and Tobias in turn mentioned that with his eyes he could even see the plump mice and rats running around. This elicited a response of disgust from Marco, who declared that he could not be friends with someone who ate rats, which earned Marco words of anger from Rachel and Jake, prompting Marco to somewhat apologize. Tobias then led them to the lawn where Fluffer was, although Fluffer quickly jumped up into a tree. Rachel then asked Tobias to find her a mouse so that she could use it to lure the cat. Hunting for the first time, Tobias captured what he believed to be a baby mouse and delivered it to Rachel, although Cassie clarified that it was a shrew. The Animorphs began to doubt Rachel's plan to morph into a shrew to lure a cat out, and Tobias privately thought-spoke to Rachel, telling her to be careful as he did not want anything to happen to her. Tobias then watched as Rachel morphed into the shrew and succumbed to its instincts. As she was ignoring the human advice of her friends, Tobias used his thought-speak to reach out to her. When she continued to run, Tobias snatched her in his talons and managed to get her to reassert control, after which he deposited her back on the ground. Tobias watched as Fluffer was successfully lured down and captured, allowing Rachel to acquire the cat before they released him. Due to Rachel feeling unwell, the group decided to postpone their infiltration mission for another night.
A few nights later, the Animorphs regrouped outside Chapman's house, where Tobias informed the group that the real Fluffer was nowhere near the house and that there were no people or cars in their vicinity. As Rachel began to morph into the cat, Tobias sent her a private thought-speak message, informing her to exit the house if she were to find herself in danger and that he would fly her back to safety. Tobias watched as Rachel made her way to the house, questioning whether she was truly in control of the morph as she stopped to sniff a pole. After Rachel entered the house, he remained nearby and thought-spoke to her minutes later, although their conversation was cut short since Rachel had followed Chapman down into the basement, putting them out of range of each other's thought-speak.
Tobias kept trying to reach out to Rachel in intervals before finally being able to communicate, as Rachel had emerged from the basement. Tobias then informed Rachel that while she had a little over an hour left in morph, the real Fluffer was trying to return home and that Cassie, Jake and Marco were struggling to capture him. Rachel then replied that she could not leave yet as she had something she needed to do. Tobias then relayed this update with the others. Moments later, with Rachel now having less than an hour in morph, Jake became angry and told Tobias to use his thought-speak to tell Rachel to exit the house. Rachel replied that she could not leave because Melissa needed her, which Tobias then relayed to Jake. When Jake told Tobias that Rachel's job was not to comfort Melissa, Tobias attempted to pass this on to Rachel, although she interrupted him and said that she would leave soon. 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, Tobias flew above the mall's parking lot, which gave off thermals due to the hot concrete, cars and buildings. He was informed that the Animorphs were meeting at the church tower after school and noticed Rachel in bald eagle morph, whom he guided to the mall's thermals. After a brief discussion regarding superheroes and Marco's family, Tobias listened as Rachel declared that she wanted to return to the Chapman Residence, claiming that she believed a return visit could yield the location of the Kandrona. Tobias then privately thought-spoke to Rachel, asking her if she was truly going into the house to spy on Chapman. Tobias then privately thought-spoke to Cassie and Jake, telling them that Rachel was hiding something from the group. When Jake stated that he did not want Rachel going back alone, Rachel made a flippant suggestion that one of them could morph into a flea and ride on her back. Jake then agreed to let Rachel return to the house. Rachel stated that she was going to find a way to hurt the Yeerks upon her revisit, prompting Tobias to privately tell her that she was actually going back to help Melissa, to which Rachel responded that both objectives were the same thing. The Animorphs then disbanded for the day, planning to meet up outside the Chapman house later that night.
Since Rachel was hiding details from them, the Animorphs decided to take Rachel's carefree suggestion to heart. The four of them, minus Rachel, gathered down the street of Chapman's house before Rachel was to join them. Jake then morphed into a flea that he had acquired and was picked up by Cassie. When Rachel joined them, Tobias notified the group that Fluffer was not near the house and scoped out the vicinity before reporting that it was all clear. Rachel then morphed into the cat, after which Cassie secretly transmitted Jake's flea form onto Rachel's back. With Jake and Rachel inside the Chapman Residence, the other three Animorphs remained outside. Sometime later, Tobias heard Rachel's thought-speak calling out to him, yelling at him that they needed the real Fluffer to return home immediately. Tobias then flew towards the cat and clawed him on the head with his talon, scaring the cat. As the cat ran, Tobias started to chase Fluffer with his talons out, forcing Fluffer to run towards the Chapman house to hide from the hawk. Tobias noticed that "Chapman" had captured Rachel and Jake, who were placed inside Chapman's car before the man drove off. Jake then thought-spoke to Tobias, telling him to follow the car to its destination and to bring the others with him.
Tobias, along with Marco and Cassie, made their way to the abandoned construction site, where "Chapman" had brought Rachel and Jake. Tobias watched as Jake and Rachel managed to escape from the Blade ship, where they had been taken, prior to the ship's planned lift-off. When Visser Three morphed into a giant rock beast and began to chase Rachel, Tobias realized Rachel had no way out and flew towards her. As Rachel leaped in mid-air to certain doom, Tobias snatched her out of mid-air; however, as her tomcat morph was too heavy for him, Tobias struggled to fly, only managing to get to the woods bordering the construction site before dropping Rachel above the treeline, although she was able to land safely and demorph. Tobias then noticed the other Animorphs safely escaping and relayed the news to Rachel. A few days later, the Animorphs all regrouped once more, by which point Tobias became aware that Chapman had become a voluntary host to ensure Melissa's freedom. When the group discussed what they would do next, Tobias affirmed that they would keep fighting until the Andalites came.[1]
Freeing Price-Cut Polly
"A hawk was in a tiny cage, being used as a prop for some lowlife car dealer. That wasn't going to go on. Not if I could help it. [...] There were people coming for me. I saw a mechanic swinging a long steel wrench. But I wasn't going to leave without freeing this bird. Hawks do not belong in cages. Hawks belong in the sky."
Despite it not even being a month since he'd been trapped in morph, Tobias began to forget how he looked like when he was human. Spending his time soaring through the skies, Tobias located a female red-tailed hawk named Price-Cut Polly being kept in captivity to serve as a mascot for Dealin' Dan Hawke's Used Cars. Wanting to free her, Tobias asked Rachel to assist him, and she readily agreed. One Saturday, Tobias flew above the car dealership, where he noticed that there was a crew preparing to film a live commercial. Tobias noticed Dealin' Dan Hawke input the combination for Price-Cut Polly's cage and dove down towards her. Landing on the cage, he began to input the code; he was spotted by other employees and was filmed by the cameras doing so. One of the mechanics nearly succeeded in hitting Tobias in the head with a wrench, prompting Tobias to ask Rachel where she was.
Rachel, now in elephant morphed, started stomping on convertibles and destroying them, redirecting both the attention of the employees and the film crew, as well as Dan Hawke. Tobias used the diversion to finish inputting the combination and opened the cage, and Price-Cut Polly flew free. Tobias and Rachel then retreated to the small patch of woods behind the dealership. As Rachel demorphed, she slightly berated him for performing the jailbreak during a live commercial filming; Tobias offered to take the blame for it, knowing that the other Animorphs would hear of it, although Rachel expressed her enjoyment at stomping cars. Rachel then made her way to the convenience store to buy flip-flops so she could take the bus home while Tobias flew away. Heading Downtown, Tobias spent his time soaring past skyscrapers. He then noticed something flying above his head; while it was invisible, with his hawk vision he could see that it was causing ripples in the air. Tobias began following it but failed to catch up as it moved away too fast, although he was able to discern that it had come from the mountains.
Tobias then made his way to Rachel's house and spotted her on the street below getting off the bus. Rachel then entered her house, and Tobias flew in through the open window into Rachel's bedroom, where Jake, Cassie and Marco were waiting. As Rachel entered the room, the duo were yelled at Marco and Jake for their reckless behavior. However, everyone quickly made up and the conversation turned jovial. The group then decided go their separate ways for the evening, although not before Jake asked Tobias if he was coming back home. Tobias told Jake that he would return later as he wanted to spend the evening flying. Jake then stated that he would leave some dinner for him in the attic and asked if Tobias was able to open Rubbermaid containers, which Tobias affirmed he could. Tobias noticed the others looking away when Jake mentioned the attic, and registered that they were feeling sorry for him. When the others left, Tobias stayed behind in Rachel's room for a few more moments, where Rachel said that she didn't like the idea of him living in an attic. Tobias then told her that he would be okay and bid her a good night before flying out into the night.[6]
Truck Ship Investigation
"As of right now, as of today, only one of us has been hurt. Me. But I'm not going to give up. I'm not anyone's leader. But what I am going to do is go to the mountains tomorrow morning. What the rest of you do is your business."
The next day, on Sunday, Tobias was flying when he felt the disturbance above him again. He then saw a flock of geese in front of him get struck the disturbance, killing and crippling the flock. However, rather than falling down, the geese turned and smacked into the object, revealing gray steel beneath every time they struck, revealing it to be a space ship. As the bodies of the dead and crippled geese fell to the ground, Tobias determined that the ship belonged to the Yeerks and noticed that it was headed towards the mountains. Gathering the rest of the Animorphs at Cassie's father's Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic on their farm, Tobias informed them about the ship's existence and how it was coming and going 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.
Tobias lands on a branch in the forest
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 travel there with wolf morphs; there was a pair of wolves at the barn, with Jake acquiring the male while the other three acquired the female. Tobias flew above them as the others entered the forest from the edge of Cassie's farm, and watched as they morphed into wolves. Tobias felt a pang of jealously watching them run as wolves and decided to fly off to do some reconnaissance. He then spotted a convoy of Jeeps and trucks bearing the insignia of the National Park Service and watched as Park Rangers armed with automatic weapons emerged from these vehicles and forced campers into their vehicles at gunpoint. Tobias also watched as a pair of Park Service helicopters containing Hork-Bajir-Controllers landed around the edges of a lake.
Tobias flies by the mountain lake
Tobias immediately returned to the forest to find his friends and noticed a wolf pack below. Believing they were the other Animorphs, he landed in front of them, only to realize these were wild wolves. Barely escaping with his life, Tobias flew around for another ten minutes before finding his friends; he then warned them about the Park Ranger Controllers and the Hork-Bajir that were by the lake. The Animorphs decided to head to the lake, where they watched as the disturbance Tobias had spotted uncloaked itself, revealing a giant ship. Noticing that the giant ship had oxygen intake and was currently draining water for the lake, Marco laughed as he and Tobias stated that the Yeerks now had an additional weakness; the ship, which they dubbed a Truck ship, was designed to transport oxygen and water to orbit, most likely to the Pool ship, meaning the Yeerks needed those two elements to survive and could not manufacture them on their own.
Tobias then noticed Price-Cut Polly flying in the skies above, enjoying the updraft generated by the Truck ship. Tobias began flying up towards her, with his hawk mind and body desiring to be with her. However, he quickly came to his sense and was repulsed at the hawk feelings that had burgeoned inside of him. He then returned to the forest, where he saw the others locked in a staredown with a rival wolf pack, with a dead rabbit in between them. As they could not walk away without seeming weak, which would then cause the other pack to attack, Tobias swooped down and snatched the dead rabbit, redirecting the rival pack's attention towards him and allowing his friends to escape. Tobias then dropped the rabbit before the rival male wolf could kill him. Soaring above, he noticed the clock on the dashboard of a Park Service vehicle, which read that it was seven minutes over the two-hour morphing limit. Tobias then rushed back to the other Animorphs and screamed at them to demorph, watching in horror as they struggled. Cassie, who quickly demorphed without problems, coached the others in successfully regaining their human forms. As the team hugged and rejoiced over not being trapped in morph, Tobias despaired over the fact that he would forever be trapped in morph and flew away in agony while his friends yelled at him to come back.[6]
Suicide Attempt
"I was just going to end this right now. I would hit the glass at full speed and maybe that would awaken me from this nightmare. [...] I didn't care. I wanted to hit something. I wanted to wake up. I wanted to fall to the ground because my wings had disappeared and been replaced by clumsy legs and flailing arms. I wanted to be me again. [...] The hawk powered straight up. Straight up at the glass that he didn't understand. The glass that would be like a brick wall. But I couldn't fight it anymore. The hawk had won. [...] Glass shards fell around me. I shot through the hole. Sky! The hawk flew fast and straight. I let it go. I surrendered. Tobias, a boy whose face I could no longer remember, no longer existed."
Tobias returned to the attic of the Berenson Residence that night, although he was dissatisfied with his sleeping arrangement and the cold hamburger meat he had to eat, with his hawk mind wanting to sleep on a nest in a tree while eating live prey. Feeling restless, Tobias flew to Rachel's house and fluttered his wings outside of her bedroom window. Rachel then invited Tobias in, telling him it was safe for him to enter as she had locked her bedroom door. Landing on her dresser, Tobias took a good look at his hawk body using Rachel's mirror before telling her about the pull he felt towards Price-Cut Polly and that he felt like he was losing himself. Rachel then told Tobias that he was a human and that his body didn't determine that, but rather his heart and mind. Tobias solemnly replied that he didn't even remember what his human self looked like; in response, Rachel showed him a picture she had of him in her nightstand and that he looked better than the picture showed. Rachel claimed that one day the Andalites would come and restored Tobias' human form, although Tobias noticed that she was holding back tears. Tobias then left her room and returned back to his drawer in Jake's attic.
The next morning, which was a Tuesday, Tobias was informed by Jake that he would be holding a team meeting in his room after school, and that Tom would not be there as his Yeerk would be attending a meeting of The Sharing. Tobias spent his day soaring above the thermals at the beach and watched the other Animorphs leave school. As they assembled in Jake's room, Tobias flew in through the window. The team discussed the Truck ship, and Marco 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, although not before Marco told Rachel that he would come see her perform her gymnastic exhibition at the mall in a short while. 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. As Marco discussed playing Doom, Tobias flew out of Jake's window, mentally remarking that with his eyesight and reaction time he might be good at the game. He then thought of all the things he could do as a hawk that he couldn't do as a human, such as entering amusement parks and attending outdoor concerts for free.
While relaxing during his flight, Tobias spotted a rat and his hawk's instincts took over, causing him to kill the rat and take a bite. Swallowing the rat meat, Tobias quickly regained his sense and was horrified at what he had done. Returning to the sky, Tobias wanted to see Rachel and flew towards the mall. However, by the time he got to the mall, Tobias felt suicidal at the prospect of being stuck as a hawk and decided to hit the glass doors of one of the mall's entrances, which would kill him. As he dove and aimed for the glass door, one of the mallgoers opened the first door; as the second set of doors was open too, Tobias flew into the mall. Tobias then noticed Rachel doing her routine and tried to hit a wall, although he flared his wings and killed his speed when Rachel called out to him and pleaded at him to not do it. Tumbling down into Rachel's arms, he shrieked that he was lost and that he had killed. Rachel told Tobias that he was not lost so long as he had her and the other Animorphs before tossing him up into the air. Tobias avoided being attacked by other mall-goers and aimed straight up at the skylight, intent on hitting it at full speed and ending his life. Tobias noticed Marco on the second floor of the mall who quickly threw a baseball at the skylight right before Tobias could collide with it. As the skylight shattered, Tobias surrendered completely to the hawk's mind and flew out into the open sky.[6]
Living in the Wild
"I found a place for myself. It was perfect red-tail territory — the place where I had made my first kill. A nice meadow surrounded by trees. [...] I spent my days hunting. Sometimes I would ride the high hot winds and watch the meadow. Sometimes I would sit in a tree and watch till some unwary creature ventured out. Then I would swoop down on it, snatch it up, kill it. Eat it while the blood was still warm. [...] Suddenly I saw fast movement in the woods. A chase! It was always kind of exciting watching a kill, even by another species. It heightened my own hunting edge. [...] I don't know how to describe what happened next. It was like my entire world flipped over. Like one minute it was one thing, one way, then, boom, it was something totally different. It was like opening your eyes after a dream. The prey was a human being. The predator was a Hork-Bajir. This was wrong. Wrong! It had to be stopped."
With the hawk mind in charge, Tobias flew to the meadow where he had killed the rat and established a territory for himself, building himself a nest in a tree and spending his days hunting prey. He then spent three days living as a true red-tailed hawk. While the hawk mind was dominant during the day, Tobias' human mind resurfaced at night, showing the hawk mind memories of his past life. However, Tobias' human mind wished to stay submerged and let the hawk be in control. On Friday, after thinking of Price-Cut Polly, Tobias decided to fly to the mountain lake area to see her. There, he spotted a bear cave where raccoons and skunks ran in to hide from predators such as himself, and noted that there were no bears living in the cave. He spotted Price-Cut Polly and observed as she failed to kill a baby raccoon.
Tobias then saw and heard a human man screaming and running through the forest, and noticed that he was being chased by a Hork-Bajir-Controller. While initially regarding the scene as predator chasing prey, recognizing the Hork-Bajir caused Tobias' human consciousness to reassert complete control. Deciding that he could not sit by and do nothing, Tobias swooped down and gouged the Hork-Bajir's eyes. As the Hork-Bajir-Controller screamed, he informed the other Controllers in the area, both Hork-Bajir and Park Rangers, that the man was escaping. With reinforcements converging, Tobias decided to thought-speak to the man and navigated him through the forest, telling him when to hide and when to run. Upon reaching safety, Tobias told the man to keep quiet about what he had seen.
With his human mind dominant once more, Tobias flew to Rachel's house to speak to her. Surprising Rachel, who tried to hug him, he was then berated for disappearing on his friends. Tobias explained to Rachel how the hawk mind had won over and how he had killed prey for food, before revealing how he had helped the man in the forest. After the pair discussed the predator-prey dynamic for a while, Tobias uttered how he felt trapped and wished he had fingers to move and a mouth he could verbally speak out of. Tobias also apologized for ruining her exhibition at the mall, although Rachel laughed and thanked him for it since she hated doing public routines. Rachel started to caress Tobias' crest and reminded him that the other Animorphs, even Marco, would be there for him and that he was not alone. Tobias then told Rachel that he had to go see Jake to discuss their planned mission the next day; when Rachel replied that they didn't have to go through with it, Tobias declared that the human hosts of the Yeerks were trapped in their bodies, a sentiment he was now familiar with, and that while he was trapped permanently, the hosts were not; thus, he wanted to keep fighting so that they could free some of these hosts. He then left Rachel's house and flew to the Berenson Residence, where he spoke with Jake.[6]
Truck Ship Destruction
"Visser Three was a predator? Well, so was I. And I no longer had anything to be afraid of. If my friends were to die in the mother ship, I would be lost and alone in a world where I belonged nowhere. I had nothing more to lose. [...] Then, with one sharp talon, I pulled the trigger on the Dracon beam. It burned a hole through the window, sliced through a fat Taxxon, and began slicing up control panels and instruments like a hot knife going through butter. I squeezed that trigger for as long as I could. At last, exhausted, I could do no more. The Dracon beam slipped from my talon and plunged toward the earth below. But I had done it."
The next morning, Tobias and the other Animorphs gathered and solidified their plan: the others 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 the empty bear cave that Tobias had found. Then, when the Truck ship arrived, the four morph-capable Animorphs 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. To aid them, 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.
Tobias flew above his friends as they ran through the forest as wolves and reached the cave. When Rachel reported that there were spiders and a mouse inside the cave, Tobias decided to make a joke and asked that they chase the mouse outside since he was hungry; while the others had thought he had said something embarrassing, Marco laughed at his joke. The four others then retrieved the fishing line and hooks and tried to catch a fish, but struggled to successfully catch a fish. As hours passed with no success, Tobias considered postponing the plan, but Jake responded that they couldn't since they were busy on Sunday and that the Yeerks might move to another lake by the next weekend. Just then, Cassie revealed that she had caught a trout, which the four then acquired. Tobias then flew up into the sky and noticed Price-Cut Polly on a branch, and felt his hawk's body mating instincts react to her presence. Realizing that she wanted him too, Tobias decided that he was not ready for a mate, let alone one who was a hawk, and told himself he would not return to the mountains after the mission as her presence stirred hawk feelings within him.
Just then, he was shaken out of his reverie by the sound of Park Rangers driving down the dirt roads in their Jeeps. Tobias flew back towards where his friends were and yelled at them to hide. As they ran towards the cave to hide, he noticed that they were struggling to get pass the thorns. He then heard a Park Service helicopter approaching the area, and knowing that his friends were not yet inside the cave and thus would be spotted, Tobias flew towards the helicopter. Playing a game of chicken, Tobias rushed straight for the windshield until at the last moment, he turned right as the chopper turned left; as he regained his balance, he saw Rachel finally enter the cave and remarked that Rachel definitely would've been spotted had he not distracted the helicopter. He then watched as the Truck ship descended alongside another helicopter and four Bug fighters. Tobias took stock of the fact that there were four Bug fighters instead of the usual two and that the Controllers on the ground were in a frenzy, shooting at any animal they saw. At that moment, Tobias observed as the Blade ship uncloaked itself and landed, from which multiple other Hork-Bajir-Controllers exited alongside Visser Three himself.
Realizing that the Visser and the extra security were there because he had helped the man escape the other day, Tobias flew into the cave and notified the others about the sudden change in plans. 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 for a red-tailed hawk to carry, they could morph in the cave and be flown into the water by Tobias. Tobias then carried Cassie, Jake and Marco one-by-one before returning to the cave, tired, to drop Rachel off. However, at that moment, a human-Controller and a Hork-Bajir-Controlled located the cave and began to enter. Picking up Rachel in his talons, Tobias flew out of the cave. The Hork-Bajir-Controller tried to shoot him with a Dracon beam, although Tobias was able to dodge. The beam then hit the Truck ship, burning a small hole into it. Tobias then flew to the water and deposited Rachel with the others, who bid him farewell as they swam towards the Truck ship, which had begun its water intake.
Although he was to hang back, Tobias wanted to stay close to his friends and decide to fly under the Truck ship, in between the small gap above the water surface and the bottom of the ship. This allowed him to thought-speak with his friends for a while before they got sucked up by the water pipes and found themselves in a water tank, with a grate on top. The other four decided to wait until the water filled the tank all the way up, at which point they could demorph and open the grate in order to infiltrate the ship. Unable to keep flying in such a small space, Tobias flew out under the ship and used a thermal generated by the ship to soar high above it. He then watched as the Hork-Bajir-Controller who had tried to shoot him was brutally tortured and killed by Visser Three. Just then, he saw Visser Three point towards the sky before the helicopters and Bug fighters began to head towards him.
Deducing that the Hork-Bajir-Controller had told Visser Three that he had been trying to shoot a bird prior to being killed and that Visser Three was probably informed that the Hork-Bajir who had let the man escape the day before had also been attacked by a bird, Tobias realized that the Yeerks were now looking for a bird in the sky whom they believed to be an Andalite in morph. Upon being spotted, Tobias narrowly avoided being struck by a Dracon beam before he recalled the punishment the Hork-Bajir-Controller had received; he then flew straight up and landed on top of the Truck ship, having concluded that it was only spot where he would not be fired upon since the Yeerks would also hit the ship. As helicopters and Bug fighters surrounded him, the Blade ship also rose up to face him. Visser Three then thought-spoke with Tobias, telling the "Andalite" that he had patience and would wait there all day if he had to.
Just then, Rachel thought-spoke to Tobias, informing them that the grate could not be opened and that they were trapped in the water tank. As Tobias panicked and asked what he was supposed to do, Rachel stated that their plan was to demorph and tread water until the Truck ship docked with the Pool ship, at which point they would assume battle morphs and go down fighting. However, Rachel added that none of the Animorphs wanted to be taken alive and thus asked Tobias if there was anything he could do to destroy the Truck ship, even though its destruction would likely kill the Animorphs on board. Tobias, struggling to grasp with this new reality, then tried to tell Rachel that he had feelings for her before she cut him off and told him that she already knew about it. She then bid him goodbye and demorphed, removing her ability to thought-speak.
As the conversation ended, Visser Three decided to send out a group of Taxxons armed with Dracon beams, who were inside the Truck ship, out to the surface to kill Tobias. Not wanting to live alone in a world where his friends had been killed, Tobias affirmed that he now had nothing to lose. He then lunged towards the eyes of a nearby Taxxon and then grabbed its Dracon beam. He then made his way to the bridge of the Truck ship and squeezed the trigger with all his might, destroying the controls. The Truck ship then began to careen and slammed into a helicopter as well a Bug fighter; the point of collision had been where the water tank was, causing the water to hemorrhage down like a waterfall and for the other Animorphs to come falling out.
Despite being unable to save them, Tobias dove after them and witnessed as all four quickly rapid-morphed into their respective birds-of-prey before they could hit the ground. As the Truck ship slammed down onto the surface, it created an concussive shockwave that caused the nearby animals and birds to flee. Tobias then watched as Price-Cut Polly flew into the sky seeking refuge. However, as the Yeerks had gotten a good look at Tobias, they believed Price-Cut Polly to be him and shot at her with a Dracon beam, incinerating one of her wings, which caused Price-Cut Polly to fall to the ground below. The Yeerks then destroyed the grounded Truck ship to eliminate the evidence as the Animorphs escaped.
The next day, Tobias flew into Rachel's room through her bedroom window, where she told him that she and Cassie wanted to find Price-Cut Polly's body and bury her. Tobias informed her that he realized he was still human when he felt immense sadness at the thought of Price-Cut Polly being shot, but that she was meant to be eaten by other animals since that was the way life worked. Rachel retorted that life only worked that way for wild animals and not for humans, and Tobias responded that he was both human and hawk. Rachel then looked at him with sadness but didn't say anything more, and Tobias decided to leave through her window and spend his Sunday enjoying the nice thermals.[6]
Meeting Ax
"You... you found an Andalite!" "Yes. Tobias, meet Ax. That's his nickname, anyway. Ax, meet Tobias. Tobias is one of us." "Sort of, anyway. I liked this morph so much I moved in permanently." "You were trapped? [...] You have paid a price for the gift of my brother, Elfangor." "Prince Elfangor was your brother? I was with him at the end."
Tobias continued to live as a red-tailed hawk and spent his days flying alongside cars while using his raptor vision to spot their speedometer, this granting him the ability to mentally clock his own flying speed. Tobias then began experiencing dreams of a voice in the ocean calling to him, although he kept it to himself. One night, around midnight, he flew to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic on Cassie's farm. He noticed a squirrel scampering about and swooped down to kill it, although he was startled when the other animals in the barn started making loud noises as a fox had entered. The fox then chased the squirrel, who was Cassie in morph, with the latter using thought-speak to ask Tobias to save her. Tobias was stunned that the squirrel he nearly hunted was Cassie before swooping down and slashing at the fox with his talons, prompting the fox to run away. As Cassie began to demorph, Tobias noticed that someone was approaching the barn and warned Cassie that she still had a tail. Cassie's father Walter then entered the barn and told Cassie to return to the house before going back himself. Cassie then spoke about how she was having weird dreams with a voice calling to her, and Tobias added that the voice was coming from the sea. Cassie and Tobias then both realized that they were having the same dreams.
After school, the Animorphs decided to hold a meeting at Rachel's house, with Tobias flying overhead to ensure that everything was safe and that none of them were being followed. Tobias and Cassie then informed the others of their shared dreams. While Rachel and Marco were skeptical, Jake pulled out a video cassette and asked Rachel if they could use her VCR, and the team, including Tobias, went downstairs to the living room. Jake then inserted the tape and showed them footage from last night's news that he had recorded, which showed a metal fragment that had washed up on the beach. Jake pointed out that the writing on the metal fragment was the same writing he saw when he entered Elfangor's ship to retrieve the morphing cube and that he believed the fragment was a piece of an Andalite ship. Just then, both Cassie and Tobias fainted, and he experienced a stronger vision and recognized that the voice calling to him from the ocean was using thought-speech. As Tobias and Cassie regained consciousness, she mused that the voice sounded familiar, and Tobias immediately stated that it reminded him of Elfangor's voice; the two then concluded that the voice calling out to them was an Andalite under the ocean who was sending out a distress signal. As they discussed a potential rescue operation, Tobias claimed that he didn't believe he should vote on whether they should commit to a rescue mission as he would not be able to participate in an underwater mission, but that he would vote to rescue an Andalite. The team then headed to the beach to see if they 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 was flying above them, struggled to see well as it was now nighttime, but was able to notice a large group of people with flashlights who were also on the beach. Deciding to spy on them, he flew above them and realized that it was The Sharing, led by "Chapman" and "Tom". Tobias eavesdropped on the Controllers and learned that the metal fragment was indeed from an Andalite ship and that Visser Three was also receiving the visions. He then flew back to the other Animorphs and relayed this information. Just then, the Controllers noticed the footprints of the Animorphs and began to follow them. Tobias then watched as the Animorphs ran closer to the water as one of the Controllers began firing at them with a handgun. The others were able to successfully submerge themselves under the water and morphed into trout in order to swim away.
On Thursday, Tobias flew to The Gardens and watched from above as the other four Animorphs acquiredbottlenose dolphin morphs. The next day, the Animorphs grouped up at a river estuary that led into the ocean, where Rachel tied a Timex watch onto Tobias' leg so that he could keep track of their morphing time. As the other Animorphs morphed into dolphins and made their way to sea, Tobias flew above the ocean and remained in thought-speech communication with them, where he became exasperated when the others succumbed to the dolphin's playful instincts. When the others decided to engage in a fight with some sharks to protect a humpback whale, Tobias spotted the sharks and the whale and notified them of the sheer size of the humpback. Marco was nearly bitten in half by one of the sharks, forcing him to demorph, although the humpback rose up from the water to support him. Tobias then flew down and landed on the humpback whale next to Marco as the whale telepathically informed Cassie where the Andalite was located. After ten minutes, Marco returned to his dolphin morph and joined the others in swimming back to the river estuary, while Tobias flew overhead.
On Saturday, Tobias traveled to Rachel's house to attend another meeting, where the Animorphs realized that the Andalite's location was much further than a dolphin could reach in two hours. They then decided to acquire and morph into seagulls and then land on a container ship until it brought them closer to where the Andalite was, at which point they would they jump off the ship and morph into dolphins. The next day, a Sunday, Tobias flew with the Animorphs and landed on the Newmar, a container ship headed towards Singapore. However, Tobias told them that he could not remain with them as it would be risky for him to fly the distance back alone with no rest. With that, Tobias took off, but not before giving them back the watch so they could keep track of time.
Late that evening, Tobias was by the river estuary when he noticed his friends and an Andalite emerging from the water. He landed on a tree branch above them and expressed shock when he noticed that they had actually rescued an Andalite. Cassie introduced Tobias and the Andalite, nicknamed Ax, to each other, and Tobias informed Ax that he was trapped in morph. Ax expressed his remorse and stated that he had paid a price for the gift his brother had given them, and Tobias, surprised that Ax was Elfangor's brother, stated that he had been with Elfangor in his final moments. Jake then wondered what they were going to do with Ax, as they had nowhere to keep him and he could not travel in town with them. Cassie offered to hide him on her farm, as it contained forests, meadows and woods that extended into the national forest. Marco chimed in that they still couldn't bring Ax to the farm in his Andalite state. Ax then declared that he needed to morph and approached Cassie.[19] Asking for permission,[note 5] Ax acquired Cassie, Marco, Jake and Rachel in succession. Tobias then watched as Ax began to blend the four acquired DNA strands into one unique strand and created a unique human morph. He then flew above his friends as they walked Ax to the farm.[19]
Aerial Support
Taken to Space
"At least we can hurt them a little before they catch up with us. Except for Tobias." "You have to do what's right for the group. I'll have to take my chances. I'd feel better knowing you guys were still out there somewhere, making trouble for the Yeerks."
A short while after Ax had joined them, Tobias flew above the other Animorphs as they walked towards the edge of a field on Cassie's farm in order to speak with Ax. Tobias ensured that there were no one nearby to witness the encounter and then flew down to land on the grass to participate in the conversation. He listened as Jake revealed that Ax wanted to return to the Andalite home world and that they would need to steal a Yeerk ship to do so, with Ax clarifying that he could create a Yeerk Distress Beacon to summon a Bug fighter. Tobias asked Ax if he could actually return home with a Yeerk ship, and whether he could do anything to expedite Andalite reinforcements for Earth, and Ax responded that he believed he could return home and convince his people to come to Earth sooner. The Animorphs then decided to help Ax create his distress beacon. A few days later, on a Saturday morning, Tobias observed the bus route that would take Jake, Ax and Marco from the farm to the mall, as Ax needed parts. He then flew into the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, where the other Animorphs were, and informed the others that the bus was on schedule.
The next day, a Sunday, Tobias flew above as the other Animorphs had a picnic below him in the woods while Ax assembled the distress beacon. Noticing a golden eagle, Tobias flew down to stay out of sight. He then asked them what was going on, and listened as Rachel stated that the beacon was useless without a Z-Space transponder, a piece of technology that humans might be a century or two away from inventing. Tobias mused on whether the Yeerks would have a Z-Space transponder, specifically noting that they knew that "Chapman" had a device that he used to communicate with Visser Three's Blade ship and wondering if it would contain a transponder. Ax confirmed that such a communication device would indeed 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 was against the idea of re-infiltrating the Chapman Residence, as the last time they had done so, they had nearly caused Melissa Chapman to be infested, and Jake agreed that they would not endanger Melissa. Cassie then 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 Animorphs discussed whether to morph into red ants or black ants; Tobias later performed reconnaissance on Chapman's backyard and informed the team that most of the garden ants there were black.
The next night, Tobias flew into the backyard of the empty house next to the Chapman Residence, which was vacant as it was for sale, and landed on an oak tree in the backyard. When Marco asked if Tobias would keep an eye on them, Tobias stated that his vision was bad at night but that he believed he would be able to see them while they were above ground due to the moonlight. He then watched as the others morphed into ants, and told them that they were going the wrong way. When they did not respond to him, he realized the ant mind was in control and used his thought-speak to repeatedly tell them to fight back and assert themselves. Marco then screamed in thought-speak, scaring Tobias, who thought Marco was being killed. Marco then explained that he had just regained his consciousness and that his mind was gone, as if he did not exist. Tobias then yelled at him to demorph as the others screamed and cried as they regained their sense of self. Tobias, who had been on a branch above the tree, had flown down onto the ground during the chaos. The others decided to continue the mission, and so Tobias guided them in the right direction, but told them that he would not enter Chapman's backyard. He then waited for them to return and watched as they burst out of the ground some time later. He asked them if they were okay, and watched as Marco retrieved the transponder from the dirt; the others took a moment to gather themselves before they all escaped from Chapman's backyard and returned to their respective homes.
A few days later, Tobias returned to the fields of Cassie's farm, where the other Animorphs were holding a meeting. As Ax had completed the distress beacon, the team struggled to find an adequate place to spring their trap, as they did not want to do it on Cassie's land as it was the only place they could keep Ax if the plan failed, and also did not want to trigger it within their city if they could help it. Tobias then informed them that he knew of a gravel quarry that was about a hour's flight away. Jake then stated that Ax would need to acquire a bird morph, which Ax agreed to as he stated that he admired Tobias' bird shape. On Saturday, the Animorphs flew out to the gravel quarry, where Ax praised the ability to fly and his northern harrier's eyes. In response, Tobias told Ax that he thought his eyes were slightly better than a harrier's. Arriving at the quarry, Ax activated the beacon while the other Animorphs assumed their battle morphs; Tobias flapped up to gain altitude and stayed above.
When a Bug fighter landed, a Hork-Bajir-Controller stepped out. Tobias then plummeted from the sky and used his talons to rake the Hork-Bajir's face before Jake and Rachel attacked and pinned him respectively. However, they were soon surrounded by a hundred Hork-Bajir-Controllers armed with Dracon beams, who surrounded them. Cassie urged Tobias to fly away and escape, but Tobias told her that due to a lack of headwind, he would need to flap all the way back up into the sky and that the Yeerks would easily be able to disintegrate him with the Dracon beams if he attempted to do so. Visser Three then arrived and ridiculed them for using an outdated frequency before notifying the Animorphs that he would bringing them to the mother ship,[20] also known as the Pool ship,[21] in order to present them to his superior, Visser One. Tobias joined the other Animorphs as they were herded inside of the Blade ship, where they confined in a dimly-lit room as the Blade ship flew out of the quarry and back into space. As the Blade ship made its way towards the Pool ship, Tobias stated that the others did not have much time left in morph and suggested that they attack "in a blaze of glory" as soon as the doors opened, in an attempt to do some damage before they were killed. Despite contemplating it, Jake instead urged them to retain some hope.
The Animorphs were then presented by Visser Three to Visser One, and Rachel remarked on how the two Vissers clearly did not like each other. When Visser One walked away, Visser Three deliberated on what to do with the "six Andalite bodies" and mused at the thought of giving them to six of his lieutenants, which caused Ax to yell that Visser Three was filth and an abomination. Visser Three then asked them why Ax was the only one who had spoken to him and why the rest of them remained in their Earth morphs rather than demorphing, although he then shrugged it off and ordered his guards to confine the Animorphs to a holding cell. As the Animorphs were marched towards the cell, Tobias found himself with inadequate room to fly and instead rode on Marco's gorilla shoulder. 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, to whch Tobias told them that the group needed to do what was best for them and that he would take his chances on the Pool ship, adding that he would feel better if he knew the Animorphs were out there fighting the Yeerks.
Before they could enact their plan, the door to the cell opened, revealing three gold-uniformed Hork-Bajir-Controllers standing by a group of either knocked out or dead red-uniformed Hork-Bajir-Controllers. One of the gold-uniformed Hork-Bajir-Controllers notified them how to get to the dropshaft and that if they took it down fifteen floors, they would find an escape pod that was programmed to return them to the quarry. The Animorphs wondered why the Yeerks would want to help them escape, and Ax pointed out that the gold-uniformed Controllers were part of Visser One's guard, and that if they escaped, it would look bad for Visser Three. With a laugh, Cassie remarked that Visser One was helping them escape for political reasons. As the Animorphs ran out of their holding cell, Tobias informed them that there were red-uniformed Hork-Bajir coming at them from both sides. The team made their way throughout the Pool ship when Tobias heard Rachel yell and called out to her. Rachel informed them that she had found the dropshaft, and Ax notified the team that they could use thought-speak to tell the dropshaft what floor they wanted to get off at. Tobias joined the others as they descended down the dropshaft, but he noticed a Hork-Bajir-Controller following them. He then declared that he would take care of it and flew up towards the Hork-Bajir, and used his talons to rake his eyes out. The Hork-Bajir-Controller then screamed and shot past the Animorphs. Tobias rejoined his friends as they exited the dropshaft and made their way into the escape pod, which detached from the Pool ship and flew the team back to the quarry.[20]
Detaining Jake
"If you kill me, you'll kill your friend, as well." "Yes. I know." "You won't do it." "Right from the start we have all said the same thing — better to die than be a Controller. But in any case, I don't need to kill you. I can simply put your eyes out. A blind falcon doesn't fly far."
One Saturday, Tobias flew to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, where he was meeting with Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco. There, he listened as Jake revealed that he had morphed into a cockroach at home that morning and had nearly been caught by his mother before then being trapped in a Roach Motel, forcing him to demorph behind the refrigerator. As the other Animorphs laughed, Cassie berated Jake for his recklessness, and when Jake tried to defend himself, Tobias thought-spoke to him and told him that this was one of those times when he should just accept Cassie's criticism with a "yes, ma'am." After he apologized to Cassie, Jake informed the team that he had been spying on Tom, and that Tom's Yeerk had risen up the ranks of the Yeerk Empire; additionally, Jake divulged that "Tom" had been making several phone calls to the Berman Clinic, a hospital in their city whose staff had been partially infested by the Yeerk Empire. Realizing that the Yeerks had taken over a hospital as a way to infest more host bodies, Jake wanted them to use the cockroach morph to infiltrate a leadership meeting at The Sharing's Headquarters to learn more information. However, as the team needed to first master the ability to interpret verbal speech while in cockroach morph, a decision was made to practice the morph.
Some other night, Tobias joined the team as they gathered at Marco's new apartment. There, Tobias watched as the others, minus Jake, turned into cockroaches, and communicated Jake's comments to the team using his thought-speech. When the group demorphed, Jake suddenly wanted to do the mission alone as Tom could kill them, to which Tobias clarified that it was Tom's Yeerk who wanted to kill them and not Tom himself. Jake then revealed to the others how he had a dream where he was in his tiger morph hunting Tom and that he felt the predator's instinct to kill; hearing this, Tobias instantly turned away. On Thursday night, Tobias flew above the Animorphs as they walked to The Sharing's headquarters, where he grumbled about how his vision was not that great at night. As the Animorphs ented an abandoned restaurant, Tobias flew into the dark building and exclaimed in pain as he banged his wing on a pillar. Tobias watched as the others morphed into cockroaches, and assured Marco that he would not let any rats eat them. Tobias felt disgusted watching them be roaches and informed them that he had the "willies"; when Marco retorted that this was a bit much coming from someone who ate live mice, Tobias shot back that Marco should not criticize it unless he tried it. Tobias then flew out of the restaurant and perched atop a telephone pole, and used the street's lighting to guide the Animorphs towards The Sharing's building. Waiting outside, Tobias soon noticed a limousine followed by other cars suddenly pulling up, with armed men exiting the vehicles. Tobias relayed this information to Jake, and upon noticing that a man who had exited the limo was walking strangely, added that he felt a bad vibe coming from this man.
Tobias soon found out that the Animorphs inside had been spotted and were being attacked. As the other Animorphs successfully escaped, Jake only made it to the front door before being unable to move as he been hit with bug spray. Tobias then swooped in and grabbed Jake, and joked that he was the pilot of Red-tailed Airlines picking up a passenger. As he flew away, Tobias noticed the strange man exit the building along with "Tom" and noticed that "Tom" and the strange man looked pretty close. Tobias managed to fly to a Boston Market, where he dropped Jake's roach form on the rooftop and urged him to demorph. As Jake demorphed, Tobias flew around to check in with the other Animorphs, where Marco informed Tobias that the strange man was Visser Three in human morph and that the Yeerks wanted to infest the Governor of California,[22] who planned to run for President in the future.[note 6] Returning to Jake, Tobias saw that he had successfully demorphed, and when Jake thanked him, Tobias commented that he was Jake's personal Air Force. Tobias then notified Jake about how close "Tom" and Visser Three seemed to be, which prompted Jake to wonder what Visser Three would do to Tom if Tom's Yeerk failed him as Tobias remained silent.
On Saturday, Tobias flew to Cassie's barn, where the other Animorphs had acquired houseflies in preparation for their plan to infiltrate the hospital. As Cassie began to morph, Tobias' raptor vision caused him to see the horrifying changes with such detail that he flew out of the barn, refusing to come back until she was finished. Tobias flew back in when Ax informed him that Cassie had completed the morph, and Jake implored him to use his vision to keep an eye on Cassie, which Tobias did. After Cassie confirmed that the housefly was a manageable morph, the other Animorphs morphed into flies as well. Their plan was for them, as flies, to land on Tobias' neck as he flew them to the hospital, since flies would not be able to make the trip from Cassie's barn to the Berman Clinic. Tobias found the idea of houseflies around his neck to be disgusting, but proceeded with the plan anyway. During the flight, he was shocked when he was informed that he had fleas. Arriving at the hospital, Tobias spotted an open window with no screen and likened his role to being a plane while the other Animorphs were paratroopers. As the others jumped off, Tobias guided them to the open window, allowing them to infiltrate while he waited outside. Not too long after, a fight broke out at the Clinic, with an unconscious human Jake being carried out with a coat covering his face.
As Cassie brought Jake to the national forest, Tobias flew done to check on Jake, and thought-spoke to him when Jake did not respond to Cassie. After confirming that Jake was fine, Tobias flew up to check on Rachel and Ax and led them to the forest, where Ax accused Jake of actually being a human-Controller. The Animorphs questioned what to do if Jake was indeed under Yeerk control, and Tobias brought up that they could hold Jake for three days, which would starve out the Yeerk if he was infested. Cassie responded that they could not Jake for three days without his parents searching for him, which "Jake" affirmed, although Cassie quickly pointed out that Ax could acquire and morph into Jake for three days. When Ax touched Jake to acquire him, "Jake" yelled at Ax and referred to as him as "Andalite filth." As Jake's Yeerk tried to claim that he was still Jake and was just stressed, Tobias replied that Jake would never refer to Ax as "Andalite filth" no matter how stressed he was. The Animorphs wondered where they could hold Jake, and Tobias informed them that he knew of an abandoned shack in the national forest. He then guided the Animorphs and "Jake" through the forest, and when the Animorphs reached the shack, Tobias flew away to an abandoned campground to retrieve some leftover rope, which he brought back so that the Animorphs could tie "Jake" up.
Tobias and Rachel then took the first shift while Marco and Cassie instructed Ax on how to convincingly portray Jake. Later that night, "Jake" tried to escape using Jake's morphing ability, although the Animorphs thwarted him at every turn. On Monday, Tobias was keeping watch during the day when he noticed that "Jake" had begun morphing into a peregrine falcon. Tobias swooped down as "Jake" was in mid-morph and wrapped his talons around Jake's falcon head before threatening to kill him if he did not demorph. Jake's Yeerk reminded him that if he killed him while in falcon morph, it would kill Jake as well, to which Tobias responded that it was better to be dead than to be infested by a Yeerk; however, Tobias then noted that he did not need to kill him as he could simply gouge out the falcon's eyes, which would prevent Jake's Yeerk from flying away. Defeated, Jake's Yeerk demorphed back into human. The next morning, Jake's Yeerk died of Kandrona starvation and withered out of Jake's ear, freeing Jake from Yeerk control. Due to the damage and destruction at the Berman Clinic, the hospital was forced to shut down, which led to the governor not having his surgery there and the Yeerks being unable to infest him.[22]
Yeerk Pool Entrance Recon
"Tobias and I have been working out a pattern of surveillance. For the last week, we've followed our very favorite human-Controller, Assistant Principal Chapman, everywhere we can. Tobias tracks him from the air. Then I follow him when he goes into a building. [...] Well, I was hoping to amaze and entertain you all with the whole story of our brilliant detective work, but the short answer is — in a dressing room at The Gap. In the mall. That's the entrance. People go in, looking like they're going to try on clothes, and they never come out." "At least, they don't come out through The Gap. They come out through the movie theater. When the crowd leaves the movie at the end of the show, there are always more people leaving than went in."
Shortly after Jake's ordeal of being infested, Tobias was sought out by Marco for help advancing their surveillance efforts. Deciding to follow "Chapman", Tobias tracked him through the air while Marco followed on the ground whenever he entered a building. Quickly, the pair discovered that "Chapman", and other human-Controllers, were entering a dressing room at The Gap inside the mall, with Tobias noticing that these same human-Controllers would then would emerge out of the mall movie theater sometime later. The duo realized that The Gap contained a passageway into the Underground Yeerk Pool Complex, with a passageway also contained within the movie theater. Following the week's surveillance efforts, Marco gathered the other Animorphs and informed them of what he and Tobias had discovered, and the group discussed whether they should make a return trip to the Yeerk pool. Rachel inquired about the Kandrona that the Yeerks required, and Ax clarified that the Kandrona was a miniature sun that provided the necessary Kandrona rays to the Yeerks, and that the Kandrona didn't necessarily have to be within the underground Yeerk pool itself. Realizing that destroying the Kandrona could strike quite a blow to the Yeerk Empire, the Animorphs decided they would indeed be returning to the Yeerk pool complex, this time to perform surveillance in order to figure out the location of the Kandrona.[17]
The next night, Tobias was sleeping in his tree when he noticed a great horned owl swooping towards him, terrifying him. Rachel quickly clarified that she was in the owl morph, with Tobias admonishing for scaring her as owls were known to attack hawks if they got hungry; in addition, Tobias was sharing his meadow with another great horned owl, who hunted during the night while Tobias hunted during the day. Rachel apologized, remarking that she forgot how dangerous his life was, and Tobias humorously replied that there were some benefits, such as no longer having first period gym class. Tobias then asked her why she was flying out at night in owl morph; Rachel stated that she just needed to get out of the house, to which Tobias asks her why while adding that it also was not any of his business. Rachel told him that she was worried about having to return to the Yeerk pool and asked Tobias to join her on a flight to The Gardens so that she could acquire a new battle morph; Tobias however declined, telling her that while he could fly around the meadow with her, he would not fly all the way to The Gardens due it to being far and him having poor night vision, along with there being no thermals at night for him to soar on.
Noticing that something was bothering her, Tobias asked Rachel what the real issue was and assured her that she could talk to him, and Rachel quickly asked him what he thought they would do in the future when it was time to go to college. Tobias responded that he thought he would be able to get good grades in ornithology. Rachel clarified that she was curious what the Animorphs would do if the war with the Yeerk Empire was still ongoing by the time they went to college; Tobias answered that he never thought that far ahead, but that he figured the war would either be over by then, allowing them to resume their normal lives, or that the Yeerk Empire would win and they wouldn't have to worry about college. Rachel brought up having to fight the Yeerks in the pool complex again, to which Tobias reminded her that he would not be participating, as he would not be able to enter the pool with them through The Gap at the mall. Tobias noted that she was still upset about something, and urged her to go home as Rachel flew away from his meadow.[17]
While the Animorphs used the entrance to The Gap to enter the Underground Yeerk Pool Complex, Tobias flew around the city, unable to join them. While flying, he was suddenly transported to the Yeerk pool complex and, to his shock, found that he had been reverted to his human form; to make matters more mysterious, time seemed to be paused, as the various Controllers and host bodies around him were frozen in their movements. Just then, the Animorphs emerged, and Rachel spotted Tobias. As she ran towards him, Tobias panicked and instinctively tried to fly, which resulted in his flapping his human arms, embarrassing him. He apologized for trying to flap away as Rachel hugged him tightly. When she asked what had happened, Tobias replied that he did not know, as he was flying one moment and then was suddenly human again inside the pool complex. The mysterious force that has paused time and reverted Tobias to his old human body then revealed itself to the Animorphs, and appeared in a blue humanoid form. Calling himself the Ellimist, the all-powerful being claimed that he assembled them as he needed them to decide the fate of the human race.
The Ellimist transported them into the ocean, although he used his powers so that they could still breathe and would be unharmed by any factors. As they looked at the sea life, the Ellimist remarked that it was lovely before transporting them to the African savannah, where they floated in the sky and observed the various animals. The Ellimist then transported them to the jungle and told them to look at the planet's beauty, stating that in all the universe, there was no greater beauty than Earth. The Ellimist continued his tour, transporting them to New York City, a village by a jungle river, a rock concert in Rio de Janeiro, a political meeting in Seoul, a soccer game in Durban, and an open-air market in The Philippines. The Ellimist declared that humans were crude and primitive yet capable of understanding, and showed them a painting of irises. As he returned them back to the Yeerk pool, the Ellimist claimed that humanity would lose the fight against the Yeerk Empire; however, he offered to relocate them, their families, and other humans of genetic diversity, to a new planet to prevent humanity's extinction. Tobias was against this idea, referring to the new planet as being a human zoo for the Ellimist.
The Ellimist declared that they had to make their choice immediately; if they agreed, he would transport them and their family members to the new planet instantly, and if they refused, he would revert time to the way it was, with Tobias once again stuck in his red-tailed hawk body while the other Animorphs, who had been about to be eaten in cockroach morph by a Taxxon, would return to that predicament. Tobias announced that he would not be voting to accept the deal, citing that the Ellimist was using him reverting to being stuck as a hawk as a way to manipulate the Animorphs' decision; Cassie urged him to reconsider as they needed to factor in humanity as a whole while Jake reminded him that he would be giving up being human again, although Tobias remained firm in his stance. Rachel iterated that the Ellimist simply wanted them to abandon humanity just to save themselves and their loved ones, thus indicating that she was also refusing to accept the deal, which caused Tobias to give Rachel a slight smile. While Cassie remained in support, Marco and Jake also voted against the deal, with Ax stating that he would follow Jake; as a result, the Ellimist reverted the others back to being stuck on the Taxxon's tongue in cockroach morph while Tobias found himself back outside, once again stuck as a red-tailed hawk.
The next day, Tobias was flying around noon when he noticed a bald eagle flying unnaturally. A few hours later, he flew to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic in the afternoon as the other Animorphs, minus Ax, were having a meeting after school. As the Animorphs questioned Rachel for having skipped school and then flying to the barn in eagle morph, Tobias divulged to the team that Rachel had been the eagle he spotted earlier and that she had been in morph all afternoon. Tobias listened as the Animorphs discussed the Ellimist's offer, with Rachel revealing that her father wanted her to move out of state with him and that she was frustrated on what to do. Marco then flipped his vote, putting them at a tie. As Rachel began to answer in order to break the tie, the Ellimist telepathically spoke to them and transported them elsewhere, reverting Tobias back to his human form again while also teleporting Ax, who had not attended the meeting, to their location.
Finding themselves in a scruffy field next to a nearly destroyed building, Tobias notified them that the building used to be their school. With Ax having confirmed that they had undergone a distortion in time, Cassie announced that they had been transported into the future. Under Jake's suggestion, the Animorphs began walking to the mall, and noticed that the highway was entirely empty. Tobias advised that they avoid any Controllers, only for Marco to point out that since the Yeerk Empire had won in the future, any human walking around would be considered a fellow human-Controller; as such, the Animorphs would be able to walk around freely. With this in mind, Ax assumed his human morph while Rachel decided that the Animorphs should use the dropshaft to board the train. While waiting for the train to arrive, Tobias was nudged by Rachel to alert him to a Yeerk pool built solely for Taxxons on the roof of the mall. Using the train, the Animorphs traveled Downtown, where they noticed that most of the buildings had either been destroyed or converted into Taxxon hives, although the EGS Tower remained standing.
As they spotted a massive surface-based Yeerk pool, a human woman-Controller bumped into Rachel, causing Rachel to call her out. The woman-Controller quickly turned around and asked for Rachel's name and accused them of being spies. To defuse the situation, Tobias gestured to Ax and told the woman-Controller that Rachel's name was not of her concern and that she should instead be concerned with Ax, whom he claimed was Visser Three. As Ax demorphed, the Controller apologized, although she stated that Visser Three had since been promoted to Visser One before running away. Jake inquired as to how long the Ellimist would keep them in this timeline; while Tobias responded that he believed they would remain there until they were convinced of what the future would bring, Cassie instead theorized that the Ellimist wanted them to notice something. Just then, a Bug fighter landed near them, out of which the real Visser Three/One and a human woman emerged, which Rachel recognized to be her future self in her twenties. Future Rachel, who was actually a human-Controller, gloated how the Yeerk Empire had defeated the Animorphs and had succeeded in subjugating Earth while Visser One divulged that he knew that the Ellimist had sent the six humans that were the Animorphs forwards in time to make a decision before sending them back.
Despite the Visser correcting his mistake, Rachel informed the group that the reason Visser One had referred to the Animorphs as being six humans was because that was what he had expected them to be, therefore indicating that the history of the timeline they were in was different. Upon hearing this, Visser One lashed out and raged how he had captured the morph-capable Animorphs of this timeline and had given them to his trusted lieutenants as host bodies. Tobias then listened as Visser One also divulged that the Tobias of this timeline, who had also been trapped as a hawk, had been killed, roasted, and then eaten with barbecue sauce. Before Rachel could kill the Visser, the Ellimist sent them back to their timeline, and they appeared in the woods behind Cassie's farm; Tobias, once again back to being trapped as a hawk, found himself perched in a tree above his friends. Rachel raged that she felt sick of everything and that there was no point in fighting as they knew what the world would become like once they lost to the Yeerk Empire. Jake attempted to convince her to keep fighting, and Rachel revealed that she had intended to vote against the deal just before the Ellimist whisked them away to the alternate future, but that she was now voting to accept the deal.
The vote became tied, with Rachel, Cassie, and Marco voting to accept the Ellimist's deal while Jake and Tobias were still against; as Ax sided with Jake, this left the group with a split vote. Tobias then remarked that perhaps if humanity existed on another planet, they could one day return to save Earth much like how wolves had been reintroduced to their national forest. Jake asked Tobias if he was changing his vote, and Tobias indicated that he would be remaining firm in his decision and that he would not run from their fight. Jake then chose to break the tie by flipping his vote, and called out to the Ellimist to inform him that they had accepted. However, despite the Ellimist having offered to teleport them to the new planet instantly, nothing happened. Eventually, the Animorphs realized the deal would not be honored and they went their separate ways, and Tobias returned to his meadow.[17]
Destroying the Kandrona
"Tobias screamed as he spread his talons forward and struck the closest Hork-Bajir, raking his eyes. The battle had turned! The Hork-Bajir had had enough. Maybe it was hearing one of their fellows fall sixty stories. Or maybe it was Tobias's arrival, strengthening our side. But whatever it was, the remaining Hork-Bajir ran. [...] Tobias flew outside to make sure there were no pedestrians below on the dark sidewalk. It took every last ounce of power that elephant had. But the Kandrona did move. It did, slowly, in jerks and starts, slide across the floor. And when at last I shoved it through the windows, it did fall the sixty stories, to smash into the concrete below."
Around 3 A.M. on Saturday, Tobias was asleep in his meadow when Rachel woke him up while swooping toward him in great horned owl morph. Frightened, Tobias began to admonish her for scaring her like that again when she interrupted and told him to come with her immediately despite his struggles with night flying. Grumbling, Tobias flew besides her and asked her what was going on, to which Rachel informed him that she knew where the Kandrona was. Tobias joined Rachel as they flew to Marco's home, where they flew into his window to wake him up. By 3:47 A.M., all of the Animorphs had assembled at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic for an emergency meeting, with Tobias resting in the rafters ahead after having had to flap his wings for the entire flight. There, Tobias listed as Rachel disclosed that the Ellimist's true reason for encountering them at the Yeerk pool was so that they would notice the dropshaft, and that the reason he had sent them to the alternate future was so that they could notice that the Kandrona was situated on the upper floors of the EGS Tower. With the knowledge of the Kandrona's location in mind, the Animorphs decided to launch an immediate attack on the EGS Tower.
The Animorphs arrived outside of the tower by 5:10 A.M. and decided to enter their battle morphs, with Tobias flying above to make sure they were safe and unspotted. Flapping his wings, Tobias soared above and informed them a drunk man was headed their way, prompting Cassie, who had already finished morphing into a wolf, to run towards the man and scare him off. Tobias then noticed a warm updraft emanating from the top of the EGS Tower and informed the other Animorphs that there was something definitely located there. As the Animorphs entered the EGS Tower by breaking in through the front door, Tobias remained outside. The Animorphs took an elevator to the top floor and engaged in combat with several human and Hork-Bajir-Controllers; during this brawl, Rachel, in her grizzly bear morph, shoved one of the Hork-Bajir-Controllers out of the window, causing the Hork-Bajir to fall sixty floors to its death. The destruction of the window allowed Tobias to join the fight as he flew in and raked the eyeballs of the closest Hork-Bajir, which caused the remaining Hork-Bajir-Controllers to flee. Tobias informed Rachel that she had lost an arm, which caused Rachel to demorph alongside the others. Having located the Kandrona, Tobias was asked to fly outside to ensure that no pedestrians were on the sidewalk below while Rachel, having remorphed into an African elephant, pushed the Kandrona out of a window. As the Kandrona shattered onto the ground below, the Animorphs reveled in their victory. The Ellimist then spoke to them, where he disclosed that a replacement Kandrona would arrive in three weeks, although Ax reminded them that three weeks without a local Kandrona would result in many Yeerks dying. Tobias and the Animorphs then flew away from the EGS Tower. Two days later, Tobias flew to Dan's Apartment while Rachel took the bus there; after Rachel's father, Dan, took a taxi to the airport, Tobias asked Rachel if she was ready to go flying, to which she nodded.[17]
Veleek Incident
"I'm afraid of everything. I know I'm a predator and all, but do you know how many predators I have after me? Every golden eagle, every falcon. You know how fast they are? It's like getting hit by a bullet. They make me look like the Goodyear blimp. Then there are the raccoons and foxes and snakes and even the occasional nervy house cat. And that's just the natural environment. Add to that the Yeerks, and the fact that I wake up sometimes and don't remember exactly what I am, boy or bird... yeah, Cassie, I'm afraid a lot of the time." "How do you handle it?" "Who says I handle it? There's only one way to deal with fear: Be afraid. Be afraid, and then go ahead and do what you have to do, anyway."
Living in the woods together, Tobias began to form a friendship with Ax, whom he nicknamed "Ax-man," and the pair often spent the day flying.[23] Tobias and Rachel also continued to see each other, with Rachel visiting Tobias in the woods and bringing him books to read. On a Friday evening, Tobias was perched in the rafters of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, where the human Animorphs had met up, and watched as Cassie treated an injured crow, whom Tobias insulted due to crows being known for attacking hawks. While Cassie promised to release the crow away from Tobias' territory, Rachel spoke to the group about attending a weekend gymnastics camp, and looking at Tobias, asked if they would stay out of trouble while she was gone, to which Tobias assured her that they would be fine. The next day, on Saturday, Tobias ate a snake for breakfast and met with Marco, who asked him to bring him a mouse so that he and Ax could use the morph to crash a pool party held by school cheerleader Darlene that Jake and Cassie were attending. Despite disagreeing with Marco's plan, Tobias agreed to help him. Tobias spotted a bald eagle get mobbed by jays and watched the eagle crash into a tree, although he was unaware at the time that the eagle had been Rachel in morph.
Tobias found a mouse and held it in his beak as he flew to Marco and Ax. Tobias chastised Marco for his plan and attempted to convince Ax not to go along with it, and was exasperated when he found out that Marco was blackmailing Ax with flea powder since Ax had contracted fleas. Tobias warned Marco that Jake would berate him for his actions, and added that Jake had told him that the reason Darlene did not invite Marco was because Marco had floated a Baby Ruth bar in Darlene's pool when he was ten. After Marco and Ax finished acquiring the mouse, Marco offered it as lunch for Tobias, although Tobias remarked that he had already eaten, but warned Marco that there were other predators who would love to feast on mice and that they should be careful. As Marco prepared to morph into a mouse to enter Darlene's house, Ax commented that Darlene liked Marco but did not "like like him," to which Tobias laughed and responded that it was how everyone felt about Marco.
Having nothing else to do and wanting to serve as support for his friends, Tobias flew above and watched over Marco and Ax as they morphed into mice and took over toward Darlene's house. Tobias mused that neither Marco and Ax, who were both smart, realized how dangerous being mice was, and noticed a tabby cat watching them as well as a Cooper's hawk eyeing them. Tobias signaled to the other hawk, who was smaller than him, that the two mice below were his prey, causing the hawk to fly away, while the cat was disinterested. He protected the two until they reached Darlene's party, and Tobias felt sad when he saw the people partying below, knowing he could not have that experience. Tobias witnessed as Marco and Ax chased Darlene into her house when he suddenly noticed a dust cloud headed his way, and was shocked to see that it was actually a tornado-like creature with blades. The creature then destroyed half of Darlene's house, enough that Tobias was able to peer right into the basement and notice Marco and Ax, the latter in his human morph. Just then, the dust monster dispersed and seemingly disappeared, although with his hawk vision, Tobias noted that the creature's particles were heading directly toward the woods. Tobias then thought-spoke to Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Ax to inform them of where the dust creature was going.
Later that day, Tobias was informed by the other Animorphs that the news had shown the dust tornado attacking the freeway and that Rachel had been spotted on the footage, thereby proving that she was not at camp. As she was seen on television retreating into the woods near the freeway, the Animorphs decided to travel there. Jake sent Cassie to look for Rachel around town while the boys were tasked with searching the woods. Jake and Marco took the bus in order to enter the woods around the same area Rachel did, while Tobias flew over the woods and Ax ran through them on foot in his Andalite form. During his flight, Tobias spotted a madwoman near her shack, but did not spot Rachel. Arriving where Jake and Marco had disembarked, Tobias began preening his feathers. He then flew up to give Jake and Marco cover as they began to morph into wolves in order to track Rachel's scent through one of her shirts. While they were in mid-morph, Tobias spotted the dust creature coming toward them at an accelerated speed and yelled at Jake and Marco that it was coming for them. Jake and Marco finished their morph and began running, and Tobias flew above them. When the two wolves ran through thick trees, Tobias asked them what they were doing, and they responded that the trees would slow the dust beast down; Tobias then informed them that while the tactic would temporarily slow the beast down, they only a quarter mile of trees left before it became an open meadow, at which point the beast would catch them.
However, just before they reached the meadow, the shack Tobias had seen went up in flames and the dust beast abandoned Jake and Marco in order to head to the shack. Tobias, Jake, and Marco made their way to the shack, where they noticed bare human footprints, grizzly bear footprints, Andalite footprints, and copious amounts of grizzly bear blood. Realizing that Rachel had fought the dust beast and survived but that there were no traces of Ax, the Animorphs began to get more worried. Tobias spotted bloody bear prints, specifically a bear that had only walked on its hind legs, which went all the way to the river before it disappeared, and berated himself for not realizing the beast had left Jake and Marco alone to go after Rachel. Jake and Marco wondered why Ax's footprints stopped abruptly and contemplated whether the beast had killed him and left no body, although Tobias asserted that Andalites were tougher and that he believed Ax had been carried away. With only an hour's worth of daylight left, Tobias swooped up into the sky to continue the search while Jake and Marco were forced to return home. Tobias was unable to locate any sign of Rachel or Ax, and flew to Cassie's barn that night to report with Jake, Cassie, and Marco.
Cassie notified the team she had trailed "Chapman" at the mall and discovered that the dust beast was a morph-hunter known as the Veleek that the Yeerk Empire had deployed to capture them. Tobias was frustrated with his inability to find Rachel or Ax while the Animorphs wondered how the Veleek operated. When Marco retorted that Tobias should know as they were both predators, Tobias explained that it came down to movement, and gave an example how if he was chasing one mouse and it stopped running as a second mouse began running, the hawk's brain would go after the second mouse. With this, Cassie had deduced that the Veleek had stopped itself from capturing or attacking Marco and Ax, and later Marco and Jake, because it had sensed someone else morphing and thus had been lured there inside. Despite this new piece of insight, it was nearly 9 P.M., which meant Jake, Marco, and Cassie had to go home while Tobias, who could not see or fly well at night, would have to return to the meadow. As Jake, Marco, and Cassie exited the barn, Tobias flew toward the woods and made his way to his meadow, where he fell asleep. The next day, Tobias met with the other Animorphs around 1 P.M. and was shocked to discover that, mere moments after he had flown away from Jake, Marco, and Cassie, the three had spotted the Veleek fly by Cassie's farm and therefore had stolen Cassie's father's pickup truck. Tobias was also notified that Rachel had been amnesiac for most of the day until Marco had hit her with the truck, that Jake and Marco had staggered their morphing to play keepaway with the Veleek, and that Marco had been kidnapped by the Veleek and taken to Visser Three's Blade ship, where Marco and Ax learned that the Veleek had a weakness for water before they jumped out of the Blade ship and flew back to safety. While Tobias sulked at having been left out, Marco clarified that the Veleek was only interested in the morphing energy and therefore was not interested in Tobias or his "deep-fried hawk legs," prompting Tobias to tell Marco to quickly stand under his branch, much to the laughter of the other Animorphs.
Cassie came up with a strategy to take out the Veleek, which included them going to the ocean, where she would acquire and morph into a humpback whale and allow the Veleek to grab her in order to take advantage of the Veleek's two known weaknesses — its inability to carry weight and an intolerance to water — to cause it to drown itself. Cassie was adamant that she be the one to morph the whale as it was the most dangerous part and that she wished to atone for her cowardice, and she had a chance to save Marco from being captured the night before but had been too scared to act. The Animorphs decided to enact Cassie's plan and headed out to the beach, although Ax remained behind in the woods since they could not use morphing to get to the beach. Tobias was tasked with finding a humpback whale for Cassie, and as they arrived at the beach, Tobias used the thermals by the cliffs to gain as much altitude as he could since hawks were not water birds and there were no thermals over the water. Tobias mused to himself how he did not understand how Cassie felt like the weakest link in the group when he was the one who could not morph and help out, and was grateful to have a part to play in Cassie's plan. He then spotted a humpback whale and flew back to shore to inform the Animorphs before landing on one of the cliffs to rest his wings. The four human Animorphs made their way into the ocean and began to morph into bottlenose dolphins; as they morphed, Tobias noticed the Veleek rushing toward them and yelled out a warning. Tobias watched as the Veleek hovered several feet above the dolphins, afraid to come closer to touch the water, and flew away from the cliffs to soar above the Veleek, who paid him no mind.
The dolphin-morphed Animorphs swam toward the whale, where Cassie demorphed in order to acquire it, with the Veleek following them and continuing to hover a safe distance away from the water. With her new morph acquired, Cassie morphed into a cockroach, and as per Cassie's plan, Tobias flew down to grab her. With the other Animorphs partially demorphing and then remorphing to throw off fresh morphing signatures to keep the Veleek locked onto them, Tobias flew as high as he could. Since there were no thermals, he had to flap his wings heavily, which tired him out, although he did not want Cassie to know how hard this task was for him. Luckily, Tobias caught a brief gust of wind that pushed him a thousand feet up, but kept flapping to gain as much extra feet as he could. Cassie asked Tobias if he was afraid, and Tobias responded that he was always afraid, as he had to content with both natural enemies such as golden eagles and falcons as well as the Yeerks, and revealed that he often woke up in a tree not knowing if he was bird or human; when Cassie asked him how he handled it, Tobias replied that he did not handle it, but that the only way to deal with fear was to be afraid but still continue to do whatever needed to be done. With his wings straining, Tobias told Cassie that he could not fly any further, and prepared to drop her. Before he did, Cassie asked him to promise her that if she died, he would tell Jake to tell her parents someday about what had happened to her, and while he attempted to assure her that she would not die, he ultimately agreed to follow her wishes. Tobias then dropped Cassie and watched as she demorphed from roach to human, and continued observing as the Veleek rushed up to grab Cassie. As the Veleek ensnared Cassie in its tendrils, Cassie morphed into the humpback whale, whose weight served as an anchor to drag the Veleek down into the water, killing it. With the Veleek successfully defeated, the Animorphs reveled in their newfound victory.[24]
Helping Ax
"Tobias. Are you my friend?" "That's what you woke me up to ask? Ax, we are the two strangest creatures on this planet: a freaky, four-eyed, half-deer, half-scorpion, centaur-looking alien, and a bird with the mind of a person. We've fought side by side. We've been nearly killed several times. Of course I'm your friend." "That's good. Will you keep a secret? Even from Prince Jake? Even from Rachel?" "Is it something that would hurt my friends?" "No." "Then I'd keep a secret. I swear."
Very shortly after their victory over the Veleek, Ax informed the Animorphs that he wanted to learn more about humans. Tobias and the human Animorphs privately discussed how Ax had never told them anything about Andalites or his home planet and that they did not even know how Ax ate without a mouth. Despite this, Jake told them that they should have trust in Ax and show him what he wanted to know, and decided that Ax should see a movie. Jake planned for him and Marco to take Ax to the mallmovie theater to watch a Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, while Rachel and Cassie wold wait outside in case of an emergency. On the day of, Tobias flew above the woods where the rest of the team met and where Ax morphed into his human morph. Tobias watched as Ax dressed in clothes that Rachel had picked for him, and flew down[23] and heard Marco[3] comment that Ax looked like a bully magnet and that he wanted to beat Ax up. In response, Cassie told Ax that she thought he looked cute, to which Tobias remarked that her comment was "the kiss of death," and quickly told a confused Ax that it was just an expression.
Tobias flew above them as they made way to the mall theater, and soared on the thermals the parking lot while the boys watched their movie. While soaring, he spotted a human man screaming and rambling about Yeerks and heard sirens headed their way. Just then, Tobias noticed the other boys prematurely emerging out of the theater. Tobias asked them if the movie was that bad before notifying them of the man, who was headed their way. Tobias and the others watched as the man screamed about the Yeerks while a Yeerk squirmed out of his ear. The human Animorphs rejoiced at the notion of former hosts walking free, and Tobias and Ax eventually made their way back to the woods.
In order to further Ax's understanding of humans, Jake decided to have Ax come to school with them for one day as his cousin "Phillip," and asked Tobias to fly cover over the school that day, which Tobias agreed to. Tobias was also informed that the reason they had left the movie early is because Ax had started eating chocolate off the floor and tried to take it from a child, which he found to be hilarious. The next morning, Tobias flew to a stream in the woods and observed Ax performing a morning ritual. After inquiring about the ritual, Tobias suddenly noticed a rattlesnake by Ax's feet and warned him, and watched Ax used his tail blade to stop the snake before acquiring it and tossing it aside. Tobias brought up Ax's trouble with chocolate and asked Ax how he ate in his Andalite form, only to be confused when Ax replied that he had hooves. Dropped the subject, Tobias and Ax made their way to the edge of the woods bordering the school grounds, where Jake and Cassie were making their way toward them. Ax asked Tobias if he would be fine spending the day alone, and Tobias assured him that he had things to do, but that he would be flying over the school all day. Tobias flew up to make sure that nobody was watching as Ax morphed to human, and remarked that he found the notion of Ax's first day at school to be cute.
The school day was cut short when a teacher who had been infested was killed by "Chapman" and Jake realized that Ax had already know that the Yeerk Empire would kill any freed hosts, which Jake shared with the other Animorphs. Two days later, Tobias spotted the others in their bird-of-prey morphs rushing toward the woods, and learned that they were trying to find Ax. Tobias flew to the stream and located Ax, and told him to stay put as he led the other Animorphs there. Tobias then listened as Marco yelled at Ax for having tampered with his father's computer the day before, and that Ax had added some new software to the program that his father had been writing for the radio telescope at the observatory. Ax seemed to realize something, but did not share his realization with the group and merely walked away. That night, Tobias was asleep on a branch when he was awakened by Ax, who asked him if he was his friend. Tobias assured Ax that they were indeed friends, and Ax followed-up by asking if Tobias would keep a secret from the other Animorphs, including Jake and Rachel. Tobias thought for a moment before asking Ax if the secret would hurt his friends, and when Ax confirmed that it would not, Tobias told him that he would keep a secret, and swore on Elfangor's memory when Ax pushed for additional reassurance. Ax then asked Tobias if he could bring him to the observatory the next day without revealing to the other Animorphs that he had done so, and although Ax did not explain why he was going to the observatory, Tobias agreed to lead him there.
The next morning, Tobias hunted prey for breakfast before going to Ax, who morphed to northern harrier and joined Tobias in the sky. Tobias led Ax along the coast m for about an hour until they reached the observatory, and Tobias wondered what Ax would be doing. As they talked, Ax asked Tobias if he was being sarcastic, and Tobias clarified that he was being snide. Finding an opening in the observatory dome, Ax suggested flying in, and Tobias agreed. The pair flew into the empty observatory, and Ax told Tobias that he would be descending further down to use a computer. Tobias flew out of the observatory and into the sky, and noticed seven people have a meeting nearby. He warned Ax of the people, but Ax was nearly out of range, causing their thought-speech to waver. Tobias remained observant and eventually noticed a man suddenly heading toward where Ax was. Tobias called out to Ax to warn him, and when Ax did not respond, Tobias flew back down into the observatory. Seeing that the man held a Dracon beam at Ax, Tobias raked his talons forward and aimed for the man's face, although the man shielded himself with his arm, causing Tobias to shred through the man's shirt and leave blood scratches on the forearm.
Tobias turned and landed on the telescope, and listened as the man, a human-Controller named Eslin 359, reveal that he had listened to the last few moments of a conversation Ax had been having and that he had noticed the software change and realized that an Andalite would be using the radio telescope in order to communicate through Z-Space. Tobias listened as Eslin revealed that he hated Visser Three, as the only person he loved, a Yeerk named Derane 344, had died of starvation when Visser Three deemed her expendable while rationing Kandrona rays. Eslin disclosed that even though Visser Three had been keeping the dying hosts contained, the recent string of human hosts with publicly dying Yeerks was because he had sabotaged a shuttle as an act of revenge, and Tobias privately remarked to Ax that this was why they had been seeing a break in the Yeerk Empire's containment. Wanting to avenge Derane, Eslin took out a piece of paper revealing where Visser Three would go in order to feed his Andalite body and asked Ax to kill Visser Three as a mutual benefit since Ax had to avenge Elfangor, and with his hawk eyesight, Tobias was able to read the piece of paper and learned where the Visser fed. Eslin then left, and Tobias flew back to the woods with Ax.
Tobias met up with the other Animorphs, who questioned why he had a bloody piece of shirt stuck to his talons, although Tobias refused to answer them due to the promise he had made where he had sworn on Elfangor. Since they knew that none of them had made the promise, the other Animorphs realized it was Ax and called for a meeting at the barn, where Rachel and Marco yelled at Ax for not only keeping secrets from them, but having one of their own keep secrets. Jake ultimately told Ax that if he intended to be secretive and did not trust the others with vital knowledge he could no longer be an Animorph, to which Ax responded by agreeing and subsequently leaving the team. The next morning, Tobias watched Ax perform a different ritual than the morning ritual and inquired about it, although Ax did not clarify. Tobias remarked that assassinating Visser Three was cold-blooded, but that as a predator, he understood. Despite Tobias having read Eslin's note and knowing where the meadow was, he wanted Ax to confide in him and asked Ax where Visser Three's feeding place was; in addition, Tobias urged Ax tell the other Animorphs about the mission since he believed they would help, to which Ax responded that he could not tell Jake since Jake could forbid him. Surprised, Tobias asked if Jake being Ax's Prince meant that Jake could order Ax to answer all of their questions, and Ax clarified that a Prince could not order him to break Andalite laws. Tobias commented that Jake was a "Prince" to him as well, and that Ax's duty should be to inform his Prince. Ax then looked at Tobias and reiterated that he had to do this mission, and asked Tobias to promise not to follow him or tell the others, which Tobias reluctantly agreed to.
However, the idea of a Prince ordering him to answer questions gave Tobias an idea, and he quickly flew to gather the other Animorphs. Tobias told Jake to "order him" to answer any questions they had for him regarding Ax, which gave Tobias a "loophole" to break his promise and inform Jake and the others about their trip to the observatory as well as Ax's assassination mission. As he knew where the meadow was, Tobias led the other Animorphs there and notified them of the positions of Visser Three's Hork-Bajir-Controller guards. The other Animorphs assumed their battle morphs while Ax, in rattlesnake morph, bit Visser Three's Andalite body before slithering away to demorph. Ax was saved from being killed while in mid-demorph by Rachel, and Tobias coordinated with the other Animorphs to inform them of the Hork-Bajir-Controllers' positions so that Jake, Marco, and Cassie could take them down. Tobias then swooped by Ax, who was upset that Tobias had told the others. Tobias responded that he had gotten the idea from Ax and that he had Jake order him to tell him everything. Ax asked Tobias how he knew where the meadow was, and Tobias reminded Ax of the hawk's superior vision and how he had seen the note that Eslin had given Ax. Irritated, Ax stated that he was upset with Tobias, to which Tobias shot back that Ax got on his nerves too but that they needed to focus on finishing the mission. The Animorphs and Ax made their way toward Visser Three, who was being helped by two Hork-Bajir-Controllers who fled at the sight of all the "Andalite bandits" running toward them. As he shot toward the Visser, Tobias spotted Visser Three slithering out of his Andalite's host ear. Tobias flew down to grab the Yeerk, although Visser Three managed to get into the stream before Tobias could grab him. Flying back up, Tobias yelled to the others that Visser Three had exited his host and was in the water, and that his eyes could not see through the water. Due to the Andalite warrior in front of them not being Visser Three, Ax chose not to kill him, and the Animorphs and Ax left the meadow, knowing that the next time they encountered the Andalite, he would be the host body of Visser Three once more.
Two days later, Tobias and the other Animorphs were invited by Ax to join him in the woods. Ax decided that he would tell them everything he knew, and began with the Law of Seerow's Kindness. He explained that Seerow was the Andalite who headed the first expedition to the Yeerk homeworld, and that Seerow felt bad that the Yeerks, as an intelligent, sapient species, were incapable of traveling the stars. Cassie realized that Seerow had given the Yeerks advanced technology, and that this must be the shame and guilt that the Andalites had, which Ax confirmed. Ax added that the Yeerk Empire had taken over billions of individuals and that it was all because of the Andalites, and Marco brought up that Elfangor had broken Seerow's Kindness, to which Ax stated that he had taken the blame on Elfangor's behalf. Ax believed that the Animorphs would despite the Andalites, although Cassie and Jake told him that Seerow had tried to do a good thing and that the Andalites should not give up on cooperating with other species due to one bad incident. Cassie told Ax once more that he was not alone, and that even if the Animorphs weren't his people, they were his friends. Ax mused that humans may someday be greater than the Andalites, which Jake denied, stating that humans and Andalites would work together and learn from one another. Ax believed this would not be possible due to them two different species from two different worlds, which caused Tobias to ask Ax what the Andalites fought for; when Ax responded that it was for freedom, Tobias and the others echoed that they too fought for freedom. Tobias then added that even though they had different bodies and were of different species, it was irrelevant so long as they agreed on what mattered.
Ax agreed to tell the Animorphs anything they wanted to know, and Rachel pointed out that the Andalites on Ax's planet may not agree with the idea. Ax admitted that they would be upset, and Tobias told Ax that Elfangor at the very least would be proud of him. Jake then asked Ax if he would be a member of their team, and Ax agreed. With their friendship restored[23] and Ax now an official member of the Animorphs,[note 7] Marco told Ax that there was a question that all of the Animorphs had been wondering, and asked how Ax could eat without a mouth. Ax revealed that Andalites ate through their hooves, as their hooves could absorb grass and water. Tobias remarked that this explained why Ax stuck a hoof in the water during his morning ritual, prompting the other Animorphs to ask what the morning ritual was, and Ax explained it to them.[23] Ax also informed the team that Tobias was known as a nothlit, the Andalite word for one who was trapped in morph.[25] Additionally, Ax also revealed that he had placed a call to his homeworld and had spoken with his superiors[26] while at the observatory by using the software changes he had added to Marco's father's computer.[23]
Trouble in the Forest
"Because I'm not just a human. I'm also a hawk. Hawks hunt live prey. Would it be better if I let you do my killing for me? Is it more moral if I eat a frozen mouse you get from some supplier?" "Look, Tobias, I know all about how nature works. I know about predators and prey. It's just.... it's just confusing. I mean, where does right and wrong come into it?" "I don't know. I guess if I were running around killing animals I didn't intend to eat, that would be wrong. But hawks have a right to live, just as much as a mouse or a skunk."
"Law of the jungle. You eat or you get eaten." "Maybe. But still, wouldn't it be nice if that wasn't the law?" "How can you take that attitude? You're a predator. You know how it is." "Yes. I know exactly how it is. That doesn't mean I like it. Look, the Pemalites were wiped out, maybe because they didn't fight. Maybe they'd have lost even if they had fought. We'll never know. But the Chee have lived for thousands of years. I know they're androids, but they're a species, too. They've survived without killing. Doesn't something about that make you jealous? Don't you wish we could say the same? Don't you wish Homo sapiens could face the universe and honestly say, "We do not kill? We don't enslave. We don't make war"?"
While flying with Rachel to show her a new entrance to the Yeerk Pool, he soon finds he is not where he was heading and sees twoHork-Bajir being chased by a group of Controllers. As the Animorphs help the two free Hork-Bajir get to a safe valley, more mysterious events keep happening to Tobias, giving him knowledge of places and events while they’re happening.
Frustrated about being used, Tobias stops everyone and demands to find out what is happening. Tobias then finds himself in another plane, and sees himself as a cross between human and hawk. He encounters the Ellimist, who offers to grant Tobias’s innermost wish if Tobias helps save the two free Hork-Bajir.[12]
Morph Power Restored
"Looks like I'm a full member of the team again. I can morph. But I guess ... I mean, it looks like I'll still be a hawk. I'll be keeping my wings."
While trying to find some food, Tobias is injured and about to be eaten by a raccoon. At that moment, the Ellimist restores Tobias's ability to morph, but does not return him to human form. Tobias is enraged, accusing the omniscient being of not keeping his promise, and then quickly acquires the raccoon and flies away.[12]
Acquiring his Human Self
After successfully getting the two Hork-Bajir to the hidden valley, the Ellimist sends Tobias back in time, to the night before he went to the Abandoned Construction Site with Jake and the others. Tobias remembers the Ellimist's statement about Tobias being able to change a timeline, and is given a choice: he could tell his younger self, who has waken up, not to go to the construction site, thereby preventing him from gaining the power to morph or being trapped as a bird, or he could decide to let things pass as they did and use the opportunity to acquire his human self. Tobias chooses the latter, accepting that he wishes to be a hawk with the ability to morph and become human temporarily rather than be human forever. Returning Tobias to the present time, the Ellimist asks Tobias if he has delivered on his promise, and Tobias replies that he has.[12]
Morph-Capable Animorph
Zone 91 Infiltration
To be added
Royan Island Mission
To be added
Billionaire Serial Killer
To be added
Drug Warfare
"It sounds to me like they get addicted to it. Like a drug." "It's oatmeal, okay? Not anything illegal." "A drug is in the eye of the beholder. If you get addicted to the illegal stuff and it messes you up, that's a drug to you. If you get addicted to oatmeal and it messes you up–"
A couple of days before Tobias' first birthday after becoming a hawk, Tobias discovers that a lawyer and a long-lost cousin named Aria have been searching for Tobias. Tobias meets the lawyer, DeGroot, in human morph and learns that his real father’s will is supposed to be read to him on his birthday. Tobias also learns that Aria wants to take care of him. Tobias begins to wonder if he can live as a human again with Aria, but then discovers Aria was just Visser Three in morph.
On the day of his birthday, Tobias goes to the testament-reading and discovers that his father was in fact Elfangor. Tobias gives nothing away, not wanting to let “Aria” and DeGroot know that Tobias knows who Elfangor is.
Only after he returns to his hiding spot does he break down, and decides that he can't give up his morphing powers because he must continue to fight for his people, just like his father did.[9]
Additional Operations
Helmacron Shrinkage
To be added
Trip to the North Pole
To be added
Contest of Champions
To be added
Dive to the Pemalite Ship
To be added
Visit to a Slaughterhouse
To be added
Contracting Yamphut
To be added
Visser vs. Visser
To be added
Time Matrix Adventure
Killing Hitler
"Adolf Hitler. The most evil man in a long history of evil men. Tobias was up. He moved like lightning. The squat man with the funny mustache was jerked back, yanked around, and pinned against Tobias's Hork-Bajir body. Tobias's wrist blade was at his throat. [...] The captain fired. Point blank at Tobias. Tobias jerked in reflex. His wrist blade cut deep. The driver - Hitler - fell to the ground."
Tobias was informed by the Drode about an alternate timeline created by Visser Four, who was intending to change history. Tobias was sent to this alternate timeline as the Animorphs were sent to many historical battles, trying to stop the Visser. During one such mission, the Animorphs were sent to World War II, where Tobias spotted Adolf Hitler. Tobias became infuriated at Hitler's appearance, remarking that he was the most evil man in history. Tobias, who was in Hork-Bajir morph, quickly grabbed Hitler and put his bladed arm against Hitler's throat and threatened to kill him. Cassie attempted to convince him to spare Hitler by notifying Tobias that in this alternate reality, Hitler was not the leader of the Nazi Party but instead was just a driver for them. However, an attack caused Tobias to reflexively pull his arm, causing his wrist and arm blades to slice Hitler's throat, killing him. Despite the fact that he was just a driver in this reality, Tobias felt no guilt for having killed a man since the man was still Hitler.[27]
Relationship Hurdles
To be added
Tortured by Taylor
School Dance
To be added
Acquiring Ax
"I wanted so much to stay cool. To make it seem like I could take it or leave it. But this was something, finally, that I really did have a right to. I was part Andalite, even if not genetically. God knew how. Or at least The Ellimist knew how. But I was. And it excited me."
"She hit the red circle again. I screamed. Screamed and screamed. My wings trembled, uncontrollable. My beak jerked wildly. Talons clutched at nothing. My bowels failed and I fouled myself. Indescribable pain. Staggering pain. Pain that ate into me, chewed at my guts, twisted every nerve ending."
In an attempt to trick the Yeerks into thinking that their newest device, the Anti-Morphing Ray, was defective, Tobias intentionally gets captured by Controllers. After the Anti-Morphing Ray having no effect on Tobias, Sub-Visser Fifty-One, who goes by her host name Taylor, is chosen to be the one to torture Tobias into “demorphing”.
Tobias tries resisting the torture but Taylor using both pain and pleasure methods in conjunction, causing Tobias to nearly die and experience Utzum, a genetic memory where he views Elfangor's memories and experiences from the past, which protects him from his agony.
While rescuing Tobias, Rachel attempts to kill Taylor when she discovers Tobias’s torture, but Tobias feels a sense of pity for both the Yeerk and the girl and asks Rachel to spare her life.
Further Missions
"Tobias swooped and plunged, talons first. One Hork-Bajir fell off, clutching his eyes."
"Even if she's not a Controller, they'll figure it out. They'll be waiting for you. You have to walk away, Tobias. Forget her." "Like you've forgotten your parents? And Tom? You haven't forgotten your family, Jake, no matter what you say. And I can't forget mine, I'm getting her out." "How? You said it yourself. She's blind. How can you get a blind person out while the Yeerks are watching?" "By taking a huge risk. One you probably won't like. By asking you to trust me."
While investigating a blood databank that was looking for potential genetic matches for the Animorphs, Tobias finds a genetic match for his mother, Loren and her location, only a few blocks from the house in which he lived with his uncle. Tobias, eventually, talks to his mother and learns about her history and that she had lost her memory in an accident years before. Tobias then hatches a scheme to help Loren escape, from the Yeerks hunting down family members of the Animorphs, by giving her the morphing power. Although this restores Loren’s vision, her memories were still lost. Still, she moved into the Hork-Bajir valley where Tobias was partly grateful to have someone from his family with him.[10]
Auxiliaries
To be added
Trip to the Capitol
To be added
Destruction of the Yeerk Pool
To be added
Seizing the Pool Ship
To be added
Death of Rachel
During the final battle against the Yeerks, Jake orders Rachel to secretly follow Tom’s Yeerk and kill him when he gives the order. Following him on board the Blade Ship, Rachel attacks the Yeerks in control of the ship and kills Tom, before dying at the hands of a Controller in polar bear morph shortly after. Tobias is enraged at Jake, and as soon as the final battle is over, Tobias flies away.[5]
Post-War
Seclusion
Tobias arrives at Rachel’s memorial to retrieve her ashes and then flies away with them. He is not seen for many years, staying in the woods and only keeping contact with Cassie and Toby.[5]
One Last Mission
Tobias is asked by Jake to go on one last mission, but only concedes when he learns that Ax is in danger. Tobias, along with Jake, Marco, Santorelli, Jeanne Gerard, and Menderash-Postill-Fastill, head into space in “The Rachel”. After several months in space, the Animorphs find the Blade Ship, only to discover that Ax has been assimilated into an entity only known as The One. The One threatens to consume the Animorphs, as it had done to Ax. Jake comments on Marco's earlier call to be "crazy, reckless and ruthless," and, with a smile that Marco notes makes him look like Rachel, orders them to ram the Blade ship.[5]
Personality
"It suddenly occurred to me, right then, for the first time, that what I thought was so unique about me – that I was half instinctive predator, and half human being – wasn't so unique after all. Every human – Jake. Rachel. Marco. Cassie, all humans – kind of lives on that edge between savage and saint. And the thing is that sometimes when you get pushed you do have to push back. And other times, you have to turn the other cheek."
Before the war, Tobias was a shy dreamer somewhat detached from the world. He was kind and gentle, and very unpopular at school and a bully magnet. He lived with his uncle, who was not very fond of him and he often got thrown between him and his uncaring aunt on the other coast. The only time he felt happy was when he was with his friend and mother-figure Professor Powers. Not very happy with his life, Tobias found meaning in the war. For the first time he felt like he had something worth fighting for, and he was particularly motivated by Elfangor's death. Tobias also found freedom in the power to morph. He became enraptured with the hawk morph, where he could just fly away from his human problems. The other Animorphs recognized Tobias' attachment to the hawk morph, and Jake warned him of the time limit. However, during their first mission to the Yeerk Pool at the end of The Invasion Tobias stays in hawk morph for over two hours, trapping him permanently. The other Animorphs sometimes speculate if Tobias trapped himself on purpose, as an excuse to escape his terrible life as a human.
Because of Tobias' dual existence as both a hawk and a human, his friends sometimes call him "bird-boy". Tobias' narrations contain many thoughts on his internal conflict between his human and hawk sides. A common issue that arises is his need to hunt and kill to survive. The ruthless nature of the hawk contrasts with the more caring nature of human Tobias. Tobias sometimes wonders if he is losing his humanity because of this.
Physical Appearance
"I guess I was a dweeb, kind of. Big, but not big enough to keep from getting picked on. I had blond hair, kind of wild because I could never get it to look right."
When Tobias was human, he had dirty blond[12] hair that was unruly[1] and looked like it had never been combed.[17] He was White,[11] and was tall and gangly,[17]; according to Tobias, he was big, but not big enough to stop him from being bullied.[4]Jake referred to Tobias as having been out of shape to be able to run properly;[11] as Tobias was not overweight, him being too out of shape to run can be accredited to potential malnutrition, as Tobias stated that he did not eat well whilst living with his uncle.[4]
Relationships with the other Animorphs
"I guess it's true what they always say about combat soldiers. They may start out fighting for their country, but they end up fighting for the guy next to them in the foxhole. I didn't so much care about the fate of the human race at that moment. I wasn't human. I was a hawk. But I cared about Jake, and Cassie, and Marco, and Ax-man, and Rachel. Always Rachel."
"It felt good to hear Jake say I was indispensable, but with Jake you could never be sure anymore what was sincere. And what was just expedient. He'd been the most open of guys, back in the old days. What you saw with Jake was what you got. But he'd been a leader for a long time now. He'd learned to say what he needed to say. Jake needed me as one of the Animorphs. He liked me, respected me, was happy for me when I was happy. And, when he had to, he used me without regard for anything but winning."
Tobias and Jake were casual acquaintances before the series began, after Jake saved Tobias from a group of bullies. Tobias has a deep respect for Jake and rarely challenges his decisions or leadership during the series, while Jake respects Tobias's own strength; he once even nominated Tobias as the one to make a judgment call when he, Marco and Ax were out on an independent survey mission. However, Tobias was never able to forgive Jake for sacrificing Rachel in the final battle.
"Rachel would be beautiful in the middle of mud slides and hailstorms. On a sweet, sunny day, she made my heart ache. She looked at me. Embarrassed for me. Wanting to say something that would make it all right. Not knowing what to say. Hurting for me. Feeling my humiliation."
Rachel and Tobias were acquainted before the start of the series, although they didn't really know each other. Despite this, Tobias had a crush on Rachel. Rachel was more affectionate towards Tobias than anyone at the start, and remained as his anchor to the other Animorphs after he became trapped as a bird, with Rachel stating that she felt like she had to take care of him. Tobias often visited Rachel in the late nights or early mornings in her bedroom, and their relationship soon became romantic, with them becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. Rachel's death drives Tobias into depression and seclusion.
"I should have flown away. I knew I should have. But Ax had said I was his shorm. It's an Andalite word for someone who is closer than a friend. During the war we'd both been exiles in the woods, Ax and me. Neither of us had a real home. His family was a billion miles away, mine didn't really exist. Only later did we discover that Ax and I were, because of almost unbelievable circumstances, actually related."
Ax and Tobias share a close bond, with Ax regarding Tobias as his shorm (best friend). Their bond is later strengthened when they discover they are uncle and nephew.
"Marco and I will probably never be very close. He's a typical smart-aleck kind of guy. Always confident. Always has some funny or sarcastic thing to say. He's short, or at least he's not very tall. I guess girls think he's cute because he has this long brown hair and dark eyes."
Initially, Marco and Tobias were indifferent to one another. However, shortly after becoming Animorphs, they grew closer through the various battles they shared, and Tobias and Marco became close friends.
Out of all of the core six Animorphs, Tobias has the least amount of morphs. This may be due to his preference to avoid morphing whenever possible, a sentiment remarked by some of the Animorphs.
Tobias has the distinction of any member to have a cover showing him morphing into another member of the team, as he morphed into Ax in The Illusion.
Tobias and Ax get the least amount of books in the series. The reason for this came from Scholastic, rather than K.A. They didn't think that kids would be able to relate as well to an alien character, or to a kid trapped as a hawk. As a result, they both got their books in rotations of every 10 books, rather than the 5 like everyone else. Tobias got all the 3's in the series (#3, 13, 23, etc), while Ax got all the 8's (#8, 18, 28, etc). However, as it turned out, the books for Tobias and Ax were some of the fan's favorites, so both Ax and Tobias were brought into the equal rotation with the rest of the Animorphs near the end of the series.
Tobias' cover model comparison
The Test featured a new Tobias cover model. Ursula Albano, the art director for Animorphs shared this story on the Anibase about the discovery of the new Tobias:
"We couldn't find a kid in time for the shoot, so the photographer asked the agency to send over any old kid to stand in. Our artist, David Mattingly, would alter him digitally to fit the character. Well, a boy shows up kind of out of nowhere, skateboard in hand (he lives in the neighborhood) and a knit hat pulled down practically to his eyes. When he pulled his hat off, we knew we found the perfect Tobias. Tonya (the editor for Animorphs) and I just loved him. He was blonder than the first Tobias, but was perfect. He was Tobias. A happy accident from a desperate situation."
Tobias and Marco are the only two of the Animorphs to morph into a human of the opposite gender. Tobias morphed Taylor in The Test and Marco morphed the state governor in The Absolute.
K.A. on why she chose a red-tailed hawk morph for Tobias to be trapped in:
"Tobias' form was chosen because red-tails are among the most common hawks in the U.S. I liked thinking that kids driving with their folks across Kansas or wherever would daydream that they were seeing Tobias. Probably should have made him a turkey buzzard, they're so ubiquitous. I knew right from the start I would trap Tobias in morph, by the way, never a doubt. Had to be. I knew it would drive some readers crazy, but I also knew they'd want to know more."
In 1999, three different transforming toys of Tobias were made. The larger two were transformers sold in stores that transformed from human to hawk. One was deluxe-class and the other Mega-class. The third toy, released in 1999 as part of a Taco Bell children's meal promotion, was a smaller, clear plastic hawk with a yellow human "soul" trapped inside. KFC also released a hawk-shaped glider, and in 1998 Taco Bell released a toy that was a watch clutched by a clawed hand shape that was roughly half human.
Gallery
"Someone took a picture of me? Not cool. Do you see what I'm wearing? I'm Spandex-boy. Totally not cool."
↑While Tobias' legal surname was never revealed in the series, "Fangor" was never his surname.
↑In #1: The Invasion, Tobias is referred to as having blond hair. However, due to Tobias' cover model contracted for #3: The Encounter showing up with brown hair, the series referred to Tobias in subsequent books as having "dirty blond" hair to explain the discrepancy. After Tobias got a new cover model in #43: The Test who was blond, the series switched back to describing Tobias as being blond for the last few books.
↑ 3.03.1The Andalite Chronicles reveals Tobias was conceived in 1980. However, that book states that Elfangor met Tobias in 1997, despite the fact that Tobias is only in middle school at the time. In #33: The Illusion, Tobias states that he and Jake are the same age, and in #53: The Answer Jake reveals he was 13 when he became an Animorph. Tobias' mother Loren, who had been rapidly aged by three years by the Time Matrix, was sent from 1980 to 1983 by the Ellimist in an attempt to repair the timeline. Since she was pregnant at the time, Tobias was born in 1984, thus explaining how he is 13 at the start of the series.
↑ 4.04.14.2Tobias' aunt lived on the East Coast. In #1: The Invasion and #3: The Encounter, it is mentioned that Tobias alternated living with his aunt and uncle across the East and West Coast. Tobias' uncle lives in the same town as the Animorphs, which in #54: The Beginning is revealed to be in California, which is on the West Coast, meaning his aunt was the one who lived on the East Coast.
↑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.
↑In #6: The Capture, Rachel mentions that the governor would be running for President the next year. #6 was released in January 1997, meaning that the next Presidential election at the time of publication would have been in 2000. Due to the series being set from 1997-2000, with #6 being set in 1997, Rachel cannot be referring to the 2000 election; it also cannot be set in 1995 where Rachel's reference would instead be referring to the 1996 election. Therefore, Rachel's remark does not align with the timeline of the series. For this reason, the Wiki instead operates as if the governor was planning to run for President “in the future” as opposed to “next year.”
↑Due to Scholastic editors' misunderstanding that “Animorph” was a term only for humans who could morph, many of the synopses, taglines, and even a few ghostwritten books exclude Ax as an Animorph by referring to the team as “the Animorphs and Ax”, with the tagline for #48: The Return even referring to David as being the sixth Animorph. However, the authors do not share this view and state that Ax is an official Animorph. In canon, “Animorph” is a portmanteau for “animal morpher” and while Ax did not consider himself to be a member of the Animorphs in the beginning, he officially became a member in #8: The Alien. For the majority of the series, the human Animorphs explicitly refer to Ax as being the sixth official member of the Animorphs. As such, this Wiki lists Ax as the sixth Animorph and David as the seventh as per the canon and the authors' intent.
↑Cassie brings a flea so that any Animorph who does not have the morph can acquire it. While Tobias does not end up morphing into a flea for this book's mission, he is revealed to have the morph two books later. Therefore, Tobias is considered to have acquired the flea in this book.
↑Tobias' acquisition of the cockroach is not seen or mentioned in this book or any previous books. As this is his first time morphing into the cockroach, the acquisition is thus accredited to this book.
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