Tobias

Template:Infobox Animorph

"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

Tobias is a member of the Animorphs and a red-tailed hawk nothlit (person trapped in morph). Although he regained the ability to morph and thus was no longer trapped in a morph, his true form became that of the hawk's.

Biography

Tobias was initially the quiet and thoughtful loner of these Animorphs. He is a nothlit, trapped in a body of a red-tailed hawk after he passed the two-hour time limit while in morph.

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.

In the book The Change the Ellimist restores his power to morph. However, as the Ellimist does not also restore Tobias' human form as his normal body, Tobias' normal form remains that of the hawk, from which he is able to morph to any other animal, including his original human form. The Ellimist makes the human morph possible by sending Tobias, still in his red-tailed hawk form, into an illusion in which he encountered his human form the day before the Animorphs gained their morphing ability. This occurs at the end of The Change. The Ellimist's intervention gives Tobias the chance to return to life as a human, but he chooses to continue living as a morph-capable hawk, explained by the others as a need to stay in the fight. However, as the series progresses, it becomes apparent that in many ways Tobias prefers his life as a hawk to his life as a human.

Among the group, Tobias is closest to Rachel and Ax. After becoming a nothlit, he lives in the forest as a hawk along with Ax. He has a crush on Rachel during the early books and they become romantically involved later in the series.

Before he became a nothlit, Tobias lived at times with an uncle in the other Animorphs' home town and at times with an aunt on the other coast. Neither ever really cared about the boy, often not paying attention to him or just using him as free labor, and they never tried to find him after his "disappearance". His parents were believed to be dead, but towards the end of the series it was revealed that Tobias's mother, Loren, was still alive and blind. Tobias's true father was Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, the Andalite who gave the Animorphs their powers. Elfangor was on Earth as a human nothlit hiding under the name Alan Fangor, which was shortened to Al Fangor. Because the Ellimist had wiped out all evidence of Elfangor's time on Earth, Tobias and the Animorphs were unaware of Tobias' lineage, until Visser Three got his hands on Elfangor's will. Loren and Tobias were reunited towards the end of the series, though Loren never quite remembered her son or Elfangor, due to amnesia.

After the war, Tobias completely withdraws from the rest of the world, distraught by Rachel's death and unable to forgive Jake for his role in it. He only rejoins the other Animorphs (minus Cassie) after finding out about Ax's capture by The One.

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. [...] I guess the trick is to figure out when to do which thing. When to fight, when to let up. A balancing act. And even if I went back to being fully human in body and mind, that balancing act wouldn't go away."

―Tobias

To be added

Relationships with the other Animorphs

Jake

"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

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

"I want you with me, to be part of me, my life, not to die a bird, not to die for nothing."

―Tobias

This section requires expansion

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.

Ax

This section requires expansion

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

This section requires expansion

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.

Cassie

This section requires expansion

Tobias and Cassie are similar in their kind natures and understanding of animals.

Morphs

Book Morphs

Morph	Book Acquired
Cat (Dude; unusable due to nothlit status)	The Invasion
Red-Tailed Hawk (nothlit)
Raccoon	The Change
Hork-Bajir (Ket Halpak)
Human (13 year old self)
Racehorse	The Unknown
Bottlenose Dolphin	The Escape
Hammerhead Shark
Housefly	The Warning
Mole	The Underground
Brown Bat
Mosquito	The Decision
Deinonychus (unusable; Sario Rip morph)	In the Time of Dinosaurs
Seagull	The Threat
Flea
African Elephant	The Solution
Rabbit	The Pretender
Baby Ringed Seal	The Extreme
Polar Bear (Nanook)
Sperm Whale	The Exposed
Giant Squid
Chimpanzee	The Experiment
Bull
Eel	The Sickness
Cockroach	The Reunion
Mountain Goat (acquired but never used)
Andalite (Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill)	The Illusion
Orca (Swoosh)	The Mutation
Nartec
Honeybee	The Other
Human (Taylor)	The Test
Taxxon
Human (male United States Navy catapult-and-arresting-gear officer)	The Deception
North American Beaver (acquired but never used)	The Resistance
German Shepherd (Champ)	The Diversion
Mallard Drake	The Absolute
Dragonfly	The Answer

Television Show Morphs

Morph	Episode Acquired
Red-Tailed Hawk - Nothlit	My Name is Jake, Part 2
Human (Tobias)	Face Off, Part 1
Skink	My Name is Jake (original acquisition)/Not My Problem (as a flashback)
Lion

Tobias has a total of 4 morphs in the TV Show.

Books Narrated By Tobias

• #3 The Encounter
• Megamorphs #1 The Andalite's Gift
• #13 The Change
• Megamorphs #2 In the Time of Dinosaurs
• #23 The Pretender
• The Hork-Bajir Chronicles
• Megamorphs #3 Elfangor's Secret
• #33 The Illusion
• Megamorphs #4 Back to Before
• #43 The Test
• #49 The Diversion
• #54 The Beginning

Trivia

• 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.
• In Megamorphs #4: Back to Before, an alternate reality scenario, Tobias' low self-esteem leads to him joining The Sharing and becoming a Controller. Besides the fact that The Sharing would stop him from being bullied, one of his main reasons for doing so was the fact that he saw Jake attending a meeting at Tom 's insistence and figured that if they both got involved in The Sharing, then he could become a "winner" like Jake.
• In The Familiar, a bizarre possible future experienced by Jake includes a version of Tobias who morphed into Ax and became stuck in Andalite form, maturing until he resembled his father Elfangor.
• 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 favourites, so both Ax and Tobias were brought into the equal rotation with the rest of the Animorphs near the end of the series.  
• The Test featured a new Tobias cover model (as an inaccurate brunette cover model had been used for the covers of 3, 13, 23, Megamorphs 1, Megamorphs 3, and 33), a boy who was first introduced on the cover of Megamorphs #4. 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 Governor in The Absolute.
• Tobias is the first of the Animrophs to acquire and morph.
• 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 was the first Animorph to become a nothlit. Jake, Cassie, Rachel and Marco nearly became nothlits in wolf form (Tobias even mentioning that two hours had passed) but they managed to demorph. Cassie became a caterpillar nothlit in The Departure, although she later metamorphoses into a butterfly, the natural morphing allowing her to demorph back to human. In The Threat, Marco nearly becomes trapped as a giant flea, although Cassie manages to jump start his morphing limit and cause him to demorph (Ax calling it a miracle), while David, the rogue Animorph, became a rat nothlit in The Solution.
• Tobias was very into dinosaurs when he was young.
•  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."

Gallery

Books

Tobias as a red-tailed hawk

The 2011 Relaunch model

Tobias on the cover of The Andalite's Gift.

Tobias from the inside cover of The Change.

Tobias morphing into his human self.

Tobias on the inside cover of The Andalite Chronicles.

The Animorphs morphing into dinosaurs

Tobias and Cassie on the inside cover of book 28 The Experiment.

Tobias as a hawk, on the inside cover of The Encounter.

Tobias with the other Animorphs flying into battle as a hawk (The Attack).

Tobias flying the background of the inside cover for The Weakness.

Tobias on the cover of Elfangor's Secret.

TobiasMM4.jpg

Tobias from Back to Before.

Tobias morphing hawk gif from the 2011 Relaunch.

Tobias on the Anibase

Tobias's Antioch ID card

Tobias's Animorphs Alliance Handbook bio

Tobias morphing into the hawk

Tobias morphing into a rabbit

Tobias morphing into Ax

Tobias in Hork-Bajir morph (Ket Halpak)

Tobias morphing a Taxxon

Tobias morphing a German Shepherd (Champ)

Tobias on the inside cover of The Beginning

Tobias on the cover of The Beginning

Tobias's part of the Animorphs Alliance poster, showing the cover morph from The Change.

Tobias Promotional trading card, given out when The Andalite's Gift was released.

Tobias's Personal Message from Animorphs Alliance Issue 5

Tobias' human face, as shown on the cover of the Animorphs 2000 Calendar. This is the same model as on the cover of The Encounter, The Pretender and The Illusion.

Headshot of Tobias for the 2011 Reprint

Tobias on the inside cover of the Ellimist Chronicles

Tobias's Cover Model Side by Side

TV series

Christopher Ralph as Tobias

Christoper Ralph as Tobias (from Meet the Stars of Animorphs)

A promotional image of Tobias morphing hawk

Tobias's bio from an Australian VHS limited edition poster

Shots of Tobias from the show

Ax and Tobias

Tobias with the rest of the Animorphs

Tobias and Rachel

A promotional image featuring Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Marco, and Cassie

Tobias morphing Hawk from the episode "Tobias"

Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel

Marco and Tobias

Tobias and Ax

Rachel and Tobias dancing

Rachel, Jake, Tobias, Cassie, and Marco from the episode "My Name is Jake"

Cassie, Jake, Ax, Rachel, and Tobias

Rachel and Tobias from the episode "My Name is Jake"

Rachel, Jake, and Tobias from "Not My Problem"

Merchandising

Hasbro Hawk Transformer Toy

Hasbro Hawk Transformer Toy 2

Tobias licensee illustration

Tobias from "Animorphs: Know the Secret"

Tobias from the game Hawk Rescue

Tobias' bio from Animorphs (GBC Game)