#prince elfangor

[cyber54prime]

Today it's a fan art of Prince elfangor

[kooldewd123]

there's something to be said about the choice to use "prince" as the main signifier of military rank for the andalites. because it kinda obscures the truth of the situation, doesn't it? a group of kids getting magic powers from an alien prince sounds whimsical and delightful. a group of kids getting pulled into a war by an alien colonel sounds tragic and horrible. the slow reveal of what "prince" actually means over the course of the early books is perhaps the most underrated twist of the entire series, because it fundamentally recontextualizes the entire premise of the series without the reader even consciously realizing it.

[imperfectskeleton]

I’ve started on my animorphs read (got a whole heap of notes on the first three chapters somebody help me) and I was thinking about how it’s neat that visser three is the one to say elfangor’s name but also. <an honour to meet you>

like probably nobody else knows this isn’t their first meeting because of Chapman’s apparent memory wipe. And like wow, this is a big moment. Their first face-to-face meeting since the alternate universe.

Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, decorated by the Andalite military, mortally wounded and the last survivor of the ambush on his dome ship. A hero so big that nobody will ever hear of his crimes, who just wanted to do things right.

And he’s facing Visser Three, who nobody has fought and survived.

Whose face he has personally been spitting in - as well as a creature without a mouth can - since he was just a subvisser in a hork-Bajir body.

Whose hands he played into better than the visser could ever have hoped, allowing this abomination - an andalite controlled by a yeerk - to be created.

And he knows he has to die. There’s nothing he can do, but he makes his ship fire, one last time - not on alloran though, he could never kill alloran, this is all his fault after all, but people have been freed before, and he’s just met the son he never even saw and he needs what he tells these human children to matter.

So he shows them how to fight, how to be brave, as one of the biggest moments in the war against the Yeerks happens in an abandoned construction site on Earth, with five human children as witnesses. Elfangor probably isn’t arrogant enough to think he’s a big moment, but to the yeerks, to the andalites, to the animorphs, he is. So really, of course, the biggest moment in the war was before visser three landed and showed the animorphs what elfangor meant. It was when a dying alien crash-landed in front of a bunch of mall rats who should’ve taken the long way home.

[brothermouse-skeleton]

Imagine how unstoppable the Animorphs would have been if Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill brother of War Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul had actually managed to stAY AWAKE IN CLASS FOR MORE THAN FIVE CONSECUTIVE MINUTES

[princeseerow]

animorphs #1: the invasion: chapters 5 - 9

macleod andrews' visser three voice is amazing

but i hate the way he pronounces elfangor-sirinial-shamtul. he says it more like elfangoor.

okay i had been looking forward for this! visser three says he's pleased to meet elfangor again and that he's become a legend now. i knew the audiobooks were using updated text (from the 2011 reprints i believe) but didnt know exactly what that entailed. it's a small change, but i like that it establishes that visser three and elfangor have somewhat of a relationship, as opposed to being like "oh prince elfangor i've heard of you"

one of my favorite rachel moments ever happens right here at the end of chapter five. as visser three is morphing into a terrifying alien creature and about to eat elfangor alive, rachel makes an effort to protect the people around her. like, that tells you everything about the kind of person she is.

jake thinking he recognizes the sound of one of the human controllers' at the construction sight is pretty solid foreshadowing. i wish i could read this for the first time again to see if i could accurately guess beforehand who it is.

"the world of nightmares was a joke compared to my new reality" pretty banger line

jake says tobias "figured [jake] was his friend" meaning that the feeling isn't exactly mutual, and yet jake knows intimate details about his shitty home life, has his phone number, and has even met his cat. i don't know why jake is so in denial about being friends with tobias but it's really tickling me.

two more changes: morph-capable humans can't use thoughtspeech in their human bodies, and morphing into a dog no longer involves "reversing knees". good stuff.

the joy that tobias and then jake experience when morphing cat and dog respectively is so infectious. reading these books as a kid i never wanted the power to morph because of, well, everything else, but man i'd love the ability to turn into a cat for an hour just to see what it's like

[edorielle]

Animorphs #1 - The Invasion

Alright, let's go for this re-reading!

My special Guest Stars for this Book Club:

The Invasion, by K.A. Applegate, Scholastic Publishing (2011 version)

L'invasion, translated by Noël Chassériau, published by Gallimard in 1997

------

First Impression:

The first thing that strikes me (and that had already struck me when I started re-reading the series two years ago) is: damn, the narration is GOOD. The events unfold logically, and the protagonists' reactions are believable. There’s no excess of superheroism, in the sense that the challenges they face are proportional to what they can overcome. The Yeerk Pool scene is a high point: they attack in a completely chaotic manner due to their inexperience and the panic of seeing Cassie captured, and despite a semi-defeat, they don't lose hope.

Second Observation:

In the 2011 version, major inconsistencies were corrected. Visser Three addresses Elfangor more directly, instead of speaking to him as if he were a total stranger:

"Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, if I am not mistaken. An honor to meet you again. You're a legend now."

Also, when Jake tries to talk to Tobias without being morphed, Tobias doesn't hear him.

About the Translation:

Overall, I found the translation quite faithful. However, the tone is softened in some passages to eliminate insults. For example:

Marco: "I think these Controllers are jerks" => "Je trouve que ces Contrôleurs sont immondes" (I think these Controllers are disgusting).

Or when Jake talks about Tobias’s family: "Tobias has the most screwed-up family I know." => "La famille de Tobias est assez spéciale." (Tobias's family is quite special). Hmm, that’s what you call a mild understatement, lmao.

Or when they're in the Yeerk Pool: "Some people are scum, Rachel," Marco said => "Certaines personnes ont une mentalité d'esclaves, Rachel" (Some people have a slave mentality, Rachel). Damn, that's so VIOLENT!

This softening of the tone is quite characteristic of 1990s children's literature, which tolerated no profanity, both for cultural reasons and due to legal constraints—publications for children in France are strictly regulated.

Some cultural references were removed when they were too specific:

Marco: "We'd get to be on Letterman for sure." => "On passerait sûrement à la télé" (We’d surely be on TV).

But in other passages, the translator tried to adapt by replacing references with others more relatable to a young French audience. I particularly like this passage:

The reference to Storm from the X-Men was too specific for the time and would only have been understood by a geek audience. So instead, Rachel calls Jake Superman, a superhero who was particularly relevant in 1997 thanks to the TV series Lois & Clark. (I was 9 and a fan—weren’t you?)

---------

One Last Point:

I won't dwell on it, but I can't not mention it because it's literally the subject of my fanfic: the Yeerks and how they are portrayed in this first book.

Two passages particularly catch my attention:

(Description of the Yeerks by Elfangor himself)

(In the Yeerk Pool)

Personally, I'm a firm believer in the principle, "If the person is of age and consenting, then I don't see the problem." I think the theme of parasitic aliens would have been more appropriate as part of a broader reflection on consent (and bodily autonomy, a topic I consider very important, especially for children because incest is a reality). But hey, that wasn't the author's choice.

What bothers me is that, generally, throughout the series—except for the episodes with Aftran and the Yeerk Peace Movement, where there's a timid attempt at reflection—voluntary hosts are often disparaged.

----

Anyway, I'll try to find some time to continue with book 2—this week, it’s not going to be easy.

Happy reading to all the participants!

[grandwretch]

much in the same vein as the idea of Elfangor having children, I wonder if Applegate ever meant for Elfangor to be an honest to God royal or if she always meant for Prince to be a military rank

imagine how much more incredibly fucked up Ax's character arc could have been if he was the last surviving heir to an authoritarian empire. I can kinda see why she chose to go in a different direction with it because Jesus christ the politics at the end of the series would have been sooooooo messy

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Hello!

Would you kindly consider this AU:

While waiting for the Blade Ship to lend in the construction site, one of the Animorphs thinks of the idea to acquire Elfangor's DNA, so instead of facing a dying prince, Visser 3 meats a surprisingly healthy doppelganger.

This could either go with Real Elfangor morphing and living or not

r/Animorphs: The Reckoning by WhatWouldEnderDo explores that premise — I recommend it!

[joemerl]

This was no—vecol. This guy was massive. Bigger than any Andalite I’d ever seen. Bigger than Ax’s brother, War Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. Bigger than Aloth-Attamil-Gahar. Bigger even than Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, host body to Visser Three.

I do not buy that Marco remembered all those Andalites' full names, he clearly had to ask Ax before writing this part.

[fanonical]

elfangor: i am a hardened warrior prince and a master of deception elfangor: when i pretend to be a human, my fake name will be...al fangor

[guavajaws]

Prince Elfangor Sirinal Shamtul

[kooldewd123]

the depiction of the andalite military in book 18 is really clever, the more i think about it. obviously, the purpose of this book is to start shaking ax's trust in the military institutions that have been a core part of his character up to this point. but the interesting part of this is that it also serves the opposite purpose of showing the audience why he would have such respect for it in the first place. because let's face it, it's not like it's been shown in the most flattering light. the last time ax contacted his homeworld, he was ordered to take the fall for his brother's crimes and then told that his rescue was low priority. in the andalite chronicles, the main face of the military we spend time with is alloran-semitur-"i attempted genocide and all i got was this lousy t-shirt"-corass. and let's not forget that ax himself was pretty standoffish with the rest of the team in the early days of their relationship specifically as a result of his military upbringing.

compare that to what we see in book 18: the tactical officer is rude to our protagonists, but sacrifices his own life without hesitation, and his crew willingly follows him. the prince is remarkably respectful to the leerans and takes the humans in stride, a stark contrast to the usual arrogant xenophobia we've come to expect from andalites. even the captain is an immediately likable character, which makes his betrayal feel nearly as bad to the audience as it does to ax. the line "i'll believe elfangor broke the law. i'll never believe he did anything wrong" is one of my favorites in the entire series, and my brain desperately wants to forget that it comes from someone who tries to turn them over to the yeerks not long afterward - which, weirdly enough, puts me right in ax's shoes at that moment. hooves. whatever. point is, this book pulls off an amazing balancing act where you find yourself rooting for the military at the same time as the protagonist finds himself becoming disillusioned by it. and i find that pretty neat.

[ravenya003]

Stuff I Read/Watched in July...

Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) by Dav Pilkey

The Bad Guys: The Furball Strikes Back by Aaron Blabey

Dawn and the Big Sleepover by Anne M. Martin

Kristy and the Baby Parade by Anne M. Martin

Diadem: Book of Names by John Peel

Diadem: Book of Signs by John Peel

Diadem: Book of Magic by John Peel

The Two-Faced God by Caroline Lawrence

The Sewer Demon by Caroline Lawrence

The Thunder Omen by Caroline Lawrence

The Book of Shane by Nick Eliopulos

Tales of the Fallen Beasts by Brandon Mull and others

The Andalite Chronicles: Elfangor by K.A. Applegate

Tides of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee

Flames of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946)

Tales of Robin Hood (1951)

Ivanhoe (1952)

Son of Robin Hood (1958)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Ivanhoe (1982)

Robin Hood: Prince of Sherwood (1993)

The Adventures of Robin Hood: Seasons 1 – 4 (1955 – 1959)

Ivanhoe (1997)

The Tudors: Season 3 (2009)

Slow Horses: Season 1 (2022)

More details on blog...

[swan2swan]

This Andalite had a monstrous tail, long and thick. And at its end, a blade that, to my terrifiedeyes, looked a lot like that scythe thing the Grim Reaper carries. I was barely finished demorphing when the Andalite started to walk toward Ax. His tail sliced the night air menacingly, blade glinting in the light of the almost full moon. Each hubcap-sized hoof clomping the dewy ground, sending little clods of soil flying. Field mice scurrying. This was no - vecol. This guy was massive. Bigger than any Andalite I’d ever seen. Bigger than Ax’s brother, War Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. Bigger than Aloth-Attamil-Gahar. Bigger even than Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, host body to Visser Three. Shoulders like a fullback. A chest that was cut like a competition-level bodybuilder. Arms that, except for the blue fur, could pass for those of a middle-weight champion. Even the usually small and delicate many-fingered Andalite hands were broad and toughened. Like those of a carpenter or construction worker.

Swipe right, Marco.

[pontifex-maximus]

realizing now just how bad my anxiety as jason was and how, in a way, it was worse than tobias. you'd think being a human mind trapped in a bird body reverse therian style and being paranoid about mind controlling alien slugs taking over earth in an intergalactic war would be more anxiety inducing but i guess as tobias i was just kinda... jaded to it all after a while? but as jason i wasn't trying to hide away so much. as tobias i was just... a kid. elfangor turned to the animorphs out of desperation and necessity. it wasn't like a bunch of literal kids was his first choice for saving the universe. but as jason i was trying to step up and the, well, reputation and societal expectations from the greater population of new rome... they expected me to step up. it wasn't just one dying alien from out of the blue. as jason i couldn't just run away and hide in the woods with lupa and thalia like i tried to as tobias. as jason i couldn't just detox on the thermals and vibe in a tree watching squirrels all day. i was praetor. pontifex. son of jupiter. in essence, kind of like a prince expected to uphold royalty. with the entire senate breathing down my neck. with olympus itself breathing down my neck. and like bird vs human, i had greek vs roman. but i couldn't hide as one or the other. i couldn't just bird my way out of the prophecies. and the gods actually offered to help me and listened, unlike the ellimist who only had personal gain and exploitation in mind. unlike the ellimist, i actually wanted to maintain a two way mutual respect with the gods and be seen as worthy. tobias wasn't expected to be stoic and yet he was. but jason... he was expected to be stoic. i was expected to be stoic. and underneath the mask, these wings aren't those of the hawk. they're made of wax. heavy, weighed down, cumbersome, and yet they're expected to help me take flight because it's expected of me. so long as i don't burn up when they melt. my fatal flaw was described as indecisiveness and being a martyr. i would argue my bigger flaw is the fear of never living up to expectations.

[brightfire-tallykins]

I feel like there’s even more to unpack when you remember that 15 books after jacuzzi-ing all those yeerks without a second thought, he actually chooses not to kill defenseless yeerks in book 21. Partially for strategic reasons, partially for moral ones.

“There was something wrong about killing defenseless slugs. I was pretty sure of that”

Big oof.

There’s also something interesting about Ax’s role in both book 21 and book 53. He doesn’t make the calls, but in both cases he is the one to indirectly bring up the option.

Which strikes me as even more interesting when you consider Ax compared to Elfangor, his brother and role model.

Elfangor is given an order to flush yeerks on his first real mission, and refuses to do it multiple times. It’s probably the biggest event that disillusioned Elfangor from the Andalite culture and war in the Andalite Chronicals.

But Ax never raises any moral objections, and in fact seems to think it’s a good idea. I’d even say that in 21, the only reason he doesn’t do it is because of that direct order from Jake to leave them.

It’s like the exact inverse of Elfangor’s situation— being ordered to do it, and refusing to do it vs. wanting to do it, and not doing it because of an order.

I feel like that difference might say a lot about how andalite culture shifted to be more extreme as Ax aged. Alloran using quantum viruses and ordering cadets kill defenseless prisoners was considered to be adical when Elfangor was young (though obviously the system was already broken if it allowed Alloran to continue to be a prince at all, albeit an unpopular one).

Ax on the other hand displays very intense hatred for yeerks from day one, and constantly defines himself (and the andalite military in general) by this drive to wipe out the yeerk empire. Yeerks are evil and any opportunity to kill them should be taken. Ax probably would've done much more killing in the series if he had less respect for Jake's position as prince.

Also, in book 54 I think it says that Ax had become a far more famous and accomplished prince than Elfangor as an adult- which happened in spite of (or maybe because of) the fact that he was the one who pulled the trigger to kill 17,000 defenseless slugs.

jake, animorphs book 6 (the capture)

just a 13 year old kid still thinking in terms of black and white, not really understanding

vs jake, animorphs book 53 (the answer)

3 years later he understands the gravity of it now but still does it anyways to thousands more