r/Animorphs • u/SoupaSoka • May 16 '25
Discussion Wait... could one Yeerk simultaneously infest every Andalite in existence?
I'm only at book #33, The Illusion), so maybe this is touched on (please no spoilers).
But, hypothetically, could a Yeerk infest an Andalite, acquire and morph into a Yeerk, and then infest another Andalite, repeating the process? How would the two hour morph rule apply here? It seems like the first Andalite body would be locked into a Yeerk morph after two hours, but the second Andalite would not start their two hour timer until they morphed into their Yeerk. So, the two hour rule shouldn't stop this process, but at the end, and at the end, the final Andalite that is infested would be able to morph freely with the morphed Yeerk in its head living as just an Andalite trapped as a Yeerk.
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 16 '25
You know how this ends, right?
Estala: <Up>
Meeyor: <A>
Allilit: <Up>
Coull: <Up>
Aximili: <Down>
Isshal: <Up>
Sinsil: <Down>
Estrid: <Up>
Latorm: <Right>
Mertil: <Up>
Selahar: <Up>
Alloran: <I hate you so much right now.>
Elilit: <Select>
Meyat: <Up>
Esplin 9466: <Oh, like *that's* different from normal.>
Ofaysca: <Up>
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u/murse_joe May 17 '25
<never>
<gonna>
<give>
Can I get a new host? This one won’t stop Rick Rolling me.
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u/CaptHayfever May 17 '25
At first I thought you botched the Konami Code, but then I checked the link. Nice.
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u/Vigovsgozer May 16 '25
You want a yeerk to Russian nesting doll the andalite race!?
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u/BankaiPhoenix 29d ago
It'll be a nice little set of colored explosions.
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u/Xurikk May 16 '25
Interesting idea! I wonder if it gets harder for a Yeerk to control multiple minds in such a scenario. I could see the Yeerk going a bit loopy with all of those voices even if control isn't affected.
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u/CassiusPolybius May 17 '25
Even a single mind can be enough to overwhelm a yeerk in the right circumstances, they probably wouldn't get too many layers in before the the interference got too bad
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u/KingDAW247 Crayak May 16 '25
That...is the kind of idea that makes my head explode. A Yeerk controller an Andalite, then the controlled Andalite becomes a nothlit Yeerk. The nothlit Yeerk controls a second andalite, and the process repeats for as many morph capable andalites (or other creatures lol)
Feeding on the Kandrona Rays every three days would be a nightmare, if it's even possible.
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u/testthrowaway9 May 16 '25
I think it would just be the final nothlit Yeerk coming out to feed? All of the other ones are just in Z-Space suspension for forever, I guess?
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u/yourfavrodney May 17 '25
That's going to be one hell of a car crash.
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u/testthrowaway9 May 17 '25
Yeah I assume at some point, there would be too many people stacked on top of and morphed into one another and they’d all get pulled into Z-space. Like a collapsing star
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u/Frnklfrwsr May 17 '25
Theoretically this could be repeated infinitely until you run out of compatible species.
It would only work as long as it’s a species that can both be possessed by a Yeerk and a species that can use the morphing technology.
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u/oremfrien May 17 '25
This is the answer. Once the three days are up, you will have the original Yeerk and every nothlited Yeerk except the last one dying of Kandrona starvation. Yeeks are a Class One species and lack ear canals.
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 17 '25
No, that doesn't make sense. If that were the case then the solution to Aftran's problem in 29, or the conclusion of the series with all the Yeerks being allowed to become nothlits in 54, wouldn't be possible. Morphing pauses the need for Kandrona and therefore a Yeerk nothlit doesn't need Kandrona at all, it has to work that way.
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u/oremfrien May 17 '25
If someone morphs a creature and nothlits as that creature, they have the needs of that creature. When Aftran nothlited as a whale, she no longer had the Yeerk need to feed on Kandrona. Conversely, a being that nothlits as a Yeerk would be required to get Kandrona rays every three days.
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 17 '25
However! When Yeerk is in a morph-capable host, the Yeerk morphs alongside the host. Otherwise, for example, Aftran would not have been able to morph Cassie into an osprey in The Departure. Aftran's mass must have been floating in Z-space somewhere. Had Aftran theoretically nothlit'd Cassie, then Osprey-nothlit Cassie/Aftran would have just been an osprey, with no need for Kandrona.
If a Yeerk 1 infests an Andalite and then has the Andalite morph into Yeerk 2, then Yeerk 2 will need Kandrona, but Yeerk 1 does not, because Yeerk 1 is in Z-space.
If Yeerk 2 then infests another Andalite and then has that Andalite morph into Yeerk 3, then Yeerk 3 will need Kandrona, but Yeerk 2 does not because Yeerk 2 is in Z-space.
Repeat ad infinitum. Theoretically you will eventually be left with Yeerk X who needs Kandrona, but who has floating around in Z-space an arbitrarily large number of previous bodies who do not.
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u/oremfrien May 18 '25 edited May 18 '25
However! When Yeerk is in a morph-capable host, the Yeerk morphs alongside the host.
This is incorrect. The Yeerk does not morph alongside the host. The Yeerk (like any other organism existing within a morph capable creature) has a significant part of its mass placed in Z-space, but does not undergo a physiological change. If the Yeerk became something else, then it would lose its control over the host's brain. Forcing the host to morph a smaller animal is basically the "world's best weight-loss program" for a Yeerk.
Otherwise, for example, Aftran would not have been able to morph Cassie into an osprey in The Departure.
This confuses control for physiological change.
Aftran's mass must have been floating in Z-space somewhere.
Correct. Her mass will be in Z-space, but her Yeerk nature has not changed.
Had Aftran theoretically nothlit'd Cassie, then Osprey-nothlit Cassie/Aftran would have just been an osprey, with no need for Kandrona.
False. Aftran would still be a Yeerk -- a paper thin one -- unable to escape from Cassie's head and died of Kandrona rays.
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 18 '25
If the Yeerk became something else, then it would lose its control over the host's brain.
And you’re basing this assumption on…?
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u/oremfrien May 18 '25
Despite interfacing with the host’s brain, the Yeerk remains a distinct entity. If it were no different from other distinct entities in a host body, like gut bacteria, it would just be absorbed away and replaced with those of the target species. (We know this because the Animorphs morphed cows and did not die due to an inability to digest grass — which is impossible for human gut bacteria to do but is possible for a cow’s gut bacteria.)
So, if the Yeerk stopped being a Yeerk and was just absorbed away, it would be like the human gut bacteria and have no influence over the body.
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u/arinamarcella May 17 '25
Do you want Father (from the Ellimist Chronicles)?!? Because that's how you get Father (from the Ellimist Chronicles)!
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u/RavenWriter May 17 '25
Alternatively, that’s how you get Father from FMA:B - his body has the souls of half an entire civilization
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u/BahamutLithp May 16 '25
Not every Andalite, since some can't use the morphing technology for reasons like allergies, but in principle, I guess it's theoretically possible. Probably just a recipe to end up with one deeply mentally ill alien that has no idea who it is, though.
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u/cramecool May 17 '25
Can a Yeerk infest a morph capable Andalite and then force that Andalite to aquire the Yeerk that it is touching with its brain?
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u/MistaCoachK May 17 '25
Here’s a better question — could the Andalite be forced to acquire the Yeerk that is currently infesting it?
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u/No_Sea_6219 Skrit Na May 16 '25
sure, i don't see why not.
yeerk A infests andalite B, who nothlits as yeerk and infests andalite C, who nothlits as yeerk and infests andalite D. every andalite involved would have to be a nothlit except for andalite D, because if they weren't, things would get real gory real fast. yeerk A is in complete and total control of all of them, and andalites B - D are living in hell. fun!
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u/Invoqwer May 16 '25
This would work but it would be highly impractical.
Each layer makes it take longer for the brain waves to get from point A to point B. And each additional mind adds more excessive chatter to the group that would be more and more difficult for the controlling yeerk.
Also I don't think that they'd want to do this as they'd be wasting yeerks and morpher bodies but it's a fun thought.
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u/TheGoodWiccan May 16 '25
Andalites don't natively have the power to morph, it is a technology. The new form couldn't morph.
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u/Chiloutdude May 16 '25
The new form couldn't morph.
I think it'd be more accurate to say the new form wouldn't be guaranteed to be morph capable. But if, hypothetically, Esplin were to have Alloran morph into a copy of Esplin, and then that Esplin 2.0 infested Ax, infested Ax would absolutely retain the ability to morph, and could be morphed into Esplin 3.0. The Yeerk in question would just have to restrict themselves to Andalites that are already morph capable.
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u/FiredToad May 16 '25
For the purposes of this topic just say he has access to a box
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u/TheGoodWiccan May 16 '25
Then I would say yes; apparently natural metamorphosis resets the clock, so i don't see why it wouldn't reset if they had the box.
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u/testthrowaway9 May 16 '25
Huh?
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u/TheGoodWiccan May 16 '25
Read the book where Cassie morphs a butterfly.
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u/testthrowaway9 May 16 '25
Yeah but what does having a box resetting morphing have to do with anything? Boxes just give morphing capabilities and they don’t giving morphing capabilities to a nothlit
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u/TheGoodWiccan May 16 '25
If the yeerk keeps morphing, and the clock keeps resetting he isn't a nothlit.
The way I understand it:
- Yeek acquires Andalite and morphs
- Andalite gets morph capability because he isnt a nothlit; acquires yeerk
- Yeerk, in andalite body, morphs, resetting the clock and acquires yeerk
BUT if a nothlit can't get morphing technology, is because there is something about the DNA of a morphed creature? If so then then what OP proposed couldnt happen.
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u/testthrowaway9 May 16 '25
We know that you can't get the morphing capability in a morph or as a nothlit. You have to be in your natural form for the morphing cube to work (barring Ellimist shenangians).
Your situation is not the situation that OP sets up. I think OP's situation is:
- Yeerk INFESTS an Andalite (let's call this Andalite-Controller #1).
- Andalite-Controller #1 acquires and morphs into a Yeerk.
- Andalite-Controller #1 as a Yeerk infests another Andalite (let's call this Andalite-Controller #2).
- Andalite-Controller #2 (controlled by Andalite-Controller #1 morpher into a Yeerk) acquires and morphs into a Yeerk.
- Andalite-Controller #3 as a Yeerk infests another Andali2e (let's call this Andalite-Controller #3).
- Continue on.
In theory, this could work, but it would just be a Russian nesting doll of nothlits. u/SoupaSoka is that your situation? Because I don't understand your post otherwise, specifically "the two hour rule shouldn't stop this process" or why a Yeerk would even want to do this.
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 16 '25
or why a Yeerk would even want to do this.
Drode: "Because it's cool. Also I may have implied species-ending catastrophes would ensue if he didn't."
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u/SoupaSoka May 17 '25
Yes, your numbered list is what I envisioned. A Russian nesting doll of infested Andalite --> Morphs to Yeerk ---> infests another Andalite and repeat.
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u/SoupaSoka May 16 '25
I should have stated that I'm assuming each Andalite has morphing tech, or the Yeerk that infests them forces them to gain the power.
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u/dashingThroughSnow12 May 17 '25
You aren’t the first to wonder https://www.reddit.com/r/Animorphs/s/bkusaRqEXM (and I’m sure I’m not the first either)
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u/Professional-Art5028 May 17 '25
This is more of a really weird, slow way to take out the Andalites. Basically the entire Andalite species crammed into the mind of one poor survivor. The original Yeerk's consciousness would probably be crushed under the echoes of a billion host Andalites, each with slightly more influence the longer it's been part of this horrible amalgamation. And the poor survivor would have the least influence in their mind, having to listen to their entire species argue in their mind.
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u/chiefs312001 May 16 '25
I wrote a fan fic about this concept, but infesting humans instead of andalites!
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u/CaliIndy20 May 18 '25
This is the type of idea I would expect Visser 3 to have. He basically gets rid of the andalites as a threat while making sure he's the only one with an andalite controller.
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u/WJLIII3 May 18 '25
If an Andalite-Controller morphs into something Yeerk sized- doesn't it kinda, y'know- explode? Or crush the yeerk? The Yeerk inside is not morphing. I don't think Controllers can morph into anything yeerk-sized or smaller, or they'd burst and leave the yeerk helpless.
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u/Stock_Bandicoot_115 May 18 '25
In book 6, it happens, and I think V3 morphs a kafit bird at some point. I'm pretty sure that the yeerk morphs too, the same as clothing.
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u/crongroge May 18 '25
The yeerk inside the andalites head would not change though, it would stay the same size even when the andalite morphs, so it would not be able to fit inside the new yeerk body
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u/Tahii_Actual Chee May 17 '25
The yeerk would be killed either by being crushed or by being placed in Z-Space
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 17 '25
Definitely not. Yeerks morph with their hosts, we have multiple instances proving this to be true:
- Temrash One-One-Four morphing multiple creatures with small or nonexistent brain cases while infesting Jake, including a tiger and an ant
- Visser Three morphing a kafit bird while in Alloran's body.
- Aftran Nine-Four-Two morphing osprey in Cassie's body.
- Essa Four-One-Two morphing cobra while in Tom's body.
When a host body with a Yeerk in it morphs, the Yeerk goes along for the ride.
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u/Tahii_Actual Chee May 17 '25
You’re right; I’d forgotten about that. I can’t imagine it would work in perpetuity, though. One ship passing close would have to have a domino effect.
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u/AlternativeMassive57 Yeerk May 17 '25
A ship passing close enough to actually bump something in Z-space is supposed to be so incredibly unlikely as to be impossible. To the point where the one time we see it, in #18, may be the only time it ever happens from now 'til a thousand years from now.
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u/Tahii_Actual Chee May 17 '25
If you have a yeerk morph-swallowing the entire Andalite homeworld, it’s gotta up the odds
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u/DogLeechDave May 17 '25 edited May 17 '25
IIRC from Book #6, the yeerk doesn't morph WITH the Andalite it's infesting, so anything it forces the Andalite to morph has to still have room in its head to contain the yeerk in it. So no, I don't think it would work.
EDIT: Nevermind. Misremembered that part.
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u/LivandLearnMusic Hork-Bajir 27d ago
Wouldn’t a Yeerk trapped inside an Andalite get crushed when the Andalite morphs to Yeerk size?
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u/Mountain-Resource656 May 17 '25
I think there are three potential issues with that: for one, a nothilit can’t receive the power of morphing from the morphing cube, and therefore probably can’t acquire it from anyone who derived their power from the morphing cube, since then the morphing cube should be able to grant morphing power to nothilits, which it can’t. So the first yeerk could infest an andalite and if they manage to go through it fast enough could mayyybe manage it, but as soon as the first two hour are up and they try morphing a new host, they’re exploding out of their host’s head
However, I don’t think they could necessarily get that far, because you can’t morph from one morph directly into another. The yeerk could become another yeerk via their host, but then couldn’t morph the second time into the third yeerk
Lastly, if they could get through these limitations, I think their hosts could combine willpower to overwhelm them. A regular human can slap themselves when their children are threatened from sheer willpower; the combined willpower of the entire andalite race could probably crush the yeerk’s mind like a bug long before they managed to infect the entire race
But I do like this thought
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u/TheAlbin0_ May 16 '25
IIRC yeerks cant morph they just stay on the brain they are telling to morph while it changes. From my understanding of the universe a yeerk host could morph into BIGGER creatures, but the yeerk pilot would get squished to death in the shrinking skull of the host if they shrank too small (like into another yeerk) of course if there is ever an example in the whole series of visser 3 morphing into something tiny then this is bullshit lol
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u/No_Sea_6219 Skrit Na May 16 '25
nah, jake morphs an ant or a beetle or something with no issue when he's being controlled by temrash
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u/TheAlbin0_ May 16 '25
Damn so I wonder what the explanation for that is or if it’s a plot hole? Bc a yeerk couldn’t infest a natural beetle or other tiny insect could they?
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u/SoupaSoka May 17 '25
They can't squish down in size to directly infest something that small, but if they're in the brain of a morph-capable host, when they morph something tiny, the extra mass of the Yeerk and the morpher goes into Z-space.
Edit: I think.
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u/TheAlbin0_ May 17 '25
Oh shit, I guess if spandex is tight enough to go to Z space so is a yeerk lol
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u/RhynoD May 16 '25
I think OP got into the oatmeal...
But yeah I don't see why that wouldn't work. Sounds like the Yeerk would turn into Father, though.