Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs.

Biography

Aximili is a young Andalite who becomes stranded on Earth when the Andalite Dome Ship GalaxyTree is shot down by Yeerk fighters. In #4 The Message, he befriends the group of humans known as the Animorphs, who were given the Andalite morphing technology by his brother Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul in his final moments. Aximili becomes known to his human friends as Ax. He is an aristh (cadet) in the Andalite military. After the end of the war he is promoted to prince and official Andalite liaison to Earth. As the Animorphs find fame on earth, Ax similarly attains legendary status in Andalite culture, or at least in the Andalite military.

Ax is the son of Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf (father) and Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen (mother), both of whom are on the Andalite homeworld. He is the brother of the deceased Prince Elfangor, whom he greatly admires. However, he often resents his brother for his hero status on both Earth and the Andalite homeworld, which relegates Ax to being "the little brother of Elfangor". Ax becomes close friends with Tobias, with whom he shares a forest habitat. Ax and Tobias call each other shorms, which is the rough equivalent in the Andalite language for 'best friend' - it literally means "tail blade", the expression meaning that a shorm is someone who you would trust to hold their tail blade to your throat. This bond is strengthened when the two discover they are related. As a human nothlit, Elfangor married Loren, Tobias's mother, which means that Ax is Tobias' uncle.

Throughout the series, Ax is torn between the Andalites and the humans, his two peoples. In #8: The Alien, it is revealed that he has been keeping secrets from his human friends and allies because of Andalite law. In many of the other books, Ax is forced to question his loyalties — because while he grew up as an Andalite in the Andalite culture, he has found friends and a family on Earth. Despite that, there are aspects of life on Earth that greatly trouble Ax — slaughtering other animals for food (Andalites are herbivores), and genocide, for example. However, time and again, Ax ends up siding with his Earth allies, disrupting a plan to infect the Yeerks with a virus when it is revealed that the virus could mutate to infect humans and resolving to obey Jake's orders over those of other Andalites when they are accidentally transferred to the Leeran homeworld. Ax becomes somewhat obsessed with human culture, particularly food, his World Almanac, and TV (he is particularly fond of commercials, which he calls "These Messages").

As an Andalite, Ax absorbs nutrients from grass and drinks water through his hooves. As a result, he does not have the experience of tasting food that humans are accustomed to (His method of consumption was revealed in #8: The Alien). When he assumes his human form, which was created by combining DNA from Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco, he has an (often comical) difficulty in preventing himself from overindulging in novel human senses and abilities, particularly taste and speech, regularly playing with the sounds he makes despite various efforts to convince him to stop. Ax has a strong affinity for cinnamon buns, and also enjoys chocolate, popcorn, coffee and all varieties of junk food, and inedible things such as paper plates (The others regularly have to remind him of a 'list' of things he is not allowed to eat, including cigarette butts and engine oil). Ax once narratively expressed an occasional desire to become a human nothlit, though he is not known to have ever mentioned this to his human friends. Ax's human morph is described as androgynous and unnaturally pretty for a male. While in morph, Ax either goes by the alias "Phillip" — masquerading as Jake and Rachel's Canadian (or 'Canadese', as Ax once said) cousin — or "No" (Although he was once introduced as "Max" in the TV series). The "No" alias is thanks to a mixup with Marco's dad after Marco told him to only answer questions with either 'yes' or 'no': when Marco's dad asked him his name, he replied "No".

Ax is portrayed as a consummate warrior, and places great importance on duty and his Andalite rituals. He is absolutely committed to victory, perhaps even at the cost of humanity, although he also values his friends on Earth. Ax is, first and foremost, a good soldier. Because an aristh must, by definition, serve under a prince, Ax adopts Jake as his prince and calls him "Prince Jake". Jake is often annoyed or amused by this (Prompting the recurring gag of Jake telling Ax "Don't call me prince" and Ax replying <Yes, Prince Jake>).

Ax's sole love interest is an Andalite girl named Estrid, who is introduced in #38: The Arrival; the two even kissed as part of an 'experiment' to understand the full use of mouths. However, their romance was short-lived, due to a plot Estrid was part of to infect the Yeerks with a virus that could kill their human hosts. Eventually, she returned to the Andalite homeworld. She is casually mentioned in at least two other books, but it is assumed their romance was never rekindled.

At the end of the war, Ax is elevated to the rank of prince. He also finally steps out of his brother Elfangor's shadow and becomes famous. He is considered to be the one and only "expert on all things human" by Andalites.

After the war, Ax returns to the Andalite homeworld and ends up commanding a cruiser class vessel Intrepid. Unfortunately, this ship encounters a being known as The One, a Borg-like entity that "assimilates" its victims, including Ax. What this means for Ax, and his final fate, is unknown.

In early books of the series, the ones taking place from Ax's point of view, are considered the most humorous; often before the actual plot begins there is a chapter or two about Ax's comical escapades. Because in his Andalite form he has no mouth, he is often plays with words and sounds, which he enjoys almost as much as the sensation of taste. Later on in the series there appears to be much less room for his antics and he takes on more of a serious role.

Relationships with the other Animorphs

• Tobias: Of all the Animorphs, Ax is closest to Tobias, who he considers to be his shorm, an Andalite term roughly translating to best friend. The word shorm literally means "tail blade", the expression being that a shorm is someone who you would trust to hold their tail blade to your throat. They bond due to both being outsiders, and this is strengthened by the revelation that Tobias is Ax's nephew.
• Rachel: Ax and Rachel rarely interact outside of a group setting. Ax worries about her bloodthirstiness and violent nature, and voices his concerns later in the series.
• Jake: Ax deeply respects Jake, and comes to consider him a true friend. At times, Ax is torn between his loyalties to his human prince and his loyalties to his race.
• Cassie: Ax and Cassie rarely interact one-on-one, two notable exceptions being her inviting him to have dinner with her family (in his Jake morph) and consoling him after Estrid's departure. After Cassie allows Tom to take the Escafil Device, Ax compares her to Seerow, and muses in his narrative that her compassion makes her possibly the most dangerous of them all.
• Marco: At first Marco dislikes and distrusts Ax, but as time goes on the two develop a close relationship. After Marco's cover is blown and he has to leave his regular life, he goes to live with Ax at his scoop, and the two bond over electronics and soap operas.

Family

• Brother Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul (deceased)
• Sister-in-law Loren
• Nephew Tobias
• Father Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf
• Mother Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen

Ax's morphs

Ax has no battle morph per se, as his natural Andalite form is extremely effective in a fight, and both he and his prince, Jake prefer that he enter battle as himself. In addition, Ax's remaining out of morph reinforces the Yeerks' belief that the Animorphs are in fact a group of Andalite guerillas, survivors of the destruction of the Dome Ship GalaxyTree (this only applies to Ax). Ax does use his rattlesnake morph on occasion, as well as a cheetah morph when he must fight around uninfested humans. One of his most common morphs is his human form, created using DNA from Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco, blended together to create a unique being using the Frolis Maneuver.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2008)

• In 1999, two different Transformers toys of Ax were made. One was a large figure which changed from Andalite to Scorpion, while a smaller one was created as a repaint of the Jake Tiger figure, and turned into a Panther (a slight remolding of the figure did give it an Andalite head which could replace the human one).^[1]
• A running gag is Ax misinterpreting human culture. In one instance, Ax walks around (in human morph) with no shirt on, and, after being reprimanded by Marco, states: "The men who are young and restless wear no shirts. I am young. And I am occasionally restless." Ax also has a fondness for cinnamon buns, and, in fact, anything with a strong taste, as Andalites feed on grass through their feet and therefore do not experience the sense of taste.
• Ax believes many human activities and inventions to be strange and useless (e.g. kissing, clothing) but he finds some human items to be "the greatest items in history": cinnamon buns, Snickers bars, chilli sauce, coffee cups, and the television.

References

1. ^ http://www.tfu.info