Andalite terminology

A compilation of Andalite terminology used throughout the "Animorphs" series.

*Andalite Homeworld: The name of the native planet of the Andalites is not given in the series, and is simply referred to as the Andalite homeworld. It possesses more than one sun, which gives its sky a red-gold hue, and the planet is covered with less water as compared to Earth. The landscape mainly consists of gently rolling hills and plains, where the Andalites live in family groups and small tribal bands. More advanced civilization exists in the form of three great spaceports.

*Aristh: Andalite word similar to cadet. An aristh is of the lowest rank in the Andalite military, and must, by definition, serve under a prince.

*Derrishoul Tree: An asparagus-shaped Andalite tree.

*Death Ritual: Ritual undertaken by Andalite warriors who are in danger of immediate death. It reads as follows; "I am the servant of the people, I am the servant of my prince, I am the servant of honour. My life is not my own, when the people have need of it. My life is given for the people, for my prince, and for my honour."

*Dome Ship: The Andalite capital ship. Shaped similar to a mushroom, a Dome ship features a large park enclosed by a dome at the top of the ship, with an environment similar to that of the Andalite homeworld. The three engines are located at the bottom end of the ship. The domed park and the engines are connected by a long, narrow shaft, which is the main section of the ship and houses the bridge as well as weapons systems. The pride of the Andalite navy, a fleet of Dome ships are said to be nearly invincible.

*Enos Emarf: A word used to describe the way a tree is framed in water.

*Elupera: A location on the Andalite home world.

*Escafil Device: The device invented by Andalites which allows anyone who touches it to absorb the DNA of an animal and morph. Also known as the "blue box" or the "morphing cube".

*Estreen: An estreen is someone who is superbly skilled at morphing. After they are imparted with the ability to morph, morphing comes naturally to them. Cassie is one such person; she can control the order and appearance of the morphing process and also morphs faster than the others, even Ax the Andalite (though it should be mentioned that Ax makes clear that the ability to morph has no bearing on which species the morpher belongs to). Professional estreens called morph dancers exist on the Andalite world for entertainment.

*Flaar: An Andalite animal which smells similar to a human.

*Frolis Maneuver: A technique for combining the DNA of animals to create a "blended average" of them. Used by Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul to create his human morph, and also by Ax to create his. Presumably, Visser Three used this technique to create his human, "Aria", morph.

*Garmitof

*Hala Fala: Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul's Guide Tree, a type of tree on the Andalite homeworld that seemed to be capable of simple communication.

*Hald Wurra: Old Andalite for 'victory in three swipes'. It refers to a specific tail-fighting maneuver.

*"Hereth Illint": This Andalite phrase translates roughly to "burping DNA", and refers to the expulsion of acquired DNA that the morpher has an allergy to. This entails the creation of an entirely new animal from the expelled DNA from excess mass in Z-space. The "burp" is a response to the loss of morphing control caused by DNA allergies.

*"Hirac Delest": An Andalite's final statement, recorded that the Andalite's peers and posterity might judge and understand the Andalite's life and the choices he or she made.

*Illsipar Root: A species of plant which can be consumed to ease the pain of "Soola's Disease". Also a delicacy.

*Ixcila: A electronic copy of a sentient being's brain waves, effectively saving their memories and personality. May be an Arn rather than Andalite technology.

*"Jahar": The disgraced prince Alloran-Semitur-Corass's custom starfighter, named after his wife. It is much sleeker in design than regular Andalite fighters, and possesses three engines instead of the regular two. Notable features include a grass-covered floor, excellent motion compensators, and emergency air hoods that give occupants several minutes of breathable air in the event of cabin decompression.

*Kafit Bird: A species of bird of the Andalite homeworld with three pairs of wings, which affords it great maneuverability and speed. One out of the only three species of bird that exist on the homeworld, and widely considered the best.

*Mirrorwave Call: A form of thought-speak used to communicate with other Andalites en masse and across great distances.

*Modular Waste Disposal System: Essentially an Andalite toilet, encountered in book 14, "The Unknown". The MWDS is the alien "vessel" stored at Zone 91, an Animorphs-universe equivalent to the alien technology supposedly concealed at Area 51.

*Morning Ritual: An Andalite warrior, at the beginning of the day, performs the following ritual; They say "From the grass that feeds us" while crunching grass under their hoof, then say "From the water that gives us life" while dipping the same hoof into a body of water. Then, they say "For the freedom that unites us, we look to the stars." While spreading their arms wide. Then, they say "Freedom is my only cause, service to my prince, my only duty. The destruction of my enemies, my most solemn vow. I, (insert name), offer my life." This is the closing section of the ritual, where the Andalite warrior puts his own blade to his throat, and asks himself if he is doing his duty.

*Notallssith: The condition of being unable to control a morph

*'Nothlit': A person that has stayed in morphed form for longer than the two-hour time limit; and is therefore forced to remain in that form indefinitely (barring higher interference, as the Ellimist has reinstated the true form/morphing power of Elfangor and Tobias).

*Onkalillium: A type of Andalite organic medicine.

*Plintconarythmic physics: The highest level of study in Andalite physics. Reserved for the elite in the Andalite scientific community - but Estrid-Corill-Darrath understands it perfectly. She tries to explain to Ax the functions and limitations of human speech in the 'n' dimensions, but it sweeps over the top of his head.

*Prince: An Andalite military rank, it does not refer to royalty. Each warrior serves under an Andalite prince, variations include 'War-Prince' and 'Captain-Prince'. In the series Ax continually refers to Jake as 'Prince Jake' as the group considers him to be the leader of the Animorphs.

*Quantum virus: A biological weapon designed by Andalite military scientists that can affect only one specified species. Such a virus was used on the Hork-Bajir homeworld near the end of the battle with the Yeerks for control of the planet by Alloran-Semitur-Corass, in a futile attempt to limit the number of healthy Hork-Bajir hosts for the Yeerks to infest. The use of such a weapon is considered to be ethically unjust by the larger Andalite society, most of whom believe that reports of the use of the virus on the Hork-Bajir are merely Yeerk propaganda.

*Sario Rip: A tear in the fabric of space-time that causes one to travel forward or backward in time. An extremely large, intense concentration of energy is required to cause one of these rips. The direction and distance one will travel in time when using these is unknown.

*Seerow's Kindness: An Andalite law that forbids Andalites from giving technology to any foreign species. Named so after Prince Seerow, who pitied the Yeerks in their natural state and taught them how to make spacecraft. The resulting destruction caused by Yeerk conquest made this one of the most important and fundamental laws of Andalite society.

*Soola's Disease: An Andalite disease which causes blindness and muscular degeneration in its sufferers, culminating in a slow and painful death. There is no cure.

*"Shorm": The actual Andalite word for a tail-blade, although it is more commonly used as an equivalent in the Andalite language for 'best friend'. An Andalite is said to fully trust a "shorm" should he be allowed to place a blade at their throat.

*Shormitor: Tail-blade carvings made by primitive Andalites.

*Shredder: An Andalite built directed energy weapon. Although it is more powerful and efficient than the Yeerk-built Dracon beam, it is actually from this weapon that the Yeerk-built counterpart was developed. In contrast to the Dracon beam, which causes intense pain, the shredder weapon destroys its targets fairly quickly and painlessly. These weapons come in varying levels of intensity, ranging from simple hand-held sidearms to the main weapons used on the mighty Andalite Dome Ships, capable of 'punching a hole through a moon.'

*StarSword: The Dome ship on which Elfangor serves as an "aristh" in the beginning of The Andalite Chronicles.

*Torf: The torf is an andalite tail-fighting technique that involves using the flat side of one's tail blade to strike the adversary's temple. According to Ax, it isn't much use against stronger creatures like Hork-Bajir, but it will knock a human out cold for hours.

*The Abomination: A term for the only Andalite Yeerk controller in existence -- Visser Three, who infests the body of Alloran Semitar-Corass.

*Therant: A species of Andalite tree.

*Thought-speak: Thought-speak is the method of communication of the Andalites similar to telepathy. The Andalites use this means of communication. Those who have morphed using Andalite morphing technology can also communicate using thoughtspeak, but not in their natural forms. Thought-speak works on a level higher than words, so lingual barriers are not a problem.

*Tria Gland: The tria gland is the Andalite equivalent of an appendix, located in the back of their head. Ax's tria gland became infected and had to be removed by Cassie with the aid of Erek King.

*UAST: The University of Advanced Scientific Thinkers, an institution for the best of Andalite intellectuals.

*Unit O: An elite Andalite military unit, specialising in covert operations.

*Unschweet: A haircut given to disgraced Andalites. When an Andalite warrior commits a misdeed, his or her commanding officer uses his tail blade to cut off a patch of fur from the offending warrior. This bare patch serves as a mark of shame representing the warrior's offense. As the fur grows back, the Andalite is slowly redeemed by time and experience, until, finally, the incident is laid to rest and the warrior is whole again.

*Utzum

*"Vecol": An Andalite with a disability, such as being without a tail blade. They are shunned from their society and often sent into exile, viewed as inferior and useless to society. The reason behind such treatment is that Andalites believe the solitude of a vecol is the only dignity he or she has left. Ax exhibits distaste for "vecols". The term was introduced in #40: , where a "vecol" is central to the plot of the story.

*Wish-flower ritual: A ritual performed before the birth of a younger sibling.

*"Yamphut": A "morphing sickness" affecting the "Tria" gland that all of the Animorphs (except for Cassie) became infected with. Although it only causes flu-like symptoms in humans, it can be fatal to Andalites.

*"Yaolin": A curse word, used in a similar fashion to "what in hell" e.g., "What in yaolin are you doing here?!"

*Z-space: Short for zero-space, it is the non-dimension through which faster-than light travel and communication is possible. A person in zero-space will see white, as opposed to the black of normal space. When morphing small animals, one's excess mass is extruded into zero-space. See also the Star Trek concept of warp and subspace.

*Z-space transponder: A small electrical component similar to a diode that converts matter/energy into a format that can be transmitted through Z-space