Leeran

The Leerans are a fictional race of aliens from the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate. They are described as a yellow amphibian species with tentacles for arms that resembles a manta ray or frog. They live in the vast oceans on their homeworld, Leera, which has only one small continent of land (originally, Leerans needed to go on land to mate, but technology now makes that unnecessary). Leerans have advanced psychic powers, which makes them very desirable Yeerk hosts. However, their telepathy also makes it impossible for the Yeerks to invade secretly and silently as they have done on Earth. For this reason the Yeerks intended to create versions of Earth sharks with brains large enough to be infestable to serve as underwater shock troops on Leera, but their plan was foiled by the Animorphs.

In addition to possessing remarkable psychic abilities, it also revealed in the series that the Leerans are able to regenerate lost body parts. At one point, a pair of Leeran-Controllers ask the Animorphs to bite off the brain lobe at the back of their heads (while the Animorphs were in shark morph) to free them from the Yeerks that currently controlled them. At first the Animorphs did not want to do this as they believed that it would kill the host Leerans, however the Leerans reassured them that it is safe and that they would not die.

The planet Leera is home to a vast and amazing variety of aquatic life. Cassie remarked that her mother's marine biologist friend would give her arm to go there. However, there doesn't appear to be any species as powerful as an Earthling hammerhead shark, as evidenced by the failure of Yeerk chemical weapons to even faze the Animorphs in shark form.

Leeran speech appears to be composed entirely of monosyllabic words, each consisting of two letters. However, as they speak, the listener can hear (or "feel") the meaning that is being conveyed, as is usual with thought-speak; however, Leeran thought-speak goes even deeper than that, and Leerans are also able to sense emotions, as well as thoughts that other beings do not "say." The actual English translation of this semi-telepathic speech is notated in the book using underlined text.

Leerans first feature in "," in which a Leeran-Controller attempts to reveal Marco's identity as a human (not an Andalite-bandit, as the Yeerks believed), using its psychic ability, but is not believed when it informs other Controllers. The Animorphs later travel to Leera in "," where they help to end the war there in favor of the Andalites and Leerans. A few Leeran children would also be seen as part of the Evolutionist Front in book #41, "The Familiar."

Leeran terminology

*Bright Hole: Leera's volcanic past created large, underground bubbles in the rock that contain phosphorescent minerals and bio-organisms.
*Cha-Ma-Mib: The only known god of the Leerans.
*City of Worms: A large Leeran city. It resembles a giant, multi-colored shell full of holes for entrances. Its name is derived from the fact that hundreds of giant, electric-blue eels constantly swim around the city.
*Leera: The Leeran homeworld. It is mostly covered with water, aside from a single continent and a few islands.