There is a preteen character (later just a teen) who is frequently described as attractive. It’s not super creepily done, no overly long or detailed descriptions of her body or anything like that, and these thoughts/comments are coming from the perspective of her peers… However, a couple times throughout the series, adults flirt with her or a character makes a joke about her using her attractiveness to beguile adult men.
Eh, kinda, sometimes? The main characters are all preadolescents (and later, teens) and their attraction to one another comes up fairly frequently. One main character in particular is often described as physically attractive and compared to a super model by the other main characters. Her physical attributes are described but not in a super icky way.
In Book #2, the “attractive” main character is approached by an older stranger (she thinks maybe a highschool senior or a college freshman) who aggressively hits on her, tries to get her into a car and chases her into an alley. Intended SA is heavily implied. (Spoilers) She uses her morphing abilities to escape him.
In Book #44, a character makes a joke about the “attractive” main character (a teen at this point) offering grown military men dates in order to gain their cooperation in an attack.
Pretty often throughout the series, the animorphs have to leave animals to their fates. I’d say Book #39 “The Hidden” has the saddest incidence of animal abandonment.
I’m marking “no” because it’s not “sexual,” per se, but it does get a little complicated…
There is a human main character who gets trapped in the body of a hawk and he has a romantic relationship with another main character who is fully human. No attraction to the hawk morph is expressed or implied by his love interest, the two characters simply had an emotional connection which started before he became trapped as a hawk. They do not “act” on their feelings while he is in his hawk body… well, beyond like, him perching on her shoulder and IIRC some light snuggling following a near-death experience.
I am also noting that in one of the books (#3, I believe) the character who is stuck as a hawk struggles with the hawk’s instincts when he sees a potential mate, a female hawk of the same species. He very seriously considers whether he should just give in fully to the hawk mind and live his life as a hawk with a hawk mate. On other occasions, he compares his human love interest to a bird of a prey, and says he finds her morphing into a bird particularly attractive. (The poor kid has to live his life as a hawk so we forgive him.)
Also, there are some very tame jokes and banter throughout the series that would imply hypothetical bestiality … For example, a character says something along the lines of “Have I ever told you you’re the most attractive roach I’ve ever seen?” to a human character in cockroach morph.
(Spoilers) A main character is trapped in the body of a hawk. He initially has a difficult time coping with this and attempts suicide by diving towards a wall, hoping the impact will kill him. I believe it happens pretty early in the series, possibly even Book #3.
A few other minor characters throughout the series (usually those whose brains have been taken over by a parasite alien or been trapped in a horrifying body/shape) try to kill themselves rather than live as a slave or in a body/form they find horrifying.
Body horror is a *major* part of the Animorphs series. Every single book has multiple instances of body horror. The morphing process itself (the main characters can “morph” into animals and insects) is often incredibly gruesome and it is described in detail at least once per book. The battles can also be extremely violent with characters loosing limbs, being disemboweled or eaten alive. Additionally, Yeerk infestation involves a slug-like creature crawling into the ear canal and wrapping itself around the brain, gaining complete control of the host body. The host is then imprisoned in their own mind and body, aware but unable to move or say anything. There is also a specific book (# forthcoming) where the main characters are shrunk down to a microscopic level and have to traverse through their comrade’s body, and it is kinda horrifying from both perspectives.
I honestly can’t remember anything, certainly nothing overt. However, the books do contain some outdated language in general so there might be things like a cishet boy calling something “too girly” etc.
Sometimes characters end up naked or minimally clothed after morphing, particularly in the beginning of the series before the kids learn how to morph clothes.
One character is trapped in the body of a hawk. There are jokes about him pooping on people (as a bird). I can’t remember if he actually does it at any point... I vaguely recall them poop bombing the enemy as seagulls at one point but I’m not sure if I’m misremembering and they just joke about it.
In a way. We see a bunch of kids forced to become child soldiers, go through unimaginable levels of violence and trauma and slowly become more and more ruthless and battle-hardened, until they eventually lose sight of “the line” and commit what could be considered war crimes. So, yeah, kinda a similar vibe.
This is a book series so obviously no actual sounds can be heard. However, sounds like gore, chewing, and slurping are described in detail at times, sometimes with written sound effects like “schloop!” or “crrrrack!” When characters morph into animals, the process can cause gruesome sounds like bones cracking. While the characters are in morph as animals, they often gain increased senses and those senses (including sound) can be overwhelming for the characters.
One of the main characters (preteen) has a mom who supposedly walked out on him…(SPOILERS: It’s more complicated than that.) however, his legal guardians—an aunt and an uncle— don’t care about him. They both neglect and emotionally abuse him. Neither guardian notices or cares when he “disappears” and there are zero attempts to locate him.
Also, Book #2 deals with a little girl whose parents have been infested with mind-controlling aliens. They chose to be infested to protect her (it’s complicated) but for her it’s like they’re not really there with her anymore even though they are still physically present. She senses their new lack of interest in her and thinks they just don’t love her anymore.
In Book #17, alien characters react to maple ginger oatmeal as if it is an extremely addictive narcotic. In an act of war, thousands of these aliens are purposefully exposed to the oatmeal.
In book #36 the six main characters are drugged by aliens who intend to mummify them for a museum display.
No. If anything, Tobias’s perspective books could be interpreted as being a decent portrayal of dissociative symptoms and identity loss.
I will say there is a book in the series where a character is physically split in half while in starfish morph and when she morphs back to human, the two halves embody separate aspects of her personality. This is as close as it gets to the old “multiple personality disorder” trope, but obviously there’s a sci-fi explanation. The books don’t pass it off as her having DID in any way, shape or form.
One main character in particular admonishes himself for crying or feeling like crying (seeing it as a weakness) and occasionally says things like “crying like a little girl.”
I don’t remember any behaviorism, Pavlovian experiments or any other ABA-like stuff that can show up in sci-fi and usually I have a keen eye for it. So, marking no.
Edit: Just kidding, there is a book that gets iffy. In this book, one of the main characters is tortured. They force him to feel joy and pain alternately with different stimuli in an effort to “break” him. The character doing the torturing also has some qualities that could be reminiscent of a behavior tech forcing their subject to comply, a little bit of “I’m your friend, this can all be over once you comply.”
Babies, yes. Occasionally mentioned briefly but not often. (SPOILERS) The “Visser” spinoff book has two infants that are important to the plot. The main character holds these newborns after giving birth.
Many, many people (humans and sentient aliens) die. These books have a death count in the thousands, easily. Perhaps millions because it’s an intergalactic war story. Quite a few likeable side characters die and (spoilers) at least one main character dies.
Sort of? Every book starts with an intro where the character narrating directly addresses the reader and describes the Yeerk threat. It's possible it might be triggering to somebody who struggles with paranoia.
I think they are briefly mentioned in passing in a few books because the kids spend a lot of time at the mall… i.e. something like “Rachel walked by the mannequins and grabbed a purple blouse.” Nothing creepy.
We don’t really know what happens to any of the named pets. However, occasionally other animals who the kids have grown attached to —or feel responsible for— die.
Implied but not explicit, or it’s fairly vague but there’s enough to know what’s happening. An example would be something like, “Rachel made an angry gesture with her fingers,” or “Marco said an impolite word.”
No but I will say there’s some allegory to body dysphoria in the series, particularly Tobias’s storyline, which revolves around becoming “trapped” in the body of a hawk. By the later books it’s clear he feels more comfortable in his hawk body than he does as a human boy. Many trans Ani-fans related to this character.
The premise of parasitic alien invaders slowly infiltrating earth involves a lot of general gaslighting. Particularly in their front organization “The Sharing” which targets vulnerable people and operates pretty much like a cult, using the same gaslighting tactics that cults often do.
The parasites controlling human host bodies also tend to gaslight their host’s family and friends to maintain cover. Book #2 comes to mind, “We can’t be bothered to help you with homework anymore because you should learn yourself, sweetie.” (Paraphrasing)
Also, occasionally, the Animorphs do gaslight each other, both intentionally and unintentionally. Jake especially struggles with this in later books because he feels like he needs to emotionally manipulate the other Animorphs to keep them doing what needs to be done.
In book 2, Fluffer Mckitty is slightly injured when swiped at by Tobias and seems to be in peril when Rachel, in morph as Fluffers, gets taken hostage by Chapman, but the original cat is safe at home with Melissa by the end of the book. In book 23, Tobias consumes roadkill of an already deceased cat.
book 10 very heavily features spiders, and they sometimes show up as a morph/as an enemy (they have to outrun a spider in book 17 while morphed into insects)
In book 2, Rachel (a teen) is approached and accosted by a college-age man who makes it clear he is trying to assault her and is only scared away when she begins to morph an elephant.
There are several scenes where characters struggle to breathe while in mid-morph, usually because they're partially underwater or they are morphing in a tight space and their lungs haven't taken in more air.
in addition to Sammelsurium's very good comment, the Taxxons are an entire species of aliens that experience overwhelming hunger at all times and will eat each other and themselves alive
Marco's mother is believed to be dead until book 6. His stepmother is implied to have died off-screen later in the series. Tobias's father is dead and dies on-screen (although they don't know they're related), and his mother lost all her memory of him.
I can’t remember which book but in one, the cops are described as “the good guys” and are somewhat heroized… It’s very brief/minor, but it was enough for me to be like “oh this part didn’t age super well” for sec when reading.
No explicitly autistic characters but a few characters with neurodivergent traits are teased in a way that might be hurtful for some autistic folks. Ableist labels like “psycho,” “handicapped,” “vegetable,” and “loony” are also used. Also, (spoilers) a group of disabled children —although mostly with physical disabilities— are killed/sacrificed in a battle near the end of the series.
More so body horror, but since the characters morph into animals, the psychologically and physically uncomfortable aspects of that are described at length
a character fakes her own death, and another arguably goes into a battle knowing she'll die. suicidality also features pretty heavily in books 3, 8, 18, and 23, as well as The Andalite Chronicles and Visser
Some subtly homophobic jokes and dialogue (as was common for the time) but no slurs. An example would be Marco joking about not wanting to be thought of as “girly” or “pretending” to flirt with Jake as a joke.
technically in Megamorphs #3 they do go back in time and kill Hitler and Rachel talks about the Holocaust (in addition to Jake briefly mentioning the antisemitism his dad experiences), however it's very brief
Mertil and Galfinan are two male Andalites who are heavily implied to be in a relationship, and Galfinan is also terminally sick and going to die soon after the book he's introduced in (40) ends. the series never returns to them, so it's just heavily implied that Galfinan died off-screen
Mostly kissing, snuggling, and generally age-appropriate preteen stuff. A few mildly suggestive jokes here and there.
However, book #2 has attempted SA: An older teen tries to get a preadolescent girl into a car with him after cat-calling her. He chases her into an alley and she has to use her animal morphing powers to escape.
(MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS) The author wanted to convey that there are no real “winners” in war, so yes, the ending is sad. Although the “final” battle is won and the war ends, it takes a horrible toll on both sides. At least one main character is dead with an unexpected betrayal (of sorts) rendering their sacrifice meaningless. Many side characters don’t make it. Genocide happens. All the surviving Animorphs are irreparably scarred and changed by the war, with a few coping only slightly better than the others. Then, many years after the war, an event occurs which puts all but one of the surviving main characters on a dangerous mission. The series ends with a cliffhanger, the ultimate fates of the surviving Animorphs unknown (but looking pretty grim).