Andalite (Monster)
(The Andalite Chronicles by Romas Kukalis)
(I adore Animorphs; everything from its zoological focus to its harsh and cold take on war and politics to it being a cheesy 90s period piece. Over the next two weeks I'll be posting the four most prominent aliens in the series, starting with the ostensible "Good Guys". The role of the Andalite Empire is one of my favorite parts of the series, starting as the distant cavalry who will come to save us any day now, and ending as more of an existential threat to humanity than the yeerks.)
CR6 LN Large Monstrous Humanoid
Proud, fast, and brilliant aliens, andalites resemble centaurs in body shape but little else. They are covered in short blue fur, lack a mouth, have eye stalks in addition to forward-facing eyes, and have a long, muscular tail that ends in a curved blade. They are a cursorial and herbivorous species; they eat grass with fleshy mouthparts on their hooves that extract nutrients and juice while walking (and, to a lesser extent, running.) Andalites prefer wide open spaces, and are naturally claustrophobic to a notable degree. When cornered, however, an andalite’s tail is a fast and deadly weapon, comparable to any manufactured. Andalites are sexually dimorphic; andalite women tend to be slighter, thinner, and faster, with fur tending towards purples, and andalite men tend to be larger and more muscular, with fur tending towards blues. This is not a hard and fast trend, of course, but andalite society teaches and imposes hard lines on gender; men are obliged military service and are seen as soldiers and leaders, while women are pushed into care and the sciences.
Andalites live in an imperialist and warlike society; they usher species into their care that they consider weaker, less intelligent, and inferior, and use their military might to protect them, even as they control them. This means andalites can be fair allies against the darker, crueller things that dwell in the Dark Tapestry, but that they must be handled with care; military assistance can quickly turn into a permanent outpost on a planet and the imposition of andalite law. Andalites are not cruel masters, but callous ones, with most seeing little value in the works and culture of their “lessers”, and the Empire is known to virus bomb planets and exterminate species if they think it’s done for the greater good. Individually, however, many andalites are amicable, even kind and friendly, although it’s a rare andalite who doesn’t, on some level, believe in their own kind’s superiority and act accordingly.
Andalite society has recently acquired shapeshifting technology; some andalite warriors have the Change Shape (Beast Shape IV) special quality, but this is not innate or particularly common. Andalites advance in class, with most soldiers levelling as Fighters, but some becoming Commanders, and andalites proficient in shapeshifting may become Mimeticists.
