Why Animorphs Was A Traumatizing Kids' Series

At a glance, the '90s book series Animorphs was simple and fun. But for a kids' series, this was way darker and traumatizing than advertised. From genocide to existential nihilism, the heroes of this classic YA novel series went through a lot. Let’s take a look at some of the darkest aspects of Animorphs.

As the series begins, we’re given no information on the kids at the center of Animorphs, because they have to protect their identity from the Yeerks . What doesn’t sink in until much later is that these children have just been handed the responsibility of protecting the whole planet. The Yeerks are a species of alien brain slug that invade their hosts through the ear canal and wrap around the brain to control their victims. It makes them hard to detect, and is the main reason why the kids are so adamant about maintaining their anonymity.
One of the themes that becomes apparent as you read on is that the protagonists are essentially child soldiers, drafted into a war they didn’t start. There are a few clues throughout the story as to their actual ages, but given the kids featured on the covers, they look pretty young. Really, they can’t be much older than 14. Can you recall what you were doing at that age? Not fighting an interplanetary war against parasitic aliens, we bet.

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Child soldiers | 0:00
Moral dilemmas abound | 1:03
Taxxons and cannibalism | 2:24
Acceptable Cannon Fodder | 3:12
Things get dark and nihilistic | 4:10
The book covers were eerie | 5:05
A toned down TV adaptation | 5:44

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