ANIMORPHS #2
THE VISITOR


STORY | BOOKS | CHARACTERS

 

SUMMARY

Morphing is certainly more fun than Sega -- you can soar as an eagle and walk as a cat. But being an ANIMORPH is by no means just fun and games. Rachel knew better than anyone. One of her best friends, Melissa, is acting very strange. And it looks like Melissa's dad, who is also the school's Assistant Principal, may be connected to evil aliens. Rachel can't tell Melissa what the ANIMORPHS have learned, but Melissa doesn't seem interested in talking to Rachel these days anyway. Could Melissa be one of "them?"

With the help of Jake, Cassie, Tobias and Marco, Rachel plans to enter her friend's house as a cat, intent on unlocking the secrets from within. If only Rachel could keep her mind off mice...

 

Released: June 1996
Pages: 175
Cover Art by Tim O'Brien

Front Cover (Hi-Res)Front Cover
Inside Cover (Hi-Res)Inside Cover

 

ADDITIONAL / ALTERNATE COVERS

Inside Cover Japanese Book Cover UK Cover
     
U.S. Inside Cover
Japanese Cover
U.K. Cover
     
German Cover French Cover  
     
German Cover French Cover  

 

bEWARE NEW READERS, SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

TRIVIA

  • Ax was originally supposed to show up in this book. However, once it became certain that Animorphs was going to turn out to be a long running series, K.A. delayed his appearance to the 4th book.
  • The communication device that Chapman uses in his home to talk to Visser Three in this book is referred back to again in #5: The Predator when Ax is looking for a Z-Space Transponder, which is the only thing he can't buy at the local Radio Shack to make his communicator.

  • ANIBASE: Though Katherine Applegate doesn't have any cats named Fluffer McKitty, she does have two cats with unusual names: Rabbit, who she calls a "sweet kitty", and Dick the Evil Foot-biting Cat, who is, well, an evil foot-biting cat. She also has a golden retriever, named Maisy after the mouse created by children's book author/illustrator Lucy Cousins.
  • While all of the regular numerical Animorph book covers were made by David B. Mattingly, the first two books were created by Peter Bollinger (#1) and Tim O'Brien (#2). Also interesting to note is that the models didn't begin to show up in full body shots until David B. Mattingly started doing them with #3, where they would show up in full loosely clothed outfits (conflicting with what the books told us about the Animorphs never being able to wear anything past skintight clothes in order to morph with them). This was David B. Mattingly's response:

    "I know that having the characters morph with shoes and loose clothing is inaccurate to the books, but Scholastic and I preferred depicting the characters in realistic everyday clothing, rather than "morphing outfits." It makes the images more interesting, since the best part of the morphs artistically is when there is a complex blend of colors and fabric folds."

 

kASUs

A credit to Anifan12 and the other fans who originally compiled this list of KASUs:

  • Page 20 - Thought-speak is written as 'think-speak'.
  • Page 54 - Shrews are referred to belonging under the class of rodent, but they're actually insectivore.
  • Page 65 - Cassie says that Rachel has acquired the most morphs (4). Jake has just as many.
  • A mention is made about being sent to the Council of Thirteen and the Yeerk home world, both of which have been said to be under Andalite quarantine since Hork-Bajir Chronicles and Visser (Pg 09).
  • Page 128 - Jake's thought-speak quote ends in a regular quote.
  • Page 148 - The phrase "Three craft" is supposed to be plural, but it's missing an 's'.
  • Page 155 - Visser Three picks up the cat carrier with a cat inside. A page later, he chokes Chapman. But throughout the rest of the series, Andalite arms are shown to be very weak. This is demonstrated in #29: The Sickness (Page 120) when a Yeerk can escape Visser Three's grasp.

 

NEW PLOT ADDITIONS

CHARACTERS

Melissa Chapman - Principal Chapman's daughter, and Rachel's best friend. While she plays an important role to Chapman's character development in this book, she plays a minor role in the rest of the series. She does, however, make a surprising return in the start of Megamorphs #3.

First time appearance of Rachel's family: her mother Naomi, and her two younger sisters Jordan and Sara.

Mrs. Chapman also makes a brief appearance.

 

MORPHS

Jake Falcon, and Flea
Rachel Bald Eagle, Shrew, and Cat (Fluffer McKitty)
Cassie Osprey
Marco Osprey
Tobias None.
   
Visser Three Vanarx

 

TERMS

Andalite Bandits
 What the Yeerks believe the Animorphs are, rather than humans.

Council of Thirteen
The Yeerk Governing Body. Revisited more in detail in Visser.

 

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS

Cover Art Rachel Morph Clip
   
Cover Artwork
By David B. Mattingly 		Rachel Avatar

 

   

Screensaver

The morph for this book was also animated and turned into a screensaver.

Download the Screensaver, or
Watch it as a clip (will load on left).

 

RELATED LINKS

K.A. Q&A Archives
Reading List and Anibase Download
Alien-English Dictionary

Submit Trivia or your most Memorable Quotes!

 

CREDITS

A big credit to Jeff Sampson for helping build and write the Anibase, which provided much of the inside information towards the series.


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