History Series / Animorphs

* BadDreams: In a rather bizarre callback to all the nightmares the kids go through in the books, one episode opens with Marco having a nightmare about being chased by a T-Rex. This has nothing to do with anything, and it's been speculated that it was a last minute change from him being chased by a Hork-Bajir (the T-Rex makes the same sounds) when they couldn't use the suit for whatever reason (the T-Rex is stock footage from the stop motion short "Prehistoric Beasts"). This makes it tie with the MagicalNegro scene from "Tobias" for worst BigLippedAlligatorMoment in the series.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cast_6162.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:From left to right: Jake, Marco, Ax in human morph, Rachel, Cassie, and Tobias. You probably needed the clarification, even if you're familiar with the books.]]

!!This series provides examples of the following tropes:

* LoweredMonsterDifficulty: Visser Three in spades. He spends almost every appearance in his vulnerable human morph.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cast_6162.jpg]]

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cast_6162.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:325: From left to right: Jake, Marco, Ax in human morph, Rachel, Cassie, and Tobias. You probably needed the clarification, even if you're familiar with the books.]]

The popularity of the ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' book series eventually led to a live action television series. This was initially met with a ''lot'' of resistance within the fanbase, due to feelings that this would eventually cheapen the great book series, and that the books would translate more easily to an animated adaptation due to their truly alien aliens and the premise of morphing. But even in the midst of the backlash, Scholastic went ahead with production and the series premiered September 15, 1998 on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}. The series didn't gain the same popularity as the books, and only lasted 26 episodes.

!!Tropes:

** Visser Three counts as well, due to the series simply not having the special effects budget to portray any of his wide range of alien monster morphs (except for the one very brief scene when he uses one to kill Elfangor in the pilot episode). Even outside of the alien monster morphs, the limited budget meant that he spent most of his screen time in a human morph instead of the his actual Andalite host body. While he is arguably more successful than his book counterpart, he doesn't actually accomplish much in his plans, and what he ''does'' accomplish is more due to the Animorphs' incompetence than his own efforts.

** Visser Three counts as well, due to the series simply just not having the budget to portray even of his menagerie of alien monster morphs. While he is arguably more successful than his book counterpart, he doesn't actually accomplish much in his plans, and what he ''does'' accomplish is more due to the Animorphs' incompetence than his own efforts.

* AdaptedOut: David, the team's SixthRangerTraitor, never made an appearance in the show. Several extraterrestrial races, such as the Taxxons and the Pemalites, were cut from the show altogether, without even one mention of them (the Pemalites in particular were a bizarre case as their creations the Chee ''did'' appear, at least in the character of Erek).

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: The fandom's reaction to this show. Even the author hated it, going so far as to insert a TakeThat to Ani-TV in one of the later books.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Tobias has black hair here, while in the books his hairy is described as dirty blond (and at least one book cover used an outright blond model for him).

* CallARabbitASmeerp: The Yeerks are described as slug-''like'' in the books, although they look more alien upon closer inspection. In the show, they're just slugs.

* CoconutSuperpowers: One of the reasons why the Ani-TV has such a poor reputation among fans.

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: The fandom's reaction to this show. Even the author hated it, going so far as to insert a TakeThat to AniTV in one of the later books.

** The video game seen in the very first episode is the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' video game; ironic, considering that Hasbro then came out with a line of Animorph TFs shortly after this...

** Tobias is this from day one, due to being portrayed by TallDarkAndSnarky Christopher Ralph. In the books he's a meek, gangly bully magnet, while in the show he carries himself with quiet confidence, and due to Ralph being the oldest teen actor on set at 19 we got treated to the absurdity of seen Tobias "bullied" by a boy who's both smaller and shorter than his supposed victim. And while Tobias is an often IneffectualLoner in the books, at least early on, Ani-TV definitely downplayed the "ineffectual" part of that trope with him.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Tobias has black hair here, dark blond hair in the books.

* AdaptationalBadass: Marco instantly becomes one in the season one finale when he [[spoiler:''single-handedly destroys the Yeerk Pool''. In line with his book characterization, he feels no remorse for this genocide.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: Rachel suffers from this as a symptom of her BadassDecay. She goes from a legitimate ActionGirl in the books to a FauxActionGirl.
** Visser Three counts as well. In the books, he is a legitimate threat. In the show, though, he doesn't actually accomplish much in his plans, and what he ''does'' accomplish is more due to the Animorphs' incompetence than his own efforts.
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Variation; the series rarely used the signature morphs of the protagonists, most likely due to the budget. Rachel's bear morph becomes a lion, Marco's gorilla becomes a wolf. Cassie, whose primary morph in the book is a wolf, uses a horse morph most often in the TV series. Then the Transformers toys got into it, with things like a Jake-bear and Jake-stingray toy...
* AdaptedOut: David, the team's SixthRangerTraitor, never made an appearance in the show. Several extraterrestrial races, such as the Taxxons and the Pemalites, were cut from the show altogether, without even one mention of them.
* AgeLift: In the book series, the protagonists started off as middle school students, and progressively got older. Here, they're already in high school. This is unintentional on the show writers' part, though, as the team members' exact ages were not given until ''The Answer'', which was written and published after the series' cancellation.
* AnachronismStew: The setting. Ostensibly set during the late nineties, the computers seen recall late eighties tech and the movie they see in one episode is straight out of the fifties.

* BigBad: Visser Three.

* CoconutSuperpowers: One of the reasons why the TV Series is so reviled.

* DiminishingVillainThreat: Visser One. In the books, she's a menacing, proactive and dangerous figure. In the show, she spends most of her onscreen time watering plants.
* DirtyCoward: The Yeerks run like children at the first sight of any wild animal.

* {{Expy}}: The Ellimist becomes one of Obi Wan Kenobi. Old man, same cloak, blue and transparent. Similarly, Visser Three's human morph is a dead ringer for Lex Luthor.

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: The fandom's reaction to this show. Even the author hated it.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the books. Most episodes were rated PG, and later ones were often G.
** This resulted in some very clumsy [[ShadowDiscretionShot Shadow Discretion Shots]] when it came to the gory scenes.

* PragmaticAdaptation

* RepeatCut: When the Controllers break open the door of the observatory, the shot is played 3 times.

* ItsAWonderfulPlot: In ''Not My Problem'', Jake wishes he could be a normal human again.

The popularity of the ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' book series eventually led to a live action television series. This was initially met with a ''lot'' of resistance within the fanbase, due to feelings that this would eventually cheapen the great book series, and that the books would translate more easily to an animated adaptation due to their truly alien aliens and the premise of morphing. But even in the midst of the backlash, Scholastic went ahead with production and the series premiered September 15, 1998 on {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}. The series didn't gain the same popularity as the books, and only lasted 26 episodes. Reruns currently air on {{Qubo}}. The series is also now available on Netflix.

The popularity of the ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' book series eventually led to a live action television series. This was initially met with a ''lot'' of resistance within the fanbase, due to feelings that this would eventually cheapen the great book series, and that the books would translate more easily to an animated adaptation due to their truly alien aliens and the premise of morphing. But even in the midst of the backlash, Scholastic went ahead with production and the series premiered September 15, 1998 on {{Nickelodeon}}. The series didn't gain the same popularity as the books, and only lasted 26 episodes. Reruns currently air on {{Qubo}}. The series is also now available on Netflix.

* [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Show]]: David. There was a teaser at the end of ''The Threat'' which implied he might show up in Ani-TV, but he never did and to add insult to injury, his lion morph was taken by his archnemesis Rachel.
* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: This series covers the whole gamut. Some episodes are very faithful adapations of the source material (such as ''The Alien''), whereas others [[InNameOnly borrowed the title and not much else]] (such as ''The Reaction'').
* StatusQuoIsGod: In ''Changes'' Ax builds himself a spaceship out of spare parts, pre-empting [[MemeticMutation Tony Stark]] by a decade. Though this was the series finale, Ax's spaceship still failed to get off the ground, presumably because he was never able to leave Earth in the books.

* ThemeTune: "It's All In Your Hands", which is admittedly pretty good.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Compared to their book counterparts? Pretty much all of them.

* ShoutOut: Rachel's dialog in the television adaptation of "The Stranger." After the Ellimist shows the kids what the future of Earth will be like if they continue to fight, Rachel asks a familiar question: [[Literature/AChristmasCarol "What you showed us...is it the definite future or just a possible one"]]?

* RefugeInAudacity: Used the heroes and villains alike. The Animorphs at one point memorably defeat the Yeerks with ''water balloons'', and the Yeerk plots in season two range from 'sell people cell phones with Yeerks inside them' to 'air an awful sitcom that will brainwash people'.

* ShoutOut: Rachel's dialog in the television adaptation of "The Stranger". After the Ellimist shows the kids what the future of Earth will be like if they continue to fight, Rachel asks a familiar question: [[Literature/AChristmasCarol "What you showed us...is it the definite future or just a possible one"]]?

* TheBadGuyWins: In "Not My Problem". Too bad for the Yeerks it's just an ItsAWonderfulPlot episode.

* CanonForeigner: Several, though the most memorable are [[RebelLeader Hugo]], [[MagicalNegro Fred]], [[CrazySurvivalist Mr. Perkins]] and the [[VoiceOfTheResistance unnamed kid]] played by Shawn Roberts, who is credited as "Skater Dude". [[MacGuffin Elfangor's disk]] is a non-character example.

* NoNameGiven: The resistance fighter played by Shawn Roberts is credited simply as "Skater Dude". Which is strange, seeing as how he is [[InformedAttribute never seen skating]].

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In the books, Marco is a cynical, but sympathetic, JerkWithAHeartOfGold. His television counterpart, on the other hand, is an all-round sweet guy with a sense of humor who, despite the lightened-up nature of the show, just has bad things happen to him until he finally breaks down and cries.

* BigBad: Visser Three, theoretically. He doesn't actually accomplish much, though, and what he ''does'' accomplish is more due to the Animorphs's incompetence than his own efforts.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In the books, Marco is a sympathetic JerkWithAHeartOfGold. His television counterpart, on the flip side, is an all-round sweet guy with a sense of humor who, despite the lightened-up nature of the show, just has bad things happen to him until he finally breaks down and cries.

* AgeLift: In the book series, the protagonists started off as middle school students, and progressively got older. Here, they're already in high school.

* BreakTheCutie: In the books, Marco is sympathetic but still rude and cynical JerkWithAHeartOfGold. TV Marco is just a sweet guy with a sense of humor who, despite the lightened-up nature of the show, just has bad things happen to him until he finally breaks down and cries.

* PuppyLove: Ax stutters and trips around Marco more than he usually does, acts more excited to see him than the other animorphs, copies his body language, and follows him around unhesitatingly. In contrast, Marco acts very protective of Ax and takes it upon himself to teach him about Earth. This comes to its logical conclusion when Ax makes a big deal asking Marco to dance with him in the GrandeFinale.

* BreakTheCutie: In the books, Marco is sympathetic but still rude and cynical JerkWithAHeartOfGold. TV Marco is just a sweet guy with a sense of humor who, despite the lightened-up nature of the show, just has bad thing after bad thing happen to him until he finally breaks down and cries.