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For massive spoilers for the Animorphs series, please click here for the first four chapters from the last book in the series, #54 "The Beginning." That's quite literally Rachel's "Own Words" of who she is and what she's doing.
For something even briefer, Rachel is one of six teenagers who were pulled into a war between Earth and an invading alien race. For three years, she and her friends fought at incredible odds with various allies, but for the most part Earth's freedom was being fought by 6 kids who needed to have their math homework done every night. The nature of the invading aliens (Yeerks) was such that there were very few ways to tell who was the enemy and who wasn't so Rachel and her friends led double-lives, very literally saving the world one night and getting about two hours of sleep before needing to get up and catch the bus to school.
This daunting task was made easier by the ability to morph - to take the shape and retain the mind of any animal they touched. It kept their identities secret while they fought and also gave them greater power and insight than they could have otherwise managed. This power was given to them by a member of another alien race, who went against his people's orders to give the human kids a much needed weapon.
Rachel has been a very large number of animals, each with their own set of abilities and instincts that she had to master, and there is no limit. She can continue to add to her list of available morphs as much as she likes, so long as she can touch the animal to absorb its DNA. The only drawback is that, once morphed, she has to overpower the animal mind which is right there with her, often with overpowering instincts.
Rachel was the ultimate warrior. She gloried in battle and took incredible risks for the adrenaline-rush. Some of her friends were reluctant heroes out of duty or loyalty but, for Rachel, the war was where she bloomed. Her friends called her "Xena," believed she should have been a viking or a knight.
And when you're 13, 14, 15, 16 and you have a lust for war and blood, that leads to some socializing issues.
Rachel is suspicious, often aloof, occasionally cold, and very easy to anger and offend. She doesn't trust easily but is even more stubborn when it comes to those she does trust. She is loyal, occasionally to a fault. She cannot lead and knows that intimately, to the point where making decisions on her own has now become somewhat of a panic situation for her.
Romantic relationships are more beyond her than she'd ever admit, though she believes that she has experienced the very best that love has to offer her. She is devotedly attached to Tobias, a fellow soldier in the war against the Yeerks who has been trapped in a red-tailed hawk morph since the very beginning. While this has stunted any physical aspect of their relationship, they are equally loyal and dependent upon each other.
One of the hardest challenges for Rachel to face in a new world is life without Tobias.
For something even briefer, Rachel is one of six teenagers who were pulled into a war between Earth and an invading alien race. For three years, she and her friends fought at incredible odds with various allies, but for the most part Earth's freedom was being fought by 6 kids who needed to have their math homework done every night. The nature of the invading aliens (Yeerks) was such that there were very few ways to tell who was the enemy and who wasn't so Rachel and her friends led double-lives, very literally saving the world one night and getting about two hours of sleep before needing to get up and catch the bus to school.
This daunting task was made easier by the ability to morph - to take the shape and retain the mind of any animal they touched. It kept their identities secret while they fought and also gave them greater power and insight than they could have otherwise managed. This power was given to them by a member of another alien race, who went against his people's orders to give the human kids a much needed weapon.
Rachel has been a very large number of animals, each with their own set of abilities and instincts that she had to master, and there is no limit. She can continue to add to her list of available morphs as much as she likes, so long as she can touch the animal to absorb its DNA. The only drawback is that, once morphed, she has to overpower the animal mind which is right there with her, often with overpowering instincts.
Rachel was the ultimate warrior. She gloried in battle and took incredible risks for the adrenaline-rush. Some of her friends were reluctant heroes out of duty or loyalty but, for Rachel, the war was where she bloomed. Her friends called her "Xena," believed she should have been a viking or a knight.
And when you're 13, 14, 15, 16 and you have a lust for war and blood, that leads to some socializing issues.
Rachel is suspicious, often aloof, occasionally cold, and very easy to anger and offend. She doesn't trust easily but is even more stubborn when it comes to those she does trust. She is loyal, occasionally to a fault. She cannot lead and knows that intimately, to the point where making decisions on her own has now become somewhat of a panic situation for her.
Romantic relationships are more beyond her than she'd ever admit, though she believes that she has experienced the very best that love has to offer her. She is devotedly attached to Tobias, a fellow soldier in the war against the Yeerks who has been trapped in a red-tailed hawk morph since the very beginning. While this has stunted any physical aspect of their relationship, they are equally loyal and dependent upon each other.
One of the hardest challenges for Rachel to face in a new world is life without Tobias.
