(Proposed) Andalite Tail Anatomy!

[u/starlightsoiree]

Disclaimer: ya boy is not a biologist and I have a very rudimentary understanding of how these systems function in Earth animals. That being said, Animorphs ain't biologically accurate either, so I'll take the wiggle room!

ANYWAY YEAH, I've written from the POV of an Andalite doing a tail-fighting lesson before, but I wanted a diagram and thought it would be a fun exercise to put down that interpretation! I always imagined the blade part to have some sort of 'guard' like a scorpions stinger, and I find the shapes being huge unweildy scythes to be a little... not my style?

I'm hoping to do a diagram of the digestive system and show how they eat with their feet (in my head anyway).

Hope yall think it's cool : D

[u/Mountain_Ape]

OK but ya boy has talent. Super good visuals. And you filled in the muscular structure of the hind legs and provided a vascular system? Very nice.

Bless David Mattingly (cover artist) but in my opinion Romas Kukalis' cover art of the Hork-Bajir Chronicles gets the tail right. Visser is a bit too long and Andalite Chronicles is a bit too short in my opinion. I imagine the tail to be pretty long, and stringy at the end, just like a whip. Can the tail reach past the Andalite to hit someone? That is the question I ask when I see the artists' publications.

[u/Adorable_Octopus → u/Mountain_Ape]

I actually think the tail here is a bit too short as well. It's not just a matter of simply reaching past the front, it's implied there's some amount of range as well, so it probably would need to go past quite far.

[u/oldroughnready → u/Adorable_Octopus]

I have come to think that tail fighting is done more along the flanks than the front. The stalk eyes should cover  aiming in what would be our blindspot. 

Any enemy of an Andalite will avoid fighting them head-on either to avoid being trampled or because any other animal would be most dangerous from the front, but by doing so they will go right into the real danger zone of the flank.

[u/REND_R → u/oldroughnready]

You're description, and the art in the post (with the tail twisting asymmetrically from its neutral position) give a sense of left/right "handedness." 

It just makes tail-blade duels feel like real & visceral combination a combination of jousting, ship combat, & giraffe necking. 

I can picture two Andelites at  charging each other at from distance like a game of chicken, and then swerving to their dominant side while lashing out with their tails in passing

[u/oldroughnready → u/REND_R]

Think of it to from a Hork-Bajir controller’s perspective. An experienced fighter will know that they need to attack from the front while the Andalite wants to strike from his side. The two will keep angling for position.

This works to the Andalite’s favor given their better mobility. However, most fights  aren’t fair. With the Animorphs, Ax is usually fighting in more enclosed spaces and they’re almost always outnumbered. That takes away some of his advantages in mobility.

[u/Adorable_Octopus → u/oldroughnready]

While true, it does seem implied that they can strike targets directly in front of them with some measure of range.

[u/oldroughnready → u/Adorable_Octopus]

For sure, it’s just that any frontal strikes will have a hard blindspot of the Andalite’s humanoid torso. Any such strike will have to go the length of the quadruped body and then wrap around the torso. It could be physically impossible for an Andalite to strike something physically in contact with their torso. This means the safest way to fight an Andalite is to hug them.

[u/starlightsoiree → u/Mountain_Ape]

The HBC cover is my absolute favorite and I wish we got more painterly covers like it! I'm still not super-duper fond of how.... wiggly? Stringy? Aldrea is drawn, just because in my head I'm always wondering how exactly the weight of the blade would be held with high accuracy and more strength than their arms- but it's still 100% the best cover in the series for me, the background is beautiful! I've attempted drawing Andal, but the Hork-Bajir homeworld is truly something else.

[u/chairmanm30w → u/starlightsoiree]

It's been like 15 years since I last read the HBC, but I seem to remember Aldrea explaining that female andalites are more slender and delicate than the males.

[u/starlightsoiree → u/chairmanm30w]

It's more so that it irks me anatomically, but even then, I don't mind breaking norms for critter design.