| Jake Berenson | |
|---|---|
| Animorphs character | |
| File:Jake Animorphs2011.png The new model for Jake used for the 2011 re-release of Animorphs. | |
| First Episode Appearance | The Invasion |
| Final Episode Appearance | The Beginning |
| Created by | K. A. Applegate |
| Character played by | Shawn Ashmore (TV series) Unknown 1 (books 1 through 41 and 53) Unknown 2 (MM4, 47, and 54) Unknown 3 (2011 re-release) |
| Character played by | Mathew Kaminsky (PC game) Jame Mack (PlayStation game) |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Prince Jake (by Ax) Midget (by Tom) Big Jake Fearless Leader Jake the Mighty Jake the Yeerk-Killer Jake the Ellimist's Tool |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Leader of the Animorphs |
| Family | Steve Berenson (father) Jean Berenson (mother) Tom Berenson (brother) |
| Relatives | Rachel, Jordan, Sara, Saddler, Justin, Brooke, Forrest (cousins) Dan and George (uncles) Naomi and Ellen (aunts) Grandpa G. (maternal great-grandfather) Isaiah Fitzhenry (maternal great-great-great granduncle) |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Nationality | American |
| Controlling Yeerk | Temrash 114 (briefly) |
Jake Berenson is a fictional character and one of the six protagonists of K. A. Applegate's Animorphs series. Until the penultimate book of the series, his last name was never revealed, and he was known only as Jake. He is portrayed by Shawn Ashmore in the television series.
Responsibilities in the Animorphs[]
In the series, Tobias announces that Jake is the unofficial leader of the Animorphs, a group of teenage guerrillas at war with a covert alien invasion. Although he originally does not want the role, Jake changes his mind after he learns that his older brother Tom is among the Controllers, people infested by Yeerks. Jake vows to free his brother and protect his parents, Steve and Jean. "If he defeated the Yeerks, freed humanity, and rescued Earth, that was good. But that was just a bonus. His main goal was much simpler. To save his family. That goal was what had given him strength. That goal was what had kept him sane. Allowed him to retain a center of calm focus amid the awful chaos," notes Tobias in the forty-ninth volume, The Diversion.
In the first book, Jake is the only character with preexisting ties to each of the other Animorphs. Rachel is Jake's cousin. There was a mutual attraction between Jake and Cassie which later deepened into a relationship. In the second-to-last book, Jake proposes to Cassie, but she declines. She consents to marrying him "after all of this is over." Ultimately, however, the two have grown too far apart for a relationship to work. Marco is Jake's best friend. Tobias was rescued by Jake from bullies sometime before the series began and had a mild case of hero-worship towards him. While Ax didn't appear until the fourth volume, The Message, Ax quickly accepts Jake as his "Prince" ("Prince" being a rank in the Andalite military hierarchy) and is deeply loyal to him. Jake's status as Ax's Prince led to a recurring joke between them:
- "
Ax: "...Prince Jake."
Jake: "Don't call me prince."
Ax: "Yes, Prince Jake."
One of Jake's more harrowing experiences occurs when he is infested by a Yeerk, Temrash 114. Fortunately Ax realizes something was wrong (because Jake's face momentarily twists into an expression of disgust when he sees Ax), and the Animorphs tie Jake up for three days until Temrash dies of Kandrona starvation. Jake gets his first glimpse of Crayak when Temrash died. He is also left with partial memory imprints of Temrash and his former hosts: a Gedd, a Hork-Bajir, and Tom (who is now host to another Yeerk).
As the leader of the small band of guerrilla warriors, his leadership, his choices and mistakes, and the responsibility he assumes are recurring themes in the Animorphs series. Despite his best efforts, Jake never attains his main goal for joining the fight: saving his brother from Yeerk infestation. After he fails to save Tom from the Yeerks, he is left emotionally damaged and unable to lead. Before the final battle, Cassie manages to lift him out of it, but her success is short-lived.
After more than six months captaining the Rachel, a state-of-the-art Yeerk ship named by Tobias, Jake encounters a Blade ship—one containing the last fugitives from the Yeerk empire. Ax's captor, a monstrous being of unknown origin known only as "the One," makes its unsettling appearance through a communication channel between the Blade ship and the Rachel. Undaunted, Jake gives his final order, instructing the pilot to power up their engines and ram the larger ship. The command is an ironic one; decades ago, a young Elfangor had given the same order. It was this decision which rocketed him to princely status and a place in Andalite legend.
Relationships with the other Animorphs[]
- Rachel: Despite being cousins, Rachel and Jake are not particularly close. As the series unfolds he becomes increasingly concerned about her warriorlike nature, and she occasionally wishes to challenge his leadership.
- Tobias: At some point before the first book Jake saved Tobias from bullies, leading him to hero-worship Jake to a certain degree. Tobias has a great respect for Jake and almost never questions his decisions. After the war, Tobias is unable to forgive Jake for his part in Rachel's death.
- Cassie: Jake and Cassie are attracted to each other right from the start, and their relationship builds throughout the series. They finally kiss at the end of #26, and acknowledge the depth of their feelings for each other in subsequent narrations. A rift forms between them at the end of series due to Jake's depression, and his distrust of Cassie after she allows Tom to take the Escafil device. However, they do reconcile before the end and Jake asks Cassie to marry him in #53: she declines, but says that she will marry him "a year after this is all over". It should be noted that given Cassie’s ability to ‘read people,’ it is possible that Jake was using the proposal as a smoke screen to hide the fact that at the same time he was planning to sacrifice Rachel, her best friend. At this time, Cassie already (correctly) suspects that Jake had been irrevocably changed by the war: after it's over, he becomes too entrenched in depression and guilt to be able to pursue a romantic relationship. They do not appear to be close after the war, and Cassie moves on.
- Marco: Jake and Marco have been best friends for years and generally maintain a close relationship throughout the series, despite several tests of their friendship. Towards the end of the war Marco and Jake's friendship suffers—though it remains the strongest of the bonds between the members of the group (though admittedly, almost all of the Animorphs' relationships break down towards the end). Marco is also the only person to side with Jake and agree with him when Jake sends Rachel to fight Tom, which results in her death—which shows one of the reasons for their great friendship. In the post-war period, Marco is concerned for his friend and makes a plan with Cassie to try to get through to him.
- Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill: There is much mutual respect between Ax and Jake. While Jake at times keeps a certain distance from him, as he is Ax's commander, there is a strong bond between them. Ax considers Jake a strong leader and calls him a "Prince".
Personal life and family[]
His father, Steve Berenson, works as a pediatrician, and becomes a Controller late in the series. His mother, Jean Berenson, works as a freelance writer, also becoming a Controller late in the series. Jake has a brother, Tom Berenson, who is a Controller from the beginning of the series.
Jake's uncle, Dan (brother of Steve), is a news anchor. He is divorced and lives by himself. In #7, when he was moving out, he offers Rachel the opportunity to stay with him and fly back every weekend to see her mother and sisters, but Rachel declines. Jake's aunt by marriage, Naomi, is an extremely headstrong and contentious lawyer. When she is forced to hide in the Hork-Bajir valley, she tries to escape a few times.
Jake's cousins include Rachel, a fellow Animorph (deceased), Jordan, who is two years younger than Rachel, and Sara, who is younger than Jordan. His other cousin, Saddler (by an unknown sibling of Dan and Steve, either his mother Ellen or his father George), received life-threatening injuries in #21, The Threat. David acquired and morphed the wounded Saddler, briefly masquerading as him and allowing his family to believe he'd miraculously recovered. The family would have suffered further grief when David became trapped as a nothlit, causing 'Saddler' to disappear without explanation. The real Saddler has never been seen again and is presumed dead. Cousins Justin, Brooke, and Forrest are siblings of Saddler.
Jake's great grandfather, Grandpa G, was the father of Jean's mother. Grandpa G was a veteran of World War II whom Jake admired and respected greatly. He died in book 31 and the family left town to attend his funeral. Grandpa G had a granduncle Isaiah Fitzhenry who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. Jake found and read Isaiah's wartime diary in book 47.
Jake's morphs[]
Jake's favorite battle morph was the Siberian Tiger, which used a well balanced combination of speed, reflexes, and strength. Jake's favorite morph for transportation was the Peregrine Falcon because of its speed. Including unusable and unused morphs, Jake has 43 potential morphs.
| Morph | Book Acquired |
|---|---|
| Golden Retriever (Homer) | The Invasion |
| Green Anole Lizard | |
| Siberian Tiger | |
| Peregrine Falcon | The Visitor |
| Flea | |
| Wolf | The Encounter |
| Trout | |
| Dolphin | The Message |
| Seagull | |
| Lobster | The Predator |
| Ant | |
| Cockroach | The Capture |
| Housefly | |
| Great Horned Owl | presumably some time between The Capture and The Secret |
| Termite (acquired, but never used) | The Secret |
| Skunk | |
| Bat | The Android |
| Spider Monkey (unusable: Sario Rip morph) | The Forgotten |
| Jaguar (unusable: Sario Rip morph) | |
| Horse | The Unknown |
| Parrot | The Escape |
| Hammerhead Shark | |
| Rhinoceros | The Warning |
| Mole | The Underground |
| Mosquito | The Decision |
| Leeran | |
| Tyrannosaurus rex (unusable: Sario Rip morph) | In the Time of Dinosaurs |
| Dragonfly | The Threat |
| Human (Random Human-Controller) | |
| Anteater | The Suspicion |
| Seal | The Extreme |
| Polar Bear (Nanook) | |
| Howler | The Attack |
| Giant Squid | The Exposed |
| Chimpanzee | The Experiment |
| Eel | The Sickness |
| Horse (Medieval Warhorse) (unusable: time paradox) | Elfangor's Secret (Megamorphs) |
| Hork-Bajir | The Prophecy |
| Squirrel | The Proposal |
| Cockatiel | |
| Orca (Swoosh) | The Mutation |
| Beaver | The Resistance |
| Anaconda | The Answer |
Books[]
Books narrated solely by Jake include:
- The Invasion
- The Capture
- The Forgotten
- The Warning
- The Threat
- The Attack
- The Conspiracy
- The Mutation
- The Familiar
- The Answer
Jake also takes part in the narration of:
- The Andalite's Gift
- In the Time of Dinosaurs
- Elfangor's Secret
- Back to Before
- The Departure
- The Resistance
- The Beginning
Toys[]
In 1999, four different Transformers toys of Jake were made. Two of the larger ones that were sold in stores turned into a Tiger and a Grizzly Bear, while the third was one piece of the Tyrannosaurus rex made up of Jake, Cassie, and Marco figures. The smaller transformer was part of a Taco Bell children's meal promotion and turned into a lizard.[1]
Footnotes[]
External links[]
- Jake's official page at Scholastic's website
- Jake Berenson at the Internet Movie Database
| K. A. Applegate's Animorphs series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main series | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 | |
| Megamorphs | The Andalite's Gift • In the Time of Dinosaurs • Elfangor's Secret • Back to Before | |
| Chronicles | The Andalite Chronicles • The Hork-Bajir Chronicles • Visser • The Ellimist Chronicles | |
| Alternamorphs | The First Journey • The Next Passage | |
| Animorphs | Jake • Rachel • Tobias • Cassie • Marco • Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill • David • Auxiliary Animorphs | |
| Television series | Animorphs | |
| Video games | Animorphs: Know the Secret • Animorphs: Shattered Reality • Game Boy Color game | |
| Secondary characters | Aldrea • Crayak • Drode • Elfangor • Ellimist • Erek King • Visser One • Visser Three | |
| Minor characters | Andalites • Hork-Bajir • Humans • Ketrans • Yeerks • Other minor characters | |
| Species | Andalite • Arn • Chee • Gedd • Helmacron • Hork-Bajir • Howler • Human • Iskoort • Ketran • Leeran • Mercora • Nartec • Nesk • Pemalite • Skrit Na • Taxxon • Yeerk • Other species | |
| Related articles | Chronological list of Animorphs books • Time Matrix • Animorphs (toy) • Controller • Nothlit • Escafil device • Leera | |