Crayak
Encyclopedia
Crayak is a fictional character
and villain from the science-fiction book series Animorphs
, written by K. A. Applegate
.
with massive limbs and nothing but what would resemble as a blood-red eye for a head. The Ellimist, upon first viewing him, contrasts his appearance with The Ellimist's original form as a winged humanoid and conjectures that Crayak evolved from a burrowing species in an underground ecology rather than a winged, aboveground species as the Ellimist did, wondering thus what effect this has had on his psychology. When he first meets the Ellimist, he wields vast technological powers similar to his, commanding a huge fleet of ships. But, while Ellimist loves to create and protect, Crayak prefers misery and destruction as his purpose of life, having no regard for the rights and desires of others. While the Ellimist is a distributed intelligence
who exists within all the ships he commands, Crayak's mind is housed within a huge, central flagship crafted from an asteroid, with the rest of his fleet directed by races he has enslaved. Crayak and the Ellimist directly oppose each other several times, and whenever their differences break out into open war the resulting battles are described as enough to destroy whole worlds and civilizations. This goes on until the Ellimist falls into a black hole
and finds a way to embed his consciousness within it, becoming an extremely powerful being able to control time and space; Crayak soon duplicates this feat, and the two intelligences, recognizing that their war between each other would be pointless and self-destructive, decide on what to do. The Ellimist suggests that they could become passive observers and watch life unfold and evolve, but the Crayak replies that he would choose his own destruction over that. The Ellimist then invites to join him in the final game, where they would pursue their own battle indirectly, by using sentient beings as gamepieces, and the Crayak agrees.
Crayak's history is largely unknown, but the Ellimist says he was expelled from another galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago by a greater power than he was.
and the Yeerk
s; the Drode
serves as his primary servant.
, a race that he created, have succeeded in wiping out many races such as the Pemalite
s and Graffen's Children. Apart from using his mindless shock troops, Crayak has also manipulated natural forces to destroy numerous species, such as altering their climate or sending plagues to destroy their crops and plantations. Crayak also has a minion named Drode
, whose name means 'Wild Card'.
The Yeerk invasion of Earth and the Animorph resistance to it constitute a small part of Ellimist and Crayak's game. Crayak, while not responsible for the creation nor (as far as is known) the actions of the Yeerks, would rather that they absorbed humanity and be absorbed in turn by an even more aggressive species. The Ellimist would rather that the Animorphs win.
was controlled by a Yeerk
, which the other Animorphs managed to kill by depriving it of Kandrona rays. As the Yeerk died, Jake had a vision of Crayak. Jake had a sense of horror when Crayak saw him, before the vision ended. The Ellimist would later explain that with the Yeerk dying in Jake's head, he had been able to see through life and death to glimpse Crayak.
In The Attack (#26), the Ellimist explained about Crayak's existence, and explained that the two powers were having a fight over a species called the Iskoort
, and drafted the Animorphs and the Chee
Erek to fight against a team of Howler
s over the outcome. In the process the Animorphs---particularly Jake---managed to contaminate the Howlers' collective memory, in effect making them useless to Crayak. As a result Crayak had a permanent hatred of Jake, and would even arrange for him to be killed (temporarily) in Elfangor's Secret.
Crayak also had a particular interest in Jake's cousin and fellow Animorph, Rachel
. Rachel was known as the most "enthusiastic" Animorph---out of all the Animorphs she was the only one to really enjoy battling evil, and though good, she had a bloodthirstiness that Crayak thought he could work to his will. He recruited the ex-Animorph David
to his side and attempted to turn Rachel into one of his servants. He ultimately failed.
from J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
. The character also bears similarities to the character Lucifer
of Paradise Lost
by John Milton
. Milton's depiction of Lucifer was cited by Tolkien as an inspiration for the character of Sauron. Additionally, Crayak bears a strong descriptive resemblance to The Overmind of StarCraft
lore, as a central boundless entity manipulating other, mindless species (Zerg breeds) despite differing motivations. Both are represented by a single, blood red eye.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and villain from the science-fiction book series Animorphs
Animorphs
Animorphs is an English language science fiction series of young adult books written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. Five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill , obtain the ability to morph into any animal they touch. They name...
, written by K. A. Applegate
K. A. Applegate
Katherine Alice Applegate is an American author, best-known as the author of the Animorphs, Remnants, Everworld and other book series, although some of the books in these series are ghostwritten by other authors. Applegate's most popular books are science fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels...
.
Description
Crayak is a nearly omnipotent entity appearing in the form of an armless cyborgCyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
with massive limbs and nothing but what would resemble as a blood-red eye for a head. The Ellimist, upon first viewing him, contrasts his appearance with The Ellimist's original form as a winged humanoid and conjectures that Crayak evolved from a burrowing species in an underground ecology rather than a winged, aboveground species as the Ellimist did, wondering thus what effect this has had on his psychology. When he first meets the Ellimist, he wields vast technological powers similar to his, commanding a huge fleet of ships. But, while Ellimist loves to create and protect, Crayak prefers misery and destruction as his purpose of life, having no regard for the rights and desires of others. While the Ellimist is a distributed intelligence
Distributed artificial intelligence
Distributed artificial intelligence is a subfield of artificial intelligence research dedicated to the development of distributed solutions for complex problems regarded as requiring intelligence...
who exists within all the ships he commands, Crayak's mind is housed within a huge, central flagship crafted from an asteroid, with the rest of his fleet directed by races he has enslaved. Crayak and the Ellimist directly oppose each other several times, and whenever their differences break out into open war the resulting battles are described as enough to destroy whole worlds and civilizations. This goes on until the Ellimist falls into a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
and finds a way to embed his consciousness within it, becoming an extremely powerful being able to control time and space; Crayak soon duplicates this feat, and the two intelligences, recognizing that their war between each other would be pointless and self-destructive, decide on what to do. The Ellimist suggests that they could become passive observers and watch life unfold and evolve, but the Crayak replies that he would choose his own destruction over that. The Ellimist then invites to join him in the final game, where they would pursue their own battle indirectly, by using sentient beings as gamepieces, and the Crayak agrees.
Crayak's history is largely unknown, but the Ellimist says he was expelled from another galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago by a greater power than he was.
The Final Game
At the end of the Cretaceous Period, Crayak attempted to destroy Earth. Before this, Crayak and the Ellimist had battled which resulted in the seeming destruction of the Ellimist as he fell into a black hole. However, the Ellimist became one with the space time continuum and was able to still foil Crayak's plans. When Crayak tried to destroy ancient Earth, the Ellimist moved the Earth halfway through its rotation around the sun to avoid the attack. Crayak realized that only the Ellimist could pull off this type of feat and set out to find him and soon also became merged with the space time continuum. Realizing that a renewed all-out war would bring their mutual destruction, and likely the universe, Crayak agrees to play a "game" with him. In this game, neither the Ellimist nor Crayak would use their power directly, but would instead manipulate sentient forces smaller than themselves to alter the course of the game. Crayak's assets include the HowlersHowler (Animorphs)
Howlers, or Crayak's Children, are the alien shock troops of the nearly omnipotent Crayak, in the sci-fi book series Animorphs.-Biology:...
and the Yeerk
Yeerk
Yeerks are a fictional extraterrestrial species from the book and television series "Animorphs" written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic.-Biology:...
s; the Drode
Drode
The Drode is a character in the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate.-Physical appearance:The Drode is an alien creature, described as being similar to a very dark purple dinosaur with wrinkled, pruny skin, and an oddly humanoid face. Like a small dinosaur, it walks on two legs and balances by a...
serves as his primary servant.
Mode of play
Crayak plays his game of destruction by toying with characters and civilizations throughout the galaxy, having them destroy each other. Crayak's HowlersHowler (Animorphs)
Howlers, or Crayak's Children, are the alien shock troops of the nearly omnipotent Crayak, in the sci-fi book series Animorphs.-Biology:...
, a race that he created, have succeeded in wiping out many races such as the Pemalite
Pemalite
The Pemalites are a fictional alien species from the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate. In appearance they resemble dogs, though they walk on their hind legs.-Creation:...
s and Graffen's Children. Apart from using his mindless shock troops, Crayak has also manipulated natural forces to destroy numerous species, such as altering their climate or sending plagues to destroy their crops and plantations. Crayak also has a minion named Drode
Drode
The Drode is a character in the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate.-Physical appearance:The Drode is an alien creature, described as being similar to a very dark purple dinosaur with wrinkled, pruny skin, and an oddly humanoid face. Like a small dinosaur, it walks on two legs and balances by a...
, whose name means 'Wild Card'.
The Yeerk invasion of Earth and the Animorph resistance to it constitute a small part of Ellimist and Crayak's game. Crayak, while not responsible for the creation nor (as far as is known) the actions of the Yeerks, would rather that they absorbed humanity and be absorbed in turn by an even more aggressive species. The Ellimist would rather that the Animorphs win.
Animorphs
The first time Crayak was portrayed in an Animorphs book was in The Capture (book #6), when JakeJake Berenson
Jake Berenson is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists from the science-fiction book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Until the penultimate book of the series, his last name was never revealed, and he was known only as Jake...
was controlled by a Yeerk
Yeerk
Yeerks are a fictional extraterrestrial species from the book and television series "Animorphs" written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic.-Biology:...
, which the other Animorphs managed to kill by depriving it of Kandrona rays. As the Yeerk died, Jake had a vision of Crayak. Jake had a sense of horror when Crayak saw him, before the vision ended. The Ellimist would later explain that with the Yeerk dying in Jake's head, he had been able to see through life and death to glimpse Crayak.
In The Attack (#26), the Ellimist explained about Crayak's existence, and explained that the two powers were having a fight over a species called the Iskoort
Iskoort
The Iskoort are a fictional race of aliens from the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate.They are made up of two parts - an "Isk" and a "Yoort". The Isk is the main physical body, and the Yoort is a slug which must leave the Isk every three days to soak up kandrona rays...
, and drafted the Animorphs and the Chee
Chee
The Chee are a fictional race of androids created by the extinct Pemalites, a race of pacifists from the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. The word Chee means "Friend" in the Pemalite language.-Fictional history:...
Erek to fight against a team of Howler
Howler (Animorphs)
Howlers, or Crayak's Children, are the alien shock troops of the nearly omnipotent Crayak, in the sci-fi book series Animorphs.-Biology:...
s over the outcome. In the process the Animorphs---particularly Jake---managed to contaminate the Howlers' collective memory, in effect making them useless to Crayak. As a result Crayak had a permanent hatred of Jake, and would even arrange for him to be killed (temporarily) in Elfangor's Secret.
Crayak also had a particular interest in Jake's cousin and fellow Animorph, Rachel
Rachel (Animorphs)
Rachel is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs. Her full name is never explicitly mentioned in the books, but her relation to her cousin Jake Berenson through their fathers makes it most likely to be Rachel Berenson, if it was never changed or hyphenated.-Biography:Before the...
. Rachel was known as the most "enthusiastic" Animorph---out of all the Animorphs she was the only one to really enjoy battling evil, and though good, she had a bloodthirstiness that Crayak thought he could work to his will. He recruited the ex-Animorph David
David (Animorphs)
David is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. His last name is never mentioned. David was introduced in the "David Trilogy", which included the regular-series books #20 The Discovery, #21 The Threat, and #22 The Solution...
to his side and attempted to turn Rachel into one of his servants. He ultimately failed.
Names and titles
Unlike the Ellimist, who has several names, Crayak only has one known title, though the Drode sometimes refers to him by honorific, and often ironic, titles such as "Great Crayak" or "Compassionate Crayak." He is also sometimes referred to as the Big Red Eye, a term started by fans before Crayak was named and used a few times in the books themselves.Cultural references
Crayak's manifestation as a single eye is reminiscent of the Eye of SauronSauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
from J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. The character also bears similarities to the character Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
of Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
by John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
. Milton's depiction of Lucifer was cited by Tolkien as an inspiration for the character of Sauron. Additionally, Crayak bears a strong descriptive resemblance to The Overmind of StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
lore, as a central boundless entity manipulating other, mindless species (Zerg breeds) despite differing motivations. Both are represented by a single, blood red eye.