Crayak is a fictional antagonist from the series The Animorphs. He is one of the only three main antagonists who is not a Yeerk.
Fanart of him
Biography[]
Little is known about Crayak before he arrived in our galaxy. It was stated in The Attack that he was driven from his own galaxy by a power greater than he or the Ellimist. It is speculated that Crayak has since become more powerful than that being, but his game with the Ellimist keeps him in this galaxy. However, this greater power is never identified in the Ellimist Chronicles and the Ellimist himself states in The Attack that Crayak's ultimate goal is to 'spread his power throughout all galaxies and destroy the one power greater than himself'. It can be safely assumed, then, that this greater power is on a level beyond both Crayak and the Ellimist in the present day.
Crayak's original biology is briefly glimpsed by the Ellimist when they first meet - he is described as 'evolved for the surface, or perhaps even for a subterranean life'. Crayak is identified as having massive, muscled limbs, as well as the single, dominating red eye that comes to be his trademark.
When it arrived in the Milky Way, it began to play a series of games with the being known as the Ellimist. These games were impossible to "win", as any action taken by the Ellimist resulted in massive death of innocent creatures. Eventually, the Ellimst and Crayak fought a war against each other. But after witnessing the destruction of said war, they agreed never to fight openly again.
Him During The Series[]
Instead, they began a series of games to influence events in the world around them. Treating the people of the galaxy as pawns in a massive game of chess, they chose players (such as the Animorphs and the Yeerks) and gave them the abilities to win little rounds if they could perform correctly. The exact nature of the Game is uncertain, as are the aims of the parties involved. What is clear, however, is that both parties are absolutely ruthless in their pursuit of victory and are willing to show complete disregard for the lower forms of live in order to attain their desires.
Crayak was described in The Attack as being a 'strange sort of perfectionist'. In stark contrast to the Ellimist's altruistic aims, Crayak's philosophy is survival of the fittest. He seeks to pit the races of the universe against each other, with the strong killing the weak, until there is a single perfect race in the universe, which he would then rule. His malevolence is further heightened by the Ellimist - he 'seeks a universe of conflict, pain and terror' and is said to crave the fear of everything that is not himself.
Crayak is one of the only three villains in the series with no given backstory (the others being his servant, the Drode, and The One) , leading to much speculation and misconception. Many describe him as being "pure evil" despite the fact that one of the overarching messages of the Animorphs series is that there is no such thing as pure evil.
Appearance[]
A godlike being, Crayak is described as a blood-red cybernetic eye sitting on a throne miles high. Crayak has a servant called the Drode, who accompanies him and carries out tasks at his command. It is speculated that if a Yeerk dies in a Controller's head, the Controller will see Crayak when the Yeerk is dying. This first and only recorded instance of this happened to Jake; the Yeerk in that process of the fugue to cause him to see Crayak was Temrash 114.
Creations Of Crayak[]
- Crayak's Plant Parasites
A Howler
- Howlers
