Jake Berenson

Age – 13-16*

Family –
Steve (father)
Jean (mother)
Tom (brother, older)
Rachel, Jorden, Sara, Saddler (deceased), Justin, Brooke, Forrest (cousin)
Ellen, Naomi (aunt)
George, Dan (uncle)

Main morphs –
battle – tiger,
bird – peregrine falcon

Appearance – Tall for his age, with a solid build. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a ‘confident chin’.

Personality –
Before the Animorphs started Jake was the ‘average teen.’ He was a bit on the serious side, but knew when to laugh and he was a good friend and an average student. He liked adventure and was a bit competitive. He could most often be found playing video games with Marco or practicing basketball, despite a lack of skill in the area.

Now, Jake is the defacto leader of the Animorphs, despite never wanting the job. As such, he’s even more serious and less inclined to do something for the excitement aspect. Jake has the ability to tell people what to do without sounding overly bossy and people tend to turn to him for guidance in a crisis. To others, he is a leader; always cool under pressure, and one who can handle responsibility well. However, Jake often struggles with self-doubt. He worries that he cannot handle the pressure and will make the wrong decision. He shoulders the responsibility of leader anyway and makes the tough decisions when the time comes, but later in the series the signs of stress become more obvious. He sometimes hesitated too long or made the wrong decision, but the others followed him in spite of this and he remained a strong leader until the end.

As a leader, Jake has the talent to tell people what to do without sounding bossy and they generally listen to him. He listens to his people and knows how to use them, something that makes him extremely effective as a leader. He also tends to want to put things to a vote, insisting that the Animorphs are a democracy, although this is a less common occurrence at the end of the series when he finally accepts his role as a leader.

Relations –
Rachel – Rachel and Jake are cousins. Before becoming Animorphs they had a casual friendship, but weren’t particularly close. They generally get along and agree with each other on the ‘tough’ decisions. Jake was often the one who would calm Rachel down if she went too far in a battle but as the war progressed and Rachel got more ruthless, Jake had to keep tighter control over her. Rachel resented the control and often tried to push the limit with him. Jake also knew that Rachel would do things the others couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do and used her for that. Rachel suspected her was ‘using her for killing,’ but never brought up the issue.

Tobias – Jake saved Tobias from bullies just before they met Elfangor, so at the beginning Tobias kind of looked up to Jake. Later, when Tobias became a nothlit and grew more confident, that changed to a comfortable friendship. Tobias supported Jake as a leader and Jake valued his input and used his position as a nothlit hawk to the best advantage possible. However, after the war Tobias blamed Jake for Rachel’s death and resented him, but still respected his ability as a leader on the mission to rescue Ax.

Cassie – Cassie and Jake have ‘liked’ each other since before the start of the series, but don’t talk about their feelings. It’s the group’s ‘worst kept secret.’ Throughout the series their romance develops until it becomes an unspoken fact. They even kiss a few times and just before the end of the war Jake proposed to her, although she turned him down. Cassie does her best to support Jake when she senses he’s over-stressed and Jake seeks her opinion on moral issues. He also tends to be overprotective of her on the few times she puts herself in harms way. Later in the series, most notably after the loss of the Escafil Device to Tom, stress developed between the two. Jake thought that her morals got in the way of her ability to fight in the war and made her a liability. After the war they drifted apart and Cassie started dating someone else.

Marco – Marco and Jake were best friends from diapers and remained that way throughout the series. Marco admired Jake, but never said as much out loud. Jake respected Marco’s intelligence and his ability to see things others missed and to make plans. Marco supported Jake as the leader, but never hesitated to tell him the brutally honest truth.

Ax – Ax was almost obsessively loyal to Jake as his ‘Prince,’ something which made Jake uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed. Due to this, their relationship remained more professional that the others. Jake sought him out for information and advice, but not often for friendship. Ax, in turn, supported Jake and his decisions. However, late in the series, Ax started to act on his own when he thought Jake was wrong without consulting the group, something which annoyed Jake.

Tom – Jake idolized his brother before the war started. However, after Tom became a Controller and before Jake found out, they started to drift apart. Jake tried out for the school’s basketball team in hopes of catching his brother’s attention and repairing the rift. After discovering Tom’s involvement in the war, Jake was almost obsessive in his desire to free his brother. At the beginning, it was his main reason for continuing with the Animorphs. By the end of the series, however, Jake had become jaded to his brother’s fate and eventually put the safety of the human race over his love for his family.

Quotes:
" . . . Jake, the reluctant leader. Jake, the oh-so-tiresomely decent one. A sanctimonious killer: my least favorite kind."
-- the Drode

*In the last book, Jake tells us that he was 13 when the war started and 16 when it ended.