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| For the TV series version, see Tom |
- "Not Jake. Leave Jake alone. Leave my brother alone. I'll... look, I'll never trouble you again. I swear it. Just leave Jake alone."
- ―Tom to Temrash 114[src]
Tom Berenson was Jake's older brother. He spent four years as a host body for a Yeerk, first to Temrash 114 and then later to another Yeerk. Despite his freedom being Jake's primary reason for joining the war, Tom never regained his freedom and was killed during the final battle by his cousin Rachel under Jake's orders.
Biography
Free Life
Tom Berenson was born in 1981[note 1] to Jean and Steve Berenson.[4][1] The older brother of Jake, the brothers were close and they often played basketball together.[2] Since Jake was shorter than him, Tom gave him the nickname of "m*dget."[5] His father was a pediatrician[6] and his mother was a writer,[2] and they lived in a well-off neighborhood[7] in California.[3] Tom was raised Jewish,[8] with dinners as a family involving prayers[9] and no television.[2] However, the family still celebrated Christmas.[10]
While in junior high, Tom joined the boys' basketball team and became known as a legend due to record performances on the team. Upon entering high school, Tom joined the team and became one of its high scorers.[2] While Tom had paternal cousins, he was not particularly close enough with them.[11]
Infested by Temrash 114
Becoming a Host
- "Tom. He had joined The Sharing for a simple, silly reason. A pretty girl he liked was a member. He had wanted to get close to her. He had gone to meetings. He'd played along with them, never guessing the truth. All he had cared about was the girl. He had stumbled, accidentally, into a secret leadership meeting. He thought the girl was seeing another boy. But she was one of them. He had followed her, wandered into the meeting and seen Visser Three. Visser Three in his Andalite body. I saw the Controllers grab a yelling, punching, kicking Tom. I saw as they tied him up. Carried him through secret passageways to the great, underground Yeerk pool. I saw him scream as he realized what was happening. I felt his fear. I felt his rage as the Yeerk slug crawled into his ear and wrapped itself around his brain. I felt every ounce of his despair."
- ―Jake[src]
In 1996,[note 4] Tom developed a crush on a girl who was a full member of The Sharing. Tom then decided to join The Sharing as well; however, after sneaking into a full members meeting to follow his crush, he accidentally witnessed the Andalite body of Visser Three. Tom was then quickly captured by the Yeerks and forcibly infested, becoming the host body for Temrash 114.[5]
Tom tried to fight Temrash, but was not powerful enough to give Temrash much trouble and eventually surrendered, waiting and hoping to just die. Temrash had Tom join The Sharing as a full member and climbed up the ranks of the Yeerk Empire.[5] Temrash also had Tom quit the high school basketball team to free up their time.[2]
Warning Jake
- "I was looking at Tom, and he was smiling at me. But then his face kind of twitched. His head started to pull to one side, like he was trying to shake his head only he couldn't quite do it. For just a split second there was a look in his eyes — scared or... or something. He was looking right at me, and it was like some different person, some scared person, was looking out of those same eyes. [...] I knew what I had seen in Tom's eyes — he was trying to warn me. Somehow he had managed to gain control of his face for just a second before the Yeerk in his head had crushed him. Tom — the real Tom, not the Yeerk slug in his brain — had tried to warn me."
- ―Jake[src]
In 1997,[note 5] Tom listened as Temrash 114, controlling his body, spoke to Jake about how The Sharing was fun but that there was more to it once one became a full member. When Jake inquired how to become a full member, Tom began fighting to retake control over his body in order to warn Jake, and was strong enough to cause Temrash to briefly lose control over Tom's facial muscles. While Temrash quickly reasserted his control over Tom, unbeknownst to both Temrash and Tom, the incident was enough to tip Jake off that Tom was under Yeerk control.[2]
Temporary Freedom
- "No. No, you filthy creep. You aren't going to win this time."
- ―Tom to Visser Three[src]
A few days later, Temrash 114 went to the Yeerk pool to feed, which resulted in Tom being placed in a cage along with the other involuntary hosts, where he began to shout at the Hork-Bajir-Controllers. When a group of animals attacked the pool and freed the hosts in the cages, Tom aided them in freeing the other hosts and headed to the stairs in order to escape. When they were surrounded by Taxxons, Tom swung his fists at them. During the climb up however, they were trapped by Visser Three, who had morphed into a fire-breathing monster with eight heads and eight legs. Tom then lunged at the Visser, although Visser Three was able to easily swat Tom away, causing him to fall from the stairs. While his actions resulted in the others escaping successfully, Tom was recaptured by the Yeerks and was reinfested by Temrash.[2]
Infested by Another Yeerk
Mysterious Phone Call
- "I am the Yeerk who controlled your brother. [...] Yes, Tom was my host."
"Then... he's..."
"Free? Ha ha ha. You're even stupider than your brother. No, your brother's body has been given to a new Yeerk. Someone with a lower rank." - ―Temrash 114 and Jake[src]
Due to Temrash 114's rapid ascension through the ranks of the Yeerk Empire, he was slated for promotion by being given the Governor[5] of California[3] as his new host body. One night, Tom sat defeated and helpless in his own mind, wanting to die, while Temrash operated as him. However, when Temrash once tried to convince Jake to join The Sharing, Tom cried internally, asking Temrash to leave Jake alone and promising to stop resisting if Jake was spared. However, as Tom had already given up, his mind held no challenge for Temrash, who quelled Tom's weak resistance and ignored his pleas. Very soon after, Temrash exited Tom's body for the final time as Tom was given to a new low-ranking Yeerk to serve as his host body. A few days later, a phone call was made to "Tom". When "he" answered, the mysterious voice on the other end revealed that it knew Tom was a host and told him to keep fighting.[5]
Gaining Morphing Powers
- "My people want it, too: the morphing power."
"You said you're already morph-capable."
"I am. And not just this body, by the way, but me. I've subjected my own true Yeerk self to the cube. You want to know what's funny? I can morph Tom. That's right, I can morph into my own host body. Cool, huh?" - ―Tom's Yeerk and Jake[src]
Tom spent the next three years as a host to this new Yeerk as it slowly climbed through the ranks.[12] In 2000, after his Yeerk successfully acquired the morphing cube from the Animorphs,[4] Tom's Yeerk used the box on Tom's body, rendering him morph-capable. Tom's Yeerk acquired a jaguar and a cobra through Tom's body. Tom himself was then acquired by his Yeerk after it used the box to grant its own body the ability to morph.[1]
Death
- "Tom was dead. And I wondered how I was ever going to explain it. I had ordered my cousin to execute my brother. How would I ever explain that? All these years I'd fought to keep us all alive, to stop the Yeerks, always with the hope that someday I would save my brother, that he would come back, that he'd be Tom again. That was why I'd enlisted in the war to begin with. I was going to save Tom. Tom was dead. The Yeerk in his head was dead. And Rachel."
- ―Jake[src]
Shortly after, Tom's Yeerk and his band of morph-capable Controllers gained possession of the Blade ship and attempted to destroy the Pool ship in order to kill both the Animorphs and Esplin 9466. However, Jake had Rachel hide out on Tom's body as a flea, having ordered her to kill Tom in order to end his Yeerk's machinations. Noticing Rachel after she demorphed, Tom's Yeerk morphed into a cobra using Tom's body. Rachel, in grizzly bear morph, managed to get the cobra in her mouth and bit down on it, killing both Tom and his Yeerk before she was killed herself by the morph-capable Controllers.[3]
Appearances
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This section requires expansion |
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Trivia
- Throughout the entire series, Tom has never spoken to any of the characters freely. With the exception of his brief moment in the very first book and a memory Temrash 114 showed Jake in the sixth book, all of Tom's lines have been spoken by the Yeerk in his head.
- In the TV series, after Tom's Yeerk received the call from Jake, Tom is able to resist enough to cause his Yeerk to lose slight control of his right hand.[13]
Gallery
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"Someone took a picture of me? Not cool. Do you see what I'm wearing? I'm Spandex-boy. Totally not cool."
The image gallery for Tom Berenson may be viewed here |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 #1: The Invasion reveals Tom is in high school and is of legal driving age, putting his age at 16 at the minimum. In Megamorphs #4: Back to Before, set at the same time as #1, Jake says Tom would be grounded for “years” until his 18th birthday, meaning Tom is not 17 yet; as such, his age would be 16 during #1. As the first book is set in 1997, this puts his birth year as 1981.
- ↑ Books #44-53, plus the pre-time skip section of #54, are set in 2000. This is because it is January 2000 in #44: The Unexpected and in #53: The Answer, Jake says that they had been fighting for three years; the Animorphs met Elfangor in 1997, which therefore puts the end of the war in 2000.
- ↑ Killed by Rachel while in cobra morph in #54: The Beginning
- ↑ Jake mentions in #1 that he and Tom stopped being as close since "last year or so" after Tom joined The Sharing. As #1 is set in 1997, this puts Tom's infestation at 1996.
- ↑ The Andalite Chronicles explicitly states that it is set 21 years before Elfangor met the Animorphs and 10 years after the Yeerk exodus, which The Hork-Bajir Chronicles explicitly reveals to be in 1966. This sets The Andalite Chronicles in 1976, which then places the events of #1: The Invasion in 1997.