Jake Berenson - Relationships With The Other Animorphs

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".