Sculpted Physique



One way to show off the inhumanity of a race of non-humans or monsters is to give them a Sculpted Physique where their entire body may look like an abstract sculpture made of organically grown metal, mother of pearl, or even feathers.

For all intents and purposes the creature or character looks as though they've been sculpted out of stone, wrought from metal, born part plastic, or a strange meld of flesh and technology. Common features include wings (especially if the Sculpted Physique is part of a Super Mode or One-Winged Angel), an arm/gun, Power Crystal studs, crystalline body-parts, a Heart Drive or being covered in a too-literal body armor.

If the creature is a Monster of the Aesop made from the Victim of the Week, the result tends to looks like the human took a toaster (or more eclectic fare) through a matter teleporter and got fused along the way. Usually it's highly aesthetically pleasing and (a)symmetric, and looks simultaneously inorganic and completely natural. Expect damage to be represented by actual cracks on their skin/outer shell, and the body itself to be jointed as if it were a lobster or action figure.

Anime and Manga

 * Guyver. Organic armor, steel arm blades, and a crystalline eyes.
 * RahXephon has a lot of Mulian Dolems like this, and the titular Raxephon is a shining example. It's organic, but looks like part stone or metal with Power Crystal incrustations.
 * Most Mono-Gender Monsters in Sailor Moon look like this, growing more and more strange and eclectic as the series went on.
 * Most of villains of Dragon Ball, but most notably Cell, Cooler, and Post-transformation Janeba.
 * Yu-Gi-Oh! has a few Mons like this, more prominent in the sequel series Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
 * Many things in Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the case of the EVAs, both the mechanical and organic parts were purposely sculpted to fit together.

Literature

 * Inverted in His Dark Materials. During one witch leader's first encounter with angels in The Subtle Knife, it's stated that they only look like human figures because that's what the witch expected them to look like; without preconcieved notions, the angels would bear more resemblance to architecture than anything organic.
 * In the Discworld novels, Sgt. Colon's Watch breastplate is described as having sculpted abs and pecs, into the inverse of which his own rather flabby chest and stomach fit like Jello into a mold.
 * Played with in the Belisarius Series. Antonina, the wife of the titular general, had a cuirass created to her measure, which the artisan, as per the period's tradition, made in a Sculpted Physique style, while, ahem, exaggerating some of her features. Everyone has referred to it as the "Antonina's obscene cuirass" ever since. She still wears it for the lack of less flamboyant protection, though.

Live Action TV

 * Pick a Power Rangers monster. Any Power Rangers monster.

Film

 * Two Words: Bat. Nipples.
 * More like every Bat-suit in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series outside of the one in Batman Returns and the special final mission suits in Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, though the suits in Burton's film and the final mission suits lacked nipples.
 * In Alien, the black and sleek exoskeleton of the xenomorphs make them look metallic.
 * From Bram Stoker's Dracula, we have the set of armor Vlad wore in the introductory segment. Whether intentional or not it appeared to have been crafted to look like it was made of exposed, raw musculature. Some suits of armor actually were similar, but rarely to that extent and almost never painted a uniform crimson.
 * Devil Kazuya and Devil Jin's newly-designed forms in Tekken: Blood Vengeance look like this.

Video Games

 * Final Fantasy, being peppered with One-Winged Angel transformations, loves this trope:
 * The current page picture is Seymour Natus from Final Fantasy X.
 * So is Angra Mainyu from FFX-2, probably, although she is a monster.
 * Golems in Final Fantasy XI are essentially walking statues of Mythril and Cermet.
 * Algol from Soul Calibur IV. Being fused with 2 magic swords will do that to you.
 * For the final battle of BioShock (series), Fontaine turns into what can best be described as a ten-foot tall Oscar Atlas statue.
 * Many creatures in World of Warcraft are based on this trope, particularly in Northrend.
 * Disgaea 3 had Super Hero Aurum go One-Winged Angel into a form composed of the monsters and evil gods he had slain stitched onto his own body to give him more superpowers. It wound up looking like a giant coffin/sword with wings and a halo grew out of his back.
 * Devil May Cry 1 features Mundus, who looks like an enormous marble statue of an angel (with a gaping, open ribcage). #4 features a boss which essentially IS an enormous marble statue of an angel.
 * The devil triggered forms of Dante tend to look this way as well, since while being good, he is still a demon.
 * Many creatures in Brutal Legend have metalic body parts in addition to their organic parts. For example, razor-boars are literally boars-on-wheels, with metal bars running the length of their bodies from one wheel to the next as part of their skeleton.
 * Many of the Shadows in Persona 3 and Persona 4 are distinctly inorganic. Relics are feminine statues (that open to reveal spikes), Dice are Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Sands are hourglasses with legs...
 * Most of the Angels in Bayonetta have this... At least before you've lain the smack down upon them.
 * The Maker in Aquaria initially looks like a white Greco-Roman statue. As the battle progresses it starts to break down and reveals more organic parts.
 * The Nanosuits from Crysis.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has Fi. Also

Web Original

 * In the Whateley Universe, there are a number. Igneous looks like he is made out of solid rock. Migraine after her change looks more like something from Alien than a human being.

Real Life

 * Certain kinds of Greek and Roman armor have chestplates sporting muscles and even nipples. Some are more stylized than others. Most other cultures don't focus so much on mirroring the anatomy beneath the armor, so it probably had something to do with the philosophy that man is the measure of all things.
 * Some sets of Japanese armor were made to look like the bodies of emaciated Buddhist monks, presumably to show the wearer's devotion, as Samurai were quite frequently devout Buddhists as well.
 * And ofcourse many other Samurai armour were made to resemble fierce demons.