By the Power of Grayskull: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Lots of [[Phlebotinum]] is voice activated: [[Star Trek|Kirk]] talked to the computer, [[Knight Rider|Michael talked to KITT]], [[Automan]] talked to Cursor. But there is no place where a voice activation is more universally required than when triggering a [[Transformation Sequence]].

And ''woe betide'' anyone who mispronounces the transformation phrase, as horrible, horrifying things may result.

 

 

For some heroes, the phrase can be omitted when time does not allow, especially if the full [[Transformation Sequence]] is omitted. Superheroes who do not go through an explicit [[Transformation Sequence]] ([[Batman]], [[Superman]]) are exempt.

 

 

 

This is the magic [[Catch Phrase]] that actually causes or facilitates the transformation. For one that is simply a cool kind of rallying cry or way to get the adrenaline pumping ("Flame On!", for example), see [[Invocation]]. When either of these contains (or is) the ''name'' of the hero's new form, it's [[Transformation Name Announcement]].

** ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Show Within a Show]] [[Gekiganger 3]], based heavily on Getter Robo and other shows of its type, uses "Let's Gekiga In!" (based on ''[[Voltes V]]'''s "Let's Volt In") for all its combination sequences, and "Gekiga Out" to disconnect the vehicles.

* Each of the Sailor Senshi in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' went through several different activation phrases over the course of the series, on the order of one or so a season, as they improved their powers and combat ability. The general formula was "[Planet Name] [Something] Power, Make Up!" The dub dropped the "Make Up" bit. The dub also mucks around with the names themselves (despite originally being in English) sometimes resulting in made up stuff like "Moon Cosmic Dream Action". One really bad time had the girls calling the first part of the phrase solo, then all at once calling "Make-Up!" The dub, due to the sheer omission of "Make-Up" resulting in it ending up as "Mars Star Power, Planet Power!"

** Sailor Jupiter's pre-attack powerup [[Invocation]] probably counts. "Guardian Jupiter! Stir up the storm, summon the clouds, send me your lightning! ''Supreme Thunder!''" She drops everything but the attack name later on, though. Though it does appear a few times later, making the attack seem more Bad Ass then normal.

*** If that counts, then [[Sailor Moon Abridged|this]] counts: "I call upon the powers of Zeus himself, infuse me with your heavenly thunder, which is actually lightning, but no one seems to notice. ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pika-chuuu!]]''"

* ''[[G Gundam]]'' has the protagonist shouting "Rise, Shining Gundam!" whenever he decides to call his [[Humongous Mecha]]. It's not quite a transformation sequence, but close enough.

* ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'': FINAL FUSION!! SYMMETRICAL DOCKING!! MEGA FUSION!! SYSTEM CHANGE!! SANMI ITTAI!!

* ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' averts this trope, but ''[[Princess Tutu Abridged]]'' throws one in.

** Ahiru still has a transformation sequence, but it's all visual, with an allegorical egg of light and the same little dance every time.

* Black*Star in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' calls out to [[Shapeshifter Weapon|Tsubaki]] to get her to change [[Morph Weapon|weapon forms]].

* [[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt|Panty and Stocking]] have an elaborate chant while powering up their lingerie into ghost-slaying weapons. The full version is used once, and later parodied when it quickly decays into apathetic mumbling. Their demonic nemeses, Scanty and Kneesocks, have their own Power of Grayskull chant.

* In ''[[Hyper Speed GranDoll]]'', Hikaru shouts "Gran Change!" to transform.

* The girls of ''[[Makeruna Makendo]]'' say "Ma-ken-do!"

* ''[[Tekkaman Blade]]'' has "Tek Setter!".

 

* Megaton Man uses the word Overkill to transform into his ridiculously muscled superhero form from his ridiculously muscled alter ego.

* In [[The DCU]], Jason Blood is changed into [[Etrigan]] when a certain poem is read, by him or by someone else. The full version is:

''Gone, gone the form of man,

''Rise the demon Etrigan!'' }}

* The original [[Captain Marvel]]'s "Shazam!". Along with Cap, the entire Marvel Family uses this magic transformation word. (Except for Captain Marvel Jr., who uses "Captain Marvel!") The Captain Marvel villain IBAC changes back and forth from his identity by saying his own "super" name, as does Junior's villain Sabbac.

** DC is constantly messing with them, though. Billy Batson (calling himself simply Marvel) is now the wizard who gives the others their powers, Freddy Freeman (formerly Captain Marvel Jr) is trying to become a superhero named Shazam (who still uses his name to transform, but has thankfully gained the ability to make that optional, so he ''can'' say his name without transforming now), and, in a fit of nostalgia, Billy Batson/Marvel changed Black Adam's word from "Shazam" to {{spoiler|"Chocolate Egg Cream"}} in an attempt to keep Black Adam from transforming. It didn't take. Black Adam then got rid of the powers himself by transferring them to a powerless Mary, creating [[Panty Shot|Black Mary Marvel]]. Which went well...

* The trope was parodied in issue #23 of the [[Batgirl 2009|Stephanie Brown]] ''[[Batgirl 2009|Batgirl]]'' [[Batgirl 2009|series]], where she confronts the Reapers, the (Somewhat pathetic, although admittedly dangerous) villains she has faced for the majority of the tail-end of the series. When she finds herself outmatched by the numerically superior Reapers, she shouts '''''[[Shazam]]!''''' at the top of her lungs. The Reapers pause momentarily in confusion, and [[Genre Savvy|question one another on if Batgirl is magic or not]], before the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] [[Big Damn Heroes|burst to the rescue]], having been waiting for the signal to come charging in. They proceed to [[Curb Stomp Battle|effortlessly annhilate the Reapers]], [[Cherry Tapping|some of whom do not even bother to look at the Reapers as they defeat them]].

 

* ''[[Becka Rangers Nemo Thunder]]'' had "From Down Under, Nemo Thunder!" and "Taking on the Jellies!", as it was a combination of ''[[Finding Nemo]]'' with ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]''.

 

==Film==

 

== Literature ==

** Although in ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]'' there were double-figure instant morphs. Still needed words for everything else, but when there was emotion involved, woohoo baby, they went for the silent approach.

** They weren't afraid to spoof it from time to time. Whenever [[The Smart Guy|Billy]] did the call, he would often say it in technobabble, i.e. "It's time for molecular transmutation!"

*** ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' justifies the catchphrase as a voice lock for the morphers.

*** Other series have it weird, for example those Rangers (like ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue]]'') whose morpher has a password keypad and is used as such, still have team call (and intricate hand gestures before typing their codes).

{{quote|'''Alina:''' Probability distribution of... electron cloud!

'''Dmitri:''' Density with mass reaching boundaries of... the Chandrasekhar limit! }}

* Parodied in ''Tales of Mynarski Forest''; when the delusional Heywood raises his "magic sword" to the sky with a call of "By the Powers of Numbskull!" he gets struck by lightning with [http://mynarskiforest.purrsia.com/xsl06_21.htm predictable results].

* Played with in one ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' [[Filler Strips|filler comic]]: Ellen, having nicknamed her boobs "The Wonder Twins", yells "Wonder Twin powers... ACTIVATE!"

'''Grace:''' Are you wearing a towel as a cape? }}

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', Zoe's transformation powers are enacted by the words "shupid" and "kwi". However, this works whether said by her or somebody else. (Kind of has to, since her alternate form is that of a camel... which can't talk.)

* ''[[PvP]]'' featured a comic about the minor random character Lolbat, who is shown to be a child who activates the power of ancient memes with the phrase, "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!"

* Averted in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'': while V does say "Shapechange" before transforming into {{spoiler|a pink dragon}} for the first time, this is not what actually triggers the transformation. Rather, virtually all spellcasting in ''OotS'' has ''the name of the spell'' as a verbal component. The next time V transforms, no verbal statement is necessary, as the ''Shapechange'' spell's duration has not expired.

* At one point in ''[[Bad Guy High]]'', one of the kids got a He-Man-esque suit and a bunch of powers from some magic hermit. To call his powers, he had to call the hermit's name <ref>The name was the initials of various DC heroes, but can't recall the order</ref> and a lightning would strike him, changing him. Saying it again restored his form, so he made that mistake a couple times. {{spoiler|1=And once when SuperDan was holding him down on the ground, he recited the word a couple times so [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|the lightning would strike Dan instead]].}}

* In ''[[Emergency Exit]]'', Karl Tameron activates his couch robot by saying the phrase, "I sing the body electric," the beginning of a Walt Whitman poem. While this is not an example, it happens that later that same phrase not only transforms his couch but also seems to give him some manner of super powered electronics control, which satisfies the criteria. Fridge logic dictates that it's possible that he would have gained the super powers if he had a face the first time he said it and didn't need to use the speaking program from the portal bracelet, as he did not say the words himself that time.

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Transformers]]'': Possible stretch, but when time permits, conversion to robot mode is accompanied by a transformer calling its own name, then saying, "Transform!"

** ''[[Beast Wars]]'' used this trope more extensively, with "Insert Name Here, Maximize!" for Maximals, "Insert Name Here, Terrorize!" for Predacons and "Beast Mode!" for reversing it. Later in ''Beast Wars'', some had vehicular modes with specialized names (at least once, Rattrap called his "Knieval Mode").

**** Actually, it wasn't required. The voice commands existed in the first place because Hasbro wanted viewers to be absolutely sure which character was which. The voice commands were extremely prevalent in Season 1, though were toned down by the end and almost never heard in 2 & 3 unless a new character appeared.

*** In ''[[Beast Wars]]'', Dinobot specifically changed his code whenever he switched sides.

** "I Am Transformed" for the ''[[Beast Machines]]'' Maximals (a plot point in the early episodes, as the characters needed to learn how to transform, as it had previously been handled by an onboard computer in them.).

* The [[Centurions]] had the activation phrase, "Power-X-Treme!" (or rather "pow-ER ext-REEM!") to beam down their weapons.

* ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]'': "[[Invocation|Let our powers combine]]! Earth!"

** The sister series ''[[Silverhawks]]'' also had a villain with a transformation speech: "Moon Star of Limbo! Give me the might! The muscle! The menace! Of MON...STARR!!"

* ''[[Winx Club]]'': Before 4Kids edited it, Bloom says "Bloom Magic Winx!" some of the time before transforming, with the other fairies substituting their names instead. Around season 2, it got reduced to just "Magic Winx!" When the girls earned [[Frilly Upgrade|new outfits]], 4Kids did have the girls saying "Go Enchantix!" for a while.

* The [[Wonder Twins]], from the second season of ''[[Superfriends]]'', would shout "Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!" to, well, activate their Wonder Twin Powers. This was followed by Zan shouting, "Form of (something made of water or ice)!" and Jayna shouting, "Shape of (an animal or alien creature)!" (Interestingly, the comics made it clear that this wasn't required at all, but just a habit; presumably as a courtesy to [[Viewers are Morons|the audience who wouldn't understand that the Twins had just shifted shape]].)

** This habit, and the entire concept of the Wonder Twins, was hilariously subverted in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePLXE8pLT5Q Cartoon Network promo] disguised as an Eighties-vintage "you can do anything you set your mind to" spot: after telling the kiddies they don't need superpowers to be cool, Jayna transformed into a green tiger, and Zan into a bucket of water... whereupon he began lamenting his [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|lame superpower]], and exclaimed, "I could be defeated by a sponge. It wouldn't even have to be an ''evil'' sponge!" [[Hilarity Ensues|And an evil sponge (you can tell by the eyebrows) leans out from a group of lurking villains.]]

* Used by ''[[Freakazoid!]]'', without even [[Lampshade Hanging]] it to any real degree. He has to say "Freak out!" to transform into Freakazoid, and "Freak in" to turn back into mild-mannered nerd Dexter Douglas. When Dexter says "freak out", he always precedes it with an extended "Ah" sound, like the chorus to the disco song "Le Freak" by CHIC.

* In ''[[Fred and Barney Meet The Thing]]'', young Benjy Grimm would transform into The Thing by touching his magical rings together and saying "Thing Ring, Do Your Thing!"

** The power suit seems to be able to hear the phrase no matter how far away the speaker is. In one episode, Fenton is hundreds of miles away and needs the Gizmoduck suit. He says the phrase and it activates, and flies across the country to get to him.

*** Not so much as it works that when Fenton is not within the suit's range, he calls it and says the word through the telephone. The reason that he had his mother use it the one time was because he forgot to turn on the suit's answering machine.

** Similarly, an issue of ''[[Teen Titans Go!]]'' had the Titans' powers get juggled around, so Beast Boy ended up with Raven's magic and demonic taint. Her mantra doesn't work for him because he doesn't know what they mean, so she suggests he come up with something meaningful to him. He decides on "[[Trademark Favorite Food|Tofu]], Gamestation, [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Terra]]."

* The ''[[Battletoads (animation)|Battletoads]]'' cartoon pilot had the three teenage protagonists shout out "Let's get warty!" to transform into their toad counterparts. A pretty stupid catchphrase, but not half as bad as what many people thought they said: "Let's get ''horny''!" (As in horny toads. Hopefully.) "Let's get normal" was used for the reverse transformation.

** Grim may have just been having fun. Despite his usually dour demeanor, episodes have repeatedly shown that under the death's hood lurks a big goofball.

** Along with a tap of their symbol, usually...

** Spoofed during ''Nullzilla'', where the characters summon vehicles for a [[Combining Mecha]] with voice commands. Bob, Dot, and Enzo get the usual speech related to the vehicles, but Frisket ''barks'' for his and Mike has to say [[Butt Monkey|"Gnat, slightly annoyed, high pitched buzzing force"]].

** There was also an equivalent "power down" phrase: "Show's over, Synergy."

* The segment "Arabian Knights" from ''[[The Banana Splits]]'' had the sorcerer Bez transform into a different creature by proclaiming, "Size of a... (dog, elephant, cow, what-have-you)!"

* 90's toon, ''[[Mummies Alive]]'' had the four titular mummies proclaim "With the strength of Ra!" before going [[Stock Footage|going trough their transformation sequence]].

* In ''[[Defenders of the Earth]]'', the Phantom would activate his super-strength by chanting "By jungle law, the Ghost Who Walks calls forth the power of ten tigers." His transformation sequence would then show... varying numbers of tiger heads passing into his body.

* The ''[[Iron Man]]'' cartoon of the 90's had this. When Tony needed the armor he was currently wearing to be something else, he'd call the other armor by name, and his chassis would simply change accordingly. This was a way to integrate the vast variations of Iron Man armor from the comics.

* [[Captain Marvel]] can apparently '''weaponise''' his transformation sequence, if his appearance in ''[[Justice League]]'' is anything to go by. While [[Let's You and Him Fight|battling]] [[Superman]], he caught Supes in a [[Bear Hug]], called out his transformation phrase, and the bolt of lightning that would normally have transformed him back into Billy Batson instead struck Supes for damage.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]

[[Category:Harbinger of Asskicking]]

[[Category:Magical Girl Tropes]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:Power]]