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By the Power of Grayskull: Difference between revisions
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In situations where the hero explicitly cannot transform without [[Magical Incantation|magic words]], rest assured that [[Easy Amnesia]] or a silencing attack will rear its ugly head at least once, making the change impossible when needed the most. If the phrase also untransforms the hero, expect him to do this by mistake sometimes. Villains in particular will often be tricked into saying their power-down phrases.
And ''woe betide'' anyone who mispronounces the transformation phrase, as horrible, horrifying things may result.
The trope originated with [[Comic Book Tropes|comic-book character]] Billy Batson, who first used the [[Catch Phrase]] "Shazam!" to transform into [[Captain Marvel]] in [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|1940]].
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** In the Japanese version, season one, her activation phrase is "Raging Heart, onegai", meaning that please really is the magic word (onegai means please).
* ''[[Getter Robo]]'', the majordomo of piloted [[Super Robot]] anime, used the phrase "Change, Getter X", where X was the number/name of the form to be assumed. The actual change was just assembling the [[Combining Mecha|combiner team]] in a new order. Later on in the series the phrase "Open Get" was used to disconnect the component vehicles.
** ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico|Martian Successor Nadesico'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!"
** The ''[http://www.thekeep.org/~rpm/vertigo/sailor-hellblazer/ Sailor Hellblazer]'' [[Crossover]] [[Fanfic]] spoofs this when John Constantine accidentally sets his Transformation phrase as "bloody friggin' hell."
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** The dub changed it to "Power Pendant, Mew-tamorphosis!"
* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'': "[[Nanomachines|Nano-machine]] Crusnik 02, starting operation at X percent level!". Every time Abel says that, he transforms from a big [[The Ditz|ditz]] into an incredibly badass killer.
* The [[Empathic Weapon|Empathic Weapons]] in ''[[Bleach]]'' need their wielder to say the magic [[Catch Phrase]] in order to switch into a more powerful form. The [[Catch Phrase]] is unique to each weapon (though always including the weapon's name) and must be learned from the weapon itself. The phrase can range from the short ("Snap", "Shatter", "Dance") to longer ("Reign over the frosted heavens", "Shoot to kill", "Sting all enemies to death") to ''very'' long ("Flower wind rage and flower god roar, heavenly wind rage and heavenly demon sneer", "All waves rise now and become my shield, lightning, strike now and become my blade", "All things in the universe turn to ashes"). Characters who have gained the ability to unlock a final, even more powerful form of their swords do so with the single word "Bankai", regardless of the length of phrase required for first release.
** It's also parodied. Urahara tells Ichigo that the only way to activate some "magic armor" is to yell "TAKE THIS! THE POWER OF JUSTICE! JUSTICE ARMOR! JUSTICE HACHIMAKI! EQUIP!" at the top of his lungs. Ichigo eventually figures out it's useless, but not before humiliating himself. It later shows up as an actually useful item in a filler arc, leading to much outrage from Ichigo.
** While fighting Starrk, the two with the longest release 'phrases' - Kyoraku and Ukitake - activate the first release simply with the names of their swords and without fanfare (contrast with Stark's rather more showy transformation). Helpful given the potential for such lengthy verses getting interrupted by the Genre Savvy.
*** It's said that once a person reaches Bankai they no longer have to say their release phrase for their Shikai, though for some reason they all seem to say it most of the time anyway.
*** Because (unless you have a dumb one) it is ''awesome'' and serves as a [[Badass Boast]] with visual aides as your shikai activates. Trying to scare the enemy is the more-or-less explicit reason for all the [[Explaining Your Power to the Enemy]] that goes on in this series.
** Aside from the zanpaktou, there's also kido, which can be unspoken by very high level users, to short phrases, to requiring ''scrolls'' to keep track of. Using a kido without the chant weakens it, even for the highest-level users, and when a less skilled user tries, it also increases the chance of the spell failing entirely (and possibly blowing up in the caster's face, as frequently happens with [[Butt Monkey|Renji]]).
** The arrancar usually go into [[One-Winged Angel|Resurreccion mode]] by saying a specific word or phrase followed by the name of their zanpaktou. For example, Starrk says, "Kick about - Los Lobos!", Barragan says, "Rot - Arrogante.", and Nnoitra says, "Pray - Santa Teresa!"
*** This is because the premise of them is that they are Hollows who have been brought closer to shinigami, the opposite of Vizards like Ichigo.
* The shift from "civilian clothing" to bird suits in ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman|Gatchaman]]'' was triggered by speaking the phrase, "bird go!" into a special wristband. When the show was brought to America as Battle of the Planets, the phrase was "transmute!" In the G-Force permutation, the phrase was "G-Force, Transform!"
** "Transmute to Fiery Phoenix!"
* ''[[Ronin Warriors]]/Yoroiden Samurai Troopers'' used this to don their armor. Usually, they took a transformation stance, yelled out "Armor of X," and some sort of incantation. For Wildfire, this was Tao Jin("the way of virtue"). The subarmor could be summoned at will, and it was donned before entering battle. Apparently, when not in use, their armors took the form of glass spheres with their corresponding Confucian value(depicted with kanji) inside it.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'': Western mages have personal "key" phrases to say before reciting spells. (For example, Negi's is "Ras tel ma scrir magister") There's also a 'training' key phrase for novice mages who don't have a personal one yet.
** And Pactio cards, which summon a magical artifact for the user with the activation key "Adeat".
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** Ahiru still has a transformation sequence, but it's all visual, with an allegorical egg of light and the same little dance every time.
* Punie-chan's activation in ''[[Dai Mahou Touge]]'' (Magical Witch Punie-Chan) is classic: "Lyrical Tokarev, Kill Them All!"
* [[Combining Mecha|Pilot 1:]] "Nenshin!"
** Pilot 2: "Gattai!"
*** Pilot 3: "Go! [[Genesis of Aquarion|Aquarion!]]"
* In [[Sekirei]], the Sekirei gain power with a kiss and a chant, called a norito. Each Norito is unique to that Sekerei:
** Musubi - These are the fists of my pledge, crush the catastrophe before my Ashikabi
** Kazehana - Wind of my pledge, blow away the dark clouds of my sekirei
** Homura - These are the flames of my pledge, burn the Karma of my Ashikabi
** Tsukiumi - This is the water of my pledge, purify the evil residing in my Ashikabi
** Shiina - Decaying streams of my pledge, wither the cross of my Ashikabi.
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** 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...
** A different Captain Marvel (There've been at least half a dozen, if not more, superheroes named Captain Marvel, none of which are related) had as his phrase the word "Split!" This would activate his power... the ability to split his body into pieces, even down to individual fingers. This was, apparently, necessary, but it doesn't make a lot of difference since for obvious reasons it wasn't a very long-lived comic.
** [[Marvel Comics]] Captain Marvel parodied this once. Rick once shouted "Shazam" while switching places with Genis and he didn't understand what was that supposed to mean.
** Thunder Girl, ''Big Bang Comics''' Captain/Mary Marvel pastiche, had the word "Alakazam!" Her evil Nazi counterparts (who more closely resemble the rest of the Marvel family, with another Mary thrown in for good measure) have "Gotterdammerung!"
* [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] hero [http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/johnny.html Johnny Quick] activated his abilities by reciting the formula "3X2(9YZ)4A". His daughter Jesse Quick did the same, until she lost her powers. It's not enough just to say the formula: you need to understand the four-dimensional construct it describes, and you also need a certain mental state and/or link to the Speed Force.
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** And then, to cue the amnesia part, he got Alzheimer's. He got better. Those magical genies are tricky.
** Due to a later [[Retcon]], both "cei-u" and "say you" were revealed as backwards misspellings of the genie's name: Yz. Turns out he was a fifth dimensional entity, like Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite. Legacy Character Jakeem Thunder's genie is named Lkz, or as Jakeem pronounces it backwards, "So cool".
* Parodied in ''Defenders Indefensible'', when a shockingly calm Bruce Banner attempts to stimulate a change into the [[Hulk]], with such gems as "Hulk On!" and "Shazulk."
* The early [[Captain Marvel]] knockoff Marvelman, better known now as [[Miracleman]], used the transformation phrase "kimota". (Spell it backwards.) His sidekicks use the phrase "Miracleman". [[Alan Moore]]'s ''Miracleman'' series used both the amnesia and trick power-down cliches.
** The aliens who pioneered the technology have multiple bodies, and swap bodies by using power words. The mad scientist who plundered the alien technology to create Miracleman put in a few little tricks. For example, when Miracleman hears a particular magic word, he transforms back into a human, and can't change for an hour.
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== Literature ==
* ''The Lathe of Heaven'' has Doctor Haber use hypnosis so that George Orr will begin his "magic" dream state whenever Haber says "Antwerp".
* Averted in the Tortall universe, in which the most powerful shapeshifter in the world quite frequently shifts into something else without saying anything at all.
** After her series ends, she gets pregnant with a baby shapeshifter, and has to change shape whenever the baby does so she doesn't kick her way out. Another character comments that it is quite distracting to try to talk to the shapeshifter when she has to change shape every few minutes.
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* ''[[Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future]]'': Members of the Future Force transformed into armored form by calling, "Power on!"
* 1970s [[Wonder Woman]] rip-off ''[[The Secrets of Isis|Isis]]'' forced the titular character to recite a full-sentence incantation to activate her powers. Also, she apparently had to activate powers in a certain order (i.e. she couldn't skip around on her spell list) or an incantation wouldn't work.
** Thankfully, not so much when she entered [[The DCU]].
* ''[[Family Matters]]'': Urkel would transform into one of his alter egos -- Stefan Urquelle, Bruce Lee Urkel or Elvis Urkel -- by pouring a special potion into one of the tubes attached to the machine; after walking inside, one of his friends would flip a switch to activate the machine and begin the transformation process (complete with bells, whistles and funny sounds that always seemed to elict a laugh). Urkel's trademark voice, clumsiness and physical awkwardness, weird food likes and personal traits, etc., always disappeared when Urkel's alter ego emerged.
** The machine worked in reverse, often to switch Urkel's alter-ego back to his nerdy self, but several times, it was used -- always accidentally -- to transform Carl and Eddie into clumsy likenesses of Urkel.
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* ''[[The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog]]'': "Fire within me!" "Earth beneath me!" "Air above me!" "Water around me!" "Forest before me!"
** Rohan, [[The Hero]], had Battle Fury Armour, which he activated by shouting... go on, guess. {{spoiler|Battle Fury!}}
* ''[[Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad]]'' had "Let's Samurize, Guys!" (for Sam, [[The Hero]]), "Let's kick some Giga-butt!" (for Tanker, [[The Big Guy]]), "Pump up the Power!" (for Sydney, [[The Smart Guy|The Smart Girl]]), and a random non sequitur (for Amp, the [[Plucky Comic Relief]]) that essentially lampshaded the whole pointlessness of the henshin phrases (at least, until he was replaced: Lucky London, the second comic-relief guy, just said "Surf's up!")
** In the episode where everyone's personalities changed, Tanker and Sydney actually switched phrases.
* [[Kamen Rider|Kamen Riders]] traditionally use "Henshin", though Showa-era Riders would occasionally use variants, such as [[Kamen Rider Stronger]]'s "Henshin Stronger".
** The two ''Kamen Rider'' productions to completely avoid this trope are the [[Deconstruction]] film ''[[Shin Kamen Rider Prologue]]'' (whose protagonist bore more similiarity to [[Incredible Hulk|The Incredible Hulk]] than a typical Rider), and ''[[Kamen Rider Hibiki]]'' (except for some goof-ups slipping by ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'''s endgame).
** [[Kamen Rider X]] said "Setup!" instead of "Henshin!" for most of his series, and switched to "Dai Henshin!" towards the end.
** [[Kamen Rider Amazon]] did not say "Henshin" but rather "'''[[Punctuated!
** The Henshin belts for Heisei era Riders sometimes contibute their own phrases to accompany this:
*** "[[Kamen Rider Faiz|Standing by... Complete.]]"
*** [[Kamen Rider Blade|"Turn Up"/"Open Up."]]
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* Done quite a lot in most RPGs that involve magic. Incantations and the like.
** Most tabletop games don't require the ''player'' to chant anything, as it's assumed the PC says whatever he needs to say to get the desired spell activated (ie, Power Word Kill doesn't specify the word used).
*** Actually, the majority of the incantation is done during the prepariation step. The actions they take to unleash it are simply finishing the last part of the spell. (Sorcerer's use the words to help them focus as their power is largely instinctive).
** Subverted in Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition, as a player can take Silent Spell as a feat, allowing one to cast spells without speaking when speaking is usually require, at the cost of a higher level spell slot.
*** There's also the Nonverbal Spell feat in one of the supplements which allows a spellcaster to bypass the use of ''words'' as long as they use some other sound (grunting, mumbling, or even singing). This was initially so that one race which didn't speak could still become a spellcaster. It also allows for a cheaper way of being stealthy than Silent Spell since it doesn't affect the spell slot level.
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** The main villain of the sequel, {{spoiler|Jet Black}}, uses "TENSHIN!"
* Averted in ''[[Devil May Cry]]'': Although Vergil says some snappy phrases before using his Devil Trigger power and starting a powerful move, it is unnecessary, as using the Devil Trigger sans said powerful move is accomplished wordlessly. Dante and the playable incarnation of Vergil deliver no lines as they use their own Devil Triggers, either.
** Dante in the Playstation 2 version of ''Viewtiful Joe'' however...
*** Highlight for proof that Dante wouldn't know a cool transformation phrase if it hit him in the face with a large trout: {{spoiler|"Devil May Cry's a-rockin' baby, yeah!"}} Fortunately, he usually shortens it to the first three words.
* Kermit's nephew Robin in ''Muppet Monster Adventure'' can turn into monsters after collecting their amulets and get their powers, and has a different call for each one.
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'''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.)
* In ''[http://www.wcihigh.com/?p=259 WCI High]'', plain-looking Blossom Pearl transforms into sexy Awesome Girl by using her magic word, which is actually "MAGIC WORD", {{spoiler|an acronym which stands for "Mighty Awesome Girl I Call, With Outstanding Rackage, Doll!"}}
* ''[[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.
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** "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!"
** "Fire!"
** "Wind!"
** "Water!"
** [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|"Heart!"]]
** "By [[All Your Powers Combined|your powers combined]], I am Captain Planet!"
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*** [http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20031208.html "EVOLUTION! SURVIVAL! SELECTION! SCIENCE! H-AIIIIGH! (THE MONKEY HAS MY LEG! THE MONKEY HAS MY LEG!!)]
* ''[[Super Ted]]'' had the phrase "I'll just say my secret magic word..." and then the teddy bear would turn into SuperTed. The word was never revealed (it was hinted that the phrase was itself the magic word, but it was never confirmed), but in one episode, Bulk (one of the "bad guys") overheard it and used it to turn into Super-Bulk. The same episode had SuperTed [[Easy Amnesia|forget the word himself]]. This seemed to ignore the fact that Mother Nature hadn't ever given Bulk a magic potion to become super powered...
* ''[[Thundercats]]''' and its [[Continuity Reboot|reboot]] ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' have several:
** Lion-O's [[Situational Sword]], the Sword of Omens, requires him to say "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats, Ho!" to cause the sword to lengthen from [[Retractable Weapon|dagger to longsword length]] unlock its [[Sword Beam|full combat potential]] and [[Battle Cry|rally the troops]] to battle with a [[Bat Signal]].
** A simple "Thundercats, Ho!" or "Ho!" is sometimes sufficient to fire a bolt, temporarily grow the sword, and activate a number of other context-sensitive powers. In the original, Lion-O did occasionally grow the sword without so much as a word.
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* ''[[Teamo Supremo]]'''s transformation sequence, which had all three of the kids jumping with Brenda's skipping rope, was always triggered by Crandall saying, "Rope me, Brenda!" (obviously not in the way shown [http://outcastsproductions.deviantart.com/art/WHAPPAH-13099854 here], though one wonders if he ever wanted it that way).
* 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.
* In ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]'', the team transforms when leader Will holds up the Heart of Kandrakar and calls out "Guardians Unite!", then each girl calling out their element (''Fire! Water! Earth! Air!''). Will, being the one bestowed with "[[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?]]" goes through three different phases throughout the two seasons: in Season One, she was first up and just GRUNTED; the first half of Season 2, the grunt was replaced with "With Heart!"; when she FINALLY gained her element in the second half of Season 2, she's shunted to the end, but says "Quintessence!". It's also revealed that this goes the same for ALL Guardians, as Nerissa and the members of C.H.Y.K.N. say this when they transform with the Seal of Nerissa.
** "Guardians Unite" was an invention of the animated series, as the comics only had the girls naming their powers (except for Will). Also, in most other countries, the translation of the phrase is a simple straight translation. The most notable (if not only) exception is the French dub, which uses "Cristallisation" instead (even though the show was animated in France).
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