Fusion Dance: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"Fuuu... sion!! [[Trope Namer|Ha!!]]"''|''[[Dragonball Z]]''}}

* '''[[Super Empowering|Power Booster]]'''--Person B disappears, but the merging gives A powers or attributes he or she didn't have before. B may be able to speak to A in his or her mind. A still looks exactly the same as before, only has superficial changes (clothing, for example), or looks like a more powered-up version of A (and only of A). For example, Himeno and a Leafe Knight in ''[[Prétear]]''.

* '''Switcher'''--A and B merge; they both keep their traits but only one of them can be present at a time and they can now switch places as needed. If B is the powerful one but A lives the everyday life then B will act as a [[Super-Powered Alter Ego]]. May result in A or B occasionally controlling the other's body. For example, ''[[Birdy the Mighty]]'' or Yuugi Mutou and Yami Yuugi from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''.

* '''[[Voluntary Shapeshifting|Mixed Form Shapeshifter]]'''--A and B merge and instead of choosing between two forms, they can combine them as they need, and can make a form with the advantages of both forms. For example, Fusion Evolve from ''[[Digimon Frontier]]''.

 

** The Namekians have their own form of fusion which is mostly a Power Booster; one Namekian will fuse his body with another, boosting the other Namekian's power level and giving them access to their memories and abilities, but doing relatively little to alter their personality or appearance.

** Cell absorbs Androids 17 and 18. They act as a Power Booster as they change Cell's appearance but not to mimic their own.

** Launch may not be the result of a fusion, but she definitely has the characteristics of a Switcher. Going from gentle hearted wide eyed, blue eyed, blue haired woman to angry, violent, gun toting blonde woman with green eyes with just a sneeze.

** While not canon, Goku and ''[[Fake Ultimate Hero|Hercule]]'' can fuse with Potara earrings to become Gokule and Tien and Yamcha can perform the Fusion Dance to become Tiencha in some games starting with the second Budokai game.

** There's also a Power Booster example: In the spinoff commissioned by 4kids, ''Capsule Monsters'', Yami can can fuse with certain monsters such as the Dark Magician. Joey also fuses with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon at one point.

** ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' also subverts this (in that Malik's eye stays with him) when he merges with his Egyptian god card.

** Juudai and Yubel's fusion are of the Power Booster variety; Yubel can still speak to Juudai in his mind (and appear as a spirit), and he can use her powers and when he does so, his eyes change colors to be just like hers.

** In the card game itself, there is a card called Fusion (Polymerization in the English version) that lets you fuse two or more monsters into one big one. Sometimes they share attributes of both (Black Skull Dragon), other times it's a literal cramming together of multiple monsters into one body (Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon) and sometimes it's something so totally random one can only wonder why they made it a fusion monster (Metal Dragon). Fusing a mounted warrior with a monster usually just resulted in the warrior switching mounts (Gaia the Dragon Champion).

** ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'': Susanoomon is the result of what would have been called DNA Digivolution if this was [[Digimon Adventure 02|02]]: Emperor Greymon and Magna Garurumon become one, speaking with the voices of both in unison. However, the form doesn't change when the other members of the [[Five-Man Band]] join in. Sometimes you get [[Digimon Tamers|Tamers]]-style naked spirit scenes, but when Susanoomon is seen from the outside, the standard Grey/Garuru combined voice is still used.

*** Digimon Frontier might have a 'Switcher' where the Digidestined use the spirits of digimon to fuse. It's not just a [[Transformation Trinket]], but the ''spirit'' combining with any human and digimon, and they transform into a new digimon, and they personalities combined. In the series finale, the Digidestined are talking with their very own spirits.

** ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]'' draws from multiple categories. The human characters with "Xros Loader" devices can temporarily fuse together Digimon into new forms: some are in the "composite" category, while others become inanimate weapons to be wielded by the remaining characters. Some opponents are shown to absorb their subordinates, falling under "biological mash-up" (minus the blending personalities).

* Symmetrical Docking in [[GaoGaiGar]] creates the composite example.

* ''[[Shugo Chara]]'''s Character Transformation system works as a Power Booster. Amu wears the clothes of the respective Chara inside her, and gains a bit of extra power and agility with it.

** The lesser version of this, the Chara Change, results in a change in hairpin and a violent personality shift as Amu's Chara basically ''possesses'' her, often without thinking to seek her consent, good intentions or not.

* ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'' uses a mix of the Power Booster and Composite variety. When Shannon (a regular knight) and Zefiris (a dragoon) fuse together, her human-like body disappears, but Shannon is covered by her dragoon form, which in its incomplete form just looks like some sort of fearsome aura, making it look like his powers are just boosted.

* Chizuru and Kouta can do a Power Booster-style fusion in ''[[Kanokon]]''. This kind of uniting can only be done if the kitsune and the partner are willing--and Kouta is. The most noticeable differences to Kouta are [[Petting Zoo People|ears, whiskers, a tail]] and the ability to launch fireballs.

* Episode 21 of the [[Soul Eater]] anime: Blair is fighting the (remaining) 5 Mizune sisters. She [[Curb Stomp Battle|smashes four of the sisters]] with one spell...but the fifth sister behind her starts [[Giggling Villain|giggling madly.]] Activating the hivemind within the sisters (accompanied by speaking in sync and rhythmic finger-snapping), Create a [[Totem Pole Trench]] the five combine to form... a [[Hot Witch]]. [[It Makes Sense in Context]]... I guess.

** Though the 5-Mizune witch has yet to do anything but provide [[Fan Service]], in the manga two or three Mizune can combine together to form a teenage-looking girl (the one made from three looks a bit older) actually capable of fighting.

* In ''[[Cinderella Boy]]'', Ranma ([[Ranma ½|no.]]) and Rella are [[We Can Rebuild Him|rebuilt]] into the same body after a fatal accident by a [[Mad Scientist]]. Every 24 hours, they switch places. The scientist developed the system as a way to reduce overpopulation: Multiple people in the same body take up less space, after all.

* ''[[Black Rock Shooter]]'' has the Power Booster variant - the titular character gains access to her [[Arm Cannon|arm]] [[BFG|cannon]] when she merges with {{spoiler|Mato}}. Her appearance is unchanged, though {{spoiler|the two were already similar in appearance}}.

* Pluster world is a [[Mon]] anime where the mons transform by fusing with humans.

 

* For the record, the picture above is "the Amazing [[Captain Ersatz|Copyright Infringement Man]]", a parody created for [[Mad Magazine]] by Jim Lee.

* Jean Grey/Phoenix of the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' alternates between being a case of Switcher and [[Touched by Vorlons]], depending on the story.

* ''[[Generation X]]'' features the St. Croix siblings: Gen-X member Monet proves to be a fusion of her little sisters, twins Claudette and Nicole, who had merged to replace the original Monet when she went missing (the twins being 8 years old, their apparent age was doubled to 16 and convincingly passed as Monet in their merged form). Later on, they fuse with their older brother, Marius/Emplate, to become the androgynous M-Plate. The St. Croixs' fusion can be called Composites, but there's more to it than that. The fused forms are more than the sum of their parts, entirely different from the siblings they came from, and with powers that don't always involve those of the source individuals (but then again, the twins' powers have never been fully explored). This means M-Plate was composed of 3 people rather than two, on top of his/her own self, and considered the actions of all before deciding to go with his/her own plan (which is something neither the twins, nor Emplate would have approved). Confused yet? Thankfully M-Plate didn't have long to act before being shattered by Gen-X. It is unknown if the real Monet can fuse with her siblings the way Emplate and the twins can.

** The post-''[[Blackest Night]]'' incarnation of Firestorm is a fusion of Jason Rusch and its first host Ronnie Raymond. There are a couple of problems with this: 1) the Firestorm Matrix is messed up for some reason (possibly related to Ronnie coming back from the dead after ''[[Blackest Night]]'') and 2) Jason ''hates'' Ronnie since the latter's Black Lantern incarnation murdered Jason's girlfriend Gehenna by turning her into salt. {{spoiler|The ''third'' entity in the matrix is the Black Lantern persona created by the Black Power Ring.}}

** Come DC's 2011 relaunch, the whole thing gets shaken up. Shortly after Ronnie and Jason meet for the first time, they get transformed into separate Firestorms, who can combine to form a nuclear monstrosity called Fury {{spoiler|- who has a mind of his own}}.

* The various versions of Captain Marvel usually are Switchers; the one owned by [[DC Comics]] goes between his powered-form and Billy Batson by shouting [[Shazam]]!, and several of the ones owned by [[Marvel Comics]] switch between [[Captain Mar-Vell|themselves]] and Rick Jones by hitting together the Nega-bands (as an homage to the Batson switch).

** Likewise, [[Miracleman]]/Marvelman (and cohorts) do their transformations in the same way; the super-powered body is stored in a sort of nullspace until the transformation occurs, and the normal body is there until the superhero changes back.

* ''[[Witchblade (Comic Book)|Witchblade]]'' uses all 3 main variants at once: when it's time for a little shredding, the symbiont (Witchblade) [[Shapeshifting|transforms]] the body ([[Magic Pants|and clothing, optionally]]) of its host ("wielder") into an absurdly powerful ''composite'' form (including a sort of [[Breast Plate|Lingerie Armor]] and in the process [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body|provoking emotional and mental changes]] that emphasize [[Unstoppable Rage|destructive]] and [[Stripperiffic]] qualities). The Witchblade is at least semi-sentient, and in the anime it subjected its completely unaware host to the first transformations on its own initiative, which qualifies it as a ''switcher'' variant too. Mostly the host just carries it as an inert and [[Superweapon Surprise|innocuous]] ornament (''power booster'') (moreover, in the anime it's shown implanted but knocked out for years, inactive and near invisible).

* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', any three Toa of different [[Elemental Powers|elements]] can merge and form a Toa Kaita. The only exception is a Toa of Light and an evil Toa of Shadow (technically not a Toa anymore, as Toa means "hero"), since the two elements cancel each other out. The Kaita fusion merges the three minds into one, creating a new being wielding their powers along with a boost in strength. Other creatures have also shown the ability to form a Kaita, most notably the [[Combining Mecha|mechanical Bohrok]], Bohrok-Kal and [[Elite Mooks|Rahkshi]]. So far, only the Rahkshi have gained new powers from merging. If a Kaita's mind lose concentration, it will split into the individual beings again. In addition to Kaita there are also a Matoran Nui and Turaga Nui, which combines six beings instead of three. However, these tend to last shorter, as the concentration required to maintain it is immense. Legend has it that a Toa Nui could be formed, rivaling even the power of the [[Physical God|Great Spirit]] [[Humongous Mecha|Mata Nui]]. However, [[Word of God]] says that it is not possible.

** And of course, all these are represented by using the instructions put together from the individual Bionicle instruction manuals to build a new, bigger model from all their parts combined. The spiritual predecessors of the Bionicle, the Slizers and [[Robo Riders]], also had this feature.

* The main versions of [[Ghost Rider]] are usually composites. Whether or not they're stronger together depends on the ingredients.

* Another Switcher example was the late 80's-early 90's [[Thor]]. The Bearded One had befriended a human named Eric Masterson, but when Eric was almost killed on the fringe of one of Thor's battles, Thor used Asgardian magic to merge their forms and save his buddy's life. Thus you had Eric living his everyday life, but [[Secret Identity Change Trick|running off at any sign of trouble to stamp his cane on the ground and ta-da!]] Thor.

* In ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic Universe's]]'' "30 Years Later" storyline, we find that Tikal and Chaos have fused into one Composite, Tikhaos. It seems to have some semblance of Tikal's personality, but Chaos' hunger for chaos energy.

 

* In [[Pokémon Master]] {{spoiler|Misty and her lost twin 'sister' Valdera merge together to form Mistaria, resolving Ashura's love interest problem}}.

* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2490648/1 Neon Genesis Evangelion Season 2]'' has one. When Asuka and Shinji was losing against the Black Angels Oholah and Ohlibah (sorta like a demonic version of Israfel), they achieved a 500% synch ratio and unwillingly did a Composite variant, creating Unit F-01 (arms and eyes of Unit 02, head and torso of Unit 01 plus ten wings). When they did it again, the pilots also merged with a rather unique result: if Shinji is [[Butt Monkey]] and Asuka is [[Tsundere]], Ashika is '''[[Badass]] with a capital B'''.

{{quote|'''Ashika:''' Guess what? I made the impossible possible! Now if you thought the incident with the 14th Angel was disgusting, then I suggest you avert your eyes! ''(kills two MP Evas)'' Still think you can beat me? I'll destroy you all and I won't even break a sweat. Take this! ''(stomps an MP Eva to death)'' Three down, five to go. Any more volunteers who want to die?}}

* [[Ultimate Sleepwalker|Sleepwalker]] and his human host Rick Sheridan ended up becoming bonded with one another. Sleepwalker became trapped in Rick's mind and could only emerge when he fell asleep or unconscious. One notable occasion reversed the fusion and Rick's consciousness ended up in Sleepwalker's mind, which allowed them to temporarily return to Sleepwalker's home dimension, the Mindscape.

* High Octane Nightmare Fuel example of the shapeshifting type in ''Winter War''. Aizen's Hollowification experiments fuse shinigami with their [[Weapon as Familiar|zanpakuto]], the results being Tortured Abominations who still retain enough awareness of their situation to make the whole matter ''even more'' horrific.

* In ''[[Exalted]]'', there's a Solar Circle Sorcery spell called "Unity of the Closed Fist" found in the White Treatise. It creates the composite variant but adds all the elements of the different types of Exaltations involved. It can combine up to five individual Exalts, thus the name--five fingers making a single closed fist.

** Alchemicals have a version known as Synthesis of Divine Affiliation, which can affect six instead. However, the only way that you'll be using it to fuse one of each caste of Alchemical is when everything has gone to hell, because the sixth caste are supposed to go completely unseen until at least four varieties of brown gooey substance have hit the fan.

** And in the [[Old World of Darkness]], the Blood Brother bloodline of vampires naturally came in packs that could fuse together into a grotesque [[Biological Mashup]].

* In ''[[Deadlands]]'', a Harrowed is formed by fusing a deceased man and a demon. It's a Switcher, because only one of the two is in control at any time, but they share the powers pool. In case of the good Harrowed, it's also [[Enemy Within]].

* The Ritual of Union in ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' is a power-booster version, with a few twists.<ref>Neither participant knows in advance which personality becomes dominant, the "winner" can choose which body's form to use, and the whole process is extremely mentally stressful.</ref>

 

 

* [[Crippling Overspecialization|Male anglerfish are basically Power Boosters to the extent that some aren't even physically capable of eating.]] [[Hive Caste System|Essentially being the fish equivalent of drone bees,]] [[A Man Is Always Eager|their sole purpose in life is to literally sniff out a female]] (note: [[Big Beautiful Woman|multiple times their size,]]) bite into them, releasing an enzyme that slowly reduces the male to literally a pimple with 'nads for a ready supply of semen whenever the female's ready to lay eggs.

 

* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', three Toa are able to fuse to form a composite "Toa Kaita", which has the combined powers of all the participants and a fused personality.

 

 

== Video Games ==

** Expanded on in ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'', where a monster can literally do a [[Fusion Dance]] with another one to supersize it, giving it increased stats across the board, and an increased range/radius on its attacks, among other things. It can still magichange in this state, as well, which gives a humanoid a ridiculously huge weapon that increases the range and radius of all ''their'' skills, ontop of the usual magichange benefits.

* In ''[[Dragon Quest]] [[Mons|Monsters]]'', you breed monsters together, the results of which are frequently a Fusion--especially when dealing with the Slime. for example, breeding a Slime (looks like a blue hershey's kiss) and a Golem (looks like a man made out of bricks) gets you a Rockslime, which looks like a Hershey's kiss made out of Bricks.

* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', the Main Character can create new Personae by fusing two or more existing Personae together. The new Persona can inherit attacks from any or all of its "parents" (including some that it wouldn't learn naturally).

** The original ''Persona'' allows the main character to do something similar, but using cards containing the essence of demons.

* Some Slimes in the ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' series can band together to form a King Slime. You can tell right away that they're different from garden-variety Slimes because they take slightly more damage than normal, and they always call for help.

* For most of [[Illusion of Gaia]], Will is a Switcher: he lives the normal life, but he can take the form of the Dark Knight Freedan or the Light Knight Shadow (don't ask) when he explores dungeons. At the very end of the game, however, {{spoiler|he performs a Composite fusion with Kara, another fully evolved human and the new Light Knight, to become a super-powered version of Shadow, complete with a new "Firebird" attack.}}

* [[Gaia Online]] had an entire subplot where Gino had, unbeknownst to everybody (possibly including himself), fused with his "[[No One Could Survive That|dead]]" father, making him into the badass superhero The Masque at the expense of making him unpredictable and violent, particularly towards Ian (who felt likewise about him/them). The reveal came when the local [[Mad Scientist]] injected him/them with a catalyst that caused them to split, ending that plotline and setting up the next with an [[Earthshattering Kaboom]].

* ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' gives us an example with two non-physical characters. Near the end of ''Infinity'', the player character merges his [[Voice with an Internet Connection|AI With An Internet Connection]] Durandal with the ancient alien AI Thoth. The resulting character is a Composite of the two, although thankfully he doesn't seem to posess some of the traits of [[Magnificent Bastard|Dura]][[Jerkass|ndal]] or [[Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter|Thoth]].

* This is how each of the power-ups work in ''[[Sonic Colors]]'' — Sonic merges with the Wisp to gain its powers.

* The final boss of ''Tron 2.0'' is a monster formed from the three main antagonists after their botched attempt to digitalize themselves.

* Using Baton Pass in Pokémon can transfer [[Status Buff|stat boosts]] from one Pokemon to another.

* In ''[[Freedom Force]]'', a blind female witness and an idealistic rookie cop get hit by [[Super Serum|Energy X]] and merge into a switchable superhero named Law and Order. The witness becomes Law, who is appropriately blind, and is armed with a sword. The cop becomes Order and is armed with a massive gavel. Only one can exist at any given time.

* An episode of ''[[Superfriends|The Superfriends]]'' had Green Lantern using his ring to fuse himself and Superman to deal with the day's [[Negative Space Wedgie]].

* The second [[Season Finale]]/last episode ever of ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' featured a Composite of [[Superman]] and his clone-from-the-future (er, ''further'' into the future), Superman X. It was accomplished with Saturn Girl's [[Psychic Powers]], as it was technically a [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]].

** Fanmade sketch showing [http://street-angel.deviantart.com/art/ZukAang-Chapter-13-SPOILERS-73949169 the result of said fusion].

* In the short-lived ''[[Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm|Mortal Kombat Defenders of the Realm]],'' Nightwolf was the team [[Smart Guy]] and seldom joined the others in battle, preferring to stay back with his pet wolf and man the computer systems. When important missions did require him to accompany the team, he would merge with the wolf as a Power Boost when kombat got thick and open a can of whoop-ass on the [[Mooks]]. It was quite awesome to see and helped to break the monotony of the show, though he only did it like three times over the course of the series.