Humanity Ensues: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

A non-human character in a series, often an animal, is turned into a human. The major difference between this and a Pinocchio figure wanting [[To Become Human]] is that the transformed character usually doesn't ''want'' to be human. Such changes are, more often than not, involuntarily forced upon them, like the inverse of a [[Baleful Polymorph]].

 

* Happens quite frequently in ''[[Fables]]'', mostly because Fables who are nonhuman (or at least don't look human enough) are forced to live in a secluded area called the Farm where they can't leave. As a result, Fables try to save up to buy a glamour spell to give them human appearances. Snow White helps give Bigby the ability to turn into a human with a lycanthropy-stained knife. There is also the case of Colonel Thunderfoot, a rabbit who is turned into a human by the angry mother of a rabbit who dies after Thunderfoot leads the troops into an unwinnable battle. She tells him he can only change back from this "hideous form" if he can find a female rabbit that loves him regardless. By the end of the chapter, his chances look rather bleak.

* A variant happens in Archie ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', when Princess Sally's AI sidekick constructs herself a holographic mobian body after experiencing it first hand during a [[Freaky Friday Flip]].

* Howard the Duck accidentally became human once, and boy, did he hate it.

 

* It's a common trope in [[Fan Art]] in general to take one's favorite non-human characters and show what they'd look like as a human.

* In episode 44 of ''[[Pretty Cure Perfume Preppy]]'', {{spoiler|Pittan gains the ability to become human from Queen Aida, and is absolutely displeased with this, even refusing to go to school with the other girls. [[Gilligan Cut|He does go anyways]].}}

* In the ''[[Death Note]]'' fic ''[[Constant Temptation]]'' Ryuk is caught and punished for interfering in human affairs and being turned into a human is his punishment. Ryuk decides it's totally worth it when Watari shows him how to make apple pie.

 

* Every human-appearing character in ''[[Spirited Away]]'', except Chihiro and her parents. If some of them look human-like, it's only because it's a matter of convenience. This, of course, make sense, since Japanese folklore is rife with this.

* The shape-changing foxes and tanuki of ''[[Pom Poko]]'' do their best to blend in with humanity after they lose their fight to save their forests. Some even become real-estate developers themselves.

* In ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]'', Merlin forces Archimedes (his pet owl) to obey him by threatening to turn him into a human. This sequence is especially funny because Archimedes's shocked reaction [[This Cannot Be!|("You wouldn't dare!")]] suggests that [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|he considers it to be the most degrading fate imaginable]].

* In ''[[Shrek]] 2'', Shrek gets turned into a human after drinking a potion. It's also revealed that {{spoiler|Harold, Fiona's father, got turned into a human from a toad by the Fairy Godmother}}.

* In ''[[City of Angels (film)|City of Angels]]'', angels can choose to become human...but they have to commit angel suicide to do it. Nathaniel Messenger ([[Dennis Franz]]' character) did so before the beginning of the movie {{spoiler|and Nic Cage's character does it near the end.}}

* The vampire film, ''[[Daybreakers]]'' has two interesting examples. In a vampire-ruled world, human blood is running out. In their search for a cure to vampirism, the remaining human rebels {{spoiler|find out that rapid exposure to sunlight, usually lethal, followed by immersion in water, can revert a vampire to human form. The cure is impractical to use on the billions of vampires, but they discover that drinking cured blood cures the feeder. This creates a sort of positive virus effect, the starved vampires feeding on cured people, getting cured, then being fed on themselves, curing more people.}}

 

== Literature ==

{{quote|''He could swagger while asleep. Greebo could, in fact, commit sexual harassment while sitting very quietly in the next room.''

'''Nanny:''' "He looks aristocratic."

'''Granny:''' "He looks like a beautiful, brainless bully."

** This also falls in line with the Disc's general opinion of cats; Elegant, beautiful, brainless [[Cats Are Mean|bastards.]]

** Averted by the Librarian, who was a human to begin with, and has carefully destroyed all evidence of who he was so no-one will get the bright idea of trying to change him back.

* In the book ''[[The Last Unicorn (novel)|The Last Unicorn]]'' by [[Peter S. Beagle]], the unicorn is turned into a human for about a third of the story to protect her from the Red Bull that had hunted down all the other unicorns. She is horrified at first, mostly because the transformation makes her mortal, something she's never experienced before. However, the longer she remains transformed the more human she becomes and the more she [[Loss of Identity|loses her own identity]], until eventually she wishes to stay human and spend what short life span she has as a human with her human true love. The end of the story leaves her quite melancholic, a unicorn once more, but not as pure and aloof from humans as her kind is, since she has experienced human emotion.

* [[Tales of Kolmar]]'s got the king of the [[Our Dragons Are Different|Kantri]], Akhor, become human at the end of ''Song In The Silence''. As the one Kantri most fascinated by humans - he actually used to try to walk on two legs like them, but it hurt too much - he's initially very happy about it, enjoying the stronger sense of touch and the much more dexterous hands. There's a point in ''The Lesser Kindred'' where he realizes he can't fly, and later when it ''really'' sinks in that who he was is gone, which are both marked with grief and sorrow. It's very mixed. But it does mean he can be with his beloved. In ''Redeeming The Lost'' {{spoiler|he becomes a Kantri again and mourns his human shape}}.

* In ''[[Labyrinths of Echo]]'' were-[[Our Werebeasts Are Different|creatures]] are wild critters who can turn into humans. They learn to talk and are mostly harmless, but rather childlike and usually revert back after a few hours of chatting with humans and/or buying human treats for coins found at roadside. The one exception is canine kind, both able and willing to live among the humans continuously - there even was royal dynasty of "werewolves" Klakks, and apparently adequate one, only mocked by some nobles for rustic habits. Foxes are also smart enough, but not gregarious, and Sir Juffin may or may not have a little of were-fox blood in him, not that it really matters after several generations.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* The ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' episode "DNA" had Kryten turn human, much to his surprise and pleasure—until he found out his spare parts (most notably his spare heads) hated him for it. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ofl_UP3apM Just take a look] at the scene. And the photos were an example of [[Enforced Method Acting]].

** And his eyes no longer have a zoom mode. And his nipples no longer pull in radio signals.

** She did this in another episode as well, turning a cat into a woman to model for her husband's boss. In this case, though, the cat-turned-woman actually ''likes'' being human.

* In ''[[Charmed]]'', a snake, a rabbit, and a pig were turned into humans by a group of girls who wanted a date for a dance. The spell was temporary but the transformed men wanted to remain human permanently.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* More or less applies to a couple of NPCs from the ''Carnival'' supplement for [[Ravenloft]]. One is a former snake familiar of an evil wizard, whose master used to turn her into a sexy elf for "companionship"; gaining her freedom when she joined the Carnival, she now works as a snake-charmer/dancer. The other is either a leopard who turns into a man, or vice versa: he's not sure which.

 

** The Cucco-turned-woman also gives a hint about the town's statue being not quite what it seems.

* In ''[[Dark Cloud]]'' Xiao, Toan's pet cat, is turned into a catgirl once you give her a potion, and declares that she wants to help "Master" reassemble the Atlamilla, donning a slingshot and becoming your second party member.

* A wolf in ''[[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]]'' is cursed with humanity by a gang of mischievous Sprites in a sidequest. He is ''pissed'' about the change—he can't hunt well without his fangs and claws, his own pack drove him off thinking he was just another human, humans think he's just a lunatic and forced him to wear ''pants''. The Fateless One can help the unfortunate wolf by killing the sprites and undoing the curse.

 

* In ''[[Narbonic]]'', Artie the superintelligent [[Talking Animal|talking gerbil]] is temporarily turned into a human for a specific mission. The transmogrifier ray reacted with his modified DNA to cause him to spontaneously switch between human and gerbil forms. Eventually he learns to control the changes, but he still thinks of himself primarily as a gerbil. Also fits the trope by having moviestar-type good looks, and a voice to match.

** Also, Caliban the demon renounces his demonic powers and becomes mortal. He looks mostly the same, except for having lost the wings and horns, but that's because even as a demon he appeared as a little blond guy with a British accent.

* ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]'' has [http://pbfcomics.com/274/ Adam 2.0] - "humanity" is a very wide category, after all.

 

* The Moreaus of the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' are [[Uplifted Animals]] who were force-evolved into a near-human form. Regardless of their original species, their constant interaction with humanity over the decades have made them all very humanlike psychologically.

** The "Prime" variety of [[Anthropomorphic Personifications]]s active on Earth in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' (that is, those who are "pure ideas" rather than a normal human who has been merged with the "power of the idea") generally start out as pretty inhuman, psychologically speaking. They get more and more human the more they interact with people. Of course, there are exceptions.

* ''[http://fav.me/d2e389l Vanguard]'', which involves a planet where bugs are apparently the dominant species being struck by a strange meteor. A scout goes to investigate...

* The end of [[Gaia Online]]'s poorly-named "Demonbusters" event has the central demigod characters stripped of their powers and reduced to mortality. Subsequent events feature them trying to return to being deities, to no avail.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Indexing Ensues]]

[[Category:Animal Tropes]]

[[Category:Shapeshifting]]