Magic Pants: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

 

 

For costumes that can be tattered to almost any extreme just short of the point where they reveal the character's naughty bits, see [[Clothing Damage]].

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Magical Project S]]'' in an episode both misao and pixy misa age to teenagers and grow and become very tall yet their clothes remain the same , also when they became babies their clothes were of the sane size too

* In the second season of ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'', the trio discuss what happens to Fuu's glasses whenever they transform. They're not entirely certain, but the glasses always come back afterwards, and her vision isn't impaired during her transformed state.

* In ''[[Black Blood Brothers]]'', when the "Old Blood" vampire Cain Warlock transforms into his [[Wolf Man|blue wolf]] form, his clothes are torn to shreds and he triples in size, but those trousers remain unscathed.

** The creator of the series, when asked how come when one of the characters (a woman that could extend any part of her body as a hard as metal spike) used their powers, they didn't shred their clothes in the process. He stated that if he had done it realistically, the manga would have had too much unnecessary nudity (not to be confused with ''[[Fan Service|necessary]]'' nudity, see below)

** In one chapter, everybody becomes wax sculptures, and are freed by Usopp's flaming slingshot attack. Everybody who turned into a wax sculpture loses their shirts, (yes, [[Fan Service|including Nami and Vivi]]) but they keep their pants.

** [[Adult Child|Jewelry Bonney]] seems to be an exception to this: when she uses her powers to [[Fountain of Youth|turn some Marines into children]] their clothes stopped fitting and she wears loose, [[Stripperiffic|skimpy]] clothing with suspenders that fit even if she turns herself into a child.

* Averted in ''[[Fruits Basket]]''; the characters transform back from their animal forms ''au naturel''. The exception being when {{spoiler|Kyo transforms into the super-ultra cursed version of the cat, and gets a pair of his very own magic pants even when in the form of a...lizard-cat-thing. Justified in that the size difference was small enough that they simply stayed on, rather than fall off as they do in most other cases}}.

* Pepper of ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'' has the power to shed all of her skin at will. Her clothes are treated as if they were part of her skin, as when she uses the power both her and the shed skin are fully clothed.

** This is especially noticeable in the case of Pantyhose Taro. All of the others transform into small animals (pig, cat, etc.) and their clothing either vanishes or crumples to the floor. However, Pantyhose Taro transforms into a multi-story bull/yeti/crane/eel/octopus chimera, and he ''always'' rips his clothes to tiny little shreds when he does yet they're always still there when he transforms back.

** The people of Mt. Phoenix, when in their natural state, wear open clothes and boots that allow for their wings and talons to stretch out unimpeded. But if they transform to human, they add jackets and normal boots, which are ripped apart when they revert to their true forms. It doesn't seem to bother them.

** The legendary (and semi-sentient) [[Powered Armor|"Battle Dougi"]], essentially an elaborate Chinese-style blouse with long black leggings, will [[Transformation Sequence|destroy its owner's clothing when invoked]]. Which is a problem for said owner if the Dougi is [[Clothing Damage|subsequently damaged, because she'll be wearing nothing underneath]].

* In ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'', the [[Transformation Sequence]] involves clothes shredding, the better to facilitate a ''[[Sailor Moon]]''-esque naked transformation. Clothes are always returned upon demorphing. Explained by the fact that in the Digital World, your appearance is based on your picture of yourself. That's why, in other seasons, the Digidestined's clothes automatically changed when they entered the Digital World no matter what they were wearing before.

** In ''Digimon Tamers'' the final evolution's [[Transformation Sequence]] - Matrix Evolution - does not show what happens to the human partners' clothing during the process. Perhaps this has the same explanation as "Digimon have no gender" being the reason that the human partner has no naughty bits during the sequence - Digimon also technically don't wear "clothes".

** Averted somewhat in at least one scene in Capo2 of the manga where Kurumu's wings can be seen tearing through the back of her shirt as she transforms. There's no clear angle to see if her shirt has magically repaired itself after that. One panel in the first series shows that her wings have clearly ripped open the back of her shirt/sweater. She suffered further [[Clothing Damage]] during the battle so it's hard to say for sure what happened after that.

** There's also at least one scene where you can see her tail pushing the [[Panty Shot|top of her undies]] down from where it's sprouted, apparently around the base of her spine.

* Averted in ''[[Moldiver]]'', where in the heat of the moment Mirai sometimes forgets that her [[Transformation Sequence]] destroys clothing and finds herself naked after transforming back if she doesn't remove her clothes and fold them tidily away before activating the Mol unit.

** When the saiyans transform into Giant Apes, they are naked when they change back to normal. And apparently Freiza's army, including the Saiyans, [[Justified Trope|wore special armor]] that was ''literally'' one size fits all. Even when Vegeta transforms into a Giant Ape inside them, they still fit. Bulma later replicates this armor.

*** This is pushed a bit far in the Bardock special, characters that are clearly wearing cloth material in addition to their spandex or whatever bodysuits still have it on them in Oozaru form, but despite being stretched out so much, it ''still'' wears as loosely as it did on their normal sized form.

** In ''Dragonball GT'' in a [[Filler]]), Goku's Super Saiyan 4 state always has his pants in a good condition, despite the fact that Goku has a child body with child clothes and the transformation makes him to grow in an adult. Also, the first time Goku reached that state, his clothes were previously destroyed because he had converted into a giant ape... and the pants (re-)appeared anyway. Vegeta gets a pretty much identical pair of pants (or possibly pants-like fur) when he makes the SSJ4 transformation, even though he was wearing his usual blue bodysuit before. The pants are apparently just a part of the transformation, which sounds like "more crap from GT" until you realize that using ki for a wardrobe change has been in place since the first season of Z, if not before.

* Averted in ''[[Princess Tutu]]''. The main character repeatedly turns from a human to a duck and back again, losing her clothes in the process and having to constantly hide somewhere to redress. However, it's played straight when Ahiru transforms into the titular [[Magical Girl]].

* In an early episode of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', Utena rips off the (sleeveless) dress that she's wearing to reveal her usual (longsleeved) [[Custom Uniform|uniform meant for boys]] underneath. This is blatant enough to be (and knowing ''Utena'' probably ''is'') a [[Lampshade Hanging]].

** Interestingly, this trope is averted by the wardrobes of the Homunculi, which explicitly regenerate if they suffer any kind of [[Clothing Damage]] (usually after being [[Rasputinian Death|impaled, dismembered, burned, or all of the above]]).

** In the anime, Edward Elric is constantly doing that to his trademark coat and, sometimes, even his shirt. And he doesn't take it off, he ''rips'' it off, as seen in the first chapter. He can make new ones with alchemy.

* Whenever ''[[Astro Boy]]'' gets in a fight all his clothes usually end up getting shredded aside from his iconic belt, briefs and red boots. Note that this doesn't apply to the original manga where these were explicitly part of his body, whereas in later versions he is said to be designed to emulate humans perfectly.

* [[Winged Humanoid|Setsuna]] in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' appears to go between releasing her wings by [[Sexy Backless Outfit|lifting the back of her shirt]] to having them appear directly through the cloth without tearing (possibly justified in that pactio-registered outfits can revive). [[Ken Akamatsu|Akamatsu]], given the time, will occasionally illustrate her wings visibly appearing under the cloth, but falls into this when rushed (he focuses the camera at angles where the viewer can't tell). Also, Kotaro tends to this as he transforms into his beast form (pants perfectly intact).

* Tsuna from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' burns off all of his clothes save his boxers every time he gets hit with the Dying Will Bullet. Why only his boxers aren't burned off remains a mystery...

* Averted in ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'': When Horo has to transform into a [[Big Badass Wolf]] in an emergency, her expensive clothes are torn to shreds. To avoid having to buy an another set of clothes, she disrobes first when she has to transform again.

* Averted in ''[[Claymore]]'': {{spoiler|the organization's ultimate weapon, Alicia,}} who transforms in a slightly-more-than-human sized creature with blades for arms, has a special uniform made of a material that apparently stretches to accomodate her changed form. How the hell it doesn't tear or dull the blades is, however, not explained.

** When Itachi was {{spoiler|hit by [[Shock and Awe|Kirin]]}} for some reason his [[Black Cloak]] completely disappeared but what he was wearing under it didn't move at all.

** Orochimaru (and temporarily, Sasuke) can shed his skin to regenerate, and like Pepper the clothes are treated like they were part of his body.

** Impure World Resurrection appears to bring people back in whatever clothes they were wearing when they died; the only one we've seen immediately after being resurrected was wearing pants and a mask but not the shirt he took off a while before being killed.

* ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'', aside from the whole [[Magic From Technology]] thing (being injected with Red Data Animal DNA actually turns one into a [[Magical Girl]] [[Transformation Sequence|with all consequences]]), includes two characters whose cat genes cause them to turn into actual cats. When they regain their human forms, their clothes are intact. Furthermore, in the cat form, one of them winds up wearing an item not present in their regular costume at all.

* The anime version of ''[[Violinist of Hameln|The Violinist of Hamelin]]'' is particularly [[Egregious]] about this, especially in the second season. Every time Hamel {{spoiler|transforms into a demon}} his clothes explode off him dramatically, and they're almost always completely intact when he changes back. Made even more painfully obvious when his all-black outfit that Flute made him apparently becomes ''his trademark'' that people recognize him by in his travels. What the hell...?

* Averted in ''[[Those Who Hunt Elves]]'', where one of the characters was tricked into growing specifically because it would rip all of her clothes off. [[It Makes Sense in Context]].

* Extreme example in ''[[Pandora Hearts]]'': When Alice turns into her Black Rabbit form, not only do her clothes change size with her, but her miniskirt turns into a pair of pants! (Could be [[Justified Trope|justified]] by magic.)

* Played straight in adult manga ''[[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]'': the main character Inugami once takes on an explosion at ''point blank'' ([[Department of Redundancy Department|at the ''ground zero'' of explosion]]). [[Nigh Invulnerability|Being a werewolf]], he survives the blast, but his shirt is destroyed... ''[http://img1.maxmanga.com/0/1002/02/01/3007453o.jpg but his pants don't even have a scratch on them.]''

* The main character of ''[[Ultimate Girls]]'', Silk, learns the hard way that this trope does ''not'' apply to her universe the first time she transforms into a 100 foot tall warrior justice and is naked upon reversion because her clothes were shredded in the magical girl style transformation. She and her fellow Ultimate Girls must from then on make a point of stripping prior to transforming.

* Averted with the gold dragon Filia Ul Copt in ''[[Slayers]]''. While she does seem to produce a new outfit every time afterward, she explicitly states that the old one gets destroyed during the transformation from human to dragon. This comes into play when she is locked up in a cell and mentions that she could simply change into her dragon form to escape, but would end up naked during the transformation and politely asks the guard to turn his head. The guard refuses. Not because she was trying to escape, but because he didn't want to miss a chance to see her naked.

* Averted in the ''[[Wild Series]]''. Whenever the characters transform back to human from beast form, they are naked. [[Series Continuity Error|Mostly]].

* First averted, then played straight in ''[[New Grappler Baki]]'' due to an art continuity error. After Dorian {{spoiler|gets set on fire}}, he inexplicably goes from being in his underwear (with his pants gone entirely) to wearing the convenient remains of his sweat pants over a couple of chapters.

 

== Comic Books ==

** One issue of "[[The Ultimates]]", an [[Alternate Continuity]] version of [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]], plays on this, claiming that the Hulk, who was out of control, "murdered a fat guy and stole his pants" off screen after he transformed. Much of the time, he's just naked with [[Scenery Censor]].

** This was done to an even more ridiculous degree in the 1980s Hulk cartoon, where Banner's clothes spontaneously regenerated when he transformed back. (A side effect of [[Limited Wardrobe]], probably)

** One assumes the reason Bruce keeps ''buying'' this same brand of hideous purple pants is that they're so stretchy. Though why, in all these years, he's never asked [[Fantastic Four|Reed]] for some unstable molecule trousers is anybody's guess.

*** He did get a full tuxedo made of unstable molecules for a 2011 storyline that parodied about as many spy tropes as possible. The tux was destroyed by the end of the storyline.

** In the cartoon version of the Fantastic Four (where many outfits that the characters had worked with their powers) Sue comments about the pains for shopping for people "That can burst into flames" and "need to be able to stretch 300 feet in all directions". Thankfully in this series her power to turn invisible was applied to whatever she wanted it to.

** And in comics, the formula's been stolen by at least one villain too, so knock-off designs are available to bad guys.

* ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' goes back and forth on this.

** When the Dark Phoenix persona is bound by Professor X, causing her to revert to plain Jean Grey, her outfit vanishes, despite her costume having been ''her previous clothes, rapidly rearranged into that form a molecule at a time''. (That was her main method of suiting up during the Phoenix era.) There's really no reason for it to have disappeared, and normally, [[No Ontological Inertia]] would cause the outfit to revert to its previous form (which would have been her Hellfire Club outfit) instead of vanishing entirely. Can we say [[Fan Service]]? In the [[Animated Adaptation]], she shifts from the Dark Phoenix outfit to the normal Phoenix outfit instead.

** Husk, Paige Guthrie, has the ability to transform her skin into any material she can think of; but she must tear off the existing layer to do so. This results in her being naked a fair amount of time, but censor steam is not used in all scenes if her [[Barbie Doll Anatomy|new skin serves the purpose of costume]]. She has specifically refused to revert to her human form on occasions because of her nudity.

** There is also the short-time X-man Marrow, a woman whose powers were to have bone weapons (knifes, spikes, armor plates) growing out of her body, constantly sticking out of her clothes. Strangely, while her entire wardrobe consist of nothing more than what she is wearing, her costume never got ripped apart. Even more strange, some artist actually showed her bones ripping her clothes apart, but others drew these as if they were fused to her clothes. This even got topped when she got a [[Progressively Prettier]] upgrade giving her something that was called a bone bikini by readers, with her pink bodysuit sometimes appearing out of nowhere.

** Dust's transformation may or may not leave her naked, depending on plot.

** The detail around how Pixie wears tops changes by artist (then again her wings change by artist). In ''New X-Men'' it appears she wears shirts with a low back (room for her wings) but in another scene she's wearing a jean jacket (but we never see her from the back). In ''X-Infernus'' we see the back of her costume and the wings are just "there" with no sign of ''how'' she put on the outfit. In ''Uncanny'' she's shown wearing a completely backless shirt when her wings are broken, but she is later shown wearing another low back spaghetti string top like in ''New X-Men''. There is another scene of her in ''Uncanny'' wearing her X-Men Yellows but we never see her from the back so there is no sign how the wings fit there.

* Kimo in recent issues of ''[[Elf Quest]]'' learns how to shapeshift into a wolf. When he's in wolf form he wears a bandana around his chest, but when he changes back to elf form it apparently slips down his torso to conveniently become a sarong.

* Justified through an aversion in ''[[Captain Atom]]''. When Nathaniel Adam transforms into Captain Atom, his clothing disappears, but usually reappears when he transforms back, except for the one time, in issue #8, that he transformed back into Nathaniel Adam involuntarily while unconscious. Then he was naked. The implication is that, without realizing it, Nate was using his matter-creation and manipulation abilities to recreate the clothes he was wearing when he transformed. Some fans have [[Alternate Character Interpretation|even inferred]] that Nate was recreating his whole body in this manner.

** Although there is a scene from ''[[Justice League Europe]]'' showing Captain Atom transforming to his superpowered form, and it appears that the clothes were just pushed underneath the silver layer.

* The [[Witchblade (Comic Book)|Witchblade]] generally turns its wielder into a battle form covered with sort of Stripperiffic "[[Breast Plate|armor]]", but while it ''can'' transform clothes, the exact fate of said clothes and the amount of generated [[Fan Service]] mostly depends on the specific wielder.

** It happens again during the [[Marvel Adventures]] run. But this time he gets some boxers.

* A very odd version of this trope (probably caused by an artist error) happens in the werewolf comicbook ''In the Blood''. At one point in the first issue we see the main character strip down completely naked before he transforms into a werewolf, but a few pages later while he is still transformed he is clearly wearing tattered pants.

* In earlier versions [[The Creeper]] has a device inside him that can make his costume reappear and disappear.

* Justified with [[DC Comics]] supervillainess Giganta; it's explicitly part of her power that any clothing she's wearing grows with her.

* [[Martian Manhunter]]'s short-lived series claimed that Martian clothing is actually a bioengineered organism that shapeshifts according to its wearer's telepathic commands.

** Question: Do police officers pay for their uniforms, or are they provided by the precinct/city government/etc.? Considering how many uniforms Dragon went through in his initial career as a Chicago cop, plus the likelihood that they were custom-made for his muscular frame, his uniforms were a significant drain on either the city's budget or his salary.

** Oddly enough, this usually happened when he wore street clothes. [[Word of God]] states that he would buy his clothes (no mention of his uniforms) from Big and Tall shops. Considering this version of Chicago is a [[City of Adventure]], it makes sense that there would be a lot fo them around.

*** There was one early issue in which he was changing in the police locker room and ripped his shirt simply by putting it on. He lamented that it was his last uniform that was fully intact. Another issue stated that he spends a lot of money buying clothes for this very reason.

* The Super Goobers [[Goofy]] eats to become Super Goof somehow cause his clothes to magically turn into long underwear. When the Goobers wear off, the clothes magically revert.

* Probably the earliest comic book example is Man O'Metal. When heat touched his body he would turn into metal and be surrounded by flames that could melt metal. His shirts always disappeared, but his pants (and shoes) stayed intact.

 

 

* In the animated movie ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', there is a very blatant example - Susan's wedding dress. She grows from normal size to nearly fifty feet, and the dress (with minor shredding of the skirt) manages to cover as much as a one-piece bathing suit would on her giant form. Never mind that the amount of fabric in the torn wedding dress on her giant form would make maybe thirty normal-sized wedding dresses. It could be [[Handwaved]] by the dress absorbing some of the [[Green Rocks|Quantonium]], but obviously the ''real'' reason is that the movie couldn't have kept its PG rating otherwise.

** A more justified example is {{spoiler|the alien cat suit she wears after Gallaxar abducts her, which shrinks along with her as he drains the Quantonium from her body.}}

* When Jack Skellington is shot down by the military in ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'', his Sandy Claws outfit is shredded, but his tuxedo is completely unscathed. Also, at the beginning of the movie, when Jack rises out of the fountain, his bat-bow tie visibly straightens.

* Averted in ''[[The Ant Bully]]'' where the wizard ant's magic for some reason cannot shrink clothing.

* The ''[[Van Helsing]]'' movie takes this to a more ridiculous extreme, where ''every'' werewolf that transforms ''visibly shreds'' their clothes upon transforming, but when reverting to human, their shredded clothes are right there on their body. Even odder, part of the transformation sequence is for them to ''rip their previous form off of themselves like tissue paper''.

* The werewolves in ''Blood and Chocolate'' transform along with their clothes. This is just one of many things changed from the book, in which it was made a point that werewolves had to remove their clothes before changing (either because they're get ruined or because of the risk of being seen as a wolf in human's clothing).

** This problem exists in the book too, but at a different point in the story. It's mentioned that when Pettigrew framed Sirius for his own murder by turning into a rat, he left behind his finger and a "heap of bloodstained robes". So if he left behind his clothes when he transformed into a rat 12 years ago, was he naked when he got turned back into a human in the Shrieking Shack?

* [[Lampshaded]] in the movie ''[[The Monster Squad]]'', where the titular kids are having a debate on Wolfman and whether he can actually be called a "guy". One of the kids says, "What are you talking about? He walks around and wears pants..." and then the other kid explains, "He had to wear pants, see, those movies were made in the 40s. He had to wear them so we wouldn't see his...[[Unusual Euphemism|wolf dork]]." Later on in the movie, the kids encounter Wolfman and one of the kids "[[Groin Attack|kicks him in the nards]]", revealing that yes, "Wolfman's got nads!"

** And later, we learn that his pants are literally magic: Sean and his dad blow Wolfman to pieces with a stick of dynamite and he soon reassembles himself, pants and all.

* This, also, was completely averted in [[The Incredible Shrinking Man]]. Scott Carey shrinks out of his clothes and is forced to wear first kids' clothes and then doll clothes. The final scenes of the movie in the cellar, he is wearing the ragged pieces from his doll clothes because he has SHRUNK out of those.

** Elvin from ''[[Misfits of Science]]'' faced a similar problem, so usually carried a set of Ken's jogging clothes in a pocket in case he needed to shrink himself.

* In the third ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' film, when the goddess Calypso grows from human-size to gigantic, the ropes she's bound with grow with her, modestly covering her bust and her lower-than-waist naughty bits. That's right, rope also serves as magic pants!

* Averted in ''[[Big Fish]]'', where {{spoiler|the circus ringmaster}} is stark naked after he changes from a werewolf back into a human. [[Fan Disservice|Even worse]], {{spoiler|1=said ringmaster is played by Danny DeVito.}}

* Averted in ''Beyond Sherwood Forest''. Every time Alina transforms into a dragon, her clothes are destroyed, leaving her naked and shivering when she changes back.

 

== Literature ==

** This didn't affect the cover artists, since many editions of the books show characters ''and'' their normal clothes transforming in stages (i.e., somebody wearing a red shirt transforming into a cardinal).

* In [[David Eddings]]' [[Belgariad]] tetradecalogy, a sorcerer's clothes and equipment go "somewhere" when they turn into animals, and reappear when they change back.

** Actually, they are still "there" for a given value of where, since Belgarion can still feel the Orb.

* Averted in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', in which the [[Our Werewolves Are Different|pack of heroic werewolves]] must simply deal with the fact that they need to remove their clothing before [[Animorphism|transforming]] and will be unclothed when they return. They're used to it by the time Dresden meets them and it's no big deal. The fact that their leader [[Innocent Fanservice Girl|doesn't see why it was ever a big deal to anyone]] is the first sign that she's not what she seems.

** Played straight later on with Injun Joe aka Senior Council Member Listens-To-Wind, when he {{spoiler|fights the skinwalker and 'kicks its ass up between its ears'}}. Either that, or he wasn't wearing any clothes at all, and created an illusion for decency's sake...

* Averted in the [[Piers Anthony]] Xanth books. When Nada, a shape-changing naga woman, becomes a snake, she slips out of her clothes and must then take the trouble of bringing them along and changing back into them when she becomes human.

** Alternatively, there are other shape-changing characters in the same series who keep their clothes. In those cases, the clothing magically disappears when the character shifts, then re-appears when the character returns to their previous form. This has caused characters to remark on the difference in the story. A notable moment was one time when a clothing-losing shape-changer witnessed a clothing-keeping shape-changer, and wondered about the difference in their abilities (which was explained as one being a natural racial ability, and the other being a magical talent).

* In the novel ''[[Lonely Werewolf Girl]]'', clothes just disappear when a werewolf transforms, and come back when they shift back. When a human who witnesses the process asks Kalyx what happens to the clothes, she says no one really knows.

** The movie doesn't really address this, but you can see scraps of destroyed clothing fly away whenever someone transforms into a werewolf.

* Lampshaded in ''[[The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants]]''.

* Generally played straight in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s Planet Pirate series. Wefts, the shapeshifting alien of the setting, are implied to shapeshift the appropriate clothing. Fanservice is generally avoided, however - they're naturally a species of crustacean with six sexes, and fall into the [[Uncanny Valley]] when assuming human form.

* An interesting version in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]:'' In ''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'', the Pevensies age to adulthood while in Narnia, and their original ages/clothes are magically restored upon their return to England. However, in other books, the characters change into their normal clothes before returning to England (''Prince Caspian''), or take their Narnian clothes back with them (''The Silver Chair'').

 

== Live-Action TV ==

*** Justified in the fact that the clothes Tuvix had been wearing when he was split apart was not the merged Starfleet-Talaxian outfit but instead a regular Starfleet uniform. At the very least, the Magic Pants are consistent.

* Present in ''every'' episode of ''[[Manimal]]'' where Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka Manimal) [[Transformation Sequence|transforms]] into a panther, hawk, dolphin, cat, or whatever animal-du-jour. In the pilot he transforms to a panther while wearing a tux, and the tux is nowhere to be seen. Upon retransformation to a human he is still wearing the same tux. This is repeated throughout. Sometime we even see the clothes he wears being torn up by the transformation.

* ''[[Buffy]]'':

** Also averted with Oz. He is very much naked after a full moon night, even though his werewolf form isn't even that much bigger than his human form.

** In the Season 3 episode ''Beauty and the Beasts'': {{spoiler|Angel}} somehow gains pants after coming back from the dead nude, despite having regressed to an animalistic state and living in the wilderness.

** Also in Season 1, when Nathan flies at a supersonic speed, his pants magically stay intact.

* Averted in ''[[The Secret World of Alex Mack]]''; Alex's first attempt at morphing into silver goo winds up with Alex naked and hiding behind a washing machine. The second time, she manages to morph her clothes with her.

* Averted in ''[[True Blood]]'' when Sam the shape-shifter changes back into human, he has to find things to cover up with and get people to bring him clothes.

** Piper is wholly naked after she transforms back to human form after being a Wendigo. Same goes for Phoebe after she changes from mermaid back to human.

** On the other hand, Prue is wearing the same clothes when she turns back from a being a dog to human. Same for all three sisters are also wearing clothes after they change back from being beasts during a blue moon.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Appropriately enough for this trope, this Rite is sometimes called "the Rite of Pants" by players due to its most common use being ensuring the character isn't left naked after a few transformations.

** It comes back when they revert to their human true form, however.

** At least one supplement on weres (''Night Howlers'' for the boxed set/Rules Cyclopedia edition) not only explicitly specified that the transformation ruined clothes, but included rules for how much damage a lycanthrope would take from shapechanging while wearing (and in the process probably destroying) ''armor''.

** The magical armor enhancement "Beastskin" makes it possible for the armor to morph into armor fitted for the creature you change into and then change back with the character.

 

== Video Games ==

* Eiji from ''Super Tokusatsu Wars'' has a transformation where he turns into a large, monstrous humanoid... completely destroying his old body in the process. Yet, if you use the Detransform action, he returns to his normal self, with the clothes he had on before he transformed.

* In the ''[[Bloody Roar]]'' series of games, the transformations into the characters' beast forms explicitly tears the characters' clothing (almost always shoes, but often shirts, and sometimes their beast form is actually partially or completely naked). However, transforming back to human form also restores the torn clothing.

* In ''[[Nethack]]'', a self-polymorph can destroy or forcibly disrobe you of all your armor, but when you return to normal form you can sit on a cockatrice corpse without turning to stone. Hence, your character must be wearing magic pants.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', Vincent Valentine's [[Limit Break]] involves changing shape into a beast. His clothes simply reappear when he changes back.

** Possibly Terra Branford in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', whose innate ability, Trance (Morph in the original release) turns her into a naked, fuzzy, pink Esper, although she still wields her weapons and enjoys the stat benefits of her armor and relics. Using the command "Revert" restores her and her clothes. Might just be a case where [[Power Glows]] so brightly that it prevents anyone from seeing her clothes underneath.

** And again in ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'', with both Zidane and Kuja, whose trance forms have all their clothes vanish in lieu of fur, yet reappear as soon as it ends.

* The Manaketes, Laguz, and Taguel in the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' series don't have any issues with their clothing, despite the fact that their dragon/animal transformations are larger then their humanoid forms, and very different in shape, as well. It simply disappears when they transform, and comes back once they revert to human form.

* In ''[[Altered Beast]]'', the player characters can collect a series of orbs that causes them to become more muscular and less clothed with each application, until finally taking on the form of a fully nude (yet [[Barbie Doll Anatomy|anatomically void]]) monster. It's a different monster on each level, with the player characters reverting back to their original (clothed) form at the beginning of each level. Then again, you start off wearing not much more than a tunic and a loincloth anyway.

** Slightly subverted in ''Project Altered Beast'', where upon first transforming into the werewolf all your clothes tear off, when you chnage back your shirt and Jacket are gone for good, yet your Jeans and boots somehow return

** In addition other players polymorphed by a mage, or otherwise transformed into a Sheep, Penguin, Frog or any other part of a wide ranging menagerie are also immune to unexpected nakedness, but it is magic after all.

** They finally going to play it real straight in later [[Expansion Pack]] ''Cataclysm'', this is going to be standard issue for all classes of playable [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Worgens]]. They can alternate between human and worgen form, but always revert to worgen when combat is initiated. Unlike druids, they do keep their clothing/armor while in worgen form (not just strangely dissapear and reappear when returning human).

* Werewolves in the game ''[[Majesty]]'' are naked while in wolf form (which is all the time when they are alive), magically gaining pants when they revert to human form after they die.

** Played even more ridiculously straight if you unlock the Classic Wolverine costume, where Wolvie's regeneration suddenly now applies to the whole outfit, so as not to ruin the iconic look of the costume with clothing damage.

** [[Justified Trope]] in ''[[Twilight Princess]]'', since the first time he transforms back to human Link's wearing [[Clothes Make the Legend|entirely different clothes]], provided to him by the spirits in recognition of his heroism. These clothes could very well be magical, and since the spirits already knew about the wolf thing, they could have prepared the clothes to appear and disappear in just that way. Strangely, the wolf keeps the earrings that Link wears in his human form, making this a rather mixed use of the trope.

* Certain characters in the [[Touhou]] series have displayed shapeshifting abilities in the games they're in, either when introducing themselves ([[Catgirl|Orin]] changes into her humanoid form twice in the same game, complete with dress and wheelbarrow), or when the player uses a bomb ([[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|Flandre]], [[Youkai|Momizi]]; [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|Remilia]] sometimes changes into a bat during certain attack patterns, and if the player bombs during her final patterns, she temporarily changes into a bat too).

** Similarly, fairies resurrect after being killed. One assumes this trope is in play when they resurrect, or there would be a massive clothes shortage among those with frequent dying miles like Cirno.

* In ''[[Splatterhouse]]'', during the fight against {{spoiler|the mutated Jennifer, she transforms back into her human form}} after being hit enough times, with her clothes literally reappearing out of nowhere.

** ''[[Order of Ecclesia]]'' also uses edited ''Rondo'' sprites, but with a pair of boxer shorts ([[Digital Bikini|that spontaneously appears between frames]]) rather than the speedo from ''Dracula X''.

* Fawkes from ''[[Fallout 3]]'' used to wear {{spoiler|Vault 87}} overalls. He still does, but having grown into twice as tall and large as he once was, the top half has been torn, clearly inadequate to house his new physique. The lower half fits just fine.

** Though it does state in one of the computer terminals that Super Mutants have no reproductive organs.

* Morrigan from [[Dragon Age]] has a bra on when her shirt is off, and [[Absolute Cleavage|only when her shirt is off]].

* If you give your female ''[[Soul Calibur]] 4'' character the spyrobe (I have the German version and I`m not sure if this is the right translation) you can clearly see that your character wears no bra. However when the opponent destroys your spyrobe you suddenly wearing one.

** For that matter, his shoes change size and shape, even gaining ''spikes''.

* ''[[Rune Factory 3]]'' has characters with shapeshifting ability: {{spoiler|Micah, Pia, and Raven}}. When they transform, they lose or change their clothes, but when they revert to their normal forms. their clothes magically reappear.

 

* Averted with the [[Our Werewolves Are Different|spellwolves]] in ''[[Dominic Deegan]]: Oracle For Hire''. It's explicitly mentioned that they have to wear oversized clothes to accommodate the transformations if they wear anything at all, since they have many nudists in their homeland and are heartier than most humans when it comes to cold.

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' generally averts this with Zoe's camel form in that the transformation will often leave her [[Naked People Are Funny|naked]]. One later plotline had her wearing a dress that quickly bunched up around her neck whenever she transformed, and a viewer mail comic explains that this is exactly how it works. When a follow-up question asked how exactly this was supposed to prevent her underwear from being destroyed, there's a [[Beat Panel|beat]], and it turns out we have no more time for questions.

* Averted in ''[http://www.peteristhewolf.com Peter Is The Wolf]'': the pants are not magical. That doesn't mean that people changing from human to their were form will RIP the clothing. That really depends on the size difference. The titular character is a similar size in both forms ([[Gag Penis|mostly]]) and so, doesn't do much to his clothes. Other characters who increase substantially in size... aren't so lucky.

* ''[[The Wotch]]'': Subverted twice in one arc, once when [http://thewotch.com/index.php?epDate=2003-09-08 Ann in turned into a Pixi], and again when she [http://thewotch.com/index.php?epDate=2003-10-22 changes back].

* Averted and lampshaded in ''[[Magellan]]'' with superhero cadet Joe Berger (can change the density of his body). When he changes into his gaseous form he leaves his clothes behind and is naked upon resolidifying. This leaves the poor guy begging his teammates to get his clothes for him.

* [[Our Werewolves Are Different|WiredWolf]] of ''[[Enjuhneer]]'' does not have magic pants, but does have a magic shirt. Her transformation tears the sleeves, but it's [[Limited Wardrobe|always back to normal when she's next seen]]. (It's also worth noting that she's been established to be ''significantly'' taller when transformed.)

* In ''[[Wapsi Square]]'', the golem girls have their clothes disappear when they take animal forms, but they reappear when they return to human. Phix is able to make her clothes change with her when she shapeshifts. Nudge is once left with [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/nine-to-five/ a dress that is way too big] because she can't do the same. {{spoiler|[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/spider-dreams/ Neither can Shelly]}}

'''Piffany''': Easy! I'm wearing ''robes of modesty''. It takes a ''wish'' to get them off! }}

 

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[Erikas New Perfume|Erika's New Perfume]]'' regressing Heather and progressing Sarah their clothes changed to fit their appearances. Only partially played straight for Heather because while her clothes do change to fit her new size, she does not get training pants out of it as her sister soon mentions.

** Earlier than either of these, this is averted for Erika. Her needs in clothing (particularly underwear) change after she uses the perfume, but she keeps the same ones that according to the way everyone now remembers she's never supposed to have had.

** The 'Hulk' problem is parodied in the story "Tales of the MCO" within the [[Whateley Universe]], when one of the commercial breaks for the program the students are watching is for the upcoming Merchant-Ivory film "Hulk 1809", which includes in the trailer a Keira Knightley look-alike saying to the hero, "Good sirrah, where are your clothes? And why are your pants that hideous shade of purple?"

* Averted in ''[[Small Problem]]'', when Debby wakes up to find that she had shrunk out of her pajamas.

* This trope is standard fare for characters who can grow, shrink, or stretch from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]''.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Spoofed in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in the episode, "I Am Furious Yellow". Through a series of pranks by Bart, Homer winds up covered in green paint and shirtless, throwing him into a whirlwind of rage. What's Bart's only reply after beholding the sight he's put into motion?

** And in the [[What If]] episode "Gwen 10", where Gwen gets the Omnitrix. When Gwen accesses an alien form with clothing, the outfit is blue to match ''her'' shirt instead of Ben's white-with-black.

* Some characters, like ''[[The Secret World of Alex Mack|Alex Mack]]'' and ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' are given the ability to transform/affect anything in physical contact with them as well, including their clothes.

** In the pilot, Alex Mack didn't have this ability (although only on her accidental first try), but obviously they couldn't get away with having their (underage) heroine end up naked every few minutes, could they?

* Spoofed in ''[[Futurama]]''. When Leela tells her parents she is Clobberella, she rips off her usual outfit of tank top, pants and heavy boots to reveal a sleeveless, leg-baring superheroine costume beneath. A few moments later, she rips this off too, revealing...another tank top, pants and boots. (Her explanation: "It was brisk. I dressed in layers.") Extra-absurd because the original tank top wouldn't have covered the shoulder pads from her costume, her costume had bare legs that wouldn't have covered a hidden pair of pants, and her long pair of gloves simply appeared and vanished at a whim.

* Gandhi in ''[[Clone High]]'' shrinks in a "trippy adventure through his subconscious" and happily notes that his clothes shrink and his voice raises in pitch miraculously in proportion with his body.

* In the BBC Wales cartoon ''[[Super Ted]]'', the eponymous teddy bear would transform by ''unzipping his skin'' revealing his costume beneath. He was also seen to transform back by the same method with his skin underneath the costume. This led to a certain amount of [[Nightmare Fuel]] on my part as I imagined his body gradually shrinking to microscopic size while still attached to a normal sized head.

* ''[[Justice League]]'' occasionally dips into this, but the most egregious example occurs in the episode "Double Date", when [[Villainous Glutton]] Mandragora charges at Black Canary and she hits him point blank with her Canary Shriek for about 10 seconds. His shirt, naturally, is completely incinerated, since the attack should be fatal at that range, but ([[Fan Disservice|luckily]]) his pants are fine. And oddly enough, his ''shoes'' don't survive the attack, suggesting that they're literal magic pants.

** Averted after Flash defeats the Luthor-Brainiac merger. Luthor's very clearly naked for the rest of the scene afterward. Granted, Luthor wasn't wearing pants in the first place, but it's still surprising they had him outright naked even if nothing was shown.

** The villainess Giganta's outfit always fits when growing to giant size. Anything she's wearing seems to grow at the same pace she does. However, as Shade learned to his delight, keeping the same relative size does nothing to prevent people from looking up.

** Not to mention the episode where he transformed into a large, naked, mutant beaver, and when he got better his clothes spontaneously regenerated.

** And then there was the time Ron put on the muscle enhancing ring and suddenly got all buff...his clothing survived the transformation perfectly intact. This seems to be a hidden theme with Ron.

* In one episode of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' Doof invents the de-evolution-inator to de-evolve everyone to take over the Tri-State Area. The ray from said [[Theme Naming|Inator]] hits Doof until he is a single cell organism. When Doofenshirtz uses the Inator to evolve back to human, he finds interesting that his socks and underpants evolved with him.

* Surprisingly averted in the pilot of ''[[Generator Rex]]''. When Rex cures a man who has mutated into a skyscraper-sized monster, the man is naked when he reverts to normal. Apparently this is common enough that the goon squad following Rex had a towel on hand in anticipation. It's played straight in later episodes, as most Evos revert to fully-clothed humans, or at most have a ripped shirt. This would seem to suggest that the poor bastard in the pilot was already naked when he turned.

* Used by {{spoiler|Samy}} on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', during a [[Jekyll and Hyde]] plot.

* Carter in the 1987 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' series always have his clothes intact when reverting to normal after his mutated transformation. Averted the first time he transforms, but played straight on all subsequent occasions.

* In ''[[Western Animation/Kassai And Leuk|Kassai And Leuk]]'', Marana's clothes transform with her whenever her [[Involuntary Shapeshifting]] kicks in.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Native American Mythology]]

[[Category:Censorship Tropes]]

[[Category:Shapeshifting]]

[[Category:Improbable Appearance Tropes]]