Magic Pants: Difference between revisions

* 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.

* 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]].

* When Chrono of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' transforms from his [[Sleep Mode Size]] into his true form, he goes from wearing a red coat over a 1920's-esque outfit into a [[Badass]] jacket ([[Shirtless Scene|sans shirt]]) and pants. When he returns to his childlike form, his usual outfit reappears. (This causes a very interesting sight to happen later in the manga--when part of his coat is blown away before his transformation is triggered, after his switch back to his child form part of his coat is in tatters. Which causes one to wonder...how can his coat can be damaged by ''bullets'', but [[Fridge Logic|doesn't get destroyed when he grows an extra foot or two and gains abs and a six pack]]?)

** 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.

*** For whatever reason Chachamaru's robotic ears change style to her younger models from the Mahora Fair arc. However Akamatsu's [[Word of God]] says [[Bellisario's Maxim|we shouldn't think about this too much]], the age pills are magic that work on robots.

** Then there's Takane, who, tired of [[Clothing Damage]], starts wearing literal magic clothes that double as armour. However, they have the glaring flaw of having [[No Ontological Inertia]] (as she experienced by fainting after a fight with Negi), and are of little use against [[Anti-Magic|Asuna]]... proving that in some cases, regular pants are superior.

* 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.

* ''[[S-Cry-ed]]'' has a couple of takes on this. Some of the time, armor-like Alters just layer on top of clothes, but in the case of Kazuma's Shell Bullet arm, his actual arm is deconstructed and rebuilt (or just outright vaporized). When he changes back, the clothing on that arm is still there. Could be justified by the fact that they psychically rearrange matter to accomplish these feats and just instinctively know how to put things back together.

* 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.

** In the "pants are indestructible" vein, whenever Inuyasha transforms into his [[Super-Powered Evil Side|full demon mode]], usually his shirt has already been shredded in the process of gaining a life-threatening injury or will be completely destroyed in the ensuing battle - but his pants remain untouched, never even getting a bit ragged around the edges. Incidentally, he also regains his shirt (fully intact) after every battle with no explanation as to how it got there/was repaired.

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the later stages of the title character's [[Super-Powered Evil Side|transformation]] constantly burn his skin ([[Healing Factor|while it constantly regenerates]]), but leave his clothes undamaged; the one exception is when he was wearing a [[Badass Long Robe]] before one transformation, and it inexplicable disappeared by the time he got out of it. Likewise, Suigetsu's clothes [[Blob Monster|changed into water with the rest of his body]], though his [[BFS|weapon]] doesn't (and when he fuses with a body of water [[Full-Frontal Assault|the clothes apparently dissolved into the water]]) and Choji's clothes grow with him when [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|he turns giant]].

== Comic Books ==

** In the [[The Incredible Hulk (TV series)|live-action series]], Ferrigno usually wound up wearing the same kind of pants that Bixby had on when he "Hulked Out". This led to amusing scenes in which the transformation would shred shirts, destroy heavy leather work boots, and even, in one case, crack open a motorcycle helmet -- and yet those [[Magic Pants]] remained intact. One speculates that this was why the Hulk was so ''angry''.

** 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]].

* ''[[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.

* Very, very averted in ''[[Empowered]]''. Of course, [[Author Appeal|that]] ''[[Author Appeal|is]]'' [[Author Appeal|the whole point]].

** 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.

* ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' first averts this where Edmund actually falls out of his clothes after being turned into a cat by the evil Duke of Owls, but later plays this straight when he changes back into a human at the end of the film; the reason why his human self now has clothes again is because as soon he was turned into a cat, he immediately discovers that unlike all the other animals in the film, who wear clothing, Edmund is actually naked and as a result he immediately puts on a large shirt, but no pants. But why is Edmund wearing pants after he got turned back into a human?

* When Yzma accidentally turns Kuzco into a llama near the beginning of ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'', Kuzco is still wearing clothing when his face becomes that of a llama's, but Kronk stuffs him inside a burlap bag as he is still transforming. When Kuzco is finally freed from said bag by Pacha, he has already finished transforming into a llama, and his clothes are nowhere to be seen! (they are replaced by [[Morphic Resonance|red fur colored to resemble his clothing)]] At the end of the film, when Kuzco defeats Yzma and turns back into a human, he mysteriously gains his clothes back.

** 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.

** The Rite of Pants also allows [[Spirit World|umbral]] travel without a side of [[Out-of-Clothes Experience]].

** In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', shapeshifting disciplines handwave this by saying the vampire blood melds clothing into the vamp's body. Or some nonsense along those lines.

*** That being said, if your party had a vampire sufficiently advanced in the sneaky-hidey Discipline, you could have '''Virtual [[Magic Pants]] For All'''.

** 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.

* ''[[GURPS Supers]]'' had a buyable Advantage called "Costume" -- a costume that works with and adapts to the powers and form of the wearer, similar to Marvel's "unstable molecules".

* Averted due to [[Fetish Fuel]] in the perpetually [[NSFW]] ''[http://www.themagnificentmilkmaid.com/ Magnificent Milkmaid]'': ''every'' character with a transformation regularly destroys their clothing. The titular Milkmaid has the advantage of transubstantiation -- and so, she can form her costume when she's powered up and reform her normal clothes as she powers down. Everyone else is saddled with being in whatever state of undress their transformation leaves them in.

* ''[[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.)

** Sort of played straight and sort of not in the episode that introduced [[Evilutionary Biologist|DNAmy]]. {{spoiler|She combined Mr. Barkin and [[Mascot with Attitude|Rufus]] into a naked but [[Barbie Doll Anatomy|not particularly childhood-scarring]] monster. When the two were separated again, Rufus was wearing a miniaturized version of Mr. Barkin's original outfit, and Mr. Barkin was urgently requesting pants}}.

* 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.

* In ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'', the episode featuring the return of the Man-Bat (a person who was effectively a werebat) has in addition to a Magic Pants, a Magic Shirt. Rather than being the prime suspect, it's his ''wife'', and though her transformation shreds quite a bit of her shirt, it's still enough to keep her decent when she turns back. Except for the earlier times when the Man-Bat had no shirt at all, but we never got to see the times when she turned back ''then''.

* In ''[[American Dragon Jake Long]]'', when Jake transforms into his dragon form his clothes disappear, same goes for the other dragons. When he transforms back into human form his clothes reappear. This is lampshaded beautifully by {{spoiler|Jake's dad}} in the last episode:

{{quote|"[[Fridge Logic|When they turn into dragons what happens to their clothes?]]"}}

{{quote|'''Scientist:''' Bring him to zhe pants...}}

* 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.