One-Winged Angel: Difference between revisions

Usually accompanied by the stock phrases ''[[Badass Boast|"No one who has seen me in this form has lived to tell about it!!!"]]'', ''"I have only '''begun''' to fight!"'', or ''"Now you'll face my '''true''' power!"''

 

 

Named in honor of Sephiroth, [[Big Bad]] of the video game ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]].''<ref>Okay, named in honor of his theme music, as he has in fact ''seven'' wings, but just one in place of an arm.</ref> Video games in general absolutely ''adore'' having their final boss do this, even when their original form is scary enough anyway. In fact, it's gotten to be somewhat of an arms race: thanks to the popularity of [[Dragonball Z|Frieza]] in 1991, [[Rule of Three|three-form]] bosses are now somewhat common, and those games going for "epic" will sometimes go for even more. In JRPGs, particularly, it is rather common to see two stages of [[One Winged Angel]]: the "bizarro" form, that is huge and scary, and the "angel" form, that is winged, eeriely beautiful and accompanied by [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] (the original One Winged Angel, Sephiroth, is the codifier of this subtrope). Once beaten, or on becoming even more powerful, the villain may cross the [[Bishonen Line]] and into safer territory for an [[Evil Makeover]] to work its magic (though it's a huge case of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]]; as much as it's used, you'd be hard pressed to complain when they turn into something ''fucking awesome'').

Sadly, this transformation can often be anti-climactic, as it telegraphs to the audience that the villain will most likely face his final defeat soon. Outside of video games, it is quite rare for a bad guy to invoke this trope and actually WIN. This might be because the less human a character looks, the more "acceptable" it is to kill them.

 

 

For those looking for actual winged people, see [[Winged Humanoid]] and [[Our Angels Are Different]].

{{examples|Examples}}

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Power At a Price]]

[[Category:Transformation Causes]]

[[Category:Power Makeover]]

[[Category:Shapeshifting]]