Scaled Up: Difference between revisions

 

For when the character becomes larger in scale compared to what he or she was before, see [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]].

 

{{examples}}

* Orochimaru from ''[[Naruto]]'' probably takes inspiration from his namesake [[Orochi]] and does this in the series. {{spoiler|He gets taken out by a certain [[Ineffectual Loner]] after said loner's [[Face Heel Turn]]}}. Lame-n noodles, especially since it means he can't perform any of the jutsu that were his goal in life to learn. Though {{spoiler|his chances as a snake were probably better than a drugged-up old man who was near-dying, and he apparently didn't have a choice in the matter}}.

** Rather, Orochimaru takes his inspiration from the original Orochimaru, who likely gets it from ''his'' namesake Orochi.

* An inversion in [[Yu-Gi-Oh!]] in the Waking the Dragons arc: {{spoiler|the secret of the three dragons is that they were actually knights transformed by Dartz in an attempt to weaken them. Yami Yugi transforms them back into knights in order to defeat Dartz}}.

 

* The [[Marvel Comics]] character Moondragon, who despite her name was a human with psychic powers and [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]], turned into a literal dragon to save the day, and was "killed" (the whole [[Energy Beings]] part) by Ultron, an evil robot that looks liked a [[Knight in Shining Armor]].

* The [[Marvel Comics]] [[Fear Itself]] crossover ended with the [[Big Bad|Serpent]], a humanoid Asgardian god whose name is more of a nickname/title due to his nature, abandoning his human form and all if its powers to turn into a giant snake that is easily sliced up by [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] for no apparent reason.

* ''[[The Last Temptation]]'' graphic novel by [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Alice Cooper]] (yes, you read that right) has The Showman turn into a giant snake at the end, but he doesn't actually attack the hero. He just messes with his head a bit, and scares him away. If this story is meant to tie into Cooper's song "Welcome To My Nightmare", (which many of his fans believe it is) then it was an entirely successful head-mess, because by then, Stephen is a [[Serial Killer]].

 

* [[Actual Pacifist]] Protagonist example: George in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' discovers he can become a red dragon at a very opportune moment about two-thirds of the way through the book. [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body|Though it does make him think of his wife as... tasty.]]

* Also, the moment in ''[[Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]]'' from which the second of our current page quotes come from.

 

* Used and averted in Disney's ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]''. Merlin and Madam Mim have a wizard's duel. Madam Mim, [[Loophole Abuse|who announces the rules at the start, breaks them]] in an attempt to beat Merlin, only to have Merlin go in exactly the opposite direction. He makes her sick, which pushes her to bed rest.

** In [[The Once and Future King|the original novel]], she died of it on the spot.

* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', [[Big Bad|Jafar]] transforms into a humongous snake after gaining sorcerer powers from the Genie. He actually has Aladdin and company on the ropes for quite a while until Al tricks him into trying to gain even more power by using his last wish to become a Genie. In hindsight, Jafar should have stuck to the reptile form.

** Averted in ''The Return of Jafar'', the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' games, and in some of the storybooks however, where he is instead either fought as a human, or immediately goes straight to becoming a genie.

* ''[[Enchanted]]'': Narissa pulls a Maleficent-crossed-with-''[[King Kong]]'' when she turns into a dragon, [[James Bondage|kidnaps Robert]], and climbs a skyscraper during a thunderstorm. Bad idea. The result is impressive, though.

* ''[[Beetlejuice]]''. ''[[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family|The teeth]]''.

* At first, Thulsa Doom of the ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' movie seems to be doing this for no reason at all, but then subverts the expectations of the audience by fleeing through a hole in the wall made for a snake and getting to safety. (It's also in keeping with his character so far as he seems to have a thing for snakes: his religion worships them, he has a pet snake that Conan kills, he has ''[[Trick Arrow|snake arrows]]''... no, really.) Thus, not lame.

* In ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]'', the Emperor turns into a three-headed dragon, kidnapping Lin and managing to evade the heroes. He doesn't return to that shape, though. Later on, he shifts into another giant animal, and was similarly unbeatable. In fact, it's safe to say that had he not been goaded into a fair fight, he'd have succeeded.

 

* In ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', Sauron at one point becomes a snake in an effort to defeat Huan, the Hound of Valinor. And no, it wasn't any more successful than any of the other forms he tried.

* The Lady of the Green Kirtle does this in [[Narnia|The Chronicles Of Narnia]]: ''The Silver Chair''. Lewis was definitely being symbolic in this case, but it's still a dumb move, especially when confronted by a [[Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid|Stupid Good]] hero who [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]] but has no problem cutting a giant serpent in half. Lame.

* In the fourth ''[[Fablehaven]]'' book, {{spoiler|Gavin, Kendra's "boyfriend," turns into the demonic dragon Navarog. He could have easily killed all the heroes then, but he decides to revert to his human form and capture Kendra, allowing the <s>[[Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?|gay]]</s> fairylike dragon Raxtus to [[Half the Man He Used To Be|bite him in two]].}}

 

* This was actually the end goal of the Mayor from Season 3 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', which he'd spent a '''century''' working towards and built all sort of elaborate machinations around. He promptly gets taken out, of all things, by [[I Shall Taunt You|Buffy exploiting his love for his pseudo-adopted daughter]]. Oh, and a stockpile of well placed explosive, while a bunch of high schoolers mostly armed with crossbows and such fight off his minions.

** But hilarious-aside from his undeniably evil aspirations, he's been characterized as a [[Affably Evil|personable]], mildly absent-minded guy who [[Gosh Dang It to Heck|doesn't like swears.]] His only comment on his seconds-nigh doom? "Well gosh!"

* A variant occurs in the ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' episode "Polymorph" when a shapeshifting [[Emotion Eater]] turns into a snake. It works because it wasn't for combat reasons, but to freak Lister out (as he is scared of snakes). It helps make him even more scared, until the beast assumes its true form and drains him of his fear.

 

 

* [[Classical Mythology|Greek]] [[Older Than Feudalism|mythology]] example: the river god Achelous turns into a serpent to fight Hercules for the hand of a princess called Deianeira. He loses, and in one version Hercules rips off one of his horns, which was used by the nymphs to make the Horn of Plenty.

* A bizarre example in many ways, the traditional Chinese fairy tale Legend of the White Snake has Madame White Snake forcibly morphed into her original form when she is captured by the monk Fa Hai.

 

* In the 4th edition of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' A druid can take the Paragon path of coiled serpent, where you have the ability to scale up. what you do with this ability and whether you die or not is at the player's (or more realistically, the DM's) discretion.

* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' the Followers of Set, one of the 13 main clans, has an entire set of powers related to becoming a snake, called Serpentis. The 1st power lets you immobilize someone with your gaze, the 2nd grows a razor sharp tongue to use as a weapon, the 3rd gives you armored scales, and the 4th turns you into a giant cobra.

 

* Happens twice in ''[[Der Ring Des Nibelungen]]'', to the same [[Leitmotif]]. In ''Das Rheingold'', when Alberich is demonstrating the shapeshifting powers of the Tarnhelm, he first transforms into a dragon, and Loge pretends to be frightened. (Wagner's actual word, Riesenwurm, literally means "giant worm.") In ''Siegfried'', Fafner has already transformed himself from a giant into a dragon. Since he has the [[Artifact of Doom]], his fate is sealed.

 

* In the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' games Maleficent turns into a dragon at times of danger. She promptly gets smacked down by a preteen kid [[Improbable Weapon User|wielding a giant key]]. Lame to the power of lame.

** She'd tried it [[Birth By Sleep|ten years earlier]] against an [[Action Girl]] with the same type of weapon, as well as Prince Phillip himself. The result? She survives. Barely.

** She does it again in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', although that time she helps the player.

* Mutare, the protagonist of the ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic|Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade]]'' Dragon Blood campaign.

* In ''[[Guitar Hero]]: Warriors of Rock'', this is Casey Lynch's powered-up form.

 

 

* As the quote at the top of the page indicates, the [[Evil Overlord List]] advises against this.

 

* Malchior in ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', though he didn't so much transform into a dragon as he was transformed back to his real form. It still doesn't help him much.

** Done again when Beast Boy gets an [[Evil Twin]]. It transforms into a cobra, just to show it's evil by using a form Beast Boy never would.

* ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'': One of the very few examples where it's a good character doing this. When DeDe was a baby she gave birth to an imaginary world called Koosland, with Peepers as her first creation, a cynical rabbit like creature who gave away so much happiness in the land that he left none for himself. One day, an evil animesque alien kidnapped him to use as an energy source. In the end foiled by the efforts of Dexter and DeDe's other imaginary friend, Koosy, the alien warlord meets his demise by being stomped by Peepers, who mutated himself in a flesh-colored, evil-looking dragon.

* [[Beast Wars|Transmetal II]] [[Beast Machines|Megatron.]] Considering all the bad guys who this doesn't work for, it seems ironic that he grows to hate his scaled up form despite it being responsible for his success.

 

{{reflist}}