Shapeshifter Mode Lock/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A character with Shapeshifting powers is suddenly unable to transform anymore -- they're stuck in one form.

  • Straight: Alice knows how to turn herself into a werecat. The Big Bad shot her with some some Applied Phlebotinum and now she's stuck in that form.
    • Or, she's stuck in human form and can't transform.
  • Exaggerated: It's permanent -- Alice is stuck this way for the rest of her life.
  • Downplayed: Alice can shapeshift into any form, except after she's shot by the Applied Phlebotinum, then she can shapeshift into any form except for werecat.
  • Justified: Alice hasn't learned how to turn back into a human on her own yet.
  • Inverted: Alice is shot by a serum that causes her to constantly transform into different shapes without stop.
  • Subverted: Alice is shot by a serum, and can no longer shapeshift into a werecat, except it turns out that she still can shapeshift, only the trigger has changed.
    • Or, Alice normally uses a Transformation Trinket, and because she can't change back she thinks it's broken. Instead, somebody swapped the real thing for a fake.
  • Double Subverted: Instead of transforming back, she transforms into another form, which she get's stuck.
  • Parodied: Alice gets stuck as a Catgirl. She wangsts about this.
  • Deconstructed: This becomes a major blow to Alice's reputation. She never lives it down.
  • Reconstructed: Alternatively, She grows fond of her new form.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: Alice is never locked into one form.
    • There are no shapeshifters portrayed.
  • Enforced: The writers decided that shapeshifting powers were too much of a Game Breaker, so decided to lock the shapeshifter in one form.
  • Lampshaded: "My mom told me my face would freeze like this."
  • Invoked: Alice creates a Power Limiter to keep her from shapeshifting out of control.
  • Exploited: ???
  • Defied: ???
  • Discussed: "Why can't you change back?"
  • Conversed: "That must be so inconvenient to be stuck in one form like that."
  • Played For Laughs: Alice is stuck in her werecat form, but she decides to continue living her normal life as a high school student. Unfortunately her appearance causes panic everywhere she goes and makes it difficult for her to accomplish mundane tasks.
  • Played For Drama: Alice is stuck in her werecat form. She goes into hiding, afraid that her friends won't accept her anymore.

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