Sizeshifter: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:mario_sizeshifter_1587.jpg|link=Super Mario Bros.|frame|Mario gets a [[Power-Up|Super Mushroom]]]]
 
A very specific type of superpower. The character has the ability to change their size. Usually, this starts off one way, such as only being able to [[Incredible Shrinking Man|shrink]] or [[Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever|grow]]. Eventually, this starts to seem a little lame (unless the change comes with added [[Super Strength]], or other [[Required Secondary Powers]] in order to offset that pesky [[Square-Cube Law]]), and they probably end up being able to do both with an upgrade of some sort, or a [[Hand Wave]] about training.
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* Kirara of ''[[Inuyasha]]'' can alternate between her housecat-sized form and her battle-ready form, which is roughly the size of a horse.
* A power of the [[Guyver]] Gigantic, growing into the massive Gigantic Exceed. Useful when one of your enemies turns into a [[Kaiju]]. It's implied that not only does it increase the Guyver's physical size but also increases the power of the Giga-Smasher and the Gravity Orb. To the point where Sho considered using gravity orb to create a small black hole (an extremely difficult and almost uncontrollable feat when previously done by Guyot) to be the ''less'' destructive option than the Giga-Smasher Exceed!
* ''[[Mazinger Z (Anime)|Mazinger Z]]'': Several Mechanical Beasts had the ability to changing size. The first of them -Bicong O9- showed up as soon as episode 12.
** ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|Great Mazinger]]'' - Marquis Yanus -one of the [[Co-Dragons]]- could change size, although she -and her [[Humongous Mecha]]- became smaller instead of bigger ([[Justified]] since she was a spy and by dwarfing her mecha to human size she could blend between humans), so maybe it invers the trope.
* Employed by the Akimichi clan in ''[[Naruto]]'' as part of their clan jutsu. Choza is the first one to turn into a giant onscreen {{spoiler|and has spent most of the ninja war fighting in this form}}, and Choji uses it a couple of times as well.
* Piccolo from [[DragonballDragon Ball]] has this ability, though [[New Powers Asas the Plot Demands|he has so many other abilities]] that it's often overlooked, and was only used once throughout the series.
 
 
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* Colossal Boy and Shrinking Violet of ''[[The Legion of Super Heroes]]''. In the '90s version of the team, Colossal Boy died and Violet gained his growing powers, rechristening herself LeViathan. In the '00s version, Colossal Boy lives and Vi has been renamed Atom Girl.
** In the Threeboot ('00s) version, Colossal Boy prefers to be known as "Micro Lad", as his ''actual'' ability is to shrink to human size from his normal sixty-foot-tall size.
* Titan from ''[[Justice Machine (Comic Book)|Justice Machine]].''
* Elasti-Girl of the [[Doom Patrol]].
* Among villains, one of the best known examples is Giganta from the [[DCU]]. However, she didn't develop this ability until she appeared in ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]'', making the current version of her something of a [[Canon Immigrant]].
* Alice from ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Literature)|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', in the ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', retained her size-changing powers from the infamous scene in the children's book.
* Micro-Might from ''[[PS 238PS238]]''. Shrinking means her body increases in density, increasing her strength and durability. However, if she gets ''too'' dense, she's unable to move.
* In ''[[Wildguard]]'', Jack Giant and Blaction Figure had growing and shrinking powers, respectively
* Mighty Man, from ''Amazing Man Comics'', has the ability to change his size.
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== Films -- Animated ==
* ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]'' has [[Big Bad|Eris, Goddess of Chaos]], able to shift between [[Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever|normal and absolutely massive with no problem]]. It seems to mostly be for the sake of intimidation and just because she can, as she favors [[Batman Gambit|manipulating people based on their flaws]] and sending the occasional minion over stomping on random things herself.
 
 
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* Perhaps needless to say, tabletop RPGs created to handle playing in the superhero genre usually include both powers. Fights between characters of massively disparate sizes can also seriously challenge a game's usual combat rules, which usually assume roughly human-sized opponents facing each other as the unspoken default and whose designers may not have stopped to consider how to address questions such as "can I climb/fly into my giant-sized opponent's ear and knock him out from there?"
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''
** The wizard spells [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/EnlargePerson.htm Enlarge Person] and [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/ReducePerson.htm Reduce Person], which [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|do exactly what it says on the tin]]. Also [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/RighteousMight.htm Righteous Might] for clerics.
** Originally introduced in the 1st Edition ''Oriental Adventures'' sourcebook (and then seen again in ''Complete Arcane'') are the Giant Size and Minute Form spells. Even a [[Squishy Wizard]] is going to hurt when she's hitting you with a ''tree''.
** Psionic characters have the [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/expansion.htm Expansion] power, which achieves the same effect. It has the added bonus of working on non-humanoids just as effectively as humanoids and even allowing the target to grow even more. There is, of course, an opposite that causes the target to reduce in size.
* In ''[[Changeling: The Lost (Tabletop Game)|Changeling: The Lost]]'', there exists a Kith (sub-type) of the Ogres known as [[Our Giants Are Bigger|Gargantuans]]; their particular gift as Changelings is called Spurious Stature, which enables them to grow to enormous size for a brief time. Given the somewhat more subdued nature of the New World of Darkness, this is less extreme than most examples of this type, though a newly escaped Gargantuan can grow to the size of a gorilla or grizzly bear depending on their power. Supplementary material implies that their size-changing power is a consequence of their reduced power on Earth; supposedly, some Gargantuans remember being of perpetual giant-size in the domain of the Fae.
** The multi-kith rules also make it possible for other sorts of Ogres to do this as well, or any possible Changeling, depending on what's house-ruled in.
 
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''
** Mario, of course. Firstly he had the Super Mushrooms that made him grow. Then in ''[[New Super Mario Bros (Video Game)|New Super Mario Bros]]'' a Mini Mushroom was introduced which shrunk him to fit into tiny spaces and [[Walk On Water]], as well as a Mega Mushroom which made him even bigger than with the Super Mushroom.
** Although ''[[New Super Mario Bros (Video Game)|New Super Mario Bros]]'' series seems to continue the adjustment first seen in ''[[Super Mario Bros 2 (Video Game)|Super Mario Bros 2]]'', that the "big" size is actually the standard; Mario and friends shrink when they get hit and then need to use a Super Mushroom to return to normal.
** [[Big Bad|Bowser]] had occasionally became a giant in some games, and [[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Rosalina]] actually has the ability to grow to the size of a planet!
** ''[[Wario Land (Video Game)|Wario Land]]'''s Wario, in symmetry with his redder counterpart -- but he also loses most of his hair when he shrinks.
* ''[[Touhou]]'': Suika Ibuki's most famous use of her density manipulation comes in the form of her 'Missing Purple Power' spellcard, which causes her to roughly triple her size. [[Fanon]] depictions sometimes show her becoming a literal [[Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever|50-foot oni]] and beyond. What makes this even more noticeable is the fact that Suika is one of the shortest characters in the series at normal size. She also has the shrinking variation: She can generate mini-Suikas which are roughly 3 inches tall.
* In ''Super [[Pac-Man]]'', Pac-Man could eat a Super dot and temporarily become enormous. The super-sized Pac-Man was much faster and could pass through locked doors and ghosts without a problem.
* In [[The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap]], the title headgear enables Link to shrink down to mouse-size.
* [[Asura's Wrath]] has Asura's Master, Augus, who has a blade that has this power.
** [[Fat Bastard|Wyzen]] is this as well.
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== Web Comics ==
* Durkon from ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' occasionally transforms into a [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0111.html fifteen-foot-tall dwarf] when in dire straits. (Based on ''D&D'' spell Righteous Might, see above.)
* Vittoria of ''[[SERGOM]]'' can do this.
* Boltrin of ''[[Dragon Mail]]'' can grow once per day.
* Saurus from ''[[Zodiac (Webcomicwebcomic)|Zodiac]]'' has this ability.
 
 
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== Western Animation ==
* Apache Chief from ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]''. Considering he's wearing a loincloth, we hope he's wearing some undies.
** His [[DCAU]] [[Expy]] Longshadow has the same power, but is sensible enough to wear pants.
** Apache Chief's powers were also [[Freud Was Right|analyzed]] in an episode of ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney Atat Law]]''.
* Although they don't grow themselves, these are primarily the abilities of ''[[Ben 10 (Animation)|Ben 10]]'s'' aliens Grey Matter (little guy) and Waybig (very... well, guess yourself). Later, an alien called Humongosaur is added with regular growing powers. Still later, the shrinking Nanomech becomes available.
* Big purple Mego of ''[[Kim Possible]]'' -- "[[Stealth Pun|He's a shrinker]]."
* Bumblebee's animated version on ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]''.
* ''[[Xiaolin Showdown (Animation)|Xiaolin Showdown]]''
** The Changing Chopsticks shrink any user to the size of a rice. And if used with the Reversing Mirror they actually make the user grow.
** Not to mention Dojo has this power all the time.
* ''[[DextersDexter's Laboratory]]''
** Capital G of the Justice Friends could use this power. Only seen twice, neither time helpful.
** One episode involved Dexter having to watch over his sister's imaginary friend, a jolly dragonish creature named Koosalagoopagoop (or Koosy for short) who can change size at will.
* Ickis of ''[[Aaahh Real Monsters]]'' is normally a little [[Ugly Cute]] [[Killer Rabbit|bunny-like]] monster, but can balloon up to an impressive height when scaring humans.
* Jake from ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'' can grow more than ten times his size, as well as shrink down to pocket size. It helps that he's also a [[Rubber Man]].
* Meteor Man from ''[[wikipedia:Birdman and the Galaxy Trio|The Galaxy Trio]]''.
* A number of Transformers from ''[[Transformers Generation One1]]'' change size when they transform, most famously Megatron (Walther P-38) and Soundwave (tape player).
* Rubilax from ''[[Wakfu (Animation)|Wakfu]]'' is tiny in his default (true) form, but the more he is hit the bigger he gets. In season 2 {{spoiler|Anathar copies this power.}}
* Cassie from [[Dragon Tales]] had a tendency to shrink to about a foot tall when upset.