Super Smoke: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

The power of a creature to turn into smoke. This is a form of [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]], where the subject doesn't just change shape but can turn [[Intangible Man|intangible]]—in the form of smoke, mist, or gas—while still retaining some coherence and control over the now cloudy body.

 

A subtrope of [[Elemental Shapeshifter]].

{{examples}}

== General ==

* Turning into a cloud of mist is a standard power for [[Vampire Tropes|vampires]]. [[Our Vampires Are Different|Not every vampire story features this]], however. It tends to be less prevalent in live action, maybe due to the difficulty of rendering it well with special effects, or because it is less known than the classic bat or wolf shapes.

 

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', some of the Logia users can turn into gaseous elements. [[Meaningful Name|Smoker]] [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|actually turns parts of his body into smoke.]]

** Punk Hazard's master, Ceasar Clown, possesses a Devil Fruit specifically allowing him to become gas.

* IN ''[[Berserk]]'', Emperor Ganishka is able to turn himself into a giant humanoid cloud of fog with lightning powers. He also (even while in human form) can blanket a city with [[Ominous Fog]] that allows him to sense anything that happens in the cloud.

 

* The "foglets" in ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'' upload their brains into clouds of [[Nanomachines]] smoke, and take any form they like.

* In ''[[Flare]]'', this power was a side effect of Marian Press becoming the Blond Bombshell.

* Various genies in ''[[Iznogoud]]'' use this to [[Genie in a Bottle|enter/exit a bottle]]. Or a lamp. Or a ''shoe'', in one case.

 

* The Phantasm from ''[[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm]]'' seems to do this trick. He doesn't literally turn to smoke, but is still virtually untouchable. {{spoiler|Note that technically The Phantasm [[Samus Is a Girl|is a woman]].}}

* One of Dark Heart's forms in ''[[Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation]]''.

 

* Francis Ford Coppola's ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula|Bram Stokers Dracula]]'' is one of the few cinematographic adaptations faithful enough to have the title vampire turning into mist before slipping into Mina's bedroom or Renfield's cell.

* From ''[[The Mummy Trilogy]]'', Imhotep doesn't exactly turn into smoke, but can become a cloud of dust and sand moving under its own power.

* The ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]]'' films gave the Death Eaters this power instead of Apparition (teleportation), presumably for [[Rule of Cool]] purposes.

 

* Bram Stoker's ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]]'' is certainly the most well-known example of a vampire with the power to turn into mist.

* Jack Fleming from ''[[The Vampire Files]]'' has this as his only alternate form, as opposed to Drac's additional wolf and bat shapes, but with the added perk that his smoke form is invisible—except, oddly, in mirrors. He can still hear when "vanished", but he's blind until he reappears, and while he can move around (like swimming underwater with his eyes shut), he can't touch anything or do anything except brush against people and make them feel really cold. He uses it for evading bad guys and B&E, sometimes simultaneously.

* Saint Dane from ''[[The Pendragon Adventure]]'' can turn into smoke upon being "killed" (or just at will) and reform elsewhere. {{spoiler|So can the other travelers, in the last book. We only see Bobby do it twice, though.}}

* The Black Court vampire Mavra in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' can naturally do this, as ''[[Dracula]]'' was written to describe their powers and vulnerabilities. When Harry complains that she's late to a meeting she, in a surprisingly human moment for a [[Complete Monster|totally inhuman]] character, attributes it to there being a headwind.

 

* {{spoiler|The Man In Black}} on ''[[Lost]]'', otherwise known as the Smoke Monster. It's not very ''intangible'' smoke, though.

* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Dracula can do most of his traditional transformations. See the comics continuation above.

* This is the main form of Demons in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' when they're not possessing humans.

 

* This is a standard power for [[Our Genies Are Different|Djinns, Efreets and other Genies]]. Turning into smoke is often the prerequisite for exiting from (or slipping into) [[Genie in a Bottle|tiny lamps or bottles]]. This led to the common representation of Genies [[Fog Feet|lacking legs]], the lower body being still vaporous while the upper body is solid.

* One of the traits of the [[Youkai|Yuki-Onna]] from [[Japanese Mythology]] is the ability to turn into a cloud of mist when they feel threatened.

* Asdeev the white dragon from Persian mythology can turn into fog

 

** Several spells and magical items allow this, notably the "potion of Gaseous Form", the "Wind Walk" spell, etc.

** Also, several creatures have this power, including the aforementioned Genies and Vampires. Some fiends, like the Yochlol or Alkilith, can likewise turn into [[Deadly Gas|poisonous gas]].

* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'', a spell allows you to turn into smoke. It makes you invulnerable to almost every attack, but you can't fight back. Gust spells are one of the only ways to harm a person in this form.

* The "Desolidification" power in ''[[Champions|Hero System]]''.

 

* ''[[Bionicle]]''

** Zaktan, being made of millions of small creatures called protodites, can act in this manner.

** The Makuta are armour-wearing smoke. In addition, the Makuta Teridax spends 2006 without the armour.

 

* One power that Kain earns in ''Blood Omen'' and keeps throughout the ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' games is the ability to turn into mist to pass through portcullis and grates.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has the shadow priest move "Dispersion" which turns them into a cloud of purple shadow, rendering them almost invulnerable, unable to attack, and restores [[Mana]] very quickly.

* Being the son of Dracula, Alucard in ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]'' has the ability to turn into mist, and later, poison gas.

* Smoke from ''[[Mortal Kombat (video game)|Mortal Kombat]]'', natch. This extends even to his robotic form, strangely enough. Later installments decided to explain this as "nanomachines".

* In the ''[[Touhou Project]]'', this is one of the abilities available to Suika Ibuki, due to her power to control density.

* ''[[Champions Online]]''

** The Ice-set power "Vapor Form" is a sort of panic-button defensive power that can turn the player intangible for a brief period, enhancing defense and IIRC boosting elemental damage dealt.

** In addition, in the Vibora Bay expansion, the vampire Immortals of the New Shadows faction aren't really killed, unlike other members of the faction. Yes, their body crumbles to dust, but a cloud of mist with a 1/3 full health bar (and utterly invulnerable) flies around for a few moments later before fading; it is implied that they will reform elsewhere later.

* In ''[[The Lost Crown]]'', the ghostly Ager brothers sometimes manifest as black-clad glowering figures, and other times as billowing ink-black columns of malevolent vapor.

 

* In [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0647.html this strip] of ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', Elan finds "Wind Walk" to be [[It's the Best Whatever Ever!|the best cleric spell ever]]. Durkon isn't so enthusiastic.

* Elizabeth from ''[[Blip]]'' has this power, as she's a vampire.

* In ''[[The Kingfisher]]'', this seems to be a power of the Kellgren lineage. Patricia is shown using it to move quickly in Theodore's backstory (form of a mist), and Theodore himself uses it in front of Jack. Sombretas can also become a shadowy dustdevil for a short time.

 

* Erzebet of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' can do this. It's one of several shapes she can shift into. Unfortunately, she loses her clothing when she does it. And because of the shapes she can take, her family cast her out, thinking she was a vampire. She's not, she's just a limited Shifter.

 

* ''[[Code Lyoko]]''

** The [[Trope Namer]]: William gains the "Super Smoke" power along with his [[Evil Costume Switch]]. This allows him to move very quickly on Lyoko, on par with Ulrich's [[Super Speed]], to fly and to escape many attacks.

** The Polymorphic Specters can likewise turn into smoke in the real world, and one even uses this shape to clog Jérémie's airways and try suffocating him in episode "Franz Hopper".

* [[Meaningful Name|Misty]] in ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]'' has the power of turning into purple smoke to become intangible and [[Mind Control]] opponents.

* Puff, the bounty hunter from ''[[Static Shock]]'', is able to turn herself (or just her lower half) into a [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|purple cloud]], doubling as [[Deadly Gas]].

 

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:Shapeshifting]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]