Voluntary Shapeshifting: Difference between revisions

[[File:vol-shapshifter-001 3160.png|link=Terminator (franchise)|frame|''[[Paranoia Fuel|They could be anywhere]]''...'''[[The Can Kicked Him|anything!]]''']]

 

 

A character with the power to transform and reshape his or her body. This trope comes in a wide variety of [[A Worldwide Punomenon|forms]], but can be classified by exactly '''what''' the character can transform themselves into.

Many [[Superhero]]es have this power, along with nearly all [[Our Gods Are Different|gods]] and [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]s. It's particularly popular with [[Tricksters]] and [[Reality Warper]]s.

 

 

Being able to [[Shapeshifter Weapon|form limbs into stabbing weapons]] and [[Pulling Themselves Together|reform oneself after being blown apart by explosives]] has become an almost standard ability of the clay-consistency metamorph in recent years, probably due to the popularity of the T-1000 character from the ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator]]'' films.

 

Sooner or later, a [[Phlebotinum Breakdown]] may leave the character suffering [[Involuntary Shapeshifting]] or [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]], if only temporarily. If badly beaten or near death, they may have a [[Superpower Meltdown]] and lose control of their power, resulting in a [[Shapeshifter Swan Song]].

 

* Ditto from ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. In the game it can only transform into whichever Pokémon it is facing at the time with a purple tint (this was later removed in newer games, where the transformed Ditto was simply a lighter tint of normal Pokémon). In the anime, they can transform into all different things including Pokémon, but some of them keep the creepy looking face of the original. The legendary Mew also possesses this ability both in the games and shown in one of the movies.

** In ''[[Pokémon Heroes]]'', the Pokémon Latias commonly shapeshifts into the human Bianca; the only differences between the pair is that Latias does not wear the beret and is voiceless. Her version is unlike Ditto/Mew's as here it is that the Latias can be seen in her true form with a pair of thermogoggles owned by [[Big Bad|Annie and Oakley]].

* Nurarihyon from ''[[Gantz]]'' combines this with [[From a Single Cell]]: the capacity of his shapeshifting ability is so potential, he is almost impossible to kill. Actually, by just trying to do damage to him, he ''is'' impossible to kill. Only when he can't see the attack coming, are his [[Healing Factor|regenerative abilities]] hindered. Nurarihyon can also transform into pretty much anything imaginable from an old man to [[Squick|a gigantic naked body of a woman]] [[Fan Disservice|formed by countless naked bodies of women]].

* Elfman Strauss and his siblings Mirajane and Lisanna from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' share a magical ability called "Take Over". It allows them to take the form of other beings, like beasts (Elfman's "Beast Soul"), animals (Lisanna's "Animal Soul") or a demon (Mirajane's "Satan Soul").

 

* Jason Blood is able to transform into the demon [[Etrigan]] by saying a short poem.

* Mystique from the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'': people, some other creatures. Similarly, Morph from the [[X-Men (animation)|90s series]], who was in turn inspired by Changeling from the comics. Morph (maybe not the same guy) also appears in the ''[[Age of Apocalypse]]'' event and the ''[[Exiles]]'' ongoing monthly title.

* ''[[Last Man Standing (graphic novel)|Last Man Standing]]'' has [[Meaningful Name|Karma]], which is a [[Justified Trope]] considering she's a robotic spy with advanced synthetic texture-maping tech for skin.

 

* In the Virtual Series [[Slayer Academy]] two characters, Hamish and Rachel, have the ability to change their appearance. They can look like other people as well as changing all or part of themselves into various demons.

* In [[Keepers of the Elements]], the Erendorian people for the most part have this ability and some non-Erendorian people have this ability as well.

* [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7673069/1/Digipoke_Digital_Pokemon Digipoke: Digital Pokémon]. has the [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits|protagonists]] changing into different Pokémon and [[Digimon]] in order to defeat their enemies, sometimes spending no more than a couple of seconds before transforming again.

 

* ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator 2]]'' gives us the aforementioned T-1000. Capable of imitating almost anything it touches, but not replicating it, since it is made out of liquid metal. It's able to turn its limbs into various weapons such as knives or hooks. Complex machinery such as guns is a problem, because they have specific components such as chemical reactions and moving parts. It also often imitates people it's just killed in order to move around freely (its default appearance being a cop) or to get closer to its target. Due to its natural liquid form being able to reassemble at will, its [[Nigh Invulnerable|virtually indestructible]] by any means of conventional weaponry.

* Jareth from ''[[Labyrinth]]'' can turn into an owl.

* [[Real Life Writes the Plot|Due to Heath Ledger's death,]] a mechanism was written into [[The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus]] where dishonest people [[Involuntary Shapeshifting|tended to have different faces than their real ones]] when transported into the imagination world. Fitting this trope, it's somewhat implied that Parnasus COULD use this beyond clothes, but chose not to so as to be properly recognized by the others. Played totally straight - in the fantasy if nowhere else - by the one that gave him the Imaginarium: {{spoiler|no less than [[Satan]] himself.}}

 

* The entire point of ''[[Tortall Universe|The Immortals]]'' quartet by [[Tamora Pierce]]. Daine has Wild Magic, allowing her to communicate with, heal, command, and change into animals. Stemming from her {{spoiler|minor god of a father}}, the books deal with her bringing her powers under control. She can also partially shapeshift, doing things like putting her human head on an eagle's body.

** Though sometimes her clothes go with her when she shifts and sometimes not.

* Every single character in ''[[The Last Dove]]'' can do this. Some clans will shun those who can't.

 

* Flabber from ''[[Beetleborgs]]'' has this as one of his powers, being that he's a magical Phasm and all (and a rather obvious Genie/Mask [[Captain Ersatz]], with the looks of the Joker). Early on in ''Beetleborgs Metalix'', the kids get the ability to turn into ''actual beetles'' by shouting "Bug Out!" to turn into bugs and "Bug back!" to turn back into themselves.

* The main character in ''[[Manimal]]'': any animal, though he seems to fixate on a panther, a hawk, a snake, and other creatures for which the producers had sufficient stock footage.

** The transformations into a bull or cat were done OFF SCREEN though. Also a dolphin.

*** And when he transformed back into his human form, he was always inexplicably fully clothed.

** Also Daledians, featured in ''Next Generation'' episode "[[Star Trek: The Next Generation/Recap/S2/E10 The Dauphin|The Dauphin]]".

* It can be argued that the ''Game Face'' presented by [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffyverse]] vampires is their real appearance (after all, they're demons!) and they "shape-shift" to appear as normal humans as necessary.

* [[Roger Rabbit Effect|Ttark]] from ''[[Kratts' Creatures]]''.

 

* Quite a few dragons have this ability, [[Our Dragons Are Different|depending on the story.]]

* In Japanese mythology, [[Tanuki]] ("raccoon dogs") usually have this ability; often [[Kitsune]] (foxes), jorogumo (spiders), and housecats (bakeneko and nekomata) can do this as well.

* In the Balkans, there are legends of weather-controlling sorcerers who can turn into snakes, eagles, or other animals. Usually these are good guys who protect their home villages, but then they're also prone to attack neighboring villages.

 

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' is filled with creatures, races, classes, spells, and items that allow characters to shapeshift.

** Creature example: Dopplegangers.

* ''Night Wizard'' as a number of playable classes which can do this, most notably the Tamer/Magic Beast User, whose main gimmick is transforming body parts into various forms to grant himself various abilities.

 

 

== Theme Parks ==

* Waldo from ''[[Muppet*Vision 3D]]'' at the [[Disney Theme Parks]].

 

== Toys ==

* ''[[Bionicle]]'' has quite a few. One example is Krahka, a Rahi who can transform, perfectly imitate and even gain some memories of any living thing she sees. Another example is the Makuta, a race of evil beings, one of which is the [[Big Bad]], that are {{spoiler|made of energy}} and have shapeshifting armor.

 

* Shang Tsung in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series has the ability to shapeshift. In the first game during his battle, he would change randomly into any of the characters. In the second game, he could only transform into Kintaro as a fatality. The third game (and its editions) marks the only time he could transform into any of the characters as a playable feature (though it took loading time). While it was limited gameplay wise, it's implied storywise that he could transform into anyone he wishes to.

* The title character in the Playstation game ''Muppet Monster Adventure'' is Kermit's nephew Robin. In it Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzi, Gonzo and Clifford have been turned into the following monsters: Frankenstein-like thing, Bride Of Frankenstein-like thing, Werebear, vampire, and muck monster. And in the game you can get the powers of those monsters after collecting amulet pieces—Robin takes on a form similar to that of the monster his powers are from.

* Axl of ''[[Mega Man X]]'' had this and served as a plot point for both ''X7'' and ''X8''.

** Played straight as the main gimmick of ''[[Mega Man ZX]]'' with Model A being able to take on the shapes previously defeated bosses.

* ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' has [[Heroic Sociopath|Alex Mercer]], whose main power is this and includes shifting his body into weapons or armor—and becoming people he has [[I'm a Humanitarian|absorbed]], complete with their [[Instant Expert|memories and skills]].

* The Laguz from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' are able to transform into their respective animals (be they beast, bird or dragon) for offensive purposes.

** This applies to the other tanuki as well (and the ones we've seen have fewer give-aways than Mamizou), they just don't have names. Additionally, [[Catgirl|Orin]] is capable of reverse-[[Animorphism]], taking a human-like form in addition to her natural cat body. The same is believed to apply to the other beast type youkai, though it hasn't been confirmed.

 

* Luna in [[Sailor Moon CS]].

* In [[Holiday Wars]], [[April Fools' Day]] is a shapeshifter who can take any form he wants. We first see him swap forms in [https://web.archive.org/web/20160314023321/http://th3rdworld.com/web-comic/holiday-wars/episode/holiday-wars-episode-42 this strip].

* In ''[[Beyond the Canopy]]'', Jojo is a semi-solid being who can alter his shape and proportions at will.

* In [[The Kingfisher]] some vampires can turn into animals, animalistic monster forms, mist, and/or some kind of shadowy form. These abilities are all at will and seem limited by the vampire's lineage.

 

* A lot of the characters in the webfiction ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' have this. It ranges from "can only copy other people" (Bogus or Chaney) over "can turn into any natural predatory animal" (Feral) and super-stretchy abilities (Plastic Girl) to "can change into almost anything you can think of without regard to size" (Jimmy Trauger). Jimmy T can turn into an 80-foot-giant, or 300 pounds of carnivorous protoplasm, or something from ''Alien''. He just can't control what shape he'll be when he wakes up, and it takes him hours to revert back to his real form.

** And those are just some of the ''mutants''. The universe also features lycanthropes (like the tribe whose land the school itself stands on) and shapeshifting spirits and demons. For example, Carmilla's father Gothmog is normally an [[Eldritch Abomination]]...but he's also quite capable of taking human form when interacting with humans.

* Jaza from [http://chimerabazaar.blogspot.com/ The Chimera Bazaar] is a shape-shifting being, but has forgotten its original form, which makes its gender questionable.

 

 

* Ben Tennyson from ''[[Ben 10]]'' series can change into almost any alien using Omnitrix (Ultimatrix from Ultimate Alien series). He can transform into aliens, originally choosing from a set of ten, [[Artifact Title|with later additions]]. A future, 30-year-old incarnation of the character is stated to have 10 ''thousand'' aliens to choose from.

** It was taken ''much'' further in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]''. In addition to a completely different set of ten aliens from the original series, the season 2 finale has the Omnitrix's creator, Azmuth, activate the ''true'' Master Control function, allowing Ben to choose from 1,000,903 total alien species' from across the Milky Way galaxy.

** And in [[The Movie]] an office park complex.

* ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' has mainly all of the fairies in fairyworld who can shapeshift at will due to their magic powers. Cosmo and Wanda can also do this—except in one episode where Cosmo's fagiggly gland acted up causing [[Involuntary Shapeshifting|just the opposite]] to happen to him.

* Courage from ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]''.

* The shapeshifting experiment Morpholomew from the ''[[Lilo and Stitch]]'' cartoon series.

* Every member of Oberon's Children from ''[[Gargoyles]]'' is a Shapeshifter. Heck, "changeling" was another name for them used by the title characters.

* Klone from ''[[Blackstar]]'' is a rare example of a good-aligned shapeshifter, using his powers to combat the forces of evil and once to even sneak into the [[Big Bad]]'s hideout.

* Two episodes of ''[[Exo Squad]]'' featured a Neosapien who was transformed into a [[Blob Monster|blobish creature]] that could shapeshift by Automutation Syndrome and medical experiments.

* Beast Boy from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', of course, can change himself into [[Animorphism|any animal that has ever lived]], earth-based or alien—he just seems to need to know what it looks like. Madame Rouge, one of the main villains from the fifth season, however, puts him to shame, being able to transform into ''anything'', period, in addition to the ability to reform herself if killed. She's generally considered to be ''the'' deadliest one-on-one opponent in the show, barring the [[The Legions of Hell|demon characters]].

** The Changelings are a race that are capable of taking the shape of any pony.

 

* [[The Reptilians]] are frequently portrayed as having this ability.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]

[[Category:The Trickster]]