Shapeshifting - TV Tropes

"Aliens disguised as typewriters? I never heard such—"

• Asian Fox Spirit: Kitsunes, gumihos, huli jing and their kin traditionally have the ability to take on human form at will.
• Ball of Light Transformation: Transformation into a luminous form shaped as a flame, orb, star, mote, et cetera.
• Can't Shift While Shifted: A shapeshifter has to return to their default form to shift into something else.
• Changeling Tale: When fairy creatures pretend to be human infants, usually after abducting the real babies and switching places with them.
• Dual Age Modes: The ability to change between an "older" and "younger" form.
• Elemental Shapeshifter: Transforming oneself (in whole or part) into one of the Natural Elements.
• Empathic Shapeshifter: If other people dictate what you transform into.
• Eye Colour Change: Some forms, where you can change your eye color repeatedly.
• Eyes Are Mental: Their eyes stay the same even if the rest of their bodies don't.
• God in Human Form: A deity pretends to be a mere mortal.
• Good Shapeshifting, Evil Shapeshifting: Heroic shapeshifters transform differently to villainous shapeshifters.
• Growing Muscles Sequence: Bulking up as you transform.
• Henshin Hero: A character who gains superpowers by transforming.
• Hulking Out: The You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry! version.
• Human Disguise: When non-human beings somehow change their appearance to look more human.
• Humanshifting: Some shapeshifters only have the ability to transform into humanoids.
• Involuntary Shapeshifting: If you can't control when/where your shapeshifting powers kick in.
• Kaleidoscope Eyes: Change your eye color randomly.
• Kaleidoscope Hair: Or change your hair color repeatedly.
• Kibbles and Bits: Why does that car have sections that look like fists? Why does that robot have pieces of car dangling from its back?
• Long Neck: What happens when your head needs to be way over there but the rest of you stays put, without detaching.
• Magic Pants: Clothes don't get destroyed during a transformation.
• Material Mimicry: Transforming to be like substances you touch.
• Master of Disguise: When instead of using artificial means the character can actually change their facial features or even their body type.
• Mermanity Ensues: A character ends up obtaining aquatic traits, either as an Apparently Human Merfolk, a mermaid, or a fish, by a variety of ways.
• Metamorphosis Monster: It may be cute and cuddly now, but just wait...
• Morphic Resonance: When a shapeshifter's forms all have some common feature that the audience can identify them by.
• Multiform Balance: When there are trade-offs between various forms.
• Narrative Shapeshifting: A silent character recounts a story by playing shapeshifting charades.
• New Body, Old Abilities: Regardless of the body's physical abilities, the new owner can use all their former abilities.
• Objectshifting: Transforming into an inanimate object — voluntarily or otherwise.
• Older Alter Ego: Someone's superpower is to turn older.
• One to Million to One: Shifting into multiple separate creatures, possibly to avoid an impact.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Not all of them are wolves with a lunar trigger.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: The specific traits of werewolves vary from work to work.
• Partial Transformation: Mix-and-match shapeshifting to create one sleek Hybrid Monster.
• Perpetually Protean: Shapeshifting that rarely stops — if at all.
• Randomized Transformation: An unpredictable transformation, usually affecting a living being.
• Ride the Lightning: Turning oneself into lightning for quick transportation.
• Rubber Man: They can stretch and flex themselves into almost any needed shape.
• Sapping the Shapeshifter: For mere mortals, a shapeshifter can only be defeated by slowly exhausting them and — often — their forms.
• Self-Perception Shapeshifting: Transforming to match your self image.
• Selkies and Wereseals: People that can turn into seals.
• Sexier Alter Ego: Transform into a more attractive or otherwise sexually appealing form.
• Sex Shifter: The ability to alter one's sex, male, female or other, rather than shape: a non-permanent Gender Bender.
• Shape Dies, Shifter Survives: A shapeshifted form dies, but the shifter goes back to normal instead of dying for real.
• Shapeshifter Baggage: Some forms are smaller/larger or lighter/heavier than others.
• Shapeshifter Default Form: Whatever form they're usually seen in when not actively using their powers.
• Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: Impersonating the form of an opponent's friend or teammate during battle, to mentally break the opponent down.
• Shapeshifter Identity Crisis: Mental instability causing you to transform into whatever identity/persona is currently dominant in your mind.
• Shapeshifter Mashup: When attempting to mix-and-match multiple forms goes horribly wrong.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: A Phlebotinum Breakdown that leaves a shapeshifter Brought Down to Normal and/or trapped in one form.
• Shapeshifters Do It for a Change: The sexuality of a shapeshifter.
• Shapeshifter Showdown: Shapeshifter vs. shapeshifter! Awesomeness ensues.
• Shapeshifter Showoff Session: As soon as they're revealed as such, shapeshifters just can't resist flaunting their powers.
• Shapeshifter Swan Song: Uncontrolled transformations triggered by a critical (or fatal) injury to the shapeshifter.
• Shapeshifter Weapon: Using your shapeshifter powers to create weapons from your own body.
• Shapeshifting Heals Wounds: Going from one shape to another fixes the damage taken by one form (although it may still be there on returning to the original form).
• Shapeshifting Seducer: Shapeshifter trying to get in your bed? It'll just turn into the most desirable person you've ever seen.
• Shapeshifting Squick: Shapeshifters must have a very interesting love life...
• Shapeshifting Trickster: A trickster character who changes form.
• Sizeshifter: The ability to alter one's size, rather than shape.
• Skin Walker: A magical shapeshifter who can change from human to animal forms at will, originating from Navajo Indian folklore.
• Sprouting Ears: A little extra number and type of ears when Super-Deformed.
• Superpowered Default Form: A shapeshifter has powers even when not transformed.
• Super Smoke: Transformation into a gaseous form like smoke, air, mist, et cetera.
• Swiss-Army Hero: Shapeshifting where each form has some kind of exclusive ability. A popular manifestation for Video Games.
• Technically Naked Shapeshifter: A shapeshifter whose clothes are part of their body.
• Telescoping Robot: A robotic character opens or extends parts of their body to reveal tons of weapons.
• Temporary Bulk Change: Rapidly gaining or losing fat or muscle.
• They Look Like Us Now: When evil creatures figure out a way to look like humans.
• Totally Not a Werewolf: A shapeshifter becomes mistaken for whatever creature or monster they appear as.
• Transformation Is a Free Action: Because it would be a vulnerability if it wasn't.
• Transformation Sequence: Activating one's superpowers may also induce a physical transformation. May become Stock Footage in serial works.
• Transforming Conforming: A shapeshifter or other transforming characters must play by the rules of their chosen form.
• Transforming Mecha: Shapeshifting for robots!
• Transforming Vehicle: Normal cars (and other vehicles) can shapeshift too.
• Tricking the Shapeshifter: If you can't defeat a shapeshifter in one of their forms, convince them to transform into something you can.
• Unstable Genetic Code: A more scientific explanation for shapeshifting.
• Voice Changeling: The ability to imitate anyone's voice, rather than their shape.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: The "standard" shapeshifter package.
• Weredragon: Someone that can turn into a dragon.
• Wolf Man: A canine-like humanoid, often a kind of werewolf.
• You Are Who You Eat: Eating people allows certain kinds of shapeshifters to look like whomever they ate.

• And Your Reward Is Infancy: Someone is turned into or reincarnated as a baby to give them a new life.
• Anthropomorphic Transformation: A normal animal is turned into a more anthropomorphic form.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: A person becomes attractive post Gender Bender
• Baby Morph Episode: An episode where characters turn into babies.
• Become a Real Boy: A non-human character whose goal is to become one.
• Become Your Weapon: When simple mastery is not enough.
• Becoming the Costume: Particularly popular around Halloween, a curse that transforms the individual into whatever their costume resembles.
• Becoming the Genie: My third wish, make me an all-powerful genie! (Wait a second...)
• Bewitched Amphibians: For whatever reason, frogs and toads are very popular animals for wizards and witches to turn people into.
• Biomanipulation: The superpower of mutating and transforming other living beings besides oneself.
• Bishōnen Line: Transformation from a monstrous form into a much more elegant and human-like one.
• Bit-by-Bit Transformation: Transforming into a creature body part by body part.
• Clone by Conversion: Someone is turned into a copy of another person.
• Clownification: Characters being turned into clowns or mimes, usually through a virus or magic.
• Color Me Black: A bigot turns into another member of a group that they hate.
• The Corruption: When one's mind and/or body is twisted into evil and villainy.
• Defeat by Transformation: The ideal way to win is by transforming your opponent into something else.
• Devolution Device: Applied Phlebotinum that makes something revert to a previous "stage" of evolution.
• Demorphing Denouement: The story's climax or ending features a transformed character being restored to their original form.
• Different for Girls: When a new form subjects you to new social norms.
• Eldritch Transformation: Someone or something gets turned into an Eldritch Abomination.
• Emergency Transformation: When the only way to save your dying body is to have it transformed into something else. Whether or not you'd be better off dead is up to you.
• Equalizing the Interspecies Romance: One half of an Interspecies Romance turns into the other's species.
• Evolution Power-Up: A power-up or transformation is called evolution.
• Failure-Induced Transformation: Being defeated or failing in some way causes the loser to transform...
• First Law of Gender Bending: It's easier to change into a female than it is to change back.
• Fisher Kingdom: A world or setting that transforms your mind, mood, and/or physical form to match its expectations or requirements.
• Forced Transformation: Someone is transformed against their will by an outside force.
• Fountain of Youth: A character spontaneously becomes younger.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Switching bodies/minds/souls with another person.
• Freaky Friday Sabotage: Sometimes the switch backfires. Badly.
• Gender Bender: Being transformed into a member of the opposite sex.
• Super Gender-Bender: Being transformed into superhero/supervillain member of opposite sex
• Growing Wings: Permanently growing wings of some variety.
• Hands Looking Wrong: Realizing your body and hands don't look right.
• Humanity Ensues: An animal (or other non-human) is transformed into a human. They usually aren't happy about the change.
• Human-to-Werewolf Footprints: A set of animal footprints gradually turn into human footprints (or vice versa), in indication that the footprints are made by a were-creature or other animal-human shapeshifter.
• Incredible Shrinking Man: Somebody shrinks down in size.
• Instant Growth-Inducing Meal: Eating causes the character to immediately grow in size.
• Just Woke Up That Way: And avoided a bunch of Applied Phlebotinum, Nonsenseoleum, or Functional Magic by skipping straight to the results.
• Karmic Transformation: Getting transformed into something you despise or that is otherwise ironic; often caused by Laser-Guided Karma.
• Limb-Sensation Fascination: So that's what a tentacle feels like.
• Literal Transformative Experience: A transformation and the experiences that follow leads to a change in personality and character.
• MacGuffin Turned Human: The object that everyone is looking for turns out to have been transformed into a person.
• Magical Species Transformation: Going from human to a mythical species.
• Mass Transformation: A large group of people are transformed at once.
• Metamorphosis: A permanent, one-time transformation that occurs over the long term, and you may know about it well in advance.
  • Diverging Evolutionary Phases: Different, alternative phases in their metamorphosis different from the more typical of their species.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Your thoughts and instincts transform to match whatever new form you have.
• Mirror Reveal: A character discovers they've been transformed when they look in the mirror.
• Multi-Bodied-Morph Panel: A transformation in a single panel — depicted via multiple iterations of the same character's body at different stages.
• Mutagenic Food: You are what you eat... literally.
• Mutagenic Goo: Gooey Applied Phlebotinum that can mutate and transform living beings into monsters.
• My Instincts Are Showing: Behavior is frequently influenced by another form's instincts, during or after the morph.
• Nighttime Transformation: When the characters transforms as a consequence of a late hour of day.
• Not Quite Back to Normal: When a transformation leaves residual effects on the individual even after being turned back to their previous form.
• Oblivious Transformation: When the victim is initially unaware of their changes.
• Outgrowing the Building: A character grows so much that they run out of space — or burst through the roof.
• Overnight Age-Up: A character spontaneously becomes older.
• Personality Remnant: A person transformed physically and mentally retains parts of their original mind.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: An Overnight Age-Up so that a young character can quickly become old enough to have a legitimate role in the story's events.
• Polymorphic Plummet: A character transforms while falling, usually to avoid a nasty landing.
• Power-Upgrading Deformation: A person's body gets deformed in some way, but in turn they become more powerful.
• Pupating Peril: A pupating character is expected to emerge transformed into a much deadlier shape when they finally escape from their cocoon.
• Puppet Permutation: Transformation into a puppet doll.
• Racial Transformation: A character's race is changed permanently, or at any rate in a manner more long-term than make-up, using some kind of fantasy or SF mechanism.
• A Rotten Time to Revert: A transformed character is forced to revert to their natural form at the worst possible time.
• Scary Symbolic Shapeshifting: A non-shapeshifter symbolically transforms to illustrate their unpleasant nature.
• Second Law of Gender-Bending: Your new gender is always more enjoyable than your old one.
• Sense Freak: When a non-human becomes human, they will go wild over senses humans take for granted.
• Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: You may have changed, but your clothing sure didn't.
• Shrink Ray: A device or magic spell that can make people smaller.
• Slow Transformation: The change happens gradually.
• Taunting the Transformed: A character reacts to the sight of a transformation with mockery.
• Terrified Transformation Witness: A character reacts to another character's transformation — the moment or the aftermath — with shock and fear.
• Third Law of Gender-Bending: Any gender bent character will either embrace or be subject to all of the stereotypes associated with their new gender.
• Toy Transmutation: A character is transformed into a toy of some kind.
• Transformation Causes: Lists the number of ways a character can wind up transformed.
• Transformation Comic: Transformation Fiction in comic form.
• Transformation Discretion Shot: A transformation is obscured by editing, camera angles, or visual effects.
• Transformation Fiction: When a work revolves around transformation and/or shapeshifting.
• Transformation in Motion: A Transformation Sequence occurring while the character is moving — walking, running, et cetera.
• Transformation of the Possessed: When the new tenant in your body decides to do a little remodeling.
• Transformation Potion: A potion made to cause a transformation.
• Transformation Ray: An energy beam that can instantaneously alter people.
• Transformed Ever After: The story ends with a character being permanently transformed - or remaining that way.
• Transhuman Treachery: A human transformed into a monster loses their original personality and betrays their former species.
• Transmutation: A form of matter is converted into another in general.
• The Transmogrifier: Someone who has the power to transform other people's bodies.
• Travel Transformation: Transforming to get new or better ways to travel.
• Trickster Transformee: Forcibly transformed characters can only succeed through sneaking and trickery.
• Turning Back Human: When someone's transformation is finally reversed, allowing them to regain their humanity (or otherwise revert back to their original form).
• Unanthropomorphic Transformation: An anthropomorphic animal becomes a regular animal.
• Vanity-Induced Monstrosity: Trying to be beautiful can literally turn you into a monster...
• Viral Transformation: Spreading a transformation from one person to another.
• The Virus: A monster that infects people and turns them into another member of its kind.
• Virus-Victim Symptoms: Signs and symptoms of an impending metamorphosis into a monstrous creature.
• Voices Are Mental: For some strange reason, when two people undergo a "Freaky Friday" Flip, their voices get switched along with their minds.
• Voices Are Not Mental: Though of course, sometimes voices do remain with the original body.
• Water-Triggered Change: A shapeshifter's transformation activates when they come into contact with water.
• Wipe That Smile Off Your Face: Someone's mouth is literally removed from their face.

• Age-Down Romance: Magically becoming younger or older results in romance with another character who was previously too young or old for you.
• Animorphism: Transformation into an animal, either as a special power or a one-time event...
• Angelic Transformation: An angel of human origin.
• Appearance Is in the Eye of the Beholder: How you look varies depending on who's looking at you.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Because bigger is better...
• Attractive Bent Species: When other animals think your new form looks sexy!
• Bemoaning the New Body: When you dislike your new form.
• Bewitched Amphibians: They could be a prince, they could be a lying frog...
• Body Horror: Sometimes changing shape ain't pretty.
• Breast Expansion: A character's bosom grows a few cup sizes.
• Cape Wings: For when a cape mysteriously transforms into fully-functional wings and then back into a cape, or wings to cape and then back.
• Chest Monster: A predatory creature that disguises itself as a seemingly innocuous object.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: A being's supposed ultimate form actually makes them weaker.
• Collector of Forms: A shapeshifter who needs to "collect" forms in order to assume them.
• Converted into a Weapon: A person is voluntarily or involuntarily transformed into a weapon, with no way of changing back under their own power.
• Deity of Human Origin: A god that was once a mere mortal.
• Demon of Human Origin: A demon who used to be a human.
• Evil Makes You Ugly: A villain's actions lead them to becoming hideous.
• Evil Makes You Monstrous: A villain turns into an inhuman monster.
• Face Stealer: For when you have to harm the target to assume their appearance.
• Fusion Dance: When two or more individuals merge their bodies together to become one being.
• Game Face: Revealing the true face of evil.
• Glamour Failure: When a shapeshifter's disguise starts to malfunction.
• Hot in Human Form: A nonhuman becomes attractive after shifting into human form.
• Lie to the Beholder: A psychic illusion that makes you look/sound like someone else, without involving a physical transformation or shapeshifting.
• Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Getting rather intimately acquainted with the new you.
• Metaphoric Metamorphosis: A character transforms into something alluding to their current situation.
• Miracle-Gro Monster: A creature grows larger and larger until it becomes titanic.
• The Mirror Shows Your True Self: Reflective surfaces can reveal what a shapeshifter's real form looks like.
• Mistaken for Transformed: An observer confuses a person, animal, or object for a transformed character.
• Mistaken for Own Murderer: Shapeshifting can make someone think you're a monster and killed "yourself".
• Mon Mode: Humans transforming into mons.
• Morph Weapon: A transforming weapon.
• One-Winged Angel: When the villain shouts "Behold my true form!" before the final battle.
• Painful Transformation: If it looks painful, what must it feel like?
• Personality Swap:Trading a Personality with someone else
• Physical Attribute Swap: Trading a physical trait with someone else.
• Primal Polymorphs: Shapeshifters that prefer a simple life, usually in the wild, sometimes as animals.
• Reveling in the New Form: A transformed character likes their new self.
• Scaled Up: Is turning yourself into a giant snake ever a good idea?
• The Shadow Knows: A particular kind of Glamour Failure hinting that a character has a dark secret or shapeshifting prowess.
• Shapeshifting Failure: When shapeshifting doesn't quite work properly.
• Shapeshifter Longevity: Shapeshifters live longer.
• Shapeshifter Struggles: Being able to transform oneself can cause a multitude of unforeseen issues.
• Shapeshifting Lover: Females are usually a Voluntary Shapeshifter; males are usually victim of a Forced Transformation Curse.
• Shapeshifting Sound: A character transforms with a loud, noticeable, or distinctive sound.
• Showing Off the New Body: The individual closely inspects their new body, giving free Fanservice for everyone!
• Something for Everyone: Multi-target illusion with personalized effects.
• Stumbling in the New Form: It can take awhile to learn how to move properly in a newly transformed body.
• Terminal Transformation: A transformation that directly results in the transformee's death.
• This Was His True Form: A reveal occurring after a shapeshifter has been killed or defeated.
• Toon Transformation: Toon world physics, meet toon world biology.
• Tragic Monster: They were forced to become something inhuman against their will, and that's sad.
• Transferred Transformation: A specific transformation gets passed from one person to another.
• Transflormation: When a character transforms into a tree, plant, or other type of flora.
• Transformation Conventions: The object or being a character transforms into fits their personality.
• Transformation Exhilaration: A transformation that the transformee finds enjoyable in some way.
• Transformation Horror: Disturbing shapeshifting at its finest.
• Transformation Trinket: When the transformation power resides in or relies on an amulet or similar token.
• Voice Change Surprise: A character who has just transformed tries to speak and is startled at having a different voice.
• Was Once a Man: A monster or other strange creature turns out to have formerly been an ordinary human being.
• Woman Were-Woes: Female shapeshifters have difficulties male ones don't.

• Adaptive Ability: Often involves shifting, sometimes involves shapes.
• Artificial Hybrid: Someone gets mutated and turned into some sort of hybrid.
• Being Human Sucks: Not everyone likes being a boring, ordinary human being. This motivates them to try and become something else.
• Blob Monster: A compositionally questionable, physically malleable monster.
• Equivalent Exchange: When shifting into a certain form requires exchanging it with someone or something that already has it.
• Face–Monster Turn: When a mental and/or physical transformation turns someone evil.
• Instant Armor: The ability to summon protective armor from nowhere. May be part of a Super Mode.
• Kill and Replace: A tactic sometimes performed by shapeshifters using their natural abilities.
• LEGO Genetics: Genetic engineering can be used to transform an ordinary organism into some sort of mutant being after getting their DNA fused with that of another species.
• Master Actor: Often a Required Secondary Power for shapeshifters.
• Master of Disguise: Some shapeshifters can look like anyone.
• Slime Girl: A person (usually a woman/girl) who is made out of slime.
• Super Mode: Sometimes involves a physical transformation.
• Transhuman: The (artificial) evolution of humans into something different.
• You Sexy Beast: For cases of a less human form being considered more attractive.