History Main / ByThePowerOfGrayskull

** Due to a later {{retcon}}, both "cei-u" and "say you" were revealed as misspellings of the genie's name: Yz. Turns out he was a fifth dimensional entity, like Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite. Legacy Character Jakeem Thunder's genie is named Zkl, or as Jakeem pronounces it, "So cool".

* Storm has an annoying habit of doing this for no apparent reason when using her powers in ''[[Series|XMen X-Men The Animated Series]]''.

** Trivia: In most other countries, the translation of "Guardians Unite" is a simple straight translation. The most notable (if not only) exception is the French dub, which uses "Cristallisation" instead (the show was animated in France).

*** In one episode, his minion uses the speech to transform himself.
**** in yet another, a variation is used to fill a box with the energy and break the villain out of jail. The interesting thing in, while in the normal speech all the epithets started with M (since the villain was '''M'''onStar), in this case they all began with P - since the box was a '''P'''ower '''P'''ack

** The actual release command such as "roar" or "scatter" are most probably to tell the sword when the user actually wants it to release. Since all that is actually needed is the name of the Zanpakuto, by including the phrase prevents accidents due to the sword changing shape every time its name is mentioned.
** Some swords, like Ichigo's, can't return to the first form after the first release, exempting them from this. These are aptly named "Permanent Release Type Zanpakutos". They are apparently rare as only 2 have been seen in the series.
** Though it's not necessary to do so, most characters still reveal the name of their bankai after activating it.
** Explained in that the swords in question are sentient beings and want to be acknowledged as such before unleashing the energy. And even then... Ichigo's sword gave him attitude because he (Ichigo) thought that simply figuring out the name was enough; after all, he didn't become friends with regular humans after a simple introduction!
** It's also parodied. Urahara tells Ichigo that the only way to activate some "magic armor" is to yell "TAKE THIS! THE POWER OF JUSTICE! JUSTICE ARMOR! JUSTICE HACHIMAKI! EQUIP!" at the top of his lungs. Of course, Urahara being Urahara, yelling the phrase doesn't actually do anything except embarrass Ichigo.
*** It also shows up in the filler arc, now having a function by having a Bount sensor installed. It requires the chant to activate, embarrassing Ichigo to no end.

* In 2009 when Barack Obama was being sworn in as the president of the United States, part of the oath of office was spoken incorrectly. Some commentators opined that the he was not actually president because of this, at least not until the oath was re-administered with the correct words. Turns out that real life is a subversion.
** This isn't entirely true. What happened was the Justice presiding over the oath screwed up, Obama said it correctly.

*** And in one particularly embarassing moment that that Mumm-Ra will never live down, ''Snarf'' of all people took advantage of this catchphrase to become even more beefy than Mumm-Ra himself. Clearly Mumm-Ra's transformation chamber could do with better security.

** Another interesting fact is that the actual phrase is only "blatherskite," chosen as the most obscure word in the English langauge. The blabbering part is just Fenton's expression, and he never realizes that he only needs to say the second half.

* The MerchandiseDriven show ''KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'' had Arthur and his Knights activate their magical armor by putting their fists on the Round Table and recting their oath:

* The first transformation of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' involved Yuuno making Nanoha repeat a long, complicated speech; however, to his surprise, she's afterwards able to transform by saying only "Raising Heart, set up!"

** In the Japanese version, season one, her activation phrase is "Raging Heart, onegai", meaning that please really is the magic word(onegai means please).

* Each of the Sailor Senshi in ''SailorMoon'' went through several different activation phrases over the course of the series, on the order of one or so a season, as they improved their powers and combat ability. The geral formula was "[Planet Name] [Something] Power, Make Up!" The dub dropped the "Make Up" bit. The Dub also mucks around with the names themselves (despite originally being in English) sometimes resulting in totally made up stuff like "Moon Cosmic Dream Action". One really bad time had the Girls calling the first part of the phrase solo, then all at once calling "Make-Up!" The dub, due to the sheer omtiance of "Make-Up" resulting in it ending up as "Mars Star Power, Planet Power!"
** The ''[[http://www.thekeep.org/~rpm/vertigo/sailor-hellblazer/ Sailor Hellblazer]]'' CrossOver FanFic spoofs this when John Constantine accidentially sets his Transformation phrase as "bloody friggin' hell."

* Spoofed in ''OnePiece'': Franky the carpenter is a SchizoTech cyborg who activates his powers by shouting "{{Hentai}}!" (abnormality) instead of the traditional {{Toku}} phrase "Henshin!" (transform). While "hentai" can also mean "metamorphosis", its more common meaning of "weirdo" or "pervert" creates [[HilarityEnsues obvious humor]], as other characters comment he ''is'' a weirdo/pervert for running around in nothing but a speedo and a Hawaiian shirt. Though truthfully, he doesn't even activate his powers this way, and just likes saying the word.

** The actual release command such as "roar" or "scatter" are most probably to tell the sword when the user actually wants it to release. Sinc all that is actually needed is the name of the Zanpakuto, by including the phrase prevents accidents due to the sword changing shape every time its name is mentioned.
** Some swords, like Ichigo's, can't return to the first form after the first release, exempting them from this. These are aptly named "Permanent Release Type Zanpaktos". They are apparently rare as only 2 have been seen in the series.

** Spoofed in ''WeddingPeachAbridged'' with, "Bridal Striptese, Go!"

** MarvelComics Captain Marvel parodied this once. Rick once shouted "Shazam" while switching places with Genis and he didn't understand what was that suposed to mean.

*** That's because the colors are the [[PersonalityPowers "emotional spectrum"]]. Red is Rage, Orange is Avarice (or Greed), Yelllow is Fear, Green is (of course) Willpower, Blue is Hope, Indigo is [[strike: Magic Cylinder]] Compassion and Violet is Love.

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*** "[[KamenRiderOs Taka! Tora! Batta! Ta-To-Ba, TaToBa TATOBA!]]"

* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'': In the first season of the English dub, Yugi's transformation into the Pharaoh is usually precipitated by his shouting the title of the series.
** The title of the series, Yu-Gi-Oh, of course, being one of The Pharaoh's titles: KING OF GAMES.

*** Also "Wonder Twin Powers Activate! Form of, an egyptian homosexual!"

Primarily associated with {{Anime}}, where it may be a form of CallingYourAttacks, but the trope almost certainly originated with [[ComicBookTropes comic-book character]] Billy Batson, who first used the CatchPhrase "Shazam!" to transform into CaptainMarvel in [[GoldenAge 1940]].

* The GreenLantern Corps charges their rings at the power battery while reciting an [[BadassCreed oath]]. The oath isn't what actually charges the rings -- they just need to charge for about as long as it takes to say the oath, so they're used as timing devices. Each Lantern is free to make up their own, but the following ditty, most closely associated with SilverAge Lantern Hal Jordan (though it debuted during the run of GoldenAge Green Lantern Alan Scott, who used several different versions of the oath before settling on the version given further down), is the most famous:

* GoldenAge hero [[http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/johnny.html Johnny Quick]] activated his abilities by reciting the formula "3X2(9YZ)4A". His daughter Jesse Quick did the same, until she lost her powers. Of course, it's not enough just to say the formula: you need to understand the four-dimensional construct it describes, and you also need a certain mental state and/or link to the Speed Force.

* GoldenAge (now PublicDomain) superhero the Green Lama used as his transformation phrase the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum". Since the Lama was supposed to be Buddhist this makes a sort of sense.

* Spoofed in ''OnePiece'': Franky the carpenter is a SchizoTech cyborg who activates his powers by shouting "{{Hentai}}!" (abnormality) instead of the traditional {{Toku}} phrase "Henshin!" (transform). While "hentai" can also mean "metamorphosis", its more common meaning of "weirdo" or "pervert" creates [[HilarityEnsues obvious humor]], as other characters comment he ''is'' a weirdo/pervert for running around in nothing but a speedo and a Hawaiian shirt.

** The sword required another phrase, "Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats, Ho!" to unlock its full combat potential and to rally the troops to battle.

* In Tales of Vesperia, Rita takes a long time scrying out Violent Pain whenever she casts it. She has a full speech ready each time. Put her in [[BerserkButton Overdrive]] though, and she'll just screw over the scrying incantation by saying "Blah blah blah," followed by [[CallingYourAttacks calling out her attack. "Violent Pain!"]]

* In Tales of Vesperia, Rita takes a long time scrying out Violent Pain whenever she casts it. She has a full speech ready each time. Put her in [[BerserkButton Overdrive]] though, and she'll just screw over the scrying incantation by saying Blah blah blah, folled by [[CallingYourAttacks calling out her attack.]]

* In Tales of Vesperia, Rita takes a long time scrying out Violent Pain whenever she casts it. She has a full speech ready each time. Put her in [[BerserkButton Overdrive]] though, and she'll just screw over the scrying incantation by saying Blah blah blah, folled by [[CallOutYourAttacks calling out her attack.]]