History Main / ByThePowerOfGrayskull

* ''PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' has "By the power of the (X) Stone". Which however does not apply to Kale and her Dark Stone... maybe an [{EvilLaugh evil laugh]] does the job?
* Storm has an annoying habit of doing this for no apparent reason when using her powers in ''[[{{Series|XMen}} X-Men The Animated Series]]''.

* At one point in BadGuyHigh, one of the kids got a He-man-esque suit and a bunch of powers from some magic hermit. To call his powers, he had to call the hermit's name [[hottip:* :The name was the initials of various DC heroes, but can't recall the order]] and a lightning would strike him, changing him. Saying it again restored his form, so of course he made that mistake a couple times. [[spoiler:And once when [=SuperDan=] was holding him down on the ground, he recited the word a couple times so [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the lightning would strike Dan instead]].]]

* ''HeMan'' and ''SheRa'' doing this was mocked mercilessly by TheNostalgiaChick: "'''By the honor of pep-talks!'''"

* This trope takes its title from ''HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' (pictured at the top of this page), where that CatchPhrase changed unassuming Prince Adam into his titular alter-ego. The much less known power-''down'' phrase (used once in the 1980's series and once in the 2003 series) is "Let the power return!"
** He-Man's DistaffCounterpart (and SeparatedAtBirth twin sister), ''[[SheRaPrincessOfPower She-Ra]]'', used a minor variant beginning, "For the honor of Grayskull..." In an episode when Adora (She-Ra's alter-ego) is rendered unable to speak, she cannot transform and is powerless until she recovers her voice.

**** Maybe TimeTravel will (or already did) explain those?

* [[HomestarRunner Strong Bad]] poked fun at this in the email "shapeshifting". In his imagination, the power was activated by saying "Shapeshift unto... [new form]! DWAYNE!"

* In [[BlazBlue Blazblue: Continuum Shift]] when Ragna [[spoiler: or Terumi]] activates his Azure Grimoire (thus turning into his [[SNKBoss Unlimited form]] he shouts "Restriction 666 released! Dimensional interface force field deployed. Code S.O.L. Blazblue activate!"

* [[KamichamaKarin AI AMU]] [[GratuitousEnglish GODDO!]]

* In TengenToppaGurrenLagann, Simon calls out the transformation of Cathedral Terra to Supergalaxy Gurren Lagann, while does a reverse GlassesPull (or crying tears of blood in TheMovie). Viral goes AudienceAvatar and responds "I was waiting for these words!". Seconded.

* "I'm going ghost!" Danny would shout before turning into DannyPhantom. Its completely optional, though, seemingly said simply because the geeky teenager protagonists think it sounds cool.
** In the amnesia episode, Danny shouts a hesitant "I'm going to become ghostly!" Sam points out that's wrong, but Danny dismisses it was a "nah!"

* Parodied in ''Tales of Mynarski Forest''; when the delusional Heywood raises his "magic sword" to the sky with a call of "By the Powers of Numbskull!" he gets struck by lightning with predictable results.

* [[TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] casts his spells using [[DogLatin Latin... ish]] phrases. He justifies this in his narration by explaining that words have power in the wizarding world, and he doesn't want to accidentally cast a fireball by saying the wrong thing in English.
** It's not that there's any risk of him accidentally casting a spell; Latin is the ''lingua franca'' of the wizarding world, so it would be very stupid of him to use Latin to cast spells if it could sometimes result in unexpected fireballs in the middle of meetings. Instead, he says that words in foreign, unfamiliar languages provide a sort of insulation from the raw power of a spell for a wizard's mind. One time in ''Fool Moon'' he cast a spell when he couldn't speak. The spell worked fine, but he was badly disoriented for some time after. Presumably if Harry ever worked on his Latin he would have to start casting spells with another, even more obscure language, like most wizards do.

*** "It's Mophin' Time!" (MightyMorphinPowerRangers and PowerRangersZeo)

*** "Go! Glactic!" and [[SixthRanger "Magna Power!"]] (PowerRangersLostGalaxy)

** It should be noted that the live-action movies feature a different character (American college student Shawn Barker, as opposed to Japanese High School Student Sho Fukamachi). Also, other Guyvers throughout various incarnations of the series have shown a few different ways of activating this. As noted above, the live-action Guyver says the word with intensity, but does not yell it. In the second film, the Guyver-Zoanoid transforms by yelling "Bio-Moprh." In the first animated series, Guyver II (in the Japanese version) didn't need a word at all. Guyver III went from yelling "Guyver" to "Bio-Boost" in later episodes. I suppose at the end of the day the word just helps one focus.

[[{{He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bythepowerofgreyskull.jpg]]
[[caption-width:350:''I have the [[PowerEchoes power-er-er-er]]!'']]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* This trope takes its title from ''HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' (pictured at the top of this page), where that CatchPhrase changed unassuming Prince Adam into his titular alter-ego. The much less known power-''down'' phrase (used once in the 1980's series and once in the 2003 series) is "Let the power return!"
** He-Man's DistaffCounterpart (and SeparatedAtBirth twin sister), ''[[SheRaPrincessOfPower She-Ra]]'', used a minor variant beginning, "For the honor of Grayskull..." In an episode when Adora (She-Ra's alter-ego) is rendered unable to speak, she cannot transform and is powerless until she recovers her voice.
* ''{{Transformers}}'': Possible stretch, but when time permits, conversion to robot mode is accompanied by a transformer calling its own name, then saying, "Transform!"
** ''BeastWars'' used this trope more extensively, with "Insert Name Here, Maximize!" for Maximals, "Insert Name Here, Terrorize!" for Predacons and "Beast Mode!" for reversing it. Later in ''Beast Wars'', some had vehicular modes with specialized names (at least once, Rattrap called his "Knieval Mode").
*** In ''Beast Wars'', Dinobot specifically changed his code whenever he switched sides.
** "I Am Transformed" for the ''BeastMachines'' Maximals (a plot point in the early episodes, as the characters needed to learn how to transform, as it had previously been handled by an onboard computer in them.).
* ''TheCenturions'' had the activation phrase, "Power-X-Treme!" (or rather "pow-ER ext-REEM!") to beam down their weapons.
* ''{{Captain Planet and the Planeteers}}'': "[[{{Invocation}} Let our powers combine]]! Earth!"
** "Fire!"
** "Wind!"
** "Water!"
** [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway "Heart!"]]
** "By [[AllYourPowersCombined your powers combined]], [[IAmHeroHearMeRoar I am Captain Planet]]!"
*** And of course when the good deed has been done : "Remember Planeteers, The Power is Yours." to be the powers uncombined, though I'm pretty sure the first part was optional.
** It wasn't just necessary for the combination, either. To even use their powers individually, they first had to call out the name of their power.
*** [[http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20031208.html "EVOLUTION! SURVIVAL! SELECTION! SCIENCE! H-AIIIIGH! (THE MONKEY HAS MY LEG! THE MONKEY HAS MY LEG!!)]]
* ''SuperTed'' had the phrase "I'll just say my secret magic word..." and then the teddy bear would turn into [=SuperTed=]. The word was never revealed (it was hinted that the phrase was itself the magic word, but it was never confirmed), but in one episode, Bulk (one of the "bad guys") overheard it and used it to turn into Super-Bulk. The same episode had [=SuperTed=] [[EasyAmnesia forget the word himself]]. This seemed to ignore the fact that Mother Nature hadn't ever given Bulk a magic potion to become super powered...
* ''{{Thundercats}}''': Lion-o had to say, "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!" before he could use the sword's clairvoyance abilities. This particular example is parodied in the ''FamilyGuy'' movie, where Lion-o uses the sword to spy on Cheetara in the bathroom.
** The sword required another phrase, "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats, Ho!" to unlock its full combat potential and to rally the troops to battle.
** A simple "Ho!" was sufficient to fire a bolt, temporarily grow the sword, and activate a number of other context-sensitive powers. On the other hand, Lion-O did occasionally grow the sword without so much as a word.
** When separated from it, Lion-O could say "Sword of Omens, come to my hand!" to get it back. This even worked over interstellar distances, but [[IdiotBall he didn't use it as often as he should have.]]
** The show also featured a villainous example: BigBad Mumm-Ra would transform into a combat-capable form with the incantation "Ancient spirits of evil: transform this decayed form ... to Mumm-Ra... the Ever-Living! [[EvilLaugh Bwa ha ha ha HA!]]"
*** And in one particularly embarrassing 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.
** The sister series ''SilverHawks'' also had a villain with a transformation speech: "Moon Star of Limbo! Give me the might! The muscle! The menace! Of MON...STARR!!"
* ''WinxClub'': Before 4Kids edited it, Bloom says "Bloom Magic Winx!" some of the time before transforming, with the other fairies substituting their names instead. Around season 2, it got reduced to just "Magic Winx!" When the girls earned [[{{FrillsOfJustice}} new outfits]], 4Kids did have the girls saying "Go Enchantix!" for a while.
** [[http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2184092&postcount=116 Not everyone]] likes transformation phrases.
* Possibly similar to ''InspectorGadget's'' "Go, Go, Gadget ''X!''", a phrase that was used to activate the required gadget 80% of the time.
** You mean the wrong one 80% of the time.
* The Wonder Twins, from the second season of ''SuperFriends'', would shout "Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!" to, well, activate their Wonder Twin Powers. This was followed by Zan shouting, "Form of (something made of water or ice)!" and Jayna shouting, "Shape of (an animal or alien creature)!" (Interestingly, the comics made it clear that this wasn't required at all, but just a habit; presumably as a courtesy to [[ViewersAreMorons the audience who wouldn't understand that the Twins had just shifted shape]].)
** This habit, and the entire concept of the Wonder Twins, was hilariously subverted in a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePLXE8pLT5Q Cartoon Network promo]] disguised as an Eighties-vintage "you can do anything you set your mind to" spot: after telling the kiddies they don't need superpowers to be cool, Jayna transformed into a green tiger, and Zan into a bucket of water... whereupon he began lamenting his [[WhatKindOfLamePowerisHeartAnyway lame superpower]], and exclaimed, "I could be defeated by a sponge. It wouldn't even have to be an ''evil'' sponge!" [[HilarityEnsues And, of course, an evil sponge (you can tell by the eyebrows) leans out from a group of lurking villains.]]
* ''Challenge of the SuperFriends'' added Apache Chief and Samurai as token ethnic characters to their line-up. Apache Chief could grow to 50 feet tall by saying "Inekchok!", which the narrator once assured us was the Apache word for "giant man". Samurai could turn into a tornado by saying "Kazi noyo ni hiyaku!", or turn invisible by saying "Koya ningi!"
** Apache Chief's power was parodied by ''FamilyGuy''. Saying "Inekchok" makes ''Quagmire's penis grow larger''!
* Used by ''{{Freakazoid}}'', without even LampshadeHanging it to any real degree. He has to say "Freak out!" to transform into Freakazoid, and "Freak in" to turn back into mild-mannered nerd Dexter Douglas. When Dexter says "freak out", he always precedes it with an extended "Ah" sound, like the chorus to the disco song "Le Freak" by CHIC.
* In ''FredAndBarneyMeetTheThing'', young Benjy Grimm would transform into The Thing by touching his magical rings together and saying "Thing Ring, Do Your Thing!"
* Subverted in ''{{DuckTales}}'', where BunglingInventor Gyro Gearloose programs the Gizmoduck suit to be activated by the phrase "blabbering blatherskite", believing that nobody uses it. Little did he know that it was mild-mannered accountant Fenton Crackshell's favorite expression and that he would transform into Gizmoduck for the first time purely by accident after uttering this phrase standing too close to the suit. In another episode, Launchpad starts using the expression, leading to some SecretIdentity close calls. And in a later episode, the suit somehow shrinks in the wash... and its activation word becomes "blab".
** An interesting note is that the power suit seems to be able to hear the phrase no matter how far away the speaker is. In one episode, Fenton is hundreds of miles away and needs the Gizmoduck suit. He says the phrase and it activates, and flies across the country to get to him.
*** This leads to a WallBanger moment in another episode where Fenton actually telegrams home to his mom and gets her to transform, because he's in Switzerland in that episode...
*** Not so much as it works that when Fenton is not within the suit's range, he calls it and says the word through the telephone. The reason that he had his mother use it the one time was because he forgot to turn on the suit's answering machine.
** Another interesting fact is that the actual phrase is only "blatherskite," chosen as the most obscure word in the English language. The blabbering part is just Fenton's expression, and he never realizes that he only needs to say the second half.
* The spell that serves as a modifier for Raven's powers in ''TeenTitans'' is "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
** Similarly, an issue of ''Teen Titans Go!'' had the Titans' powers get juggled around, so Beast Boy ended up with Raven's magic and demonic taint. Her mantra doesn't work for him because he doesn't know what they mean, so she suggests he come up with something meaningful to him. He decides on "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood Tofu]], Gamestation, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Terra]]."
* A failed cartoon pilot based on the video game series ''{{Battletoads}}'', amongst its many differences from the original games, had the three teenage protagonists shout out "Let's get warty!" to transform into their toad counterparts. A pretty stupid catchphrase, but not half as bad as what many people thought they said: "Let's get ''horny''!" (As in horny toads. I hope.)
** Considering [[EvilIsSexy who their arch-nemesis is]], they might well have said "horny" instead.
* Spoofed on ''{{The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy}}'', where in one episode, Grim uses the exact same speech as He-Man to teleport his magical scythe into his hands. He has never before, and never again does need to say those words to do that.
** Grim may have just been having fun. Despite his usually dour demeanor, episodes have repeatedly shown that under the death's hood lurks a big goofball.
* ''{{ReBoot}}'' has "[=ReBoot=]". [[TitleDrop Simple eh]]?
** Along with a tap of their symbol, usually...
* The short-lived ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' cartoon based on the Marvel comic book of the same name had Ant-Man screaming ''Avengers Assemble!!'' followed by the transformation sequence of 3/4 of the team putting on powered armor. Scarlet Witch, Tigra and The Vision didn't wear any, being mutants and a robot respectively, so they were left out of the transformation sequence.
* The MerchandiseDriven show ''KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'' had Arthur and his Knights activate their magical armor by putting their fists on the Round Table and reciting their oath:
-->'''Arthur:''' I am King Arthur.\\
'''Knights:''' And we are the Knights of Justice. We pledge fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil!
* This happens in ''Powerstone'', with the main character Falcon (and all the other ones) shouting "Power Change!" every time he tries to transform. Early on in the series this doesn't actually work, as he has no control over when he transforms. (Interestingly enough, even when he transforms by complete accident, with no control over what he is doing, he still shouts "Power Change!")
* In ''{{Jem}}'', Jerrica would "transform" into Jem by touching her earrings and whispering, "Showtime, Synergy!" This was actually a slight subversion of the trope, however, as this wasn't a magic incantation; the earrings enabled her to communicate with the advanced computer system called Synergy, and "Showtime" was the code to tell Synergy to project the computerized hologram which changed Jerrica's appearance into that of Jem. (Synergy could be contacted in the same manner to project other holograms, usually with more explicit commands.)
** There is also an equivalent "power down" phrase: "Show's over, Synergy."
* The segment "Arabian Knights" from ''TheBananaSplits'' had the sorcerer Bez transform into a different creature by proclaiming, "Size of a... (dog, elephant, cow, what-have-you)!"
* ''TeamoSupremo'''s transformation sequence, which had all three of the kids jumping with Brenda's skipping rope, was always triggered by Crandall saying, "Rope me, Brenda!" (obviously not in the way shown [[http://outcastsproductions.deviantart.com/art/WHAPPAH-13099854 here]], though one wonders if he ever wanted it that way).
* 90's toon, ''MummiesAlive!'' had the four titular mummies proclaim "With the strength of Ra!" before going [[StockFootage going trough their transformation sequence]].
* In ''Defenders of the Earth'', the Phantom would activate his super-strength by chanting "By jungle law, the Ghost Who Walks calls forth the power of ten tigers." His transformation sequence would then show... varying numbers of tiger heads passing into his body.
* In ''W.I.T.C.H.'', the team transforms when leader Will holds up the Heart of Kandrakar and calls out "Guardians Unite!", then each girl calling out their element (''Fire! Water! Earth! Air!''). Of course, Will, being the one bestowed with "{{What Kind Of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway}}" goes through three different phases throughout the two seasons: in Season One, she was first up and just GRUNTED; the first half of Season 2, the grunt was replaced with "With Heart!"; when she FINALLY gained her element in the second half of Season 2, she's shunted to the end, but says "Quintessence!". It's also revealed that this goes the same for ALL Guardians, as Nerissa and the members of C.H.Y.K.N. say this when they transform with the Seal of Nerissa.
** Trivia: It should be noted that "Guardians Unite" was an invention of the animated series, as the comics only had the girls naming their powers (except for Will). Also, in most other countries, the translation of the phrase is a simple straight translation. The most notable (if not only) exception is the French dub, which uses "Cristallisation" instead (even though the show was animated in France).
* ''PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' has "By the power of the (X) Stone". Which however does not apply to Kale and her Dark Stone... maybe an [{EvilLaugh evil laugh]] does the job?
* Storm has an annoying habit of doing this for no apparent reason when using her powers in ''[[{{Series|XMen}} X-Men The Animated Series]]''.
** This is riffed on during the CrossOver with ''{{Spider-Man The Animated Series}}'':
--->'''Storm''': "Power of lightning illuminate the night!"
--->'''Spider-Man''': "Uh, power of webshooters get real sticky."
* The Secret Scouts in ''{{Dinosaucers}}'' would make use of their [[RingOfPower Rings of Power]] by saying, "Secret Scouts ring, power up!"
* The IronMan cartoon of the 90's had this. When Tony needed the armor he was currently wearing to be something else, he'd call the other armor by name, and his chassis would simply change accordingly. This was a way to integrate the vast variations of Iron Man armor from the comics.
* "I'm going ghost!" Danny would shout before turning into DannyPhantom. Its completely optional, though, seemingly said simply because the geeky teenager protagonists think it sounds cool.
** In the amnesia episode, Danny shouts a hesitant "I'm going to become ghostly!" Sam points out that's wrong, but Danny dismisses it was a "nah!"
* Really? Not one person mentions ''XiaolinShowdown''? Every time they used a shen gong wu they had to call out its name.

[[/folder]]

* ''PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' has "By the power of the (X) stone".

** 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. Ichigo eventually figures out it's uselass, but not before humiliating himself.It later shows up as an actually useful item in a filler arc, leading to much outrage from Ichigo.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* This trope takes its title from ''HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' (pictured at the top of this page), where that CatchPhrase changed unassuming Prince Adam into his titular alter-ego. The much less known power-''down'' phrase (used once in the 1980's series and once in the 2003 series) is "Let the power return!"
** He-Man's DistaffCounterpart (and SeparatedAtBirth twin sister), ''[[SheRaPrincessOfPower She-Ra]]'', used a minor variant beginning, "For the honor of Grayskull..." In an episode when Adora (She-Ra's alter-ego) is rendered unable to speak, she cannot transform and is powerless until she recovers her voice.
* ''{{Transformers}}'': Possible stretch, but when time permits, conversion to robot mode is accompanied by a transformer calling its own name, then saying, "Transform!"
** ''BeastWars'' used this trope more extensively, with "Insert Name Here, Maximize!" for Maximals, "Insert Name Here, Terrorize!" for Predacons and "Beast Mode!" for reversing it. Later in ''Beast Wars'', some had vehicular modes with specialized names (at least once, Rattrap called his "Knieval Mode").
*** In ''Beast Wars'', Dinobot specifically changed his code whenever he switched sides.
** "I Am Transformed" for the ''BeastMachines'' Maximals (a plot point in the early episodes, as the characters needed to learn how to transform, as it had previously been handled by an onboard computer in them.).
* ''TheCenturions'' had the activation phrase, "Power-X-Treme!" (or rather "pow-ER ext-REEM!") to beam down their weapons.
* ''{{Captain Planet and the Planeteers}}'': "[[{{Invocation}} Let our powers combine]]! Earth!"
** "Fire!"
** "Wind!"
** "Water!"
** [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway "Heart!"]]
** "By [[AllYourPowersCombined your powers combined]], [[IAmHeroHearMeRoar I am Captain Planet]]!"
*** And of course when the good deed has been done : "Remember Planeteers, The Power is Yours." to be the powers uncombined, though I'm pretty sure the first part was optional.
** It wasn't just necessary for the combination, either. To even use their powers individually, they first had to call out the name of their power.
*** [[http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20031208.html "EVOLUTION! SURVIVAL! SELECTION! SCIENCE! H-AIIIIGH! (THE MONKEY HAS MY LEG! THE MONKEY HAS MY LEG!!)]]
* ''SuperTed'' had the phrase "I'll just say my secret magic word..." and then the teddy bear would turn into [=SuperTed=]. The word was never revealed (it was hinted that the phrase was itself the magic word, but it was never confirmed), but in one episode, Bulk (one of the "bad guys") overheard it and used it to turn into Super-Bulk. The same episode had [=SuperTed=] [[EasyAmnesia forget the word himself]]. This seemed to ignore the fact that Mother Nature hadn't ever given Bulk a magic potion to become super powered...
* ''{{Thundercats}}''': Lion-o had to say, "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!" before he could use the sword's clairvoyance abilities. This particular example is parodied in the ''FamilyGuy'' movie, where Lion-o uses the sword to spy on Cheetara in the bathroom.
** The sword required another phrase, "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats, Ho!" to unlock its full combat potential and to rally the troops to battle.
** A simple "Ho!" was sufficient to fire a bolt, temporarily grow the sword, and activate a number of other context-sensitive powers. On the other hand, Lion-O did occasionally grow the sword without so much as a word.
** When separated from it, Lion-O could say "Sword of Omens, come to my hand!" to get it back. This even worked over interstellar distances, but [[IdiotBall he didn't use it as often as he should have.]]
** The show also featured a villainous example: BigBad Mumm-Ra would transform into a combat-capable form with the incantation "Ancient spirits of evil: transform this decayed form ... to Mumm-Ra... the Ever-Living! [[EvilLaugh Bwa ha ha ha HA!]]"
*** And in one particularly embarrassing 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.
** The sister series ''SilverHawks'' also had a villain with a transformation speech: "Moon Star of Limbo! Give me the might! The muscle! The menace! Of MON...STARR!!"
* ''WinxClub'': Before 4Kids edited it, Bloom says "Bloom Magic Winx!" some of the time before transforming, with the other fairies substituting their names instead. Around season 2, it got reduced to just "Magic Winx!" When the girls earned [[{{FrillsOfJustice}} new outfits]], 4Kids did have the girls saying "Go Enchantix!" for a while.
** [[http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2184092&postcount=116 Not everyone]] likes transformation phrases.
* Possibly similar to ''InspectorGadget's'' "Go, Go, Gadget ''X!''", a phrase that was used to activate the required gadget 80% of the time.
** You mean the wrong one 80% of the time.
* The Wonder Twins, from the second season of ''SuperFriends'', would shout "Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!" to, well, activate their Wonder Twin Powers. This was followed by Zan shouting, "Form of (something made of water or ice)!" and Jayna shouting, "Shape of (an animal or alien creature)!" (Interestingly, the comics made it clear that this wasn't required at all, but just a habit; presumably as a courtesy to [[ViewersAreMorons the audience who wouldn't understand that the Twins had just shifted shape]].)
** This habit, and the entire concept of the Wonder Twins, was hilariously subverted in a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePLXE8pLT5Q Cartoon Network promo]] disguised as an Eighties-vintage "you can do anything you set your mind to" spot: after telling the kiddies they don't need superpowers to be cool, Jayna transformed into a green tiger, and Zan into a bucket of water... whereupon he began lamenting his [[WhatKindOfLamePowerisHeartAnyway lame superpower]], and exclaimed, "I could be defeated by a sponge. It wouldn't even have to be an ''evil'' sponge!" [[HilarityEnsues And, of course, an evil sponge (you can tell by the eyebrows) leans out from a group of lurking villains.]]
* ''Challenge of the SuperFriends'' added Apache Chief and Samurai as token ethnic characters to their line-up. Apache Chief could grow to 50 feet tall by saying "Inekchok!", which the narrator once assured us was the Apache word for "giant man". Samurai could turn into a tornado by saying "Kazi noyo ni hiyaku!", or turn invisible by saying "Koya ningi!"
** Apache Chief's power was parodied by ''FamilyGuy''. Saying "Inekchok" makes ''Quagmire's penis grow larger''!
* Used by ''{{Freakazoid}}'', without even LampshadeHanging it to any real degree. He has to say "Freak out!" to transform into Freakazoid, and "Freak in" to turn back into mild-mannered nerd Dexter Douglas. When Dexter says "freak out", he always precedes it with an extended "Ah" sound, like the chorus to the disco song "Le Freak" by CHIC.
* In ''FredAndBarneyMeetTheThing'', young Benjy Grimm would transform into The Thing by touching his magical rings together and saying "Thing Ring, Do Your Thing!"
* Subverted in ''{{DuckTales}}'', where BunglingInventor Gyro Gearloose programs the Gizmoduck suit to be activated by the phrase "blabbering blatherskite", believing that nobody uses it. Little did he know that it was mild-mannered accountant Fenton Crackshell's favorite expression and that he would transform into Gizmoduck for the first time purely by accident after uttering this phrase standing too close to the suit. In another episode, Launchpad starts using the expression, leading to some SecretIdentity close calls. And in a later episode, the suit somehow shrinks in the wash... and its activation word becomes "blab".
** An interesting note is that the power suit seems to be able to hear the phrase no matter how far away the speaker is. In one episode, Fenton is hundreds of miles away and needs the Gizmoduck suit. He says the phrase and it activates, and flies across the country to get to him.
*** This leads to a WallBanger moment in another episode where Fenton actually telegrams home to his mom and gets her to transform, because he's in Switzerland in that episode...
*** Not so much as it works that when Fenton is not within the suit's range, he calls it and says the word through the telephone. The reason that he had his mother use it the one time was because he forgot to turn on the suit's answering machine.
** Another interesting fact is that the actual phrase is only "blatherskite," chosen as the most obscure word in the English language. The blabbering part is just Fenton's expression, and he never realizes that he only needs to say the second half.
* The spell that serves as a modifier for Raven's powers in ''TeenTitans'' is "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
** Similarly, an issue of ''Teen Titans Go!'' had the Titans' powers get juggled around, so Beast Boy ended up with Raven's magic and demonic taint. Her mantra doesn't work for him because he doesn't know what they mean, so she suggests he come up with something meaningful to him. He decides on "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood Tofu]], Gamestation, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Terra]]."
* A failed cartoon pilot based on the video game series ''{{Battletoads}}'', amongst its many differences from the original games, had the three teenage protagonists shout out "Let's get warty!" to transform into their toad counterparts. A pretty stupid catchphrase, but not half as bad as what many people thought they said: "Let's get ''horny''!" (As in horny toads. I hope.)
** Considering [[EvilIsSexy who their arch-nemesis is]], they might well have said "horny" instead.
* Spoofed on ''{{The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy}}'', where in one episode, Grim uses the exact same speech as He-Man to teleport his magical scythe into his hands. He has never before, and never again does need to say those words to do that.
** Grim may have just been having fun. Despite his usually dour demeanor, episodes have repeatedly shown that under the death's hood lurks a big goofball.
* ''{{ReBoot}}'' has "[=ReBoot=]". [[TitleDrop Simple eh]]?
** Along with a tap of their symbol, usually...
* The short-lived ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' cartoon based on the Marvel comic book of the same name had Ant-Man screaming ''Avengers Assemble!!'' followed by the transformation sequence of 3/4 of the team putting on powered armor. Scarlet Witch, Tigra and The Vision didn't wear any, being mutants and a robot respectively, so they were left out of the transformation sequence.
* The MerchandiseDriven show ''KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'' had Arthur and his Knights activate their magical armor by putting their fists on the Round Table and reciting their oath:
-->'''Arthur:''' I am King Arthur.\\
'''Knights:''' And we are the Knights of Justice. We pledge fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil!
* This happens in ''Powerstone'', with the main character Falcon (and all the other ones) shouting "Power Change!" every time he tries to transform. Early on in the series this doesn't actually work, as he has no control over when he transforms. (Interestingly enough, even when he transforms by complete accident, with no control over what he is doing, he still shouts "Power Change!")
* In ''{{Jem}}'', Jerrica would "transform" into Jem by touching her earrings and whispering, "Showtime, Synergy!" This was actually a slight subversion of the trope, however, as this wasn't a magic incantation; the earrings enabled her to communicate with the advanced computer system called Synergy, and "Showtime" was the code to tell Synergy to project the computerized hologram which changed Jerrica's appearance into that of Jem. (Synergy could be contacted in the same manner to project other holograms, usually with more explicit commands.)
** There is also an equivalent "power down" phrase: "Show's over, Synergy."
* The segment "Arabian Knights" from ''TheBananaSplits'' had the sorcerer Bez transform into a different creature by proclaiming, "Size of a... (dog, elephant, cow, what-have-you)!"
* ''TeamoSupremo'''s transformation sequence, which had all three of the kids jumping with Brenda's skipping rope, was always triggered by Crandall saying, "Rope me, Brenda!" (obviously not in the way shown [[http://outcastsproductions.deviantart.com/art/WHAPPAH-13099854 here]], though one wonders if he ever wanted it that way).
* 90's toon, ''MummiesAlive!'' had the four titular mummies proclaim "With the strength of Ra!" before going [[StockFootage going trough their transformation sequence]].
* In ''Defenders of the Earth'', the Phantom would activate his super-strength by chanting "By jungle law, the Ghost Who Walks calls forth the power of ten tigers." His transformation sequence would then show... varying numbers of tiger heads passing into his body.
* In ''W.I.T.C.H.'', the team transforms when leader Will holds up the Heart of Kandrakar and calls out "Guardians Unite!", then each girl calling out their element (''Fire! Water! Earth! Air!''). Of course, Will, being the one bestowed with "{{What Kind Of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway}}" goes through three different phases throughout the two seasons: in Season One, she was first up and just GRUNTED; the first half of Season 2, the grunt was replaced with "With Heart!"; when she FINALLY gained her element in the second half of Season 2, she's shunted to the end, but says "Quintessence!". It's also revealed that this goes the same for ALL Guardians, as Nerissa and the members of C.H.Y.K.N. say this when they transform with the Seal of Nerissa.
** Trivia: It should be noted that "Guardians Unite" was an invention of the animated series, as the comics only had the girls naming their powers (except for Will). Also, in most other countries, the translation of the phrase is a simple straight translation. The most notable (if not only) exception is the French dub, which uses "Cristallisation" instead (even though the show was animated in France).
* ''PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' has "By the power of the (X) stone".
* Storm has an annoying habit of doing this for no apparent reason when using her powers in ''[[{{Series|XMen}} X-Men The Animated Series]]''.
** This is riffed on during the CrossOver with ''{{Spider-Man The Animated Series}}'':
--->'''Storm''': "Power of lightning illuminate the night!"
--->'''Spider-Man''': "Uh, power of webshooters get real sticky."
* The Secret Scouts in ''{{Dinosaucers}}'' would make use of their [[RingOfPower Rings of Power]] by saying, "Secret Scouts ring, power up!"
* The IronMan cartoon of the 90's had this. When Tony needed the armor he was currently wearing to be something else, he'd call the other armor by name, and his chassis would simply change accordingly. This was a way to integrate the vast variations of Iron Man armor from the comics.
* "I'm going ghost!" Danny would shout before turning into DannyPhantom. Its completely optional, though, seemingly said simply because the geeky teenager protagonists think it sounds cool.
** In the amnesia episode, Danny shouts a hesitant "I'm going to become ghostly!" Sam points out that's wrong, but Danny dismisses it was a "nah!"
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* ''BioBoosterArmorGuyver'': Likewise, Sho initiates his transformation by emitting the series title in a long, loud shrill. The live-action {{Made For TV Movie}}s abbreviate the delivery, making him look a lot cooler.