History Main / MarkedChange

* Dio's Guild mark in ''Anime/LastExile'' appears on his forehead as his [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday 17th birthday]] looms closer. After he undergoes [[spoiler: The Rite of the Covenant and the Trial of Agoon]], it changes color and shape.

The tattoos will usually just be either a nifty/badass black pattern or a glowing red one. Can overlap with TronLines and InstantRunes. Compare and contrast with MarkOfTheBeast, for when the patterns forming are an indication of evil and PowerTattoo, the more compact version. Compare PowerupFullColorChange.

* In various ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' media, the patterns on [[OlympusMons Groudon and Kyogre]] start glowing when they get pissed off. These lines are also a trait of those who are being corrupted by the Red and Blue Orbs connected to the two. The deeper the corruption, the more elaborate the pattern. When Groudon [[DemonicPossession possesses]] Pikachu in [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} the anime]], our adorable little mouse gets the glowing pattern; and it's ''scary as hell''.

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[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/DotHackGU https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ovan.png]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:[-Those glowing lines mean that someone is about to die ''very soon.''-] ]]

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[[folder:Anime]]
* In ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'', Akito gets a weird, glowing pattern all over his body when he activates his mysterious Boson Jump ability. Later, others who demonstrate the ability gets similar patterns, and when a character who lacks the potential attempts to perform one, a glitchy, broken version of the marks fade in and out.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'':
** Shiryu had a Dragon tattoo appear on his back when powered up.
** His OldMaster, Dohko, had a Tiger tattoo exhibiting the exact same comportment
* Several of [[CrossoverCosmology the gods]] in ''VisualNovel/KamigamiNoAsobi'' get these with their TransformationSequence, Apollon, Loki, and Thor in particular. Character designer Kazuki Yone is fond of them - she also uses them in designs for the game ''Icchibanketsu''.

* [[spoiler:Post-TimeSkip Nia]] from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.
* Takeru when he goes into his ED form in ''Anime/ThisUglyYetBeautifulWorld''.

* A variation occurs in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' when the BigBad of the Mahora Festival arc activates her [[{{Magitek}} forced magic circuits]]. They're mostly masked by her hair and clothing, but we're shown Negi's magic-sense [=POV=] of the patterns of glyphs [[PowerGlows glowing]] on her body.
** Used straight much later on when Negi masters a DangerousForbiddenTechnique to take on the BigBad.

* Black Star and Tsubaki in ''Manga/SoulEater''. When activated, the Demon Blade mode Tsubaki acquired through absorbing her brother's soul covers the Weapon and her Tech in curving, black tattoo-like lines.
** In a similar vein, Death the Kid's Sanzu Lines- those white marks on his hair- connect into one or more full circles around his head to herald a SuperMode. The exact method by which this is achieved varies between the anime and manga.
* The markings of Ranmaru's arm in ''Manga/{{Tokko}}'' grow as his symbiote-granted abilities do.

* The [=PROCEED=] girls in ''Anime/SoltyRei'' get red glowing FacialMarkings when they access their special abilities.
* ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'': it is normal for demons to have some sort of colored marks on their body, but if they are wearing {{Power Limiter}}s to seal their abilities and make themselves look human, the marks disappear until they decide to remove the limiters and tap into their powers again. Usually they're just FacialMarkings or a single tattoo-like spot elsewhere, though some have more elaborate ones, such as Hakkai's vine-like pattern (green in the manga, [[PowerGlows glowing red]] in the anime) that goes all over his body and can be controlled and used as CombatTentacles.
* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', Alphonse gets some black markings and lines on his armor after [[spoiler:becoming the Philosopher's Stone]]. Quite interesting on a suit of armor.
* Yusuke from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' gets these [[spoiler:when his demon blood starts to act up. Blue tattoos appear all over his body and he takes on a slightly fiercer demeanor.]]

* Tohma of ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' has a tendency to gain these whenever he uses the Divider. [[spoiler:It's implied that they may be signs of the Eclipse infection]].
* Invisible unless you look at it up close but in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', if you perchance happen to fight a Gundam that goes trans-am, the GN particle channels light up briefly before the entire unit is flooded with GN particles and it lays the smackdown on you.
** Even worse, in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', once it activates the NT-D system, you KNOW it is about to kill you.

** When Tsuna's ShadowArchetype[=/=]EvilCounterpart (does he still count as the latter since he stopped being an active antagonist?) Xanxus's body gets covered in old scars when he goes all out/anyone mentions Tsuna. And his flames start to glow around his as well

* Slightly different effect-wise, but when Natsu of ''Manga/FairyTail'' powers up by [[PhlebotinumMuncher eating the Etherion]], he gets a scaly draconic pattern around his eyes and arms.
** [[spoiler: Mirajane]] gets the non-glowing version when she uses her Take Over transformations.
* A variation in the animated adaptation of ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'': when someone is chosen as a pilot (thus gaining all the power of the [[GiantMecha Zearth]] during their turn), markings show up on their faces, often {{Foreshadowing}} the shape of the enemy they will fight. [[spoiler:But, because being the next pilot also [[PoweredByAForsakenChild means being the]] [[LivingBattery next to die]], the markings are rarely regarded as a good thing.]] These markings don't show up in the manga.

* In ''Manga/BungoStrayDogs'', Chuya gets black markings on his skin when he uses Corruption, the "true form" of his gravity manipulation ability.
* In ''Literature/CoffinPrincessChaika'', Toru and Akari both gain red facial marks (and a matching battle aura) when calling on the Iron Blood Form.
* An actual plot point in ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': each Slayer fights with a particular, elemental-themed Breathing style, but not even the Hashira, the topmost warriors of the order, have yet unlocked the apex of their Breathing style, which makes an elemental-themed mark appear on their body (usually their face). The last order the Oyakata gave them was to find a way to unlock this power up, in order to triumph over [[BigBad Kibutsuji Muzan]].

* The madder incarnation of ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'' would have swirls and concentric circles appear on his face and hands when activating his madness powers.

[[folder:Fanworks]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/{{Nightbreed}}'', as Boone metamorphoses, various swirling patterns form blackened grooves in his skin.

* Used in Alfred Bester's novel ''Literature/TheStarsMyDestination'' (aka ''Tiger! Tiger!''), with some justifying done. Gully Foyle has a tiger pattern tattooed on his face. After he has this removed, it reappears as red marks from the rush of blood whenever he gets angry.
** Possibly TruthInTelevision, depending on the removal procedure used. All procedures will leave behind some kind of scarring, and superficial/not-usually-visible scars will often flush redder than surrounding skin.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. The members of the Fellowship of St. Giles are all people who've been infected by Red Court vampires, but who haven't given in to their hungers and killed someone, so they're stuck in the state between human and icky demon thing wearing human flesh. To keep their hungers in check, they're tattooed with control sigils; when they draw upon their inherently vampiric powers (superstrength, great speed, resiliency), the tattoos become visible and start turning deeper shades of red to reflect how much self-control they have left.

* in TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205035 Liliana Vess]]. In the midst of her magical mayhem, the demonic pacts carved into her skin often show forth (as shown in the link; the rest of the time, she's just a [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=235597 beautiful human woman]] ).

** Another SMT example comes from ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'''s Demi-Fiend, who sports some mean black-and-green marks along his body after the Conception.
* Taboo Minamimoto from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''.

* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter'', the hero's [[DeadlyUpgrade Dragonform]] resembles less a dragon, and more a black-skinned version of himself with glowing red tattoos.
* [[SuperMode Darkspine Sonic]] from ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'' gets white stripes running up his head, and around his wrists and ankles.
* From the ''Franchise/DotHack'' franchise:
** All Eight Epitaph users from the ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'' series do this when calling their Avatar. Each character has a different pattern, likely mimicking patterns or appearances of their Avatar.
** Kite in the ''VideoGame/DotHackR1Games'' starts out wearing olive green. However, due to his encounter with Aura in the first dungeon of ''.hack//Infection'', his outfit is turned bright red with orange markings. That shade of red and the markings are ordinarily not available to players, and it marks Kite as someone special... unfortunately for him, that includes the in-game administrators, who oppose him due to fear that he's going to hack their game. [[spoiler: Luckily, Kite eventually clears that up and gains their assistance.]]

* The more colossi you kill in ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'', the more black marks appear on Wander's body. This is ''[[TheCorruption not good.]]''
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': Amaterasu. While she does have red body markings almost at all times, they become twice as elaborate when she reaches full power via CombinedEnergyAttack.

* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/ShadowMan'' gains additional tattoos as he gains powers.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'':
** After the [[PhysicalGod Tribunal]] went against the will of [[PowersThatBe Azura]] and used the Tools of Kagrenac on the [[CosmicKeystone Heart of Lorkhan]], she either cursed the formerly gold-skinned Chimer people with the dark skin and red eyes of the modern Dunmer or pointed out that the Tribunal had done it while using the tools. (The details are [[TheRashomon rather sketchy]] at best.)
** The physical forms of the Tribunal all changed as well after using the tools to achieve godhood. Almalexia kept her Chimer form, becoming even more beautiful and adding all sorts of adornments to her form, including complex tattoos. Vivec became half-Chimer/half-Dunmer, split right down the middle, which went along well with his mythic status as a hermaphrodite "trickster," and added a "flame" to his bald head. Sotha Sil meanwhile adopted the basic form of a Dunmer.
** When Almalexia [[spoiler: finally snaps and reveals her FaceHeelTurn to the [[PlayerCharacter Nerevarine]],]] she appears with her terrifying battle mask.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'', it's difficult or even nigh-impossible to see in the game itself, but [[http://www.giantbomb.com/solatorobo-red-the-hunter/61-30423/concept-art/52-418825/5/51-1759781/ this spoilerific piece of concept art]] reveals that Red's [[spoiler:Dahak-fused Trance form]] has TronLines, whereas [[spoiler:his unfused Trance form]] and normal, basic form do not.

[[quoteright:247:[[Franchise/DotHack https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1175795562760-1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:247:[-Those glowing lines mean that someone is about to die ''very soon.''-] ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': Yugo and Qilby both respectively experience this, gaining curving, tattoo-like marks on their chests when empowered.

* In ''LightNovel/CoffinPrincessChaika'', Toru and Akari both gain red facial marks (and a matching battle aura) when calling on the Iron Blood Form.

* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'', Alphonse gets some black markings and lines on his armor after [[spoiler:becoming the Philosopher's Stone]]. Quite interesting on a suit of armor.

* From the ''Franchise.DotHack'' franchise:

* In ''VideoGame/LuxPain'' this happens when Atsuki uses sigma.

* [[VideoGame/{{Okami}} Amaterasu]]. While she does have red body markings almost at all times, they become twice as elaborate when she reaches full power via CombinedEnergyAttack.