History Main / TransformationRay

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Roodaka's Rhotuka Spinner permanently mutating the target into whatever shape she wants. She can also use it to reverse those same mutations, as seen with [[spoiler:the Toa Hagah/Rahaga]].

* The E'''X'''cellent Ray from [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally]]'s ''Pinball/DrDude'', which turns [[{{Nerd}} dweebs and losers]] into totally cool dudes.

See also BalefulPolymorph. For an exceptionally common specific ''type'' of TransformationRay, see GenderBender.

* The movie ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' employs a TransformationRay as its central premise. The [[Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids eventual TV show]] had a smorgasbord of them.

* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVDNA DNA]]", a [[TransformationRay DNA transmogrifier]] turns Kryten human, turns Lister into a chicken (and later, a pint-sized Franchise/{{Robocop}}), and makes a giant bug-eyed monster out of, erm, vindaloo. Said monster would later be killed by lager - "the only thing that can kill a vindaloo".

* The ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' series contains various weapons which transform enemies into either [[BalefulPolymorph useless animals]] or [[HeelFaceTurn makeshift animal allies]].

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' has Bolts of Polymorphing, which are enchanted crossbow ammo that have a chance to turn whatever you shoot with them into a [[BalefulPolymorph harmless squirrel]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS4E4ClawAndHoarderSpecialRicktimsMorty Claw And Hoarder Special Ricktims Morty]]", after Rick finds out that his gadgets don't work in the fantasy world, he builds a {{Magitek}} ray gun that transforms Summer into an archer and inflicts mass {{Baleful Polymorph}}s into random things on the wizard's orc army.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': The spider that grants Spidey his powers wasn't infused with the generic "[[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]]" that seems nigh-magical in the comics, but with a zap from a somehow-radiation-involving TransformationRay that would show up again in many subsequent episodes.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' makes use of the TransformationRay central to a good number of plots. The girls have encountered ray devices that turned them into everything from [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giants]] to street mimes to cat girls.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin turned his water pistol into a Transmogrifier Gun.

* The Transmutatron in ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'' and its sequel is used to create Animala (aka "Pammy Yaber") -- part woman, part four different forest/jungle animals.

* ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' has one of the eight super-sciences being about this. If it's in ShapeShifting, you can probably put it in hand-held ray gun format, or dispense it with an injection.
* ''TabletopGame/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' includes a 'Boy/Girl Gun'. As the name suggests, it causes awkward GenderBender situations.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', resident TeenGenius MadScientist Tedd used alien technology to construct the [[AuthorAppeal "Transformation Gun"]], which can reshape a humanoid into one of many different forms. The scary part here is that Tedd uses the gun for ''recreation'', often changing his gender. A teen-ager given the means to go be someone else for a while? *ZAP!!*
** And now Ellen has this as an innate power. Currently, it's limited to either transforming other people into well-built women, and turning herself into whatever she zapped.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' the aliens Princess Voluptua and Fructose Riboflavin both use "shapeshifter units" to appear human, instead of their normal insectoid appearance. Galatea also invented a hat with a holographic projector which can disguise the wearer's identity.

* ''Website/GoAnimate'': Troublemaking kids have this for [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands for seemingly no reason]] and use it to turn characters into other characters, resulting in, [[YouAreGrounded well, you guessed it.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' episode "Child's Play" featured a boy who could telekinetically invoke this effect on anything, thus being a practically {{Omnipotent}} MookMaker and the show's arguably biggest SuperpowerLottery-winner.
* Mermaid Man's belt from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' has the "Well of Transformation", which turned someone into whatever they were thinking of at the time. This was used, among other things, to trick Rumble into turning himself into a tree.

* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' lived and breathed this -- if the hero wasn't having his work wrecked by, say, turning into whoever he saw or getting split into two people, then someone ''else'' (like his daughter) was going through this and the plot would deal with him rescuing them. A few villains had this concept as the center of their origin story as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' makes use of the TransformationRay central to a good number of plots. The girls have encountered ray devices that turned them into everything from [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giants]] to street mimes to cat girls.
* ''WesternAnimation/BionicSix''. The overweight villain Doc Scarab loved to use rays to transform the heck out of things.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'': A villain kidnaps people for his twisted circus and shoots them with a ray gun that turns them into anthropomorphic animals he uses it on Wonder Woman and turns her into an ugly rhinobeast. And with their usual amount of intelligence, The Wonder Twins manage to hold the gun backwards and turn themselves into a tree and centauress.
** An earlier episode with a very similar plot had Wonder Woman and Superman turned into an anthro zebra and lion, respectively. The Wonder Twins also manage to be sort of useful. Almost.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'': The concept was revisited in where it turns out Gorilla Grodd's big plan is to use an amped up transformation ray to turn the entire world into apes like him. After the plan fails, Luthor just shoots Grodd and takes over the Injustice Society weeks earlier than he'd planned.
* Zapping their brother to turn him into various bizarre things is Susan and Mary Test's main hobby, on ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'': A villain held Tick captive and used a transformation ray gun to turn the hero into a small two headed bird who speaks only high school French. There was also a mindswitching gun in a later episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'': Shredder's retromutagen gun.

* As featured in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', the Brother Eye, an AI-driven satellite, can deliver a ray that turns an ordinary janitor into OMAC, the One-Man Army Corps.
** In addition, Gorrila Grodd has a device that turns people into Apes, and in "Mitefall", turn people into bananas.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' a ray is sometimes seen transforming the bus and, occasionally, the children. It always occurs with a flash of light or the bus swirling around.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/GadgetBoyAndHeather'', BigBad Spydra used one to impersonate Heather.

* ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne'': In the two-part episode "Devolver", General Skarr gets hit by Dr. Ghastly's de-evolution ray, causing him to progressively turn into lower life forms.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS4E4ClawAndHoarderSpecialRicktimsMorty Claw And Hoarder Special Ricktims Morty]]", after Rick finds out that his gadgets don't work in the fantasy world, he builds a {{Magitek}} ray gun that transforms Summer into an archer and inflicts mass {{Baleful Polymorph}}s into random things on the wizard's orc army.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Roodaka's Rhotuka Spinner permanently mutating the target into whatever shape the user wants.

* In the series ''Manga/SgtFrog'', several {{Transformation Ray}}s appear, including the ''Oni Girl Gun'', which changes the target into a japanese ''Oni'' or demon, the ''Age Transformation Ray'' which can de-age or age a person by around ten years, and the ''Animal Transformation Gun'', which changes animals into [[LittleBitBeastly humanized versions of themselves]].

* ''Mystery In Space'': One of the regular features of the 60s comic was the story of a space explorer who had been shot by four different rayguns at the same time, each wielded by a different kind of alien. The result was that each ray changed the part of his body that it hit to be like that of the owner of the gun. Now a freak, the man decided to change his name by combining parts of the names of his assailants (whose motives were never made clear). Strangely enough, the letters made a perfectly pronouncible word and so was born ''Ultra, the Multi-Alien''. One arm (and the part of his torso it was attached to) had become super strong, the other could generate magnetic force, one leg could shoot lightning, and with the other he could fly, even though it had just one tiny wing on it. Naturally, he became a crime fighter.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'', Ben pops off the omnitrix's faceplate, which gets found by Doctor Animo. Doctor Animo then uses it to create a "Mutant Ray", which turns whatever it hit with it into a hybrid of whatever it was before and one of the omnitrix aliens. Using it on a bat creates a winged version of Heatblast, and when Grandpa Max get hit with it he turns into a giant larva version of Stinkfly. Gwen turns him back to normal by putting the faceplate into the ray backwards in the hope that it would make it work in reverse.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' has the "Well of Transformation", which turned someone into whatever they were thinking of at the time. This was used, amoung other things, to trick Rumble into turning himself into a tree.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'': A villain kidnaps people for his twisted circus and shoots them with a ray gun that turns them into anthromorphic animals he uses it on Wonder Woman and turns her into an ugly rhinobeast. And with their usual amount of intelligence, The Wonder Twins manage to hold the gun backwards and turn themselves into a tree and centauress.

* Both ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' used this a few times, for example [[Recap/BuffyTheVamprieSlayerS5E3TheReplacement Xander being split into two]], and memorably [[Recap/AngelS05E14SmileTome Angel being turned into a two-foot tall]] {{muppet}}.

* The cursed spring water in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' may be considered an example of a transformation device used to establish a series premise.

* Walter Langkowski created one such gamma ray device to use on himself so he could give the nascent ComicBook/AlphaFlight some needed muscle. Except he inadvertently tapped into the realm of the Great Beasts and was fused with one of them instead, creating Sasquatch.

* In one episode of [[WesternAnimation/BenTen]], Ben pops off the omnitrix's faceplate, which gets found by Doctor Animo. Doctor Animo then uses it to create a "Mutant Ray", which turns whatever it hit with it into a hybrid of whatever it was before and one of the omnitrix aliens. Using it on a bat creates a winged version of Heatblast, and when Grandpa Max get hit with it he turns into a giant larva version of Stinkfly. Gwen turns him back to normal by putting the faceplate into the ray backwards in the hope that it would make it work in reverse.

[[folder:Anime]]

* Franchise/{{Superman}} encounters Red Kryptonite which has various transformative effects on him. Pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}}, each random chunk of red kryptonite had a different effect on Superman which lasted for 24 hours before wearing off, and then he would be immune to the effects of that one chunk. ComicBook/PostCrisis and subsequent media adaptations have been a little more meta about it. [[note]]Each time it pops up, it was made in a different way or in some cases is being used in a different way, often with effects outside the trope.[[/note]]
* ''Mystery In Space'': One of the regular features of the 60s comic was the story of a space explorer who had been shot by four different rayguns at the same time, each wielded by a different kind of alien. The result was that each ray changed the part of his body that it hit to be like that of the owner of the gun.\\
\\
Now a freak, the man decided to change his name by combining parts of the names of his assailants (whose motives were never made clear). Strangely enough, the letters made a perfectly pronouncible word and so was born ''Ultra, the Multi-Alien''. One arm (and the part of his torso it was attached to) had become super strong, the other could generate magnetic force, one leg could shoot lightning, and with the other he could fly, even though it had just one tiny wing on it. Naturally, he became a crime fighter.
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin turned his water pistol into a Transmogrifier Gun.

** Walter Langkowski created one such gamma ray device to use on himself so he could give the nascent ComicBook/AlphaFlight some needed muscle. Except he inadvertently tapped into the realm of the Great Beasts and was fused with one of them instead, creating Sasquatch.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': From the late 1950s through the early 1960s, due to ExecutiveMeddling prompted by the monster-movie craze, many stories featured rays or other {{Phlebotinum}} that transformed the Caped Crusader into a fish-man, a human buzz saw, a giant genie and other bizarre creatures. This was a staple of [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] plots, especially in Creator/DCComics.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* As in [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes the comic it was based on,]] the Transmogrifier Gun in ''Fanfic/TheCalvinverse''.
** In a more specific example, the aliens in the original version of ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheMovie'' use one to "kill" Hobbes (turning him into his stuffed animal form).

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' had about thirty of these, most actual ray guns. (Others were superglue bombs, exploding ticks on face, emotion manipulating microchips, amulet that changed her into a monkey...) Most often, they were used on her (and her sidekick) on a mission in the first five minutes, then Act Two was spent facing the wacky challenges it posed to her school life.
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' in lived and breathed this -- if the hero wasn't having his work wrecked by, say, turning into whoever he saw or getting split into two people, then someone ''else'' (like his daughter) was going through this and the plot would deal with him rescuing them. A few villains had this concept as the center of their origin story as well.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/transformation_ray_wonder_woman.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Great Hera, someone made a monkey out of me!"]]

[[quoteright:330:[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LoisLaneBlack_8943.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:Getting down and funky can sometimes be SeriousBusiness!]]

* Both ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' used this a few times, for example Xander being split into two, and memorably Angel being turned into a two-foot tall {{muppet}}.

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', a [[TransformationRay DNA transmogrifier]] turns Kryten human, turns Lister into a chicken (and later, a pint-sized Franchise/{{Robocop}}), and makes a giant bug-eyed monster out of, erm, vindaloo. Said monster would later be killed by lager - "the only thing that can kill a vindaloo".

* in KYM, Scaffer has magical laser beams that can come out of his eyes whenever he feels like turning someone into the animal or Pokémon his form is currently in. The only for, he cannot do this in is human form

->''"'It appears to be some kind of [[Creator/StevenSpielberg Spielberg]] Ray,' said one watcher. 'All our guns have been turned into [[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial walkie-talkies]].'"''
-->-- ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''

-->-- '''[[http://www.tomparisdorm.com/viewstory.php?sid=4084 Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space]]'''

-->-- '''Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space'''

* In ''Series/TheMagicSchoolBus'' a ray is sometimes seen transforming the bus and, occasionally, the children. It always occurs with a flash of light or the bus swirling around.