Line #119 Main/ShapeshiftingHealsWounds


1	A {{Shapeshifter}} who can use their transforming ability to heal the wounds sustained in one form, [[EmergencyTransformation or at least prevent themselves from bleeding out by changing to a healthier body]].
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3	The wound that can be healed varies depending on the intensity: [[OnlyAFleshWound flesh wounds]], normal organ wounds and hemorrhages may be able to be healed this way, while wounded heart or brain may be hard, if not impossible, to heal. Likewise, [[AnArmAndALeg lost limb]] could also be regenerated this way, but [[OffWithHisHead destroyed head]] might not be possible to heal.
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5	May be justified by the way the shapeshifting works: if it causes the cells to morph and regenerate (ShapeshifterBaggage and all that), it can also logically heal wounds. The "rapidly regenerating cells" may be a {{Required Secondary Power\|s}} that can also be exploited as a HealingFactor.
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7	Often happens in case of {{Sequential Boss}}es who undergo OneWingedAngel; after losing their HP in their initial form, the transformation comes with a new health bar.
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9	May be used to extend a ShapeshifterShowdown. Compare ShapeDiesShifterSurvives. May justify ShapeshifterLongevity if shapeshifting counteracts the effects of aging.
10	----
11	!!Examples:
12	[[foldercontrol]]
13
14	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
15	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': When an arrancar activates their [[OneWingedAngel Resurreccion]] form, any and all injuries they received beforehand are instantly healed.
16	* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': Denji and the other Weapon Humans will regenerate from [[FromASingleCell basically anything]] when the trigger for their [[HenshinHero weapon forms]] is activated.
17	* ''Anime/DragonballZ'':
18	** [[GalacticConqueror Frieza]] is a villain with a number of OneWingedAngel forms, each of which will be uninjured when first assumed. Most of the injuries this fixed were minor, but includes the tip of his second form's tail being cut off.
19	** [[UltimateLifeForm Cell]]'s take on the OneWingedAngel is more parasitic, in that he literally needs to consume other characters to attain his new forms - but each one always has him end in perfect health despite the damage he took previously. This makes sense given Cell's usual [[FromASingleCell incredible regenerative abilities]]; injuries short of obliteration seem to just tire him out, but absorbing people replenishes that.
20	* Tamago of the Big Mom Pirates from ''Anime/OnePiece'' can only transform into a new form when his previous one has been beaten, becoming progressively more like a giant rooster as he goes until he cycles back to being an egg. Naturally, once he's taken on the new transformation, any injuries he's incurred from the previous one disappear.
21	* Played straight and inverted in ''Sai: Taker - Futari no Artemis'': [[EmergencyTransformation To survive a lethal wound]], Kyouya was given a device that [[GenderBender turns him female]]. However, if he changes back by removing it, his original injury returns. Thus, while he can technically [[SexShifter change back and forth at will]], he's effectively [[ShapeshifterModeLock stuck]] [[FirstLawOfGenderBending female for the foreseeable future]].
22	[[/folder]]
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24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* During the original ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', Wolverine severed Absorbing Man's arm at the bicep while Creel held the properties of rock, something he'd apparently never had happen before. At the suggestion of his LoveInterest, Absorbing Man held his arm perfectly in place before shifting back to human form, successfully reattaching the limb without enduring blood loss. Of course he mentions he felt like throwing up afterwards.
26	* Inverted with the Lizard (a ComicBook/SpiderMan villain), a biologist who lost his arm and experimented with lizard DNA (since lizards can grow back their tails). He regained his arm, but soon transformed into a [[LizardFolk Lizard Man]] with an evil personality.
27	* [[Characters/MarvelComicsMystique Mystique]] is sometimes stated to have a limited healing ability as a secondary effect of her body control. If counts enough for a healing factor draining vampire in ''ComicBook/{{Wolverines}}'' to target her.
28	* [[Characters/MarvelComicsKamalaKhan Kamala Khan]] from ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'' has a limited healing factor which seems to be both connected to her morphing powers, because she can't use them while she's healing, and CastFromCalories, because she becomes utterly ravenous as well. It hasn't come up much after introduction though, only referenced after saving her from a gunshot wound when she squees over working with Wolverine.
29	[[/folder]]
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31	[[folder:Fan Works]]
32	* This happens in ''Fanfic/{{Daemorphing}}'' as in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' canon, but characters are more aware of and willing to exploit it, doing things like starting to morph after being wounded and reversing the morph as soon as the injury is repaired.
33	* The ''Fanfic/{{Flufferverse}}'' defies this in the case of Tobias; he notices that his wounds don't always heal when he morphs, unlike the other Animorphs.
34	* In ''[[https://ficbook.net/readfic/8120226 Disappeared Ships, Carrots and All the Rest]]'', an ''Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture'' fanfic, Rat claims the broken rib he got in his human shape will get healed in a couple of hours if he returns to his original form.
35	* ''FanFic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': [[spoiler:Theon Greyjoy]] gets hit by a spell that turns him into a Chosen Champion of Chaos, restoring [[spoiler:his lost genitals.]]
36	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10258420/1/Belonging Belonging]]'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3249682/writerzero Writerzero]], Beast Boy TakesALevelInBadass by, among other things, learning how not to carry wounds over when he shapeshifts.
37	[[/folder]]
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39	[[folder:Film - Animated]]
40	* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Once the Beast is [[spoiler:transformed back to his human form]], the stab wounds inflicted by Gaston are healed.
41	* ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'': [[spoiler:Kubo's mother suffered from significant brain damage from a concussion]], which was reversed when they were [[spoiler:reborn as the Monkey]].
42	[[/folder]]
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44	[[folder:Literature]]
45	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': The fact that morphing heals all wounds is mentioned OnceAnEpisode and is crucial to the team's continued survival, having recovered from horrific wounds up to and including limb loss. It is, however, very tiring. It works like this because morphing is DNA based, so it basically acts like a "factory reset", this means it can even fix old long healed wounds.
46	** The auxiliary Animorphs were recruited thanks to this, by offering the morphing power to severely wounded or paralyzed teens who couldn't be restored via surgery. Some of them still couldn't be healed by the morphing process because they had genetic conditions, so their afflictions return when they demorph, but being able to spend up to two hours as an animal that moves more gracefully than any human ever could (or able to communicate via thought-speak) is a good enough substitute. [[spoiler:This also works on Tobias' mother, who was rendered blind, covered in scars, and amnesiac after a car accident. Morphing heals her eyes and makes her scars vanish, but memories are still gone]].
47	** In #24, the Helmacrons are encountered for the first time (one of the smallest known species in the universe with inversely-proportional egos, whose ships can be mistaken for children's scifi toys). They steal the morphing cube and use it to power a ShrinkRay that brings the humans and Tobias down to their size (and morphing animals still keeps them at the reduced scale). The issue is resolved by acquiring a new source of DNA unaffected by the shrinking ray (that happens to be perfectly suited to overpowering flea-sized aliens: [[spoiler:an anteater]]).
48	** In #15, the team morphs hammerhead sharks, which starts off badly as Marco cuts his foot on a seashell before morphing, leaving a trail of blood in the water but no wound. Unable to identify the source of the blood, the sharks start attacking each other before they get their senses under control.
49	** In #32, Rachel gets cut in half while in starfish morph, both halves remorphing to human in desperation. Then it turns out she underwent LiteralSplitPersonality into an unbalanced berserker and a cringing coward. They're restored at the end by [[spoiler:each personality acquiring the other's DNA and simultaneously morphing to the other while in contact with each other (and applying enormous amounts of electricity).]]
50	** In #14, Cassie realizes the racehorses acquired by the team to infiltrate a herd of wild horses look too good compared to the scruffy and weather-worn real herd, and has the team roll around in bushes and dirt to better fit in. She notes that their thoroughbred morphs ''still'' look better than the wild horses.
51	** In #28, the team acquires cows to infiltrate a slaughterhouse. Unfortunately, Ax and Tobias both acquire a steer ([[GroinAttack a gelded male cow]]), so when they morph at the same time Cassie now has to deal with two very large, very territorial, very aggressive ''bulls'' staring each other down and getting ready to fight. She promptly lampshades how they DidntThinkThisThrough.
52	** In #42, its shown that this applies to diseases as well. Rachel realizes that Marco had unknowingly contracted rabies from a dog bite, but morphing into a cockroach cured him of it.
53	** Naturally, there are several instances where it doesn't happen as a DramaPreservingHandicap:
54	*** In Megamorphs #2 Tobias' wing gets broken and isn't fixed after demorphing, while surrounded by hungry dinosaurs. It gets healed later [[spoiler:by the aliens who lived on Earth in the Cretaceous]], but no explanation is ever given for why it failed to work in the first place, though he does passively blame the Ellimist for it (who had given back his morphing power to begin with).[[note]]Author KA Applegate has revealed that she simply ''forgot'' morphing could heal injuries, and since she had already written a part of the story where Tobias has to deal with the broken wing, it is presented as a mystery internally.[[/note]]
55	*** In #41 (one of the bigger {{Bizarro Episode}}s in the series), Jake is propelled into a BadFuture where Rachel is reduced to a wheelchair-bound wreck. The morphing technology failing to fix her also goes unexplained. Of course, the whole thing turns out to be AllJustADream, so there's that to consider.
56	*** In #40, two Andalites are found living on Earth, but both of them have disabilities that can't be fixed by morphing: one has a genetic disease that's part of his Andalite body and so returns whenever he demorphs (essentially Andalite AIDS), the other lost his tail and can't grow it back via morphing, which makes him a pariah among Andalites (as seen by Ax's disgusted reaction, calling him a "vecol"). The latter's case is apparently because he can't morph ''at all'', due to an apparent genetic abnormality.
57	* Subverted in ''Literature/HarryPotter'': [[spoiler:Peter Pettigrew]] cut off his own finger before faking his death by [[spoiler:living as a rat]] for more than a decade, and the missing digit was used as proof that he had been masquerading as [[spoiler:Ron's pet rat Scabbers]] (before he was forced out of the transformation).
58	* Subverted in ''Literature/FeetOfClay'': Angua changes to her wolf form to save Cheri from falling into a vat of molten wax. Unfortunately, Cheri was wearing her silver chainmail vest (she'd heard there was a werewolf in the Watch, [[DramaticIrony not once picking up]] that she confiding her fears ''to'' the werewolf), causing burns to her cheeks and gums that are still visible when she turns back to human.
59	* ''Literature/BooksOfTheRaksura'' has an {{Inver\|tedTrope}}sion. If a Raksura's wings are injured, it can't safely shift back to human form until it heals; when Moon is forced to do so, the injury transfers to his human body's chest and back muscles and becomes much worse in the process.
60	* In ''Literature/LoskutikAndTheCloud'', the Cloud recalls how they got rid of an awful toothache by turning into a sailboat, since a sailboat doesn't have any teeth.
61	* ''Literature/{{Gone}}'': In the ''[[SequelSeries Monster]]'' trilogy, the remaining pieces of the meteorite that created the Gaiaphage come to Earth and create a new wave of superpowered mutants. This time, they transform into monstrous beings for their powers, and they are granted this trope as a neat side-effect. When Malik [[spoiler:suffers fourth degree burns at the hands of Peaks]], Shade gives him a sample of the Rock so that his morphed form would end his agony.
62	* ''Literature/ElementalMasters'': In ''Blood Red'', Markos and his clan can heal darn near anything with a single shift of form, including diseases. About the only time they would need a Healer or doctor is for an injury inflicted by silver.
63	* ''Literature/BloodOnTheReik'': Mentioned in passing by [[spoiler:Greta]] as to why she's good at healing (without being herself an example of the trope): as a favored Tzeentchian (god of change, mutation, and magic), it's simply a matter of moving flesh and bone around.
64	* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' the werewolves are able to restore wounds in their natural bodies by shapeshifting into their own selves. However, this requires them to maintain concentration and doesn't work indefinitely.
65	* In ''Literature/TheYearOfTheRat'', whenever Alk turns from a rat into a human or vice versa, the wounds sustained in the previous shape heal completely.
66	* ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'': Kandra are [[BlobMonster Blob Monsters]] in their native form, but can change soft tissues to mimic any living thing (though they can't create bones, teeth, hair, or the like, and need practice to mimic specific forms). As such, they can instantly heal cuts and bruises, and can only permanently be harmed by things like fire or acid that destroy the tissue or by breaking bones (which they cannot heal).
67	* ''Literature/TheHalfbloodChronicles'': In ''Elvenbane'', Keman figures out that the reason older dragons don't stay injured long is they use their shapeshifting to shift the wounded tissue from injured to intact. When he tries it, Keman finds it works, but also hurts like hell, since he's suffering the healing pain over several minutes instead of over several days.
68	* ''Literature/TheMermaid'' has Amelia, who can transform between a mermaid and a human woman and is hired by P.T. Barnum as an attraction. A man shoots her in the stomach to punish her for [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny arousing men's lust]]. She falls into a coma for three days. Levi has almost given up hope for her when he has the idea to put her in the harbor, as being immersed in saltwater is what triggers her transformation. As soon as she transforms, she recovers completely, and when she turns back into a human she shows no sign of injury.
69	* ''The Skin Game'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, the disabilities and injuries a werewolf suffers in human form disappears when they're a wolf. P.I. Randi Wade's friend Willie loses his asthma when shifted, the first victim of the Skinner is no longer a paraplegic and Jonathan Harmon implies to Randi that he loses the debilitating "war wounds" her father inflicted on him when he changes. However when a lycanthrope changes back, their human bodies are back to their same old wounded selves.
70	[[/folder]]
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72	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
73	* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'':
74	** Whenever Nate Heywood uses his [[ChromeChampion Steel powers]], any injuries he sustained in human form will have healed when after he 'unsteels'.
75	** With her full powers [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood Charlie]] possessed this ability, after being shot and later having her {{Neck Snap}}ped she momentarily seemed dead before (seemingly automatically) taking another form without the injury. She outright states her abilities make her immortal, as every time she shifted form her clock got reset, to the point that it's presently unclear what it would have taken to kill her (assuming she can actually die). Unfortunately due to John Constantine stripping her of powers (which only gradually come back) this no longer applies.
76	* ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'': Changelings can regenerate wounds by reverting to their liquid state. However, it's deconstructed as this is a changeling's ''only'' method of healing. If some outside force that isn't the Great Link[[note]] the source of the Changeling race and their powers [[/note]] invokes a ShapeshifterModeLock, the changeling will gradually deteriorate and decompose if they are unable to revert to their liquid state after 16 hours.
77	* In ''Series/AgentsOfShield'', whenever Robbie Reyes turns into ComicBook/GhostRider, any injuries he sustained as a human disappear after he returns to normal. With the exception of one WoundThatWillNotHeal -- a crack across his skull.
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80	[[folder:Myth and Religion]]
81	* This is notably subverted in many traditional werewolf legends, where a werewolf is identified in human form by having an injury analogous to one that was inflicted on their wolf form.
82	* ''Literature/TheTrojanCycle'': On returning from Troy, Menelaus is advised to seek the sea deity Proteus to learn what became of his brother Agamemnon. Proteus successively turns into different wild animals and even a tree, fire and water, but Menelaus keeps fighting until Proteus finally surrenders, telling him that his brother was murdered along with the unenviable fates of other Greek heroes.
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85	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
86	* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': Zig-zagged by [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent lycanthropes]]. Unlike most shapeshifting, their wounds are healed when they revert to human form -- a small mercy from a {{Curse}} that drives them out of their minds in beast form.
87	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
88	** 1st Edition Advanced D&D:
89	*** While under the effect of a Polymorph Self spell, a wizard can change his shape. At the end of the spell, when the wizard returns to his normal form he regains 1-12 HitPoints.
90	*** Each time a druid changes form (including human to animal and animal to human) they heal 10-60% of the HitPoints of damage they have taken.
91	** 3.5 Edition: {{Downplayed\|Trope}} with the ''Polymorph'' and ''Shapechange'' spells, which restore HitPoints equal to a full night's rest when the target transforms. However, ''Shapechange'' lets them transform once per turn, so they can quickly heal completely.
92	** In 5th edition, a druid can shapeshift into an animal form with full hit points (some can even heal themselves once per transformation), but any damage that reduces the animal form's HP to below zero reverts the druid and is carried over to the druid's regular form, and while the druid can shapeshift again to a form for more hit points, the damage to the druid's body isn't healed. The strategy is known as "the onion" by some since each form must be defeated individually to beat the druid once and for all. For most of the game, a druid is limited to two transformations a day, but at the highest levels the druid can transform as often as he wants.
93	* ''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'': Specifically averted in both 5th and 6th edition -- the description of the Multiform power notes that all damage carries over to the new form, which hopefully has enough [=STUN and BODY=] to survive the carryover. The example in both editions is a character who takes 30 [=BODY=] in ''tyrannosaurus'' form, then tries to shift to his fish form that only has 5 [=BODY=].
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96	[[folder:Video Games]]
97	* In many ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games, getting a Fire Flower powerup allows Mario to gain two hitpoints / {{Single Use Shield}}s, since getting hit while in Fire Mario form drops him to his Super Mario form rather than the standard Mario one.
98	* Averted in ''{{VideoGame/Starcraft}}'': Zerg structures are made by a Drone making a cocoon that morphs into the structure, so if the drone is damaged the structure will be as well. Similarly, Zerg creatures that undergo metamorphosis into other forms retain their partial HP.
99	** Played straight in VideoGame/StarCraftII however, with any Zerg unit which undergoes a successful transformation healing to full.
100	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'':
101	** The Blood Mage's Phoenix summon automatically turns into an egg (with very low total HP, but fully healed) when it dies (unless over water or impassable terrain), and if the egg survives, turns into a Phoenix with full health. To balance this, the Phoenix has ''negative'' HP regeneration, and will still die and be reborn without being attacked once. This can lead to ArtificialStupidity where the AI's Blood Mage summons a Phoenix as it leaves its base, resulting in a nearly-dead bird by the time it arrives at the enemy base.
102	** Wisps are Night Elf spirits that are consumed as they grow into giant mobile trees that serve as Night Elf buildings. Unlike Starcraft's Drones, the tree's life isn't linked to the wisp's and finishes construction fully healed (if it wasn't attacked in the meantime).
103	** Avatar and Metamorphosis are two abilities that grant enhanced combat abilities while they last (like spell immunity or a ranged attack) along with increasing the caster's current and maximum life by 500.
104	** An accidental version with destructible gates, which return to full health when switched from open to closed by default.
105	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'':
106	** A variation occurs with the Nightbringer's transformation of the Necron Lord: while the Nightbringer takes no damage (being completely invulnerable), the Necron Lord's HP percentage is transferred over the Nightbringer's and the inverse is true as well when he reverts back to the Necron Lord. [[LifeDrain But any damage inflicted by the Nightbringer is transferred to its health]] and the Nightbringer didn't have a natural health regeneration.
107	** The Deceiver's transformation of the Necron Lord plays it straighter: while it shares some of the same properties (invulnerability and health percentage transfer in both ways) as the Nightbringer's, the Deceiver gradually regenerates health instead of regaining it by attacking. This can be downplayed if the Necron Lord is equipped with the Phylactery upgrade which triples its regeneration (but not the Deceiver's), making it more effective than the Deceiver's transformation but vulnerable.
108	** Chaos Champions and Sorcerers can be sacrificed to summon a Bloodthirster of Khorne, a humongous BigRedDevil who is summoned at maximum HP due to having negative HP regeneration when out of combat.
109	** The Chaos Lord can similarly be transformed into a Daemon Prince at full HP, no matter how low their HP was before transforming.
110	* Averted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': After Ganondorf transforms into the monstrous boar Ganon, the scar on his humanoid body's chest is not only still visible but even bigger (running along the boar's entire underbelly), serving as the WeakPoint for Link to tear into once Ganon has been knocked prone.
111	* In ''{{VideoGame/Gladius}}'', units who shapeshift recover a percentage of their HP each time, whether it be to or from their original form. This can be taken advantage of by having a very wounded shapeshifter repeatedly shapeshift until they're in fighting shape again.
112	* Activating a Drive Form in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' refills Sora's HP. Each Form even comes with a 1-AP ability to make it a Reaction Command when Sora's HP is low.
113	* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent werecreatures]] instantly heal all injuries every time they transform. Since this is the only way to heal permanent injuries such as nerve damage and missing limbs, some players of Adventurer mode will [[CursedWithAwesome deliberately become werecreatures]] with this in mind. This initially had an [[GoodBadBugs interesting side effect]] where cutting a werecreature to pieces and reanimating the pieces as a {{Necromancer}} caused each body part to eventually [[FromASingleCell regenerate into a full-sized clone of that werecreature]].
114	* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast2005:'' Lorewise, at least, Luke can technically regenerate from injuries as he transforms into one of his beast forms. In a subversion, he has a WoundThatWillNotHeal on his chest, courtesy of his rival, Brad, whose Weretiger claws are laced with a certain virus that causes cellular necrosis; Luke retains the scar even in his beast forms. In gameplay, he retains his current HP whenever he transforms.
115	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'': Eikons are fully capable of regenerating entire lost limbs in seconds. At one point, a Dominant missing his hands transforms; his Eikon manifests without hands, but soon regrows them. It's unclear if this would have healed the Dominant, since he doesn't survive the fight and his corpse isn't in a state to make it obvious.
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117	[[/folder]]
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119	[[folder:Webcomics]]
120	* Subverted in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': A duplicate of Black Belt ends up TakenForGranite early on and White Mage later tries to unpetrify him. Unfortunately, he got the top of his head sheared off after landing upside-down in a pool of Mountain Dew. White Mage thinks she can heal him anyway, but [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/11/10/episode-622-now-shut-up/ once the petrification effect is reversed]], the head wound remains and quickly empties him of blood.
121	* In ''Webcomic/{{Newman}}'', the titular character gets one of his legs blasted off while pushing his friends out of the way of a monster's energy blast. He looks done for as he's bleeding out and goes into shock...until his werewolf transformation (which he got in an earlier story arc) triggers and saves him. When he comes out of it after everything is said and done, his leg is shown to have regenerated.
122	* Ariel in ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' has natural shape-shifting abilities and at one point freaks out an enemy by visibly repairing some superficial lacerations, but it's subverted when she explains afterwards that she just moved the skin and the damage below is still there. She's also later unable to [[spoiler:reattach her severed arm]] though it's suggested she might have succeeded if she got it back sooner.
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125	[[folder:Western Animation]]
126	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': A gargoyle turned to stone in sunlight will turn back at sunset with most of their wounds healed.
127	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / ShapeshiftingHealsWounds