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| 5 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 11 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SquadronSupreme https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pinball_marvel.png]]]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->'''Luigi:''' Did I catch the ball?\ |
| 14 | '''Mario:''' What do you mean, "catch the ball"? You ''were'' the ball! |
| 15 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld1991'', "The Yoshi Shuffle" |
| 16 | |
| 17 | A character gets [[ForciblyFormedPhysique squished into]] -- or otherwise turns into -- the shape of a ball, and then gets used as such. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | There are two basic approaches to this form of [[AmusingInjuries funny injury]] gags: one is a faster "disposal" gag which involves the balled-up character being kicked or thrown out, after which the character returns to normal; the second one is the "sports match" gag, which has the new "ball" be used in an actual sport (frequent choices tend to be basketball, volleyball and soccer, but just about any sport that uses a ball is fair game) -- this variation requires some sort of setup, usually through the character getting [[ForciblyFormedPhysique scrunched up]] or [[InflatingBodyGag inflated]] into a ball, and the gag after tends to be on the longer side in terms of runtime. Sometimes, the person may proceed to get tossed around by a seal, in a play on the stereotype of [[BallBalancingSeal seals balancing balls on their head or nose]]. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | May be a BouncingBattler if a character uses this as his primary fighting method. If rolling around as a ball is a routine mode of travel for them, see BizarreAlienLocomotion. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | For cases where only the character's head is used as a sports ball rather than the entire body, see SeveredHeadSports. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Not to be confused with RoundedCharacter. See also AccordionMan, SquashedFlat, RollingAttack, WaddlingHead, GoombaStomp, SphereFactor, PinballGag and InflatingBodyGag. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 33 | * Tony the Tiger does this in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpW0YrQZnYk this]] Frosted Flakes commercial. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Animation]] |
| 37 | * In ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf: Joys of Seasons'' episode 85, Darker Wolf gets mad at Wolffy for calling him a numbskull, squishes him into a ball shape, and kicks him into the air. |
| 38 | * ''Animation/TikTakTail'': In "Rabbit Tak", Tak and Tail chase Tik from India to Africa, where both end up in a dark cave and Tik gives Tak what looks like a match to use to see around the interior. It's actually a lion's tail, and the lion is so mad that he bunches Tak and Tail into a ball and throws them through the tunnel they came from, bouncing them all the way back to India. |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 42 | * Whenever they are not fighting, Anime/{{Bakugan}}s will actually compress themselves into tiny spheres. |
| 43 | * A filler episode of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' had this done to Kon. |
| 44 | * In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' ''New Testament Vol. 8'', [[PhysicalGod Othinus]] squashed [[SuperpowerLottery Teitoku]] [[SmugSuper Kakine]] into a ball. [[spoiler:Luckily for him, he had [[MesACrowd another version of himself]] still around... and unluckily for him, said other version [[DeathOfPersonality had already decided he didn't want to be "him" anymore]]]]. |
| 45 | * ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Frieza does this to Goku by trapping him in a sphere of energy and then batting him around for a while. Much later, there's an instance where this is used willingly ''and'' unwillingly in quick succession. Super Buu curls himself up into a ball to attack Gotenks, but Gotenks turns it around by using his Galactica Donuts attack to trap Buu in a highly volatile energy sphere... that he and Piccolo then use as a volleyball. |
| 46 | * ''Manga/DrStone'': Suika can fit herself into her watermelon mask for camouflage and infiltration. While inside she can also spin at incredibly fast speeds and be kicked and thrown long distances. |
| 47 | * ''Anime/JewelpetKiraDeco'': In episode 17, the clash of Opal and Ruby's spells turn Io into a ball and he lets himself be used in a soccer game in order to get Opal's forgiveness. |
| 48 | * ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' gets rolled up and kicked around by his enemies in the second opening. Also, Benkiman does to his larger opponents to compress them into a more easily-flushed shape. |
| 49 | * In ''Manga/TheLawOfUeki'', a one-shot character named Mario has the power to turn himself into a giant billiard ball. |
| 50 | * This is one of the standard techniques of the Akimichi clan in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. It's called "Meat Tank". |
| 51 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': Berry Good, a Marine captain, combines this with DetachmentCombat. He can transform into several small floating balls that he controls at will. |
| 52 | ** Chopper's Guard Point can absorb and ricochet projectiles, but his round form is used as a ball by kids in the Punk Hazard arc. |
| 53 | * ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'': In the first part of Episode 3, the wolf ghost squashes Panty and Stocking into a ball and throws them through a basketball hoop, then the two are seen [[SquashedFlat flattened]] afterwards. |
| 54 | * An episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has APirate400YearsTooLate firing cannons at [[WouldHurtAChild our heroes]]. When TheDragon reports that they’re all out of cannonballs, the captain decides to use a scuzzball, [[BadBoss launching said dragon from the cannon.]] |
| 55 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': One of the Witches is described in the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]] as doing this to humans, turning them into a ball and bouncing them for every lie they've told in their lives. Ouch. |
| 56 | * In a ''Manga/SailorMoon'' episode, Tesuni, one of Nephrite's youma, traps the title character in a giant tennis ball, Nephrite's target for that episode being a tennis player. |
| 57 | * ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'': In the first episode, Kuchpatchi eats a lot of burgers at the race's burger stand and grows much fatter, becoming rounder in shape. Then he trips on a ramp and goes bouncing all over Tamagotchi Town, nearly falling to his doom until his friend Mametchi notices and goes to save him. |
| 58 | * In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', the human-sized members of the Nebraska family roll into balls, aided by their armor designs, to be thrown as weapons by the giant-sized members of the family. |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 62 | * An ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' comic had a Roman squad that mixed the magic potion with a healing tonic inflating into balls. To make things worse, once deflated they were [[IncredibleShrinkingMan miniscule]]. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Reed sometimes uses his RubberMan powers to do this, usually so Ben can throw him at something. |
| 64 | * Rufus Crustbuster from his own titled comic strip in ''Jack And Jill'' magazine became a ball-shaped creature in an attempt to restore his actual anthropomorphic dog appearance after being turned into [[PaperPeople a living pancake]] by the Narrowegians. |
| 65 | * ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' has "Bouncing Boy". Already rotund, he can inflate into a large ball that gathers momentum as it bounces. |
| 66 | * The 1985 ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' limited series featured a B-grade villain named Pinball whose entire schtick was this trope. In battle, he'd inflate his green jumpsuit into a giant ball, then bounce or roll into his targets. |
| 67 | * Bounder from the 2009 incarnation of ''ComicBook/{{REBELS}}'' wears an inflatable armoured suit that mimics the powers of Bouncing Boy (if "mimics" is the right word for someone who lives a thousand years earlier). |
| 68 | * New 52 ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' member Roundhouse has the ability to turn into a ball in practically any size and material; cannonball, fireball, iceball, and even a baseball. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 72 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' has been known to do this to Odie on occasion. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 76 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' (which is also the TropeNamer), large numbers of ants join together into a massive wrecking ball. If you're lucky, you're somewhere in the middle of the ball; if you're Z, you're one of the ten or so forming the chain at the top who have to support the weight of the rest of the ants. |
| 77 | * According to a joke he told to a little boy at the end of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'', Mike Wazowski was actually once used as a dodgeball. |
| 78 | * During the end credits of ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', Bloat the puffer fish is actually used as a volleyball by Gill, Gurgle, and Jacques after they and the rest of the Tank Gang are finally released into the ocean. |
| 79 | * Later versions of the Omnidroid from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' incorporated a spherical design that allowed it to pull in its arms and head to roll around at high speeds. |
| 80 | * On ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'', Miguel and Tulio are playing a Mayan ball game to prove they're gods. They switch the regular ball for a rolled-up armadillo, which then scores all their goals for them. |
| 81 | * In [[WhatCouldHaveBeen an earlier version]] of ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei was going to run for class president against Tyler and the debate would have ended with Tyler getting squished roughly into a ball by Mei in panda form and thrown into a basketball net. |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 85 | * ''Film/CoolWorld'': Holli Would takes Jack Deebs to her favorite nightclub, which has a {{Bouncer}} at the door. A literal bouncer, as instead of legs, the man has a rubber ball below the waist, upon which he bounces in place. Jack thinks he recognizes this bouncer as Chico, but the reply is "I ain't no Chico." Holli can pass on sight, but the human Jack Deebs gets nixed, despite Holli vouching for him. "Sorry, doll, no noids." Mildly miffed, Holli points to [[TheBrue Bash]] of the QuirkyMinibossSquad, and states, "See him? He's with me, too." Bash seizes the bouncer, and throws him against the wall so hard that he spends the next hour bouncing off the various surfaces near the entrance. |
| 86 | * Occurs in ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' in which Godzilla and King Seesar have an imprompteau soccer match using Anguirus as the ball. |
| 87 | * In ''Film/ItsSleazy'', a straight-to-video conceptual film by the shock rock band {{GWAR}}, several fake commercials are featured as music videos for their songs. One commercial for "Power Chum" (a sports drink made from [[ImAHumanitarian liquefied humans]]) features one of GWAR's pit slaves being scrunched into a ball and kicked around before being tossed into a giant meat grinder. |
| 88 | * In ''Film/{{Kazaam}}'' with Shaquille O'Neal, during the climax Shaq's character uses his genie magic to turn the villain into a ball and slam dunks him into a garbage chute, since, you know, he's a basketball player. |
| 89 | * In ''Film/SkyHigh2005'', the kids of Superhero parents are divided into those with the abilities of heroes and those of sidekicks. One girl's power is to turn into a giant rubber beach ball. The [[Creator/BruceCampbell unimpressed Coach]] kicks her away shouting "SIDEKICK!" |
| 90 | * ''Film/{{Sonic the Hedgehog|2020}}'': |
| 91 | ** When Robotnik's mini-drones are scanning Tom's attic, Sonic tries to blend in with a soccerball and a basketball. However, Sonic accidentally rolls away, causing the drones to spot him which ends up [[FromBadToWorse alerting Robotnik himself]]. |
| 92 | ** Tom uses Sonic in his spinball form as one for the indoor basketball game machine, allowing Sonic to rack up a new high score. |
| 93 | * A rare example of a LIVE person occurs in ''Film/SpaceJam'', with Michael Jordan squashed into a ball and bounced around by the Monstars thanks to the InUniverse ToonPhysics of the Looney Tunes' home. |
| 94 | * The droidekas introduced in ''Franchise/StarWars Episode 1: Film/ThePhantomMenace'' curl themselves into a ball and roll into battle before emerging in a tripod stance and deploying their DeflectorShields. |
| 95 | * ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'' has [[TheBigGuy Rahzar]] hurling [[TheLeader Leonardo]] as a bowling ball towards a bunch of bunch of unfortunate [[{{Mooks}} Foot ninjas]] who [[SlapStick act as human-sized bowling pins]]. The [[ManChild childlike-minded Rahzar]] (probably) doesn't understand that the Foot is on his side. |
| 96 | * It was also done in ''Film/TheToxicAvengerPartII'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWaqfmlTwu4 with a midget]]. |
| 97 | [[/folder]] |
| 98 | |
| 99 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 100 | * Hedgehogs are famously used as croquet balls on ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''. |
| 101 | * In the book ''Harry Sue'', the main character was thrown from her family's apartment by her father when she was five, and since her dad played basketball, he squished her into a ball first and launched her out hard enough that she landed in a nearby tree instead of falling straight to the ground. |
| 102 | * Creator/ShelSilverstein's poem "Play Ball" has the narrator describing his baseball team in great detail, finishing with telling the reader, "You can be the ball!" |
| 103 | * Katherine Pyle's poem "The Sweet Tooth" has a fat kid [[ImMelting melt]] down into a ball in the hot summer sun. He gets used for soccer until some of his fat wears off. |
| 104 | * Played with by Harry [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Dresden]] in ''Literature/WhiteKnight''. He needs to protect himself, and another person, from an explosion in a cave. While he doesn't turn himself into a ball, he creates a spherical magic shield that protects both of them. It also has the added effect of using the force of the expanding fireball to propel both of them out of the way through one of the connecting tunnels... which makes him a [[{{Pun}} pinball wizard]]. |
| 105 | [[/folder]] |
| 106 | |
| 107 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 108 | * The [[MonsterOfTheWeek Violence Dopant]] from ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' can turn himself into a wrecking ball. |
| 109 | * ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'': |
| 110 | ** Houka/Magipink has the ability to [[VoluntaryShapeshifting voluntarily shapeshift]] herself into almost anything. This includes a giant soccer ball during giant battles, which is then used by the others to finish off the MonsterOfTheWeek. Vida Rocca, the Pink Mystic Ranger from ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' also does this. |
| 111 | ** Happens to a {{Mook}} in ''Magiranger'''s first episode. Then Kai kicks him into the other mooks. |
| 112 | * In the ''Series/OddSquad'' episode "Captain Fun", Otto activates the water travel mode on his suit, tucks his arms and legs in, and rolls like a ball across the bullpen floor to knock down bowling pins. He manages to get a strike and the support of a couple other agents for being voted the eponymous title. |
| 113 | * In the ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' episode "Welcome Back Duke", Salem gets turned into a basketball by Sabrina so she and a few girls from the school basketball team can shoot some hoops. |
| 114 | * The ''Series/UltramanEighty'' episode "The Evil Glove is Laughing at You" has the monster, Glovusk, being formed from a baseball glove who absorbed too much Minus Energy. So naturally in the penultimate battle, Ultraman Eighty folds himself into a ball form and beats Glovusk into submission. [[https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Glovusk?file=Glovusk-0.jpg It's as ridiculous as it sounds]]. |
| 115 | * One of the ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'''s Beast Batteries, Pukuputor, causes its victim to swell up like a balloon; one episode particular sees the team use it on [[ButtMonkey Kyoryu Blue]] and bounce him around like a volleyball in order to counter the QuirkyMinibossSquad's own volleyball-themed special attack. |
| 116 | [[/folder]] |
| 117 | |
| 118 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 119 | * German game ''TabletopGame/PlueschPowerUndPlunder'' (about [[LivingToys sapient, living plushies]]) has the unarmed combat technique "Balduin's basketball", which does exactly what you think it does. |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 123 | * In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', the Bohrok and Bohrok-Kal sets were able to roll up into balls. In the fluff this was to allow for ease of storage when they were inactive and also allowed for much faster travel over Mata Nui's rough terrain compared to their slow waddle when unfolded. |
| 124 | [[/folder]] |
| 125 | |
| 126 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 127 | * ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'': Lord Raptor has a special move named Hell Dunk, where he transforms the opponent in a ball and next slam dunks them into a hoop provided by his partner Le Marta. |
| 128 | * ''VideoGame/DinosaursForHire'' have the ending screen, where the three playable dinosaur protagonists uses a human mook to play street soccer with. And then they send the mook flying offscreen, leading to the pterodactyl of the gang flying off to collect another mook and drop him as another ball, all while the credits rolls on. |
| 129 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 130 | ** The enemy Wendigo in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' does this to a random party member as an attack called Dribble and another attack called Shoot. |
| 131 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': The Mimic enemy does this in its "Eat" attack, but instead of playing around after squishing them to a ball, it chomps down its victim into its big gaping treasure chest mouth, crunches a few times and then belches them out whole with some random gold coins. |
| 132 | * ''VideoGame/FlingSmash'' combines this with BouncingBattler -- the hero, Zip, is a small ball-shaped critter who saves the day by bouncing off obstacles, treasures, and bad guys. Some enemies are only vulnerable from certain angles, so strategic bouncing is required. |
| 133 | * From ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' we have Venom's Instant Kill "Dimmu Borgir", in which he grabs his opponent and turns him into a ball, then pool balls come and obliterate his opponent making him/her explode. The Xrd version gives the same attack, now called Giga Machina System in glorious 3d. |
| 134 | * ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'': |
| 135 | ** One of Kirby's first [[PowerCopying Copy Abilities]] in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' was the Ball ability, which turned him into a spherical, pink HyperDestructiveBouncingBall. |
| 136 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'' has this as the entire gimmick -- Kirby's been reduced to a sphere, and it's up to the player to guide him through the stage via magic ink. |
| 137 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbysPinballLand'', the third game in the series, already had him in a nigh-permanent ball shape; ''Kirby's Dream Course'' and ''Kirby's Block Ball'' did this as well. |
| 138 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheRainbowCurse'' has it happening once again in a way similar to ''Canvas Curse''. |
| 139 | ** Even the bosses get in on this. ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' has [[FiendishFish Fatty Puffer]], who inflates his body into a huge ball and [[RollingAttack rolls]] all over the place. [[spoiler: And the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', [[EldritchAbomination Void]] [[DestroyerDeity Termina]], has a core MadeOfEvil that [[BouncingBattler bounces]] around the dark god's [[WombLevel insides]]. Given Void's [[TomatoInTheMirror suspicious resemblance]] to Kirby himself, this is not a coincidence.]] |
| 140 | * In Chapter 3 of ''VideoGame/KnyttUnderground'', the protagonist of Chapter 1, Mi (a human-shaped sprite), and the protagonist of Chapter 2, Bob (a sentient bouncing ball) enter a MergingMachine and come out the other end with the ability to switch between the two as needed. Most of the NPC's still treat them as Mi, however, and Bob's separate personality (such as it is) is never really addressed again. |
| 141 | * In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', Zac's "joke" emote involves inflating himself into a ball and bouncing until otherwise commanded. |
| 142 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': The Gorons curl themselves up into balls in order to move at high speeds and to attack their enemies. Since Link can turn into a Goron in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', he gets to use this ability as well. Meanwhile, Princess Zelda herself in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' can curl when she possesses a Wrecker Phantom in the Tower of Spirits. |
| 143 | * ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi Mario & Luigi]]'' series: |
| 144 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Superstar Saga]]'', the Bros. move Knockback Bros involves Luigi hammering Mario into a ball, which is then hammered towards the enemy [[BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame golf-style]]. Also, unlocking the Advanced version of Knockback Bros. turns the golf game into a racquetball game, allowing Luigi to repeatedly hammer Mario into the enemy for ridiculous amounts of damage! |
| 145 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Partners in Time]]'', one move allows Mario and Luigi to form a ball shape together which allows them to get to places they couldn't get before. |
| 146 | ** One of Bowser's special moves in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'' involves Bowser getting rolled up into a ball and being pulled back like a slingshot pellet by Shy Guys. Also happens during a Yoo Who Cannon Bros. Attack. |
| 147 | ** Ball Bounce in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Dream Team]]'', which is like the ''Partners in Time'' move, but it bounces. |
| 148 | * ''VideoGame/MarioPinballLand''. ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] gets turned into a ball in a fairground game, and has to save Princess Peach (who has also turned into a ball) from Bowser by being used as a living pinball. |
| 149 | * In ''VideoGame/MarioParty8'', when a player uses a Bowlo Candy, the player transforms into a ball and bowls around the board, bowling over players that get in the way and taking 10 coins from them. |
| 150 | * In ''VideoGame/MarioPlusRabbidsKingdomBattle''[='s=] Donkey Kong extension, anything or anyone DK grabs takes the shape of a ball, which DK throws at the end of his move. |
| 151 | * ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'': |
| 152 | ** From ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'', one of Blizzard Man's attacks is where to roll his body into a snowball, turning himself invincible in the duration of this attack. |
| 153 | ** Clown Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' can roll his body into an electrical ball for his Thunder Carnival attack. |
| 154 | ** Pirate Man from ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' can roll his body into a ball and charge around the arena in a [[BarrierWarrior bubble shield]]. |
| 155 | ** Strike Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' turns himself into a ball as one of his attacks. He [[TheJuggernaut cannot be harmed when he's in this phase]]. |
| 156 | ** Bounce Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'' mostly attacks by rebounding off the walls to hit Mega Man. Given that he takes his design from a ball, this is possibly a given... |
| 157 | * ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' has Samus Aran's ability, Morph Ball, which goes beyond an attack and is in fact one major factor of her mobility. Many puzzles require being in Morph Ball shape or making use of one of its upgrades, and Samus spends most of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimePinball'' in this state. A spinoff manga further expands on this, showing that (unusually for this trope) Samus actually ''loves'' when she's the ball! Her enemies the Space Pirates consider this one of her more peculiar abilities, and note the security risk it poses. ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' reveals that they once attempted their own version...which ''broke every bone in the test subject's body''. "Science Team wisely decided to move on" indeed. |
| 158 | * ''VideoGame/MetalWarriors'': There's a rare variant of a MiniMecha that is, by default, a SpiderTank. However, it moves around by retracting all its limbs to roll in sphere form. |
| 159 | * In the ''Franchise/MonstersInc'' game ''Scream Arena'', one of the possible balls you can throw is the Morph Ball, which turns a competitor hit by it into a ball themself. In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', Mike Wazowski can be thrown around like a bowling ball at the Heartless. |
| 160 | * ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Kano has a move called Cannon Ball which has him curling himself into a ball and launching himself at the opponent. The move can be performed downwards and upwards. |
| 161 | * ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'': The Age of Amateria ends with the player being launched into the massive roller coaster-like trackway that spans most of the Age, riding inside a ball-shaped capsule, coated in the material that the ice spheres in the Age are made of. |
| 162 | * The pangolin-like Yooyu Petpet from ''Website/{{Neopets}}'', best known for their use as balls in the sport of Yooyuball. |
| 163 | * ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' has Hammond, a [[UpliftedAnimal hamster mech pilot]] ([[KillerRabbit yes]], [[ItMakesSenseInContext really]]), whose MiniMecha, Wrecking Ball, is able to curl up into a ball to slam into enemies. It fulfills [[MeaningfulName its namesake]] by being able to shoot out [[GrapplingHookPistol a grappling hook]] while rolling, allowing it to [[BuildingSwing swing around any part of the map it can grab onto]] and deal serious damage to any poor sap in the way. The Summer Games 2018 event added "Be the ball" as one of his voice lines. |
| 164 | * ''VideoGame/PacNRoll'' is an entire game based around this premise. The main villain, Golvis, places a curse on Pac-Man and his friends that takes away their limbs, leaving them as balls, so Pac-Man must spend the entire game rolling around in order to move. |
| 165 | * In ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'', certain enemies, such as the Pepperoni Goblin (and its Goblinbot counterpart) and the Big Cheese, can turn Peppino into a ball[[note]]the former by kicking him away, and the latter by grabbing and pitching him like a baseball[[/note]]. Being in this state will cause Peppino to continuously roll until he hits a wall, returning him to normal. Said form is often necessary to clear the way of obstacles, such as [[AbilityRequiredToProceed Stupid Rats]]. |
| 166 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 167 | ** Sandshrew, Sandslash, Donphan, Miltank, and at least a dozen more can do this willingly through the moves like Defence Curl (to raise their Defences), Rollout, Ice Ball, and Steamroller (the latter three are attacks). |
| 168 | ** A commercial for ''VideoGame/PokemonPinball: Ruby and Sapphire'' actually showed Treecko being launched into a pinball machine. In-game, it's possible to do this in the Sealeo bonus stage if you hit a Spheal while it's wadding up a slide; it will get bounced by Sealeos through a basketball hoop. |
| 169 | * In the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, rock Golems both big and small attack in this matter, curling up into a ball before rolling across the screen. |
| 170 | * Turning into a ball is a ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' staple. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, practically all playable characters can charge up on the spot as a ball for speed, known in the series as the Spin Dash. |
| 171 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'' is a full game based around him acting as a pinball, and other games have pinball-themed zones. |
| 172 | * ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest I'': Hang around in the Oorat's cave for too long, and he'll pick Roger up, compress his body ''into'' his spacesuit helmet and dribble him like a basketball. Needless to say, Roger [[HaveANiceDeath doesn't survive the experience]]. |
| 173 | * ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' games: |
| 174 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresBabsBigBreak Babs' Big Break]]'' for the Game Boy, during the battle with Arnold, if you try to attack Arnold when he isn't standing still, he will bounce you like a basketball and toss you in one of the hoops. |
| 175 | ** This is Hamton's special ability in ''Acme All-Stars'' for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. |
| 176 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresDefendersOfTheUniverse Defenders of the Universe]]'', this happens to any character who gets grabbed. |
| 177 | * One boss in the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games is all about this. In ''VideoGame/WarioLandII'' you face him in a basketball game -- each player tries to jump on the other one and throw them into the basket for points. In ''VideoGame/WarioLand3'', it's a soccer game instead. |
| 178 | [[/folder]] |
| 179 | |
| 180 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 181 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Nanase gets [[http://egscomics.com/egsnp/nanasecraft-09 turned]] into a ball with a head, hands and feet as part of a [[StockVideoGamePuzzle puzzle]]. |
| 182 | * In ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', when Lindisfarne is looking up her old high school friends, she learns her armadillo friend Colina is now [[https://www.kevinandkell.com/2012/kk0711.html a soccer mom]]. |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 186 | * The skeletal contortion of the Morph Ball in Franchise/{{Metroid}} is ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s #27 [[http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_388_27-science-lessons-as-taught-by-famous-video-games/ Science Lesson As Taught by Famous Video Games.]] |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 190 | * ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'': In "[[Recap/AaahhRealMonstersS1E12WhereHaveAllTheMonstersGone Where Have All the Monsters Gone?]]", the monsters begin to disappear as a result of not scaring humans. They try to scare humans anyway before they disappear completely, but disappearing compromises their plans. One such monster, Grelch, tries to scare humans at the bowling alley, but when she loses her legs, she gets mistaken for a bowling ball by a human who uses her to bowl. She complains about her failure when she returns to the Monster Academy. |
| 191 | -->'''Grelch:''' So this wartloo pushes me out, and boom! I'm Grelch, the monster bowling ball! |
| 192 | * This is the primary use of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'''s Cannonbolt form. |
| 193 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers'' episode "Flim Flam Fever", Mr. Whiskers goes out into the forest to look for a flower to cure Brandy who is supposedly sick. He gets flung by a tree to a territory of apes who get mad and start throwing Mr. Whiskers around and one of the apes then turns Mr. Whiskers into the shape of a ball and bowls him like a bowling ball. |
| 194 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Hypnoteased" When in a fight with the greasers, one of the greasers squish Catdog into a ball, dribbles them for a little bit then passes it to another greaser who kicked Catdog then the third greaser puts his hands like a hoop for Catdog to go through and then the greaser who originally squished Catdog into a ball kicks them and they land in a tree back in their regular form. |
| 195 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation M.I.N.I.G.O.L.F.", when the Great Puttinski challenges [[IncredibleShrinkingMan a shrunken Numbuh 2]] to play his homemade miniature golf course, he then uses him as the ball for the last course, which if won will shrink the planet. After his plan fails and Numbuh 2 returns to the treehouse, the episode ends with the other members of Sector V planning to use him as a ping-pong ball. |
| 196 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' episode "Can Cow Come Out and Play?", when Cow finds out that the Red Guy put the whole town into a trailer just to get some alone time with her to get her toys, she uses her cape to turn into Supercow and first uses the Red Guy to play jump rope and then turns him into a ball, dribbling him and then shooting him into a hoop. |
| 197 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' episode "Nom de code", at one instance a telephone rings, Bother, Blister and Li'l One rush toward it and knock down their sister Ditzy on their way. Caprice, who is racing against her younger siblings, throws Ditzy's removable head like a bowling ball and strikes them before they could answer it. |
| 198 | * In ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episodes "Apes of Wrath", "Incredible Bulk", "The Darkwing Squad", and "Smarter than a Speeding Bullet", DW is squashed and used as the ball courtesy of a suspicious gorilla, a giant enemy flower, and a DumbMuscle ally who was tricked into it respectively. |
| 199 | * ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'': This happens to Oswidge when he, Dave, Candy, and Fang are trying to fight off invisible people and one of them turns Oswidge into a ball and bounces him up and down. |
| 200 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{DC Super Hero Girls|2019}}'' episode "[[Recap/DCSuperHeroGirls2019S1E12SheMightBeGiant #SheMightBeGiant]]", Giganta grabs Batgirl and uses her as a ball to play some bowling with mannequins as the pins. |
| 201 | * ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': |
| 202 | ** In one episode, Dexter, with his robot suit, finally gets even with the bullies who have been pounding him in dodgeball all the previous week. One of them is squeezed into a basketball and slam dunked. |
| 203 | ** In "Now That's a Stretch!", Dexter merges himself with Dee-Dee's bubblegum, which he took from her rather suddenly. About as soon as Dee-Dee (who starts to feel a bubblegum craving) figures out that Dexter became more bubblegum, she starts playing with him, and one of the first things she does is to crush Dexter into a bubblegum basketball, dribble him and dunk him into a hoop. |
| 204 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' plays with this. One episode has Timmy play football in gym class with a bunch of older-looking kids, and when the coach assigns their positions, he literally gives Timmy the position of "ball." Timmy is then slammed into the ground and gets a big block of earth stuck to him for apparently the rest of the day. In other episodes, Timmy is actually turned into a ball, once by Trixie's bodyguard and then shot into a hoop and once or twice by Francis. |
| 205 | * ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': In the PilotMovie, while a little girl was trying to adopt Bloo before Mac could make it to the house to see him, Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco tried to keep Bloo away from the girl to keep her from adopting him. During the following chase scene, Wilt turns Bloo into a ball and handles him like a basketball. Ironically, earlier on in the movie, when Mac and Bloo first visit the foster home and see Wilt for the first time and are amazed at how tall he is, Bloo makes a comment that he should play basketball. So they allow him to play by making ''him'' the ball. |
| 206 | * ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': Whenever Gort, Wart, and Mort from ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' play some kind of sports game with Orson, they have him be the ball, much to his horror. |
| 207 | * In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'', Ram Ma'am can curl herself into a large energy sphere or, in her own words, "a human ram ball" to roll, bounce, and crash into enemies. She can also use some built in grappling lines to throw herself in ball form like a giant slingshot. |
| 208 | * In ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'', One-One is a spherical robot with a LiteralSplitPersonality, each personality inhabiting one-half of the sphere and able to operate independently. |
| 209 | * Happens to Jimmy in ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' when he suggests a game to [[{{Satan}} Lucius]]. |
| 210 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': |
| 211 | ** In several episodes, [[SuperStrength Bad Kaeloo]] will [[InvoluntaryShapeshifter beat Mr. Cat into the shape of a ball]] and then play soccer, tennis, etc. with him. |
| 212 | ** In one episode, Kaeloo decides to punish both Mr. Cat and Quack Quack, so she uses Quack Quack as the ball and Mr. Cat as a racket to hit him with. |
| 213 | * ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006'': Bouncing Boy has this as his superpower. |
| 214 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short ''Bad Ol' Putty Tat'', Tweety hides from Sylvester in a can of shuttlecocks, resulting in his being hit back and forth during a game of badminton. |
| 215 | ** In ''Porky the Wrestler'', the challenger bounces Porky like a ball and plays "One, Two, Three O'Leary" with him. |
| 216 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'': In the episode "Off the Rack", several people under control of the Safe-T Suits end up becoming this. [[DumbMuscle Tooley]] seems to get a kick out of this. |
| 217 | * ''WesternAnimation/MuchaLucha'': This is instrumental in Rikochet's signature move (fittingly titled "Rikochet's Pulverizing Pinball"). |
| 218 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Trixie does this to poor Spike, when she possesses the alicorn amulet. |
| 219 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' episode "Paw and Order" Nasty Jack shows Piglet the difference between bouncing and trouncing by turning one of his fellow horse thieves into a basketball... dribbling and shooting him into a hoop for good measure. |
| 220 | * The 1943 [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]] cartoon ''WesternAnimation/PlutoAndTheArmadillo'' revolves around Mickey and Pluto visiting Brazil, where Mickey and Pluto play a game of fetch. Pluto chases the ball into the forest, where he finds a female armadillo who has rolled up into a ball, and just so happens to look exactly like the ball while in ball form. When Pluto finds the actual ball, he's more confused than ever, and finally, the armadillo unfurls and the two start goofing around with each other. Eventually, the armadillo, while being pursued by an enraged Pluto, turns into a ball and rolls into a small cave. Pluto then spots his actual ball and attacks it, only to end up popping it. He then becomes convinced that he destroyed the armadillo, but then the armadillo shows up again, and Pluto gives her a lick across the face. The armadillo then proceeds to turn into a ball and bounce around Pluto, and Pluto then turns into a ball himself. We get a few seconds of the two balls bouncing around and bumping into each other, and then they unfurl and continue to dance. Then Mickey rushes into the jungle, spots Pluto with what he thinks is the ball, and drags them back onto the plane... and then discovers that the ball is in fact an armadillo after the plane takes off. |
| 221 | * From the ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' 1960s cartoon, in the episode "The Rain Breaker", Popeye and Olive Oyl are having a picnic in which Popeye falls asleep and he's in a battle with Thor/Brutus where he is easily outmatched and Thor uses his thunderbolt to transform Popeye into a ball and then bowls him into a set of fiery bowling pins and then Thor flattens him like a pancake, throws him against the wall and starts throwing more thunderbolts at Popeye until Popeye eats his spinach, beats Thor and then wakes up. Interestingly Popeye is more than capable of cartoony effects but this went the more realistic way of being just a dream. |
| 222 | * There's a variation in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': in the episode featuring the return of the Rowdyruff Boys, the poor girls get squeezed into a hockey puck instead of a ball. |
| 223 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' cartoon, Sam rolls Max up as a bunny bowling ball. |
| 224 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock'' video "Naughty Number Nine", the cat known as no. 9 uses the mouse as a billiards ball, twice! |
| 225 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': |
| 226 | ** Sandy gets rolled into a ball by [=SpongeBob=] in the first part of "Karate Choppers" and bowled through his front door. |
| 227 | ** [=SpongeBob=] becomes a basketball that Pearl dribbles and shoots into a gym hoop in "The Chaperone", as a part of the choreography for "[[DanceSensation the Sponge]]" dance. |
| 228 | ** In "Walking Small", [=SpongeBob=] becomes a volleyball he popped during an "assertive" stint with Plankton. Surprisingly enough [=SpongeBob=] enjoys being smacked over the net. |
| 229 | ** In "Suction Cup Symphony", Squidward does this to both [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick before kicking them out his window. They then come back in the same ball. |
| 230 | ** In "Krusty Krushers", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick end up being turned into a paddleball set by their wrestler opponents -- with Patrick as the ball and [=SpongeBob=] as the paddle. |
| 231 | ** In "Surf N Turf", Sandy flies out of her submarine and is compressed into a ball inside her helmet and bounces around a ship in a bottle competition like a pinball. When she stops comes to a halt, the judge of the competition picks her up and gives sandy first place for being the first "squirrel in a bottle" he had ever seen. |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeamUmizoomi'': One of Bot's abilities is to turn into a ball at will when a situation calls for it. He doesn't seem to mind, but when this ability will be used against him, one may never know. |
| 233 | * ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': |
| 234 | ** In the episode, "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E7JourneyToTheCenterOfACMEAcres Journey to the Center of Acme Acres]]", The big bad quake comes towards Plucky and Hamton's area in which the two try to escape it in which the two later get caught in the quake, the quake then turns into a hand and shapes both Plucky and Hamton into one ball scrunched together, bounces them a few times and then shoots them into a hoop. When underground, Buster, Babs, Hamton, and Plucky all get turned briefly into bowling pins when a gremlin bowls a big ball of gold at them. |
| 235 | ** In the episode, "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E44HeroHamton Hero Hamton]]", when Hamton is too scared to go into the boxing ring against [[TerribleTrio Montana Max, Dizzy Devil, and Calamity Coyote]], Buster and Babs take his place. Once the bell is rung, Monty tells Dizzy to take care of them. Dizzy starts to spin around and grabs Buster and Babs while he is spinning. When he's done, Dizzy throws them towards the mat and shapes them into basketballs. He, Monty, and Calamity then take turns bouncing Buster and Babs around the ring until Hamton steps in and scares the three bullies away. |
| 236 | ** In the "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS3E18ACatsEyeView A Cat's Eye View]]" episode segment, "Party Crasher Plucky", when trying to get into a party with Shirley The Loon, Plucky is not on the list. The person who held the list, called the "bouncer" is dressed as a basketball player. He squishes Plucky into a ball and dribbles him down the walkway and then tosses him into a hoop. After being shot in the hoop, Plucky says, "So that's why they call them bouncers." |
| 237 | * ''WesternAnimation/TransformersBotBots'': Kikmee is a soccer ball bot. She often transforms into her ball form not just to disguise, but also to perform tricks and even assault people on one occasion. |
| 238 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'', the title character got [[{{Curse}} cursed]] by the Flying Sorcerers to this. |
| 239 | * Not human, but in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' Dastardly loses the basketball he was going to trigger one of his traps with and has to use Muttley instead. |
| 240 | * ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': In "Pantry Panic", Woody gets smacked around as a ball. |
| 241 | * ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'': The 3 Marsupial Kids seem to like curling up, and rolling around like cute furry balls. |
| 242 | * This happens to Dojo in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown''. Unfortunately for him, he has about two seconds to realize it. |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
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