Line #12 Main/MetaphoricMetamorphosis


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/donald_duck_8.png]]]]
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7	In cartoons, characters will sometimes change into something that symbolizes or is associated with the situation at hand.
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9	# A lollipop emblazoned with the word "Sucker" (the character has just been tricked).
10	# A donkey, with optional braying (the character is stupid or being a (jack)ass). In cases where actually ''saying'' the word "ass" would provoke the censors, this can double as GettingCrapPastTheRadar.
11	# Shoe heel (this example is often aligned with [[HeelRealization guilt and remorse]] akin to the trope MyGodWhatHaveIDone rather than being embarrassed).
12	# A dumbbell (a more direct VisualPun indication of stupidity).
13	# A wolf, complete with WolfWhistle (the character is lustful).
14	# In Spanish-speaking media, a character with a cheating partner gets horns --from the idioms "ponerle los cachos" ("put the horns on her/him/they") and "cornudo/a" ("horned/cuckold").
15	# In Japanese media, a character "turning into a {{tengu}}" (i.e. acting arrogant or boastful) will grow a tengu's long nose.
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17	Because Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible, this, of course, can be done in media other than animation. Any visual format can easily make use of this trope. Figurative speech such as similes and metaphors in written media serves the same function, if usually more frequent and at the same time done in a subtler manner.
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19	Likewise, metaphoric transformations can and have been used for purposes other than [[PlayedForLaughs comedy]] such as in FurryLens (a character is drawn as an anthropomorphic animal, but is considered human in-universe).
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21	In any case, this trope often runs on StockVisualMetaphors.
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23	A specific form of VisualPun (a play on words in the form of an image). Contrast LiteralMetaphor (a character makes a figure of speech and they--sometimes sarcastically--say that they meant it literally). Compare NarrativeShapeshifting (a character shapeshifts while trying to describe something). Related to ShamefulShrinking (a character literally shrinks down due to embarrassment and shame) and BuzzsawJaw (eating so fast that your mouth turns into a buzz).
24	----
25	!! Examples:
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27	[[foldercontrol]]
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29	[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
30	* The ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' manga features a very disturbing variation of this, when the evil men of sector B attack and rape the women of sector C, they metaphorically become wolves and hyenas.
31	[[/folder]]
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33	[[folder: Fan Works]]
34	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11329168/8/Harry-Potter-and-the-Eternal-Realm Harry Potter and the Eternal Realm]]'' (''Literature/HarryPotter'', ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'': Uncle Arthur promises to be "sweet as pie" while Hermione is having lunch with the Stephenses and then turns his body into a giant pie.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder: Films -- Animation]]
38	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', the Genie turns into a sheep after realizing Aladdin tricked him into granting a free wish.
39	-->'''Genie:''' Well, I feel [[LiteralMetaphor sheepish]]. Alright, you ba-a-a-ad boy, but no more freebies!
40	* In ''WesternAnimation/GayPurree'' as Meowrice taunts Juane Tom that he will never catch up with him on the train to save his girlfriend Mewsette, Tom calls him a dirty rat, he then gets an idea he envisions him as a giant rat which causes his hunting instincts to kick in and take off like a bolt of lightning to catch up.
41	* ''Animation/HaryJanos'': When the titular character rejects both the banquet's main course and the princess's hand, stating that he'd rather eat something more traditional and go back to his peasant wife, the Emperor's face bounces back from human to skeletal to convey his thunderous ire.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/HellBentForElection'': Horace, the wrecker train and straw political opposition, briefly turns into Hitler while ranting against "Roosevelt's war."
43	* ''WebAnimation/KoukaAndBibi'': When Kouka convinces her to track the murderer by smell, Bibi rushes across the city to arrive at a several-store building. There, her body is shaped like an arrow with the head pointing to said building.
44	* ''Animation/{{Kuzdok}}'': The [[{{Sculptures}} statue]] comes to life and begins sculpting away at its sculptor, rendering the {{sculptor\|s}} into a shrunken old man. The metaphor of the artistic process of creation, and how creating art takes something out of the artist, is obvious.
45	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', this is PlayedForDrama since being on Pleasure Island for too long causes the misbehaving children to turn into actual donkeys, which in most cases seems to be [[WasOnceAMan permanent]].
46	[[/folder]]
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48	[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]
49	* ''Film/TheMask'': In a rare live-action example, the Mask gets a wolf head when watching Tina perform at the Coco Bongo. Mind you, he's pretty much a living {{Toon}}.
50	[[/folder]]
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52	[[folder: Video Games]]
53	* In another live-action example that's played ''dramatically'', in ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'', you're shown a scene after completing the puzzle in Martine Burden's bedroom. Martine is seducing Edward Knox, himself married to Elinor, to secure him as an ally in Henry Stauf's murderous game, and she pulls him in for a deep kiss. When he looks up, his head is replaced with that of a goat, showing how foolish he is to fall for her tricks.
54	[[/folder]]
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56	[[folder: Web Comics]]
57	* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Mort transforms into a tombstone featuring a [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=158 pictogram of a foot getting put into a mouth]] after he embarrasses himself trying to flirt with his crush. It has the added bonus of Mort being a MasterOfIllusion, therefore capable of [[InvokedTrope pulling]] this InUniverse.
58	* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'':
59	** Ash appears in prison garb when [[http://www.misfile.com/?date=2006-06-08 feeling]] [[http://www.misfile.com/?date=2010-03-26 trapped.]]
60	** Emily, on the other hand, becomes [[http://www.misfile.com/?date=2006-11-09 analytical]] when curious, and wants to put a [[http://www.misfile.com/?date=2008-02-12 stop]] to hearing any TMI.
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder: Web Videos]]
64	* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'': When James decides he's done playing ''VideoGame/TheBugsBunnyCrazyCastle'' games, WesternAnimation/BugsBunny uses ReversePsychology and tricks him into continuing, with James turning into a lollipop after realizing he's been duped.
65	* ''WebVideo/TheChairmansEar'': Almost every character appearing in episode 11 is shown as an object alluding to their role. In particular, father Tadeusz is shown as a voting urn, representing his influence over the potential voters, and the chairman is represented by an ATM, as Tadeusz wants to fund another moneymaking scheme.
66	* In ''WebVideo/JonTron'''s review of ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}}'', he turns into a lollipop sucker after taking a passage that sends him back to the start of the level.
67	[[/folder]]
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69	[[folder: Western Animation]]
70	* ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'':
71	** In "SOS - Swim or Sink", a pirate captain lusting after Betty briefly morphs into a snake.
72	** In "She Wronged Him Right", EvilDebtCollector [[PunnyName Heeza Ratt]] lives up to his name and transforms into a human sized rat.
73	* ''WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts'':
74	** "The Barn Dance": Mickey's head briefly turns into a donkey's after Minnie gets mad at him for his clumsy dancing.
75	** "The Clock Watcher": As Donald hurries to his post in the gift wrapping section of the department store, he runs past a sexy female mannequin, but briefly doubles back to stare in lustful ecstasy, his head turning into that of a howling wolf in the process.
76	** "WesternAnimation/CuredDuck": After Donald gets so frustrated from trying to open Daisy's window that he wrecks her living room, he finds himself transformed into a heel.
77	** "WesternAnimation/DonaldsCrime": Donald briefly turns into a skunk when he's about to steal his nephews' money to go on a date with Daisy.
78	** "WesternAnimation/MotorMania": Mr. Wheeler deliberately drives slowly down the middle of a street, blocking traffic. When someone calls him a "Road Hog!" he temporarily becomes a large, lazy fat swine behind the wheel. When he presses his car horn, it oinks!
79	** "WesternAnimation/NoHunting": Donald briefly turns into a roaring lion as the spirit of Pappy, his grandfather, [[FamilialBodySnatcher takes over]].
80	** "The Sleepwalker": After destroying a female dachshund's dog house, leaving her and her puppies without shelter, a guilty [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]] turns into a heel.
81	** "Two Chips and a Miss": As they watch Clarice perform, Chip 'n' Dale become so lustful that their heads briefly turn into those of drooling wolves.
82	** "WesternAnimation/TheTrialOfDonaldDuck": As the defense attorney says that Donald found Pierre to be "hard and cold" about his situation, Pierre is shown first as a granite statue, and then an ice sculpture.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': In "Comic Stripper", Dexter finds out that Mandark gets his robot fighting moves from the comic book ''Mister Misery'', so he buys every copy of it to anticipate what he'll try next, only for Mandark to use different tactics from another comic as a result. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Once Dexter realizes the hole in his plan]], he promptly turns into a donkey's rear.
84	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'': In the short "Wags to Riches", Spike briefly becomes a skunk when he plots to kill Droopy to get his inheritance.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': When Fred is guilt-tripped by Wilma, he runs into Barney, who comments on his own still visible "heel" head, implying Betty used the same tactic on him.
86	* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'': Donald gets called a "ham" by Mickey, [[IResembleThatRemark dramatically overreacts to this]] and is turned into an actual piece of ham at the end of the episode.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/ICartoniDelloZecchinoDOro'': The boy in "Metti la Canottiera" briefly grows donkey ears to symbolize he's being overlooked in his team (in Italian, "asino" can mean "dunce").
88	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
89	** "WesternAnimation/ABearForPunishment": At one point, after yelling at his wife, Henry becomes a "first-class heel".
90	** "WesternAnimation/TheBigSnooze": Elmer Fudd turns into a sucker after repeatedly falling for Bugs' "run through a hollow log over the edge of a cliff" gag. This episode is basically a retrace of a scene from the earlier short ''WesternAnimation/AllThisAndRabbitStew'', with the black caricature hunter redrawn as the similar proportioned (but more politically correct) Elmer Fudd.
91	** In the Merrie Melodies short "Bone Sweet Bone", a bulldog steals a smaller dog's bone. The latter gets even by blowing up a giant bone-shaped balloon. When the bulldog sees what he thinks is the biggest bone ever, his greed is apparent when his head transforms into that of a [[GluttonousPig lip-smacking pig!]]
92	** "WesternAnimation/{{Carrotblanca}}": Bugs turns into a sucker as Kitty is guilting him into helping her.
93	** "WesternAnimation/DaffysInnTrouble": Daffy tries to put WesternAnimation/PorkyPig out of business by crushing his establishment with a boulder. He rolls the boulder off the edge of a cliff, only for it to land ''next'' to Porky's establishment, bounce in the air, and crush Daffy's ''own'' establishment instead, leaving Porky's intact. Again, when he sees what has happened, Daffy becomes "ass-faced" and brays like a donkey.
94	** "WesternAnimation/FallingHare": When Bugs is tricked into running out of the airplane, [[VisualPun he briefly turns into a donkey, complete with the words Jack Ass labelled on him.]] For an extra punch, the music cue that plays is the stock snippet "You're a Horse's Ass."
95	** "WesternAnimation/TheHepCat": The cat turns into Victor Mature when he calls himself a "gorgeous hunk of man", and into a wolf while romancing a lady cat.
96	** "WesternAnimation/HiawathasRabbitHunt": After Hiawatha realizes he's hanging in midair, Bugs calls out " Sucker!" while Hiawatha momentarily becomes a sucker, [[GravityIsAHarshMistress just before gravity kicks in]].
97	** "WesternAnimation/TheMillionHare": After WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck [[GaveUpTooSoon inadvertently]] donates his million dollar prize to his "best buddy" WesternAnimation/BugsBunny. The touched announcer asks Daffy for some words, to which an "ass-faced" Daffy donkey-brays.
98	** "WesternAnimation/PlaneDaffy": After telling valuable military secrets while being drunk to a FemmeFataleSpy, one of the pigeons briefly changes into a jackass.
99	** In the short "Tom Turk and Daffy", after realizing he's been had by Daffy, Porky first wears a DunceCap, then turns into a bottle of dope, and finally a sucker.
100	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Norman Normal\|1968}}'': A childish argument where Norman's boss tries to pressure him into making a sale easier by getting a potential client drunk results in Norman and his boss both regressing into children.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': In [[Recap/OKKOLetsBeHeroesS2E13SpecialDelivery "Special Delivery"]], Rad is suddenly wearing clown gear after he's humiliated by Enid bringing up the failure of his Radwing.
102	* ''WesternAnimation/PlasticMan'': In "Puddle Trouble", Plastic Man shifts his head into a donkey after realizing he stuck the Human Puddle in a cell with a toilet. His [[ParentalBonus dumbass]] mistake allowed the crook to escape.
103	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'': A recurring gag has Bluto become a Wolf when he listed after Olive Oyl and in another instance, he became a rattlesnake when he eavesdropped on Popeye and Olive’s treasure-hunting plan.
104	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': In "Stimpy's Fan Club", Ren turns into a human ass, accompanied by a donkey braying, when he [[JerkassRealization realizes]] he's being a [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] jerk to the only person who appreciates him.
105	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "WesternAnimation/ChristmasWho", Squidward initially revels in [=SpongeBob's=] promises about Santa Claus visiting Bikini Bottom being proven wrong, which leaves the sea sponge a sobbing, heartbroken pariah. However, upon seeing that [=SpongeBob=] made him a custom mechanical clarinet as a Christmas present (in case Santa didn't give him anything when he showed up), Squidward realizes how cruel he acted and states that "I feel like a... I feel like a...," at which point a braying donkey is superimposed on his head -- in other words, he feels like a jackass. Squidward then finishes his sentence with the words [[BaitAndSwitch "...big jerk!"]]
106	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'': The Warden exploits his shapeshifting ability to make a lot of {{Visual Pun}}s.
107	** There's that time when he turns himself into a beer glass when talking about coworkers spending quality time in a bar and, shortly after, into a worker bee when declaring that it's time to go back to work.
108	** In another episode, the Warden intends to miniaturize a couple of inmates so they can battle the forces of nature. Cue to him dressing them as a gladiator and a [=XIXth=] century soldier.
109	** While lamenting over how he and fellow prison guard Alice have ruined the purest thing in Superjail, aka love (born of convenience and limited options), he is suddenly wearing baby cupid's typical diaper and feathery wings.
110	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'': {{Subverted}} when Beast Boy transforms into a wiener after claiming Trigon is one.
111	* In old Creator/TexAvery [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons cartoons,]] men would often [[LoveCanMakeYouGonk bug out]] and even literally turn into wolves at the [[AllMenArePerverts sight of an attractive woman]].
112	* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'':
113	** "WesternAnimation/SolidSerenade": When Tom tricks Spike into playing a game of [[GoFetch "fetch"]], Spike is about to pick up the stick when he realizes what he's doing and momentarily morphs into a "jackass".
114	** "WesternAnimation/PuppyTale": Tom has an ImagineSpot caused by his guilt from casting Jerry and an abandoned puppy out into the rain, with him becoming a skunk.
115	* In one ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' short, Woody and Buzz Buzzard turn into wolves when they see a beautiful woman. When they realize they are unable to [[GoldDigger buy her expensive gifts]], they turn into giant ice skates with $1 price tags- a pair of cheapskates, if you will.
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117	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / MetaphoricMetamorphosis