Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / PainfulTransformation

Go To

1%%%
2%%
3%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4%%
5%%%
6%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16737373830.61396700
7%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1510294360078295300
8%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
9%%
10[[quoteright:300:[[Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/awilchange.png]]]] [[caption-width-right:300:''"I didn't mean to call you a meatloaf, Jack!"'']]
11
12->''"The first, and only, time I tried to become human, I passed out, and I nearly died.\
13Nothing compares to the pain I felt that day, and since then, all other pain... is numb."''
14-->-- '''Vlad''', ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''
15
16In order to {{shapeshift|ing}}, every part of your body would have to twist and contort. Typically, it’s not acknowledged that would hurt... ''a lot.'' In most media, shapeshifting is done quickly and without undue pain for the shifter.
17
18But that isn't always the case. Sometimes, those who take on another form are ''really'' going to feel it.
19
20As the name implies, a Painful Transformation tends to be agonizing. While it probably won't leave permanent (physical) injuries, it's still not very pleasant.
21
22There are generally two ways transforming can be painful:
23
24* ''Physical'' -- The body is tortured during the transformation process. This is rather understandable, as one would imagine the bones and organs shifting around as having some sort of impact on the nerves.
25* ''Mental/Spiritual'' -- The user's mind is overrun with [[MindRape horrid]]... whatever. We rarely get into a shapeshifter's head. Externally, it looks like they undergo a FreakOut every time they change shape. This may even be necessary to transform, in cases like that of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk''.
26
27Expect a lot of [[Main/AnatomyAgony Anatomy Agony]] tropes to come into play here. I.e., the character transforming might have [[TheToothHurts their teeth fall out]], [[{{Fingore}} their fingers twitching painfully]], [[AgonyOfTheFeet their feet stretching out]], etc.
28
29If "painful" doesn't ''begin'' to describe the transformation, see TransformationHorror.
30
31Usually not associated with VoluntaryShapeshifting, where the user generally knows enough to pick a quick and painless method of transformation. It's much more common with {{Involuntary Shapeshifter}}s and {{Forced Transformation}}s. That said, it can be [[GodzillaThreshold great drama]] to have a shapeshifter know a transformation will be painful but chooses to do it anyway. Done properly, it is always WorthIt.
32
33----
34!!Examples:
35[[index]]
36* PainfulTransformation/AnimeAndManga
37* PainfulTransformation/FanWorks
38* [[PainfulTransformation/LiveActionFilms Films - Live-Action]]
39* PainfulTransformation/{{Literature}}
40* PainfulTransformation/LiveActionTV
41* PainfulTransformation/VideoGames
42* PainfulTransformation/WesternAnimation
43[[/index]]
44
45[[foldercontrol]]
46
47[[folder:Comic Books]]
48* This has become a problem for Jaime Reyes the ComicBook/BlueBeetle.
49* After acquiring a book that governs the rules of magic in ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Season 10'', Dracula has Xander write into it that "Dracula became the most powerful vampire of all". All right, Dracula, one incredibly agonizing transformation into [[spoiler:the massive demon responsible for creating vampires in the first place]], coming right up.
50* ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk transforms extremely painfully in most instances, which is probably why Banner's attempts to keep control tend not to work once it's actually started. In his case, the pain is mental as well, as he can feel his human intellect degenerating. Even in instances where Bruce remains in control, the transformation pains are suggested to be one of the reasons he still tends to have difficulty keeping his anger in check. Likewise, turning back from Hulk to Banner is equally unpleasant, and often leaves Bruce knocked for a loop.
51* ComicBook/GhostRider is a demonic skeleton on fire, literally formed from the burnt off flesh of his human alter ego. The change is very agonizing, though never lethal, since HealingFactor always comes into play whenever it's time to turn back into flesh and blood, allowing him to look good as new like nothing happened. The [[ComicBook/GhostRider2022 2022 series]] is particularly notable for its graphic and nightmarish depictions of Johnny Blaze's transformations, oftentimes having him violently peeling off his own skin (starting with the face) just to hasten the process.
52* ''ComicBook/{{Morbius}}'':
53** In his first solo series Morbius is able to turn back into a human for short amounts of time thanks to a serum derived from ComicBook/SpiderMan's blood. The change from vampire to human and back is very painful, with lots of screaming involved.
54** In his third solo series an attempt to cure himself of his vampirism goes wrong and he starts turning into a [[BatOutOfHell monstrous bat]]. The change can be slowed or partially reversed by ingesting blood, leading to a lot of painful changing back and forth.
55* In the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' comics in the late 80s and 90s, Matrix (the Supergirl of that time) was actually an artificial life-form. Shapeshifting, while being one of her primary abilities, was noted for being very painful for her.
56* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Unlike the original Angel, Derek can retract his wings back into his body to "pass" as human. Considering his transformation also includes growing long talons, thickened skin, and glowing eyes, it is rather distressing to watch.
57* In ''ComicBook/WerewolfByNight Volume 1'', [[PunnyName Jack Russell]]'s transformation into a werewolf gets more painful each time he goes through it, escalating to levels of unbearable agony by the time he's been one for less than two years. And it's not just physical, either: every time he changes it feels as if [[ImHavingSoulPains his soul is being torn apart]]. After [[spoiler:he gains control of the change]] it becomes less painful to shift, but one is left to wonder [[FridgeHorror what would have happened if he never had]]...
58* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': The way people react when [[ReforgedIntoAMinion being turned into]] Circe's [[ForcedTransformation Beastiamorphs]] indicates that it is a very painful and horrific experience. In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'', Maj. Keith Griggs collapsing and screaming transformation when Circe nabs him is a good example of just how unpleasant being transformed into one of Circe's loyal mooks can be.
59[[/folder]]
60
61[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
62* In the climax of ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Milo slashes the villain, [[spoiler:Rourke]], across the arm with a piece of the magic Atlantean crystal, leaving a spot of pure crystal on his arm...which [[BodyToJewel instantly starts spreading across his entire body]] in a painful process.
63* The ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' midquel ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeastTheEnchantedChristmas'' has a flashback to the night the Beast encountered the Enchantress and was cursed for his [[SacredHospitality inhospitality]]. The KarmicTransformation leaves him roaring in rage.
64* The six Toa mutating into half-beast Hordika in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} 3: Web of Shadows'' is much more drawn-out and painful than in the concurrent toy commercials, where it was instantaneous and "cool". Their deformed bodies explode out of their cocoons and Vakama can barely manage to speak. The {{novelization}} on the other hand plays the scene more for drama and comedy, as the Toa talk freely.
65* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': When Elsa accidentally freezes [[spoiler:Anna's heart]], she starts to freeze from the inside out. She is shown multiple times to be in pain, as well as feeling cold even in front of a fire.
66* Every time the title character of ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'' transforms into and out of his bird form, the experience gets more painful and difficult.
67* ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'': It's not so much the transformation but the form she transforms into: when the immortal, unaging unicorn is polymorphed into a [[HumanityEnsues mortal human woman]], she screams that "I can feel this body dying around me!" She gets used to it.
68* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', Ariel's tail is literally torn in half as she is changed into a human. The facts that it occurs in silhouette and the two ragged halves become shapely legs almost instantly does little to ease the horror of the scene. And of course, [[{{Disneyfication}} Disney being what it is]], this is actually ''toned down'' from the [[Literature/TheLittleMermaid original fairy tale]]. Not only was the transformation excruciating, but afterwards she felt like she was walking on knives the entire time she was transformed.
69* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'':
70** In [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1 the first movie]], from the look of it, Sunset Shimmer's transformation into a demon isn't enjoyable. The moment she put the crown on, she looks worried, then starts crying and screaming as she rises into the air. ''Friendship Games'' has Sunset admitting she was "overwhelmed" by the magic in the crown, so it's likely she was in pain as well.
71** ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree Legend of Everfree]]'': In human Twilight's mindscape during the climax, her slow transformation into Midnight Sparkle, with wings sprouting from her back and a horn coming out of her forehead, doesn't look like a pleasant experience ''at all''.
72* ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'': As the Evil Queen becomes an [[VainSorceress ugly witch]], she clutches her throat, seemingly in pain, while wearing an expression of raw horror. She gets over that quickly, though.
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Manhwa]]
76* Jarbilong in ''Manhwa/{{Priest|1998}}'' uses the body of a former vicar to take physical form in his battle against Ivan Isaacs. The poor sod screams ''a lot'' while his ribs stretch out of his chest and a new head grows out of his back.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
80* Some versions of legend about werewolves actually either invert or subvert this trope, saying that while the transformation may appear to be excruciatingly painful, in truth it turns out to be sinfully '''pleasurable''' instead.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
84* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
85** Normal shapechanging powers don't fall under this trope (in fact, the ''polymorph'' spell, ''metamorphosis'' psionic power or Wild Shape ability will instead heal some damage). However, the ''force shapechange'' spell (originally from the ''Oriental Adventures''), which forces shapeshifters to return to their true form, causes wracking pains -- even if the victims actually resist it.
86** 3rd Edition has a sourcebook which expands on the rules and abilities of wizards and sorcerers called ''Tome and Blood''. It gives the Prestige Class of "The Acolyte of the Skin", which is gained by summoning the essence of a fiend and binding it to your flesh. The [[http://stat8.blog.ru/lr/0810eba6e00aefdca4ca43fe1e1215dd illustration]] is [[{{Squick}} not pretty]].
87--->The Ritual of Bonding is painful and not to be undertaken lightly. The ritual requires 10 rounds from initiation to completion, and once begun, nothing can halt its progress. The fiendish essence subsumes the caster's own skin, an agonizing process that deals 1d4 points of damage each round of the ritual -- wise candidates keep some ''cure'' potions handy.
88** According to many sources about the Nine Hells of Baator, while ''any'' type of promotion among devils is painful, the promotion to pit fiend (one of the leaders of the race) is the worst. For this to happen, a devil must spend 999 days in the Pit of Flame on the fourth layer of Baator. The Pit of Flame is usually used to ''punish'' devils, contains fire so hot that even ''they'' find it agonizing (devils are normally ''immune'' to fire), and is considered one of the worst punishments that an insubordinate can receive. In other words, surviving three years of it is the perfect test for one who wants to join the ruling class of Hell.
89* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
90** Infernal Exalted have the Charm Inner Devils Unchained, which turns the target into a demon. Painfully.
91** Then there's the process of becoming akuma, which throws in plenty of MindRape in addition to everything else.
92* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' features a spell whereby one can force a person to transform by forcing their new form ''to claw its way out of their normal body''.
93* [[CrapsackWorld Naturally]], ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' have their own form of this trope with [[TheCorruption Chaos mutations]], all of which are disgusting, irreversible, and excruciatingly painful.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Theatre]]
97* Parodied in ''Theatre/HolyMusicalBatman'' as Dick Grayson claims he can "feel his transformation beginning," as he doubles over and oddly wiggles his fingers to simulate feathers, but the "transformation" really just consists of him dramatically tearing his clothes off to reveal the Robin costume underneath.
98* ''Theatre/JekyllAndHyde'': After Dr. Jekyll takes his formula for the first time during the song "Transformation", he experiences a maddening pain he describes in detail, wondering if he was going to die from it just before he finishes his transformation into Mr. Hyde.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Webcomics]]
102%%* ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_691.php here]].
103%%-->''"Wait, painful? This is going to hurt?"''\
104%%''"In ways you have never imagined..."''\
105%%''"meep."''
106* Ariel from ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' has this as a natural limit on her hereditary shapeshifting power. It is strongly implied that changing her bodily structure too fast or too severely causes pain akin to a person with braces having their wires over-tightened, and she's specifically warned that if she's not careful she could shift a vital organ to the wrong place and potentially seriously injure or kill herself. She gets around the problem by primarily shapeshifting her hair, which of course has no nerve endings.
107* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
108** This is a problem for [[HalfHumanHybrid chimera]]; it figures prominently in the character of [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2004-04-07 Vlad]], who could not change form without risking his life. Part of what makes Grace (Shade Tail) unique is that transforming doesn't hurt her as much as it does others (by design, she naturally releases painkillers when transforming). Vlad is eventually put into a human form via TFG (or the equivalent thereof), thereafter ''refusing'' to try transforming again, both out of fear of this trope and that [[GenderBender she]] will be unable to turn back since it wasn't possible on her own.
109** Interestingly, the transformation gun doesn't have this effect, even on normal humans (though it is implied that it did before Tedd perfected it; when Elliot uses the transformation belt, which is based on an earlier version of the TFG, he is incapacitated for several minutes -- and his later cat-hybrid transformations reflect this as well [[spoiler:[[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/party-264 until they don't]]]]). "OK, I need an aspirin, a ball of yarn, and thirty-seven pounds of catnip, stat!"
110* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', becoming a Jägermonster involves (voluntarily) consuming the Jägerdraught which triggers the transformation into monstrous fanged super-soldiers. However, it is said to be the most painful thing any of them have experienced and kills outright or drives to madness and suicide somewhere between seven to eight out of every ten of those who take it.
111* In ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'', shapeshifting in general is no problem for those with the ability, but [[TechnicallyNakedShapeshifter shapeshifting clothes]] specifically is revealed to be a rather painful process for those not used to it yet.
112* In the ''Butterflies'' strip of ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' a man ingests a potion to turn himself into a hot woman. The transformation involves expanding and hardening his skin to act as a chrysalis while his own digestive fluids dissolve most of his body into nutritious slurry which the remaining clusters will process into the new body. The last thing the guy is able to utter is: "It burrrnnsssssss..." And the process takes '''eight months'''.
113* ''Webcomic/RubyQuest'': Ruby [[spoiler:gaining her ThirdEye]] is quite painful. It's explicitly said that "her head is killing her", and her head is bleeding afterwards.
114* Mina from ''Webcomic/UncommonAnimals'' is not happy about [[http://uncommonanimals.thecomicseries.com/comics/31 changing]].
115* K.A.'s upgrade in ''Webcomic/WeAreTheWyrecats'' is visibly painful for her.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Web Original]]
119* Think regeneration is painful in ''Series/DoctorWho''? In ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'', we have a human-turned-Gallifreyan with Borg implants. That first regeneration, his screams of pain and the shriek of his morphing musculoskeletal system combined into what had to be one hell of a hideous racket.
120* The [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/my-metamorphosis-begins "My Metamorphosis Beigns"]] meme, where a stick figure brutaly melts into another being. However, usually the end results are [[BaitAndSwitch very unexpected]].
121* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1575 SCP-1575 ("Venus Statue")]]. When an animal drinks water that has passed through SCP-1575, it mutates into a human being. If it survives the process, the former animal describes it as being extremely painful. The water doesn't lose its potency after ingestion either; the Foundation has to check animals for internal and external parasites after there was a half-mutated flea and a human-faced tapeworm screaming as it burst out of a dog's belly.
122[[/folder]]
123
124[[folder:Web Videos]]
125* The characters in ''WebVideo/TheCartoonMan'' feel no pain once they have transformed into human cartoons. The transformation itself however, seems rather painful.
126%%* Spoony to Dr. Insano in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' on Website/ChannelAwesome.
127* In the ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OOoE0CHtlk video about the bad parts of Heaven,]] in the sprouting wings segment, the angel wings come out rather bloody and painful looking.
128* ''WebVideo/TheVelociPastor'', in which a kind pastor transforms into a dinosaur, hands first, while writhing in pain and staring at himself in horror in his apartment mirror.
129[[/folder]]
130
131----
132-> [[Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon "Beware the moon, David."]]
133

Top