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Bishonen Line
alt title(s): Bishounen Line
From back to front, Cell's 1st, 2nd & final forms.
Karn: Actually, leading powerfoligists theorize that as you become more powerful, you become more monstrous, and then sharply become humanoid again. They call it the Bishonen Line.
Karashi: 'Powerfoligists'?
—Adventurers!

The step beyond One Winged Angel. Describes the tendency of monster creatures (especially evil ones) to become big and disfigured as they increase their power, then suddenly shrink back down to human proportions. Kinda like a human neutron star.

This can be used to indicate that the character has reached a point where he has "full control" of his powers, and therefore can access them selectively — taking the ass-kicking abilities while leaving the giant-scary-monster abilities.

The cold hard truth is probably just that this is what happens when the character has become so monstrous that they are no longer physically capable of doing the visually impressive martial arts stuff that the series is built around, so the character needs to become more humanoid again to participate properly in the Kung Fu Fighting - hence the Evil Makeover back into humanoid form.

There is also a point at which one can't keep adding things to a monster without making it look too "busy." If the beast already has three horns, adding a fourth won't make it look too much scarier. This would also make it harder to draw; the sheer detail and scale of an ever expanding monster would be taxing in a visual medium. This is particularly important in media, such as animation or sequential art, where the same thing must be drawn over and over again. Look for the form after the Bishounen line is crossed to appear in more episodes than the monstrous forms.

It can also be argued that the Bishonen Line makes for more interesting fights. After all, if the villain looks more human, the audience assumes certain things about them, such as cunning and sentience (see the Uncanny Valley).

The name for this trope (and the quote above) comes from Mark Shallow's Adventurers, though video game villains usually stop at the One Winged Angel phase. Those few who manage to go even further will occasionally walk further down the Bishonen Line, but after that, or sometimes even instead of it, often have more One Winged Angel forms before, in extreme cases, Crossing The Bishonen Line Twice.
Examples:

Anime
  • Dragonball Z features countless examples:
    • Saiyans initially reach their highest power by transforming into mindless giant apes, but later reach a power level where they just turn blonde (Super-Saiyan 1).
    • Frieza's intermediate states are larger and more monstrous than his boyish final form.
    • Cell's initial form is reptilian. His second form is even more monstrous. His ultimate form looks a lot like a very chiseled bishounen wearing reptile armor.
    • This troper thinks Cell simply gets more humanoid with each transformation. The second form is definitely less monstrous (though much bulkier and uglier) than the freaky reptilian/insectoid creature that was his first form. (Look at the evolution of the face, eyes, hands, feet and even mouth.) Also, when future Cell reverted to an egg to travel back in time, as he grew up he left behind a husk or skin that looked like a beetle/lizard hybrid or something. Certainly not human.
    • Majin Buu's final form is that of a boy ("Kid Buu"), as opposed to the hulking Fat Buu and the muscular Super Buu. This is something of a subversion, as he technically has less power in this form... but absolutely no restraints about how to use it, unlike his previous forms. Super Buu was content to wipe out humanity; Kid Buu would gleefully end the universe if given the opportunity.
      • Furthermore, Super Buu turns more human as he absorbs more fighters.
    • In Dragonball GT, the Super-Saiyan 4 transformation initially turns Goku into a giant gold ape (the same as before but in Super-Saiyan mode), but when he reaches full power, he reverts to a very buff humanoid with some fur.
  • In Bleach, Hollows start out as 7-10 foot monsters, get bigger until they reach the size of a skyscraper (Gillian-class, Menos level), then get smaller (past Adjuchas-class, Menos level), until they are the size of normal humans. At this point, the Vasto Lorde-class Menos — who are so powerful they are basically humans with masks — are only speculated on, but the shinigami are rightfully terrified of the idea of one deciding to attack.
    • What's more, by turning any of these types of Hollows into Arrancar (breaking their boundary between Hollow and Shinigami, which hugely increases their power), all but a small part of their mask is broken off, and they basically look like humans with a hole in their chest (or stomach, or neck). Some actually◊ ARE bishonen.◊
      • ... and then the Arrancar go right ahead and subvert it. When they release their Zanpakuto, accessing their full power, they get bigger and more monstrous again, crossing the line in the opposite directions. For example, this◊ becomes THIS.◊
    • Taken further with shinigami. Swords from both hollows and shinigami represent the power level of the users, it is explained that after a certain level, shinigami (and presumably hollows too) consciously keep their swords a normal size, otherwise shinigami of captain level would be using swords the size of skyscrapers.
    • Even more so with the main character. He starts off with a huge sword because he doesn't do the above but it isn't concentrated so it is like a sword made of marshmallow to high level characters. His next level involves getting a larger sword that can hold it's own to higher level characters. And his ultimate levels involves getting a mostly normal sized sword that has his huge power focused into a small form (inverted from just about every other character whose ultimate form is usually a One Winged Angel)
  • The Mazoku and dragon gods in Slayers all have monstrous forms which tend to get larger the more powerful they are. However, it is only the high-ranking ones which have the power to assume human form as well as their original forms.
  • Digimon does this quite often. In fact, a pretty good way to tell if a digimon's reached their perfect or ultimate form is by how human they look; Palmon/Lilymon is a perfect example of the trope, going from short, cute plant-monster to giant cactus with boxing gloves to beautiful, pink humanoid. Or just compare either Agumon line (Small Dinosaur > Big Dinosaur > Even Bigger Cybernetic Dinosaur > 7ft-ish semi-reptilian knight).
  • The Akuma from {{D.Gray-Man}} start off looking like round things with cannons; by level two they could look like pretty much anything; by level 3, they resemble humanoid armored creatures. When they reach level 4, they resemble a freaky angel-like child with three halos and fairy wings.
  • The demons of Inu Yasha don't transform in stages, but there is a visible progression in power; small demons, larger demons, monstrously huge demons, and then the most powerful, who can generally assume a human-like form, much as the titular half-demon hero's father (as shown in the third movie), as well as his full-demon brother. Another example would be the referenced father of a monstrous-looking half-demon named Jinenji, a horse-demon, who was said to be a handsome man. Exceptions exist, but size is a general indicator of power, with the most powerful obviously able to hop the Bishonen Line at will.
    • One character notes that while many demons are huge and horrific, the ones that take human form are often far more dangerous.
  • Soul Eater has Mosquito as the twofer troper for both this and Vamps.
  • Gundam 00 Alvatore, the monstrous mobile armour piloted by Big Bad Alejandro Corner, has a "true form" of sorts in the Alvaaron, an angel-like mobile suit hidden in said armor. Subverted in that the Alvaaron is actually weaker than the Alvatore.
  • Averted in Naruto. Jiraiya's not much to look at anyway, but his ultimate form, Sage Mode, makes him even uglier - but much more powerful.
    • Of course, whenever Naruto gains said power, the trope is not averted. Naruto just gets dark circles around his eyes.
  • Bishojo line: When a Claymore overuses her Yoma power, she becomes an ugly monstrous inhuman drooling creature that likes to eat guts. Then when she awakens, she becomes a somewhat glamorous insect-human hybrid... that likes to eat guts. Your Mileage May Vary.

Video Games
  • Omega from the Mega Man Zero games starts off huge in his first form, then becomes even bigger in his second, and finally reverts to a much smaller form... which just happens to be Zero's original body. As the trope states, he is infinitely more powerful in this form than he is in his others.
    • Albert from ZX Advent goes from a massive three-headed dragon to a much smaller angel-thing.
      • These two are actually departures from series form, which tends to a small, agile humanoid form followed by a giant monstrous form. However, in early games, the humanoid is more dangerous than the monster, since Zero's most powerful weapons are close-range, which is harder with the boss's speed. Later final bosses show greater damage and reach on their attacks. (Compare Ragnarok-Weil to Copy X or Elpizo.)
  • Nintendo realised in The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker that Ganondorf was a far better character human-sized than monstrous, so saved the battle with the human Ganondorf for last. In Twilight Princess they did it all over again, giving the big man two human phases after you'd already dealt with his bestial form.
  • Furthermore in both games they have the bosses start out odd and monstrous and get wierder, going from the semi boss monkey in Twilight Princess to a giant spider who shoots out eye beams composed of tons of eyes that you kill by controlling giant statues. Then comes Zant, who is humanoid.
  • In Final Fantasy VII, mad scientist Hojo seems mostly normal in his weakest form, except for strange movements and a slightly greenish tint to his skin. Defeating him in this form allows you to fight Helletic Hojo, a huge and ugly mutant. When Hellectic Hojo is defeated, he becomes Lifeform Hojo N/A, an eerily-beautiful humanlike creature draped in white.
  • In Chrono Trigger, Big Bad Lavos appears first as a gigantic rock-monster, then as a huge armored robot-thing, and finally as a little floating guy with flipper-hands. Actually, he's not even that guy—he's a little floating blob to the right of the floating guy with flipper-hands.
  • The final boss of Kingdom Hearts 2 first fights in his original black-cloaked form, then changes into an armored knight on a throne which is itself on the head of a robot dragon; after several fights against said dragon and knight, the final fight is against him in a recolored version of his original outfit, with an upgraded version of his original fighting style.
    • That's not the only example of the Bishonen Line in Kingdom Hearts. The standard Heartless Mooks start as (admittedly kind of cute) monsters that grow larger and more terrifyingly bestial, and then the most powerful of them all, Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless, is visually indistinguishable from a White Haired Pretty Boy normal human. Likewise, the usual Nobody Mooks of the PS 2 sequel are somewhat-inhuman beasts, with the few inhuman Nobody bosses being gargantuan creatures—and the frighteningly powerful Nobodies that make up Organization XIII are visually indistinguishable from normal human beings.
  • Ryu, the protagonist of Breath Of Fire 3, can transform into various dragon forms. His strongest form, Kaiser, is identical to his human form, except recolored gold. When you use that form's Kaiser Breath attack, however, he temporarily changes further into a gigantic dragon.
  • In Brave Fencer Musashi, the Wizard of Darkness is originally a massive, horned demon-man; he changes into an even more monstrous green beast, then finally into a white-skinned humanoid slightly larger than Musashi.
  • The characters of Bloody Roar tend to avoid this trope, since turning into animals is the whole point, but a few characters get past that point.
    • Cronos, one of the potential final fighters, turns into a very nonhuman penguin when he powers up a little. Turn on the Ominous Latin Chanting, however, and he can transform into a phoenix that looks like a human with a beak and feathers before he kills you.
    • Uranus is an even better example, as she first turns into a fearsome chimeric beast with her normal powerup, but her strongest form looks like her normal one, just glowing.
    • Uriko is also exhibits a degree of this. In the original game, as the Final Boss, her beast transformation consisted of going from a little girl to a full-grown woman, sprouting cat ears, and her hair turning green. Later, when she's less powerful, her beast form, although still less animalistic than the others, is noticeably more feline. She also exhibits going to the One Winged Angel again, as in the first game, her ultimate form is a grotesque chimera.
  • The original Shadow Hearts features this. Although Yuri's fusion souls are all roughly human-sized, they generally get more bizarre or monstrous as they get more powerful, with the second-most-powerful, Amon, being a hulking, monstrous demon with a blade on one arm. However, his most powerful, the Seraphic Radiance, is just him, glowing white, with black wings and mystic-looking tattoos.
  • If you count the Despair Embodied of Devil May Cry 2 as a second form of the immediately preceding boss, as some Fan Fic writers do (it's not made clear in canon), this would apply. This does not occur in the other games in the series has a mild variation in the form of the 4th game's Big Bad, who compliments his being the most powerful demon in the local Corrupt Church by also being the only one able to use his powers in human form, and even his demonic one just looks like a prettier, winged version of himself (albiet with horns).
  • In Viewtiful Joe, it is revealed that Captain Blue, Joe's movie hero, is in fact the true villain of the piece. He transforms into his monstrous "King Blue" form that is so large, Joe must face him in his Humongous Mecha "Six Majin". After the battle, Joe jumps to the nearby platform to commence the final battle; Blue appears again, much younger and more muscular than he ever was before. After being defeated, he reverts back to his older, overweight form.
  • Dhaos from Tales Of Phantasia fights you as is, then turns into his presumably true alien form. After beating that, though, he returns to being a humanoid, albeit very tall, suited in white, and sporting angel wings.
  • In Baten Kaitos, the final boss fight is against Malpercio, whose body is a hideous frankenstein made up of the body parts of various dead gods. After he's beaten, though, Melodia combines with him, turning him into a more humanoid figure with wings on his head.
  • In the original PC Engine version of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (and the prologue sequence to its sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), Dracula's second - and final - form is a giant, fire-breathing, bat-winged reptile, which you fight in an Amazing Technicolor Battlefield. In the PSP remake featured in The Dracula X Chronicles, however, he assumes his human form again for the final round after you've defeated the lizard.
  • At the end of Metroid Prime, the titular chracter turns from a demonic giant black arachnoid into what appears to be the mixture of an octopus, a normal Metroid, and a human face. While practically easier than its previous form, it cannot be hurt by weaponry not based on the substance it feeds on and produces (Phazon). Samus did have the ability to use that material, but anyone else would have been doomed.
    • Also, at the end in Metroid Prime 2, the Emperor Ing goes from being what resembles a giant eye to a much larger version of the basic Warrior Ing.
  • In the episodic computer game Time Runners, the main character (a teenager from Earth) travels through time and dimensions to fight monstruous "Chronodemons": a robot, a cyborg, a sentient spider, a necromancer, a mutated human and a zombie pharaoh. For the final duel, is pitted against the creator of the Chronodemons: an exact lookalike of him.
  • Used in, of all things, the DS version of Nicktoons: Globs of Doom with Big Bad Globulous Maximus, who goes from a gooey cyclops meteor taking up the entire screen to a flying slime man the size of Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Tabletop RPGs
  • Variation: In the Dungeons And Dragons multiverse, Asmodeus, king of the Nine Hells and most powerful Archdevil of all, is most commonly encountered looking like "an unprepossessing humanoid with red eyes, horns, and well-tailored robes." Recent sourcebooks have increased his height to thirteen feet, though.
    • Dn D also has the slaadi, extradimensional spirits of Chaos which, as they get more powerful, get bigger and scarier- until you get to the Death Slaad. Although vastly more powerful than all the others and the only slaad that's naturally evil, death slaadi are human-sized and shaped. Sorta this trope without the "Bishonen" part. And then they leave the trope with the Epic Level Handbook White and Black Slaad - the white are gigantic and the black are vaguely froglike... things made of pure darkness.
    • This example is pretty clearly based on certain depictions of Satan. Lucifer was traditionally both the most powerful and the most beautiful of angels, at least prior to his Fall. (And, in some versions, he retains both qualities even afterward.)

Western Animation
  • Following his transformation into a genie, Jafar from Disney's Aladdin briefly becomes a huge, red, menacing figure before Aladdin commands him to return to his lamp. In the beginning of the sequel, The Return of Jafar, Jafar is briefly seen in this world-annihilating form before reverting to his original human form (but retaining his genie powers). And then goes back to his genie form when he decides to kill Aladdin et al personally.

Manga
  • In Seimaden, the ruler of the demon world is Laures, an impossibly beautiful man. Demons lower in rank than himself are attractive but more bestial. Mid-rank demons are horrible monsters. But Laures' assistant and servant Tetiyus, a low-rank demon, is almost as beautiful as his master.

Live Action TV
  • Mayor Wilkins on Buffy became totally invincible while still human, but with a 100-day time limit — after that, he steps backward across the Line to become a huge, powerful, but destructible snake demon.

Literature
  • In Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum, the villainous vampire family Magpyrs are shown to have evolved from uglier harpy and then nosferatu-like forms to their attractive human appearance simultaneously to their increase in power.

Other
  • An interesting real-life variation of this trope concerns supercars. specifically: as cars move up in speed, power, and handling, they become more bizarre-looking with overdesigned, sculpted bodies, and bringing them to the edge of their power makes them feel like they're going to shake themselves apart. at the very very top of the charts, however, are cars like the Bugatti Veyron - they look like very elegantly designed normal cars, and handle just as smoothly as a luxury car.
Bishie Sparkle
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