Shapeshifting comes in a lot of forms (in every pun-laden sense of the word). Most shapeshifters, however, stick to using a single concrete form at a time; this is true even if they swap shapes quickly during a
Shapeshifter Showdown, or when truly skilled shapeshifters
mix-and-match elements of their alternate form with their
normal human form.
Sometimes, though, a shapeshifter gets the idea that if more is better, why limit themselves to just
one shape at a time? Why not transform into all of their forms,
all at the same time, and become the
ultimate Shapeshifter Weapon?
Long story short, it gets worse.
This attempt at creating a unique
One-Winged Angel Super Mode will tend to
encounter a slight problem: Instead of
merging the best elements of their various forms into one sleek and awesome
Hybrid Monster, it will
literally combine and merge their various forms together, producing a chimeric monstrosity that only an
Eldritch Abomination could appreciate. It may feature
one head from each form; all the arms, claws, paws, legs,
Combat Tentacles, fur, scales, and
Body Horror that goes along with them; a
half-dozen mismatched wings, and — like the proverbial cherry on top — the original head and/or upper torso of their
Shapeshifter Default Form.
Despite the patchwork nature of this form, it does still have
some advantages. Like the
power of intimidation, its
supermassive size, and an
Anatomy Arsenal stocked with every variety of
Breath Weapon known to man (
if not more), and can easily wipe out entire armies that approach anywhere within its
Instant Death Radius.
However, the drawbacks are just as significant: because
Monstrosity Equals Weakness, this form likely has
severe drawbacks over
the individual component forms, and it's likely to be
highly unstable or prone to
catastrophic failure. If the shapeshifter can't keep focus he may enter a
Superpower Meltdown where the
Loss of Identity causes the
body's components to attack each other, with the potential to become the
very goriest of
Shapeshifter Swan Songs.
Because of all the above drawbacks, this is sometimes used as a nasty
curse, typically a
Baleful Polymorph that
Mode Locks the victim. The independent body parts in this case are usually
Guardian Entities outside of the victim's control, but won't attack him or her. They may however respond to his or her emotional cues, like a gorgon's snake hair or an owner's pets.
The Shapeshifter Mashup is usually the penultimate step in the
Bishonen Line, right before a return to a humanlike appearance.
Compare and contrast the "Mixed Form" variety of
Fusion Dance, where a single character combines multiple transformations to create a new form, and
Partial Transformation, where the shapeshifter adds elements of one form to another form. This might be considered a gory way to demonstrate
Hybrid Overkill Avoidance.
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- In Bleach, the Arrancar Aaroniero Arruruerie has absorbed the powers of thousands of Hollows, and for his final attack in his released form he transforms into a monstrosity combining many of these powers.
- Raphaello in Bt'X exhibited traits of every living being it had absorbed.
- In Inuyasha, recurring enemy Naraku frequently uses a mash-up form of the demons he's assimilated. This is especially true during his periods of weakness (something all half-demons go through regularly), when he becomes stuck as a gigantic mass of organs and tentacles that can't even move.
- Mr 2 Bon Clay from One Piece once used a mash-up of the most ridiculous facial features he knew during his fight against Sanji, in an attempt to throw him off-guard with laughter. Unfortunately, 90% of said features are his.
- Aptom from Guyver can (quite graphically) absorb Zoanoids into himself to take on their form and powers, but for combat he usually takes on a unique form which combines as many of the best traits he has 'eaten' as possible, which he updates from time to time. While these hybrid forms are generally quite sleek in appearance (sometimes moreso than the original creatures), "Evil Aptom" looks more like a traditional abomination due to his controller not fully understanding how Aptom's body works.
Fan Works
Film
Literature
- Happens to Marco involuntarily in Animorphs, "The Proposal" when he gets emotional over his dad's remarriage. He morphs a skunk/spider cross, a lobster/osprey cross and a poodle/polar bear cross at various points.
- He also morphs a trout with gorilla arms, which nearly suffocates him.
- Might also be said of anyone who uses the Frolis maneuver to create a morph of the DNA of several individuals of a species combined.
Tabletop RPG
- Dungeons & Dragons has multiple types of shapeshifting, some of which replace your abilities and others which enhance them - the latter type (most notably possessed by lycanthropes) can be used in conjunction with another transformation ability to invoke this trope. It's even possible for a creature to become infected with multiple types of lycanthropy (eg. a werewolf wereshark) and transform into multiple Animal or Hybrid forms at the same time.
- At high levels the Master Transmogrifist Prestige Class gains the "Infinite Variety" ability - whenever it transforms into another creature with a spell, it may add one aspect of a second creature whose form it could have taken with that spell.
- This is what the Lunar Knack "Hybrid Body Re-Arrangement" is for in Exalted. It allows the Lunar to, instead of shifting completely into a new form, shift only parts of his body into something. A Lunar in shark form could turn its tail fin into a mass of tentacles, it's left breast fin into a crab's claw, and the right breast fin into a human arm to wield its favourite sword, while it grows three pairs of giant spider legs and a pair of lungs before topping it off with feathered wings...
Toys
- Krahka attempts to become a fusion of the Toa Metru in BIONICLE, but she is unable to control their combined powers.
- Also done by the Makuta, on two occasions: first, he fused with three other characters, and ended up being a monstrous combination of their features (In the comics, books and his toy-form, at least. Subverted in The Movie, where they simply slapped wings to his pre-existing animation model.) The second example is his Alternate Universe-self, who merged with his entire Brotherhood, to become the only living Makuta.
Video Games
- A common theory about Metroid: Fusion is that the SA-X's penultimate form is this (it resembles a Hornoad, the previous form of the X that infected Samus).
- Kefka in Final Fantasy VI has a half dozen penultimate bosses who are all merged into a grotesque spire of amalgamated shapes.
- In Final Fantasy VII, Hojo's form in the second stage of his boss battle appears as nightmarish conglomeration of himself and his two minions from the first stage (to the extent that his limbs can still be targeted separately). By the third stage, he's got a full-on One-Winged Angel form going and looks human from the waist up again.
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's Scylla, as pictured above.
- This has become Malfurion Stormrage's default state since he woke up in World of Warcraft Cataclysm. In addition to the stag antlers he's always had, Malfurion now has bear-like feet, claws that look like Wolverine's, and feathers on his arms.
Web Comics
Western Animation
- Kevin of Ben 10 turns into one of those in the episode "Framed". During it, he has all the transformations Ben has due to draining energy from the Omnitrix in the previous season, 'and he can do Partial Transformation. After taking enough damage and after an insult, he's locked in said mashup form. The result is a conglomerate of all ten forms and his own hair...
- Invoked in an episode of Batman Beyond, where Terry's facing the genetic engineer responsible for the splicing craze, who's injected himself with the DNA of three forms to become an apex predator. Terry then injects him with a whole fistful of syringes, and... hoo boy.
- Alpha of Men In Black: The Series is a former human who's taken to tearing parts of various aliens and grafting them to his own body to become a superior being. At his most benign, he's an old man that can sprout about a dozen tentacles on a second's notice. At his most extreme, it's impossible to tell that the thing you're looking at was ever a human.
