History OneWingedAngel / Literature

* ''The Ashtown Burials'' series has this as a feature of the Odyssean Cloak [[spoiler:a.k.a. [[MadScientist Dr. Phoenix's]] lab coat]], which increases the wearer's mental powers when worn at the price of transforming them into a rampaging [[HulkingOut Hulk-like]] monster when it is removed. The climactic battle of ''The Dragon's Tooth'' has Nolan attempt to draw out this form intentionally, as [[spoiler:taking and destroying the discarded coat would have killed Phoenix]].

* Happens at the end of [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Curse of the Azure Bonds]]. Final bad guy Phalse goes from a mostly unassuming Halfling into a big Beholder with teeth stalks instead of eye stalks.
** And again in the sequal, the Wyvern's Spur. For the final battle, the hero polymorphs into a wyvern, and the villain into a dragon.

* There's something of a sort like this in ''Literature/AmericanGods'', as the deities seem to have a form that shows one of their believers whose [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve faith]] was strong enough to make them real. Thus, Mr. Nancy/Anasi has this form of an African boy with a distented stomach and infected leg and [[spoiler:Hinzelmann]] shows a child pierced by swords, which actually reflects his being created through human sacrifice. Interestingly, Website/TheOtherWiki novel for the character indicates that this was actually that character's true form in the original stories.

* Several villains in ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' take a large dose of the drug Elixir to turn themselves into Nocturnals, beings that are compared by the narration to demons. They get black skin, white hair and massively increased physical abilities. If the transformation extends to their whole body, it will eventually kill them, overlapping with DeadlyUpgrade.

* In the last novel of Creator/RASalvatore's ''The Crimson Shadow'' trilogy, the [[BigBad evil king Greensparrow]] turns out to have a pact with a dragon and shares its shape, fighting the hero Luthien in this form at the end.
* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Greensparrow takes on his shared dragon form for the climax of the trilogy.

* Visser Three from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' used ''dozens'' of these over the course of the series, rarely using the same one twice. FridgeHorror ensues when you realize there are ''species'' of these for him to acquire DNA from.
** Also, you realize just how awesome V3 is: you can only acquire DNA while in your native form, and while Andalites such as the one the Visser [[PuppeteerParasite possesses]] have the slashing tail of doom, that'd barely inconvenience some of the nastier beasties the Visser has turned into - some of whom have projectile attacks like fire and venom and ''spears.'' A centaur with a pointy tail managed to get close enough to these things to ''actually touch.'' (Yeah, acquiring puts 'em into a trance... but you gotta touch 'em first.) One of them was actually a ''natural predator of his race,'' evolved to ''remove Yeerks from their hosts to eat.''

* Justified in the book Literature/{{Coraline}} since [[spoiler:as Coraline collects the children's eyes, Other Mother's power fades it causes GlamourFailure]].
* In the last novel of Creator/RASalvatore's ''The Crimson Shadow'' trilogy, the [[BigBad evil king Greensparrow]] turns out to have a pact with a dragon and shares its shape, fighting the hero Luthien in this form at the end. No wonder the novel's name is ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Dragon King]].''

* And an interesting twist from ''Night Mare,'' book 6 in Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series: the protagonist, Mare Imbri, ''is'' a "Night Mare." When, in a climactic scene, she confronts a shape-shifting villain, he ''almost'' saves himself by shifting from human form into horse form. Imbri does eventually defeat him, but it becomes much, much harder to do so. It isn't just because she can't hurt a fellow horse either, it's because she's ''in heat'' at the time. (''Sigh'', [[Literature/{{Xanth}} Piers Anthony...]])

* There's something of a sort like this in ''Literature/AmericanGods'', as the deities seem to have a form that shows one of their believers whose [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve faith]] was strong enough to make them real. Thus, Mr. Nancy/Anasi has this form of an African boy with a distented stomach and infected leg and [[spoiler: Hinzelmann]] shows a child pierced by swords, which actually reflects his being created through human sacrifice. Interestingly, Website/TheOtherWiki novel for the character indicates that this was actually that character's true form in the original stories.

** Also, you realize just how awesome} V3 is: you can only acquire DNA while in your native form, and while Andalites such as the one the Visser [[PuppeteerParasite possesses]] have the slashing tail of doom, that'd barely inconvenience some of the nastier beasties the Visser has turned into - some of whom have projectile attacks like fire and venom and ''spears.'' A centaur with a pointy tail managed to get close enough to these things to ''actually touch.'' (Yeah, acquiring puts 'em into a trance... but you gotta touch 'em first.) One of them was actually a ''natural predator of his race,'' evolved to ''remove Yeerks from their hosts to eat.''

* Justified in the book Literature/{{Coraline}} since [[spoiler: as Coraline collects the children's eyes, Other Mother's power fades it causes GlamourFailure]].

* A rare heroic example occurs in the climax of ''Literature/TheMagicians'', in which [[spoiler: Alice]] weaponizes a MagicMisfire to transform herself into [[EnergyBeings a Niffin]] powerful enough to slay the Beast. And it works - at the cost of her humanity.

* ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'': Lord Vile's armor tends to have this effect [[spoiler: along with SuperPoweredEvilSide]].

* There's something of a sort like this in ''Literature/AmericanGods'', as the deities seem to have a form that shows one of their believers whose [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve faith]] was strong enough to make them real. Thus, Mr. Nancy/Anasi has this form of an African boy with a distented stomach and infected leg and [[spoiler: Hinzelmann]] shows a child pierced by swords, which actually reflects his being created through human sacrifice. Interestingly, Wiki/TheOtherWiki novel for the character indicates that this was actually that character's true form in the original stories.

* In Literature/{{Distortionverse}}, [[spoiler:Bertrand Brillouin]] - the villain of ''Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo'' - turns into a [[EldritchAbomination [=three-metres-tall=] monster with six eyes, six bladed arms, chainsaw teeth, and spike-harpoons-spawning shoulders]].
* In the last novel of Creator/RASalvatore's ''The Crimson Shadow'' trilogy, the [[BigBad evil king Greensparrow]] turns out to have a pact with a dragon and shares its shape, fighting the hero Luthien in this form at the end. No wonder the novel's name is ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Dragon King]].''

* In Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's Literature/{{Earthsea}} story "The Rule of Names", two sorcerers get into a duel involving shapeshifting; it ends with one back in his human form, and the other a dragon. The human says something like, "I'm tired of this; it ends now; show me your true shape, by the power of your True Name." He speaks the Name. The dragon is unaffected, and replies, "That is my true name; this is my true shape." CHOMP!

** Also, this is explicitly the main power of the Knights of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Blackened Denarii]]. They change from human into some horrible form for combat, with a twisted Angelic rune on their forehead and a second set of eyes. So far we have seen: A snake-man, a medusa-haired human/panther thing, [[BearsAreBadNews a six-legged horned fanged bear]], a normal human with ''a shadow that will strangle you'', an obsidian statue, a feathery tentacled thing, a praying mantis with little praying mantises for blood, an emaciated grayish spiny humanoid, and various forms of big and ugly and scaly and hairy.
** In a subversion, Nicodemus (the head Denarian) explicitly does ''not'' have a OneWingedAngel form- both because he's TheChessmaster by nature and would rather put his power into abilities other than raw strength, and because between the ArtifactOfDoom hangman's noose he wears (which makes him immune to conventional attacks) and his own skill as a warrior, even his base human form can overpowering anything if need be.

* And an interesting twist from ''Night Mare,'' book 6 in Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series: the protagonist, Mare Imbri, ''is'' a "Night Mare." When, in a climactic scene, she confronts a shape-shifting villain, he ''almost'' saves himself by shifting from human form into horse form. Imbri does eventually defeat him, but it becomes much, much harder to do so. It isn't just because she can't hurt a fellow horse either, it's because she's ''in heat'' at the time. (''Sigh'', [[Literature/{{Xanth}} Piers Anthony...]])
* In Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's Literature/{{Earthsea}} story "The Rule of Names", two sorcerers get into a duel involving shapeshifting; it ends with one back in his human form, and the other a dragon. The human says something like, "I'm tired of this; it ends now; show me your true shape, by the power of your True Name." He speaks the Name. The dragon is unaffected, and replies, "That is my true name; this is my true shape." CHOMP!

* In Creator/JamesSwallow's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Deus Sanguinius]]'', Arkio starts to metamorphise under the influence of Chaos. Inquisitor Stele can contain it, but [[spoiler:at the climax, fighting Rafen, he starts to bleed black blood, and then to change in form. Rafen shows him himself in a mirror and he breaks it in {{rage|AgainstTheReflection}}. Then the Spear of Telesto rejects him.]]
* The Storm King, BigBad of Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' trilogy, upon being summoned back into the world by EvilSorcerer Pryrates, takes on an EldritchAbomination-esque form that must have been a lot of fun for the author to write.
* There's something of a sort like this in ''Literature/AmericanGods'', as the deities seem to have a form that shows one of their believers whose [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve faith]] was strong enough to make them real. Thus, Mr. Nancy/Anasi has this form of an African boy with a distented stomach and infected leg and [[spoiler: Hinzelmann]] shows a child pierced by swords, which actually reflects his being created through human sacrifice. Interestingly, Wiki/TheOtherWiki novel for the character indicates that this was actually that character's true form in the original stories.
* In the ''Literature/TheDarkHunters'' series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, the leader of the Dark-Hunters, Acheron, is in actuality an Atlantean god. This means that if he's pissed beyond all hope of redemption, he turns blue, gets black horns, nails, and lips, and rips the ever-loving everything out of most everyone. Bonus points for the ability to end the world should he go visit his mother in Atlantean Hell.
* During the climax of ''Literature/ThePiloFamilyCircus,'' Kurt Pilo [[VillainousBreakdown slowly starts to lose his cool]]: the angrier he gets, the more inhuman and reptillian he becomes, growing to an enormous height in the process. It's implied that this form is actually a "benefit" of being the highest-ranking servant of the [[EldritchAbomination Things Beneath the Showgrounds]]... and that shortly after inheriting control over the circus, Kurt decided to [[SelfMadeOrphan demonstrate his newfound gift to his father.]]
* Visser Three from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' used ''dozens'' of these over the course of the series, rarely using the same one twice. FridgeHorror ensues when you realize there are ''species'' of these for him to acquire DNA from.
** Also, you realize just how awesome} V3 is: you can only acquire DNA while in your native form, and while Andalites such as the one the Visser [[PuppeteerParasite possesses]] have the slashing tail of doom, that'd barely inconvenience some of the nastier beasties the Visser has turned into - some of whom have projectile attacks like fire and venom and ''spears.'' A centaur with a pointy tail managed to get close enough to these things to ''actually touch.'' (Yeah, acquiring puts 'em into a trance... but you gotta touch 'em first.) One of them was actually a ''natural predator of his race,'' evolved to ''remove Yeerks from their hosts to eat.''

* Mrs Whitestone, from Literature/HellsChildren.

* Justified in the book Literature/{{Coraline}} since [[spoiler: as Coraline collects the children's eyes, Other Mother's power fades it causes GlamourFailure]].

* In the ''Franchise/{{Doctor Who|Expanded Universe}}'' spinoff ''Literature/FactionParadox'' series, the more the JustForFun/TimeLord Expies regenerate, the more like this they become until they're nothing but sentient masses of weaponry and defensive devices. You wouldn't like to meet 'em.
** This is rather in-line with aspects of regeneration dating back to the 1980s in the EU. The novelization of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma The Twin Dilemma]] mentions that Time Lords who (for whatever reason) undertake regeneration multiple times again immediately after regenerating, without seeking rest or medical help, run the risk of becoming, with progressive rapid regenerations, eldritch abominations at best. At worst? [[AndIMustScream Sentient goo lumps]].
** Later novels revealed that the earliest Time Lords with regenerative capabilities sometimes would merge with any nearby biomass when regenerating. This could be as simple as taking on aspects of the last meal they had eaten, but given the right conditions...
* Defied in ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', in the sense that the BigBad Kronos is trying to achieve the power of returning to his true form, instead of possessing his follower Luke. But the efforts of Percy, Zeus, and all their allies prevent this effect--and Kronos is so strong even without his true form that we can infer that nothing could have stopped him if he had gone OneWingedAngel. Kronos is never fought in anything but a form which is just as human (not completely human, but definitely not comparable to a [[PhysicalGod the gods and titans like Kronos]]) as Percy Jackson himself.
* In Literature/{{Distortionverse}}, [[spoiler:Bertrand Brillouin]] - the villain of ''Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo'' - turns into a [[EldritchAbomination [=three-metres-tall=] monster with six eyes, six bladed arms, chainsaw teeth, and spike-harpoons-spawning shoulders]].
* Inverted in the last volume of ''Literature/TheSeventhTower''. Sharrakor, the shapeshifting BigBad, opens the final battle in his NighInvulnerable dragon form, which the heroes are no match for. Midway through the battle, the sorceress Malen manages to magically force him to take on a much weaker humanoid form, in which he is killable.
* In the last novel of Creator/RASalvatore's ''The Crimson Shadow'' trilogy, the [[BigBad evil king Greensparrow]] turns out to have a pact with a dragon and shares its shape, fighting the hero Luthien in this form at the end. No wonder the novel's name is ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Dragon King]].''
* Transforming into something stronger one of the abilities of the vampires in ''Literature/ZeroSight'' where they call it "manifesting". [[spoiler:Rei Bathory, the main love interest of the protagonist of the series]] does this at the end of book two.
* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Greensparrow takes on his shared dragon form for the climax of the trilogy.

* A rare heroic example occurs in the climax of ''Literature/TheMagicians'', in which [[spoiler: Alice]] weaponizes a MagicMisfire to transform herself into [[EnergyBeings a Niffin]] powerful enough to slay the Beast. And it works - at the cost of her humanity.

* A rare heroic example occurs in the climax of ''Literature/TheMagicians'', in which [[spoiler: Alice]] weaponizes a powerful MagicMisfire to transform herself into [[EnergyBeings a Niffin]] powerful enough to slay the Beast. And it works - at the cost of her humanity.

* Several villains in ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' take a large dose of the drug Elixir to turn themselves into Nocturnals, beings that are compared by the narration to demons. They get black skin, white hair and massively increased physical abilities. If the transformation extends to their whole body, it will eventually kill them, overlapping with DeadlyUpgrade.

* Several villains in ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle take a large dose of the drug Elixir to turn themselves into Nocturnals, beings that are compared by the narration to demons. They get black skin, white hair and massively increased physical abilities. If the transformation extends to their whole body, it will eventually kill them, overlapping with DeadlyUpgrade.

* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Greensparrow takes on his shared dragon form for the climax of the trilogy.

* In the last novel of [[Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy R. A. Salvatore]]'s ''The Crimson Shadow'' trilogy, the [[BigBad evil king Greensparrow]] turns out to have a pact with a dragon and shares its shape, fighting the hero Luthien in this form at the end. No wonder the novel's name is ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Dragon King]].''

* In the ''Franchise/{{Doctor Who|Expanded Universe}}'' spinoff ''Literature/FactionParadox'' series, the more the TimeLord Expies regenerate, the more like this they become until they're nothing but sentient masses of weaponry and defensive devices. You wouldn't like to meet 'em.

* It's one of the abilities of the vampires in ''Literature/ZeroSight'' where they call it "manifesting". [[spoiler:Rei Bathory, DarkActionGirl, BadassPrincess, and main love interest of the protagonist of the series]] does this at the end of book two.

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': In ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', Prince Rilian expresses relief that TheVamp who'd kidnapped him turned into a giant serpent when she tried to kill him, because "It would not have suited well either with my heart or with my honor [[WouldntHitAGirl to have slain a woman]]." (Though he probably would have if she forced the issue..)

* It's one of the abilities of the vampires in ''Literature/ZeroSight'' where they call it "manifesting". [[spoiler:Rei Bathory, DarkActionGirl, BadassPrincess, and main love interest of the protagonist of the series]] does this at the end of book two.

* There's something of a sort like this in ''Literature/AmericanGods'', as the deities seem to have a form that shows one of their believers whose [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve faith]] was strong enough to make them real. Thus, Mr. Nancy/Anasi has this form of an African boy with a distented stomach and infected leg and [[spoiler: Hinzelmann]] shows a child pierced by swords, which actually reflects his being created through human sacrifice. Interestingly, TheOtherWiki novel for the character indicates that this was actually that character's true form in the original stories.

* The Storm King, BigBad of Creator/TadWilliams' ''MemorySorrowAndThorn'' trilogy, upon being summoned back into the world by EvilSorcerer Pryrates, takes on an EldritchAbomination-esque form that must have been a lot of fun for the author to write.

** Also, you realize just how awesomely {{Badass}} V3 is: you can only acquire DNA while in your native form, and while Andalites such as the one the Visser [[PuppeteerParasite possesses]] have the slashing tail of doom, that'd barely inconvenience some of the nastier beasties the Visser has turned into - some of whom have projectile attacks like fire and venom and ''spears.'' A centaur with a pointy tail managed to get close enough to these things to ''actually touch.'' (Yeah, acquiring puts 'em into a trance... but you gotta touch 'em first.) One of them was actually a ''natural predator of his race,'' evolved to ''remove Yeerks from their hosts to eat.''

* In an Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin Literature/{{Earthsea}} story, two sorcerers get into a duel involving shapeshifting; it ends with one back in his human form, and the other a dragon. The human says something like, "I'm tired of this; it ends now; show me your true shape, by the power of your True Name." He speaks the Name. The dragon is unaffected, and replies, "That is my true name; this is my true shape." CHOMP!

* In an Ursula K. LeGuin Earthsea story, two sorcerers get into a duel involving shapeshifting; it ends with one back in his human form, and the other a dragon. The human says something like, "I'm tired of this; it ends now; show me your true shape, by the power of your True Name." He speaks the Name. The dragon is unaffected, and replies, "That is my true name; this is my true shape." CHOMP!

* The Storm King, BigBad of TadWilliams' ''MemorySorrowAndThorn'' trilogy, upon being summoned back into the world by EvilSorcerer Pryrates, takes on an EldritchAbomination-esque form that must have been a lot of fun for the author to write.