Basic Trope: A Big Bad assumes a monstrous form for combat.
- Straight: When Bob defeats Evulz in combat and is about to finish him off, Evulz transforms into a dragon.
- Exaggerated: Evulz escalates from one form to the next again and again and again, eventually becoming larger than the Earth and uglier than a Lovecraftian bowel movement.
- Downplayed:
- Justified:
- The human appearance was just a disguise, and it would only get in the way during a fight.
- Evulz can shapeshift, and has a form that's better at combat than his current form. Why not use it?
- Evulz has a dangerous Psycho Serum that is only to be used in an absolute emergency. This is an absolute emergency.
- Inverted:
- The already-monstrous Evulz crosses the Bishōnen Line.
- Evulz is ALREADY huge and shrinks halfway through the final battle, becoming faster and deadlier after the transformation.
- Evulz is an Eldritch Abomination, but in the final confrontation he gains an advantage by Becoming a Real Boy, because Humans Are Special.
- Role-Inverted: Hiro transforms into a One-Winged Angel form and proceeds to epically defeat Evulz.
- Subverted:
- Clipped-Wing Angel.
- Evulz' human form IS his most powerful form: anything else is a downgrade in power.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman is in full effect here: it turns out, that it wasn't bestial strength that made Evulz so dangerous, but all the skills he learned as a human.
- Emperor Evulz is really a Evil Sorcerer, and his spells are more powerful than his changed form. He only use it as a last resort, if ever.
- Double Subverted:
- The Clipped-Wing Angel was just the first stage of the transformation. The second stage means business!
- "Besides, dragons are so much cooler."
- It turns out the transformation is in part psychological; while Monstrosity Equals Weakness, the monstrous form is Too Dumb to Fool by virtue of sociopathy and does not trip over its own arrogance like Evulz does in his normal form.
- Parodied:
- The One-Winged Angel form looks utterly ridiculous. Even the heroes double over in laughter.
- The Big Bad literally transforms into a one-winged angel.
- The Big Bad doesn't transform at all, he just changes his hat and/or fake mustache and claims that is his "ultimate form".
- Zig Zagged:
- Evulz reveals his new form. It's a cute little rabbit. The rabbit reveals sharp claws and fangs and starts to tear the party apart. So Hiro transforms into an angelic knight and proceeds to fight it. However after being beaten, Evulz transforms into an Eldritch Abomination. Hiro calls upon the power of the Cosmic Keystones and ALSO transforms into an Eldritch Abomination, and is able to match Evulz in strength. So Evulz transforms into...
- A while after Evulz's transformation, he switches back to his original form... but he has some new tricks up his sleeve. Then he returns to his One-Winged Angel form and assaults the party with another set of new moves.
- Averted: Emperor Evulz kicks plenty of ass as a human.
- Enforced: "What says This Is the Final Battle better than our villain turning into a twenty-foot tall demon?"
- Lampshaded: "Puny do-gooders, BEHOLD MY TRUE FORM!!!"
- Invoked: Evulz knows he needs more power and downs the mutagen sample.
- Exploited: Alice enrages Evulz into using this form in an environment that cannot support it, and manages to get Evulz to collapse his own throne room on himself.
- Defied:
- Evulz sneers at anyone who feels the need to alter his body to kick ass.
- "I will not turn into a snake. It never helps."
- Evulz's transformation averts Transformation Is a Free Action, allowing Bob to kill him mid-transformation.
- Discussed: "Don't let your guard down. When the going gets tough, fellows like these tend to turn into devils and sprout wings."
- Conversed: "Have you noticed how often villains have scary alternate forms?"
- Deconstructed:
- Evulz downs the mutagen sample, sprouts Combat Tentacles, and shortly thereafter dies of organ failure from having his biology so abruptly rearranged.
- Most of Emperor Evulz's mooks - who were Punch-Clock Villains at best, and mostly Just Following Orders - decided, that fighting alongside hideous monstrosity was not what they signed up for. They might even perform a Heel–Face Turn and actually join the heroes out of disgust.
- Evulz was really manipulated by The Man Behind the Man, and his whole transformation was a set-up so that - either - transformation or heroes will kill him, or simply because he's easier to control this way.
- Transformation take a toll on Evulz mental stability, reducing him to - either - frothing madman or animal level of intellect. Without all his skills, Hiro is able to take him down with little effort.
- "I can't believe you just made yourself into an even bigger target. Did you really think bigger is better?"
- Reconstructed:
- ...Then rises up again as an unstoppable monstrosity, the mutagen having completed its work.
- ...Then he reveals that the physical mutations were just a side effect of changing his physiology so that he could transfer his mind into his castle.
- He killed himself on purpose to go to hell and subsequently take it over to gain even MORE power than what the mutagen sample would've given him had he survived.
- ... but now the whoever's left at his side is fanatically loyal to him or corrupted to the core, which makes fight even more difficult.
- Turns out that - despite looking like mutated monster - Evulz has his mental faculties intact and was only playing along. Then he unleash all hells on Hiro.
- Alternalty, Evulz is a Classic Villain whose only weakness is his pride. With his mind lost to madness, his massive ego can no longer be exploited, making him Too Dumb to Fool and ironically far more dangerous than if he had retained his facilities.
- Played For Laughs: Emperor Evulz assumes his true form: a hamster with fairy wings. That shoots lightning.
- Played For Drama: Emperor Evulz's willingness to sacrifice his humanity for power is portrayed with appropriate gravitas.
- Implied: Emperor Evulz spends a lot of time talking about his "final form", but the audience never actually sees it, because the player character gets blasted away into a new zone before the fight starts and they only get back after it ends.
Back to One-Winged Angel.
