History Main / ButterflyOfTransformation

Caterpillars can also work, and bonus points for the entire transformation in story. Moths can also be used, but then you don't get PrettyButterflies, and besides, moths are nocturnal[[hottip:*:fictionally, at least]], and [[EvilIsNotWellLit you know what that means.]]

* The IAmLegend remake feature the motif of a butterfly quite often. In the released film, it doesn't amount to anything; however, in the original ending, it represented that [[spoiler: that the Dayseekers weren't mindless, evil zombies, but sentient beings that had transformed into a ''better'' forms than the old-fashioned humans.]]

* At the end of {{Bambi}} II, Bambi has lost his spots, his antlers are starting to grow and most importantly, he has an improved relationship with his father. A butterfly lands on the [[HopeSproutsEternal entwined sprouts]] growing nearby.

* At the end of {{Bambi}} II, Bambi has lost his spots, his antlers are starting to grow and most importantly, he has an improved relationship with his father. A butterfly lands on the [[HopeSproutsEternal entwined sprouts]] growing nearby.

[[caption-width-right:192:You'll be [[CharacterDevelopment changing]], too, [[Webcomic/{{Sinfest}} Lil' E]].]]

* Using a [[TropesAreFlexible dragonfly]] rather than a butterfly, the Music/EgoLikeness album ''Dragonfly'' has a theme of personal rebirth and the cover art depicts the eponymous insect.

* Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar album is a narrative about a child's transformation into the antichrist (/a controversial rock star). The song cycle is broken into three parts according to the life cycle of an insect, and the album art depicts him in stylised versions of all three stages, including one with a set of wings.

At the end of {{Bambi}} II, Bambi has lost his spots, his antlers are starting to grow and most importantly, he has an improved relationship with his father. A butterfly lands on the [[HopeSproutsEternal entwined sprouts]] growing nearby.

* In GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'', Freckles watches in wonder as a Luna moth comes from its cocoon and feels deeply frustrated at his ignorance at what it is, though he knows it's not a butterfly. This causes him to ponder his ignorance, until it dawns on him that he could find out these things.

SuperTrope of ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth.

* In ''DoctorWho'', the Second Doctor compared his regeneration to a renewal like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. Which is why the ring no longer fits.

[[quoteright:192:[[{{Sinfest}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SinfestButterflyOfTransformation_1896.GIF]]]]
[[caption-width-right:192:You'll be [[CharacterDevelopment changing]], too, [[{{Sinfest}} Lil' E]].]]

* In ''{{Babylon 5}}'', Delenn uses a butterfly-like cocoon to [[spoiler:transform into a half-human half-minbari]]

* In the ''{{Persona}}'' series, the golden butterfly is symbolic of Philemon, the diety that allows the heroes to tap into their Personas. According to WordOfGod, in the later games in the series he actually appears as a blue butterfly with an implied similar, if lesser, function, although neither the characters nor any narrator identifies him.

* [[TheQuestion Vic Sage]]'s FamousLastWords in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' invoke this symbolism of butterflies. They are addressed to Renee and foreshadow her transformation into the new Question.

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Literature]]
* In GeneStrattonPorter's ''{{Literature/Freckles}}'', Freckles watches in wonder as a Luna moth comes from its cocoon and feels deeply frustrated at his ignorance at what it is, though he knows it's not a butterfly. This causes him to ponder his ignorance, until it dawns on him that he could find out these things.
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', Cosmo Lavish uses a caterpillar becoming a butterfly as a symbol of his own planned transformation. His sister Pucci tells him that what actually happens is a caterpillar ''dies'' and a butterfly grows out of the remains.

[[AC:Music]]

* [[TheQuestion Vic Sage]]'s FamousLastWords in ''FiftyTwo'' invoke this symbolism of butterflies. They are addressed to Renee and foreshadow her transformation into the new Question.

[[quoteright:192:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SinfestButterflyOfTransformation_1896.GIF]]

* Evoked in a MarvelComics story of TheInhumans, with one Inhuman petitioning to be exposed (re-exposed) to the mutagenic Terrigen Mists mainly because she's ugly and hoping for a better genetic draw. She emerges as a butterfly woman.

* In the book/movie TheSilenceOfTheLambs Jame Gumb keeps butterflies or moths, and they seem to symbolize his desire to transform [[spoiler: into a woman]].
* The hero of KungFuHustle gets entirely wrapped in bandages like a cocoon, which he discards as a shell, his Chi finally unblocked and his destiny awaiting. During this transformation, we are briefly treated to the imagry of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon to drive the point home.

* The caterpillar in AliceInWonderland can be seen to serve this sort of symbolic function. For instance, at the end of the [[Film/AliceInWonderland 2010 film]], Alice has been somewhat transformed by her experiences in Wonderland, and this is symbolized by the caterpillar (called Absolem in this adapation) appearing on her shoulders in the form of a butterfly and doing a FlyAtTheCameraEnding.

* In TerryPratchett's ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', Cosmo Lavish uses a caterpillar becoming a butterfly as a symbol of his own planned transformation. His sister Pucci tells him that what actually happens is a caterpillar ''dies'' and a butterfly grows out of the remains.

* In {{Babylon 5}}, Delenn uses a butterfly-like cocoon to [[spoiler:transform into a half-human half-minbari]]

* 1st Edition ''DungeonsAndDragons''

* In the ''{{Persona}}'' series, the golden butterfly is symbolic of Philemon, the diety that allows the heroes to tap into their Personas.

* No actual butterflies on screen, but the hero of KungFuHustle gets entirely wrapped in bandages like a cocoon, which he discards as a shell, his Chi finally unblocked and his destiny awaiting.

* Evoked in a MarvelComics story of the Inhumans, with one Inhuman petitioning to be exposed (re-exposed) to the mutagenic Terrigen Mists mainly because she's ugly and hoping for a better genetic draw. She emerges as a butterfly woman.

* The caterpillar in AliceInWonderland can be seen to serve this sort of symbolic function. For instance, at the end of the 2010 film, Alice has been somewhat transformed by her experiences in Wonderland, and this is symbolized by the caterpillar (called Absolem in this adapation) appearing on her shoulders in the form of a butterfly and doing a FlyAtTheCameraEnding.