History Main / ButterflyOfTransformation

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

* In ''VideoGame/PaleBlue'', the organization Cocoon uses butterflies as symbols of their goal to transform humanity from its ugly "larvae" state into beautiful butterflies through their actions. Their leader of Cocoon is even named after the Monarch butterfly.

* The fourth entry in the Videogame/GearsOfWar series introduces JD Fenix and Kat talking about how a cocooned butterfly changes its shape just before they go on a raid. [[spoiler: This is foreshadowing for the reveal that the Locust Horde was not entirely entirely destroyed at the end of the third game and have returned in stronger forms and are converting humans into the Swarm through cocoons.]]

* The ''Film/IAmLegend'' remake features 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.]] Keep in mind that [[spoiler:the [[WeaksauceWeakness "better"]] form is eye of the beholder]].

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Film]]

* The caterpillar in ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' can be seen to serve this sort of symbolic function. For instance, at the end of the [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 2010 film]], Alice has been somewhat transformed by her experiences in Wonderland, and this is symbolized by the caterpillar (called Absolem in this adaptation) appearing on her shoulders in the form of a butterfly and doing a FlyAtTheCameraEnding.

* In ''Film/{{Cinderella 2015}}'', Cinderella's gown from the Fairy Godmother has butterfly decorations around the neckline, as well as on her shoes, as a motif of her transformation.

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

-->'''Doctor''': ''I'd like to see a butterfly fit into its chrysalis case after it's spread its wings!''\\
'''Polly''': ''Then you did change!''\\
'''Doctor''': ''Life depends on change and renewal I've been renewed. It's part of the TARDIS. Without it, I couldn't survive.''\\
'''Polly''' to '''Ben''': ''It's a very different Doctor, then.''

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Mutts}}'', witnessing a catepillar go through it inspires thoughts of change, such as Mooch's observing that someday, Earl might become a cat.

[[folder: Other]]
* Many [[UsefulNotes/TarotCards Tarot decks]] incorporate a butterfly into "Death," card 13 of the Major Arcana, which represents transformation and rebirth.
* Groups relating to {{Transgender}} issues frequently have butterflies in their logos, and some versions of the Transgender pride flag have a butterfly on them.

[[folder: Tabletop RPG]]
* 1st Edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** ''Player's Handbook''. The ''Polymorph Other'' spell changed a creature into another type of creature. Its material component was a caterpillar cocoon.
** ''Oriental Adventures'' supplement. The ''Force Shapechange'' spell caused shapechangers to shift to their alternate form. The spell's material component was a butterfly cocoon.

[[folder: Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' (the 2013 West End musical), Willy Wonka has an IAmWhatIAm song, "Simply Second Nature", in which he explains his inborn need to create beautiful -- if strange to some -- things. At one point, a sudden wave of his cane reveals a butterfly perched upon it, which continues this adaptation's running motif of humble things that contain/conceal great beauty and possibility (tying in to the CentralTheme of the transformative power of imagination).

[[folder: Video Games]]
* In the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' series, the golden butterfly is symbolic of Philemon, the deity 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.
* This is part of Morph Moth's gimmick in ''VideoGame/MegaManX2''. He starts the fight in a cocoon suspended on a thread, and after taking enough damage he, appropriately enough, metamorphosizes into a fully grown robot moth.
* In ''Videogame/BioShock2'', [[UnderwaterCity Rapture's]] change as "better" society fueled by Dr. Lamb's [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill extreme altruistic view]] are symbolized by a blue butterfly that is worn by most of the members of the Rapture family and it appears in most of the city. A lot of the graffiti with this motif also reads: "We will be reborn in the cold womb of the ocean. She is our savior".[[spoiler: Turns out more literal than you would think, as Lamb's plan is using her own daughter as a [[TheAssimilator "database" of the population of Rapture]] to create a human completely driven to benefit a group in its entirety.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/PaleBlue Pale Blue]]'', the organization Cocoon uses butterflies as symbols of their goal to transform humanity from its ugly "larvae" state into beautiful butterflies through their actions. Their leader of Cocoon is even named after the Monarch butterfly.
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameIICrimsonButterfly'' has butterflies everywhere as the motif associated with the twins of All God's Village, referring to the death-and-rebirth interpretation, the identical-halves-of-one being interpretation, and ultimately ending on the transformation interpretation: [[spoiler: The souls of the sacrificed twins ''literally'' become butterflies. Mayu is released from the "cocoon" of her body by the red, wing-shaped handprints Mio leaves on her throat.]]
* The fourth entry in the Videogame/GearsOfWar series introduces JD Fenix and Kat talking about how a cocooned butterfly changes its shape just before they go on a raid. [[spoiler: This is foreshadowing for the reveal that the Locust Horde was not entirely entirely destroyed at the end of the third game and have returned in stronger forms and are converting humans into the Swarm through cocoons.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Visual Novel]]
* Butterfly symbolism is used extensively by a revolutionary group in ''VisualNovel/CulpaInnata''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* A literal example in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] utilizes these to feed off people's negative emotions and turn them into an [[MonsterOfTheWeek Akuma]].

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'' a butterfly motif is heavily featured in the titular heroine's "Crisis Make Up!" TransformationSequence which sees her [[FrillyUpgrade power up]] from Sailor Moon into Super Sailor Moon in the third season ''Sailor Moon S''. This is not only touches on this trope but also draws on the way the ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth trope is used elsewhere in the season, a particularly evocative version shows up [[spoiler:using the power of the Sailor Soldiers themselves rather than via the usual Holy Grail TransformationTrinket that was in hands of the enemies]] in the penultimate episode of the season which is given it's own animation.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

[[folder: Other ]]

[[folder: Tabletop RPG ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Visual Novel ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* MariahCarey used a similar metaphor for her first album after her divorce from manager Tommy Mottola, ''Butterfly''.

* ''Franchise/FatalFrame II'' has butterflies everywhere as the motif associated with the twins of All God's Village, referring to the death-and-rebirth interpretation, the identical-halves-of-one being interpretation, and ultimately ending on the transformation interpretation: [[spoiler: The souls of the sacrificed twins ''literally'' become butterflies. Mayu is released from the "cocoon" of her body by the red, wing-shaped handprints Mio leaves on her throat.]]

And sometimes their history of metamorphisis is used to show transformations less drastic than total rebirth. (Because butterflies are also ethereal and can fly, if this is a moral transformation, it is more likely to be a HeelFaceTurn than the other way around.)

* The caterpillar in ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' can be seen to serve this sort of symbolic function. For instance, at the end of the [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 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.
* The ''Film/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.]] Keep in mind that [[spoiler:the [[WeaksauceWeakness "better"]] form is eye of the beholder]].
* In ''Film/{{Cinderella 2015}}'', Cinderella's gown from the Fairy Godmother has butterflies decorated along the neckline, as well her shoes, as a motif of her transformation.

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Delenn uses a butterfly-like cocoon to [[spoiler:transform into a half-human half-minbari]]. During the transformation, the security team exploited the trope by telling the traitor that it she became beautiful as she left the cocoon, as if she was a butterfly with wings.

* In the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona 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.
* This is part of Morph Moth's gimmick in ''VideoGame/MegaManX2''. He starts the fight in a cacoon suspended on a thread, and after taking enough damage he, appropriately enough, metamorphosizes into a fully grown robot moth.
* In ''Videogame/BioShock2'', [[UnderwaterCity Rapture's]] change as "better" society fueled by Dr. Lamb's [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill extreme altruistic view]] are symbolized by a blue butterfly that is worn by most of the members of the Rapture family and it appears in most of the city. A lot of the graffitis with this motif also have written: "We will be reborn in the cold womb of the ocean. She is our savior".[[spoiler: Turns out more literal than you would think, as Lamb's plan is using her own daughter as a [[TheAssimilator "database" of the population of Rapture]] to create a human completely driven to benefit a group in its entirety.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/PaleBlue Pale Blue]]'', the organization Cocoon uses butterflies as symbolism of their goal to transform humanity from its ugly "larvae" state into beautiful butterflies through their actions. Their leader of Cocoon is even named after The Monarch Butterfly.

* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' pulls this in TheMovie with Inazuman, another ShotaroIshinomori creation. At first, Saburo Kazeta is a bitter young man who hates "normal humans" for [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunning him due to his psychic powers]], which include transforming into the larval Sanagiman. Fourze gives him a heart-to-heart ([[LampshadeHanging which outright includes the butterfly metaphor]]) which leads to Saburo pulling a HeelFaceTurn, at which point Sanagiman "molts" into Inazuman, complete with radiant wings.

* The Literature/{{Animorphs}} book "The Departure" heavily feature the theme of a caterpillar, and later a butterfly. It is not a coincidence that this is where Cassie meets a surprisingly sympathetic [[PuppeteerParasite yeerk]], one willing to give up her host body. This, along with Cassie's continued realisation that the world isn't as [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white]] as she thought, signifies change.

* Using a [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible dragonfly]] rather than a butterfly, the Music/EgoLikeness album ''Dragonfly'' has a theme of personal rebirth and the [[http://images.junostatic.com/full/CS1686192-02A-BIG.jpg cover art]] depicts the eponymous insect.

* The caterpillar in ''Literature/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.

* This is part of Morph Moth's gimmick in ''VideoGame/MegaManX2''. He starts the fight in a cacoon suspended on a thread, and after taking enough damage he, appropriately enough, metamorphosizes into a fully a fully grown robot moth.

* Evoked in a MarvelComics story of ''ComicBook/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.

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'' a butterfly motif is heavily featured in the titular heroine's "Crisis Make Up!" TransformationSequence which sees her [[FrillyUpgrade power up]] from Sailor Moon into Super Sailor Moon in the third season ''Sailor Moon S''. This is not only touches on this trope but also draws on the way the ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth trope is used elsewhere in the season, a particularly evocative version shows up [[spoiler:using the power of the Sailor Soldiers themselves rather than via the usual Holy Grail TransformationTrinket that was in hands of the enemies]] in the penultimate episode of the season which is given it's own animation.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Delenn uses a butterfly-like cocoon to [[spoiler:transform into a half-human half-minbari]]. During the transformation, the security team exploited the trope by telling the traitor that it she became beautiful as she left the cocoon, as if she was a butterfly with wings.

[[AC:{{Music}}]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]

[[AC:Other]]

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]

[[AC:Theatre]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:VisualNovel]]

[[AC:WebComics]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* At the end of ''Disney/{{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 the ''VideoGame/{{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.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame2'' has butterflies everywhere as the motif associated with the twins of All God's Village, referring to the death-and-rebirth interpretation, the identical-halves-of-one being interpretation, and ultimately ending on the transformation interpretation: [[spoiler: The souls of the sacrificed twins ''literally'' become butterflies. Mayu is released from the "cocoon" of her body by the red, wing-shaped handprints Mio leaves on her throat.]]

* [[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.

* At the end of Disney/{{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.
* ''AngelsFriends'', Done literally with Dolce's [[ADogNamedDog butterfly familiar, Butterfly]] which she uses to transform into a human and back.

->''If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.''

* Film/TheButterflyEffect: The main character keeps trying to change the present by fixing the past.