History Main / FetalPositionRebirth

* When Kikyo's naked body is resurrected in ''Anime/InuYasha'', she collapses into a fetal position shortly after being revived.

* ''{{Anime/Yu-Gi-Oh}}'': Yami Yugi goes through one at the end of the Doma/Orichalcos Arc. [[{{Macekre}} Too bad America didn't see it.]]

* The manga adaptation of ''BreathOfFire IV'' [[http://www.onemanga.com/Utsurowazarumono_-_Breath_of_Fire_IV/1/03/ explicitly has this]] in its opening pages [[http://www.onemanga.com/Utsurowazarumono_-_Breath_of_Fire_IV/1/16/ with Ryu]]. Justified in that it's a literal birth/reincarnation (yeah, it's complicated[[hottip:*:Specifically, Ryu is the temporally-displaced LiteralSplitPersonality of 600-year-old GodEmperor Fou-lu. It turns out the empire that originally summoned the god buggered up the summoning.]])

* [[http://www.body-pixel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Icare_Moebius_Taniguchi.jpg This cover]] from the Manga ''Icare'' by {{Moebius}} and Jirō Tanaguchi.

* In the ''{{Spider-Man}}'' storyline "Draven's Last Hunt", Peter Parker dreams of himself naked in the fetal position, floating in a white void, while drugged and BuriedAlive by Kraven the hunter. Then the drug-induced sleep [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel turns nightmarish]], with amongst other niceties Peter "birthing" out of a GiantSpider.

* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'': In the first episode of Season 7, "Fallen", Daniel Jackson is cast out by the [[NeglectfulPrecursors Ancients]] from his [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended state]]. He reappears on some unknown planet, nude and in a fetal position, with no memory.

* The final shot of the third season of ''{{Smallville}}'' has Clark floating in a black void, in the nude, doing this with the Superman Shield logo appearing behind him, after he has agreed to accept his inheritage and become Kal-El.

* ''ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'': [[spoiler:This is how Isamu is fused with his God Noah.]]

* ''FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'': Alma is shown adopting this form in one of the hallucinations during ''Project Origin''. This is probably quite deliberate, considering that childbirth and maternity are major themes in the series.
* This can be seen in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, in which Sonic curls up in the fetal position before going [[SuperMode Super Sonic]].

* Nu-13's Arcade Mode ending in ''BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger'' has [[spoiler:Nu herself]] in one of these. Given the context of "waking from a dream," it's almost impossible to say what the character is being reborn into, if anything. It's really [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible artful]], in that {{Mind Screw}}y, {{Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory}} kind of way. [[spoiler: The {{Yandere}} mumbling makes it unsettling, though.]]

* Happens in ''SilentHill4'' when [[spoiler:Henry enters the "deepest part" of Walter. Rather than symbolizing rebirth, though, it symbolizes regression to a fetal stage (which is what Walter wants)]].
* ''KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': More of a Fetal Position Birth than anything, but when [[spoiler:Ventus's darkness is extracted, it takes the form of Vanitas. For a second, he's in this position.]]

* In ''TransformersAnimated'', [[spoiler:when Sari is "born"]] the protoform is curled up into this position and even vaguely resembles a fetus.

* ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': Itoshiki is seen like this in the [[MindScrew highly]] [[FetishFuel bizarre]] [[RefugeInAudacity Opening]].

* ''MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'': In the last episode, [[spoiler:the heroine is killed by a truck and wishes to be reborn as a normal human being in her former adoptive family]]. She is seen floating, naked and in a fetal position, while explaining this to her magical parents.
* ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'': in the picture showing Chii (or rather, Chobit 01) during construction and linked with a myriad of cables, she is unsurprisingly in a fetal position.
* Alicia of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' floats in this position in her {{People Jar|s}} while [[spoiler:Precia]] [[{{Necromantic}} looks for a way to resurrect her]].
* Melfina is introduced like this in ''OutlawStar'', as seen in the page picture above.
* Rakka in the opening of ''HaibaneRenmei'' appears like this, floating in some kind of corridor of life to her cocoon. Oddly, in the cocoon itself she doesn't take this position.
* When Kikyo's naked body is resurrected in ''InuYasha'', she collapses into a fetal position shortly after being revived.
* Yui in ''FushigiYuugi'' after [[spoiler: Miaka uses her first wish to release her from Seiryuu's clutches]].
* Lain at the EP of ''SerialExperimentsLain''. Bonus points for the heavy-machinery fetal.
* ''YuGiOh'': Yami Yugi goes through one at the end of the Doma/Orichalcos Arc. [[{{Macekre}} Too bad America didn't see it.]]
* Yuna of ''EarthMaidenArjuna'', when she first goes through her MagicalGirl transformation.
* ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': Itoshiki is seen like this in the [[MindScrew highly]] [[FetishFuel bizarre]] [[RefugeInAudacity Opening]].
* ''{{Berserk}}''

* ''RahXephon'': When Ayato merges with the eponymous giant robot, he is seen in one of these poses in a sea of light.

* In ''PrincessTutu,'' when Ahiru undergoes her mahoshoujo henshin sequence, she curls into a fetal position while being enveloped in an egg made by golden feathers before the egg turns to water and she hatches as Tutu. This happens in the span of 10 seconds or so each episode.

* Erza from ''FairyTail'' does it very briefly in the Tower of Heaven arc.

* In ''{{Hellboy}}'', a few flashbacks to Abe Sapien being discovered in the water tube show him curled up in a fetal-like position.
* In ''{{X-Men}}'', during one of the early appearances of the Brood, Storm commits suicide by blowing up her space capsule when she discovers the baby Brood Queen hatching within her. She gets better because one of the space-whales the Brood MindRape with drugs and turn into living ships (the nascent space-whale ''prophet'', in fact) rescues her and psychically merges with her because it's {{just a kid}} and needs a responsible adult to look after it. She flits around psychically for a while, the reason being her actual body is curled up in the fetal position inside the space-whale to regenerate.

* The end of ''TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', when Dave Bowman becomes the Star Child ([[MemeticMutation SPACE FETUS!]])... obviously.
* Alice in all three ''ResidentEvil'' movies. In the first one, it's where she's knocked out whem fumes come into the shower. In the second film she's being resurrected (or cloned, hard to tell) at the end. In the final one, there's hundreds of clones of her, all in the fetal position in water bubble suspension things. Naturally, she's bare-ass naked in all of these, and while her hands do hide her bits, she always moves them by the time the scene is over.

* Kahlan in ''[[TheSwordOfTruth Wizard's First Rule]]'', when going through [[BerserkButton Con Dar]].

* The first episode of ''{{Firefly}}'', when River comes out of frozen sleep. In this case, the symbolism of rebirth is River finally escaping from the Academy and returning to something resembling normal life. The scene is complete with clear metaphors for birthing pains, as she starts screaming immediately afterward. In another bit of symbolism, River adopts the same pose at the end of ''[[TheMovie Serenity]]'', as the title ship is taking off into a new day, once she has finally begun to really overcome her own mental illnesses.

* ''{{Angel}}'': At the end of the first season, [[spoiler:when Darla comes BackFromTheDead and is in that box, when we first see her, she's curled up in a rather fetal pose.]]
* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* ''{{Metroid}}''

* ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'': [[spoiler:This is how Isamu is fused with his God Noah.]]

* ''ChronoCross'': [[spoiler:Serge returning to his original form (not body; that one is stolen) from the shape of Lynx: he disintegrates and grows from a baby to his actual age inside of a big bubble of water]]

* This can be seen in the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series, in which Sonic curls up in the fetal position before going [[SuperMode Super Sonic]].

* In the good ending of ''{{Final Fantasy X-2}}'', [[spoiler:Tidus]] is shown waking up this way underwater.

* In ''TalesOfDestiny 2'' ending, Reala is reborn like that.

* In ''[[VisualNovel/KisetsuODakishimete Kisetsu o Dakishimete]]'' (the 2nd game of the ''{{VisualNovel/Yarudora}}'' series), the "[[spoiler: Spirit of the Cherry Trees]]" storyline has an event where the player character dreams of [[spoiler: Mayu]] floating in the darkness in fetal position, then [[spoiler: [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence dissolving into a storm of]] CherryBlossoms]]. Seeing this event is ''mandatory'' to get the storyline's Good Ending.

* ''CodeLyoko''

* ''TheVentureBrothers'', Season 3 Episode "The Doctor Is Sin": After Dr. Killinger makes Dr. Venture work through his daddy issues, Thaddeus is left nude on the floor in the fetal position. Killinger specifically says he's naked because he's been born again. Doc is more skeptical and thinks he slipped him a roofie.

----

* ''{{Chobits}}'': in the picture showing Chii (or rather, Chobit 01) during construction and linked with a myriad of cables, she is unsurprisingly in a fetal position.

[[folder:Comics -- Books]]

* Angel's own return from Hell in season 3 of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** Also Amy, momentarily, in Something Blue, though she is sitting upright.

* ''MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'': In the last episode, [[spoiler:the heroine is killed by a truck and wishes to be reborn as a normal human being in her former adoptive family]]. She is seen floating, naked and in fetal position, while explaining this to her magical parents.

* Alicia of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' floats in this position in her {{People Jar|s}} while [[spoiler: Precia]] [[{{Necromantic}} looks for a way to resurrect her]].
* Melfina is introduced like this in ''OutlawStar'', as seen in the page picture above..

* ''{{Angel}}'': At the end of the first season, [[spoiler:when Darla comes {{Back from the Dead}} and is in that box, when we first see her, she's curled up in a rather fetal pose.]]
** Angel's own return from hell in season 3 of ''{{Buffy}}.''

* "Crystal Flash", a hidden ability in ''Super {{Metroid}}'' that restores all of Samus' energy tanks at the expense of her ammunition, does this. When used, Samus goes into a fetal position, gets surrounded by a sphere of energy and her suit temporarily disappears. To be honest, the cool animation is probably the main reason to ever use this ability, as it's [[UselessUsefulSpell not very practical]].
** Actually it might be, as your ammo counter (255 missiles at max) is a lot smaller than your life counter (1699 with max energy tanks), and it'd be faster to reload than it is to have to get back to some places after you die.

** Speaking of Megaten Games, Sera of ''Digital Devil Saga'' spends a good portion of the early parts of the games in the fetal position.

* ''DoctorWho'' has, at the end of "Daleks in Manhattan", the armor of Dalek Sec opens up to reveal the HalfHumanHybrid Sec, dressed in a pinstripe suit, in a fetal position. He then unfolds and gets shakily to his feet.

This is of course highly symbolic, this position being one of an unborn child. The character will also often be nude (for reasons like {{Naked on Arrival}} or {{Out of Clothes Experience}}), and sometimes floating (in a void, in a liquid...) to better deliver the analogy with a baby in the mother's womb.

* ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': Itoshiki is seen like this in the [[{{MindScrew}} highly]] [[{{FetishFuel}} bizarre]] [[{{RefugeInAudacity}} Opening]].
* When Griffith ascends to the Godhand in ''{{Berserk}}'', he takes this position as his body is reconstructed. Probably the darkest example here.
** Happens again when Griffith is literally reborn into the human world through [[spoiler: Guts and Casca's miscarried child, which just so happened to be tainted with evil because he had previously raped Casca while she was pregnant.]]

* ''{{RahXephon}}'': When Ayato merges with the eponymous giant robot, he is seen in one of these poses in a sea of light.
* The manga adaptation of ''{{Breath of Fire}} IV'' [[http://www.onemanga.com/Utsurowazarumono_-_Breath_of_Fire_IV/1/03/ explicitly has this]] in its opening pages [[http://www.onemanga.com/Utsurowazarumono_-_Breath_of_Fire_IV/1/16/ with Ryu]]. Justified in that it's a literal birth/reincarnation (yeah, it's complicated[[hottip:*:Specifically, Ryu is the temporally-displaced LiteralSplitPersonality of 600-year-old GodEmperor Fou-lu. It turns out the empire that originally summoned the god buggered up the summoning.]])

[[folder:Comics]]

* In {{X-Men}} one of the early appearances of the Brood, Storm commits suicide by blowing up her space capsule when she discovers the baby Brood Queen hatching within her. She gets better because one of the space-whales the Brood {{Mind Rape}} with drugs and turn into living ships (the nascent space-whale ''prophet'', in fact) rescues her and psychically merges with her because it's {{just a kid}} and needs a responsible adult to look after it. She flits around psychically for a while, the reason being her actual body is curled up in the fetal position inside the space-whale to regenerate.

* A sinister example happens in the movie version of ''HarryPotter/{{Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire}}''. After Lord Voldemort (in the shape of a horrific homonculus) is leveled in the mixture that will resurrect him fully, the cauldron explodes and his misshapen body is seen in a fetal position while he's growing back to full power.

* In the remake of ''{{The Day the Earth Stood Still}}'', Klaatu is injured and taken to a human lab for treatment. The scientists cut away the placenta suit he's wearing, revealing a partially developed human form underneath. Once the suit is completely removed, he curls into a fetal position to finish the transformation into KeanuReeves.

* This can be seen in the ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' series, in which Sonic curls up in the fetal position before going [[SuperMode Super Sonic]].

* In the good ending of ''[[FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]'', [[spoiler:Tidus]] is shown waking up this way underwater.

* In ''Tales of Destiny 2'' ending, Reala is reborn like that.

** Season 1 episode "Code Earth": Aelita is materialized for the first time, and she arrives inside the scanner in a fetal position. Since everybody thought she was an AI at the time, this is treated as her birth into the real world.

* ''Magical Princess Minky Momo'': In the last episode, [[spoiler:the heroine is killed by a truck and wishes to be reborn as a normal human being in her former adoptive family]]. She is seen floating, naked and in fetal position, while explaining this to her magical parents.

* Melfina is introduced like this in ''[[OutlawStar Outlaw Star]]'', as seen in the page picture above..

* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'': Yami Yugi goes through one at the end of the Doma/Orichalcos Arc. [[{{Macekre}} Too bad America didn't see it.]]

* A sinister example happens in the movie version of ''HarryPotter/{{Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire}}''. After Lord Voldemort (in the shape of a horrific homunculus) is leveled in the mixture that will resurrect him fully, the cauldron explodes and his misshapen body is seen in a fetal position while he's growing back to full power.

* ''{{Doctor Who}}'' has, at the end of "Daleks in Manhattan", the armor of Dalek Sec opens up to reveal the HalfHumanHybrid Sec, dressed in a pinstripe suit, in a fetal position. He then unfolds and gets shakily to his feet.

** In OtherM, the opening cinematic has Samus in a fetal position as a small child. After a few seconds we see Samus being lifted off the ground by the baby metroid.

* More of a Fetal Postion Birth than anything, but when [[spoiler:Ventus's darkness is extracted, it takes the form of]] Vanitas. For a second, he's in this position.

* The end of ''[=~2001: A Space Odyssey~=]'', when Dave Bowman becomes the Star Child ([[MemeticMutation SPACE FETUS!]])... obviously.

* Kahlan in [[TheSwordOfTruth Wizard's First Rule]], when going through [[BerserkButton Con Dar]].

* ''CodeLyoko'' Season 1 episode "Code Earth": Aelita is materialized for the first time, and she arrives inside the scanner in a fetal position. Since everybody thought she was an AI at the time, this is treated as her birth into the real world.
** And in Season 3 episode "Final Round", William is seen floating in fetal position above the network after his EvilCostumeSwitch, being reborn as XANA's [[TheDragon Dragon]].

* In ''TransformersAnimated'', [[spoiler: when Sari is "born"]] the protoform is curled up into this position and even vaguely resembles a fetus.

This is of course highly symbolic, this position being one of an unborn child. The character will also often be nude (for reasons like {{Naked on Arrival}} or {{Out of Clothes Experience}}), and sometimes floating (in a void, in a liquid...) to better [[{{Anvilicious}} hammer the analogy]] with a baby in the mother's womb.

* The first episode of ''{{Firefly}}'', when River comes out of frozen sleep. In this case, the symbolism of rebirth is River finally escaping from the Academy and returning to something resembling normal life. The scene is complete with clear metaphors for birthing pains, as she starts screaming immediately afterward.
** And in another bit of symbolism, River adopts the same pose at the end of ''[[TheMovie Serenity]]'', as the title ship is taking off into a new day, once she has finally begun to really overcome her own mental illnesses.
** Also, she's nude in the first, and lying down; in the second instance she's fully clothed, conscious, and sitting up. For this troper, it seemed to hammer home that this time, she's having a hand in her own rebirth, and isn't so vulnerable.

[[OutlawStar http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mefl-box.jpg]]

* Melfina is introduced like this in ''[[OutlawStar Outlaw Star]]''.

Here, "rebirth" is taken in a very general sense and can mean many things: [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascending to a higher plane of existence]], experiencing a great revelation, [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting going through a massive physical change]], healing after a very serious mangling, [[HumanPopsicle waking up after hibernation]], etc.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Hellboy'', a few flashbacks to Abe Sapien being discovered in the water tube show him curled up in a fetal-like position.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Happens in {{Silent Hill 4}} when [[spoiler:Henry enters the "deepest part" of Walter. Rather than symbolizing rebirth, though, it symbolizes regression to a fetal stage (which is what Walter wants.)]]

* ''TheVentureBrothers'', Season 3 Episode "The Doctor Is Sin": After Dr. Killinger makes Dr. Venture work through his daddy issues, Thaddeus is left nude on the floor in the fetal position.

This is of course highly [[WhatDoyoumeanItsNotSymbolic symbolic]], this position being one of an unborn child. The character will also often be nude (for reasons like {{Naked on Arrival}} or {{Out of Clothes Experience}}), and sometimes floating (in a void, in a liquid...) to better [[{{Anvilicious}} hammer the analogy]] with a baby in the mother's womb.