History Main / MetamorphosisMonster

* The "[[OurZombiesAreDifferent Jayslob]]" from ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'' constantly mutates throughout Fern's battle with it, and as the name suggests, it WasOnceAMan (a [[HateSink very cranky man]] named Jay). We get to see it metamorphosize in real-time, thanks to Bogleech's love of BodyHorror.

See also {{Metamorphosis}}. Closely related to PupatingPeril. GiganticAdultsTinyBabies may apply if the metamorphosis also involves a drastic size change. For a subtype of this trope whose chain of transformations suddenly takes a hard left towards looking less monstrous, see BishonenLine.

See also {{Metamorphosis}}. Closely related to PupatingPeril. GiganticAdultsTinyBabies may apply if the metamorphosis also involves a drastic size change.

* The Ornimorphs from ''WebOriginal/{{Serina}}'' are a species of highly-derived avians whose life cycle simulates the entire evolutionary history of life on earth. They hatch from eggs laid in water into a swimming tadpole-like form, and gradually grow into amphibian-like, reptile-like, and dinosaur-like juvenile forms before becoming arboreal gliders that eventually take to the sky as adults. The adult form, spending its entire life on the wing, lays its eggs by skimming over bodies of water to start the cycle anew.

* Cell from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' evolves begins as a large bug creature, before becoming a chrysalis, from which he emerges as a bipedal bug monster, then undergoes two more metamorphoses, each time becoming more human in appearance. One of his intermediate stages is a vaguely humanoid hulk, who for some reason lacks the wing that both his previous and final stage have.

* Quite a few Franchise/{{Pokemon}} have a variant of this with their evolution. The most obvious example is Magikarp to Gyarados (Small carp to giant sea serpent), but there are others, such as Trapinch to Flygon (Ant lion larva to adult to dragon) and Feebas to Milotic (fish to elegant-looking sea serpent), or the bizarre Remoraid to Octillery (remora to octopus).
** Bizarre, but explanatory: Remoraid (pistol) to Octillery (cannon)
** And, of course, most of the bug pokemon.

* Cell from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' evolves from a half-insect, half-lizard monster to a humanoid. His intermediate stage is a vaguely humanoid hulk, who for some reason lacks the wing that both his initial and final stage have.

In most cases, you can expect the child form of a creature and the adult form of a creature to be rather similar. Kittens look like cats, puppies look like dogs, etc. This isn't always the case, though, such as in certain insects that go through metamorphosis. The most obvious example is caterpillars becoming butterflies, but there are even weirder examples.

** In the Wii version of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil 1'', Zombies mutate into Crimson Heads if not [[KillItWithFire burned]] or [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain decapitated]] after death. According to lore, Crimson Heads mutate into Lickers, but it's not a game mechanic.
** William Birkin from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' mutates heavily throughout the game, going from [[DeadWeight a hulking]] [[NotAZombie not-zombie with]] [[EyesDoNotBelongThere an eye in his shoulder]] to a BlobMonster by the end. It took a nuclear blast to finally kill it.
** The Nemesis Tyrant from [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis the game named for it]] gets more and more mutated as its [[TheSymbiote symbiote]] gets angrier.
** Ganados and Manji from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' respectively have a slim chance to disgorge their PuppeteerParasite upon being killed.
** Javo Zombies from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' are afflicted with a wildly mutagenic version of [[TheVirus Virus du Jour]], which synchronizes with their HealingFactor to result in them growing back lost arms as various kinds of swords, broken ribs as bone armor or poison-spewing tumors, etc.