History Main / NotQuiteBackToNormal

* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' ''Why I'm Afraid Of Bees'' has an example. The main character is a kid named Gary Lutz. To call him a LoserProtagonist would be putting things extremely lightly. He doesn't have any friends and is so coordinately challenged that the kids who play baseball with him invented a rule in which he is allowed four strikes instead of the usual three. At home, things aren't much better. Gary's frustration comes to a head when his little sister steals the known bully's favorite hat and hides it in Gary's bag, an action that results in his being beaten very badly. He tries to swap bodies but ends up getting his DNA scrambled with that of a bee. After several misadventures, he eventually gets his body back and things start to improve, but the last line of the book features him sucking pollen out of flowers with his mouth. This is a common form of the obligatory ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' TwistEnding. If a book has the main characters transforming into something and the story is about them trying to turn back into kids, odds are quite high that the last sentence will have that happen.

* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'': [[GenderBlenderName Koyomi Araragi]] has, as of the time the story starts, been cured from being a vampire. Although he's supposedly fully human again, he seems to have retained greatly improved eyesight and [[HealingFactor instant recovery from wounds]]. [[spoiler:A later story reveals he's still got some vampirism in himself, and that's mostly because he refuses to abandon his connection to Shinobu, the one who turned him. In fact, using his remaining vampiric powers is slowly turning him back into a vampire again, though he can avoid this by simply refusing to use those abilities.]]

** [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 2016 Reboot]]: One of the {{Halloween Episode}}s, "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirls2016S03E20WitchsCrew Witch's Crew]]" has [[SpoiledBrat Princess]] [[RichBitch Morbucks]] trying to create a potion that'll make her more beautiful and powerful than the girls, but the girls and a trick-or-treating Mojo Jojo intervene and the spell backfires, turning her into an ogre, Mojo [[BecomingTheCostume into a real cat]] and the Powerpuffs into {{Wicked Witch}}es. After the spell is broken, Princess brags that she's beautiful again, but doesn't notice that she now has a long, slimy tail.

** [[ThePowerpuffGirls1998 1998 original series]]: The FreakyFridayFlip episode "Criss Cross Crisis" has many different body swaps going on, but eventually everyone seems to be back to normal... except that at the end, it turns out Bubbles' body was still swapped with the Narrator.
** [[ThePowerpuffGirls2016 2016 Reboot]]: One of the {{Halloween Episode}}s, "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirls2016S03E20WitchsCrew Witch's Crew]]" has [[SpoiledBrat Princess]] [[RichBitch Morbucks]] trying to create a potion that'll make her more beautiful and powerful than the girls, but the girls and a trick-or-treating Mojo Jojo intervene and the spell backfires, turning her into an ogre, Mojo [[BecomingTheCostume into a real cat]] and the Powerpuffs into {{Wicked Witch}}es. After the spell is broken, Princess brags that she's beautiful again, but doesn't notice that she now has a long, slimy tail.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': The FreakyFridayFlip episode "Criss Cross Crisis" has many different body swaps going on, but eventually everyone seems to be back to normal... except that at the end, it turns out Bubbles' body was still swapped with the Narrator.

A character is unshackled from a ForcedTransformation -- changed back from a frog, cured of their [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]], or just had a GenderBender undone -- but after sighing with relief, they slowly realize that they aren't 100% the same as they used to be. And it's not just because they've walked in another creature's shoes and improved as a person.

Maybe their tongue is a bit longer than they remember, and they have this inexplicable hunger for flies. Or they've still got a wolf tail (and all their friends burst into laughter whenever they turn around.) Or, [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody psychologically]], they've retained an uncontrollable fear of cats. At any rate, they've got leftovers.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' had Anne and Sprig get cursed, with Anne becoming a giant bird that can't resist eating ants. Though the curse gets lifted, in the end, Anne still has the urge to eat ants off the floor.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': The FreakyFridayFlip episode "Criss Cross Crisis" has many different body swaps going on, but eventually everyone seems to be back to normal... except that at the end, it turns out Bubbles' body was still swapped with the Narrator.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' had Anne and Sprig get cursed, with Anne becoming a giantbird that can't resist eating ants. Though the curse gets lifted, in the end, Anne still has the urge to eat ants off the floor.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' had Anne and Sprig get cursed, but is later lifted. However, in the end, Anne is seen eating ants off the floor.

A character is unshackled from a BalefulPolymorph -- changed back from a frog, cured of their [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]], or just had a GenderBender undone -- but after sighing with relief, they slowly realize that they aren't 100% the same as they used to be. And it's not just because they've walked in another creature's shoes and improved as a person.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' the villain, Yzma, is [[BalefulPolymorph transformed into a kitten]] in the end. By the time of the sequel, she is human again, but still possesses a tail and some catlike behavior (which is an ActorAllusion; Eartha Kitt is best remembered for playing [[Series/Batman1966 Catwoman]]).

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda'' animated series, Link is transformed into a frog. At the end of the episode, after he is cured, he still reflexively grabs and eats a fly.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' had Anne and Sprig get cursed, but is later lifted. However, in the End, Anne is seen eating Ants off the Floor.

* WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror:

* The ending of ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'' -- after the procedure that stabilizes the "monster," the creature has inherited the intelligence and mild manners of his creator. Frankenstein himself has inherited some... [[BiggusDickus interesting side effects]] if his assistant's reaction is any indication.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', when Starfire returns to normal after going through alien puberty, she finds that [[PubertySuperpower she now has]] EyeBeams.

* In the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', Danny uses the Ghost Zone portal to remove his powers, but retains a white SkunkStripe in his hair. After he ultimately gets his powers back, it's gone.

* In the first ''Film/XMen1'' movie, Rogue's hair starts to turn white as Magneto's mutation device drains her energy. After getting healed by Wolverine's healing factor, she's back to normal, except for now having her comic counterpart's signature SkunkStripe.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Harry get a [[SkunkStripe white lock]] in his fringe while being possessed by [[EldritchAbomination Chthon]], and it stays afterwards, occasionally being remarked upon as rather odd and distinctive. In the sequel, he gets [[spoiler: captured, tortured, and his EmptyShell body is reprogrammed by the Red Room as a superpowered assassin in the vein of the Winter Soldier]]. After that particular TraumaCongaLine, he's left with increased combat skills, fluency in Russian, and [[ShellShockedVeteran a truly horrifying case of PTSD]], which months later, he has yet to totally recover from.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HildaAndTheMountainKing'', [[spoiler:after Hilda returns to human form, she can still understand troll language, and can sense and hear Amma and decipher her words to her children. In addition, she appears to have retained at least some of the strength she had as a troll.]]

* In the last classic-era ''Series/DoctorWho'' story, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival "Survival"]], Ace is turned partway into a cheetah person as part of the transformative properties of an unstable planet. At the end, it's made clear, somewhat surprisingly for viewers at the time, that Ace's partial transformation was not completely undone by the planet's destruction--an aptly suggestive turning point for her character just as the show shifted into a new era of unseen adventures.

'''Ace:''' Good.

* In the last classic-era ''Series/DoctorWho'' story [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival "Survival"]], Ace is turned partway into a cheetah person as part of the transformative properties of an unstable planet. At the end, it's made clear, somewhat surprisingly for viewers at the time, that Ace's partial transformation was not completely undone by the planet's destruction--an aptly suggestive turning point for her character just as the show shifted into a new era of unseen adventures.

'''Ace:''' Good.