History Main / PainfulTransformation

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', Shinichi's transformation to Conan is painful each time he goes through it. Understandable, as his body was literally undergoing apoptosis. To give some idea, he constantly describes his de-aging as feeling like his [[BodyHorror bones are melting]] and begins to sweat profusely while clutching the left side of his chest, [[FridgeHorror like he's having a heart attack]]. The first time he re-aged, he ended up bedridden and thought he was actually ''dying''. Both types of transformation also cause him to burn up so much that his body is literally smoking (or maybe ''steaming'') as it happens. [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/detective_conan/v01/c001.2/18.html Poor guy.]]

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction, it's ZigZagged and somewhat [[DefiedTrope defied]] during Vivienne Graham's {{Metamorphosis}} inside San's decapitated head. She's kept comatose throughout her months-long gradual transformation, but still, in the first chapter, her spine lengthening causes so much agony that it gets through to her unconscious mind and San has to sedate her further. Later after her rebirth, Vivienne (who at this point has been through a ''lot'' of physical punishment) screams in utter agony when San's new head on her back rapidly develops its jaws.

[[caption-width-right:300: ''I didn't mean to call you a meatloaf Jack!'']]

* The ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' universe has a variation of this (implied in the films, outright stated in the novelization of the first movie). The first transformation into a Lycan is ''extremely'' painful, but it becomes much less so over time, and each individual adapts.

* In his first solo series ComicBook/{{Morbius}} the Living Vampire is able to turn back into a human for short amounts of time thanks to a serum derived from ComicBook/SpiderMan's blood. The change from vampire to human and back is very painful, with lots of screaming involved.

* In ''Film/TheWolfman2010'', turning into a werewolf involves a lot of snapping bones and blood from the mouth. Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* In ''Film/TheWolfman2010'', turning into a werewolf involves a lot of snapping bones and blood from the mouth. Averted in [[Film/TheWolfMan1941 the original 1941 version]], where the most painful thing was the actor having to sit still long enough for the lap dissolves to be recorded. (Lon Chaney Jr. claimed they literally pinned his fingers down to the arms of the chair he sits in.)
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' it's often noted that morphing doesn't hurt...but really seems like it ''should,'' given how the characters can feel their bones crunching around as it happens. It is low-key BodyHorror, though, as most people (Cassie being one exception) can't really control how the process works, causing parts of you to change at random and inconsistent rates. There is also a bit of the psychological element, too, depending on [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody what kind of instincts]] they get when they're done.

** ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree Legend of Everfree]]'': In human!Twilight's mindscape during the climax, her slow transformation into Midnight Sparkle, with wings sprouting from her back and a horn coming out of her forehead, doesn't look like a pleasant experience ''at all''.
** Highly averted with transformations produced due to crossing the portal between the Pony and Human worlds. It's so painless in fact, that in the first film Twilight didn't even [[ObliviousTransformation notice that she was a human]] until a dog-turned Spike told her she had changed as well, neither did Sci-Twi and Rainbow Dash in the special. ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSpringBreakdown Spring Breakdown]]'' until Sunset used her horn to illuminate the cave they were in, allowing them to see Sunset's Pony form and realize what happened. (It's also worth noting that the only reason Sunset knew they were in Equestria was because she realuzed the "quicksand" they found was just sand covering the portal they later used, and not due to the transformation).

** George's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpeJbN2IDy8 werewolf transformation]] is agony. During the transformation, a werewolf has every organ in his body simultaneously stop: heart attack, kidney failure, liver failure, and so on. Meanwhile his bones are cracking and twisting against each other, and his skin and muscles are being brutally torn apart. He screams at first, until the change hits the throat and vocal chords. Normally a human in pain has defenses, such hormones that dull pain receptors, but those systems are gone too, leaving absolutely nothing to help with the pain. The second season implies that the body breaking down and rebuilding itself makes the werewolf slightly stronger after each transformation.

* In ''Anime/{{Scryed}}'', Kazuma and eventually [[spoiler:Ryuho, Martin Zigmarl and Straight Cougar]] damage their bodies when they go into their alter forms. Usually, the scars appear where the armor does. For example Kazuma gets scars on his arm, then on his face and even part of his hair starts to change. By the end of the series, he doesn't even open his right eye unless he's in his alter form (which he might possibly not even ''have'' outside of his alter form). They look pretty scary during the last fight.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', the chronic [[ImHavingSoulPains soul pains]] that Negi suffers ever since learning [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Magia Erebea]] are a symptom of him being [[spoiler:''turned into a demon'' by overuse of the technique]].

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fanfic ''[[FanFic/BoundDestiniesTrilogy Blood and Spirit]]'', [[spoiler:Link is forced to suffer this gradually throughout the plot of the story, due to his corruption at Majora's hands in a variety of ways, which is slowly turning him into another copy of the Fierce Deity. On the physical side, almost every time the hero enters into a spell of corruption, the chest wound he received in the battle against the original Fierce Deity that started the corruption in the first place reopens, causing him considerable pain. But even worse than that is the mental/emotional side of things. Not only does Majora constantly torment him and threaten him inside his own head, but the demon also vows that it will force Link himself to kill Zelda and everyone else he cares about once the hero has fully succumbed to the corruption and even goes as far to say that this has always been the hero's destiny since he was born. It's no wonder that both Majora and the corruption are revealed as two of the only things Link truly fears.]]

* Presumably the case for most of the BodyHorror-laden transformations in ''Videogame/{{Bloodborne}}'', but one explicit case is Vicar Amelia, who goes from a simple holy-looking woman to a humongous, mutated wolf with huge antlers that barely fits inside the cathedral you fight her in, with a GoryDiscretionShot. And [[HellIsThatNoise screaming the entire time, including during the actual battle]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'' features Heaven Smiles as its regular enemies. While some of them are transformed humans, you rarely see the transformations. When you do, they usualy feature an instantaneous transformation or an ofscreen one. THEN we have [[spoiler: Andrei Ulmeyda]], whose transformation goes like this: [[spoiler: The army, wishing to experiment on him to try and use Smiles as their own weapons, injects potent Heaven Smile tumors into him. The army triggers a small explosion for some reason, but then an even larger explosion occurs amd Ulmeyda asks why you didn't kill him at the injection and saying he "can't control this urge to kill." He then screams, his head then flies of his head, his acidic blood (acidic because of all the diseases he infected himself with to create vaccines) kills everyone in the army present, then his blood BRINGS HIS HEAD BACK ONTO HIS BODY AND PULLS UP HIS AFRO. Needless to say, Ulmeyda was in GREAT PAIN in his last moments of sanity.]]

* During [[spoiler:Wheatley's]] transformation in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', [[spoiler:he]] constantly asks [=GLaDOS=] beforehand if it's going to hurt. When she says yes, [[spoiler:he]], knowing [=GLaDOS=], questions whether or not she's just saying that before learning that, for once, she isn't. [[spoiler: It's even more painful for [=GLaDOS=], who can be heard struggling and crying in agony.]]

* [[spoiler:The High Entia's transformation into Telethia]] in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles''. Particularly notable for Melia, who had to watch one of her own family members do so and even attempt to break free and attack the BigBad's squad. Especially when she then had to ''kill him'' (with his face still visible, even) while on the Bionis Interior.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'': It's not so much the transformation but the form she transforms into: when the immortal, unaging unicorn is polymorphed into a mortal human woman, she screams that "I can feel this body dying around me!" [[HumanityEnsues She gets used to it.]]

** Highly averted with transformations produced due to crosding the portal between the Pony and Human worlds. Its so painless in fact, that in the first film Princess Twilight didn't noticed she became a human until a dog-turned Spike told her she changed as well, nor did Sci-Twi and Rainbow Dash in the special ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSpringBreakdown Spring Breakdown]]'' until Sunset used her horn to illuminate the cave they were in, allowing them to see Sunset's Pony form and realize what happened. (It's also worth noting that the only reason Sunset knew they were in Equestria was because she realuzed the "quicksand" they found was just sand covering the portal they later used, and not due to the transformation).

* ''ComicBook/BecomingHuman'' has Samantha go through this when she [[spoiler: becomes a cat again.]]

** Highly averted with transformations produced due to crosding the portal between the Pony and Human worlds. Its so painless in fact, that in the first film Princess Twilight didn't noticed she became a human until a dog-turned Spike told her she changed as well, nor did Sci-Twi and Rainbow Dash in the special ''{{WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSpringBreakdown Spring Breakdown}}'' until Sunset used her horn to illuminate the cave they were in, allowing them to see Sunset's Pony form and realize what happened. (It's also worth noting that the only reason Sunset knew they were in Equestria was because she realuzed the "quicksand" they found was just sand covering the portal they later used, and not due to the transformation).

** ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree Legend of Everfree]]'': In Twilight's mindscape during the climax, her slow transformation into Midnight Sparkle, with wings sprouting from her back and a horn coming out of her forehead, doesn't look like a pleasant experience ''at all''.

* OlderThanPrint: In Myth/IrishMythology, "The Boyhood Deeds of Cuchulainn" from the ''Literature/TainBoCuailnge'' describes Cuchulainn's Riastarthae (warp-spasm) as a very painful-sounding transformation.

But that isn't always the case. Sometimes, those who take on another form are really going to feel it.

If ''painful'' doesn't begin to describe the transformation, see TransformationHorror.

* ''Film/TheMask''. The first time Stanley puts on the mask. All the times it occurs later it's off-screen, for a good reason. The Mask Pressbook has this to an extreme in their test images of Jim Carrey turning into the Mask. One of them looks like it was borrowed from ''The Howling'' or ''American Werewolf in London''. There are pictures of that on [[http://www.jimcarreyonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8492 Jim Carrey Online.]]

** Just about every transformation sequence with Sonic turning into the Werehog in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' looks kinda painful for Sonic. However, transforming back to his normal self is almost instantaneous and looks completely painless, with Sonic looking relieved and content afterward. There's a nice touch in that every time you change the time of day while in the Next-Gen version's [[HubLevel hub worlds]] (Either via Pause Menu or with hourglasses) it plays the appropriate transformation sequence as a LoadingScreen. Averted with one cutscene -- near the end, Sonic transforms into his Werehog form, and he barely even flinches. It's implied that he's used to the transformations by now.