History Main / ShapeshifterSwanSong

* Non-lethal example: Randall, TheDragon from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', goes through several camouflage forms when Boo strangles him.

* In the DeathWorld of Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'' (where ''nobody'' has RequiredSecondaryPowers), Mystique goes through an epic one resulting from her ShapeshifterIdentityCrisis causing her to forget to take her meds for managing her PowerIncontinence, and her brain implodes in the end.
* The comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' does this with the Skrull Xavin a couple of times when we're getting to know him/her, although it's a case of short-circuiting (probably the Skrull equivalent of going into shock or throwing up from pain or whatnot), not actual death.

{{Shapeshift|ing}}ers are showoffs. Even the insidious infiltrators like to use their abilities to inspire awe and fear. It's no surprise then that dying is no exception. When a shapeshifter bites the dust they have a veritable swan song of shape shifting as they slide through every single shape they've stolen throughout the episode or movie. Much like the life flashing before your eyes thing, it may be considered a realistic [[DefenceMechanismSuperpower survival reflex]].

* ''Film/{{Split}}'' and ''Film/Glass2019'', have one each in spirit, even if not quite literally.

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'': In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', after the T-1000 falls into the molten iron, it morphs into its various forms as it thrashes and screams, then begins to distort and warp in rather BodyHorror-esque ways as its shapeshifting breaks down, even sprouting multiple heads out of its body at one point.
%%** ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', when the T-3000 is pulled apart by magnetic fields.

* An interesting non-magical example occurs in ''Film/TropicThunder'' with the dedicated method actor Kirk Lazarus briefly playing previous roles before reverting to his original identity.

** The monster in ''Literature/MovingPictures'' has just been a giant woman carrying a screaming ape to the top of the tallest building in the city ([[Film/KingKong1933 what's wrong with this picture?]]). When it falls, it changes into several different things ''on the way down'', trying to find a form that can survive the fall. Unfortunately, as the narration notes, the only thing that could make that kind of fall is a corpse.

* The defensive version occurs in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Ghost of the Jedi'', as a villainous Shi'ido is too injured to shapeshift properly. [[spoiler: He's not actually dead.]]

* In the Franchise/HarryPotter Verse, using ''Riddikulus'' on a boggart while it's surrounded by many people will cause it to go through a frantic spate of reflexive transformations, helpless to settle on a single guise, so it can be safely locked away.

* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{It}}'' culminates in [[spoiler:a psychic battle between Bill and Pennywise based on an ancient ritual of dominance.]] The monster cycles wildly through all his horrifying faces in a futile attempt to escape.

* A story in ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles'' by Creator/RayBradbury may be the TropeMaker, if not the UrExample: the title character of "The Martian" appears to whoever sees him as a lost loved one. When he's surrounded by a crowd of people, who all need to see somebody different, the results are not pleasant.
* Creator/DeanKoontz' ''Literature/{{Shadowfires}}'' features this--at the end, the regenerating, mutating villain shifts through a variety of forms as his metabolism burns out. His accelerated metabolism consumes him, leaving a pile of goo. (Koontz likes to do this to regenerating characters.)
* An especially horrifying example in Creator/HPLovecraft's "Literature/TheShunnedHouse". As the monster (a sort of vampire that feeds off its victims' life energy rather than blood) dies, it displays the faces of its victims, ending with the narrator's beloved uncle, who had tried to help him destroy it.

* Perhaps the earliest example, maybe the UrExample, in Eric Frank Russell's 1940 "I, Spy" (also published as "Spiro", "Venturer of the Martian Mimics" and "Metamorphosite") the alien shapeshifter is trapped by a rising flood of deadly water and frantically shifts between shapes trying to escape. The main character comments that the alien's home planet must not have birds.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E13TheFourOfUsAreDying The Four of Us Are Dying]]", a man who can alter his face to look like someone else's goes through a convulsive process of his face taking on the shape of each one he impersonated, while he lies dying from a gunshot wound.

* A more mundane version in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'': [[spoiler:[[BigBad the phantom]], during his VillainousBreakdown, starts tearing off every single mask he has in an effort to find what his true face is, as he has spent so long impersonating others that he's [[ShapeshifterIdentityCrisis forgotten his own identity]]. Just as he finally makes it to the last one, he's shot by a sniper, and [[TheUnReveal collapses out of sight before anyone can see what he looks like]]]].

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1637252413073728200
%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1468771025033488000
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clayfaceswansong_2.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Stop it, stop it, turn them off! I can't control it! I can't be all of them, not all at once!"]]

* In the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' anime, one-shot villain Copycat Ken's breakdown resembles this.

* The comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' does this with the Skrull Xavin a couple of times when we're getting to know him/her, although it's a case of short-circuiting (probably the Skrull equivalent of going into shock or throwing up from pain or whatnot), not actual death.
* In the DeathWorld of Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'' (where ''nobody'' has RequiredSecondaryPowers), Mystique goes through an epic one resulting from her ShapeshifterIdentityCrisis causing her to forget to take her meds for managing her PowerIncontinence, and her brain implodes in the end.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* When Mater in ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' accidentally [[spoiler:smashes the light used to disguise himself while infiltrating the Lemon meeting]], he cycles through all his previous disguises before being entirely unmasked.

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

* The Dummy Dopant from ''Franchise/KamenRider x Kamen Rider W & Decade: Movie Wars 2010'' goes through these before entering its true form. [[spoiler:These include a priest, ''another'' Dopant, a pop idol singer, Shotaro's deceased mentor, and said mentor's alter-ego, Kamen Rider Skull.]]
* In ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'', a Ditto goes through this during the climax after being hit with the PsychoSerum "R".
* ''Film/{{Split}}'' and ''Film/Glass2019'', have one each in spirit, even if not quite literally.
** In ''Film/{{Split}}'', calling out the full name of Kevin Wendell Crumb causes the core, original Kevin personality to emerge, but at the cost of inciting all the other personalities to fight for control. [[spoiler:Kevin gets to talk for a minute asking Casey to get a shotgun and kill him, and in quick succession Barry, Orwell, and Jade beg her not to, with Hedwig, Patricia, and Dennis regaining control, saying they locked Kevin away and they prepare to release the Beast once again.]]
** In ''Film/Glass2019'', the combination of calling out the name and Casey's touch manages to bring Kevin back from the Beast. [[spoiler:When he is promptly shot, a flurry of personalities get their final words before Kevin holds onto the light one last time.]]

* In the [[Literature/ChildBallads Scottish ballad]] ''Literature/TamLin'', Janet, pregnant with Tam Lin's child, must drag him from the procession of fairies taking him to his doom, and hold on to him as he shapeshifts, until he turns into a burning coal, at which point he can be dropped into a well to return him to human form. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It makes more sense in poetry]].

* ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'': When ols, the [[BigBad Shadow Lord]]'s shapeshifting spies, are killed, their disguise breaks down, causing them to briefly take on their natural, shapeless form intermixed with chaotically emerging and subsuming traits of every shape they've taken over their lives.

* A story in ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles'' by Creator/RayBradbury may be the TropeMaker, if not the UrExample: the title character of "The Martian" appears to whoever sees him as a lost loved one. When he's surrounded by a crowd of people, who all need to see somebody different, the results are not pleasant.

* The defensive version occurs in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Ghost of the Jedi'', as a villainous Shi'ido is too injured to shapeshift properly. [[spoiler: He's not actually dead.]]
-->''In a desperate attempt to save himself, the Shi'ido was shapeshifting into every form he could think of. But nothing could save him. With a wordless cry, Gog [[DisneyVillainDeath fell away from the ladder]] and Tash watched his gray form shrink into the void.''
* An especially horrifying example in Creator/HPLovecraft's "Literature/TheShunnedHouse". As the monster (a sort of vampire that feeds off its victims' life energy rather than blood) dies, it displays the faces of its victims, ending with the narrator's beloved uncle, who had tried to help him destroy it.
* In the Franchise/HarryPotter Verse, using ''Riddikulus'' on a boggart while it's surrounded by many people will cause it to go through a frantic spate of reflexive transformations, helpless to settle on a single guise, so it can be safely locked away.
* ''Literature/LilithsBrood'': The profoundly depressed ooloi [[spoiler:Aaor]] loses control over its ability to manipulate its own DNA, causing it to shift into ever more biologically simple forms over several weeks. It regresses to a sluglike creature by the time it's rescued, and restoring its original form is an uphill battle against its body's urge to dissolve into single-celled organisms. [[spoiler:They succeed in healing it.]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E13TheFourOfUsAreDying The Four of Us Are Dying]]", a man who can alter his face to look like someone else's goes through a convulsive process of his face taking on the shape of each one he impersonated, while he lies dying from a gunshot wound.

* Inverted in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer:'' the First Evil's (re-)introduction as as a BigBad ''starts'' with a shapeshifting rundown of past archvillains. In the finale, [[spoiler:the First slinks away unseen when its plan starts to go bad, and is never heard from again.]]
* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E06TheUndead The Undead]]", an evil shapeshifting witch comes to the satellite to threaten Mike and the bots. Unfortunately, she seems to be suffering from some severe indigestion, resulting in this trope. She gets stuck in the form of a bottle of bleach.

* Happens to Everyman in ''Series/TheFlash2014'' when he is injected with a serum that nullifies his abilities. Interestingly, he ends up stopping as Iris West rather than his original appearance. Then again, he later admits that he can't even ''remember'' his original appearance.
* ''Series/AgentsOfShield'':
** In the season 3 finale, [[spoiler: it is {{Subverted|Trope}}. The team attempts to kill [[PuppeteerParasite Hive]] by subjecting him to a machine which dredges up hidden memories, causing him to become lost in the personas of his past victims. However, they are unable to finish him off, and he has enough of his mind left to carry out the remainder of his plans.]]
** In the episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E2HeavyIsTheHead "Heavy is the Head"]], [[ElementalShapeshifter Carl Creel]] goes through one when hit with a PowerNullifier, turning into a series of different materials in quick succession before being TakenForGranite.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
** In the original ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'', defeating the final boss Shang Tsung--who has the ability to [[DittoFighter become any other character and use his or her moves]]--results in his effectively shedding all the characters' forms before he dies. It's less a song than a curtain call though, as each character separates from his body (with name announced) and combusts. This also happens to Shao Kahn in ''[=MK3=]'' and its updates, except Kahn isn't a shapeshifter like Tsung.
** He plays it straight in the opening to ''VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks''. Every time Liu Kang hits him near the end of the fight, he transforms into another character, looking disoriented the whole time, as though it's a survival reflex as described on the top of the page.
* Happens to a shapeshifting hench in the ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'' game ''Under A Killing Moon'', except the guy starts out in his own form and ends up as a gooey blob.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', the [[EvilTwin SA-X]] starts to do this... but doesn't quite finish, instead becoming a ClippedWingAngel mix of its previous hosts, namely Samus herself and the Hornoad that infected her in the opening.
** In ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption Metroid Prime 3]],'' Gandrayda shifts through the forms of various other bosses as well as copying Samus herself as you fight her. Once she goes down, she rapidly cycles through the various other boss forms before lingering on Samus's own form as it is (suit upgrades and all) for a good long moment. This leads to a particularly striking moment with the real Samus, by this point badly corrupted by [[ToxicPhlebotinum glowy blue Phazon energy]], standing victorious over the image of her own uncorrupted self in the midst of her death throes. Samus is seemingly affected by this nightmarish death, as she looks away and does nothing to stop [[spoiler:Dark Samus from absorbing Gandrayda]].

* A more mundane version in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'': [[spoiler:[[BigBad the phantom]], during his VillainousBreakdown, starts tearing off every single mask he has in an effort to find what his true face is, as he has spent so long impersonating others that he's [[ShapeshifterIdentityCrisis forgotten his own identity]]. Just as he finally makes it to the last one, he's shot by a sniper, and [[TheUnReveal collapses out of sight before anyone can see what he looks like]]]].

* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'': Used as a boss mechanic in the fight against [[spoiler:Delirium]], Afterbirth+'s FinalBoss. Throughout the fight, he shifts into other bosses you've fought that run. The lower his health is, the more rapidly he changes. Once he's at about 5%, he'll swap between bosses several times a ''second'', giving off this feeling. Inverted for his actual death animation, which has him in his ShapeshifterDefaultForm, with the room itself flicking between different chapters instead.

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneAmnesty'' has a pretty horrifying example with its fourth [[MonsterOfTheWeek Abomination]] simply known as The Shapeshifter. After being shot with the [[BlandNameProduct Narf]] [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells Blaster]] by Ned, the Shapeshifter devolves into a literal pile of human viscera clawing at the ground with constantly growing and deforming hands.

* Happens to Chameleon in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries''. In this case, it's his belt malfunctioning after Spider-Man attacks him, as he needs the technology to shapeshift. The Chameleon is taken alive and arrested by SHIELD.

* Happens to Bowser in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'', after Iggy and Lemmy/Hip and Hop build him an amulet that endows real-world mushrooms, flowers, etc. with the powers of those from the game. He goes a little crazy, mixing and matching Powerups (a fiery orange Bowser in a Kuribo shoe and raccoon tail), and when he's defeated, the amulet malfunctions, causing him to blink through several different forms (raccoon, frog suit, orange (fire powerups on the NES made you a lot more orange!)) and odd combinations before finally rocketing him into a manhole.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'': Sort of happens to Rogue near the end of "Self-Possessed" during her SuperpowerMeltdown, but she does survive.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', the villain, who is a Chameleon, goes through one of these when she is exposed to warm temperatures and her metabolism speeds up, resulting in her turning into an actual [[FurryConfusion chameleon]].
* Minor superhero Chameleon of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' suffers a mild form of this when he accidentally tries to conceal himself on some plaid curtains.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' episode "Junior", Edwin Alva Jr. becomes the villain Omnifarious and utilizes a belt filled with modified Bang Baby gas in each pellet, giving him a different power each time he bursts one, with intent on using it to try and destroy [[CorruptCorporateExecutive his father]]'s company. In the episode's climax, he bursts all the pellets at once to turn his father's HQ to rubble. Unfortunately, he ends up overloading on the dosage, resulting in him mutating randomly and out of control before finally [[TakenForGranite turning into stone]]. Fortunately, he's restored to normal later on.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' example above is spoofed in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E6TreehouseOfHorrorVI Treehouse of Horror VI]]" when Groundskeeper Willie (as a [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] {{expy}}) turns into many things at once, after having been trapped in quicksand and desperately trying to get out.
* Minor example: In the ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' episode ''Painted Windows'', Bob uses ''Paint'' of all things to remove Hexadecimal's mask. He then gets a HannibalLecture from all of Hexadecimal's faces as she starts to overload.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'''s [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightskingdomPart2 Season 4 finale]], Tirek goes through this as he is depowered by the Mane Six's [[SuperMode Rainbow Power]] [[WaveMotionGun super laser]].
* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. The Gems are a OneGenderRace of [[StarfishAliens living jewels]] who create human-looking bodies around themselves to see, hear, speak, move around, etc. If their human forms are mortally damaged, they dissolve the forms back into their gems to regenerate, and once they're ready to be used again, they regenerate them with a new design. They quickly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKEOnqr2JKk cycle through]] their past regenerations as silhouettes while doing so before settling on the newest one. In addition, in the episode "An Indirect Kiss", Amethyst's gem is cracked. It's a potentially fatal injury that only the late Rose Quartz had the ability to heal. As the crack worsens, she has trouble keeping her physical form together and speaks backwards.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', during the series finale, Ben rapidly switches through nearly all of his alien forms while trying to contain the detonation of [[spoiler:Maltruant's modified Anihilaarg.]] This turns out to be an emergency feature of the Omnitrix: if the wearer is about to die, it will shift through all available alien forms until it finds one capable of surviving the given situation.
* At the end of the ''WesternAnimation/COPS1988'' episode "The Case of the Crook with a Thousand Faces", the shape-shifting robot Shifty ends up tricked by the C.O.P.S. into taking on their forms, resulting in the robot rapidly cycling through various forms and then shutting down.

* * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', Edwin Alva Jr. becomes the villain Omnifarious and utilizes a belt filled with modified Bang Baby gas in each pellet, giving him a different power each time he bursts one, with intent on using it to try and destroy [[CorruptCorporateExecutive his father]]'s company. In the episode's climax, he bursts all the pellets at once to turn his father's HQ to rubble. Unfortunately, he ends up overloading on the dosage, resulting in him mutating randomly and out of control before finally [[TakenForGranite turning into stone]]. Fortunately, he's restored to normal later on.

* Happens to the ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' villain Omnifarious, when he uses the mutagenic gas that gave various people superpowers (including Virgil) to try to destroy [[CorruptCorporateExecutive his father]]'s company HQ. The dose turns out to be too heavy and causes him to mutate randomly, before then turning into stone.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', Edwin Alva Jr. becomes the villain of the week known as Omnifarious, a villain who wears a belt filled with Bang Baby gas in each pellets that gives him a new power. When burst them all, he overloads in the gas and experiences several shapeshifts before [[TakenForGranite turning into stone]]. He was restored later though.

* The ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' example above was spoofed in a "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where Groundskeeper Willie (as a [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] {{expy}}) turns into many things at once, after having been trapped in quicksand and desperately trying to get out.

* A comedic version happens in several of LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}}'s ''VideoGame/PropHunt'' videos, where a Prop (usually Mark, but others do it on occasion) will panic and try to run away from the Hunters while rapidly transforming into other props.

** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': When [[spoiler:Stryker's Dark Cerebro is turned against Earth's mutant population]], Mystique is overwhelmed with terminal agony, causing her to shift wildly between her various identities. The Chris Clairmont novelization indicates that the attack was literally killing mutants by turning their own powers against them, and that Mystique will continue shapeshifting until she loses her grip on all sense of identity and dissolves into goo. [[spoiler: Thankfully, Magneto is able to deactivate the machine before things get any worse.]]

%%** In ''Film/XMen1'', when Mystique is stabbed, even though she survives.
%%** Even worse in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', when [[spoiler:Cerebro-2 almost kills her (and every other mutant on earth)]]. She survives again, of course.

** In the original ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'', defeating the final boss Shang Tsung--who has the ability to [[DittoFighter become any other character and use his or her moves]]--results in his effectively shedding all the characters' forms before he dies. It's less a song than a curtain call though, as each character separates from his body (with name announced) and combusts. This also happens to Shao Kahn in ''[=MK3=]'' and its updates, except Kahn isn't a shapeshifter like Tsung.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', during the series finale, Ben rapidly switches through nearly all of his alien forms while trying to contain the detonation of [[spoiler:Maltruant's modified Anihilaarg.]]

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' to Alcazar, a shapeshifter who uses his powers to juggle several different women of different species in simultaneous relationships, including Leela. Being confronted by all of them at once leads to him rapidly changing his appearance to appeal to each one, and to them beating the crap out of him so bad he starts to mix up aspects of the different forms before giving up and showing his true form: that of a dog-sized cricket.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** Odo kills another shape-shifter, who reverts back to his gelatinous being before dying.
** Averted in-universe. In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E16Shadowplay Shadowplay]]", a girl tells Odo, a shape-shifter himself, a fairy tale she learned where a local GuileHero met a villainous shape-shifter, who was happy to show off. Each time, he was asked to change shape, he would gladly do so. Finally, the fairy tale's hero points out that he's only done big (scary) forms, and asks if he's skilled enough to do something ''small'' like a loaf of bread. The shape-shifter does so, and Odo interrupts the story by predicting that the hero then gobbled him up and then pointing out the shape-shifter in the story wasn't very smart to fall for such an obvious trick.

* ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'': A possibly unique inversion; One flashback reveals that the "ultimate A.I." robot failed to come to life in the first place ''because'' it was shifting through so many personalities and faces that the hardware just couldn't keep up. [[spoiler: Until it was given a strong hatred to focus on.]] Played straight when [[spoiler: said A.I. [[TomatoInTheMirror learns the truth about itself]] and goes into a VillainousBreakdown.]]

* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "The Four of Us Are Dying", a man who can alter his face to look like someone else's goes through a convulsive process of his face taking on the shape of each one he impersonated, while he lies dying from a gunshot wound.

* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''The Undead'', the evil shapeshifting witch comes to the satellite to threaten Mike and the bots. Unfortunately, she seems to be suffering from some severe indigestion, resulting in this trope. She gets stuck in the form of a bottle of bleach.

** Averted In-universe. In the episode "Shadowplay" a girl tells Odo, a shape-shifter himself, a fairy tale she learned where a local GuileHero met a villainous shape-shifter, who was happy to show off. Each time, he was asked to change shape, he would gladly do so. Finally, the fairy tale's hero points out that he's only done big (scary) forms, and asks if he's skilled enough to do something ''small'' like a loaf of bread. The shape-shifter does so, and Odo interrupts the story by predicting that the hero then gobbled him up and then pointing out the shape-shifter in the story wasn't very smart to fall for such an obvious trick.

[[folder: Web Animation]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The introductory episode for Clayface in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', "Feat of Clay", has Bats lure him into a room filled with [=TVs=] showing all the roles he'd played in his former life as an actor. He starts convulsing and turning into them at random; when he panics and starts smashing the [=TVs=], he's electrocuted. However, at the end [[spoiler:it turns out the whole thing was an act, or at least the dying part, and Clayface survived, making this a subversion. Clayface inadvertently clued in Batman to this, because he couldn't resist making an aside about having wished for a death scene that good in his movies]].

** In the episode "Into the Bunker", Dipper, Wendy, Soos, and Mabel fight a shapeshifter and eventually push it back into the freezing chamber where it was originally contained. It turns into a flame to try to avoid freezing and tries to use large, muscular forms to break out, making it seem to fit the "survival reflex" variety. Also, when it finally freezes, it turns into Dipper and screams in agony in order to taunt and intimidate him.
** [[spoiler:Bill Cipher, the BigBad of the series, gets one during the GrandFinale. When he's being erased, he starts glitching up and changes between multiple different forms, each of which are arguably more [[EldritchAbomination horrifying]] than his ShapeshifterDefaultForm, although retaining his triangle/pyramid motif.]]

* When Mater in ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} Cars 2]]'' accidentally [[spoiler:smashes the light used to disguise himself while infiltrating the Lemon meeting]], he cycles through all his previous disguises before being entirely unmasked.