History Main / ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing

Compare MySuitIsAlsoSuper, MorphicResonance, and DressHitsFloor. Contrast MagicPants.

* The ''Literature/:eftBehind'' novels begin when every true Christian on Earth, as well as every child, is instantaneously taken up to Heaven, [[OutOfClothesExperience leaving their clothes behind]].

* The ''LeftBehind'' novels begin when every true Christian on Earth, as well as every child, is instantaneously taken up to Heaven, [[OutOfClothesExperience leaving their clothes behind]].

* This features in the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' ElsewhereFic ''BoyScoutsOneHalf.'' As in the work that inspired it, there are six characters (seven, if you count the original work's Ryoga's running gag cameo appearances) who suffer from curses that frequently alter their physical forms. This change does not effect what they are wearing. Two of the characters merely suffer a change of gender, so clothes wouldn't be lost upon changing, but depending on the apparel there is a chance it may suddenly not be appropriate. The other four turn into animals, and there has been cases of characters, after being transformed back into their human forms, having to struggle to protect their modesty.

* In the new ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', Alice is shrunk until only her dress remains. She, in fact, changes size several times in the film, justifying [[UnlimitedWardrobe new outfits with each new size]].

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when Amy turns people in rats, their clothes are unaffected, leaving the rat to crawl out of the otherwise empty pile of clothing.

* In the new ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', Alice is shrunk until only her dress remains.

Notice: As a '''DEATH TROPE''' (sometimes), there can be '''SPOILERS''' here. Beware!

Clothing items have a way of sticking around as they started, even if their wearer is shrunken, transformed, or outright disintegrated in front of the viewer's eyes. This presentation is usually used as a visual cue to drive home the extremity of what's just happened to the victim. Simple gravity may pile the clothes into a heap, or convenient magic scatter them a moment later, to HideTheEvidence.

* In ''ComicBook/Fables}}'' #51, Literature/{{Cinderella}} is turned into a mouse, her clothes falling empty to the meadow floor, so she can enter the village of the smalls.

* Cell of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' way of [[TheAssimilator eating]] people does this : After he stabs them, the victim's body is broken down into genetic material and absorbed inside of Cell, giving the impression that the victim is melting, and only leaving behind piles of clothing after the process is done.

* In ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'', one of the trio's completely missing except for his neatly-arranged clothing (and a toad).

* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''
** Kirihara followed an agent she saw at the scene where she didn't expect him, and found his clothes. The next thing she saw was a chair with another set of clothes "sitting" on it, with sleeves on armpads. It was a case of [[{{Fanservice}} perve]]-[[NakedOnArrival portation]], but she didn't know this at the time.
** Also, [[spoiler: Amber's [[PowerAtAPrice remuneration for her power]] is [[MerlinSickness getting younger]]. After she sacrifices herself to help Hei, she ends up disappearing altogether, with her empty clothes being all that's left of her]].

* ''Proteus'' (1995) is a movie about an experiment gone wrong on an oil platform out in the middle of the ocean. The creature that is created absorbs the bodies of its victims until nothing is left but clothes, so it can mimic their form. It's based on the book called ''{{Literature/Slimer}}'' by Harry Adam Knight.

* ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'': Happens to [[spoiler:Mother Gothel]] at the end, as a result of Flynn finally cutting Rapunzel's hair.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', Elinore's clothes are torn when she turns into a bear. Later, Fergus finds the ripped garments and assumes the worst.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'', Dodgers is not concerned by Marvin's DisintegrationGun because he's wearing his [[BulletProofVest disintegration-proof vest]]. Marvin fires and Dodgers is totally disintegrated - except for the vest, which remains floating in place briefly before slumping down on the pile of Dodgers' powdered remains. (Fortunately, the Eager Young Space Cadet has a [[ResetButton reintegration gun]] handy.)

[[quoteright:325:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stf102_snakeform_5606.jpg]]Clothing items have a way of sticking around as they started, even if their wearer is shrunken, transformed, or outright disintegrated in front of the viewer's eyes. This presentation is usually used as a visual cue to drive home the extremity of what's just happened to the victim. Simple gravity may pile the clothes into a heap, or convenient magic scatter them a moment later, to HideTheEvidence.

In {{Shapeshifting}}, this can be an effect of {{Animorphism}}, or as simple as {{Just Woke Up That Way}}. Also a frequent pairing with the BalefulPolymorph or IncredibleShrinkingMan. Since the clothes stay where they are, if the victim has survived the event, it's likely to lead to NakedOnRevival.

This is also seen in {{Sizeshifting}} gone wrong, {{Ascending To A Higher Plane Of Existence}}, or the effects of a FountainOfYouth.

Typically onscreen; in any case, the cause of the loss of clothing is revealed to the audience and characters present in the scene. May trigger a foreboding {{Empty Piles Of Clothing}} moment if discovered later by a character, ''without'' this context.

Compare {{My Suit Is Also Super}}, {{Morphic Resonance}}, and {{Dress Hits Floor}}. Contrast {{Magic Pants}}.

* In one work submitted for serialization in ''{{Manga/Bakuman}}'', about a survival challenge in which anyone who tells a lie dies, the people who are killed in such a manner disappear, leaving only their clothes behind, while a voice comes from their clothes and announces the truth.

* Happens in the first season of ''{{Birdy The Mighty}} Decode'', where the world-destroying parasitic weapon, Ryunka, spreads to the Greater Tokyo Area, petrifying any person into a glass-like substance that [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatters]] into dust, leaving behind nothing but piles of clothing. The death of Nataru's (one of Birdy's childhood friends and fellow Altarian) buddies from the Ryunka's destruction is what prompts him to go on a {{Roaring Rampage of Revenge}} in the second season against the criminals responsible for releasing it.

* Cell of DragonBallZ way of [[TheAssimilator eating]] people does this : After he stabs them, the victim's body is broken down into genetic material and absorbed inside of Cell, giving the impression that the victim is melting, and only leaving behind piles of clothing after the process is done.

* Kirihara in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' followed an agent she saw at the scene where she didn't expect him, and found his clothes. The next thing she saw was a chair with another set of clothes "sitting" on it, with sleeves on armpads. It was a case of [[{{Fanservice}} perve]]-[[NakedOnArrival portation]], but she didn't know this at the time.

* In ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', the Flash Barry Allen runs so fast that he loses himself to the Speed Force, leaving just his uniform behind.
** Same thing with Wally West in ''Zero Hour''.
* In ''{{ComicBook/Fables}}'' #51, Literature/{{Cinderella}} is turned into a mouse, her clothes falling empty to the meadow floor, so she can enter the village of the smalls.

[[folder:Commercials]]
* In the new Axe Anti Dandruff commercial called "Dusted," three lovely young women are instantly reduced to dust in the presence of a certain young man, leaving their empty clothes to flutter to the ground.
* G.U. Japan has the singing group "Kyary Pamyu Pamyu," as three vampires rising from their coffins and striking scary vampire poses, only one them accidentally kicks off her shoe, which hits a switch that opens a window. The sunlight pours in and poof, they vanish in a puff of smoke.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} 2'' :

* ''{{Disney/Tangled}}'': Happens to [[spoiler:Mother Gothel]] at the end, as a result of Flynn finally cutting Rapunzel's hair.

** Which, of course, was parodied by ''ScaryMovie'': a bunch of rappers instead left their Bling behind. Somehow the people manage to get one and when they ReverseThePolarity it becomes TheNudifier.

* [[spoiler:Allison]] in ''TheGrudge 2'' is pulled ''into'' her clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor in front of [[spoiler:Jake]]. [[SubvertedTrope Kayako then manifests inside the clothes to menace her next victim.]]

* ''Franchise/StargateVerse'':
** Characters who AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence leave empty clothes behind. This is first seen in [[Series/StargateSG1 SG-1: "Maternal Instinct"]] when the monk at the temple ascends after being shot by Apophis' Jaffa.

* In ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'', only skintight clothes will transform with you when one morphs. The kids have to wear [[DressedInLayers leotards and bike shorts under their regular clothes]], and can't morph shoes. Late in the series they learn to morph normal clothing, but still can't do shoes. This limitation is because the Andalities, who invented morphing tech, [[ExposedExtraterrestrials don't wear clothes]] and so didn't take them into account. It's considered a sign of one's talent when a visiting Andalite is able to morph clothes when turning into a human.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons: Urban Arcana'', when a shadowkind (a creature native to the D&D world) dies, it [[NoBodyLeftBehind disappears]] in 1D4 rounds, "leaving no trace of itself other than its clothing and equipment".

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* In the 1933 Disney Silly Symphony ''Disney/ThreeLittlePigs'', the eponymous [[TheBigBadWolf Big Bad Wolf]] on two legs becomes enraged at not being able to enter the brick house of the third little pig. In a {{VillainousBreakdown}}, {{Animorphism}} kicks in. Gloves and his hat fly off, and desperate breaths to blow the brick house down break his suspenders. Ultimately, he steps out of his pants, completely naked, and acting fully like a wild four-legged wolf for the rest of the cartoon.
[[/folder]]

* Having lost the Ultimate Game to the LooneyTunes in ''WesternAnimation/SpaceJam'', the Monstars surrender their LiquidAssets and shrink to Nerdluck size. Their Monstar uniforms do not shrink, leaving the Nerdlucks unclothed. Pound lampshades this: "My clothes don't fit."

In {{Shapeshifting}}, this can be an effect of {{Animorphism}}, or as simple as {{Just Woke Up That Way}}. Also a frequent pairing with the BalefulPolymorph or IncredibleShrinkingMan. Since the clothes stay where they are, if the victim has survived the event, it's likely to lead to NakedOnArrival.

Clothing items have a way of sticking around as they started, even if their wearer is shrunken, transformed, or outright disintegrated in front of the viewer's eyes. This presentation is usually used as a visual cue to drive home the extremity of what's just happened to the victim. Simple gravity may pile the clothes into a heap, or convenient magic scatter them a moment later, to HideTheEvidence.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} 2'' : After [[spoiler: King Harold shields Fiona from one of the Fairy Godmother's spells, his suit of armor seems to be the only thing left of him... Until he comes out of the armor, in his original frog form, and reveals the truth about that to the heroes]].