History Main / ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing

* In ''Literature/AllTheBirdsInTheSky,'' when Patricia the ChildMage finally unlocks her powers and transforms into a bird, she leaves her empty school uniform behind. Her pursuers, having been convinced that [[HeroWithBadPublicity she's insane]], assume this is [[NakedNutter just another symptom of her escalating madness]] and spread the word that a naked tween is running about the forest; needless to say, they don't find her.

* In ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard'', when the person who would have been sent through time and space to the cupboard is dead, all that gets sent is a pile of clothing.

* In ''Film/TheWitches1990'', when someone is turned into a mouse, they leave their clothes behind. When this happens to Luke, the witches stomp on his clothes in an effort to kill him before he can escape.

* In ''Film/{{Constantine}}'', Creator/KeanuReeves plays a warrior priest who battles demons. When a demon is killed, its human host is also destroyed, turning into ash. Only the human host's clothing is left behind.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'': in "Little Big Mask," Stanley Ipkiss creates an anti-aging cream and [[ProfessorGuineaPig tests it on himself]] - only to find that it's actually a very potent FountainOfYouth. Whenever Stanley regresses, his clothes fit progressively less and less until he simply steps out of them as a toddler; even the Mask can't help but notice the effects when he shrinks out of his silk bathrobe and into infancy. In the climax, Peggy wakes up to find Stanley's latest baby clothes empty, and assumes he's suffered a DeathByDeaging... only for it to turn out that baby Stanley was just getting a checkup from a doctor, though by now, he's shrunk out of the Mask too. Not long after, when Peggy finally manages to restore Stanley to normal, he finds growing up naked except for a diaper.

Items of clothing have a way of sticking around unchanged, 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 other instances, [[ClothingDamage the clothes are ripped apart]] during the transformation, leaving them in tatters.

* In ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen runs so fast that he loses himself to the Speed Force, leaving just his uniform behind. Same thing with ComicBook/WallyWest in ''ComicBook/ZeroHour''.

** The novelization to ''[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day Of The Doctor]]'' says Zygon shapeshifting can't mimic clothes, which they do with [[HolographicDisguise hologram shells]].

* ''Literature/RainOfTheGhosts:'' Aycayia (basically a [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent manatee]] {{seklie}}) is naked when she takes off her magic skin, though her often uses seaweed for ad hoc clothing. Also {{Implied}} with the Kim kids, to explain why they're naked after spending two days turning to dolphins and back.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. Played straight during Time Lords' regenerations, who start each life in their former incarnation's clothes. The sole exception is the First Doctor's regeneration into the Second (at a time when the concept had not yet been defined properly and was just an excuse to change the actor), where the new Doctor's clothes also change along with him.[[note]]The Fourth Doctor's boots change into shoes when he regenerates into the Fifth, but this was due to a production oversight -- the boots actually belonged to Tom Baker and were not available when the time came to shoot the first full story with the Fifth Doctor.[[/note]]

* The second book in Betsy Hanes' Bone Chillers series of children's horror novels, ''Little Pet Shop of Horrors'', has a girl who's turned into a dog by a potion. When she regains human form, she realizes she's naked.

->''"I ducked around a corner into the mouth of an alley, then kicked off my slippers, the only part of my dress that weren’t spun from fox-magic. (Magical garments never lasted beyond a seduction. My mother had remarked that this was the fate of all human clothes anyway.) I loved those slippers, which I had purloined from a rich merchant’s daughter, and it pained me to leave them behind. But I could get another pair of slippers later."''

* In ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'', the ninetailed fox, Ils Nineta can't transform her clothes so she has to use her powers cautiously or risk ending up naked.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Occurs in ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' after [[spoiler:Yuni and Gamma]] [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice themselves]] during the final battle of the Future Arc.

* There is a most unpleasant variation in the Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}[=/=]Literature/HarryPotter crossover ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3933832/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Invincible-TechnoMage Harry Potter and the Invincible Technomage]]''. A badly wounded Peter Pettigrew is recovering (as a human) in a Muggle hospital after being attacked by a cat in his rat form. As soon as he wakes up, he attempts to shapeshift and escape... but dies once the metallic screws in his bones turn out [[BodyHorror too big for a rat body to handle]].

* In ''Literature/{{Touch}}'', James' [[BlowYouAway powers]] allow him to change his whole body into air. The first time this happens he's flying, and feels the odd sensation of his clothes passing ''through'' him as they flutter to the ground. (He recovers the hoodie but has to fly home without any pants, thankfully too high to be seen.) He's a lot more powerful in this form, but the fact that he reforms naked means that he tries to avoid using it.

* In ''VisualNovel/IkemenRevolution'', Harr's route has a scene where the female main character shrinks after drinking a magic potion (a clear homage to the shrinking scene in ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', although Alice didn't have to worry about this trope) and her dress doesn't shrink along with her, leaving her tiny and naked. She's able to tie a handkerchief around her body to preserve her modesty before she finds Harr and asks him to undo the shrinking spell, but they both forget that her handkerchief dress similarly won't change size along with the rest of her which leads to much embarrassment when he undoes the spell and winds up seeing ''way'' more of her than he planned for.

* In ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'', curse changes seldom affect clothes. This has led to several scenes where Ryōga and Shampoo end up unexpectedly naked upon transforming back (admittedly, the latter doesn't much care). In Ranma's case, both forms are human and thus don't fall out of their clothes, although there have been occasions of humiliation when he turns into a guy while wearing distinctly female clothing. The only clear exception to the rule is Genma, who always wears his clothes even though his panda form doesn't, because no one wants to see a naked old man.

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

* ''Comicbook/BlueBeetle:'' Originally, [[TransformationIsAFreeAction activating]] his PoweredArmor would destroy Jaime's clothes, making him naked when he turned back. The first time he actually voices a complaint about this, however, the Scarab responds by [[MagicPants making clothes appear]]. When the Scarab is forcibly deactivated and removed at the end of the Reach invasion Jaime has to deal with nudity again. [[FullFrontalAssault He manages]] [[BroughtDownToBadass pretty well]].

* This features in the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' ElsewhereFic ''FanFic/BoyScoutsOneHalf''. As in the work that inspired it, there are six characters (seven, if you count the original work's Ryōga'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.

* When Kuzco from ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' transforms into a llama, his clothes stay on him. When he takes the potion to transform him back into a human, he isn’t wearing any clothes. Instead of a direct cut, a cloud of smoke appears before it presumably takes us to a few days into the future...take from that what you will.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear,'' Kenai's clothes apparently rip when he turns into a bear, because Denahi finds them (as in "Brave", above). When he turns back near the end, he's naked until Sitka takes a cloak from the rather stunned Denahi and wraps it around him.

* BigBad Thulsa Doom does this when he [[ScaledUp turns into a giant snake]] in the middle of overseeing an orgy in ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', explained in the novelization as fleeing from Conan and his allies.

* In ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', this was considered as an option for Maleficent's raven companion Diaval. However, they went with the MagicPants version, as the movie is meant for children, and having Diaval put on clothes behind a bush whenever he is turned into a man would be a waste of time. Played straight when Maleficent initially turns him into a human -- his feathers don't turn into clothes, he's naked. After [[StrippingTheScarecrow robbing a nearby scarecrow of it's clothes]], Diaval remains dressed for the rest of the movie.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. Played straight during Time Lords' regenerations, who start each life in their former incarnation's clothes. The sole exception is the First Doctor's regeneration into the Second (at a time when the concept had not yet been defined properly and was just an excuse to change the actor), where the new Doctor's clothes also change along with him.[[note]]The Fourth Doctor's boots change into shoes when he regenerates into the Fifth, but this was due to a production oversight -- the boots actually belonged to Tom Baker and were not available when the time came to shoot the first full story with the Fifth Doctor[[/note]]

** The ''disintegrate'' spell can turn a creature to dust butleave its equipment intact. It ''can'' be specifically aimed at disintegrating an item and leave the wearer intact if the caster chooses so (most don't, especially when valuable magic items are concerned).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}},'' the brother in ''Literature/BrotherAndSister'' is naked when he finally turns back into a human. (Which is odd, because when he gets transformed his clothes sort of just vanish.)
** Also a weird version, [[AvertedTrope averting]] JacobMarleyApparel: the sister died while taking a bath, but her ghost is wearing the nightgown that she was wearing right before that. [[spoiler:Which also averts NakedOnRevival.]]

* Used weirdly in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries''. In "Do The Rat Thing", Jasmine is transformed into a rat, shrinking out of the cloak she was wearing over her usual outfit, but the outfit itself changed with her and was restored when she was changed back. Also her iconic earrings just vanish completely when transformed.

* ''The Sword of the Valiant'', starring Creator/SeanConnery. An apprentice witch is turned into a red frog for being naughty by his character. The scene finishes as they converse while she is perched a top of her empty dress surrounded by her accessories.

* In ''The Incredible Shrinking Woman'', Creator/LilyTomlin's character shrinks until even a small pouch that she wears as clothing is all that's left of her.

* In TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Literature/TheWitches'', when someone is turned into a mouse, they leave their clothes behind. When this happens to Luke, the witches stomp on his clothes in an effort to kill him before he can escape.