History Main / ShapeshiftingFailure

* Literature/TolkiensLegendarium: As an angelic spirit, Sauron could originally incarnate as almost anything. However, when he -- and the entire country he'd [[TheCorrupter corrupted]] -- got hit with DivineRetribution in the form of a GiantWallOfWateryDoom, he lost the ability to assume any form of beauty, forcing him to rule through fear and force alone.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation:'' SCP-[[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7955 7955]] is a shapeshifter lumbered with a rapidly progressing case of dementia. Consequently, he tends to make some pretty revealing mistakes while trying to disguise himself, from furniture made of meat to people wearing exoskeletons instead of clothing. At one point, he attempts to smuggle himself out of his cell by disguising himself as one of the books he'd borrowed... but is easily given away by the fact that the "book" has no pages, and its author is rendered as "[[Creator/DanielleSteel Daniel Steal]]."

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Ash and friends met a trainer who has a Ditto which can't transform its face along with the rest of it. Team Rocket captured this Ditto and forced it to change its face using threats and punishment and, in the end, when Ash and his crew rescued Ditto, he finally can shapeshift completely into other Pokémon.

* ''Webcomic/DHSComix'': Shapeshifters can only stay transformed [[http://dhscomix.com/ocomics/ocomic.php?p=1-06 for a few hours]] before they have to change back to their default form; staying transformed for longer than this makes them ill. Of note is that shapeshifters can have any form they choose, while other kinds of shape changes (Mimic's, Were's, Felimara) have only one to three alternative forms, but no apparent time limit.

* During Simon the Devious' return in ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'', he once again [[spoiler:tries to steal Laslow's cursed hat]] and during the ensuing fight, the two become bats. However, Simon reverts on top of a grate, and [[spoiler:due to the hat's curse]], the transformation process was screwed up and his foot is painfully fused with the metal.

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'': Alex Mercer loses some of his shapeshifting weapon abilities when infected with a weaponized parasite.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Ash and friends met a trainer who has a Ditto which can't transform its face along with the rest of it. Team Rocket captured this Ditto and forced it to change its face using threats and punishment and in the end, when Ash and his crew rescued Ditto, he finally can shapeshift completely into other Pokémon.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' had deleted scenes showing that after being frozen, shattered, and reforming, the T-1000 had difficulty keeping shape, showing effects like unintentionally mimicking surfaces and loss of rigidity. In the theatrical version, this was cut down to one scene of its human form briefly turning to its silvery default form.

* In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Hulk has grown tired of only being used by Banner as a weapon and refuses to "come out" when Banner tries to HulkOut later in the movie.
* ''Film/TheThing1982'': The team stumbles onto the Thing before it could complete its assimilation of one of them. Thus, when they confront it, it looks just like him except with [[CreepyLongFingers grotesquely inhuman hands]].

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 5th edition: The spells [[https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Alter%20Self alter self]], [[https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Polymorph#h-Polymorph polymorph]], [[https://app.roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Shapechange?fromList=Shapechange&Name=&Classes%5B%5D=druid#content shapechange]] and [[https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/True%20Polymorph#h-True%20Polymorph True Polymorph]] are concentration spells, so if the caster fails their concentration check because, say, they are injured, the spell will end, reverting them back to their original form.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Ditto, a species of Pokémon normally resembling pink blobs and most notable for their ability to shapeshift into anything, are sometimes depicted as having certain weaknesses or tells to their otherwise flawless ability to change forms. A common one in the anime and card game is that Ditto, either all Ditto or only certain individuals, cannot transform their faces.
** In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Ash and friends met a trainer who has a Ditto which can't transform its face along with the rest of it. Team Rocket captured this Ditto and forced it to change its face using threats and punishment and in the end, when Ash and his crew rescued Ditto, he finally can shapeshift completely into other Pokémon.
** In addition, the ''Silver'' and ''Soul Silver'' Pokédexes state that a transformed Ditto cannot maintain its form if it starts laughing, which will force it to revert into its default shape.

* ''Webcomic/DHSComix'': Shapeshifters can only stay transformed [[http://dhscomix.com/ocomics/ocomic.php?p=1-06 for a few hours]] before they have to change back to their default form; staying transformed for longer than this makes them ill. Of note is that shapeshifters can have any form they choose, while other kinds of shape changes (Mimic's, Were's, Felimara) have only one to three alternative forms, but no apparent time limit.
* ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'': During combat, Jay has the ability to erupt into a thicket of [[BodyHorror Slob tentacles]]. It's unclear whether it's at-will, though it likely isn't since he has no memory of doing so afterward, rationalizing the extreme damage the attack causes as 'not knowing his own strength'. Also, as an AbsoluteXenophobe he'd be horrified if he ever realized he might be anything other than human. This trope comes into play because every time he uses the attack, it significantly shortens the time left before he [[OurZombiesAreDifferent slobbifies permanently.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has the episode "The Gland Plan", where Cosmo's "faggigly gland", the organ fairies have that regulates their shapeshifting, breaks down and he needs a transplant from Anti-Cosmo to live.