History Main / WhatHaveIBecome

* Four of the Final Five Cylons were revealed at the end of Season 3 of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. All were ardent resistance members dead set on killing every damn toaster there is. You can imagine how discovering [[YouAreWhatYouHate they are what they hate]] has made them react, knowing that if they reveal themselves to their human friends they'll be lucky to be put in a cell and par for the course to be [[ThrownOutTheAirlock shoved out an airlock]]. [[spoiler:Even so, they still want to help humanity even though they are no longer human. Well, maybe not [[TranshumanTreachery Tory]].]]

* Four of the Final Five Cylons were revealed at the end of Season 3 of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. All were ardent resistance members dead set on killing every damn toaster there is. You can imagine how discovering they are what they hate has made them react, knowing that if they reveal themselves to their human friends they'll be lucky to be put in a cell and par for the course to be shoved out an airlock. [[spoiler:Even so, they still want to help humanity even though they are no longer human. Well, maybe not [[TranshumanTreachery Tory]].]]

* In ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' comics, Victor Stone hated his father for saving his life by turning him into ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} -- for many reasons, particularly because it destroyed his prospective athletic career. He'd really rather have died. He never truly got over that resentment and was suicidal for a long time, even after he joined the Titans, where his temperament made him a loose cannon and a poor team player. In the Comicbook/New52, all this initial angst at his condition and anger at his father is [[RetCon retconned]] away to make him a cheerful [[{{Transhumanist}} transhumanist]], which can feel deeply jarring to readers who have followed his character for years.

* In ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' comics, Victor Stone hated his father for saving his life by turning him into ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} -- for many reasons, particularly because it destroyed his prospective athletic career. He'd really rather have died. He never truly got over that resentment and was suicidal for a long time, even after he joined the Titans, where his temperament made him a loose cannon and a poor team player. In the Comicbook/New52, all this initial angst at his condition and anger at his father is [[RetCon retconned]] away, which can feel deeply jarring to readers who have followed his character for years.

* In ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' comics, Victor Stone hated his father for saving his life by turning him into ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} -- for many reasons, particularly because it destroyed his prospective athletic career. He'd really rather have died. He never truly got over that resentment and was suicidal for a long time, even after he joined the Titans, where his temperament made him a loose cannon and a poor team player. In TheNew52, all this initial angst at his condition and anger at his father is [[RetCon retconned]] away, which can feel deeply jarring to readers who have followed his character for years.

* In ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' comics, Victor Stone hated his father for saving his life by turning him into ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} -- for many reasons, particularly because it destroyed his prospective athletic career. He'd really rather have died. He never truly got over that resentment and was suicidal for a long time, even after he joined the Titans, where his temperament made him a loose cannon and a poor team player.

[[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife I'm spending my time]] on Wiki/TVTropes! What have I become?

Not related to MyGodWhatHaveIDone, although the two tropes may overlap sometimes for the metaphorical value. Opposite to TranshumanTreachery. Usually precedes the TrialBalloonQuestion. Often followed by IAmAMonster. [[StagesOfMonsterGrief Well-adjusted victims]] may decide that IAmWhatIAm which, assuming that they're permanently transformed, is probably the best result. Occasionally happens after being a SheepInWolfsClothing. Their friends may disagree with them, telling them to drop the FreakinessShame.

* In the first episode of season four of''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' when Alucard, after months of isolation and trauma living in his father's castle washes his faces after pissing on one of the impaled corpses of his enemies. He looks at his downtrodden expression and states with horror... [[spoiler:that he's become as pessimistic and rugged as Trevor Belmont]].

* Vegeta from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' combines this with WhatHaveIDone after he thinks [[spoiler:Majin Buu killed Gohan]]. Though it's mostly because it's Vegeta's fault for allowing Babidi to turn him into Majin Vegeta so he could fight Goku, which lead to Buu being unsealed.

* [[spoiler:Greed]] from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has a reaction like this after he uses [[spoiler: Bido's]] relaxed guard as an opening to kill him, as soon as he dies, [[spoiler:Greed]] begins to have mental flashes back to his first life and his comrades and begins trembling uncontrollably. Admittedly, it's a little more like a WhatHaveIDone moment.

* Negi of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' has a relatively minor one after his BlackMagic-fueled SuperpoweredEvilSide came within inches of intentionally killing an innocent bystander, and one of his students, at that. His student helps snap him out of it with "But you didn't, right?"

* Notably subverted in the origin story of Cassidy from ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'': at first, he has no idea what he's become (a vampire), but once he's figured out the basic limitations and powers, he decides it's actually ''really cool''. When a friend later lends him a copy of ''{{Literature/Dracula}}'', he realizes what he actually is... and figures it's ''even cooler''. Also notable in that [[NotUsingTheZWord no one ever actually says "vampire"]] -- neither in his origin story nor the main storyline -- although it's extremely obvious that's what he is.

* ''In Tales of the Black Freighter'', the in-comic comic in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'', a young mariner's vessel is wrecked by the Black Freighter (a literally hell-sent pirate ship) before he can return to his hometown and warn his wife and children. He ends up Marooned (also the name of that double-issue), and makes a raft out of his shipmates' gas-bloated corpses, which he had buried and then dug back up. The main character eventually gets to his hometown, only to find the Black Freighter had never come and terrorized his hometown, and that he had alienated himself from his family and friends in his (disturbing) efforts to save them from his own fabrication.

* The progressing division of Kali and [[spoiler: Kira]] in [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9644493/1/Zenith-Darkness-Reverie Zenith, Darkness, Reverie]] is classified as this by Kali. At some point, she accepts it [[spoiler: and Kira murders four hundred people.]]

* Creator/{{Alastair Reynolds}} - ''Literature/RevelationSpace'''s [[spoiler: Captain John Brannigan, whose body was ravaged by an alien technological disease, fusing him into his ship, tells his closest friend, Volyova (an insane engineer) that he has become a monster, in Redemption Ark, after suffering a HeroicBSOD]]

* Phosis T'Kar's final moments during the Scouring of Prospero in [[Literature/HorusHeresy A Thousand Sons]]. He slaughters his way through the combined Vlka Fenryka, Custodes and Sisters of Silence force, finally reaching the legendary Constantin Valdor who calls him a monster. T'kar sees his reflection in Valdor's armor and realizes that his lineage's curse, the Flesh Change, has horribly mutated him. Just before Valdor's blade cleaves his chest, he closes his eyes, sheds a tear and replies "I know."

* In the PlayableEpilogue of ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption'', [[spoiler: Jack Marston would often say this if he shoots unarmed innocents, horses and/or loots their bodies (or skins the horse). Especially if they're women.]]

* In the ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVII'' prequel ''Videogame/CrisisCore'', Genesis becomes a villain, Angeal a DeathSeeker and Sephiroth [[GoMadFromTheRevelation enlightened with insanity]] because of this. The only thing that changes with their appearance is a single black or white wing on their back (Sephiroth's wing is seen chronologically much later in the series though) which allows them to fly, and before that they were insanely powerful warriors. The genetic tinkering behind this however also causes Genesis and possibly Angeal as well to slowly degenerate. Which still kinda manages to be CursedWithAwesome (seeing how there were possible cures), although there are more subtle explanations for why they are not exactly happy about the revelation; they aren't angsting about having wings, they're angsting about what the wings are a symptom of.

** This seems to be a running theme in the FFVII games, in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' Vincent gets a Main/ScreamDiscretionShot upon waking up after Dr. Hojo experimented on him and seeing his monstrous new form.
* In ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', it's implied that this was the reason why Revan took off his/her mask in the Rakatan ruins on Lehon, briefly reflecting on their MotiveDecay since the end of the Mandalorian Wars.

* {{Website/Neopets}} played this for laughs in the Website/PetpetPark plot. You come upon an adorable Cybunny with the options of: A) Become inexplicably hostile, B) Request an autograph, C) Ask, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?", or D) Bribe it with Neocash. Upon executing any of the options, the Cybunny would turn around to reveal itself to be half-robot. If you chose A, it gets a mirror out of nowhere and says, "ERROR: WHAT HAVE I BECOME?"

* In ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, an ex-Cerberus Phantom discusses this trope with an Alliance soldier who happens upon herself and her friend. Partway through the process of being turned into a Phantom, she had second thoughts, but given that this is [[BadBoss Cerberus]] we're talking about it became an UnwillingRoboticization after that since once you're in, you don't leave. She gained DeathSeeker tendencies as a result.

** This seems to be a running theme in the FFVII games, in VideoGame/DirgeofCerberus Vincent gets a Main/ScreamDiscretionShot upon waking up after Dr. Hojo experimented on him and seeing his monstrous new form.

* Ellie in ''[[VideoGame/The Last of Us II]]'' feels this after stabbing [[spoiler: Mel who is pregnant]]

* Fluttershy in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Putting Your Hoof Down": essentially, she wants to become less of a doormat so she takes lessons in assertiveness. It works [[GoneHorriblyRight all too well]] to the point where Fluttershy sees herself as a menace to her friends, prompting her to lock herself in her own home. This leads to a moment when Fluttershy looks in the mirror and sees herself with devil horns.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw''--at the thought of competing against [[BoyBand Lumbermax]] in the BattleOfTheBands, [[OnlySaneMan Zack]] has a bit of a breakdown and begins treating the others badly, culminating in him preparing to play all of their instruments himself. Just then, a band called "Reflective Randy and the What Have I Becomes" pass by, with mirrors covering their clothes, prompting the standard HeelRealization.

Likely candidates for "What Have I Become" are the VampireRefugee, a genetically altered HalfHumanHybrid, and [[ArtificialLimbs Cyborgs]], though [[BeautyToBeast freakish]] {{Frankensteins Monster}}s are also popular. This can be especially horrifying if the transformation also affects the character's mind, giving them [[BeastMan animal instincts]], [[TheStoic removing their emotions]], or giving them a [[HorrorHunger thirst for blood]]. For extra pathos, the transformation will usually be into [[KarmicTransformation a creature that the character hates]], usually because one killed a loved one of theirs, their friends, and/or LoveInterest. Now everyone can {{Wangst}} ''together!''

If the above seems a bit glib, it's because the revelation will cause a viewer's reaction to oscillate between [[BlessedWithSuck "That's harsh"]] and [[CursedWithAwesome "So what?"]], since some settings [[SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness are very helpful]] in providing avenues for the moral FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires to thrive, while [[WorldHalfEmpty others are genuinely cruel]] to those so changed. That said, change is what you make of it, and most protagonists find life as a non-human... ''whatever'' doesn't have to be that bad or morally debased... unless you're already evil.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode, GeniusCripple Halcyon Renard can't bear his condition any longer and financially supports a ruthless criminal so that he can steal the [[KabbalicGolem Golem of Prague]] for him. After Renard uses a ritual to transfer his soul into the Golem he quickly goes mad with power and the ability to walk and feel again. Goliath then asks Renard if he was really willing to trade away everything good about him -- his honor and integrity -- for a lump of clay. Renard then utters the trope verbatim, returns to his human body, and gives the Golem back to its owner. He thanks Goliath at the end, telling him that he had saved his soul if not his life.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode, GeniusCripple Halcyon Renard can't bear his condition any longer and financially supports a ruthless criminal so that he can steal a magical {{Golem}} for him. After Renard uses a ritual to transfer his soul into the Golem he quickly goes mad with power and the ability to walk and feel again. Goliath then asks Renard if he was really willing to trade away everything good about him -- his honor and integrity -- for a lump of clay. Renard then utters the trope verbatim, returns to his human body, and gives the Golem back to its owner. He thanks Goliath at the end, telling him that he had saved his soul if not his life.

* ''Manga/{{Embalming}}: The Another Tale of Frankenstein'', by the guy who did ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' and ''Manga/BusouRenkin''. Four of the major characters in the series at large are {{Frankensteins Monster}}s. Two don't remember their human lives, and one of them doesn't even remember his original identity, but neither of them seem to care. Two do remember, but one was already unhinged before gaining freakish strength and revels in his new body. The fourth guy is the only one with What Have I Become, and is determined to kill all Frankensteins -- yet other than that, he might be the ''nicest'' of the four.

* In ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'', months after the events of ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'', Taran has [[FlashbackNightmare dreamed]] about the Horned King's [[KarmicDeath death]] nearly every night. Because of that, he has come to realize that upon being stopped, the lich had been robbed off of everything he had given ''any'' value to in his life. Taran can't help his feelings of [[SympathyForTheDevil guilt]] and fear of what sort of an end he would meet.