Voluntary Shapeshifting usually has some caveats, and this trope is when it's a Conditional Power where they can only shapeshift when in their Shapeshifter Default Form. Usually with the caveat that the alternate forms can still return to the default form at will.
If it's applied to Involuntary Shapeshifting, then it's more of a Curse instead, since it's not under the shifted person's control.
At least two alternate forms are needed for this trope to exist, which isn't that common by itself.
Sizeshifters have a big chance of overlapping with this if they can grow big and small, unless they can also do Partial Transformation, because going big and going small are opposites, so they have to pass through the default size to reach the new one.
Partial Transformation between alternate forms would be a loophole around this limitation trope, but there might be reasons of speed or risk that make that inadvisable.
Justified versions of this trope usually work by having the alternate form lack the specific something that shapeshifting into other forms requires, like the ability to pronounce a Magical Incantation.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- Transformers: Armada: Optimus Prime must be in his robot mode in order to assume his Super Mode, since he uses a stock Transformation Sequence each time that starts with him in robot mode.
Film — Live-Action
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day: When the T-1000 transforms its entire body, it has to first resume its liquid metal form, which can be time-consuming depending on the size of the individual or object it's impersonating. For instance, after disguising itself as a stretch of floor, it assumes the form of a security guard by withdrawing its flattened mass back into its silvery "Academy Award" shape, then shaping itself into the guard's bulkier frame. This restriction doesn't seem to apply when it makes use of its Shapeshifter Weapon, however, as it's first seen shaping its arm into a blade while still disguised as Janelle Voight. By contrast, when the T-1000 does begin transforming without the usual transition during the showdown at the steel mill, it's another sign that the otherwise implacable machine is beginning to glitch, but any downsides to the different method are unseen.
Literature
- Animorphs: It's just how their "morphing" technology/power works, but it's justified because the new forms only store the DNA for the original form and not any of the other ones, so the Animorphs can't shapeshift into their other forms.
- Cassie, the best at morphing due to having The Gift of being an estreen, could occasionally manage to change her morph, going from bird to whale midair to destroy a helicopter.
- In The Reaction, Rachel suffers an allergy to her new crocodile morph that results in fits of Involuntary Shapeshifting whenever she experiences strong emotion. After getting angry at Jeremy Jason McCole during a covert mission near a private yacht, she finds herself morphing directly from seagull to elephant in mid-flight, blowing the team's cover in the process.
- In The Return, Rachel is courted for recruitment by evil Eldritch Abomination Crayak and granted temporary enhancements to her morphing power so she can prove herself in a Shapeshifter Showdown against Visser One - including the ability to morph without first reverting to human form. Where this gets nasty is that if Rachel turns down Crayak's offer, she'll be reverted to the form she was in before the battle - a rat trapped in a small box, unable to demorph without crushing herself to death, and once again unable to morph to something else without reverting.
Live-Action TV
- In From the Cold: Jenny can do both Voluntary Shapeshifting and Chameleon Camouflage, but not together, so that's two alternate forms already, but the actual shapeshifting: Jenny's ability to shapeshift puts a lot of strain on her body to maintain, and it hurts to do, so she can only shift to a new form in her default, more relaxed state. And the fuels of mental rest and iron-rich food are hard to come by, so even if it didn't hurt and was easy to maintain, she couldn't assume more than one or two forms a day. However, during the climax at the skating rink, Jenny transforms rapidly between all the identities she's acquired over the course of her career to throw off the snipers looking for her in the crowd, shifting directly from one form to the next without ever reverting to her true self. It's not known how she accomplished this, but the ending implies that Jenny might not have been entirely honest about her limitations...
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Odo's shapeshifting powers are due to him being a gelatinous Blob Monster, so whenever he transforms into another being, animal, or object, he usually has to resume a gelatinous state first, which isn't the full blob.
- Ultraman Dyna: The show's protagonist displays a Multi Form Balance take on this trope. Unlike his predecessor, who could freely change between any of his forms on a whim, Dyna has to revert to his main Jack of All Stats Flash-Type form if he wants to change between his Mighty Glacier Strong-Type and Squishy Wizard Miracle-Type forms.
Video Games
- Among Us: While an impostor is shapeshifted into another player, their Shift icon is replaced by an Unshift icon, only allowing them to revert back to their real colour rather than transform into someone new. The Shift option is also made unavailable during the mushroom mixup sabotage in the Fungle, which changes every player's appearance including the impostor's.
- Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: Soma can only use one Guardian Soul at a time, and all of his transformations are under that category, so he has to swap them out, and that means cancelling the active one.
- Kingdom Hearts II: Drive Forms are powered by a fillable gauge that turns into a different countdown state when in a Form. In that state, they can't turn into a new Form until the active one runs out and reverts the gauge.
- Kirby franchise:
- In games where Power Copying by inhaling enemies is available, Kirby usually can't do this when already having a copied ability, so he would need to discard it if he wants to get another one.
- Kirby's appearance in all Super Smash Bros. games, where the button for "Inhale" ability for acquiring copy targets is used for the neutral B-moves of copied opponents, with power discarding needed to revert to Inhale.
- Mortal Kombat II: Shang Tsung starts as himself at the start of each fight and during it, can transform into multiple characters to use their moves, but has to undo the transformation before he can turn into another character.
- Pokémon: Ditto and Mewnote can transform into other Pokemon, but doing so removes the move that lets it do so, or is done automatically on being in combat, still removing the move in favor of the copied Pokemon's moves. And if the copied Pokemon itself has the Transform move and if it's after Generation IV, then trying to Transform again will fail. And then when it's called back into its ball, it returns to being a Ditto, with the original moves.
- [PROTOTYPE]: Played with; Alex can consume and become anyone while still disguised as his previous victim, but in order to make use of his Shapeshifter Weapons, he has to abandon his disguise and return to his Shapeshifter Default Form before he can start manifesting claws or blades. Except in the opening cutscene, that is.
- Shantae: Shantae dances to take on new forms, and her other forms can't dance, so her only form control once she's in the form is to stop the magic and revert.
Western Animation
- Ben 10: The Omnitrix as a Transformation Trinket is only in an operable form to select aliens when Ben is human, meaning he can't pick another alien until he turns back into a human. This is later subverted when we learn about the Master Control, which allows Ben to change alien forms just by mentally wishing to - even if he is already in an alien form. And in the sequels, Ben learned how to change forms in alien form by touching The Omnitrix.
- Silverhawks: Mo-Lec-U-Lar can do both Voluntary Shapeshifting into living beings and Objectshifting, into anything from a cigar box to a spaceship, but must return to his default shape before taking another form.
- The Transformers: Typically averted with characters that have two (or more) alt-modes, as they're usually shown being able to swap freely between modes as they wish, but combiner teams have to be in robot mode before they can combine.
