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At the drop of a hat.

"Get ready for Gundam like you've never seen it before!... Really cute and tiny!"
Toonami promo for SD Gundam Force

An artistic style in anime in which a normally (more) realistically proportioned character is rendered in a shorter, rounder form, often with a big head and short limbs, somewhat resembling a caricature of themselves as a tiny yet plump toddler.

Generally considered cute as well as humorous, it's most commonly used in parody or as part of promotional material, although it can be found in some shows at points of extreme comedy/slapstick, or when characters are seen to be acting extremely "cute" or immature.

Also known as "chibi" (Japanese for "small") in some circles, although it's not just confined to anime — it's a very common form of Fan Art. Name any popular character, chibi art exists of them. It's almost as common as Rule 34. Often, plushies based on characters from media (particularly anime and video games) will have chibi proportions by default.

This also appears in video games, especially older video games with small characters compared to the screen, the Super-Deformed style was used mainly to get around graphical limitations so a character was recognizable and their face wouldn't be just a single pixel. Some newer games use a version of this where characters appear super deformed on the The Overworld or when the camera is far away but in cutscenes, character portraits, and battles they will be depicted with more realistic proportions (for an example, in Disgaea and Cave Story). See Graphics-Induced Super-Deformed for that.

A Sub-Trope of Fun Size. Compare Top-Heavy Guy, Puni Plush and Wild Take. Contrast to Noodle People. See also Big Head Mode. Sudden changes to this kind of style might be used as takes of sorts.

For a character who's literally extremely deformed, see The Grotesque.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • Around 2009, Kellogg dropped its Don Hertzfeldt-inspired "Crazy Good" ad campaign for Pop-Tarts toaster pastries in favor of "Made for Fun", which has super-deformed CGI children along with far-less-deformed adults. But then you realize that the kids' heads are bigger than those of the adults, and the only conclusion you can draw is that adults in this world don't eat Pop-Tarts. This video exposes the Fridge Logic.
  • In the early '60s cartoonist Johnny Hart created a series of ads for Dr. Pepper called "Harmon the Caveman", whose characters looked like super deformed versions of his B.C. comic characters.

    Anime & Manga 
  • The deities and demons in Ah! My Goddess can transform into multiple Super-Deformed miniatures of themselves. There is also a spinoff of Ah! My Goddess called The Adventures of Mini-Goddess which concentrates solely on the goddesses' miniature selves (and a rat of their acquaintance).
  • Hikari's SD mode in Amanchu! arguably tends to be rather jarring, especially since it's used a lot, even in situations where one normally wouldn't do that. My gosh, does Amano have to make her eyes so creepy?
  • ARIA is well-known for having its characters switch to Super-Deformed mode extensively.
  • Asteroid in Love: Not so much in the series proper, whether in the manga or the anime, but the Sparkle Special segments mostly have the cast drawn in this style, being shorter, more rounded, and like they're drawn with brushes.
  • Attack on Titan: The "Special Episodes" feature the recruit squad as chibi characters in a comical portrayal of their years of recruitment as "a bit like a school". Subject to a load of Flanderization and Lampshade Hanging, they play up romance arcs for laughs, and invariably end with the Colossal Titan showing up and eating the protagonists. Ironically, the chibi!Colossal Titan has proportions that are closer to a human's than in the series.
  • Azumanga Daioh, naturally, plays this to total exhaustion.
  • Bamboo Blade uses this in its Post-Episode Trailer, though usage of it within episodes isn't uncommon.
  • Berserk's Puck. In the latter part of the manga, he's relegated to so much comic relief that he's most always playing this trope.
  • In Black Clover, Charmy Pappitson frequently slips into a chibi appearance. At first it's seemingly only for comedic effect as is often done in anime and manga, but this is thrown into doubt by other characters sometimes noticing that she's switched between super-deformed and her normal (still small) appearance when she gets serious. Eventually it's revealed that she's half drawf and can also switch to a third, taller form, but all 3 sizes are currently involuntary.
  • Happens sometimes in Bleach, for example in anime episode #24 when Orihime was trying to deny that she was hungry.
  • Everyone in "CB Chara Go Nagai World", a comedic crossover with Devil Man, Mazinger Z, and Violence Jack, is animated this way, they frequently point out how ridiculous they look in this world, commenting on how their heads are as big as their bodies, and how everyone looks like midgets or children.
  • Cells at Work: Baby!: As the baby's cells are still quite young, they're drawn in chibi style with large heads and extremely large eyes. This is in direct contrast with the "adult" characters, who are much more realistically proportioned as manga characters go.
  • This is the default art style of Damekko Doubutsu.
  • Near the end of the original manga version of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Gotouge developed a new chibi artstyle, quite different from the deformed stubs used in the humorous moments before, in which the characters remain somewhat detailed but their proportions have been extremely shortened. The new chibi versions were never used in the story proper and are seemingly exclusive for promotional material and assorted galleries.
  • In the Shirow Masamune manga Dominion Tank Police, the puma sisters join the police force. Ani-puma gets bored, and wants to go out on a tank police raid. But she is over six feet tall, and can't fit in their mini-tank. Ani-puma is a type of android (or bioroid, who can tell with Shirow), and she reveals the power to release all the water in her body, and become a chibi version of herself. After the raid, Ani drinks up the contents of several water coolers, and embiggens herself again.
  • At least a quarter of Dragon Half is spent with various characters — up to and including the story's Big Bad — Super-Deformed.
  • Eyeshield 21 had a joke-strip about this with cell phones. Monta asks whether cell phones should be equally proportioned to their head for actual talking, at the cost of a huge and inconvenient size, or if they should be small like in real life, meaning you can't both listen and talk over the phone. Monta and Sena decided it's best just to stay normal.
  • Fairy Tail: Pops up every now and then, especially in the endings.
  • Fang of the Sun Dougram has the Choro-Q Dougram short, which is just a hilarious race between the Federation and the Fang of the Sun's Combat Armors, played for hilarity.
  • Final Approach switches to super-deformed on a regular basis.
  • From the New World has an online show that defines characters and terms hosted by super-deformed versions of Saki and Squealer. Check it out here and here.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist likes using this to lighten up an otherwise depressing series. Though in the 2003 anime version, it drops this halfway through (with the exception of the Chibi Wrap Party OVA). This trope gives Armor!Al a chance to be absolutely adorable.
  • Displayed and somewhat subverted in Fushigi Yuugi. For most of the characters, it's simply an artistic style; for the shape-shifting Chichiri, comments by other characters imply he actually takes on that appearance, or at least the height.
  • The Eighth diary holder of Future Diary is designed this way... and only her. Every other character in the series has a more realistic design.
  • Ginji of Get Backers sometimes becomes super-deformed for extended periods of time, even when the rest of the characters are drawn normally. Other characters even comment on it in the manga.
  • The animated segments in Godzilland feature Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Mothra, and the rest of the gang in chibi style.
  • The "Science Lesson" segments of Gunbuster, where Chibi Coach, Noriko and Kazumi discuss the "science" the show runs on.
  • Surprisingly prevalent in Gundam. SD Gundam is a sub-franchise in and of itself with model kits, shows, and games. Some stories (like the comedy shorts and BB Senshi Sangokuden) have the super-deformed mecha as characters who talk and interact with super-deformed human characters, while in others (like the SD Gundam G Generation games) the mecha are still piloted weapons as normal. Interestingly, the design of the super-deformed MS has evolved over time: in earlier works they had proportions like regular SD characters, while later works like SD Gundam Force and MS Saga: A New Dawn use a less exaggerated version where the head and torso are large but the limbs are still detailed and jointed, making them more reasonable.
    • The 1980s Manga Plamo-Kyoshiro was the first work in the entire franchise to have both Super-Deformed and regular sized mobile suits together, but this would not be touched upon again until Gundam Build Fighters in 2013-2014, with later Build anime series Fighters Try, Divers, and Divers Re:RISE following suit. Justified in that those works are about people using Gundam model kits (Gunpla) to battle it out via some Applied Phlebotinum. Try even features a Gunpla that transforms from an SD to a normally-proportioned mobile suit.
  • Haruhi Suzumiya has usually avoided this (with the exception of some of the novel pictures).
  • Harukanaru Toki no Naka de has chibi-style omake, sometimes in yonkoma format (such as "Go Go Haruka Kindergarten").
    • Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou (both the TV series and the two-episode OVA with the same title) occasionally has short comical scenes with the character rendered in "chibi" size; also worth mentioning are the "Kotengu Classic" segments, always done in this style (if only because Kotengu is "chibi" by default).
    • There's also a "chibi" Hot Springs Special for Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3.
  • Heaven's Lost Property: Enter Tomoki Sakurai. A chibi 24/7 plushie. He only grows life-sized when he starts taking things seriously which is... well, according to how the story is played, rarely.
  • Occurs often in Hetalia: Axis Powers, usually in funny moments like drunk England.
  • Hidamari Sketch (pictured above), where the girls become Super-Deformed at the slightest provocation, adding immensely to their cuteness factor.
  • The characters of High School Kimengumi spend almost half of their time in chibi form.
  • The title character of Himouto! Umaru-chan changes into this form every time she steps into her house.
  • Used heavily in His and Her Circumstances. The female lead spends at least half her time onscreen in this form.
  • In the end credits sequence for Jewelpet Twinkle☆, the human characters appear with bigger heads and less detailed arms and legs compared to in the actual show.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Though this style is never used in the series, official merchandise has various characters drawn this way.
  • Though its maintenance mode may suggest otherwise, Kemeko from Kemeko Deluxe! is surprisingly stumpy for a human-piloted machine.
  • Komi Can't Communicate: The title character shifts into a mouthless chibi version of herself whenever her social anxiety is getting to her. Given that she's a Nervous Wreck, she ends up spending more time as this trope than in her "normal" appearance.
  • In the Gourmet Girl Graffiti anime's next episode previews the cast is drawn in this style.
  • The OVA special M78 Love and Peace, produced by Tsuburaya, featuring chibi-fied Ultramen and kaiju. One of the most adorable things ever to come from the Ultra Series.
  • The magic knights of Magic Knight Rayearth punctuate their rather serious situation with occasional brief forays into Super-Deformed comedy, especially in the anime.
  • Happens a lot in Maid-Sama!. It's practically the three idiots' default design.
  • The DVDs of Maria Watches Over Us contain parody omake episodes in which all the characters appear in Super-Deformed mode.
  • The entire Mashin Hero Wataru franchise and world setting plays on this—all Mashins, good or bad, are rendered as such; Soukaizan and Seikaizan also have human races that showcase various levels of deformation. Justified when the shows were also meant to be Merchandise-Driven, with model kits of various Mashins being built to replicate this visual style compared to the majority of other shows in the Mecha genre.
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi uses this sparingly (usually in Exposition Diagrams), although Misora does it in her drawings. While it doesn't use it often in the traditional sense, it makes up for it with Chibi-Setsuna, a shikigami that Setsuna uses to remotely contact people. When Chibi-Setsuna disappears, Chibi-Sayo (a Super-Deformed voodoo doll that Sayo possesses) pops up.
  • The titular Egyptian gods in Oh, Suddenly Egyptian God are depicted as short, cute, cartoonish Funny Animals, unlike their traditional depictions (which are mostly humans with animal heads).
  • Chopper in One Piece gradually turned into a chibi version of his original design as a result of Art Evolution, making him even more of a Ridiculously Cute Critter. However, the only time it really fits is in his Chopperman persona. KYUUUN SPAAARK~!
    • Luffy's Heroic RRoD after using Gear 3rd has him temporarily turning into a chibified version of himself.
  • Happens a lot in Otoboku - Maidens Are Falling For Me. Sometimes they stay in chibi-mode for a moment when in the "real world", then immediately transform back to normal.
  • The Prince of Tennis occasionally has entire episodes devoted to showing the adventures of the super-deformed main characters in alternate universes. When the first of these gag episodes was shown just before a much-anticipated showdown, it cemented the show's reputation as one of the most bi-polar creations in all of anime.
  • After its first season, the Ranma ½ series has Eye Catches with the characters in Chibi form.
  • The characters in the ending sequence for Re-Kan! are drawn this way.
  • The Record of Lodoss War series had a bit at the end called "The Second Part", where Chibi versions of the characters ran around acting ridiculous. These skits were often a silly version of the episode you'd just watched, but often (especially in the second half of the show) The Second Part was following its own inane plotline.
  • Rozen Maiden contrasts its characters' elegant designs with ventures into Super-Deformed states.
  • Some of the episodes of Rumbling Hearts had short comedy sketches after the closing credits starring chibi versions of "Ayu-Ayu" and "Mayu-Mayu", an interesting contrast to the generally serious nature of the anime itself.
  • Sailor Moon characters (particularly Usagi) often lapse into chibi style. This is played straight in the manga, typical 90's chibis appear often in most comedic scenes. The 90's anime is a subversion, although some instances of chibi proportions appear, most of the time is just their faces that get deformed. They tend to go more often on full chibi state in promotional materials (Such as toys, stickers and the like) for both anime and manga, very noticeable in the R season eyecatches and the manga's yonkomas. Averted, however, in Sailor Moon Crystal.
  • Sakura Trick depicts the characters this way during the ending and some extra segments.
  • School Rumble, too, uses this with some frequency.
  • Happens frequently in The Secret Devil-chan, mostly with Kogure.
  • Sengoku Basara has "Mini Basara," which is hilarious and adorable.
  • Similar to Hidamari Sketch above, in Sketchbook the characters become chibified all the time. Especially Sora, who possibly spends more than half of her panel appearances Super-Deformed.
  • Often used in Sket Dance, combined with Exposition Diagram, when recapitulating the previous chapters of a Story Arc.
  • Slayers does this quite frequently for a laugh. One notable instance in Slayers Next has Lina casting a Dragon Slave to save Seillune and Amelia asking Shabranigdu to make it work; Gourry and Zelgadis are quick to berate her in Super-Deformed style ("You're a shrine maiden! Don't pray to Dark Lords!").
  • In Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note, characters are styled like this when portrayed in hexagonal speech balloons.
  • The Tokyo Mew Mew manga includes a few side stories called Petite Mew Mew, set in a fantasy land and involving kid/chibi versions of the major characters playing in a kindergarten.
  • In Tonari no Kashiwagi-san this tends to happen when any character gets fired up and passionate about a subject, such as when Kotone starts to talk about anime.
  • Transformers Victory uses chibi versions of the characters on its title cards and eyecatches.
  • In The Wallflower when Sunako is in one of her darker moods (i.e., almost all the time) she is shown in Super-Deformed style. She only looks normal when she is kicking ass in one form or another. She later gains a "hybrid" form, that is sort of "elegant chibi".
  • Though it comes and goes with humorous scenes in The Weatherman Is My Lover, the producer is notable for never appearing as anything but Super-Deformed, even when the rest of the characters are in their normal state.
  • The trainee angels and demons in Wish have chibi forms; Angels being full-size during the day and chibi in the night, and vice versa for the demons.
  • Happens quite often when Keima is explaining something to Elsea in The World God Only Knows.
  • YuYu Hakusho has the characters in a chibi style during the eyecatches.

    Asian Animation 
  • In Flower Angel, An'an's fairy sidekick Kukuru typically takes on a Fun Sized, large-headed form that looks a lot like a plush toy (and indeed, he actually does magically disguise himself as a plushie a few times). Likewise, the fairies Lulu, Lushu, and Luna take similar forms when they act as assistants to An'an's friends.
  • Happy Heroes: One scene in the Season 9 intro depicts Doctor H., his father, and the heroes in a cutesy art style with little bodies and big heads.
  • The characters in Hello Jadoo have short limbs and large heads and eyes that make their designs very cutesy-looking.
  • In Nana Moon, protagonist Keke has more realistic body proportions while she's on Earth. Right before she's sent to Moon Haven, however, she suddenly shrinks and gains a smaller body and limbs and a larger head, giving her an appearance more in line with Moon Haven's moon genies.
  • The end credits for Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Marching to the New Wonderland show the characters in a cuter art style with bigger heads.
  • Official artwork of Say Hi to Pencil! depicts the characters in a simplified 2D art style with shorter bodies and sparkly eyes, anime style. The show itself doesn't utilize this style.

    Comic Books 
  • The Sandman (1989): Abel tells a sweet story about how he and his brother Cain came to live in the Dreaming. It's far more sugary than what really happened, and is drawn in this style by vaunted Jill Thompson.
    • She went on to produce two actual Endless kids' books in the same style, The Little Endless Storybook and Delirium's Party.
  • Anything and everything drawn by Skottie Young, known for his alternate Marvel covers and I Hate Fairy Land.
  • Every so often, the characters in Scott Pilgrim are rendered like this.
  • One issue of Justice League had Superman perceive everyone like this.
  • Superman: The entire inhabitants of the 5th dimension.
  • In Superman/Batman #51-52, an entire s-d League (called Li'l Leaguers: Li'l Superman, Li'l Wonder Woman, Li'l Supergirl...) make an appearance, hailing from a lighter and softer universe.
  • Batgirl: Stephanie Brown narrates the history of the Batfamily to Wendy, complete with a chibi Darkseid.
  • The comic adaptation of Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk.
  • Batman: Li'l Gotham portrays everyone like this.
  • The pygmies in Pocket God are drawn like this. Emphasized in the Infestation Cross Through, where they only come up to the knee of the more realistically-proportioned Britt.
  • One of the new characters in Astro City after the Vertigo relaunch is American Chibi, with a huge head, big eyes, and an undersized body. Justified as she is the creation of a video-game artist who wanted a positive, life-affirming character to star in her game. When Honor Guard follows American Chibi to her Pocket Dimension homeworld, they are also turned into super-deformed designs.
    "Oh, you are all just so totally adorable...!"
  • A number of preview panels for Seconds have shown characters Art Shift into this.
  • Lampshaded and almost parodied in The Adventures of D & A. Captain Tim gets a message from the SWSC's Tokyo base that a monster named Kitora is attacking. The base transmits a chibi image of Kitora, so Tim assumes that the situation is harmless, and sends agents D & A to Tokyo as a training exercise. When they get there, they find that the base has been destroyed, and Kitora is actually a horrifying Kaiju.

    Fan Works 

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • The Fabulous Show with Fay & Fluffy: In the animated segments of the show, Fay and Fluffy are depicted with much smaller statures, bigger heads, and bigger eyes than their live-action selves.

    Magazines 
  • Sports Illustrated often presents images of athletes that look as if they've been distorted in a mirror, often exaggerating their most well known traits, such as a bicep or chin. While not the same style as seen in animation, the effect is pretty much the same.

    Music 

    Professional Wrestling 

    Tabletop Games 

    Toys 
  • Hasbro has chibi lines of several franchises. "[Word related to franchise but not always actual franchise name goes here] Heroes" is usually going to be chibi. In fact, guess who makes the toyline for the Super Hero Squad?
  • Bandai has created toyline history by doing this with Mobile Suit Gundam. Even without tie-in anime like SD Gundam Force or BB Senshi Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors, the SD Gundam line has spawned over three hundred model kits and countless other forms of merchandise.
  • The Nendoroid figure line from GoodSmile Company is this for all sorts of anime characters.
  • A British company, Speed Freaks Studio, makes super-deformed clay models of real life cars and bikes, including Ferraris and Lotuses, as well as super-deformed clay models of people.
  • Spanish toy-line PinyPon features animesque girls that look like straightforward chibi.
  • The Funko Pop! vinyl dolls, which chibify practically anything in pop culture.
  • Some of Underground Toys' talking plush can be described as this, although the Twelfth Doctor one just looks rather like Bert from Sesame Street.
  • Transformers: Generation One: The "Autobot Mini-Vehicles" transform into smaller, super-deformed versions of real-life vehicles, especially noticeable when compared to the more realistically proportioned vehicle modes of the "Autobot Cars".

    Video Games 
  • A portion of Chapter 4 in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony takes place in a virtual reality simulation, in which everyone's avatar was designed in this style, but otherwise look exactly like the character they represent.
  • The entirety of Exorcist Fairy runs on chibi-graphics. You're a super-deformed humanoid hulijing jumping around platforms fighting realistic-looking enemies.
  • In the Tiger Dojo in Fate/stay night, Taiga and Illya sometimes take chibi form. Any other characters in the Dojo always appear as chibi. Other entries in the Fate Series make use of the style as well:
    • Everyone's drawn this way in Type-Moon Academy Chibichuki!, a gag manga crossover with Tsukihime.
    • Koha-Ace as well. The style helps it avoid being an eromanga, since characters are frequently drawn without clothes (not undressing, just suddenly being naked) but all you see is a featureless body with four flipper limbs.
    • The Servants in Capsule Servant are drawn in the Koha-Ace style, while everyone else is a bit more realistic.
    • Fate/Grand Order's Learning With Manga is drawn this way too. In the game, the Servants' profile pictures are temporarily replaced with pictures drawn in the Learning With style for April Fool's Day.
  • All the characters of the Final Fantasy series appeared like this up to Final Fantasy VII. The eighth game was the first with realistically proportioned characters, and while the ninth went back to slightly Super-Deformed (mostly for nostalgia's sake), every game since has had realistic characters.
    • While the Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles spinoffs have so far kept this style, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers uses a more realistic style.
    • While Final Fantasy XI uses generally realistic proportions, the Tarutaru race's build is intentionally reminiscent of a super-deformed style.
    • Theatrhythm Final Fantasy has all of the characters in smaller, cuter versions of their original designs.
    • World of Final Fantasy plays with this. Your two main characters, Reynn and Lann, can switch freely between "Jiant" form (more realistic human proportions) and "Lilikin" form (super-deformed chibi look reminiscent of the sprites from previous games) and doing so affects what monsters they can use in battle using the "stack" mechanic. Meanwhile, returning characters from past Final Fantasy installments appear in Lilikin form, whie their enemies, the Bahamutian Federation, are all Jiants.
  • Invoked in Gacha Life, which allows users to create characters in a chibi style and make animations with them.
  • The Japanese website for Guild Wars features Gwen-chan and Dr. Boar, chibi versions of the already cute Gwen and the tamable boar. Gwen-chan was eventually included in the game as a miniature, tonic, and April Fools joke transformation.
  • The first handheld port of the Guilty Gear games was a Super-Deformed version of the arcade game, Guilty Gear Petit (also known as Guilty Gear Puchi because of romanisation issues).
  • The Project Mirai games from the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series take the already cute Vocaloid characters and make them even cuter by making them into this trope. The designs are based off the Nendoroid figures (see the Toys section).
  • Hazelnut Hex runs entirely on chibi-style animations.
  • A brief scene in Higurashi: When They Cry, when Rika gets mad at Hanyuu's fatalism and punishes her by eating spicy food and drinking alcohol. "Our senses are linked..." The original sound novel art is also chibi-like.
  • Honkai Impact 3rd features this in two different ways:
    • The game has a side feature called the Dormitory, where you can acquire chibi versions of the Valkyries by accomplishing certain in-game achievements with them, then place them in a dorm-like setting featuring bedrooms and a commons room where they can interact. You can interact with the chibis in various ways to earn rewards such as materials you can use to upgrade the dorm rooms or affection points for the Valkyries.
    • Chibis of the Valkyries were featured in a side game attached to the "Honkai Kingdoms" event, where they could play in a free-for-all shooter game. This was brought back as the "Slugfest" feature in the "Odd Drifter" event; the Valkyrie chibis also were used in each level of the event, with new ones and upgrades being acquired with event-specific currency.
  • In I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, some menacing xenofauna such as manticores and the Faceless have chibi overworld sprites of themselves.
  • Persona:
    • The entire cast of Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth appears as smaller, cuter versions of their regular appearances from Persona 3 and Persona 4.
    • Morgana from Persona 5 is a talking cat who while in the world of the Palace takes on a cartoony appearance, possessing a head bigger then his body along with goofy animations and facial expressions, and overall looks rather out of place amid the generally dark, gritty atmosphere of the world around him.
  • PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and its customizable minions are taking part here. You can choose your own littled bodies big headed characters and have them cheer for you.
  • All of the core series Pokémon games from Generations I through V used this style for characters in the overworld. In Generation VI, this was changed to more realistic proportions while maintaining some exaggeration, before moving to regular proportions in Generation VII and beyond. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the eighth-generation Remakes of the fourth-generation Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, return to this style by using 3D versions of the original 2D overworld sprites. Downplayed due to using Pokémon's normal art style in battle.
  • Richman series: In Richman 2 and Richman 3, while the characters' overworld sprites and portraits are Animesque, their "bad ending" portraits use this style instead, with big heads and exaggerated expressions. In most games afterwards, the characters are like this, having big heads and cartoonist art styles.
  • A special move (unique for each character) lets you turn your fighter into one of these in Samurai Shodown 2. It returns in Samurai Shodown 6.
  • The characters of Street Fighter II appear in chibi form in the games Super Puzzle Fighter II and Pocket Fighter (also known as Super Gem Fighter).
  • Super Mario RPG: Mario, Peach and Bowser are depicted this way in the form of pre-rendered 3D models, giving them them an almost doll-like appearance. The 2023 remake uses a style that blends it with their current designs, making their short statures (especially with Mario and Peach) a lot more noticeable.
  • Most games in the Super Robot Wars series portray the mecha as being Super-Deformed in their battle animations. Characters, close-ups of the mecha in battle, and in the Original Generation animes, are shown at normal sizes and proportions. This is at least party done to hide the immense scale differences between the various units, given it is entirely possible to have a 12 meter tall Macross Battleroid backing up the 250 meter tall Gunbuster. This does, however, occasionally lead to odd consequences in attack animations. Super Robot Wars W finds a way to complicate things even further, Not only having such things as as a seven-foot-tall Tekkaman lifting up a 300-meter-long Battleship one-handed and impaling it on their spear, but also things like the differences in size between the cyborg Renee in KorRyu and AnRyu's attacks, and the Powered Armor-wearing heroes who are their own units. One game, Shin Super Robot Wars, used non-SD models for battle animations, and so did Super Robot Wars Gaiden.
  • Tales of Graces has this as apart of their groovy chats. During time to time, you'd see a mini cut-in photo of the characters in their chibi form. This is just for laughs.
  • Many Japanese games have characters drawn chibi-style in long shots (I.E.: overworld mode, in towns, etc.) and normally during combat or cutscenes. This is likely to keep them recognisable when drawn small at console resolution. Some, like Tales of Phantasia, keep the characters in SD at all times so their expressions can be better conveyed (except for the cutscenes in the Playstation remake).
  • Most of the death scenes in Time Gal render Reika as a chibi for some reason.
  • Not used in the Touhou Project itself, but the fan-made Virtual Paper Doll "create.swf" uses this style.
  • The framing device of the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha mini-scenario from the Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever fanbox used chibi versions of Nanoha and the kitsune Kuon.
  • Top Banana: KT both in game, and on the box art. In game, this has the effect of making her look like a Creepy Doll.
  • Turtle Pop: Journey to Freedom: The turtles in the game are typically presented with heads bigger than the rest of their bodies, and really big anime eyes.
  • The developers of Valis II put out for the Sega Genesis a joke version of the game, Valis SD (or Syd of Valis), with the heroine of the series, Yuko Ahko, drawn in SD/chibi form.

    Webcomics 
  • Driftbreak: A particular quirk of the art style. Chibi-fied versions of the characters are abundant throughout the comic, notably in the first few chapter covers and whenever they're just standing there.
  • Tower of God: The giant, Godzilla-like Alligator Rak Wraithraiser gets shrunk to a chibi by Y Han Sung after being rude to him. As of Volume 2, he appears to be able to control this at will, even staying small as a disguise and reverting back when in battle.
  • The now-defunct Ghastly's Ghastly Comic has chibis as their own subspecies of humanity. One recurring character, Chibi-Sue, is a 36-year-old chibi woman who can't have a normal relationship, as the only men interested in her are pedophiles. She also lacks fingers (a common trait of super-deformed characters), making her life suck all the more.
  • I'm the Grim Reaper does this on occasion during comedic scenes.
  • Durkon, Belkar and all other dwarf and halfling characters in The Order of the Stick have smaller bodies than humans and elves but their heads are the same size, and so look disproportionately large on them.
    • Lampshaded by Belkar here.
  • The Succubus protagonist from Krakow, Kia, has a demonic spell that can Chibi-fy people — including herself. Two words: Chibi Nazi!
  • Loserz used this as a kind of special effect several times, like here.
    • There's also this one. The author himself defines the last panel as "the best panel EVER".
  • Occasionally used in Everyday Heroes, for example here.
  • M9 Girls!: Artist Kanela used chibi panels for comedic effect.
  • The characters of Misfile periodically become chibified.
    • If you pay attention though, it's never done in-panel, but in the framework, and is used to denote the characters emotional responses, rather than their physical appearance.
  • Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures will turn a scared character into this form for a panel.
  • Lilformers does this with Transformers and other pop-culture characters.
  • Lizzy, page 30 makes fun of these.
    Lord CJ: I'm a chibi, ain't I kawaii...?
  • Blip uses this during a Pensieve Flashback: Partway through Liz's memory of a nasty argument, both K and Mary transform into chibis and remain that way until the flashback ends. This seems to be indicative that Liz thought they were both acting immaturely, and it's certainly indicative that Liz is deliberately exaggerating the events for the benefit of her audience.
    • Lesser angels and demons are depicted as chibis all the time.
  • Done stealthily in Homestuck: It's hard to see because it's permanent and the protagonists are kids, but when they do something awesome (AKA Hero Mode), they're dechibified.
  • Khaos Komix goes a little heavy on the chibis, usually for comic relief.
  • Art's eyebrows in Sequential Art have been getting bigger and bigger, to the point it's been Lampshaded in-comic using Hypocritical Humor. His eyebrows were ridiculously big to begin with, though.
  • Many El Goonish Shive sketchbook strips have the main and/or supporting characters chibified. This was done often for the "party" or "holiday" strips presumably as it was a convenient way to fit all the characters in without it being crowded. This strip is a good example of this.
  • In Elf Only Inn, Hambonetaru-Chan bought the chat room when they were running out of funds to run it. As a new rule, everyone got new Super-Deformed avatars, except Goku, who was already anime, and Megan, who rebelled against it.
    • Lord of Dorkness was ruining the fun of the Elf Only Inn room, with permission from Lord Elf. Duke and Nimoy went to Demon Citadel to try to recruit a demon to fight Lord of Dorkness. When they were laughed at, they decided to ruin the dark mood by being silly for as long as it took to get someone. One of their stunts was Duke bringing back his Super-Deformed avatar.
  • Drowtales concludes every chapter with one or more chibi pages which parody the chapter's events.
    • Super Deformed also occasionally makes an appearance in the actual storyline. The most notable example is here, when Phani'nath gives a rather abridged summary of the previous council meeting.
  • In Raven Wolf, the human animal heroes are sometimes drawn as cute quadruped animals.
  • In Cat Nine, every now and then when the situation calls for it, for group shots, or if the artist is feeling lazy. [1]
  • In particularly comedic situations the characters from morphE will change from their stock character portraits to super deformed reaction sprites, they are the only time the portraits ever change.
  • The lightly manga-influenced Sticky Dilly Buns occasionally uses chibified versions of its characters in fantasy or emphatically comedic panels — as here, for example.
  • Consolers occasionally has its characters drawn as simplified dot-eyed (or Opaque Lenses for characters with glasses), noseless, fingerless chibis for comedy.
  • Occasionally in Blitzcrafter, the comic will cut to a stylized image of the scene, featuring all characters as super deformed Rayman-esque sprites. This appears to be a nod to games where the spritework is in this style, while the cutscenes feature much better graphics.
  • In Scalie Schoolie, this is a side effect of the Funko Pox.
    Ada: You're... proportioned incorrectly, but in a way that's still aesthetically pleasing!
  • In issue 3 of Ichika Whatever, after screaming their head off for hours, they reduce themselves to how they looked in issue 1, while the outfits stay the same. Their original forms had large heads, big beady eyes, only 2 fingers, and small mouths
  • Schlock Mercenary: The Show Within a Show the protagonists licensed of their adventures depicts them with oversized heads and limbs, or eyes in Schlock's case.
  • Mihui Yang from Surviving Romance is often depicted this way. She even gains a cute little fang.
  • In a contemporary arc Arthur, King of Time and Space strip, Merlin draws a chibi of Arthur ... which turns out to be Charlie Brown. In a space arc strip, Arthur and Merlin visit Japanese space in the future, "far enough that human physiology has evolved".

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Alternative Title(s): Chibi

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Collection Quest

While Bergy tries to come up with a last-minute plan, he, Miko and Nica are depicted as super-deformed for comedic effect.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (4 votes)

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Main / SuperDeformed

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