History Main / AFormYouAreComfortableWith

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':
** {{Lampshaded}} and {{Subverted}}. Dr. Jonas Venture Sr. appears through a portal, saves the day, then turns to leave. All bystanders are understandably surprised, as the man is apparently BackFromTheDead after decades. Dr. Thaddeus Venture begs his father to stay: he has so many unanswered questions, not to mention so many lingering DaddyIssues. The visitor sheepishly admits he's not Thaddeus' returned father, but an alien tasked with saving the Earth, and he merely took the form of the elder Dr. Venture because it would be familiar. As the alien explains he didn't want to upset anyone, Dr. Venture (now very upset) makes it clear that this is A Form He Is ''Not'' Comfortable With.

** Unclear if this actually counts, since it's less of a case of "A Form You Are Comfortable With" and more of a case of ShapeshifterDefaultForm, as once [[spoiler: you defeat her]], Elizabeth Greene's OneWingedAngel form falls over and the "original" chunk of biomass that is her plops out looking just the same. It's difficult to rule it one way or the other as it's never fully explained in the game.

** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' has Nyarlathotep, an excellent shapeshifter; being a mass of literal living, breathing ''evil'', he often uses his powers to duplicate people to stab people from where it hurts most in the shape of the people they admire or love most by [[BreakThemByTalking breaking them by talking]], and mostly inverting this trope, generally with the purpose of [[DespairEventHorizon heightening his enemies' despair so they break]], [[ForTheEvulz general attrition damage]], and [[ForTheLulz for]] [[KickTheDog shits and giggles]]. Being born of Humanity's collective unconscious has made him ''very'', '''''very''''', good at this.

* TheEighties Creator/Channel4 EdutainmentShow ''Helping Henry'' as described in the ExpositoryThemeTune:

*** The Changelings. Odo was essentially doing this every episode, which would actually make this the most frequent occurrence of this trope in the whole franchise. It was actually an instance of CharacterDevelopment when he ''stopped'' being so compulsive about "A Form You Are Comfortable With" and became more interested in experiencing his own shapeshifter-hood, acquiring quarters and outfitting them with various objects to imitate, and "sleeping" anywhere he liked instead of in a bucket in his office. It was also provocative when he met Laas, another one of the hundred changeling babies sent to explore the galaxy, and one who, bitter at the Solids, had no interest in making them "comfortable". But like the Q example above, all of the other changelings appear in a form resembling Odo's [[UncannyValley mostly-human-but-just-a-little-off appearance]] despite being capable of perfectly mimicking any species in the galaxy (Odo, being young for a changling and having been separated from the people who could teach him, isn't quite that proficient).

* ''Literature/TheAndroidsDream'' by Creator/JohnScalzi features an example of "a form we're ''both'' comfortable with." Two characters interacting in a cybernetic mindscape (one which is otherwise abstract rather than a reality-mimicking "{{Cyberspace}}") shape themselves a nice little garden in which to chat, and human "bodies" to wear while doing it.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov used this in a number of his works.
** In "Buy Jupiter", where aliens who inhabited the coronas of stars (and thus existed at temperatures in the thousands of degrees) interacted with humans by projecting human forms to Earth. The humans are fully aware that they are talking to simulations.
** In ''Literature/DavidStarrSpaceRanger'', when David, talking to a telepathic {{Energy Being|s}}, finds it uncomfortable speaking to thin air, the alien states taking a fully human shape would be "a poor and undignified imposture.", and instead appears as a vague glowing shape seven feet tall, just so Starr will have ''something''.
* In a short story by Margaret Attenborough, when God visits Kitty Heaven (which is actually Human Hell) he takes the form of a white Persian.

* The [[FallenAngel eloim]] took on human forms in ''Literature/BuryingTheShadow'' to avoid overwhelming humans by merely existing.
* In ''Literature/ChildhoodsEnd'' by Creator/ArthurCClarke, the Overlords hide their true form [[spoiler:(they look like classic demons)]] for a long time, because they know that we will not be comfortable with it.

* Near the end of Carl Sagan's novel ''Literature/{{Contact}}'', the main character encounters an alien being that has taken the form of her long-dead father in an attempt to make the experience less frightening. The other characters encounter something similar. One person sees his granddaughter. Another sees her long-dead husband. And the Chinese archaeologist sees Confucius.

** The Shards, the people who wield the PiecesOfGod, typically choose to appear in the form they had before they Ascended. Looking too closely--especially at the eyes--can lead to seeing the Shard behind the form, [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm which is usually so overwhelming that the person looking breaks down into tears]]. It should be noted that the evil Shards are more likely to alter their forms to something people find more comfortable, as well as more likely to throw off the facade and humble people with their true form. [[Literature/{{Mistborn}} Ruin]] appears as Vin's brother and Kelsier at various points, while his opposite Preservation only ever shows up as a humble man with a survivalist's knife on his belt. [[Literature/TheStormlightArchive Odium]] appears to Dalinar as a human but to the parsh as a parshman, both times wielding an ornate golden scepter. Cultivation appears as a human woman with pure black skin, although this hides that not only is she a Shard but that her true form is that of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a dragon]]. And [[ComicBook/WhiteSand Autonomy]] has apparently created multiple pantheons where every single member is just a different version of herself.
** The Sleepless in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' also adopt this. Each Sleepless is a massive disconnected consciousness of thousands of individual insectlike creatures who are spread across the entire planet. Since talking with a vast horde of insects is rather disconcerting, the Sleepless have bred [[TheWormThatWalks groups of their individual creatures to be able to assemble themselves into a body that is indistinguishable from a human's, with individuals making up fingers, skin, hair, eyes, and other features.]]
* ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'':
** When Philatel sees the home of Lord Thymon's [[EldritchAbomination sister]] in [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds the Void]] in ''A Copper-Colored Christmas Carol'', he is surprised at the mundanity of the house he's looking at until his guide explains to him that all information relating to Thymon's family has been filtered into terms that he can understand without going mad.
** Although they appear as three identical men in elaborate golden robes, it's suggested that the Three in ''Marksmanship-526 and the Secret Society Stratagem'' may actually look quite different.
--> "It's a man, or at least it looks like one at the moment. It's leaning on a golden staff, wearing golden finery, and encased in an absolutely shocking pair of golden shoulder-pads. Is there something reptilian in his eyes? Is there a hint of wings in those curving shoulders?"

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book "Literature/GhostStory", [[spoiler:Harry starts out the book in a place that's "in-between" the normal world and the afterlife, possibly some sort of limbo. When he asks one character there what's going on, Harry is told that he's "allowed to see as much as he can handle". When he tries to use his TrueSight to see what's really going on, he's very politely stopped.]]

* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheElenium''/''Literature/TheTamuli'':
** Subverted by Aphrael. Although she is a goddess, she chooses to appear as a barefoot little girl -- not so much for the comfort of the humans with whom she interacts, but for her ''own''. She likes to be cuddled and kissed and treated like a little princess, so she adopts the form that is virtually guaranteed to win her such treatment. Her true form isn't that difficult to get around -- a gorgeous, pale, nude young woman. Who glows. And flies. And is a source of magic. And can destroy you with a thought, if she feels like it. The only reason Sparhawk isn't comfortable with her true form is [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn her nudity goes against his gentlemanly propriety]].
*** Also, by the time he first sees her true form she's already assumed a new disguise form as [[spoiler:his daughter]], so naturally seeing her as a beautiful naked woman is a little off-putting.

** In Glen Cook's book ''Petty Pewter Gods'', it turns out that practically all of the gods of the various pantheons are actually refugees from another dimension that feed on faith. Their true form seems to look something like a giant glowing sea anemone -- or at least, that's the form of something that tries to break free and into the real world.

* In ''[[Literature/GauntsGhosts Ghostmaker]]'', [[spoiler:an Eldar Farseer]] requires the aid of Rawne's Ghosts to [[spoiler:defend a lost webway gate]], but doesn't want the [[spoiler:Eldar]] presence to be known to them. So, he uses his psychic abilities to produce a [[LotusEaterMachine sort-of Lotus Eater effect]], making them believe that they're on Tanith fighting alongside other Guardsmen against the forces of Chaos, when in reality, they're fighting through the ruin and the Guardsmen they're fighting alongside are actually [[spoiler:Dire Avengers]]. The masquerade isn't very convincing and it's eventually broken by the Ghosts themselves.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'',[[spoiler: after being "killed" by Voldemort, Harry finds himself in an AfterlifeAntechamber that looks like King's Cross Station. Dumbledore, who meets him there, is a bit surprised by the description, but says it's what he can cope with. When Harry asks if he has to go back, Dumbledore extends the metaphor: he could, if he wished, metaphorically catch a train. "Where would it take me?" "On."]]
** Another possible interpretation of that scene is that [[spoiler: Dumbledore himself is actually Death, in a form Harry would trust as advisor.]]

* ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostApocalypse'': The Krakau are squid aliens whose names are half song, half skin-changes, and one feels that in air as opposed to water their song is harsh and atonal. One's name translated into Human (English, for the purposes of the readers) just ends up being "Orange" followed by several Dots and Dashes. To make things easier on their ServantRace, Krakau who have much to do with humans go through [[AliensStealCable an archive of human music]] and pick songs whose names they use for them. Including Pachabel D Major, Aliouette, and Final Countdown.
* In Ilona Andrews' ''Literature/KateDaniels''' series, there's a shapeshifting infodealer named Saiman who uses his ability to physically become any man or woman he can imagine in his efforts at ferreting out information and for various social dealings. When he's doing his thirty-six-hundred-dollar-an-hour infodealing business (which, truth be told, he's worth the price because he gets results) in the comfort of his own home, he chooses to look like a pleasant, intellectual fellow approaching forty. The trope is subverting, too, as Saiman really doesn't like his own natural form [[spoiler:-- a pure-white-skinned, ice-green-haired brutish looking absolute brick of a bruiser who's incidentally about eight and a half feet tall. See, Saiman owes his shapeshifting powers to his heritage. He is one-half ice giant, one-quarter human, and one-quarter god. Specifically, his grandfather is Loki. And he doesn't feel his muscles-like-rock exterior matches his genius interior.]] So the various striking appearances he crafts -- striking men and beautiful women, depending on what he feels is appropriate -- are all an effort to make a form he himself is comfortable with.

* Played with in a ComicBook/JudgeDredd spin-off novel, ''Wetworks'' by Dave Stone: An alien adopts the form of a certain famous cartoon character in an attempt to make the humans it deals with more comfortable; it doesn't really work, partly because seeing a cartoon character in the flesh is actually pretty discomforting, and partly because although the alien's shape has changed it neglected to do anything about the fact that it constantly emits a toxic gas.

* The reason Walter o' Dim took the appearance of Roland's bondsman, Marten, in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheGunslinger''.
* Abstract example: Creator/StanislawLem's ''Literature/{{Golem}}'' (an artificial intelligence of the 14th generation) is pure intellect and has no personality whatsoever. When it gives lectures at the M.I.T. for a while, it is forced to assume a personality (an eloquent and apodictical preacher) so the humans can at least begin to accept it as an interlocutor, even though both sides are perfectly aware of the pretense.
** Subverted in ''Literature/{{Solaris}}'' by Creator/StanislawLem, where a planet-sized alien intelligence spawns human replicants convincingly interacting with the protagonists, while the purpose of this phenomenon and the message, if any, behind it are a maddening enigma.

* Explored extensively in C.S. Friedman's ''Literature/TheMadnessSeason''. The forbearer-type aliens called Saudar went to immense efforts to tame and enslave the inherently formless beings known as the Mara, who could not only adapt themselves to ''any shape,'' but could analyze the brain of the shape they took to immediately become fluent in spoken language, body language, and given enough time, social and cultural nuance as well. They went to all this trouble because, as we find out towards the end, the Saudar were ugly as sin and would not have been accepted by any alien race they encountered; they needed the shapeshifters to act as their ambassadors.
* ''Literature/TheMemoryWars''
** Gods present themselves in a variety of forms, to fit how a given culture or society has interpreted them. Morrigan, for instance, has also been known as Hecate, Janus, and Loki.

* In ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', Wintermute speaks to the main character through cyberspace and takes the forms of people from his past. Largely because he lacks a personality of his own, adopting that of others is the only way he can communicate with humans. Neuromancer on the other hand, [[spoiler: has constructed a personality for himself, and takes the form of a 13-year old Brazilian boy.]]

* Literature/OrionFirstEncounter: The titular ship Orion reshapes itself to fit its pilots.

** In the SequelSeries ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', [[spoiler: [[EldritchAbomination Tartarus]] takes humanoid form to engage in direct combat with Percy and Annabeth, [[MindScrew thus manifesting]] [[EldritchLocation inside his own heart]].]]

* Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'': Screwtape is reaming Wormwood for [[spoiler:allowing his patient to die]], and in his beautifully goosebumps-inducing description of what it is like when humans encounter God after they die, one of the things he says is that God "wears the form of a man."

* Michael Scott Rohan's ''Literature/TheSpiralSeries'' does this twice to the protagonist. In ''Literature/ChaseTheMorning'' it's part of the BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind with the [[BigBad villain]], and in ''Literature/CloudCastles'' it's his interaction with the BigGood. Both times it's presented as a business deal in his office, since that's how his brain could best handle what was happening.
* In Creator/CatherynneMValente's ''Literature/SpaceOpera'', a species of sentient computers, out of politeness to humanity as the new kid on the galactic block, prints themselves a body that mimics electronic assistant who is supposed to help navigate a complex and confusing system. Unfortunately, their research missed some important cultural context, so they didn't realize that [[spoiler: hardly anyone actually finds Clippy (as in, yes, the paperclip from Microsoft Word, except giant) helpful]] and therefore they've missed the mark on "comfortable". Especially because a giant moving version of something usually encountered as a little pixel creature on your screen would be unnerving even if people ''did'' like it. (It also doesn't help that they get snotty and hostile when they realize it's not working.)
* In ''Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy'', the angelic Eldila are ordinarily barely-visible disturbances in the light. Near the end ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}'', two eldila attempt to find a suitable form to take when they meet the king and queen of Perelandra. Good thing, too, as their first two attempts wouldn't have worked at all. In particular, one of those forms is described as being a particular perception of the eldila in much the same way as suffering a concussion and seeing stars is a particular perception of a rock (i.e. one that has been thrown at your head).

** The Seleneans; in their natural state they are only semi-humanoid at best, and rather ferocious-looking. The Selenean Pod Mothers, who have great control over their offsprings' genetics, have bred certain broods designed specifically for offworld contact. These individuals, Y'Lira Modan of ''Literature/StarTrekTitan'' among them, take a form more pleasing to humanoid eyes, but retain the ability to shift into their natural state if need be.

** In the ''Literature/TheQContinuum'' trilogy, Q takes Picard into the distant past to witness Q's meeting with 0, a being not unlike a Q who inspired much of Q's interest in testing lesser races. Q initially has them both appear as a three-headed serpent, his favoured guise at this time of galactic history, but when Picard has trouble coping with such sensory input, Q adjusts the scenario so that Picard perceives Q's younger self as a junior version of the human form he often assumes in the present day, with the Q accompanying Picard appearing in his familiar human disguise and his and Picard's clothing growing more modern as the events they are watching grow closer to the present. When other higher-dimensional beings appear, Q also adjusts Picard's perceptions to fit something Picard can comprehend, justifying such details as one alien known as The One manifesting as a pillar of fire when the relevant Christian imagery won't be formed until several millennia into the future.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** In ''Literature/LukeSkywalkerAndTheShadowsOfMindor'', the rock-inhabiting energy beings humans call [[StarfishAliens Melters]] have none of the same senses humans do, but sense the slight electricity in human bodies. Luke is known for being able to communicate with anything, but when he tries to [[StarfishLanguage communicate with Melters]] he has to perceive the world the way they do, and it's too alien for him to be able to make sense of it. Instead he interprets the experience as floating in space, with himself and all other lives, including theirs, as different stars. He's aware that it's a metaphor and that if he stretches it too far it's just not going to work.

* WebSerialNovel ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'' features reapers who act as {{Psychopomp}}s for the dead. The reapers are basically imaginary. They don't have a "true" form and those who can see them perceive them exactly as they expect a reaper to look.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', when the deceased ancestors of [=StarClan=] want to send a message to a living cat, they choose as messenger someone who had a close relationship with the recipient. For example, Firestar talks to Spottedleaf, an old friend of his. Echosong talks to Fawnstep, who was the medicine cat of [=SkyClan=] before her. Aside from comforting both cats, this custom means they can skip introductions and get down to business.

* On Website/DeviantArt there is this prose piece called "God Drinks Black Coffee". The main character meets God on the sidewalk in the form of a woman.

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fanfic ''[[FanFic/BoundDestiniesTrilogy Wisdom and Courage]]'', [[spoiler: the three golden goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, take on [[HumanityEnsues human forms]] to meet with Zelda in chapter 35 because, as Din states, their true forms are [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm beyond her mortal comprehension]].]]

* Faith's mind in ''[[https://m-mcgregor.livejournal.com/176718.html The Zeppo In Mind]]'' appears to Xander as a combination of an office and a control room, with the changes made to her body by him, the slayer spirit, [[spoiler:the Primal]], or [[spoiler:the Soldier]], appearing as paperwork that they have to fill out. It takes Xander some time to realize that both are just how his mind interprets things rather than how they truly look.
** Likewise, any minds in Faith's head appear in a way that are easier to comprehend. The slayer spirit takes the form of the First Slayer, and Faith's conscience takes the form of a naked Xander (though appearing as Faith for Xander's sake). [[spoiler:The primal spirit appears as a giant Hyena, and the Soldier looks like Faith in [=BDUs=] and a ponytail.]]

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'': when introducing herself to her captives, Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi shows her ability to take any form by turning from a horse to a {{Starfish Alien|s}}. Franchise/{{Batman}} is disgusted and asks for her to change back to the former.

** God also does this, spending most of the movie in the form of a middle-aged homeless man in a coma, and at the end appearing as Alanis Morissette.
* This trope was weaponized in ''Film/{{Dreamcatcher}}''. The true form of the aliens is a massive, tripodal creature that can devour humans; knowing that this form will instigate aggressive reactions, they project a telepathic image of the traditional Gray alien into human minds, making them appear weak and near-human.
* Likely in an homage to this trope's use in ''Franchise/StarTrek'', the Thermians in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' disguise themselves as humans when visiting Earth. Their native form looks more like a mollusk than a human. In one scene, the Thermians forget to put on their disguises when visiting the ShowWithinAShow's stars -- causing the latter to be quite disturbed.... They also keep up the disguises when no humans are around, because their slavish devotion to the ''Galaxy Quest'' "historical documents" made them build the ship ''exactly'' as they saw it -- i.e., with controls designed for human beings. In their true forms, they can't use their own ship!
* Gozer in ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' first takes the aspect of an androgynous human, then an aspect of the Ghostbusters' choosing.

* Similar to the example from ''Film/{{Dreamcatcher}}'', the aliens in ''Film/{{Progeny}}'' project the Gray form to make the abduction ordeal more comfortable for humans. Their real form, as revealed part-way through the movie, is horrific, non-humanoid, and vaguely reptilian.

* PlayedForLaughs in a little joke in the adaptation of ''Film/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader''. Liliandil is a star that transforms into a beautiful woman.

'''Liliandil:''' If it is a [[DistractedByTheSexy distraction]], I can change form.\\

* In ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'', Victor Stone/Cyborg uses his former self wearing his GCU jacket as avatar whenever he ventures in the digital world.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''

* Mirror Girl from ''Literature/BlindLake'' adopts the image of little girl Tess in order to talk to humans.

* Explored in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. Aslan the talking lion isn't just a CrystalDragonJesus, he actually ''is'' Jesus. Or rather, on Earth, among humans, he went by that name and form, while in the TalkingAnimal world of Narnia, he manifests as a fellow talking animal.

** When Philatel sees the home of Lord Thymon's [[EldritchAbomination sister]] in [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds the Void]] in ''[[https://thecrewofthecoppercoloredcupids.wordpress.com/a-copper-colored-christmas-carol/ A Copper-Colored Christmas Carol]]'', he is surprised at the mundanity of the house he's looking at until his guide explains to him that all information relating to Thymon's family has been filtered into terms that he can understand without going mad.
** Although they appear as three identical men in elaborate golden robes, it's suggested that the Three in ''[[https://thecrewofthecoppercoloredcupids.wordpress.com/2022/07/16/marksmanship-526-and-the-secret-society-stratagem-part-two/ Marksmanship-526 and the Secret Society Stratagem]]'' may actually look quite different.
--> "It’s a man, or at least it looks like one at the moment. It’s leaning on a golden staff, wearing golden finery, and encased in an absolutely shocking pair of golden shoulder-pads. Is there something reptilian in his eyes? Is there a hint of wings in those curving shoulders?"

** The Great Old Ones avert this trope, as they can't be concerned with whether their appearance causes puny human minds to [[GoMadFromTheRevelation shatter like glass]].

* A rare audio example from ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''; the speech of Dante's great-great-grandfather in the Heaven of UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} expresses thoughts so deep a mere mortal could not comprehend. In his deep sympathy for his great-great-grandson, he allowed "his speech to descend to meet the limit of our intellect" and refrained from speaking truths beyond mortal comprehension.

*** Zeus is so overwhelming that seeing him will kill a mortal (referencing the Semele myth). He talks with mortals by first taking some other form (first an eagle, later a bull) and slowly easing himself into a more humanoid appearance. April notes that she has to look away as he does this, since looking for too long feels like staring into the sun.

* Subverted in ''Literature/HaloHuntersInTheDark'': After Olympia Vale is kidnapped by an ancient artificial intelligence, it assumes a holographic form resembling Vale so the two can converse. Rather than being comforted by it, though, Olympia finds talking to "herself" to be rather unsettling, especially when [[spoiler:the AI reveals it's the one that activated the Halos, which will cause the xenocide of all living species.]]

** However, definitely of this trope is Kuyou Suou, an agent of the competing faction the "Sky Canopy Domain". She has no individuality at all (at least [[UnreliableNarrator according to Kyon]]); she's entirely a humanlike mouthpiece for the Domain. This doesn't quite make Kyon feel more comfortable, though, because Kuyou's horrible social skills (being unable to even ''talk'' coherently or look normal/visible) make the plan for them a failure in that respect.
* ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'': An entity presumed to be the Devil manifests at the climax of a memorable Black Mass. The defrocked priest (defrocked for detrousering altar boys) Padre Pederastia, screams ''Come not in that form!'' as the entity begins to appear. Bidden to come in a form we can be comfortable in seeing, the form in which you move and go about your business in the world, the entity complies. He adopts the form of evangelist Billy Graham.
* ''Literature/{{Incandescence}}'': When someone is [[BodyUploading living on a processor]], they see everyone they talk to as their own species and hear all speech as their own language, no matter how many kinds of aliens are present. They also perceive their environment as something familiar from their home planet.
* The Krakau in ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostApocalypse'' are squid aliens whose names are half song, half skin-changes, and one feels that in air as opposed to water their song is harsh and atonal. One's name translated into Human (English, for the purposes of the readers) just ends up being "Orange" followed by several Dots and Dashes. To make things easier on their ServantRace, Krakau who have much to do with humans go through [[AliensStealCable an archive of human music]] and pick songs whose names they use for them. Including Pachabel D Major, Aliouette, and Final Countdown.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''

* Yet another Creator/CSLewis example from the finale of ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters''. Screwtape is reaming Wormwood for [[spoiler:allowing his patient to die]], and in his beautifully goosebumps-inducing description of what it is like when humans encounter God after they die, one of the things he says is that God "wears the form of a man."

* In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', the Ainur, who are normally incorporeal spirits, capable of changing their physical shape as easily as people can change clothes, upon arriving to Arda, take on a form closely resembling the "Children of Iluvatar" - Elves and Men, for the sake of convenience during future interactions with them.
* Satan from ''Literature/TheSorrowsOfSatan'' tailors both his physical form and his personality to the person he's trying to tempt at the moment. He spends most of the book as Prince Lucio Rimânez, whose cynical and sarcastic personality appeals to Geoffrey.

* Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse:

* The dragons in ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'' are not exactly very approachable in their natural form, so they shapeshift whenever they want to chat.

* In the God Game ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'' (specifically, the first one), the mortal villagers of Eden only see You as a rotating ball of energy with a symbol on it. As the player, You see a hand... one that that [[Literature/ThePictureofDorianGray reflects everything You've done on Eden]]. As the developers wrote in the making-of book, ''there are no mirrors on Eden''.

* A rare example of this being played for horror comes in ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon Project Origin]]'' with Alma. She pins Beckett to a wall, looming over him looking like an emaciated corpse, but then retreats and takes on the form of a healthy, attractive young woman. Made horrifying by the fact that Alma is [[StalkerWithACrush in love with Beckett]], and it's quite clear that she's doing this to appeal to him.

* ''Film/{{Lifeforce}}'': The space vampires took human form by probing the minds of the astronauts for suitable shapes. The human explorers, who presumed they were dealing with HumanAliens, decided to take them to Earth for further study. Their ''real'' forms are those hibernating bat-like creatures found inside the alien spacecraft, which are only shown in their full glory when the female vampire visits Carlson in his dreams, and when [[spoiler:the second male vampire is killed at the end.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheManyWorldsInterpretation'', blending the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' and ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Sheldon Cooper has a brush with the DEATH of the Roundworld. He is angry and irritated that DEATH takes the traditional form ofm''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' type - a medieval robed spirit with scythe. Sheldon defiantly folds his arms, digs his feet in, and stubbornly says that unless DEATH takes the form of [[ComicBook/TheSandman1989 a perkily pretty Goth girl in her late teens]], then ''he isn't going anywhere''.

** {{Parodied|Trope}} in "[[Recap/SouthParkS8E9SomethingWallMartThisWayComes Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes]]", when the Wall-Mart (who looks suspiciously like [[Franchise/TheMatrix The Architect]]) tells Stan and Kyle he can take many forms. He then proceeds to put on a hat and ask: "Does this form please you?" and takes on several other "forms" such as the same guy but wearing a jacket. About a minute later, when the Wall-Mart store is falling in on itself, he says "Now you shall see my true form!" then rips off his (apparently) fake moustache while maniacally dancing about. [[http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/104412/wall-mart-implodes This description does not do it justice.]]

* ''Anime/FLCLProgressive'' reveals that this is true of Haruko Haruhara, as she takes on a much more disturbing form to [[spoiler: devour Jinyu]].

-->'''Hawke:''' Impressive! Where'd did you learn to turn into a Dragon?\\
'''Flemeth:''' (''Laughs'') Perhaps I ''am'' a Dragon?

* Myth/HinduMythology: This is sometimes performed through the use of avatars. Most famously, Vishnu occasionally manifests on earth to communicate to mortals in human form. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu speaks to prince Arjuna through his human avatar Lord Krishna. At one point, Arjuna asks if he can be allowed to see Krishna's true eternal divine form and the avatar agrees. He does first have to grant Arjuna a divine sense however, since human eyes cannot see or comprehend the universal form of God. This means Arjuna is free to be terrified out of his wits upon observing the universal totality that is Vishnu, and immediately asks him to change back to Krishna.

* Myth/HinduMythology: This is sometimes performed through the use of avatars. Most famously, Vishnu occasionally manifests on earth to communicate to mortals in human form. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu speaks to prince Arjuna through his human avatar Lord Krishna. At one point, Arjuna asks if he can be allowed to see Krishna's true eternal divine form and the avatar agrees. He does first have to grant Arjura a divine sense however, since human eyes cannot see or comprehend the universal form of God.

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3FutureRedeemed'': The prequel DLC finally gives more information on Alvis from the first game. [[spoiler:Alvis is an Aegis like Mythra and Malos, one of the three cores of the supercomputer that managed the divine Conduit. Alvis (or rather, Ontos' core) fell through a dimensional rift with Zanza. When Zanza awakened the core to help build a new universe, "Alvis" was awakened as male, subservient, and largely unable to act without direct orders from ''someone''. He couldn't fix anything himself because he could only choose someone to weild his power. In ''Future Redeemed'', we find out that Ontos was actually designed to be neutral, the mediator between the male Logos and the female Pneuma. The plot is that Ontos has separated into the male Alpha (who wants to destroy Aionios and save only those born within it) and the feminine-formed but non-binary A (who wants to save ''everyone''). Shulk implies at the end that A is in fact the true form of Alvis, what they would have always chosen if they had a choice from the start]].

* [[spoiler:Alvis]]'s human form in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1''.

--->'''Vicky:''' I am a strong, independent acid snake in the skin suit of a strong, independent woman.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity''. The Voice of Life, the embodiment of the world's will to survive, has chosen you to help combat the forces that seek the world's demise. To do so, it takes the form of [[spoiler:Hydreigon, a three-headed dark-type dragon with pupilless red eyes that even the Pokédex refers to as "the brutal Pokémon". It's more of a meta example, however, as the only Pokemon in the story who actually seems to be bothered by his appearance at one point is Dunsparce, who isn't exactly brave. The fact that he introduces himself as Hydreigon seems to imply that he might not have any choice in the form he takes, either.]]
** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' plays this straighter by all but directly stating this to be the case for Arceus, heavily implying that the physical body you can encounter and catch (and, by extention, the body you can catch in other previous titles as well) is a shell created using only a tiny fraction of Arceus' full power, and that its true form is infinitely more powerful and incomprehensible. Considering that Arceus is the TopGod of the Pokemon universe, this would certainly explain how random children have been able to capture it throughout the series.

* This trope is the entire point of the Metatron's existence in ''Film/{{Dogma}}''.
-->"Human beings have neither the aural nor the psychological capacity to withstand the awesome power of God's true voice. Were you to hear it, your mind would cave in and your heart would explode within your chest. We went through five Adams before we figured that one out."
** And this turns out to be [[ChekhovsGun important to the finale]].

* ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' has [=SkyNet=] take the form of Dr. Serena when she debriefs Marcus in his role as her UnwittingPawn. To add extra creepiness to the "kindness", she offers to switch her appearance into that of John Connor or Kyle Reese... as ''she is having both killed mere floors below!'' Needless to say, this was not a successful persuasive tool. Oh, and her [[RedEyesTakeWarning eyes turned red]] like a Terminator's do.

* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}''

* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya''

* The [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]] in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' have a true form which is apparently something like architecture, but humans and ''panserbjørne'' (and others) see them as {{Winged Humanoid}}s because their mind just can't wrap itself around their true forms. Technically, the angels aren't even taking this form, the mind of the observer just interprets them as looking like angels. This even applies to witches, who have much more expanded minds than other races and were aware of things like parallel universes long before them.
* In the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy, an entity presumed to be the Devil manifests at the climax of a memorable Black Mass. The defrocked priest (defrocked for detrousering altar boys) Padre Pederastia, screams ''Come not in that form!'' as the entity begins to appear. Bidden to come in a form we can be comfortable in seeing, the form in which you move and go about your business in the world, the entity complies. He adopts the form of evangelist Billy Graham.

* This trope is at the least OlderThanFeudalism, with gods taking forms that appeal to mortals, most notably [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Zeus]]. Indeed, the story of Semele has Zeus forced to show her his true form, which promptly kills her. And seeing as this is Zeus, he's got his reasons to make himself appeal to mortals.
* ''Literature/TheBible''

*** This may include "the angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament; some scholars interpret this as Jesus before his incarnation.
*** Docetism, an early splinter doctrine of Christianity, teaches that the form Jesus took during his time on Earth wasn't truly human, but merely appeared as such for the purpose of interacting with mortals.

* The ''Tao te Ching'' is an attempt to do this to the Tao, through a series of analogies.
* For the most part, the followers of Myth/EgyptianMythology understood that the various forms ascribed to their various gods weren't supposed to be how the gods actually were. Those forms were supposed to be symbolic of concepts and traits found in the gods, with the actual gods themselves being thought to exist as abstract forces.
* In [[Myth/HinduMythology Hinduism]], this trope is sometimes performed through the use of avatars. Most famously, Vishnu occasionally manifests on earth to communicate to mortals in human form. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu speaks to prince Arjuna through his human avatar Lord Krishna. At one point, Arjuna asks if he can be allowed to see Krishna's true eternal divine form and the avatar agrees. He does first have to grant Arjura a divine sense however, since human eyes cannot see or comprehend the universal form of God.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Some zoos have been known to feed animals using hand puppets that look like an adult of that species.
** This is actually necessary for baby primates when humans are feeding them. The human wears a monkey suit to simulate the fur of the mom. This way the baby will accept the mother when returned to her.
** It's also necessary for avians. Birds that "imprint" on humans as infants [[ObliviousAdoption will think that humans are like them, or that they are like humans]]. This can lead to difficulties if the bird in question is a part of a breeding program to keep the species from dying out. Ducks and geese are best known for this problem, and may actually end up not knowing how to fly since humans don't. This is referenced in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', in which a human raised by dwarves is likened to a duck raised by chickens.
*** Worse, a hawk or owl who is imprinted on humans may not be able to hunt and would fly to humans it found once released in the wild, hoping for food. A raptor imprint can end up a permanent captivity resident.
*** The most famous phenomenon this leads to is talking birds; for a parrot to be ready to learn to talk, it has to be separated from any other parrot, so that it imprints on its human owner and tries to imitate it.
** Some Chinese zoos have had their zookeepers [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fXBRKWmICU dress up like pandas]] when taking care of baby pandas in the zoo. The logic behind this is that the baby pandas won't form human attachment so that they can be released into the wild later on.
* Quantum mechanics can be a bit like this. One example is the quadrupolar echo pulse sequence in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The math works out perfectly, but trying to visualize it invariably winds up with the spin pointing 90 degrees from where the math says it should be and where experiment confirms that it actually is. The lesson here is that once you get deep enough, physics really ''is'' just math, and what you ''think'' of as "physics" is just a Form You Are Comfortable With.
** Any image of something atom-sized or smaller is going to be this. By now most people probably know the standard "solar system"-style depiction of an atom is "wrong," but ''any'' depiction of something atom-sized or smaller is going to require some artistic license, as it's basically an artist's impression of a mathematical concept, and therefore the image will be inaccurate. The very idea of something having a "physical appearance," in the way we understand it, ceases to have meaning at the atomic and sub-atomic level.
* Computer interfaces. Raw binary data is near-impossible to process for humans, and the inner workings of software are not only difficult to understand, but aren't of interest to most users. User interface is an abstraction that presents only the data the user wants, and in an easily understood form at that. Even most programmers deal with high-level programming languages and platforms that abstract away many layers of complexity irrelevant to the task.
* Another computer aspect that people use every day is the Domain Name System (DNS). Computers use numbers while people like words, so the DNS equates a common, easily-remembered name to the actual address used on the Internet. After all, it's a lot harder for people to remember to use "142.250.81.228" than it is to remember "www.google.com."
* A less extreme version of this trope would be "a form you will find more useful", and is practically ubiquitous with diagrams and route maps. If you're trying to find your way around a metro system, or build a complicated electrical circuit, a simplified not-to-scale representation using accepted symbols will be much more helpful than a completely accurate photorealistic image of the system. By extension, pretty much all metaphors, allegories or symbolism could be said to be aspects of this trope.
[[/folder]]

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' plays this straighter by all but directly stating this to be the case for Arceus, heavily implying that the physical body you encounter and ultimately capture is manifested using but a small fraction of Arceus' full power, and that its true form is much more incomprehensible. Given that Arceus is the TopGod of the Pokemon universe, this would certainly explain how random children have been able to capture it throughout the series.

* Some ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fanfiction show the various bijuu choosing to assume human forms in order to communicate with their containers. Whether the bijuu are more sociable or not varies from author to author, but the Kyuubi almost invariably ends up being [[EvilRedhead a redheaded woman]] [[SelfFanservice with a model's body]], which often leads to a standard speech that "You think a female can't be strong?" from the demon. The fact that bijuu are living masses of chakra with no actual physical form, and thus no gender, is conveniently ignored.
** ''The Melt'' has the Kyuubi appear as a SharpDressedMan in black with slicked red hair. Upon Naruto saying "I thought you were a fox", the Kyuubi shows his true form, promptly scaring Naruto and causing the Kyuubi to point out that he chose that form for a reason.
** In ''Fanfic/DestinyIsAHazyThing'' the Kyuubi and Daiki (Yog-Sothoth) appear as (according to Naruto) "The most beautiful women he had ever seen with red-gold hair and in a plain brown dress" (Kyuubi) and a rather handsome man with short black hair wearing either blue and gray robes or a leather vest, trousers, and boots (Daiki). Justified in that Daiki is a RealityWarper and in foresight thought of this trope and chose genders for both him and the Kyuubi to make conversations with Naruto easier.

** DoubleSubverted. The alien is so irritated by Dr. Venture's ingratitude that he testily agrees to reveal his true form just to prove a point. The audience [[DiscretionShot doesn't see]] what the alien looks like, but the other characters do. Sure enough, they are utterly horrified.

* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] in ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'''s TimeTravelEpisode "Angels in America". When Tabitha is sent back in time, an angel named Raphael appears to her and keeps changing between forms of her friends in each timeline she visits. At one point, he weaponizes this by revealing his true form to the town sheriff (and thankfully,[[UnrevealAngel not to the viewer]]) so that Tabitha can sneak a wanted family out of the diner, leaving the sheriff [[NightmareFace paralyzed with blood coming from his eyes.]]