History Main / FusionDance

** The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' introduces Channeling, which allows Celestials (Outsiders from the good-aligned planes) to merge physically with a mortal (as an equivalent of the fiends' DemonicPossession). It works only on willing mortals and gives them serious boost to mental stats, and share all skills and supernatural powers of the Celestial. Powerful Celestials have this as a power, and lesser ones can profit of Channeling too if the mortal cast the appropriate spells.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', there's a Solar Circle Sorcery spell called "Unity of the Closed Fist" found in the White Treatise. It creates the composite variant but adds all the elements of the different types of Exaltations involved. It can combine up to five individual Exalts, thus the name -- five fingers making a single closed fist.

* In ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'', Sin-Eaters are the power booster type, having a Geist that fused its soul with theirs, giving them ghost-like powers and abilities, as well as near immortality. The Caul Manifestation takes this one step further, as the Geist (which is usually just a presence in the back of the Sin-Eater's head) merges with the Sin-Eater, enhancing his form and granting him new powers.
** And in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, the Blood Brother bloodline of vampires naturally came in packs that could fuse together into [[TwoBeingsOneBody a grotesque mashup]].
** Also from the Old World of Darkness were the ''vozhd'' war ghouls, produced by Tzimisce vampires by taking around a dozen or two ghouls (usually human) who were then [[BodyHorror fleshcrafted into one gargantuan near-mindless fleshy engine of destruction and mayhem]]. Their heyday was during the dark ages - not only is modern usage of them too attention-grabbing in most situations, modern advances in weaponry mean that they're much easier to defeat than they were before, [[AwesomeButImpractical usually making them a waste of resources]].
** The Incarnate Inheritance from ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'' is an example of the Composite variation. The Beast must unite her human Life and her monstrous Legend into a single Myth, rewriting the narrative of the Primordial Dream so that it now revolves around her. If she succeeds, she is able to fully merge her human self and her Horror into a single entity with the strength of a Horror and the freedom of a human.

** Also Takutanuva, the merged light/dark being formed when [[SixthRanger Takanuva]] switches {{mask|OfPower}}s with [[BigBad Makuta]] while submerged in [[SentientPhlebotinum Energized Protodermis]]. It appears to be a Composite type, although the personality seems more akin to [[MessianicArchetype Takanuva]] than [[EvilOverlord Makuta]].
*** This was more or less FridgeLogic-ed when it was revealed that this was because Makuta's plan meant he decided to remain more-or-less dormant.

* Franchise/{{LEGO}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' line has this as its main gimmick. If two Mixels merge they'll either become a Mix, which is a Power Booster/Mixed Form Shapeshifter with one Mixel dominant and the other giving them their powers, or they'll become a Murp, which is a misshapen Composite that has its own personality and the Mixels' powers with no control over them. If three Mixels of the same tribe merge they'll become a Max, which is a large bestial Composite.

* In the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fanimation ''WebAnimation/NazoUnleashed'', [[spoiler:Sonic and Shadow fuse into Shadic after assuming their [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Hyper forms]].]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The ''Forum 3000'' question-and-answer site once had the 'Bitter Crack Baby' and 'Jet Li' personas merge to create 'Bitter Jet Li' (with a userpic twice the size of the other personas).

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'':
** The twins Phobos and Deimos sometimes fuse into a more powerful being called Fury that has the heads and limbs and tails of both of them, along with a fear aura so powerful that it rips up reality around itself. Later on, [[spoiler:Phobos dies, Fury is created by fusion with others]].
** Gog and Magog can fuse into a larger being called Gogmaggog.

* '''Power Booster''' -- Person '''B''' disappears, but the merging [[SuperEmpowering gives powers or attributes to]] '''A''' s/he didn't have before. '''B''' may be able to speak to '''A''' in his or her mind. '''A''' still looks exactly the same as before, only has superficial changes (clothing, for example), or looks like a more powered-up version of '''A''' (and only of '''A''').

** Germany and Italy were each a collection of smaller kingdoms and principalities before they were each united under a single monarch in the 19th century. Germany did this ''again'' after TheGreatPoliticsMessUp, when the capitalist West Germany merged with the formerly communist East Germany to become Germany as we know it today.

[[caption-width-right:226:[[JustSoStory And that's how the platypus came to be!]] [[note]]Image by Pandaluna[[/note]]]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** Edition 3.5 has a high-level power called ''fusion'', for Psions who specialize in Psychometabolism. The power lets the user combine with a willing creature taking on all their abilities, combining hit points, the best of saves, skills, attacks, and ability scores. If both use psionics they even combine their power point pools.

* The title character in the ''Literature/Dogman'' books was created when a police officer and his police dog were injured in an accident, and the doctors saved them by putting the dog's head on the man's body.

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* In ''Film/RoboGeisha'', [[spoiler:cyborg assassin sisters Yoshie and Kikuyakko merge together, using their combined powers and weapons to defeat Hikaru and foil his plans.]]

* The serial ''The Adventures of Captain Marvel'' features the Billy Batson/Captain Marvel Switcher.
* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'': A method of Fusion Dance plays a key role in the plot. [[spoiler:Mewtwo has the psychic ability to forcibly fuse humans and their Pokémon partners into a single, more powerful being. Detective Pikachu is the result of him doing so to Harry Goodman and his Pikachu in order to save the former from severe injuries, whereas [[BigBad Howard Clifford]]'s EvilPlan is to force Mewtwo to do this to ''[[AssimilationPlot everyone in the world]]''. In an interesting twist, it's explicitly noted that the fusion dance is only possible if one member's higher thinking is suppressed; Harry and Pikachu could only be fused while Harry was unconscious, while the villain has to use [[PsychoSerum "R" serum]] to render Pokémon temporarily feral and mindless for his plan work.]]

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock is obviously ''very'' fond of this trope.
** ''Literature/TheElricSaga'': Elric temporarily merges with two of his Eternal Champion alter egos from different worlds in order to save the multiverse. They become a three-headed, six-armed superbeing. An another opportunity, he merges with three of them.
** That merger was in ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'', an ''[[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric of Melnibone]]'' novel by Creator/MichaelMoorcock. Erekose, Elric, Corum and Hawkmoon join together to form the "Four Who Are One" to fight Agak and Gagak.
** In ''The Final Programme'', the protagonist merges with his (female) rival to create a hermaphroditic superhuman.
** In ''The Dreamthief's Daughter'', the protagonist, an alternate-universe Elric, merges with him in order to overcome many challenges.
** And in ''The City in the Autumn Stars"", something similar is attempted, but the experiment fails because they just don't have the technology yet.

* At the end of Creator/PiersAnthony's ''[[Literature/ApprenticeAdept Unicorn Point]]'', after merging the worlds of Photon and Phaze together, The entire sentient population of Phaze became Switchers, merging with their opposite number from Photon. The only exceptions were Photon residents who hadn't been on the planet long enough to have gained an "other self," or those whose alternate selves happen to have died.

* The Composite happens during a battle with Lucifer in the book ''Literature/{{Magnus}}'' by Matthew Dickens.
* In ''The Moment of the Magician'', Jon-Tom fights a spellsinging duel against four demonic creatures, whose bodies gradually fuse into a literal one-man-band. [[spoiler: This results in a "fusion dance" of a different sort, when Jon-Tom spellsings it/them into submission with his rendition of the Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance", and they explode in a miniature mushroom cloud!]]
* ''Literature/CodexSeraphinianus'' has a page or two (which usually also doubles as cover art) of a human man and woman fusing together to form an ''alligator'', and provides a very detailed and somewhat unsettling series of images of their bodies merging into a single creature.
* In ''Literature/CityOfIllusions'' by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin, two minds who have lived sequentially in the same body (after one was erased and the other grew in its place, then the first one was restored) end up in joint control. Since their enemies have told a different story to each of them, they are able to see through the lies by working together.
* In Creator/StormConstantine's ''Literature/BuryingTheShadow'', the eloim naturally have sex through fusion dance. Occasionally the fusion will be permanent, resulting in a creature called a Harkasite. The practice is largely taboo by the beginning of the book in favor of more human sexual behaviors.
* In Simon Hawke's ''The Wizard of Santa Fe'', Billy Slade starts out as a teenager who shares his body with the spirits of two millennia-old archmages. When Billy suffers a lethal wound, both possessing spirits simultaneously sacrifice their own energies to save his life, and the three of them undergo a Fusion Dance, transforming Billy's body into an adult that shares their physical traits and magical aptitudes, while blending aspects of their personalities with his.
* ''Literature/TheLastDragonChronicles'': This happens when the Fain "commingle." [[spoiler: By the end of Book Four, David also contains Ingavar, Thoran, Dr. Bergstrom, ''and'' G'lant. That's a lotta people in one body.]]
* In the Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures book ''Alien Bodies'', it's mentioned the [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Krotons]] will ultimately become a single gestalt race, the Ixtricite, with another crystalline race called the Rhotons and some other race whose name the Doctor can't recall.

* In the ''Literature/ParadoxTrilogy'', phantoms come in sizes ranging from smaller than a finger to larger than a planet. It turns out that larger phantoms are formed by many smaller phantoms fusing together.
* In ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', of all places, this is how angels are said to make love, melting together and just ''loving'' each other. [[HoYay Note well]] that no explicitly female angels are ever shown in the poem... So yes, [[Creator/JohnMilton an old Puritan man]] did this trope centuries before any other example you're likely to name.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Nightside}} Paths Not Taken]]'', two minor villains - a married couple who'd bargained to ensure they'd [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor never be parted]] - incur some karmic retribution for their misdeeds, and are fused into a single monstrous creature. [[spoiler: It's strongly implied, albeit not stated outright, that the resulting creature will become the Lamentation.]]
* At the end of ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' [[spoiler: Lobsang Ludd and Jeremy Clockson, temporal duplicate sons of the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Time, merge with each other to become a Composite. (Jeremy has an innate and very precise sense of timekeeping; Lobsang has an instinctive understanding of the work of the History Monks, and together he has the full powers of his mother and enables her to retire.) The Composite decides to keep being called Lobsang, though, because Jeremy was pretty screwed up and never really ''liked'' being Jeremy.]]
* ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'': Gatouhan's Drag-Ride has the special ability of fusing living organisms with other living organisms or inorganic matter with other inorganic matter (but not living organisms with inorganic matter). He can fuse multiple Abyss to create hybrids with the powers of their constituents, such as Gargoyles that have the invisibility of Phantoms. He can also fuse anything used to attack his Drag-Ride and either shoot it back as projectiles or convert it into additional armor. When at a disadvantage, he fuses with his two allies (with their consent), healing his injuries with their flesh and upgrading his Drag-Ride into a three-headed one with the combined capabilities of all three.
* ''LightNovel/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'' has fusion as a subset of Orange magic. This fuses two or more people together to create someone with the combined abilities of both. If some of the participants were injured to begin with, the fusion will have less severe injuries as their health is essentially averaged. This does have risks, such as the fusion being weaker or even unable to use magic at all, and it can even end up as a horrific chimeric abomination. The main example of fusion in the series is a major spoiler: [[spoiler:when any two or more of the girls in the main cast fuse, the result is always the Goddess of Dawn.]]
* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In book 4 (''Beyond the Blue Moon''), it's discovered that [[spoiler: the Lady of the Lake, who is all that remains of one of the last Transient Beings, fused with the spirit of Queen Eleanor, Rupert's mother, when she died]].

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Anything and anyone of any power that dies leaves behind a Remnant, a shadow of their power manifested in physical form. Becoming a Herald requires intentionally manifesting your Remnant without dying, then merging with it to reforge your body into a more perfect form. It is a pure contest of will, and generally no one will even explain the process to anyone below Archlord, the highest advancement level. Failure, at best, means horrific death without even leaving behind a Remnant. In ''Wintersteel'', Lindon discovers that ascending to Monarch requires combining this process with being a Sage, who use Icons that are normally a case of MutuallyExclusiveMagic. [[spoiler:Yerin also ''accidentally'' ascends to Herald a level advancement early by willingly fusing with her [[EnemyWithout blood shadow]]]]. In the next book, [[spoiler:the Monarchs explain to Yerin that she permanently damaged herself by doing this too early and in a non-standard way, so they heal her as her reward for winning the Uncrowned King tournament]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', there's a Solar Circle Sorcery spell called "Unity of the Closed Fist" found in the White Treatise. It creates the composite variant but adds all the elements of the different types of Exaltations involved. It can combine up to five individual Exalts, thus the name--five fingers making a single closed fist.
** Alchemicals have a version known as Synthesis of Divine Affiliation, which can affect six instead. However, the only way that you'll be using it to fuse one of each caste of Alchemical is when everything has gone to hell, because the sixth caste are supposed to go completely unseen until at least four varieties of brown gooey substance have hit the fan.
* In ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'', Sin-Eaters are the power booster type, having a Geist that fused its soul with theirs, giving them ghost-like powers and abilities, as well as near immortality. The Caul Manifestation takes this one step further, as the Geist (which is usually just a presence in the back of the Sin-Eater's head) merges with the Sin-Eater, enhancing his form and granting him new powers.
** And in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, the Blood Brother bloodline of vampires naturally came in packs that could fuse together into [[TwoBeingsOneBody a grotesque mashup]].
** Also from the Old World of Darkness were the ''vozhd'' war ghouls, produced by Tzimisce vampires by taking around a dozen or two ghouls (usually human) who were then [[BodyHorror fleshcrafted into one gargantuan near-mindless fleshy engine of destruction and mayhem]]. Their heyday was during the dark ages - not only is modern usage of them too attention-grabbing in most situations, modern advances in weaponry mean that they're much easier to defeat than they were before, [[AwesomeButImpractical usually making them a waste of resources]].
** The Incarnate Inheritance from ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'' is an example of the Composite variation. The Beast must unite her human Life and her monstrous Legend into a single Myth, rewriting the narrative of the Primordial Dream so that it now revolves around her. If she succeeds, she is able to fully merge her human self and her Horror into a single entity with the strength of a Horror and the freedom of a human.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has the Inhabitation Creature Power. This power is mostly seen in Insect Spirits. Under the Fifth Edition rules, to summon an Insect Spirit, it must inhabit a living or dead vessel. When an Insect Spirit inhabits a body, it may take on one of three forms: True form, Hybrid form or Flesh form. All three resemble '''Power Booster''' in that the spirit gains a phsical body although hybrid and flesh forms also gain some or all of the vessel's knowledge and/or skills as well as gaining other extra powers. The Hybrid form also resembles '''The Composite'''. In all cases, the Spirit has full control over the host.

* ''TabletopGame/InterstitialOurHeartsIntertwined'': The Amalgam can incorporate other characters into their system as they progress. Those who take the "Equal and Opposite" move also have a rival who is the fusion of the rivals of all the Amalgam's hearts.

* ''WebAnimation/EskimoBob'': In the special "Return of the girl", Bob and Alfonzo (or rather their clones) can do the Composite example by doing the animation the originals do in the beginning of each episode. The Penguin and Sams can do the power booster example with the help of the alien business men. And The Fish in a space ship can do this with the Fishticons.

* In the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fanimation ''WebAnimation/NazoUnleashed'', [[spoiler:Sonic and Shadow fuse into Shadic after assuming their [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Hyper forms]].]]
* Done by Dewey and Louie in ''WebAnimation/{{Ducktalez}} 3'', but this ends up being their undoing as they argue over their fused name.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': [[spoiler: The Possessor Ghost gives up its "life" to fuse with Melinda to become Ghost Melinda in episode 7.]]
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': At one point, Darkness Duck uses Darkness Snake's headless body as a replacement for his string. He becomes much stronger in the process.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Oscar is a farm-hand [[FarmBoy with an extraordinary destiny]]. He is the host to an immortal being who is thousands of years old, making it his responsibility to save humanity from total destruction. He's only fourteen years old. [[spoiler:Ozma, the WorldsBestWarrior, was chosen by the God of Light to try and save humanity from annihilation and was given a form of immortality to achieve this outcome. Every time his body dies, his soul, Aura and memories transfer to a living man or boy in a process called [[ResurrectiveImmortality reincarnation]]. Each host gains all of Ozma's magical and physical abilities, while the voice in the head becomes that of the previous host. Oscar becomes the new host when [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]] is killed during the Battle of Beacon. Oscar acts as the Switcher and Ozpin as the Power Booster. Initially, they exist as separate personalities, each with the ability to control Oscar's body as necessary. Over time, they will merge into a new mental Composite, with a different identity than either had before. Because Ozma had to learn over many lifetimes how to genuinely share a life with his host, there is a real threat of DeathOfPersonality for each host, something all the heroes are convinced will be Oscar's eventual fate -- including Oscar, himself, who is deeply uncomfortable with the idea of no longer being himself.]]

* In the animated webcomic ''Webcomic/KidRadd'', the DamselInDistress love-interest Sheena (who subverts her assigned role at every turn) winds up merging with what was, essentially, a dying, future version of herself. In her normal form, she's an NPC--[[InvulnerableCivilians Invulnerable Civilian]], but incapable of attacking... her future self is a Hero, however, and thus capable of powerful attacks, while sacrificing the inherent invulnerability of the NPC. Thus, this is a Switcher type.
** ''Kid Radd'' also contains a structure designed with LostTechnology that causes Composite fusions of characters. This is crucial to the villain's EvilPlan:[[spoiler: to have either [[TheDragon Crystal]] or Radd's group gather an army of the most powerful sprites and have them fuse together, then assimilate their fused form as a Power Booster]]. It would have worked, [[spoiler: if only Crystal fused herself with an NPC]].
** There is also Gnarl and Kobayashi, two minor villains who end up [[spoiler:accidentally fusing themselves by the same method as the BigBad. They are eventually separated, but they learn to fuse themselves again whenever necessary, becoming the Composite.]]
*** Also resulting in one of the better lines from the comic: [[spoiler:I'm... we. I mean, us are me.]]

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'', in which Ace Dick uses Belly Of The Whale to absorb his alternate form clones, Zombie Ace Dick and Fiesta Ace Dick, gaining their powers. This results in Ace Dick becoming [[spoiler:himself, since he doesn't have the imagination to come up with a suitable combined form.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Jack|DavidHopkins}}'' the twin demonic personifications of Gluttony often share the same body with one in control of it and the other's face sticking out of the crotch, switching seemingly at random.

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Paranatural}}'' with the "friendship fusion", [[http://paranatural.net/chapter-1-page-24/ which is really just three kids standing on each other's shoulders]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Magience}}'', several [[BlobMonster slimes]] merge into a giant Slime Golem.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', this is one way to make the "Taint" safe. By becoming one, truly one, with the demon it will no longer be able to harm you. Given that this requires merging with it on the [[SplitPersonalityMerge spiritual and mental level]] as well, it's still pretty risky.
* This is the premise behind the "Divine Union" in ''Webcomic/{{Holystone}}''. Mortals already share their bodies with gods as a matter of day-to-day life, but the Union combines them into one more powerful creature.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Bravoman}}'' comic, the heroes discover that by destabilizing Anti-Bravoman's anti-particles (by [[ButtMonkey beating him up]]) the resulting vortex fuses them into Bravomaster: a powerful and [[KnightOfCerebus completely serious]] giant. [[spoiler:When repeating the fusion at the end of the series Waya-Hime joins in, which gives the resulting fusion ninja abilities but doesn't effect the personality.]]
* In Extra Fabulous Comics #212, a piece of cheese and a burger try the trope. [[http://extrafabulouscomics.com/comic/212/ It turns worse than you would expect]].
* Several companies from ''Webcomic/{{Consolers}}'', like Square Enix and Koei Tecmo, are "merges" - two companies merged together into one character. When companies merge with each other, it turns them into one character with combined traits and looks from both of them.
* Changelings in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' gain new bodies by [[BodyHorror merging with]] and [[KillAndReplace replacing the originals]].
* During the Inert Vessel arc of ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'', when [[http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/climax-balmerdolphind7.png the Dolphin (still partially embedded in the mangled corpse of Doctor Balmer)]] attempts to follow the Exvironator into the pool of embalming fluid, the exvironator-contaminated Flush turns it and Balmer into [[http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/ascendedbalmer.png Balphin]]. Before that, Fern's allies [[http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/407.html merge]] in a [[ShoutOut direct reference]] to ''Westernanimation/StevenUniverse''.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'':
** In "Memories of the Worthless", [[spoiler: Ysengrim, having been given Coyote's strength, uses it to ''kill and eat'' Coyote, taking everything else from him. The composite calls himself Loup, and claims Ysengrim and Coyote are both dead, although he later admits Ysengrim is still inside him somewhere.]] The episode which introduces the character properly is called "Neither", referring to how he's neither of the original characters. (Annie says "I liked [[spoiler: Coyote]], and I loved [[spoiler: Ysengrim]], but I don't like you, [[spoiler: Loup]].")
** Loup later pulls in a different Annie from an alternate timeline, leaving two separate Annies - one who lived in the Court for several months and another who stayed with Loup in the forest. They eventually learn to deal with each other, but after an encounter [[RealityWarper with Zimmy and Gamma]] they reform into a single Annie, with all the memories of both.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'',
** Demons can reduce themselves to their mask, which can be worn by someone else to merge into a powerful "devilskin warrior". They rarely do this, because unless the person has been hollowed out into an EmptyShell it's very dangerous should their personalities conflict. [[spoiler: Allison and Cio do this to become Allicio]].
** In book 5, [[spoiler: Allicio merges theirself with the angel White Chain and becomes an entity called The Fool: Aspected Chaos, which appears to be more unified and powerful]].

* Word of god states that this will happen with Trayen and previous osmovessels ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]]''-style in series 3 of ''Literature/{{Phaeton}}''.
* ''Website/GaiaOnline'' had a subplot where Gino had, unbeknownst to everybody (possibly including himself), fused with his "[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat dead]]" father, making him into the badass superhero The Masque at the expense of making him unpredictable and violent, particularly towards Ian (who felt likewise about him/them). The reveal came when the local MadScientist injected him/them with a catalyst that caused them to split, ending that plotline and setting up the next with an EarthShatteringKaboom.

* ''Website/{{Lioden}}'': To defeat Apophis at the end of the Rise of the Serpent event, you must merge with the god you sided with during the event. The merged being is primarily your lion but grown to Godzilla-size due to being infused with godlike power, with the traits of the god altering its appearance. While control over it is technically split, it’s the god who takes charge during most of the battle.
* The ''Forum 3000'' question-and-answer site once had the 'Bitter Crack Baby' and 'Jet Li' personas merge to create 'Bitter Jet Li' (with a userpic twice the size of the other personas).

** In the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model current paradigm]] of galaxy formation and evolution, galaxies grow ''bottom-up'', as small galaxies combine to form larger galaxies, which merge to form larger systems that combine again and so on - bonus points when two galaxies orbit each other before merging, altering their shapes in a true fusion dance - and the same goes for groups and clusters of galaxies and even the [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds voids that separate them]]. This is heavily supported by many observations as well as predicted by computer simulations. Our own galaxy is disrupting and absorbing a much smaller one and is predicted to merge with the Andromeda Galaxy, which is larger than ours, within 3 billion years; deep surveys have shown many similar events, and messy systems interpreted by astronomers as the product of two galaxies combining to form a larger one as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_7252 NGC 7252]] aren't uncommon at all.

** ''Visions'' has a cycle of four mechanical chimeras -- [[https://scryfall.com/card/vis/142/brass-talon-chimera Brass-Talon Chimera]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/vis/146/iron-heart-chimera Iron-Heart Chimera]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/vis/148/lead-belly-chimera Lead-Belly Chimera]], and [[https://scryfall.com/card/vis/157/tin-wing-chimera Tin-Wing Chimera]] -- each possessing a unique ability. Each chimera can be sacrificed to give its ability and a stat boost to one of the other three, representing the chimeras fusing into a single combined monster. The background of each card's art shows a sketch of the combined entity they can become.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''{{Website/Lioden}}'': To defeat Apophis at the end of the Rise of the Serpent event, you must merge with the god you sided with during the event. The merged being is primarily your lion but grown to Godzilla-size due to being infused with godlike power, with the traits of the god altering its appearance. While control over it is technically split, it’s the god who takes charge during most of the battle.

* ''Podcast/EidolonPlaytest'': [[spoiler:After killing President Henry Dracula, Harvey absorbs his essence, legally becoming the president and gaining his powers in the process.]]

** Many of the provinces and states that make up Canada and the United States were once all separate British colonies. However, they eventually chose to fuse themselves into larger countries by establishing [[TheFederation federal governments]]. Canada is an unusual variant in that many of its founding fathers originally wanted to merge all of the British North American colonies into one single big colony and erase all the provincial borders, although they settled on a federal system over the protests of some of the representatives from the Maritimes, and even moreso the protests of Lower Canada/Quebec.

[[caption-width-right:226:[[JustSoStory And that's how the platypus came to be!]] [[note]]Image by Pandaluna[[/note]]]]\\

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Anything and anyone of any power that dies leaves behind a Remnant, a shadow of their power manifested in physical form. Becoming a Herald requires intentionally manifesting your Remnant without dying, then merging with it to reforge your body into a more perfect form. It is a pure contest of will, and generally no one will even explain the process to anyone below Archlord, the highest advancement level. Failure, at best, means horrific death without even leaving behind a Remnant. In ''Wintersteel'', Lindon discovers that ascending to Monarch requires combining this process with being a Sage, who use Icons that are normally a case of MutuallyExclusivePowers. [[spoiler:Yerin also ''accidentally'' ascends to Herald a level advancement early by willingly fusing with her [[EnemyWithout blood shadow]]]]. In the next book, [[spoiler:the Monarchs explain to Yerin that she permanently damaged herself by doing this too early and in a non-standard way, so they heal her as her reward for winning the Uncrowned King tournament]].

* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' series it's revealed this is what [[spoiler: lyctorhood is, with the necromancer devouring and incorporating the soul of their cavalier]], granting fighting skills and an infinite source of energy. Normally this is the "power booster" version, with [[spoiler: the cavalier's body dead and little remaining of them beyond instinct]], but an improved version allows them to switch control.

Contrast LiteralSplitPersonality and SelfDuplication, when an individual gets split into two or more beings, SplitPersonalityMerge, and PhysicalAttributeSwap, where two characters exchange physical traits instead of mixing them. Contrast also GrandTheftMe, which looks like the Power Booster or Switcher variant but with less cooperation and more hostility. Compare CombiningMecha. Not to be confused with CompositeCharacter. See also AllYourPowersCombined, MotifMerger, and EquippableAlly (for a less intrusive method of combining two characters). This trope may sound like a literal version of MatingDance, but it's not. When the fusion [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]], see MergingMistake. If the components cannot easily be discerned in the result, see FusionDissonance. If the components have a romantic relationship, also see RomanticFusion.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Web Comics]]

Contrast LiteralSplitPersonality and SelfDuplication, when an individual gets split into two or more beings, and PhysicalAttributeSwap, where two characters exchange physical traits instead of mixing them. Contrast also GrandTheftMe, which looks like the Power Booster or Switcher variant but with less cooperation and more hostility. Compare CombiningMecha. Not to be confused with CompositeCharacter. See also AllYourPowersCombined, MotifMerger, and EquippableAlly (for a less intrusive method of combining two characters). This trope may sound like a literal version of MatingDance, but it's not. When the fusion [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]], see MergingMistake. If the components cannot easily be discerned in the result, see FusionDissonance. If the components have a romantic relationship, also see RomanticFusion.

* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' series it's revealed this is what [[spoiler: lyctorhood is, with the necromancer devouring and incorporating the soul of their cavalier]], granting fighting skills and an infinite source of energy. Normally this is the "power booster" version, with [[spoiler: little remaining of the cavalier beyond instinct]], but an improved "switcher" version is possible.

* '''The Composite''' -- '''A''' and '''B''' merge; the end result '''C''' has aspects of ''both'' the characters that were part of the merge, including AllYourPowersCombined and a [[MentalFusion fused personality]]. May also be a CombiningMecha or a [[MixAndMatchCritters Mix-and-Match Critter]]. For example, two fused fighters in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
* '''Power Booster''' -- Person '''B''' disappears, but the merging [[SuperEmpowering gives powers or attributes to]] '''A''' s/he didn't have before. '''B''' may be able to speak to '''A''' in his or her mind. '''A''' still looks exactly the same as before, only has superficial changes (clothing, for example), or looks like a more powered-up version of '''A''' (and only of '''A'''). For example, Himeno and a Leafe Knight in ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'' or Namekian Fusion in ''Dragon Ball Z''.
* '''Switcher''' -- '''A''' and '''B''' merge; they both keep their traits, but only one of them can be present at a time and they can now switch places as needed. If '''B''' is the powerful one but '''A''' lives the everyday life, then '''B''' will act as a SuperpoweredAlterEgo. May result in '''A''' or '''B''' occasionally controlling the other's body. For example, ''Anime/BirdyTheMighty'' or Yugi Mutou and Yami Yugi from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' [[note]]Though this one is debatable, since Yami Yugi looks exactly like an older version of Yugi (i.e. what he will be in 5-10 years).[[/note]]

* '''Mixed Form Shapeshifter''' -- '''A''' and '''B''' merge, and instead of choosing between two forms, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting they can combine them as they need]], and [[PartialTransformation can make a form]] with [[MultiformBalance the advantages of both forms]]. For example, Fusion Evolve from ''Anime/DigimonFrontier''.

* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' "Memories of the Worthless", [[spoiler: Ysengrim, having been given Coyote's strength, uses it to ''kill and eat'' Coyote, taking everything else from him. The composite calls himself Loup, and claims Ysengrim and Coyote are both dead, although he later admits Ysengrim is still inside him somewhere.]] The episode which introduces the character properly is called "Neither", referring to how he's neither of the original characters. (Annie says "I liked [[spoiler: Coyote]], and I loved [[spoiler: Ysengrim]], but I don't like you, [[spoiler: Loup]].")

* Primary Symbiosis is the biological version of this, where two organisms (a microbe with another microbe or another larger multicellular host) become so necessary for each others' survival that they essentially merge with each other. Bacteria can become incorporated within the actual cells of its host, to the point of almost being considered an organelle. This is, in fact, the origin of mitochondria (thought to be descendants of an ancient alpha-proteobacteria) and chloroplasts (descended from a cyanobacteria), as well as eukaryotic cells themselves!

** Planet formation[[note]]Terrestrial planets. Gas giants, except for their cores, form on a different way[[/note]] is considered to take place in the form of grains of dust and ice combining to small groups (planetesimals) that merge to make protoplanets, and so on until planets are finally formed. The process continues up to this day in our Solar System, when an asteroid or comet collides with Earth or another planet.

** Black hole mergers, that we've just recently started to detect via gravitational waves. They deserve special mention since spacetime itself ''rotates'' with them during the dance before merging and when two supermassive ones embrace the event is so violent that the hole product of the merger may be expelled from its galaxy, not to mention the mess left in the surroundings.
** In the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambda-CDM_model current paradigm]] of galaxy formation and evolution, galaxies grow ''bottom-up'', as small galaxies combine to form larger galaxies, which merge to form larger systems that combine again and so on - bonus points when two galaxies orbit each other before merging, altering their shapes in a true fusion dance - and the same goes for groups and clusters of galaxies and even the [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds voids that separate them]]. This is heavily supported by many observations as well as predicted by computer simulations[[note]]Our own galaxy is disrupting and absorbing a much smaller one and is predicted to merge with the Andromeda Galaxy, which is larger than ours, within 3 billion years; deep surveys have shown many similar events, and messy systems interpreted by astronomers as the product of two galaxies combining to form a larger one as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_7252 NGC 7252]] aren't uncommon at all[[/note]]