History Main / GrowingMusclesSequence

* {{Popeye}}, every time he eats his spinach. The change is brief and usually located in the forearms, sometimes with a superimposed image of a battleship, a cannon, a high-powered turbine or similar imagery.

* Raimundo from ''XiaolinShowdown'' had this issue when the Shen Gong Wu kept magnetically pulling towards him, making him increasingly more powerful to the point he was virtually invincible, with Wuya attempting to use him as a vessel for her to defeat the monks.

* This happens to Caitlin Fairchild in the first issue of ''{{Gen 13}}''. She goes from short and slender and mousy to [[StatesqueStunner tall]], [[AmazonianBeauty ripped]] and [[BreastExpansion stacked]] once her powers activate.

* This happens to Caitlin Fairchild in the first issue of ''{{Gen 13}}''. She goes from short and slender and mousy to [[StatesqueStunner tall]], [[AmazonianBeauty ripped]] and [[BoobsOfSteel stacked]] once her powers activate.

Depending on the character and the setting, a Growing Muscles Sequence can be {{voluntary|Transformation}} or {{involuntary|Transformation}}, range from painless to {{painful|Transformation}} to a BodyHorror (and can be FetishFuel in any of those settings), and its end result can run the gamut from having a HeroicBuild to being TheGrotesque.

* This happens to Caitlin Fairchild in the first issue of ''{{Gen 13}}''. She goes from short and slender and mousy to [[StatesqueStunner tall]] and [[AmazonianBeauty ripped]] and [[BoobsOfSteel stacked]] once her powers activate.
* In his first appearance, {{Nightwing}} villain Blockbuster has one of these, turning him into a giant, deformed monster. Unlike most examples, the effect is permanent.

-->'''Terror Mask:''' ''Aw, quit whining. Did I'' say ''it was gonna be fun?''

* Happens to Jade from JackieChanAdventures in the episode "The Amazing T-Troop" when she uses the ox talisman. Interestingly, while the ox talisman does grant the user the power of super strength, this is the only occurance where this troop is applied.

* Prime and Hardcase from ''Ultraforce''. For the former it's a standard transformation sequence, for the latter a permanent change.

Compare {{Shapeshifting}}, OneWingedAngel, and HulkingOut. See also ShapeshifterBaggage.

* Used all the time with various kinds of {{Super Mode}}s in ''{{Dragonball}}''.
* Done in ''HunterXHunter'' when [[OlderThanTheyLook apparently]] [[CuteBruiser 12 year old]] Biscuit Krueger goes from looking a cute schoolgirl to being 10' tall and incredibly ripped.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', [[DudeLooksLikeALady Ggio Vega]] does this when he decides to unleash his full power "[[PantheraAwesome Tigre Estoque]]:[[OneWingedAngel El Sabre]]".

** Likewise, but to a lesser extent, [[SheHulk his cousin Jennifer]]. Whether or not she goes from mousy and unassuming to tall and athletic to [[AmazonianBeauty flat-out ripped]] [[DependingOnTheArtist depends on who's drawing her]] (the same applies to the other She-Hulks, Lyra and Red She-Hulk). On special note is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQptInZJbXo her transformation in the 90s cartoon]], mainly due to the level of muscularity she's shown with (she was slimmed down considerably in the second season) and... [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything well]]... the fact that it's [[UnusualEuphemism "lighting her fire"]].

* This happens to Caitlin Fairchild in the first issue of Gen13. She goes from short and slender and mousy to tall and ripped and stacked once her powers activate.

* Done in a number of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAM_tLYl6_o werewolf]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGMmxzZarBw transformations]] in animation. Apparently the "were" in "werewolf" is the Anglo-Saxon for "body-builder."

* [[OnceAnEpisode In each episode]] of ''TheMiniavengers'', a kid will pass through a momentary but incredibly exaggerated sequence before getting their super power, temporarily ending up [[BeyondTheImpossible dozens of times the size of the earth]].
* In his first appearance, {{Nightwing}} villain Blockbuster has one of these, turning him into a giant, deformed monster. Unlike most examples, the effect is permanent.

* Kotetsu from ''TigerAndBunny''.

Depending on the character and the setting, a Growing Muscles Sequence can be {{voluntary|Transformation}} or {{involuntary|Transformation}}, range from painless to {{painful|Transformation}} to a BodyHorror, and its end result can run the gamut from having a HeroicBuild to being TheGrotesque.

* In each episode of ''TheMiniavengers'', a kid will pass through a momentary but incredibly exaggerated sequence before getting their super power, temporarily ending up [[BeyondTheImpossible dozens of times the size of the earth]].

* Prime and Hardcase from ''Ultraforce''. For the former it's a standard transformation sequence, for the latter a permanent change.
* ''{{Ben 10}}'': Vilgax in the early season had Cybernetic SpikesOfVillainy that did this.

* Prime and Hardcase from ''Ultraforce''. For the former it's a standard transformation sequence, for the latter a permanent change.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/altarboysmuscle_8817.png

Depending on the character and the setting, a Growing Muscles Sequence can be [[VoluntaryTransformation voluntary]] or [[InvoluntaryTransformation involuntary]], range from painless to [[PainfulTransformation painful]] to a BodyHorror, and its end result can run the gamut from having a HeroicBuild to being TheGrotesque.

Compare {{Shapeshifting}}, OneWingedAngel and HulkingOut. See also ShapeshifterBaggage.

* Used all the time with various kinds of {{SuperMode}}s in {{Dragonball}}.
* Done in ''HunterXHunter'' when [[OlderThanTheyLook apparently]] [[CuteBruiser 12 year old]] Biscuit Clueger goes from looking a cute schoolgirl to being 10' tall and incredibly ripped.

* Younger Toguro from YuYuHakusho goes through this every time he unleashes a percentage of his full power, assuming ever more ridiculously bulked up forms during the course of the series. A less prominent example from the same series is Byakko, who grows as he absorbs the blows of his opponents, [[spoiler: which turns out to be his undoing.]]

[[AC:{{Comicbooks}}]]
* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]] in all his incarnations. TropeNamer of the related trope HulkingOut.

* Some MarshalLaw superheroes "pump ions" to bulk up

* Tim turning into The Muscle in the {{ImagineSpot}}s of ''TheDangerousLivesOfAltarBoys''

* Happens to [[spoiler:''[[TheScrappy Scrappy Doo]]'']] in the first ScoobyDoo movie, and to Shaggy in the second, although the causes and intentions for each are different.
* The Nerdlucks [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBkBPmrrqOo turning into]] the Monstars in SpaceJam. Bugs Bunny, being a Looney Toon, is not above faking one to convince his teammates that [[MagicFeather "Michael's Secret Stuff"]] works.
* Violator in the {{Spawn}} film.

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* AlteredBeast has your character undergo two such transformations for the first two {{PowerUp}}s he collects in a stage. His transformation into a beast once they pick up the third also has elements of this.
* BatmanArkhamAsylum has this happen to a depowered Bane and some of Joker's goons when they get injected with "Titan", a derivative of the Venom normally used by Bane. [[spoiler: It almost happens to {{Batman}} when he [[TakingTheBullet takes the bullet]] for Commissioner Gordon, but he's able to resist the transformation until he takes an [[MagicAntidote antidote]]. TheJoker, [[VoluntaryTransformation on the]] [[OneWingedAngel other hand...]]]]

[[AC:{{Web comics}}]]

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]

* One of the effects of the super soldier serum that created ''CaptainAmerica''.
* Prince Adam's transformation to ''[[HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]]'' usually ''doesn't'' involve this, despite the former being an ordinary Eternian and the latter "the most powerful man in the universe". In the first series, this was because [[ClarkKenting He-Man is pretty much Prince Adam with a tan and less clothes on]]. In the 2002 series a sequence is used for a few episodes in the second season, until He-Man gets his armour.
* ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' in the episode "The Patriot Act," after a mad general steals super soldier serum and injects himself.

* In his first appearance, ''{{Nightwing}}'' villain Blockbuster has one of these, turning him into a giant, deformed monster. Unlike most examples, the effect is permanent.
* ''{{Popeye}}'', every time he eats his spinach. The change is brief and usually located in the forearms, sometimes with a superimposed image of a battleship, a cannon, a high-powered turbine or similar imagery.
* Munya from ''TheSecretSaturdays''
* ''TheSimpsons'': Bart has an ImagineSpot where he's a professional HumanGuineaPig. He takes one sip of Nature's Goodness soda and turns into a deformed monster.

* Prime and Hardcase from ''{{Ultraforce}}''. For the former it's a standard transformation sequence, for the latter a permanent change.

* Prince Adam's transformation to ''[[HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]]'' usually ''doesn't'' involve this, despite the former being an ordinary Eternian and the latter "the most powerful man in the universe". In the first series, this was because Prince Adam pretty much was He-man with lighter skin and more clothes on. In the 2002 series a sequence is used for a few episodes in the second season, until He-Man gets his armour.

* Some [[MarshalLaw Marshal Law]] superheroes "pump ions" to bulk up

* Some [[MarshalLaw]] superheroes "pump ions" to bulk up

* ''{{Popeye}}'', every time he eats his spinach. The change is brief and usually located in the ''forearms'', sometimes with a superimposed image of a battleship, a cannon, a high-powered turbine or similar imagery.

* Prime and Hardcase from ''{{Ultraforce}}''. For the former it's a standard transformation sequence, for the latter a permanent change.

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* AlteredBeast has your character undergo two such transformations for the first two {{PowerUp}}s he collects in a stage. His transformation into a beast once they pick up the third also has elements of this.
* BatmanArkhamAsylum has this happen to a depowered Bane and some of Joker's goons when they get injected with "Titan", a derivative of the Venom normally used by Bane. [[spoiler: It almost happens to {{Batman}} when he [[TakingTheBullet takes the bullet]] for Commissioner Gordon, but he's able to resist the transformation until he takes an [[MagicAntidote antidote]]. TheJoker, [[VoluntaryTransformation on the]] [[OneWingedAngel other hand...]]]]

[[AC:{{Web comics}}]]
* Ace Dick's transformation into Fiesta Ace Dick in ''ProblemSleuth''.

* ''{{Popeye}}'', every time he eats his spinach. The change is brief and usually located in the biceps, sometimes with a superimposed image of a battleship, a cannon, a high-powered turbine or similar imagery.

* In TheNewUniverse, [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/lnders.htm David Landers]] of ''DP7'' goes through quite painful transformations when he grows muscles. He also has to eat a lot to sustain the muscle growth.
* Patriot of ''YoungAvengers'', in the storyline where it's revealed he takes Mutant Growth Hormone. He injects himself with too much, and he grows to the size of a truck.

* Tim turning into The Muscle in the {{ImagineSpot}}s ''TheDangerousLivesOfAltarBoys''