History Main / MorphicResonance

** Luke in Project {{Altered Beast}} Keeps his Cross shaped scar in all his forms except the[[spoiler:UWH]]

** Luke in Project {{Altered Beast}} Keeps his Cross shaped scar in all his forms [[spoiler]]Except UWH[[/spoiler]]

It's done, of course, so the viewer/audience/reader can tell them apart from [[RuleOfPerception other animals]], or from other people wearing the same outfit, or if they're infiltrating and pretending to be someone else.

If relevant to the plot, could be a form of GlamourFailure.

Named after a not-so-popular hypothesis by biologist Rupert Sheldrake, in which the forms of organisms are imprinted upon 'morphic fields', which in turn influence the forms of subsequent organisms. See also ShapeshifterDefaultForm.

** I n the first game, Donald and Goofy change into sea creatures in the Atlantica level (an octopus and a sea turtle, respectively), though they still have their distinctive faces.

* In ''The Beastmaster'' TV series, King Zadd is turned into a donkey with the same tatoos. Although one character finds them familiar, it doesn't become GlamourFailure in time to be meaningful.

*** Not to mentioned it stops Kiba from being a WhiteHairedPrettyBoy,which he was dangerously close to becoming.

[[folder:Comics]]

* In ''[[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers: The Initiative]]'', secret Skrull spy Crusader has a flashback to a combat training exercise on his homeworld where his oppenent K'rtem gave him a scar. Crusader vowed to keep the scar no matter what form he took in tribute to K'rtem's might.[[/folder]]

* Ralph, The All-Purpose Animal and [[TheHero Male Lead]] of ''{{Twice Upon a Time}}'' could shape shift at will, but always had the same rather dorky face.

In the ''{{Film/XMen}}'' movies, Mystique's eyes always flash yellow as an indication it's her shapeshifted as someone else.
In Megamind, the titular alien, no matter the form he used, had big green eyes.
In ''{{Film/Terminator}} 2: Judgement Day'' the actors all used a specific mannerism, looking upward at the camera in a sinister fashion to indicate it was the T-1000 using its mimetic abilities.

** And Angua, a werewolf with long blonde hair, turns into a wolf with long blonde fur.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Cosmo and Wanda's hair colors are their primary, so they turn into green and pink items.

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It's done, of course, so you [[RuleOfPerception can tell them apart from other animals]].

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Man Impossible Man]] character in the MarvelUniverse. He can [[ShapeShifter shapechange]] into different forms but always keeps his green and purple coloration.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* The titular character in ''Shifter'' has eyes and a mouth that appear on whatever form he takes, identical to the eyes and mouth on his human face.

* In ''KingsQuestVI'', the genie appears throughout the game, spying on or trying to trick Alexander. His glinting golden eyes are always a dead giveaway.

** It wasn't so much intensive training as it was Jesse threatening the poor Pokémon. The trainer that had the Ditto returned in Johto with a second Ditto with yet another transformation issue -- it could transform perfectly... just [[ShapeshifterBaggage not its size]] when it came to big {{Mons}}.
*** Its trainer, Duplica, didn't seem to mind though, and decided to try and capture an entire team of Dittos with various transformation quirks.
** The Dittos in ''PokemonSnap'' also have a problem with their faces not changing. In fact, it's the only way to tell them from normal Bulbasaurs (which they will register as) until you hit them with a Pester Ball to make them change back.
** At least in early generations, any Ditto who used Transform would become a perfect copy of the enemy sprite, but would retain its purple pallette.

** Having black hair in his human form actually makes a lot of sense -- it makes his skin and eyes stand out a lot, so it's not too much of a stretch that the PaleSkinnedBrunette with light eyes is really a white wolf.

* In a meta example, the manga ''GundamSousei'' (a {{Dramatization}} of the creation of ''MobileSuitGundam'') depicts the show's voice actors as looking like their characters. This varies between people: ShuichiIkeda looks like an older, black-haired Char, while TohruFuruya looks '''exactly'' like Amuro.

* In ''[[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers: The Initiative]]'', secret Skrull spy Crusader has a flashback to a combat training exercise on his homeworld where he gave his opponent a scar. Said opponent vowed to keep that scar no matter what form he took in tribute to Crusader's might, actually justifying this for once.
[[/folder]]

It's done, of course, to so you [[RuleOfPerception can tell them apart from other animals]].

Named after a not-so-popular hypothesis by biologist [[CloudcuckooLander Rupert Sheldrake]], in which the forms of organisms are imprinted upon 'morphic fields', which in turn influence the forms of subsequent organisms. See also ShapeshifterDefaultForm.

* Druids in ''{{World of Warcraft}}''. Elves keep their PointyEars and long eyebrows, and with bear or cat forms, their fur color is similar to their hair color. Tauren keep their horns and a few other cow/bull like features, and their bear and cat forms are colored in a way similar to their normal form's fur color.
** Similarly, in ''Cataclysm'', Troll and Worgen druids also retain their color schemes in animal forms. This means, among other things, cyan, green, and teal-mohawked bears/cats with large tusks.

* Plastic Man could become almost anything, but kept his colors.

** As is Virginia Dare in ''Marvel1602'' (which is loosely based on the legend that she could turn into a white deer).
* In ''X-Nation 2099'', the mutant Willow always has a particular marking around her left eye, even though her shapeshifting powers are otherwise so precise that she can duplicate another person's form right down to their DNA.
* In ''Avengers: The Initiative'', secret Skrull spy Crusader has a flashback to a combat training exercise on his homeworld where he gave his opponent a scar. Said opponent vowed to keep that scar no matter what form he took in tribute to Crusader's might, actually justifying this for once.