History Main / PartialTransformation

This can also be used for offense and defense, using their alternate form's natural weapons (claws or whatever) as a type of ShapeshifterWeapon while remaining in human form.

One interesting thing about the Partial Transformation is it's usually a "high-level" technique that can be mastered only by the best shapeshifters. A character who has recently acquired VoluntaryShapeshifting must first learn how to shapeshift between their "basic" forms before they have ''any'' hope of mixing and matching the elements between them in a helpful manner. Attempting to selectively invoke this without sufficient experience to properly control the transformation can result in some... [[BodyHorror messy]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong consequences]].

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpaceHeroes'' introduces a shapeshifting alien villainess, Meba, as one of the CoDragons. Much of her schtick involves turning her arms into whips or tentacles, forming her lower body into an elongated serpentine shape, and turning her ears into EarWings, while retaining her original form.

** Mr 2 Bon Clay is capable of it and can make arbitrary {{Shape Shifter Mashup}}s.
** On a more general note, all characters with Zoan-type Devil Fruit powers can take on their animal form, original form and a hybrid of the two. Most skilled users can transform only part of their bodies into the animal form and even change the proportions of their animal's and hybrid's forms.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': The unnamed grey skinned villain who escaped from O.M.A.C. captivity below Bludhaven partially transforms to give herself claws and some fur on the exposed part of her back to fight, before transforming completely into a strange bright red-furred mix-and-match critter later on in the brawl.

* Some ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' figures could change part-way between modes as a result of how the toy was engineered. Sometimes, this was deliberate, like G1 Scattershot (which was just his spaceship mode with his robot legs folded down so he could walk on them and a cannon deployed from his spaceship's nose) or G1 Jetfire (his jet mode with his arms and legs deployed, due to being a remake of a ''Anime/SuperDimensionalFortressMacross'' Super Valkyrie toy). Other times this was accidental, like ''Siege'' Impactor, who could be transformed as either a tank turret on legs or his robot torso, arms, and head on tank treads.

* In ''Videogame/{{Prototype}}'', Alex Mercer's de facto form of attack is to shapeshift parts of his body into weapons, such as claws, the ''whipfist'', hammerfists, a shield, or a {{BFS}}.

* Berserk Mode in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2''. Is a double-edged sword, really - your power attack greatly increases and critical hit become all but assured, but you can't use items and it's a lot easier to miss. In-game, it's represented by the characters partially shifting into their demon forms.
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': The resident BattleButler, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, has this ability. He's a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolf]] can transform various parts of his body into one, or even into an actual wolf. Its kinda similar to how the Zoan Devil Fruits from ''Franchise/OnePiece'' work.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', characters of the Nohr Prince(ss) class and the Nohr/Hoshido Noble class demonstrate this when they trigger their Dragon Fang skill, utilizing the claws of their dragon form in a flashy combo attack.
* Volga of ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' does this in some attacks, morphing his arm into a dragon's claw or sprouting wings from his back to fly instead of transforming fully into his dragon form.
* Used in ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' for "Visceral Attacks," which involve turning the right hand into a werewolf claw so the Hunter can reach into a stunned enemy's chest and scratch out their heart. It averts the "advanced technique of shapeshifting" part, as you need to invoke a certain Caryll Rune to fully transform into a werewolf.
* Every Dragon Knight protagonists in ''VideoGame/DragonMarkedForDeath'' has their ability to morph their hands to dragon weapons.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Leviathan}}'', Izuku utilizes his Quirk without turning into a full EldritchAbomination BloodKnight by only transforming himself partway, such as growing a tail or sprouting gills on his chest (the latter he didn't even know he could do until he was drowning).

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''

* ''Anime/BrandNewAnimal'': Michiru is introduced with ShapeshifterModeLock, as a human transformed into a {{tanuki}} beastman who can't transform back to a human, as all other beastmen can. However, it turns out she has an AdaptiveAbility to transform parts of herself into parts of other animals depending on her needs, such as cheetah legs when she needs to run faster or gorilla arms when she gets conscripted as a batter for a baseball team.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Anime/JuuniSenshiBakuretsuEtoRanger''. Tart the Chicken permanently transforms into a more humanoid form pretty early on in the series, but sometimes, her TransformationTrinket [[InvoluntaryShapeshifter malfunctions]] after she's hit in the face, leaving her with a human body and a chicken head. She's normally rather attractive in either form, but both at the same time [[CluckingFunny looks completely ridiculous]]. [[BerserkButton And she knows it]].

** In the two-part episode "Prometheus", Banner stopped halfway through his transformation. He had some of Banner's personality but much less knowledge, and he was stronger than Banner but not as strong as Hulk. He had his green eyes, but not green skin. It wasn't voluntary, however; it was caused by a nearby meteor emitting a high concentration of gamma rays, and not letting him revert fully to normal.

** A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed example]] (as the transformation is slowed down rather than stopped) in the episode "747": Banner's second transformation began when he was trying to perform [[CrashCourseLanding an emergency landing]] of the eponymous aircraft, following the instructions of the flight controllers on the communicator. He somehow managed to slow the transformation's pace [[note]]The flight controllers may have provided an involuntary help in that regard: they constantly urged him to remain in control, meaning control ''of the aircraft'', but it's possible that David's mind interpreted it as control ''of the transformation''.[[/note]], because, while he needed extra strength to move the control stick, which was stuck, he also needeed to retain intelligence enough to follow the flight controllers' instructions. He spent the whole landing process in an intermediate state, which was different from the example above, as he was green-skinned this time (but with Banner's features)[[note]]It was Banner's actor Bill Bixby under the make-up, rather than Hulk's actor Lou Ferrigno[[/note]]. After the landing, the transformation goes full course (and his intellect goes away), and a teenager that David befriended early on enters the cockpit, helping the Hulk to activate the brakes and stop the plane.

* In the two-part episode "Prometheus" of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'', Banner stopped halfway through his transformation. He had some of Banner's personality but much less knowledge, and he was stronger than Banner but not as strong as Hulk. He had his green eyes, but not green skin. It wasn't voluntary, however; it was caused by a nearby meteor emitting a high concentration of gamma rays, and not letting him revert fully to normal.

* Elfman and Lisanna (the latter pictured above) can do this in ''Manga/FairyTail'' with their [[DemonicPossession Take Over]] abilities. Their older sister Mirajane can do it too, but she prefers the Full Body version, which in this world is supposed to be more difficult (in fact, the only time we see her Partial is as a child when her magic originally manifested and she had no control over it, causing her to be [[ShapeshifterModeLock stuck partially between her human and demon form]]). However, it should be noted that both Elfman and Lisanna can do the Full Body Take Over as well, though Elfman in the beginning of the series tended to only avail of this trope, due to the fact that [[spoiler:the last time he tried, he lost control of himself, and ended up killing Lisanna... Or so it seemed]].

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderBeasts https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kipo_half_jaguar_1.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/FairyTail https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fairy_tale_lisana_half_bird.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Any resemblance to [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies certain]] [[Myth/ClassicalMythology mythological]] she-birds is purely coincidental.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', shortly after his friend Lampwick fully transformed into a donkey, Pinocchio grows donkey ears and a tail, he is able to escape from Pleasure Island with Jiminy’s help before he completes his transformation, he eventually loses the ears and tail when he becomes a real boy after giving his life to save Gepetto from Monstro.
* Meilin Lee from Turning Red has partial transformation where she transforms ears, tail, & hands into the red panda

** The [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Super-Skrull]] is all about this. He's got the usual Skrull shapeshifting and the powers of the ComicBook/FantasticFour on top of that, which means that if he wanted to he could copy any one of them perfectly. But why do that when he can copy parts of all four at once? Other Skrulls will sometimes produce wings to glide down from a great height.
** ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Sandman's most common form of offense is to shift his arms into sand weapons in a style similar to [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the T-1000]] (although Sandman was already doing this in the comics 2-3 decades before the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}} films were made). It is also not uncommon for him to assume a giant humanoid sand monster form during battle.
* ''Franchise/DCU''
** ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': The unnamed grey skinned villain who escaped from O.M.A.C. captivity below Bludhaven partially transforms to give herself claws and some fur on the exposed part of her back to fight, before transforming completely into a strange bright red-furred mix-and-match critter later on in the brawl.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Arduin}}'' RPG. ''The Compleat Arduin Book 2: Resources''. Metamorphs are a type of ShapeShifter that can change to any of three possible forms: human, 1 type of animal, and a human/animal hybrid.