History Main / PuppetPermutation

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/TheFlash https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flashpuppet.jpg]]]]

* In ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' #133, Abra Kadabra turns the Flash into a marionette.
* In the Creator/ECComics story "Strung Along" from ''The Vault of Horror'' #33, a dying puppeteer's marionettes come to life and turn his greedy wife into a puppet in a more gruesome and literal manner than most stories of this variety.
* ''ComicBook/Zatanna2010'': One arc revealed Zee's father Zatara once transformed the SerialKiller Oscar Hampel into a marionette. Decades later, Hampel took vengeance by turning Zatanna into a marionette: a form in which she was trapped for several months.

This is almost always a ForcedTransformation because not many people want to be controlled. Compare to DemonicDummy or PeoplePuppets. {{Subtrope}} to ToyTransmutation.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26CDb9RRGbQ One episode]] of ''Series/HomeImprovement'' had a DreamSequence where the cast become Creator/RankinBassProductions-style stop-motion puppets. HilarityEnsues. Especially since Tim ends up [[LosingYourHead Losing His Head]].

%% * Drocell Caines of ''Manga/BlackButler'' had this as his M.O.

* Anya of ''Manga/{{Karin}}'' is fond of taking people's souls and sticking them into dolls. Near the end of the manga [[spoiler:she binds her grandfather's soul so that they can figure out what the hell is going on.]]
* In ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'', using the Wincott poison will move the person's soul into a doll and allow their body to be used at will by the Wincott family, and it will only end when the Wincott family agrees.
* In ''Anime/NarutoShippuden'', Akatsuki member Sasori created puppets out of human corpses, and later turned himself into a living puppet.
* In ''Anime/MelodyOfOblivion'' this is one of the various things that happen to normal people that see a monster. The other examples are turning into statues or ape-men. Each particular monster seems to have a particular effect.

* Happens to Akane in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', both in the OVA "Ranma, Look at Me" and in the ending of the Manga.
* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', during the Operation Capture Baba Yaga Castle Arc, Arachne uses her abilities to make Soul, Maka and Medusa hallucinate that they have become puppets.
* Happens in the second ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' OAV, where the Shinma Miyu has to fight is an UncannyValleyGirl who transforms the students of a prestigious Kyoto private school into mannequins. [[spoiler: And falls in love with one of them, so to prevent the StarCrossedLovers situation, she turns him into a Shinma. At the guy's request, because he falls for her as well even after finding out who she truly is.]]

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash #133'', a classic Silver Age Flash story where Abra Kadabra turns the Flash into a marionette.
* Creator/ECComics: In "Strung Along" in ''The Vault of Horror'' #33, a dying puppeteer's marionettes come to life and turn his greedy wife into a puppet in a more gruesome and literal manner than most stories of this variety.

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
* In ''Film/DeadSilence'', [[spoiler:Mary Shaw's final wish was to have her own corpse turned into a ventriloquist doll. Also, while she was alive, she killed a young boy, Michael Ashen, and turned him into a puppet.]] Later, in the film's TwistEnding, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Edward Ashen has been DeadAllAlong and also became part of Shaw's doll collection, and the very end of the film shows that Jamie, Lisa, Henry and Lipton are now part of her collection.]]
* The antagonistic father in the film ''Film/Dolls1987'' gets transformed into a Mr Punch puppet near the end of the film after he destroys the good Mr Punch doll that was protecting his daughter.

* ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'' had a moment where the Infinite Improbability Drive turned the characters into yarn puppets, due to the ship being a giant ball of yarn (complete with knitting needles). Arthur vomits yarn just as normality is reached, and his normal self is shown pulling yarn out of his mouth.
* The plot behind ''Curse of the Film/PuppetMaster''. [[spoiler:They managed to do it in the end.]]

* More of a symbolic example than a literal one, but the film adaptation of ''Music/TheWall'' has [[VillainProtagonist Pink's]] SadistTeacher being portrayed as a scrawny marionette controlled by a monstrous and hideous-looking woman, [[HenpeckedHusband meant to represent the teacher's wife]]. In a particularly fascinating piece of symbolism, there's a scene in the film wherein [[TheChainOfHarm the teacher's wife is shown beating the puppet version of the teacher with a cane, and the teacher himself is beating a doll (meant to represent young!Pink) with a smaller cane.]]

* In ''The Magicians of Caprona'' by Creator/DianaWynneJones, the villain at one point turns Tonino and Angelica into puppets and makes them act out a Punch and Judy show.
* In the {{gamebook}}, ''Literature/HowlOfTheWerewolf''. A fate worse than turning to a werewolf is getting attacked by an insane puppetmaster's creations and, after failing to escape in time, have the master throwing his puppet dust on you and adding you as his collection.

* The above quote comes from "[[Recap/AngelS05E14SmileTime Smile Time]]", an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' where the titular character is turned into a puppet. Within the episode, he fights other, demonic puppets. It also contains the line "You're a wee little puppet man!" from Spike. May or may not be a hint that he's being turned into a metaphorical puppet.

** Spike later gets the same treatment in the comic ''Spike: Shadow Puppets'' when he travels to Japan where ''Smile Time'' is still popular.

* At the end of ''Series/TheMiddleman'' episode "The Vampiric Puppet Lamentation," both the Middleman and Lacey are (briefly) turned into puppets.

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "[[Recap/StargateSG1S10E6200 200]]" features a five-minute ImagineSpot mash-up of the series pilot and the [[Film/{{Stargate}} original Stargate movie]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJfckHxCw7c as cast with marionettes.]]

* This is the plot of Music/KingDiamond's 2003 album, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puppet_Master_(album) The Puppet Master]]''. Let's just say it's more literal and grotesque than most other examples on this page.
* Music/SonataArctica's song ''[[http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/sonata_arctica_lyrics_2084/reckoning_night_lyrics_9891/the_boy_who_wanted_to_be_a_real_puppet_lyrics_114665.html The Boy Who Wanted To Be A Real Puppet]]''.

* One of the characters in the horror novel (and computer game) ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'' succumbs to a rather nasty version, being [[ForcedTransformation gradually and permanently transformed into an inanimate marionette]]. It's not clear whether or not she's [[AndIMustScream still conscious afterwards.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' has Ganondorf pull this trick on himself as a OneWingedAngel gambit.
** Well, sort of. He seems to be actually playing the puppetmaster, from above, with a little help from some magic. (Note the strings on all three forms of the boss.)
* The villain in ''Rite of Passage: The Perfect Show'' used a magic mirror to turn several kidnapped children into puppets.

* ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpscareMansion'': This is what happens to the victims of [[PerversePuppet Specimen 6]]. Multiple children were [[ImpliedTrope implied]] to have been [[WouldHurtAChild killed]] and turned into [[AndIMustScream puppets that look just like their living selves]].

* Childlike and sociopathic Ilharess Kharla'ggen from ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' has a hobby of turning people that take her fancy into dolls. Though she has demonstrated an ability to do this entirely by magic, her favourite method is to physically cut out the bones from her victims' arms and legs, pull out their eyes and tongue, decorate them cutely, and leave them like that. Being elves, they can theoretically live indefinitely as long as they are fed, making this example of the trope seriously creepy.
* A prominent character in ''Webcomic/TheForgottenOrder'', has been cursed into a form of a doll that must do the bidding of witches and wizards.
* During one magician's duel in ''Webcomic/TheWotch'', a character gets turned into a [[http://www.thewotch.com/?epDate=2007-03-27 marionette]].

[[folder:Western Animation ]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In "The Puppets", Gumball turns into a puppet while journeying into the world of his and Darwin's childhood imagination to save Darwin from some childhood toys gone rogue.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': In "The Great Fusilli", the titular villain turns his victims, including Eustace and Muriel into marionettes, and gets defeated when he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turns into one himself]] by Courage. [[spoiler: Disturbingly, Eustace and Muriel don't change back at the end, and Courage controls them to live like they usually do]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Fanboy and Chum Chum}}'' episode "Strings Attached", Fanboy is turned into a wooden puppet as punishment for his bad behavior. However, he ends up ''liking'' it so much that he tries to make the change permanent by doing a good deed.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Cosmo, Wanda, Timmy, and Vicky]] in ''WesternAnimation/ChannelChasers'' when they hop into a parody of ''Series/SesameStreet''. They were accompanied by [[spoiler: Timmy from the dystopian future]]. Cosmo even express how he feels about that sudden change.
-->'''Cosmo:''' I've never ''felt'' more alive. Get it? ''Felt?''
* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' has a couple episodes involving the Monkey King, an evil magical puppet who comes to life when someone pulls the puppet's leg, turning the one who was pulling his leg into a puppet themselves. When this happens to Jackie, he's revived using the Rat Talisman--but he's still a puppet. That trait ends up saving him more than once in that episode; to quote Jade, "Let's hear it for detachable parts."
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[spoiler: This happens to virtually the entire population of The Boiling Isles in the second part of the finale, with them completely under [[RealityWarper The Collector's]] control.]]
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' had the VillainOfTheWeek called The Puppet King, who cast a spell to put the Titans' souls into puppet facsimiles. The boys are all captured this way; Raven manages to cast a counter-spell while she and Starfire are being attacked, which lets them escape but results in them [[FreakyFridayFlip accidentally switching bodies]] (and thus, powers).
** A similar example also occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', complete with MediumBlending.

* ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioAndTheEmperorOfTheNight'' (by {{Creator/Filmation}}) and ''[[RecycledInSpace Pinocchio In Outer Space]]'' are both positioned as sequels to [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] [[{{WesternAnimation/Pinocchio}} adaptation]] of Carlo Collodi's ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio''. At some point in both films, the real boy turns back into a puppet due to failure to maintain the diligence expected of a real boy.

* ''ComicBook/Zatanna2010'': Zee's father Zatara once transformed the SerialKiller Hamsel into a marionette. Decades later, Hamsel took vengeance by turning Zatanna into a marionette: a form in which she was trapped for several months.

* The above quote comes from "[[Recap/AngelS05E14SmileTime Smile Time]]" an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' where the titular character is turned into a puppet. Within the episode, he fights other, demonic puppets. It also contains the line "You're a wee little puppet man!" from Spike. May or may not be a hint that he's being turned into a metaphorical puppet.
-->'''Angel''': I'm made of felt...and by dose comes off!

-->Oh no!
* In the ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' episode "Legends of To-Meow-Meow", one of the alternate timelines Charlie and Constantine accidentally create is one where Mick left the team, joined forces with the fairy godmother, and called the Legends "puppets of the Time Bureau", which the godmother then literalised. For [[RuleOfFunny some reason]], turning into felt puppets also makes the characters act like they're in a pre-school edutainment series.
** Happens again in the season 5 episode “Mr. Parker’s Cul-De-Sac”, when the team is briefly trapped inside a ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' {{Expy}} and Ava and Sara are transformed into puppets for the show.

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "200" features a five-minute ImagineSpot mash-up of the series pilot and the [[Film/{{Stargate}} original Stargate movie]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJfckHxCw7c as cast with marionettes.]]

* In ''Series/{{Goosebumps}},'' [[DemonicDummy Slappy]] turns Zane into a dummy during the adaptation of ''Night of the Living Dummy III.'' This did not happen in the book, however.

* ''ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}'': In the 2010 series, Zee's father Zatara once transformed the SerialKiller Hamsel into a marionette. Decades later, Hamsel took vengeance by turning Zatanna into a marionette: a form in which she was trapped for several months.

* In ''Film/TheTheatreBizarre'', Enola Penny is intrigued by an abandoned theatre in her neighborhood. One night the theatre door mysteriously opens and she enters. A puppet host named Peg Poett introduces six short films. [[spoiler:As each is shown, the host becomes more human and Enola becomes more puppet-like. And the end of the show, Peg places the now fully puppet in a trunk and closes the lid.]]

Sometimes, something strange happens. A person, either the hero or villain, changes into a living puppet. Attempts to manipulate the newly-formed puppet often result in violence.

This is often the work of an EvilPuppeteer, turning innocent people into puppets to use at his leisure.

Could be a ForcedTransformation. Compare to DemonicDummy or PeoplePuppets. {{Subtrope}} to ToyTransmutation.

* In ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'', using the Wincott poison will move the person's soul into a doll and allow their body to be used at will by the Wincott family, and it will only end when the Wincott family agrees.

[[folder: Web Animation ]]

* WebVideo/PotterPuppetPals, a series of fan videos that feature eccentric hand-puppet versions of the characters from ''Franchise/HarryPotter''.

* One of the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi]] episodes of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' sends the Satellite of Love through a wormhole that temporarily replaces Mike with an AlternateUniverse robot/puppet Mike.

* WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse: [[spoiler: This happens to virtually the entire population of The Boiling Isles in the second part of the finale, with them completely under [[RealityWarper The Collector’s]] control.]]

* The film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' had a moment where the Infinite Improbability Drive turned the characters into yarn puppets, due to the ship being a giant ball of yarn (complete with knitting needles). Arthur vomits yarn just as normality is reached, and his normal self is shown pulling yarn out of his mouth.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had the VillainOfTheWeek called The Puppet King, who cast a spell to put the Titans' souls into puppet facsimiles. The boys are all captured this way; Raven manages to cast a counter-spell while she and Starfire are being attacked, which lets them escape but results in them [[FreakyFridayFlip accidentally switching bodies]] (and thus, powers).

* More of a symbolic example than a literal one, but the film adaptation of ''Music/TheWall'' has [[VillainProtagonist Pink's]] SadistTeacher being portrayed as a scrawny marionette controlled by a monstrous and hideous-looking woman, [[HenpeckedHusband meant to represent the teacher's wife]]. In a particularly fascinating piece of symbolism, there's a scene in the film wherein [[ChainOfHarm the teacher's wife is shown beating the puppet version of the teacher with a cane, and the teacher himself is beating a doll (meant to represent young!Pink) with a smaller cane.]]

* More of a symbolic example than a literal one, but the film adaptation of ''Music/TheWall'' has [[VillainProtagonist Pink's]] SadistTeacher being portrayed as a scrawny marionette controlled by a monstrous and hideous-looking woman, [[HenpeckedHusband meant to represent the teacher's wife]]. In a particularly fascinating piece of symbolism, there's a scene in the film wherein [[ViciousCycle the teacher's wife is shown beating the puppet version of the teacher with a cane, and the teacher himself is beating a doll (meant to represent young!Pink) with a smaller cane.]]

* This is the ability of the Doll Devil in ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', harnessed by an old man from Germany codenamed [[BadSanta Santa Claus]]. By activating the power and physically touching someone, Santa can turn that person into a marionette-like doll, after which he can mentally control their movements as he pleases and that person is effectively deceased. [[ViralTransformation Humans who touch a doll become a doll too.]] Since the only way to stop a doll is to put them down, and Santa prefers crowded urban areas where people are constantly bumping into each other, civilian body counts get very high when he's on the attack. Luckily, [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Fiends and Hybrids]] like Power and Denji are immune.

* In ''Anime/NarutoShippuden'', Akatsuki member Sasori created puppets out of people, and later turned himself into a living puppet.

* In ''Franchise/[[Naruto]]'', Akatsuki member Sasori created puppets out of people, and later turned himself into a living puppet.