History Main / ScarySymbolicShapeshifting

Compare EvilMakesYouMonstrous, when an evildoer's villainy causes them to ''literally'' transform.

* ''Film/FriendOfTheWorld'': Diane hallucinates as a side effect to an antidote. She confronts Gore, who's face becomes monstrous. [[spoiler:It is later revealed the kind of monster he actually is.]]

** In "TheStoryOfAnyburgUSA", as the persecuting lawyer declares that the automobile must be found guilty, he morphs into the Devil.

** On some occasions, Donald Duck will briefly gain sharp teeth if he's especially angry or malicious.
** In "How to Play Football", the narrator says that a coach can become a "saint" or a "devil" at any given moment, and the coach Goofy morphs into such figures as he does.
** In "No Hunting", when Donald gets the urge to go out hunting, he lets out a MightyRoar while his beak becomes a tiger's jowls.
** In "The Story of Anyburg, U.S.A.", as the persecuting lawyer declares that the automobile must be found guilty, he morphs into the Devil.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animal Farm|1954}}'' ends with a conference of pig delegates from other farms across the country, which a work-fatigued Benjamin decides to spy on; halfway through, Benjamin is so exhausted that he briefly hallucinates that Napoleon and his cronies are transforming into doubles of the tyrannical Farmer Jones -- as with the original novel, a sign that the pigs have become indistinguishable from their former oppressors.

* Played with in ''Film/TheLighthouse'': as tensions between the two lighthouse keepers continue to rise, Ephraim Winslow begins to occasionally perceive his enigmatic MeanBoss Thomas Wake as a monster. Among other things, Wake appears to sport tentacles during one of his [[ADateWithRosiePalms private rituals before the lantern]]; in a nightmare, he is seen with GlowingEyesOfDoom; lastly, during the final argument, Wake seemingly shapeshifts into one of Winslow's old friends, then the mermaid, before becoming a Proteus-like godly version of himself and trying to throttle Winslow with his tentacles. It's left deliberately {{ambiguous|situation}} as to whether any of this is actually happening, or if Winslow is just hallucinating.

* Played with in ''Film/TheLighthouse'': as tensions between the two lighthouse keepers continue to rise, Ephraim Winslow begins to occasionally perceive his enigmatic MeanBoss Thomas Wake as a monster. Among other things, Wake appears to sport tentacles during one of his private rituals before the Light; in a nightmare, he is seen with GlowingEyesOfDoom; lastly, during the final argument, Wake seemingly shapeshifts into one of Winslow's old friends, then the mermaid, before becoming a Proteus-like demigod and trying to throttle Winslow with his tentacles. It's left deliberately {{ambiguous|situation}} as to whether any of this is actually happening, or if Winslow is just hallucinating.

* Played with in ''Film/TheLighthouse'': as tensions between the two lighthouse keepers continue to rise, Ephraim Winslow begins to occasionally perceive his enigmatic MeanBoss Thomas Wake as a monster. Among other things, Wake appears to sport tentacles during one of his [[ADateWithRosiePalms private rituals]] before the Light; in a nightmare, he is seen with GlowingEyesOfDoom; lastly, during the final argument, Wake seemingly shapeshifts into one of Winslow's old friends, then the mermaid, before becoming a Proteus-like demigod and trying to throttle Winslow with his tentacles. It's left deliberately {{ambiguous|situation}} as to whether any of this is actually happening, or if Winslow is just hallucinating.

This is about characters who ''aren't'' shapeshifters, and may not have any supernatural powers at all; they may even be characters in a story with little or no supernatural elements whatsoever. However, the character is most commonly a villain, or at the very least an unpleasant person in general. At some point, they are briefly shown turning into something scary to illustrate how unpleasant they are. It may simply be a scarier-looking version of themselves, it may be an animal that represents their predatory personality, or it may even be an outright monster.

** Played with. Nagisa is actually a pretty decent guy, but can be quite terrifying due to his talent for assassination and bloodlust. Often when characters sense his KillingIntent or become afraid of him, he's seen as a snake or reptilian monster.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'': In one infamous scene, as the Coachman says that boys who go to Pleasure Island never come back "...as BOYS", he pulls off a SlasherSmile while his face turns red and his hair turns up to look like devil horns.

* Played with in ''Film/TheLighthouse'': as tensions between the two lighthouse keepers continue to rise, Ephraim Winslow begins to occasionally perceive his enigmatic MeanBoss Thomas Wake as a monster. Among other things, Wake appears to sport tentacles during one of his [[ADateWithRosiePalms private rituals]] before the Light; in a nightmare, he is seen with GlowingEyesOfDoom; lastly, during the final argument, Wake seemingly shapeshifts into one of Winslow's old friends, then the mermaid, before becoming a Proteus-like demigod and trying to throttle Winslow with his tentacles. It's left deliberately ambiguous as to whether any of this is actually happening, or if Winslow is just hallucinating.

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm1954'' ends with a conference of pig delegates from other farms across the country, which a work-fatigued Benjamin decides to spy on; halfway through, Benjamin is so exhausted that he briefly hallucinates that Napoleon and his cronies are transforming into doubles of the tyrannical Farmer Jones - as with the original novel, a sign that the pigs have become indistinguishable from their former oppressors.
* ''WesternAnimation/AsterixAndCleopatra'': During the "Arsenic Cake Song," while singing the line "to watch a sacred crocodile," Artifis and Krukhut turn into crocodiles for a few frames. This is not only a reference to the crocodile they're singing about, but also a reference to their wicked and murderous intentions.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': When King Triton is destroying Ariel's grotto in a fit of blind rage, the lighting of the scene makes him look like a shadowy, black devil, with his crown serving as the "horns" and his trident as the "pitchfork".

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]
* Downplayed in ''Film/FromHell'': late in the film, Jack the Ripper is unmasked as [[spoiler: Sir William Gull]] during a confrontation with Abberline; in the middle of this conversation, Jack closes his eyes in frustration, and when he opens them again, his eyes have turned pitch-black - despite Jack being an ordinary human being and the film having no overt supernatural elements apart from Abberline's "divinations."

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing,'' Bilbo Baggins is normally a genial old hobbit, and even his many decades of [[FunctionalAddict subtle corruption]] by the [[ArtifactOfDoom One Ring]] seems to be little more than a blip on the radar by the time he turns up at Rivendell. However, while the Fellowship is preparing to leave Rivendell, he happens to catch sight of the Ring on Frodo - and suddenly ''lunges'' wildly at him, sporting sharp teeth and enormous, frenzied-looking eyes. Bilbo demonstrates no shapeshifting at any other point in the story, so this is just an indication that the Ring still has its hooks in him and could one day drag him down to the same level as [[AddledAddict Gollum]].
* In ''Film/{{Nixon}}'', during a discussion between the eponymous president and CIA director Helms concerning evil, Helms' eyes appear to [[BlackEyesOfEvil turn pitch-black]]. Given that the rest of the film is largely a grounded story of Richard Nixon's presidency, the transformation is distinctly out of place - and actually resulted in the scene being deleted following a complaint from Helms' estate.
* During the animated ''Tales Of The Black Freighter'' chapters of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', the shipwrecked captain appears to physically degenerate as the horror of his efforts to save his homeland weigh upon him, at one point even manifesting BlackEyesOfEvil and a grin full of shark teeth. However, though there is a supernatural element of the ''Black Freighter'' comic, it's clear that this is intended to be a strictly symbolic transformation given that he appears fully human when he arrives home.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

** In [[Recap/HannibalS01E13 the first-season finale]], Will Graham finally realizes that Hannibal Lecter is the SerialKiller he's been hunting, and briefly perceives him as a {{Wendigo}} - a HumanoidAbomination with tarry black skin, BlackEyesOfEvil, and a gigantic set of antlers. In the season that follows, it's not uncommon for Will to perceive Hannibal this way when under stress, most notably when [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Hannibal]] testifies against [[HeroWithBadPublicity Will]] in court.

** Throughout season 3, Francis Dolarhyde frequently manifests draconic traits in his fantasy sequences as he grows more devoted to his career as the Great Red Dragon - to the point that, during the final battle, he sports a gigantic set of dragon wings (purely ornamental).

[[folder:Webcomics]]

** In ''How to Play Football'', the narrator says that a coach can become a "saint" or a "devil" at any given moment, and the coach Goofy morphs into such figures as he does.
** In ''No Hunting'', when Donald gets the urge to go out hunting, he lets out a MightyRoar while his beak becomes a tiger's jowls.
** In ''The Story of Anyburg, U.S.A.'', as the persecuting lawyer declares that the automobile must be found guilty, he morphs into the Devil.

** Played with. Nagisa is actually a pretty decent guy, but can be quite terrifying due to his talent for assassination and bloodlust. Often when characters sense his killing intent or become afraid of him, he's seen as a snake or reptilian monster.

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Indices:
+ {{Shapeshifting}}
+ {{Symbolism}}
+ EvilTropes