History Main / SleepModeSize

* ''Franchise/OnePiece'': If Luffy uses Gear Third, he gains gigantic limbs capable of smashing walls like eggshells. After using it, he reverts to a form where he is incapable of using his devil fruit ability for an amount of time roughly equal to gear third time. This form, of course, is about two feet tall.

* ''VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe'' has the Great Tengu of the Kita Mountain, who, after one battle with [[UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}} Yasuaki]], gets reduced to a cute SmallAnnoyingCreature, dubbed Kotengu ("small tengu") by the central cast. He continues to stick around, repeatedly trying to get Yasuaki to turn him back. He eventually ''does'' have his powers unsealed, only [[spoiler:to get killed in the battle he was sent into; although in the anime adaptation this ends up being a DisneyDeath]].

** Neliel "Nel" Tu, [[spoiler:formerly the third Espada]], was locked into a child's body [[spoiler:after receiving a serious head wound that cracked her Hollow Mask (robbing her of full access to her powers) ''and'' losing her memories]]. [[spoiler: In the ''Thousand Years Old Blood War'' arc, Urahara manages to create a device to give Nel her adult form back.]]

** Also the age-changing pills introduced during the School Festival arc, and used heavily during the last arc to age Negi and Kotaru and loli-fy the girls to disguise them considering [[spoiler: they're all wanted in connection to the gate port terrorist attacks thanks to Fate]]. Also, Kaede can use her ninjutsu to take on a child-like form (which she uses mainly to rub it into Mana's face) as demonstrated in the second chapter of vignettes right before the Magic World arc.
** Poyo [[spoiler: Rainyday]] has an impressive demon form, although she starts out resembling a human girl. The same is probably true of her younger sister [[spoiler: Zazie]], and it definitely ''is'' in regards to Poyo's rival, [[spoiler: Mana Tatsumiya]].

* [[spoiler:Envy]] and [[spoiler:Pride]] from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' go into this when beaten to the verge of death: [[spoiler: Envy]] becomes a creepy worm-thing with way too many teeth, [[spoiler:Pride]] a maybe even more creepy human baby that's small enough to fit on your palm which keeps saying "Mama". And which they ''take home to his former adoptive mother to raise'', properly this time hopefully.
** Envy spends ages as the bug thing, recovers for a while, gets blasted down again, and [[spoiler:commits suicide out of spite toward Mustang and resentment at Ed understanding his personal issues]].

* This happens to [[spoiler: Bunnymund]] in ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' when children no longer believed in them. They go from [[spoiler: a six-foot badass to a one-foot cute critter]], much to their annoyance. Once children believed in them again, they reverted back to their usual form.

* From ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', [[spoiler:Midna's true form is a striking blue-skinned woman slightly taller than Link, but she spends most of the game small and impish]], due to a curse placed on her. When wearing all four {{Upgrade Artifact}}s, she turns into [[spoiler: a giant octopus-looking monstrosity]].

* Misha from ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoMelodyOfElemia'' spends the entire first half of the game looking like a twelve year old girl. It's later revealed that her body reverted to this form [[spoiler: when Bourd extracted the Hymn Crystal Chronicle Key from her]].

* ''[[Anime/HareGuu Haré+Guu]]'' has a "mysterious pink-haired woman" according to Guu who no one recognizes except Hare, who loudly complains is obviously supposed to be her. That the two interact certainly doesn't clarify matters.

** Belphemon, the {{Trope Namer|s}} and one of the main antagonists of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'', literally has a form called "Sleep Mode" that it spends most of its time in, that looks like an adorable demonic koala bear chained up (albeit Sleep Mode is nonetheless about the size of an elephant). It only awakens once every 1000 years. When it does, it transforms into its [[https://wikimon.net/images/9/93/Belphemon_rage.jpg giant, bestial demon]] form called "Rage Mode" that mindlessly wreaks destruction.

* Evangeline A.K. [=McDowell=], the powerful [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampiress]] in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', was captured, [[PowerLimiter De-powered]] and cursed with "School Hell", stuck to remain a middle-schooler to atone for her sins. An inversion; her "sleep mode" is her real appearance (turned as a child) and her full power form is [[OlderAlterEgo an illusion]].

* Mugetsu from ''Manga/{{xxxHOLic}}''. There's an interesting inversion in that it generally takes ''less'' effort to keep him in his larger form, as "shrinking" him requires a massive purifying aura. So why do they bother doing it? Because having a massive, taloned kitsune of death is generally not a good idea when said kitsune also happens to enjoy [[TheGlomp giving bear hugs]].

* ''VisualNovel/ShinkyokuSoukaiPolyphonica'''s [[PersonofMassDestruction Corticarte Apa Lagranges]] is when introduced, originally depicted in her true form as a tall, beautiful, mature woman. However, for the majority of the series, her massive destructive power is sealed away, and this causes her to take the form of a young girl barely into her teens.

* ''{{Anime/Bakugan}}'': In the human world, the titular beings can only exist as tiny spheres. When they are thrown in battle, they return to their natural giant sizes.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fanon holds that this is the reason [[PhysicalGod Suwako Moriya]] appears as a little girl, either because she was defeated and her domain conquered by Kanako Yasaka in the past, or because [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly her followers stopped following them both]] in the present. Canonly, Sanae Kochiya is Suwako's descendant, which would have implications if Suwako ''doesn't'' have an adult form (or it was a Virgin Birth from a MysticalPregnancy, which wouldn't be surprising either).

* In ''Videogame/BlueDragon'', [[spoiler:Deathroy aka Destroy]] is actually the biomechanical warrior who wiped out the Ancients' civilization, trapped in a powerless form. [[spoiler:He spent the entire game biding his time with Nene and acting as his "pet". All the while waiting for a chance to consume Nene's soul since he needed the soul of an Ancient to unlock his true power.]]

* Olloch the Glutton from the ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' series. To contain him, he was shrunk into a tiny stone statue of himself. If you feed him, he awakens, starts eating anything in his path, and grows at an incredible rate. He only reverts to statue form if he eats the person who fed him (though apparently he doesn't shrink again). [[spoiler:At the beginning of the second book, Seth gets tricked into feeding Olloch, who eventually catches up with him and swallows him. Fortunately, at the time he gets eaten, Seth is wearing an impenetrable cocoon, so Olloch reverts to statue form and Seth passes through the digestive system and escapes with his life.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Snowball is usually a bear cub, but can become a ferocious adult bear.

%%[[caption-width-right:249:Aww... Who's a cute widdle Demon Lo... OhCrap]]

* The demons from ''Manga/YondemasuYoAzazelsan'' become this when they enter the human world.

** Belphemon (pictured above), the {{Trope Namer|s}} and one of the main antagonists of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'', literally has a form called "Sleep Mode" that it spends most of its time in, that looks like an adorable demonic koala bear chained up (albeit Sleep Mode is nonetheless about the size of an elephant). It only awakens once every 1000 years. When it does, it transforms into its [[https://wikimon.net/images/9/93/Belphemon_rage.jpg giant, bestial demon]] form called "Rage Mode" that mindlessly wreaks destruction.

** Shiki Eiki is similar because she both appears as an adult and a child at different times in official works (her first appearance in ''Phantasmagoria Of Flower View'' saw her as quite adult, while ''The Grimoire of Marisa'' portrays her as very child-like), so it is reasonable to assume that this trope is in action when she's not doing her job of judging sinners.

[[caption-width-right:249:Aww... Who's a cute widdle Demon Lo... OhCrap]]

%%[[caption-width-right:249:Aww... Who's a cute widdle Demon Lo... OhCrap]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* {{Anime/Bakugan}}: In the human world, the titular beings can only exist as tiny spheres. When they are thrown in battle, they return to their natural giant sizes.

* Frieza from ''Anime/DragonballZ'' adopts this practice, with each of his lesser forms being more or less a limiter he placed on himself - however, his true form is [[BishonenLine quite smaller and fragile-looking than his intermediate ones]].

** Belphemon (pictured above), the TropeNamer and one of the main antagonists of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'', literally has a form called "Sleep Mode" that it spends most of its time in, that looks like an adorable demonic koala bear chained up (albeit Sleep Mode is nonetheless about the size of an elephant). It only awakens once every 1000 years. When it does, it transforms into its [[https://wikimon.net/images/9/93/Belphemon_rage.jpg giant, bestial demon]] form called "Rage Mode" that mindlessly wreaks destruction.

* ''Maranosuke'' The title character's [[TheFairFolk mother]] is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really a thousand-years-old,]] but defaults to appear the age of an 8-year-old that only [[VoluntaryShapeshifting turns into a Hot Amazon adult]] to calm down her son's one-time [[TheBerserker berserker]] reaction to her presence [[ParentalIncest by having sex with him,]] implying that Mara may otherwise [[NotAllowedToGrowUp stay looking that young]] or else remain a [[Manga/DragonBallZ Broly-looking]] hulk just like his BigBad EvilTwin who's ''permanantly'' [[MommyIssues obsessed with being together with their mother for good]] and has spent [[ImmortalityImmorality the last millennium taking out such sexual frustration brutally doing women to death.]]

* ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' has a little quote from Mushu to the title character after his BigShadowLittleCreature moment. It is heavily implied that Mushu is lying to seem more impressive. We never do see any evidence that he can change size.

** Also, the [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Ice Titan]] from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. Taller than the colosseum when you're fighting it, but once you beat it, it suddenly becomes so small that it has to run away lest Sora kill it by stepping on it.

* [[http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/343 This strip]] of ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}''. (It's in the 4th panel, you have to look for it)

* In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', Dojo the dragon spends most of the time more or less [[Disney/{{Mulan}} Mushu-sized]]. When he needs to ferry the heroes across the world, he shifts into a huge serpent. Though on a certain night every thousand years it's ''crucial'' he stay in this form while locked up as the lunar cycle turns him evil and you can imagine how he acts when going full dragon.

%% Image in caption replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1309972786001020100
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:180:[[Anime/DigimonSavers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/180px-Belphemon_sleep.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:180:Aww... Who's a cute widdle Demon Lo... [[OhCrap Oh]] [[http://dma.wtw-x.net/DMA/DigimonStands/Bandai/Shadowman/Belphemon.jpg crap]].]]

** Belphemon (pictured above), the TropeNamer and one of the main antagonists of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'', literally has a form called "Sleep Mode" that he spends most of his time in, that looks like an adorable demonic koala bear chained up (albeit Sleep Mode is nonetheless about the size of an elephant). He only awakens once every 1000 years. When he does, he becomes a [[https://wikimon.net/images/9/93/Belphemon_rage.jpg giant, bestial demon]] called "Rage Mode" that mindlessly wreaks destruction.

* Belphemon (pictured above), the TropeNamer and one of the main antagonists of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'', literally has a form called "Sleep Mode" that he spends most of his time in, that looks like an adorable demonic koala bear chained up (albeit Sleep Mode is nonetheless about the size of an elephant). He only awakens once every 1000 years. When he does, he becomes a [[https://wikimon.net/images/9/93/Belphemon_rage.jpg giant, bestial demon]] called "Rage Mode" that mindlessly wreaks destruction.