History Main / TransformationConventions

* An issue of the modern ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' comic had the JLA turned into various non-human primates. Superman became a gorilla (which is the strongest primate), Batman became a gibbon (one of the more agile primates), Green Lantern became a chimp (which uses tools), Flash became a patas monkey (which is the fastest primate), Aquaman became a proboscis monkey (which swims), and Wonder Woman became a bonobo (which is sexy...I mean peaceful).[[note]]You mean both.[[/note]]

** This is one of the consequences of the "magical air" of the DarkWorld in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. It is implied that almost all of the monsters in the world, including BigBad Ganon, are greedy and cruel humans transformed. And Link, of course, becomes a cute fluffy bunny as per his nice nature. Very life-affirming, but totally useless in fighting said monsters.
** The Twilight Realm of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' transforms Link into a far more noble and combat-worthy wolf. Because the Triforce glows on Link's hand right before he transforms, we can assume that the Triforce intentionally caused this transformation to both protect Link and enable him to complete his quest.

** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'': Additionally, the appearance of the alien form matches the person wearing the Omnitrix. Ben's Grey Matter form is an innocuous-looking small humanoid with those big, green eyes of his. Meanwhile, Albedo's supreme Grey Matter form is a cylindrical monstrosity with three red eyes and an wizened old man's face. Albedo is Ben's EvilCounterpart.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S.", the children of the world are transformed into animals and the end result follows NationalStereotypes. Japanese KND Numbuh Three becomes a crane, fat Numbuh Two becomes a hippo, and Australian Numbuh Four becomes a koala. The best, though is the misanthropic Irish operative Numbuh 86 becoming a dog, at which a bystander comments, "Well, ''that'' figures". The BigBad of the series, a shadowy man known as "Father", is hit with the animal transformation as well. He turns into a panther. Funnily enough, he still has the smoking pipe he always has sticking out of his mouth.

* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'': The sorceress Circe turns Herc, Adonis, and Icarus into animals. CloudCuckoolander Icarus becomes a duck-billed platypus and the vain Adonis changes into a [[AgentPeacock peacock]]. Hercules, for some reason, is turned into a ring-tailed lemur, albeit a super-strong one.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': The sorceress Circe turns Herc, Adonis, and Icarus into animals. CloudCuckoolander Icarus becomes a duck-billed platypus and the vain Adonis changes into a [[AgentPeacock peacock]]. Hercules, for some reason, is turned into a ring-tailed lemur, albeit a super-strong one.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'': In "The Great Escape", June and a bunch of magical creatures are turned into animals so they can be kept captive and have their own magical powers drained from them by another magical creature named Gigi.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': The two times one of the girls has been turned into a half-human hybrid, she has become a CatGirl; Clover in [[Recap/TotallySpiesS1E16WildStyle "Wild Style"]] and Alex in "Nine Lives". The reason is not only that cats are animals associated with feminity (something each member of the trio has in spades) but also that they are spies. Spies, like cats, must be stealthy, graceful, and agile.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': In "Wild Style", Clover gets turned into a cat-girl. Later on, the same thing happens to Alex.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': In "Bunny Raven", Mumbo changes Cyborg into a bear, Starfire into a tiger, Robin into a monkey, and Raven into a bunny. As for Beast Boy who can already change into other animals? He gets changed into a lamp limiting his transformative abilities to inanimate objects.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' episode "Wild Style", Clover gets turned into a cat-girl. Later on, the same thing happens to Alex.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' has "The Great Escape" where June and a bunch of magical creatures are turned into animals so they can be kept captive and have their own magical powers drained from them by another magical creature named Gigi... it's a long story.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben10}}'' frequently has the Omnitrix overriding Ben's choice of Alien Hero to match plot or comedy requirements.

** Most of the Transformers turn into something that suits either their personality or their function. 'Old' Transformers often choose military and public service vehicles, while 'young' Transformers have a tendency to choose new, hip, fast, and badass cars. This happens even when they don't personally choose their alt mode. Hence, for example, the medic Ratchet became an ambulance, the dedicated soldier Ultra Magnus becomes a car carrier, fitting because he is a pillar of strength that the other Autobots rely on, and Sentinel Prime becomes a Snow Plow because he's stubborn and a dipshit. There are also examples of the ironic alt-mode: for instance, Manta rays are gentle, easygoing creatures, but Depth Charge, who turns into one, is belligerent, violent, and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters obsessed with vengeance]].
** Worth pointing out that Depth Charge's other alt mode is a much more suiting ''starfighter'', so he fits the trope twice in two different ways.
* Somewhat justified in ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'': The heroes and villains were all given their animal forms by a wizard, based on abilities and personality traits they'd displayed in the quest to reach him.
* In one episode of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', the sorceress Circe turns Herc, Adonis and Icarus into animals. CloudCuckoolander Icarus becomes a duck-billed platypus and the vain Adonis changes into a peacock. Hercules, for some reason, is turned into a ring-tailed lemur, albeit a super-strong one.
* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S." featured the children of the world being transformed into animals. Some Transformation Convention examples include Japanese KND Numbuh Three becoming a crane, fat Numbuh Two becoming a hippo, and Australian Numbuh Four becoming a koala. The best, though was the misanthropic Irish operative Numbuh 86 becoming a dog, at which a bystander commented "Well, ''that'' figures."
** Interestingly enough, the BigBad of the series, a shadowy man known as "Father", is hit with the animal transformation as well. He turns into a panther. Funnily enough, he still has the smoking pipe he always has still sticking out of his mouth.

See also PersonalityPowers and AnimalMotifs.

!!Examples

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[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

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[[folder: Literature ]]

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

** This is one of the consequences of the "magical air" of the DarkWorld in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. It is implied that most all of the monsters in the world, including BigBad Ganon, are greedy and cruel humans transformed. And Link, of course, becomes a cute fluffy bunny as per his nice nature. Very life-affirming, but totally useless in fighting said monsters.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' episode "Bunny Raven", Mumbo changes Cyborg into a bear, Starfire into a tiger, Robin into a monkey and Raven into a bunny. As for Beast Boy who can already change into other animals? He gets changed into a lamp limiting his transformative abilities to inanimate objects.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' franchise, most of the Transformers turn into something that suites either their personality or their function. 'Old' Transformers often choose military and public service vehicles, while 'young' Transformers have a tendency to choose new, hip, fast and badass cars. This happens even when they don't personally choose their alt mode. Hence, for example, the medic Ratchet became an ambulance, the dedicated soldier Ultra Magnus becomes a car carrier, fitting because he is a pillar of strength that the other Autobots rely on, and Sentinel Prime becomes a Snow Plow, because he's stubborn and a dipshit. There are also examples of the ironic alt-mode: for instance, Manta rays are gentle, easygoing creatures, but Depth Charge, who turns into one, is belligerent, violent, and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters obsessed with vengeance]].

[[/folder]]

* In the ''{{Transformers}}'' franchise, most of the Transformers turn into something that suites either their personality or their function. 'Old' Transformers often choose military and public service vehicles, while 'young' Transformers have a tendency to choose new, hip, fast and badass cars. This happens even when they don't personally choose their alt mode. Hence, for example, the medic Ratchet became an ambulance, the dedicated soldier Ultra Magnus becomes a car carrier, fitting because he is a pillar of strength that the other Autobots rely on, and Sentinel Prime becomes a Snow Plow, because he's stubborn and a dipshit. There are also examples of the ironic alt-mode: for instance, Manta rays are gentle, easygoing creatures, but Depth Charge, who turns into one, is belligerent, violent, and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters obsessed with vengeance]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Bunny Raven", Mumbo changes Cyborg into a bear, Starfire into a tiger, Robin into a monkey and Raven into a bunny. As for Beast Boy who can already change into other animals? He gets changed into a lamp limiting his transformative abilities to inanimate objects.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S." featured the children of the world being transformed into animals. Some Transformation Convention examples include Japanese KND Numbuh Three becoming a crane, fat Numbuh Two becoming a hippo, and Australian Numbuh Four becoming a koala. The best, though was the misanthropic Irish operative Numbuh 86 becoming a dog, at which a bystander commented "Well, ''that'' figures." (She turned into an Irish Setter, but that ''wasn't'' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar what they were referring to]].)

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* An issue of the modern ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' comic had the JLA turned into various non-human primates. Superman became a gorilla (which is the strongest primate), Batman became a gibbon (one of the more agile primates), Green Lantern became a chimp (which uses tools), Flash became a patas monkey (which is the fastest primate), Aquaman became a proboscis monkey (which swims), and Wonder Woman became a bonobo (which is sexy...I mean peaceful).[[note]]You mean both.[[/note]]

[[/folder]]

* In the ''{{Transformers}}'' franchise, most of the Transformers turn into something that suites either their personality or their function. 'Old' Transformers often choose military and public service vehicles, while 'young' Transformers have a tendency to choose new, hip, fast and badass cars. This happens even when they don't personally choose their alt mode. Hence, for example, the medic Ratchet became an ambulance, the dedicated soldier Ultra Magnus becomes a car carrier, fitting because he is a pillar of strength that the other Autobots rely on, and Sentinel Prime becomes a Snow Plow, because he's stubborn and a dipshit. There are also examples of the ironic alt-mode: Manta rays are gentle, easygoing creatures, but Depth Charge, who turns into one, is belligerent, violent, and impatient.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Bunny Raven" changes Cyborg into a bear, Starfire into a cat, Robin into a monkey and Raven into a bunny. As for Beast Boy who can already change into other animals? He gets changed into a lamp limiting his transformative abilities to inanimate objects.

* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'': While the team often uses the same morph, everyone's main combat morph is at least tangentially related to their personality: TheBigGirl Rachel goes elephant or grizzly bear, TheLeader Jake goes tiger, Cassie the FriendToAllLivingThings goes wolf, while Ax and Tobias keep their usual bodies due being an Andalite with a bladed tail and stuck in the body of a hawk respectively. Subverted with Marco, who's a snarker and usually the first to look for holes in a plan, who has a gorilla and brute-forces his way through enemies (and despite being acknowledge as the single worst driver of the bunch, is the only one with a morph capable of driving).

* This is one of the consequences of the "magical air" of the DarkWorld in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. It is implied that most all of the monsters in the world, including BigBad Ganon, are greedy and cruel humans transformed. And Link, of course, becomes a cute fluffy bunny as per his nice nature. Very life-affirming, but totally useless in fighting said monsters.

See also PersonalityPowers.

A GeniusBruiser or GentleGiant will become a bear or other large animal, which only increases his close combat abilities. The FragileSpeedster will become a cat or bird, which makes him faster. TheLancer will become a wolf or other canine, and the leader will also receive a suitable form, like lion or eagle. The chance of any given female character becoming a [[CatGirl cat]] will be quite high, as will the odds of one character receiving an "ironic" animal form; for example, a taciturn, moody character becoming a fluffy bunny.

* An issue of the modern ''WesternAnimation/Superfriends'' comic had the JLA turned into various non-human primates. Superman became a gorilla (which is the strongest primate), Batman became a gibbon (one of the more agile primates), Green Lantern became a chimp (which uses tools), Flash became a patas monkey (which is the fastest primate), Aquaman became a proboscis monkey (which swims), and Wonder Woman became a bonobo (which is sexy...I mean peaceful).[[note]]You mean both.[[/note]]

* Ikumi Mia and Yoshida Reiko have [[WordOfGod stated]] that the kemonomimi of ''TokyoMewMew'' were given suitable animal forms: Ichigo is a cute and wilful cat, Minto a prim and graceful bird, Retasu a sweet and shy porpoise, Bu-ling a [[GenkiGirl lively]] and talented monkey, and Zakuro, well, a "lone wolf". A combination of this and PersonalityPowers.

* An issue of the modern {{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}} comic had the JLA turned into various non-human primates. Superman became a gorilla (which is the strongest primate), Batman became a gibbon (one of the more agile primates), Green Lantern became a chimp (which uses tools), Flash became a patas monkey (which is the fastest primate), Aquaman became a proboscis monkey (which swims), and Wonder Woman became a bonobo (which is sexy...I mean peaceful).[[note]]You mean both.[[/note]]

* In the ''TotallySpies'' episode "Wild Style", Clover gets turned into a cat-girl. Later on, the same thing happens to Alex.
* ''TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' has "The Great Escape" where June and a bunch of magical creatures are turned into animals so they can be kept captive and have their own magical powers drained from them by another magical creature named Gigi... it's a long story.

* In one episode of Disney's ''[[Disney/{{Hercules}} Hercules]]'', the sorceress Circe turns Herc, Adonis and Icarus into animals. CloudCuckoolander Icarus becomes a duck-billed platypus and the vain Adonis changes into a peacock. Hercules, for some reason, is turned into a ring-tailed lemur, albeit a super-strong one.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S." featured the children of the world being transformed into animals. Some Transformation Convention examples include Japanese KND Numbuh Three becoming a crane, fat Numbuh Two becoming a hippo, and Australian Numbuh Four becoming a koala. The best, though was the misanthropic Irish operative Numbuh 86 becoming a dog, at which a bystander commented "Well, ''that'' figures." (She turned into an Irish Setter, but that ''wasn't'' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar what they were referring to]])

* An issue of the modern SuperFriends comic had the JLA turned into various non-human primates. Superman became a gorilla (which is the strongest primate), Batman became a gibbon (one of the more agile primates), Green Lantern became a chimp (which uses tools), Flash became a patas monkey (which is the fastest primate), Aquaman became a proboscis monkey (which swims), and Wonder Woman became a bonobo (which is sexy...I mean peaceful).[[note]]You mean both.[[/note]]

* In the ''TotallySpies'' episode "Wild Style", Clover gets turned into a cat-girl.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Bunny Raven" changes Cyborg into a bear, Starfire into a cat, Robin into a monkey and Raven into the titular bunny. As for Beast Boy who can already change into other animals? He gets changed into a lamp limiting his transformative abilities to inanimate objects.

* Somewhat justified in ''{{Visionaries}}'': The heroes and villains were all given their animal forms by a wizard, based on abilities and personality traits they'd displayed in the quest to reach him.

* The ''CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S. featured the children of the world being transformed into animals. Some Transformation Convention examples include Japanese KND Numbuh Three becoming a crane, fat Numbuh Two becoming a hippo, and Australian Numbuh Four becoming a koala. The best, though was the misanthropic Irish operative Numbuh 86 becoming a dog, at which a bystander commented "Well, ''that'' figures." (She turned into an Irish Setter, but that ''wasn't'' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar what they were referring to]])

* Somewhat justified in ''Visionaries'': The heroes and villains were all given their animal forms by a wizard, based on abilities and personality traits they'd displayed in the quest to reach him.
* In one episode of Disney's ''Hercules'', the sorceress Circe turns Herc, Adonis and Icarus into animals. CloudCuckoolander Icarus becomes a duck-billed platypus and the vain Adonis changes into a peacock. Hercules, for some reason, is turned into a ring-tailed lemur, albeit a super-strong one.

* An issue of the modern SuperFriends comic had the JLA turned into various non-human primates. Superman became a gorilla (which are the strongest primate), Batman became a gibbon (which are one of the more agile primates), Green Lantern became a chimp (which uses tools), Flash became a patas monkey (which is the fastest primate), Aquaman became a proboscis monkey (which swims), and Wonder Woman became a bonobo (which is sexy...I mean peaceful). You mean both.