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* ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'': The very first [[{{Lunacy}} moonspell]] the mermaid trio experiences somehow allows Emma to lock herself in mermaid form, refusing to change back no matter how dry she is. Cleo's first moonspell did the opposite, allowing her to stay in human form despite getting wet.
** ''Series/MakoMermaidsAnH2OAdventure'': A potion accident renders Ondina unable to get legs. Getting cured required her to apologize to Weilan for their conflict early in the episode, which took a lot of effort for the prickly Ondina.
** ''Series/MakoMermaidsAnH2OAdventure'': A potion accident renders Ondina unable to get legs. Getting cured required her to apologize to Weilan for their conflict early in the episode, which took a lot of effort for the prickly Ondina.
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** [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]] in [[Recap/DoctorWho2021NYSRevolutionOfTheDaleks "Revolution of the Daleks"]]. The Doctor [[spoiler: tricks her enemies the Daleks into swarming into a TARDIS disguised as a police box. Due to its form, and a hologram of her taunting her, they naturally assume is hers and enter, before she blows up the TARDIS and the Daleks inside.]]
to:
** [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]] in [[Recap/DoctorWho2021NYSRevolutionOfTheDaleks "Revolution of the Daleks"]]. The Doctor [[spoiler: tricks her enemies the Daleks into swarming into a TARDIS disguised as a police box. Due to its form, and a hologram of her taunting her, they naturally assume is hers and enter, before she blows up the TARDIS and the Daleks inside. The TARDIS was actually a spare she had from the previous season's finale, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37TheBattleOfRanskoorAvKolos "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos"]], which she has made to take the form of a police box.]]
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Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
** [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]] in [[Recap/DoctorWho2021NYSRevolutionOfTheDaleks Revolution of the Daleks]]. The Doctor [[spoiler: tricks her enemies the Daleks into swarming into a TARDIS disguised as a police box. Due to its form, and a hologram of her taunting her, they naturally assume is hers and enter, before she blows up the TARDIS and the Daleks inside.]]
to:
** [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]] in [[Recap/DoctorWho2021NYSRevolutionOfTheDaleks Revolution "Revolution of the Daleks]].Daleks"]]. The Doctor [[spoiler: tricks her enemies the Daleks into swarming into a TARDIS disguised as a police box. Due to its form, and a hologram of her taunting her, they naturally assume is hers and enter, before she blows up the TARDIS and the Daleks inside.]]
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** [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]] in [[Recap/DoctorWho2021NYSRevolutionOfTheDaleks Revolution of the Daleks]]. The Doctor [[spoiler: tricks her enemies the Daleks into swarming into a TARDIS disguised as a police box. Due to its form, and a hologram of her taunting her, they naturally assume is hers and enter, before she blows up the TARDIS and the Daleks inside.]]
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*** At one point the Doctor says they smashed the circuit with a hammer, so it would NEVER work again. [[DependingOnTheWriter In a more recent episode]], they claim that whenever they repairs or replaces the circuit, the TARDIS herself deliberately shorts it out. They both prefer her as a Police Box.
to:
*** At one point the Doctor says they smashed the circuit with a hammer, so it would NEVER work again. [[DependingOnTheWriter In a more recent episode]], they claim that whenever they repairs repair or replaces replace the circuit, the TARDIS herself deliberately shorts it out. They both prefer her as a Police Box.
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* Played for laughs in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E06TheUndead The Undead]]'', where the shapeshifting witch from [[Film/TheUndead this week's experiment]] visits the Satellite of Love and loses control of her powers. She eventually winds up stuck as a bottle of bleach, though she can still communicate. ("This is so ''annoying''!")
to:
* Played for laughs in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E06TheUndead "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E06TheUndead The Undead]]'', where Undead]]" when the shapeshifting witch from [[Film/TheUndead this week's experiment]] visits the Satellite of Love and loses control of her powers. She eventually winds up stuck as a bottle of bleach, though she can still communicate. ("This is so ''annoying''!")
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** In one episode, Garak uses a device on Odo that prevents his shapeshifting. Since he cannot take his natural liquid form, his body begins to deteriorate.
** Later, Odo has his powers taken away by his people and is forced to become (and stay) biologically human.
** Later, Odo has his powers taken away by his people and is forced to become (and stay) biologically human.
to:
** In one episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E21TheDieIsCast The Die is Cast]]", Garak uses a device on Odo that prevents his shapeshifting. Since he cannot take his natural liquid form, [[BodyHorror his body begins to deteriorate.
deteriorate]].
** Later, in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E26BrokenLink Broken Link]]", Odo has his powers taken away by his people and is forced to become (and stay) biologically human.
** Later, in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E26BrokenLink Broken Link]]", Odo has his powers taken away by his people and is forced to become (and stay) biologically human.
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** In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' strip, shapeshifting companion Frobisher got stuck as a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]] for a while. Even before and after that, however, it was the form he most preferred.
to:
** In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' strip, shapeshifting companion Frobisher got stuck as a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]] penguin for a while. Even before and after that, however, it was the form he most preferred.
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* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': One episode of ''Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman'' dealt with Hiryū Tsurugi is stuck in his Change Dragon form. Unlike in other instances where it is treated as a minor annoyance at best, here it is treated as a real threat.
to:
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': One episode of ''Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman'' dealt with Hiryū Tsurugi is stuck in his Change Dragon form. Unlike in other instances where it is treated as a minor annoyance at best, here it is treated as a real threat.threat.
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* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** Agent 33 gets electrocuted to the face while wearing a high-tech mask that can be programmed to disguise the wearer as anyone, fusing the mask to her face and locking her in her current disguise (Agent May), with the addition of a nasty disfiguring scar over her right eye. Eventually she gets the mask repaired. It's still fused to her face, but now it's functional again, so she just programmed it to "disguise" her as herself (she can also just shut it off, but she prefers this method since it hides the scar).
** Creel has the ability to absorb the properties of anything he touches. When he's finally defeated, he goes through a ShapeshifterSwanSong before turning to stone, seemingly permanently. But as Coulson mentions, "He could always do that," and recommends treating him as a dangerous prisoner rather than a corpse.
* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'':
** On ''Series/{{Angel}}'', during the Pylea arc, Angel in the other dimension would get stuck in the "super" version of his vampireness. The whole demon would emerge, instead of him just vamping out whenever he wanted. He would be stuck as the ''Van-tal'' for a really long time, until he could calm down.
*** It's heavily implied that the Van-tal demons were the original progenitors of the Vampire race. Which would mean that, by definition, vampires are themselves demons ''always'' mode-locked in a human body.
*** After Illyria, a primordial Old One, had her powers mostly drained, she was effectively trapped in Fred's body. She did retain the ability to shapeshift... but only into Fred's human appearance.
** In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Amy the witch turned into a rat and couldn't turn back for 3 seasons. She was never really quite the same...
*** Anya was trapped in her human form when she lost her powers, and was stuck impersonating a high school student ('And I'm flunking math').
*** In the HalloweenEpisode "[[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode Fear Itself]]", [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Oz]] is forced to live out his worst fear, which results in him suddenly starting to transform into a werewolf and getting stuck halfway.
*** Also, ancient vampires like the Master and Kakistos are permanently stuck in GameFace. The result is really quite disgusting, but since it's a reflection of their extreme age and power, it's considered a mark of status in vampire society and they're generally quite proud of it.
** The comics create a new breed of vampires that are [[DaywalkingVampire immune to daylight]] and can change their shape. But only at night, during the day, do they have to walk around in their normal shape.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Doctor's TARDIS possesses a "chameleon circuit" which, under ideal circumstances, disguises the machine by making it appear to be an inconspicuous object in the time and place it's parked. Due to a malfunction the Doctor's never been able to fix, however, it is permanently stuck in the shape of a 1960s British police box. The Doctor did fix it for one story, but then [[StatusQuoIsGod it broke again]]. It's later stated that they don't even try to fix it anymore, because they like it that way. Other Time Lords that appear in the series have [=TARDISes=] with normally functioning chameleon circuits.
*** At one point the Doctor says they smashed the circuit with a hammer, so it would NEVER work again. [[DependingOnTheWriter In a more recent episode]], they claim that whenever they repairs or replaces the circuit, the TARDIS herself deliberately shorts it out. They both prefer her as a Police Box.
*** It was finally revealed in the 50th anniversary ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic strip that the initial malfunction — as in, the one that broke the circuit in the first place — was caused by [[spoiler:the Doctor going back in time and intentionally breaking it, so that it would gain its iconic shape and become a symbol that lived on in the minds of whoever he saved.]]
*** In another episode, it's stated that the chameleon circuit is working properly. It analyzes a huge area of its surrounding environment, extrapolates an inconspicuous form for its exterior, then shifts that appearance to... a 1960s British police box. Every time. But it is, technically, functional.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]", [[spoiler:Clara and Ashildr/Me]] get their own TARDIS (complete with [[ReadTheFreakingManual instructional manual]]) but their chameleon circuit ''also'' breaks (suggesting they are the first thing to go on ''any'' TARDIS) so theirs is stuck looking like a diner.
** The Weeping Angels have a natural [[PowerIncontinence defence mechanism]] that turns them [[TakenForGranite to stone]] whenever in the sight of any living thing (including each other), forcing them to remain that way until they are no longer being looked at. Those who are ''incredibly lucky'' can manage to trick two angels into an eternal staring contest with the other, causing them to remain permanently frozen. This is hard to do, though, as the angels are well aware of this weakness and thus will usually hide their face with their hands to avoid it (hence the "weeping" part of their name).
** In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' strip, shapeshifting companion Frobisher got stuck as a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]] for a while. Even before and after that, however, it was the form he most preferred.
* On ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', the shapeshifter at the beginning of Season 2 is stuck in the body of [[spoiler:Agent Charlie Francis]] after its shapeshifting device is broken. The shapeshifters' devices are unique so using another's would be pointless. The only way out is to complete its mission and go back before it is too late. [[spoiler:This doesn't happen because Olivia Dunham shoots it in the head.]]
* Happened to David Banner one time on ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'', but in an [[IncrediblyLamePun incredibly]] strange way: in the two-parter "[[Recap/TheIncredibleHulk1977S4E1And2Prometheus Prometheus]]", Dr. Banner got a little too close to a radioactive meteorite, and got stuck halfway between himself and the Hulk. For the duration of the Shapeshifter Mode Lock, he retained his consciousness and intelligence, but had difficulty concentrating and focusing, and also possessed a fair portion of the Hulk's strength. Later ''in the same episode'', he effectively got Mode Locked AS the Hulk after being captured and imprisoned by the military; his futile attempts to break free of his cell kept him pissed off enough to stay green.
* In season 4 of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', the Legends encounter a shapeshifter and, as per their SOP, try to send her to hell, assuming her to be evil. However, Charlie isn't actually evil, just rebellious, and takes the team on a ShapeshifterGuiltTrip, shifting into several shapes to drive the point home. They eventually relent, but Series/{{Constantine}} casts a spell on her that locks her in her current shape, which happens to be that of Amaya (who has left the show last season).
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Happened to the Man in Black twice. First, [[spoiler:after killing Jacob he got Mode Locked in [[IncrediblyLamePun Mode Locke]]]]. He could still change back to the [[spoiler:Smoke Monster form, but couldn't assume other human forms anymore]]. Then, [[spoiler:the removal of the Island's cork in the Finale took that ability away as well, locking him in a mortal body as opposed to the invulnerable Smoke form, allowing the Heroes to kill him.]]
* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', one of the super-powered teens has some trouble after his [[GenderBender gender bending power]] leaves him stuck as a woman due to his [[TrulySingleParent self-induced pregnancy]]; luckily, all is well by the end of the episode.
* Played for laughs in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E06TheUndead The Undead]]'', where the shapeshifting witch from [[Film/TheUndead this week's experiment]] visits the Satellite of Love and loses control of her powers. She eventually winds up stuck as a bottle of bleach, though she can still communicate. ("This is so ''annoying''!")
* This happened to the character Tommy Oliver in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' when the actor playing him had real life commitments; the character was stuck in his suit, then invisible for the best part of a season.
* In ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'', a pregnant [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent HAP's]] body will go into lockdown to protect the fetus, because shapeshifting also changes the protean's insides.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** In one episode, Garak uses a device on Odo that prevents his shapeshifting. Since he cannot take his natural liquid form, his body begins to deteriorate.
** Later, Odo has his powers taken away by his people and is forced to become (and stay) biologically human.
** Still later, in the latter days of the Dominion War arc, all of Odo's race (including Odo) fall under the influence of a disease which makes them unable to liquefy, slowly killing them as above. This is revealed to be [[spoiler:a biological weapon invented by the [[SecretPolice shadowy, rule-evading part]] of Starfleet. Unfortunately for their plot, they have to infect the race through Odo, which means the good guys race to find the cure in the nick of time.]]
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': God chooses to appear as a GodInHumanForm in order to interact with his creations. [[spoiler:After it is revealed that GodIsEvil, his power is eventually usurped by his grandson Jack who then becomes the new God. This leaves God as simply an ordinary human, doomed to grow old and die one day.]]
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': One episode of ''Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman'' dealt with Hiryū Tsurugi is stuck in his Change Dragon form. Unlike in other instances where it is treated as a minor annoyance at best, here it is treated as a real threat.
** Agent 33 gets electrocuted to the face while wearing a high-tech mask that can be programmed to disguise the wearer as anyone, fusing the mask to her face and locking her in her current disguise (Agent May), with the addition of a nasty disfiguring scar over her right eye. Eventually she gets the mask repaired. It's still fused to her face, but now it's functional again, so she just programmed it to "disguise" her as herself (she can also just shut it off, but she prefers this method since it hides the scar).
** Creel has the ability to absorb the properties of anything he touches. When he's finally defeated, he goes through a ShapeshifterSwanSong before turning to stone, seemingly permanently. But as Coulson mentions, "He could always do that," and recommends treating him as a dangerous prisoner rather than a corpse.
* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'':
** On ''Series/{{Angel}}'', during the Pylea arc, Angel in the other dimension would get stuck in the "super" version of his vampireness. The whole demon would emerge, instead of him just vamping out whenever he wanted. He would be stuck as the ''Van-tal'' for a really long time, until he could calm down.
*** It's heavily implied that the Van-tal demons were the original progenitors of the Vampire race. Which would mean that, by definition, vampires are themselves demons ''always'' mode-locked in a human body.
*** After Illyria, a primordial Old One, had her powers mostly drained, she was effectively trapped in Fred's body. She did retain the ability to shapeshift... but only into Fred's human appearance.
** In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Amy the witch turned into a rat and couldn't turn back for 3 seasons. She was never really quite the same...
*** Anya was trapped in her human form when she lost her powers, and was stuck impersonating a high school student ('And I'm flunking math').
*** In the HalloweenEpisode "[[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode Fear Itself]]", [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Oz]] is forced to live out his worst fear, which results in him suddenly starting to transform into a werewolf and getting stuck halfway.
*** Also, ancient vampires like the Master and Kakistos are permanently stuck in GameFace. The result is really quite disgusting, but since it's a reflection of their extreme age and power, it's considered a mark of status in vampire society and they're generally quite proud of it.
** The comics create a new breed of vampires that are [[DaywalkingVampire immune to daylight]] and can change their shape. But only at night, during the day, do they have to walk around in their normal shape.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Doctor's TARDIS possesses a "chameleon circuit" which, under ideal circumstances, disguises the machine by making it appear to be an inconspicuous object in the time and place it's parked. Due to a malfunction the Doctor's never been able to fix, however, it is permanently stuck in the shape of a 1960s British police box. The Doctor did fix it for one story, but then [[StatusQuoIsGod it broke again]]. It's later stated that they don't even try to fix it anymore, because they like it that way. Other Time Lords that appear in the series have [=TARDISes=] with normally functioning chameleon circuits.
*** At one point the Doctor says they smashed the circuit with a hammer, so it would NEVER work again. [[DependingOnTheWriter In a more recent episode]], they claim that whenever they repairs or replaces the circuit, the TARDIS herself deliberately shorts it out. They both prefer her as a Police Box.
*** It was finally revealed in the 50th anniversary ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic strip that the initial malfunction — as in, the one that broke the circuit in the first place — was caused by [[spoiler:the Doctor going back in time and intentionally breaking it, so that it would gain its iconic shape and become a symbol that lived on in the minds of whoever he saved.]]
*** In another episode, it's stated that the chameleon circuit is working properly. It analyzes a huge area of its surrounding environment, extrapolates an inconspicuous form for its exterior, then shifts that appearance to... a 1960s British police box. Every time. But it is, technically, functional.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]", [[spoiler:Clara and Ashildr/Me]] get their own TARDIS (complete with [[ReadTheFreakingManual instructional manual]]) but their chameleon circuit ''also'' breaks (suggesting they are the first thing to go on ''any'' TARDIS) so theirs is stuck looking like a diner.
** The Weeping Angels have a natural [[PowerIncontinence defence mechanism]] that turns them [[TakenForGranite to stone]] whenever in the sight of any living thing (including each other), forcing them to remain that way until they are no longer being looked at. Those who are ''incredibly lucky'' can manage to trick two angels into an eternal staring contest with the other, causing them to remain permanently frozen. This is hard to do, though, as the angels are well aware of this weakness and thus will usually hide their face with their hands to avoid it (hence the "weeping" part of their name).
** In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' strip, shapeshifting companion Frobisher got stuck as a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]] for a while. Even before and after that, however, it was the form he most preferred.
* On ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', the shapeshifter at the beginning of Season 2 is stuck in the body of [[spoiler:Agent Charlie Francis]] after its shapeshifting device is broken. The shapeshifters' devices are unique so using another's would be pointless. The only way out is to complete its mission and go back before it is too late. [[spoiler:This doesn't happen because Olivia Dunham shoots it in the head.]]
* Happened to David Banner one time on ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'', but in an [[IncrediblyLamePun incredibly]] strange way: in the two-parter "[[Recap/TheIncredibleHulk1977S4E1And2Prometheus Prometheus]]", Dr. Banner got a little too close to a radioactive meteorite, and got stuck halfway between himself and the Hulk. For the duration of the Shapeshifter Mode Lock, he retained his consciousness and intelligence, but had difficulty concentrating and focusing, and also possessed a fair portion of the Hulk's strength. Later ''in the same episode'', he effectively got Mode Locked AS the Hulk after being captured and imprisoned by the military; his futile attempts to break free of his cell kept him pissed off enough to stay green.
* In season 4 of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', the Legends encounter a shapeshifter and, as per their SOP, try to send her to hell, assuming her to be evil. However, Charlie isn't actually evil, just rebellious, and takes the team on a ShapeshifterGuiltTrip, shifting into several shapes to drive the point home. They eventually relent, but Series/{{Constantine}} casts a spell on her that locks her in her current shape, which happens to be that of Amaya (who has left the show last season).
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Happened to the Man in Black twice. First, [[spoiler:after killing Jacob he got Mode Locked in [[IncrediblyLamePun Mode Locke]]]]. He could still change back to the [[spoiler:Smoke Monster form, but couldn't assume other human forms anymore]]. Then, [[spoiler:the removal of the Island's cork in the Finale took that ability away as well, locking him in a mortal body as opposed to the invulnerable Smoke form, allowing the Heroes to kill him.]]
* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', one of the super-powered teens has some trouble after his [[GenderBender gender bending power]] leaves him stuck as a woman due to his [[TrulySingleParent self-induced pregnancy]]; luckily, all is well by the end of the episode.
* Played for laughs in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E06TheUndead The Undead]]'', where the shapeshifting witch from [[Film/TheUndead this week's experiment]] visits the Satellite of Love and loses control of her powers. She eventually winds up stuck as a bottle of bleach, though she can still communicate. ("This is so ''annoying''!")
* This happened to the character Tommy Oliver in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' when the actor playing him had real life commitments; the character was stuck in his suit, then invisible for the best part of a season.
* In ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'', a pregnant [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent HAP's]] body will go into lockdown to protect the fetus, because shapeshifting also changes the protean's insides.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** In one episode, Garak uses a device on Odo that prevents his shapeshifting. Since he cannot take his natural liquid form, his body begins to deteriorate.
** Later, Odo has his powers taken away by his people and is forced to become (and stay) biologically human.
** Still later, in the latter days of the Dominion War arc, all of Odo's race (including Odo) fall under the influence of a disease which makes them unable to liquefy, slowly killing them as above. This is revealed to be [[spoiler:a biological weapon invented by the [[SecretPolice shadowy, rule-evading part]] of Starfleet. Unfortunately for their plot, they have to infect the race through Odo, which means the good guys race to find the cure in the nick of time.]]
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': God chooses to appear as a GodInHumanForm in order to interact with his creations. [[spoiler:After it is revealed that GodIsEvil, his power is eventually usurped by his grandson Jack who then becomes the new God. This leaves God as simply an ordinary human, doomed to grow old and die one day.]]
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': One episode of ''Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman'' dealt with Hiryū Tsurugi is stuck in his Change Dragon form. Unlike in other instances where it is treated as a minor annoyance at best, here it is treated as a real threat.
