Shapeshifting Sound

"Oh yeah. Another thing about shapeshifting is that you have to have a cool trademark sound effect that happens every time you change forms."

— Strong Bad, Strong Bad Email #192, "shapeshifter"

Sometimes, it's not enough for a physical transformation to occur quickly, efficiently, or silently. Indeed, it's increasingly common for transformation to be signified by some kind of distinctive sound effect, or — depending on the length of the transition — multiple sound effects.

The exact reasons why vary: in the case of more grotesque transformations, a Sickening "Crunch!" is a good way to indicate that the process is breaking bones and reorganizing the body in a suitably visceral fashion; in other cases, a sound effect can be used to indicate that a transformation has taken place without having to show it on-screen, thus saving the special-effects budget for another day; and in a few instances, if the sound is distinctive enough, it can be tied to a particular character - allowing audiences to identify the shapeshifter in question instantly.

The possible variations of this sound are potentially limitless, but a few popular versions exist:

• The Puff: A short whoosh of air, restricted to equally short transformations, especially ones hidden by clouds of smoke.
• The Crunch: A long and unpleasant procession of sickening crunches and pops, commonly used to indicate a more visceral, painful kind of transformation. Very popular with werewolves and other examples of Transformation Horror.
• The Slurp: An oozing, liquid-sounding transition, commonly used by Blob Monsters and other organic shapeshifters.
• The Vroorp: A buzzing metallic sound, often with mechanical elements. A popular trait of Transforming Mecha.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Doraemon: Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi: The shapeshifting robot doppelganger Yamitem emits the sound of cracking ice as it transforms.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Envy, one of the homunculi, has an ability that allows him to transform into anything and anyone - and is accompanied by a hissing, crackling sound that can be heard whenever he transforms. In Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) however, a high-pitched whirring is heard instead.

Audio Plays

• Big Finish Doctor Who:
  • During the final chapter of "The Spectre Of Lanyon Moor," the alien Sancreda pulls a Kill and Replace on Professor Morgan so he can find where the focusing amplifier is hidden; once he's gotten all the info he needs, he reverts to his true form with a visceral crunching sound.
  • In "Winter For The Adept," when the two Spillager operatives finally drop their human disguises, they revert back to their true forms with a series of squishing, pulping sound effects.
  • The eponymous villains of "The Shadow Of The Scourge" quickly alter their human hosts to match their true selves, accompanied by a sickening series of crunches and pops as the new arms, eyes, and other appendages sprout.
  • In "Holy Terror", Frobisher's one instance of shapeshifting - in which he mesomorphs a different-shaped beak in order to match a poorly-made statue of himself so the sculptor won't be executed for failure - is accompanied by a rubbery squeaking noise vaguely reminiscent of a balloon animal being shaped.
  • Jarra To (AKA the Jester) of "The Axis Of Insanity," is capable of shapeshifting into almost anyone or anything, but is always distinguished by the distinctive metallic rippling noise that can be heard whenever she transforms.

Comic Books

• Darkchylde: When Ariel transforms, it is of the crunch variant. She describes it in terms of bones breaking and reforming, saying that it is literally dying and being reborn.

Film - Animated

• The climax of Bartok the Magnificent features Ludmilla taking a potion that she believes will reveal her inner beauty... only for it to bring her monstrous true nature to the surface by transforming Ludmilla into a dragon in a grotesque Bit-by-Bit Transformation accompanied by several distinctly bouncy sound effects. Most memorably, her slender build suddenly expands into huge boobs and a massive belly with a comical "BWOING" sound effect.
• When the Other Mother reveals her true colors in Coraline, she shapes herself into a scaled-down variant of her monstrous true form with an unpleasant crunching, crumpling sound effect.
• When finally reintroduced in FernGully: The Last Rainforest, resident Big Bad Hexxus takes the form of a Blob Monster made of pollutants, changing shape in order to sneak around the Leveller and feed on its exhaust. Naturally, he emits a number of oozing, slurping noises with every transformation.
• In The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, a shapeshifting pile of bricks, makes clicking sounds reminiscent of rapidly reconstructing LEGO builds whenever she changes form - and because she's essentially Perpetually Protean, the clicking can be heard quite frequently in her scenes.
• Turning Red: Whenever Meilin changes back and forth between her human and red panda forms, it generates a burst of pink clouds, accompanied by a distinctive *poof* sound.

Film - Live Action

• An American Werewolf in London: David becomes a werewolf for the first time about an hour into the film, and throughout this evidently painful process, several of his bones are audibly cracking and reshaping themselves.
• Antlers: When Frank's transformation into a Wendigo reaches completion, there's a very audible sound of snapping bones as his final form slowly begins to emerge from his body, starting through his own mouth. In the finale, Frank's youngest son Aiden also begins the process of transforming into a Wendigo, and it's accompanied by the exact same sound of snapping bones.
• In Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Sherman Klump's youth serum often takes effect with a faint rushing sound; this is most notable during the climax, in which Buddy Love is unwittingly exposed to a dose and regresses into a baby with a sound like air being let out of a balloon.
• In Spice World: when the master of disguise Geri Halliwell transforms into Bob Hoskins, she enters a phone box, and whirls round with repeated "puffs of air" sounds. Oh, and when Bob emerges, he speaks in Geri's voice.
• The T-1000 of Terminator 2: Judgment Day emits a very distinctive "flowing liquid" sound effect when it shifts from one form to another, befitting its nature as a creature made of liquid metal.
• Lycan transformations in the Underworld (2003) franchise always feature a lot of unpleasant crunching and popping sound effects, likely drawing inspiration from the abovementioned An American Werewolf In London.
• The Witches (1990):
  • Whenever a character is transformed into a mouse by Formula 86, it almost always kicks off with a massive burp, and is often accompanied by a great deal of rushing gasses and squeaking as the victim's voice grows progressively higher. In fact, the mouse-like squeaking is the first indication that the Witch Chef is beginning to succumb to the effects of the potion in the soup she just tasted.
  • The film ends with Luke being restored to normal, first shedding his mouse shape then growing back to normal size; both stages of this transformation are accompanied by a loud creaking sound effect.
• Throughout the X-Men Film Series, Mystique always transforms with a distinctive slurping, hissing noise as her body reshapes itself to fit her newest disguise.

Literature

• Endemic to Animorphs: except in the case of prodigies like Cassie, the process of morphing into a new shape is rarely smooth, often involving a lot of loud crunching and cracking sound effects as the character's body warps to match a new DNA pattern. In the TV series adaptation, this was achieved by the sound effect team loudly crunching corn chips in their hands. Lampshaded in the comic book adaptation, which not only comes complete with Written Sound Effects, but Jake actually comments on just how horrific morphing sounds in action.
• Joe Haldeman's Camouflage features the more heroic of the two shapeshifters, the Changeling, undergoing transformations with a sound often compared to knuckles being cracked and popped, in keeping with the aggressive, visceral nature of its shapeshifting.
• In keeping with the darker tone of the Red Dwarf novels, the Polymorph's first observed transformation is accompanied by the sound of crunching bones and bloodcurdling screams.

Live-Action TV

• Fringe
  • In the episode "The Transformation," Marshall Bowman undergoes an agonizing transformation into a giant porcupine-like monster with a series of crunching, creaking noises.
  • From "A New Day In The Old Town" onwards, the shapeshifter infiltrators take on new forms while accompanied a number of bone-crunching sound effects - beginning from the moment they physically crush their faces inwards with their bare hands.
• Jenny/Anya of In From the Cold uses her body-morphing power with a distinctive electronic buzzing sound, often accompanied by loud cracks and crunches as her skeleton reshapes itself. For good measure, given how painful this process seems to be, it's not uncommon for Jenny to groan in agony, her voice audibly shifting to different pitches and registers as she does so.
• The Outer Limits (1995):
  • In "First Anniversary," the two Shapeshifting Seducers alter their form with a distinctive "whooshing" sound effect - though technically, they're not actually shapeshifting, but merely altering the perceptions of others.
  • The climax of "Last Supper" features Dr Sinclair using the immortal Jade's blood as a makeshift youth serum and testing it on himself... only to underestimate its potency by a wide margin. The grisly Death by De-aging that follows is accompanied by a gruesome series of crunching sounds, alongside Sinclair's increasingly youthful screams.
  • In "Stranded," the alien Tyr'Nar shapeshifts in and out of his human disguises with a loud crunching, hissing sound effect. In fact, it's so loud that the only reason why Kevin doesn't notice the transformations when they first meet is because he's busy retrieving a medical kit for Tyr'Nar from the other side of the ship.
  • "The Gun" features alien arms dealer Donald Finley shifting into his true Grey-style form and back again with a sound that falls somewhere between a whoosh and a slurp.
  • Luke of "Revival" reverts to his monstrous true form with a loud rushing sound.
  • The eponymous store in "Alien Shop" is run by an alien who shapeshifts into numerous forms over the course of the episode, often accompanied by a soft, mystical-sounding "whoosh."
• Red Dwarf:
  • In "Polymorph," the eponymous monster's transformations occur in a jump cut, accompanied by a quick "sniffing" sound effect. As such, this allows for comedic use of the Transformation Discretion Shot when the Polymorph transforms into Lister's boxer shorts; the audience knows from the sound effect that the monster has transformed into something, but they don't know what it is until Lister makes the mistake of putting the boxer shorts on...
  • "Emohawk: Polymorph II" features a tamed version of the monster being sent after the Dwarfers, resulting in more shapeshifting antics. In this case, the Emohawk transforms via morphing effects, accompanied by a sharp "shimmering" sound.
• In the second season of Space: 1999, the alien Maya always shapeshifts with a high-pitched metallic trilling sound effect.
• In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Whom Gods Destroy", whenever Garth of Izar shapechanges to another form, the change is accompanied by an odd metallic "wobbling" sound effect.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
  • Downplayed in the case of Odo, who makes a liquid slurping noise when he transforms, though not always. Most commonly, he does so while returning to his liquid form.
  • His fellow Changelings also produce the same slurping sound, and it's confirmed that it's audible enough to heard and recognized by the characters: in "The Begotten," the sound of the baby Changeling transforming is enough to draw Odo and Dr Mora's attention just as they are about to leave the room.
• Alien Zarab from the original Ultraman can shapeshift into humans or Ultras at will. When transforming, they'll emit a shrill metallic whistling sound in the background.

Toys

• Transformers: The Transformers franchise famously has what the TFWiki refers to as "the Noise" on their article on Transformation. It's described as an 8 Hz pulse, repeated five times, with each pulse lasting a roughly equal amount of time, with variation in the absolute value of a declining (for alt mode to robot mode) or increasing (for robot mode to alt-mode) sine wave. Transformers manga consistently use the onomatopoeia "gi-go-ga-go-go" to represent the Noise, but its usage has varied throughout the history of the franchise.
  • In The Transformers, the Noise was audible whenever anyone transformed. Notably, it was generally shown that the larger the robot, the deeper the pitch of the sound and the longer the duration of the pulses. The Noise of a smaller Transformer like Bumblebee would be higher with very short pulses, while a giant like Omega Supreme would have a Noise with a very deep sound and a longer pulse duration.
  • In Transformers: The★Headmasters, the Noise was still present. However, as time went on, the Noise's use became intermittent, especially for the titular Headmasters. In the sequel Transformers: Super-God Masterforce, the Noise was only heard for "older" Transformers like the Pretenders or the Decepticon reinforcements like the Guardminers, while "newer" Transformers like the Headmaster Juniors and Godmasters had brand new sounds (falling under the Vroorp category mentioned in the trope description). By the time of Transformers Victory and Transformers Zone, the Noise was dropped completely.
  • For Beast Wars, both factions used generic whirring sounds to represent transformation, though original Decepticon Ravage still used the Noise in his memorable sole appearance. Notably, when the Decepticon Air Commander Starscream appeared in the cartoon, he didn't make the Noise when he transformed, due to possessing the body of the Predacon warrior Waspinator. Like with the latter G1 anime (i.e. Masterforce to Zone), this gave rise to the impression that the Noise was specific to the physiology of the older model Transformers i.e. the initial ones of the franchise.
  • Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo gave the Transformers on both sides new sounds, again falling under the Vroorp category.
  • Transformers: Robots in Disguise reintroduced the Noise, but only at the beginning of transformations instead of for the duration like in G1. However, the original Japanese version, Car Robots, didn't use the Noise at all, instead using sounds similar to those from Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo.
  • In Transformers (2007), the Noise was homaged with one inclusion of the alt-mode-to-robot sound played just before Blackout's first transformation at the army base. It is also audible during Bumblebee's off-screen transformation as he saves Mikaela and Sam while fleeing Sector Seven, and a modified version of the Noise is used during Ironhide's slow-motion transformation during the climax. The live action films otherwise used generic whirring sounds to represent transformation, though in Transformers: Dark of the Moon the Noise is heard when Bumblebee transforms from vehicle mode to robot at the end of the film.
  • In Transformers: Animated, the Noise is used for all transformation sequences, including for things like deployment of battle masks or switching out their hands for their tools or weapons. In those cases, the Noise is played sped up or given a higher pitch. In addition, in the episode "Human Error, Part One", the Autobots actually acknowledge the Noise in-universe, to the point of trying to approximate it during a conversation.
  • While Transformers: War for Cybertron gives all Transformers a variant of the Noise (complete with both "ascending" style for robot-to-alt and "descending" style for alt-to-robot), in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron each character was given a unique Noise that was personalised for them. For example, Optimus Prime's version closely resembled the G1 Noise, while Jazz's version incorporated kick drums. For the titanic Metroplex, the Noise played repeatedly alongside whirring and industrial sounds as he slowly transformed out of his city mode, in order to properly sell the idea that he was so massive that he had many, many moving parts.
  • In both Transformers: Prime and Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015), a new version of the Noise is introduced. The individual pulses are more continuous and less discrete, resulting in a sound that has a vaguely "swishing-of-parts" effect. In addition, it's only used in the "ascending" style whether or not the Transformer is going from robot mode to alt mode or vice versa. Transformers: Rescue Bots (which takes place in the same continuity) makes use of a version of the Noise that's closer to the original, but throws in metallic clanking sounds for the duration.

Video Games

• Batman: Arkham Asylum:
  • People who have been given a dose of TITAN undergo a horrific Growing Muscles Sequence with a series of loud, visceral crunching noises, as is the case with Bane, several of Joker's mooks, and very briefly, Batman himself.
  • It's possible to stumble upon Basil Karlo AKA Clayface caged inside a hermetically-sealed cell and disguised as either Aaron Cash or Quincy Sharp, begging for you to let him out. Turning your back on him will result in a distinctive oozing sound effect, and by the time you turn back, he's transformed into another character.
• In the finale of Batman: Arkham City, Clayface is revealed to be serving as a Body Double for the Joker and, after being "killed" by Talia, transforms back to his gigantic Shapeshifter Default Form with a series of loud, wet sloshing noises.
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night:
  • When transforming, Alucard produces a sound like dingling bells when he transforms into a wolf, a bat, or a cloud of mist - though the bat and mist transformations generally sound lower and more unearthly.
  • During the second half of his boss battle, Olrox goes One-Winged Angel with a loud series of cracking sound effects as he erupts into the form of a giant reptilian monster.
  • The black panther enemy is actually a Blob Monster, revealing its true nature by reverting to its liquid state with a slurping hiss.
• Dragon Age: Origins:
  • Morrigan, Flemeth, and mage players who opt to specialize in Shapeshifting will transform with a flash of light and a whooshing sound effect.
  • Similarly, characters who can transform in their dreams do so with a whooshing sound, demonstrated aptly by both Mouse and (later) the player character.
  • When cornered, Abominations will adopt their true demonic forms with a series of violent flashes and thunderclap-like sounds, as is the case with Connor.
• Final Fantasy IX:
  • Throughout the game, characters who enter Trance do so with a massive flash of light and a high-pitched metallic whistling sound; when the light fades, they'll have transformed into their shiny new superhuman forms. Same goes for when they revert to normal.
  • In disc 3, Zidane is finally able to gather the potions needed to restore Regent Cid to human form, and Dr Tot applies them as directed... but because Tot is standing in front of Cid, we can't see the transformation, but only hear the rushing, wobbling sound that ensues. When Tot finally stands aside, Cid is no longer an oglop. Instead, he's become a frog.
• The Force Unleashed: PROXY is a holodroid that can disguise himself using hologram technology, which makes a *vroop* sound whenever it's used.
• Knights of the Old Republic:
  • People who've been infected with the Rakghoul plague and don't get a dose of serum in time will metamorphose into ravenous mutants with a dazzling flash of light and a loud "whooshing" sound effect.
  • Accepting the Genoharadan missions from Hulas eventually results in you being tasked with hunting down a shapeshifting assassin by the name of Rulan Prolik. Over the course of your encounter and the Sequential Boss fight that follows, Rulan changes forms no less than five times - including the moment of his death - each moment accompanied by yet another flash of light and another loud "whooshing" sound effect.
  • In the final boss battle, entering a hidden button combo or console code just prior to the start of the fight will result in a parody ending in which the player uses the Force to transform Darth Malak into a Twi'lek dancing girl with - once again - a flash of light and a whoosh.
• The Legend of Dragoon:
  • Dragoon transformations feature lots of loud sound effects to match the showy Transformation Sequences, including roaring flame, gusts of wind, cracking ice, and crumbling rock sounds depending on the element involved. However, if the Dragoon's reverting to normal, or if you set the sequences to "quick", or if the moment happens to take place in a cutscene, the transformation occurs with a simple flash of coloured light and a high-pitched magical buzzing sound.
  • During a visit to the laboratories of the Black Palace, the eccentric researcher Mr Magi gets violent and attempts to use one of his experimental spells to transform himself into a monster that can kill you. There's a loud "whoosh" sound as he begins to grow taller... and then he shrinks down into a dog.
• In The Manhole, if players decide to shrink down so they can visit the Rabbit's house inside the fire hydrant, the transformation is accompanied by a loud whirring sound; since the game is shot entirely from the player's POV, this is the only indication that you've actually shrunk and you're not just inspecting the fire hydrant very closely.
• Alex Mercer of [PROTOTYPE] manifests his Shapeshifter Weapons and disguises himself as other human beings with a sound effect that's somewhere between a slurp and a whirring noise. For good measure, the same sound effect can also be heard when he's getting ready to perform a charged jump, indicating that he's actually altering his body to make himself more aerodynamic.
• The eponymous protagonist of The Shapeshifting Detective always transforms with a faint shaking of the camera and a staticky buzzing sound effect; since the game is shot entirely from a first-person POV, this is the only way that players will recognize that they've shapeshifted.
• In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Zelda/Sheik, a Swap Fighter, have their transformation accompanied by the "secret unlocked" jingle from throughout the The Legend of Zelda games.

Web Animation

• Fred Again: Whenever Fred Abelson transforms into an animal and back to a human, a record scratch is heard.
• Homestar Runner: Parodied in the Strong Bad Email "shapeshifter", where Strong Bad says that all shapeshifters need to have a cool trademark sound effect that plays whenever they change form. His sound effect is the name "Dwayne!", said in an echoing, dramatic voice.

Web Comics

• Skin Horse: When Tip is turned into a werewolf his transformations make a SKLORPH sound.

Web Original

• Helluva Boss: Loona's transformation to her human form (and back to her hellhound form) has an ethereal sound effect which includes a short wolf or dog howl.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time: Jake the Dog makes a sound like rubber stretching whenever he shapeshifts.
• As a blob of amorphous meat, Meatwad of Aqua Teen Hunger Force shapeshifts with a variety of organic squishing sound-effects.
• Ben 10: Whenever Ben uses the Omnitrix to transform any alien he chooses, the transformation get accompanied with electronic sounds.
• Capelito: Main character Capelito has the ability to morph his mushroom cap into different shapes by honking his nose. When this happens, his cap makes a distinct bubbling sound, like a liquid, as it changes to whatever shape he wants.
• In Gravity Falls episode "Into The Bunker," the Shapeshifter AKA Experiment 210 transitions from form to form with a liquid "squishing" sound effect. This sound effect makes a return in "A Tale Of Two Stans" during the flashback to the Author's first days in Gravity Falls, during which the newly-hatched shapeshifter immediately mimic's the Author's coffee cup with another squishing noise... except this time it's accompanied by faint ceramic ringing sound.
• In keeping with his nature as a living pile of mud, Clayface of Harley Quinn (2019) often moulds his body into new configurations with an oozing sound effect; also, when he has to shapeshift into a disguise, he spins himself around like a tornado with a sloshing sound.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Shapeshifting tends to be accompanied by a tinkling bell and a flash of light. This applies to both Voluntary Shapeshifting and Involuntary Shapeshifting.
  • From the same studio, Black Star has the shapeshifting elf Klone, who made slurpy oozy noises whenever he transformed.
• Inhumanoids is fond with The Crunch variety whenever D'compose turns people into undead monstrosities. You can hear their bones crunch and grow throughout the transformations.
• Double Trouble of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power commonly transforms with a liquid slurping sound effect, accompanied by a distinct hissing sound reminiscent of a rattlesnake's tail.
• In the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Survivor", when the Voluntary Shapeshifter Vendorian changes to another form, there is a brief accompanying sound effect that sounds like a transporter in operation.
• Super Chicken: Whenever Henry becomes Super Chicken by drinking his "super sauce", he suddenly combusts into odd, psychedelic images accompanied by hodgepodge of wacky sound effects.
• Teen Titans (2003): Beast Boy, a Voluntary Shapeshifter who can turn into animals, usually has his transformations accompanied by a vaguely slurp-like sound.
• The Chameleon from T.U.F.F. Puppy is a criminal who wears a high-tech suit that can allow him to transform into anything. His suit makes a zapping sound when he uses it to transform.
• Young Justice (2010):
  • There's a kind of slurping/whirring sound when Martians and their bio-ships shapeshift.
  • Scarab-users and Sphere utilize a more technological whirring sound.
  • Clayface emits an oozing/rumbling sound when he transforms.
• X-Men: The Animated Series: When Mystique and Morph transform, there is an organic, "oozing" noise that accompanies the shift in form.

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