Transformation Exhilaration

Subtlety, thy name is Lindelof

I'm feelin' good... Oooh, feels like somebody's lightin' my fire!

—She-Hulk during her first transformation, The Incredible Hulk (1996)

Generally speaking, if a transformation has any kind of sensory input attached to it, it's usually of the extremely painful kind, with lots of cracking bones and distending flesh. In most other cases, there isn't any sensation attached to it at all, and the transformation is just a chore that shapeshifters have to go through in order to get to the good stuff.

However, in a few cases, the transformation is actually enjoyable. The extent of enjoyment varies: in lesser instances, it's simply the act of becoming something different that's exhilarating or exciting to the transforming character, especially if the transformation is actually a reversion from an especially miserable form; in other cases, the transition is accompanied by a sensation that the transformee finds pleasant, perhaps inducing a sense of euphoria... and in extreme cases of this, the process of enjoyment is taken all the way into Fantastic Arousal. Of course, exactly why this particular symptom occurs is rarely explored in detail.

Though there's no innate morality associated with such transformations, it's not uncommon for the trope to be inflicted upon villains: Expect transformations such as this to be accompanied by maniacal laughter, intoxication, and sometimes even The Immodest Orgasm. For good measure, this may be contrasted by heroic shapeshifters being stuck with unpleasant, Painful Transformations that give them no joy whatsoever.

May be combined with Power Perversion Potential.

See also Power High for other instances in which using one's powers is a pleasurable/enjoyable experience.

Contrast Painful Transformation and Transformation Horror, when the transformation is anything but enjoyable, or Oblivious Transformation, where there's so little feelings associated, it goes unnoticed. Compare Reveling in the New Form for when the character specifically likes the form they've turned into, which can overlap with this trope.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• In Claymore, transforming into an Awakened being is initially painful, but gets more pleasurable as it continues. A huge reason why men aren't made into Claymores anymore is because it's like an orgasm to them, and they can't resist the urge to push the transformation all the way to the end.
• Codename: Sailor V: Minako explicitly describes how good her transformation feels - at least one translation puts it as "I'm getting so wet!"
• Corrector Yui: The Transformation Sequences all feature the girls (Yui, Haruna and Ai) making orgasmic faces as the chest jewel of their virtual costumes slots into place.
• Digimon Frontier: When Ranamon finally digivolves into her beast spirit form Calmaramon, she's screaming in joy and laughing maniacally. Ironically said form is a Gonk squid woman that even her own servants get repulsed by.
• Jungle de Ikou!:
  • When Natsumi transforms, she lets out a series of increasingly loud and orgasmic-sounding moans, complete with blushing and falling to her knees. Her opponent even lampshades this by claiming "That's the sleaziest transformation I've ever seen!"
  • Water spirit Rongo's transformation also consists of increasingly loud orgasmic groans, climaxing with her shooting out a whole lot of water from her nether regions.
• Variation; in My Bride is a Mermaid, young mermaids grow tails when they get wet. Resisting the transformation results in a tickling sensation, which is pushed all the way into the realms of Fantastic Arousal in one episode when two mermaids practice endurance training.
• Early in the anime adaptation of Paprika, Dr Shima is assimilated into the Parade making its way through the Dream Land. Fortunately, Paprika is able to awaken him from the nightmare by inducing a transformation on his dream avatar: after remarking that she's "going to be a little rough," she melts into his body, causing Shima to abruptly inflate to the size of a skyscraper, while a huge smile appears on his face and his eyes roll back in ecstasy... and then he explodes, leaving only his head to float back to the ground with a blissed-out expression plastered all over his mug.
• Photon: The Idiot Adventures: The hammy villain Papacharino finally succeeds in attaining the Aho Furnace, and prepares to infuse himself with its awesome power. He has suffered quite a bit of Clothing Damage from getting clobbered by Photon, so as the machine begins to spool up, he basks in the power growing around him. This victory is short-lived, though: the access codes imbedded in Keyne's skin have a glitch in them that aborts the sequence.
• Pretty Cure: The majority of the transformations are greeted with glee if not determination, with many including height, age, and hair color changes. KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode in particular includes animal traits in the transformation.
• Tokyo Mew Mew: Most of the girls smile throughout their Transformation Sequence, which include gaining animal traits. (Though Retasu and Zakuro were not initially happy with their transformations in-story.)
• Invoked in Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid since Extars can only transform into their weapon forms via entering a trance-like state of euphoria. This being an Ecchi series means the most common way to transform is to get sexually aroused to the point they transform with an orgasmic scream.

Audio Plays

• In the Big Finish Doctor Who story "Loups-Garoux," werewolf transformation is portrayed as natural, voluntary, and sometimes even enjoyable - for better and for worse. For the better, Ines believes that a werewolf's first change should be "a precious, sacred moment" of transformative joy. By contrast, the scene in which Pieter Stubbe's influence prompts the werewolves around him to transform against their will is portrayed as a seduction, with Ileana breathing heavily, struggling to retain composure, and finally transforming with a snarl of "it's true, I want it..."

Comic Books

• In the Batman plot arc Mud Pack, the eponymous supervillain team falls apart when Basil Karlo AKA Clayface 1 is able to steal samples from the other members of the Mud Pack and - with the aid of a doctor he's holding hostage - combine them into a serum that can imbue him with their shapeshifting powers. Upon injecting himself with said serum, Karlo is immediately ecstatic, grinning maniacally and roaring in triumph as his body warps out of shape, and immediately flexes his newfound powers by casually murdering the doctor with Preston Payne's acidic touch.
• Played straight and averted in Marvel Zombies: Most of the supers who get bitten and turned into zombies don't enjoy it, but Reed Richards (who has gone insane after witnessing a zombiefied She-Hulk devour his children) comes to admire what he calls "improvements" in the human body that come with the transformation, deliberately infects Sue, Johnny, and Ben, then asks them to bite him so he can experience the transformation himself. He's smiling when they do so and as he becomes a zombie.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): Sonic reveals that the Super Sonic transformation always leaves him feeling pepped up and ready for action, even when it expires. This is an important fact when Scourge, Sonic's anti-Mobius counterpart, uses his Anarchy Beryls to become Super Scourge. Sonic reasons that since Anti-Mobius runs opposite of his, forcing Scourge to drop his transformation would leave him exhausted and thus easy to beat. Turns out he's right.
• Tales to Astonish: In the finale of "What Was the Strange Power of Simon Drudd!!" the eponymous villain uses his prized youth serum on himself and begins to laugh triumphantly as it takes effect, continuing to do so over the course of the ensuing transformation sequence. Indeed, he's so overjoyed at being young again that he's still laughing even as he regresses into childhood. It's not until he's been reduced to a baby struggling to crawl out of his gigantic lab coat that Drudd realizes that he's underestimated the strength of the serum and begins to wail in terror - before being abruptly silenced by a Death by De-aging.
• Transformers: More than Meets the Eye: The ability to transform is normally just another fact of Cybertronian biology, but Tarn, leader of the Decepticon Justice Division, is straight-up addicted to it, and switches to tank mode or back every chance he gets. Why he enjoys it so much is never described, but he does it so excessively he burned out his original transformation cog (the organ that allows Cybertronians to transform), driving him to replace it with transformation cogs harvested from the people he executes - which he also burns out in short order.
• In Ultimate Marvel, She-Hulk's^note The She-Hulk featured in the Ultimate Universe is Betty Ross, not Jen Walters. transformations are depicted as orgasmic in all but name: one notable sequence features her enthusiastically moaning "yes!" as the transition begins, letting out a Big "OMG!" as she - ahem - completes her transformation, and following it up by asking "was that as good for you as it was for me?"
• X-Force (2008): When we see Selene Gallio ascending to godhood she's laughing maniacally in pure joy in her new cosmic form.

Fan Works

• In The Gammus Chronicles, a series of three one-shots set in the Harry Potter world where three female Hogwarts students end up giving themselves the ability to turn into She-Hulks via the spell Gammus Imataria, Luna Lovegood of all people finds herself reacting like this when she starts becoming a Red She-Hulk for the first time. In addition to experiencing a "rush" from growing taller and more muscular, Luna also becomes more confident in both her newfound strength and attractiveness, and, it has to be said, casually vulgar. This marks her as a contrast to Hermione, who found herself panicking and viewing herself as a monster the first time she Hulked out.
• The Land of What Might-Have-Been:
  • During flashbacks, the Alternate Glinda ends up becoming a victim of the Plague of Transformations, leaving her trapped in the form of a kitten for the next three days. However, because the Plague begins altering her mind ahead of her body, Glinda finds the transformation itself fun: as it continues, she becomes increasingly giggly and curious - to the point of deliriously playing with Fiyero's medals just before she starts shrinking out of her clothes.
  • Later, our Glinda decides to join the Amorphous League to help cement their alliance with the Deviant Nations. As soon as her initiation is over, she quickly grows to enjoy the weird sensations associated with using her new shapeshifting powers, finding the process of altering her size, shape, age, gender, and species a thrilling experience. And that's before she gets to the fun of actually putting these different shapes to practical use.
  • In the final chapters, Elphaba ends up trapped behind enemy lines and has the Alternate Morrible drain her age so she can disguise herself as one of the Childlike Researchers - a transition she doesn't enjoy in the slightest for the sense of diminishment and weakness involved. However, when she finally abandons her disguise and reverts to her true age, Elphaba finds that growing up again at high speed is accompanied by a huge surge of adrenaline and endorphins that she describes as empowering and even "godlike".

Films — Animation

• In the climax of Bartok the Magnificent, Ludmilla drinks a potion that she believes will make her more beautiful than ever. Unknown to her, it's actually meant to bring out her true self, and it results in her undergoing a Bit-by-Bit Transformation into a dragon; however, Ludmilla clearly finds the process enjoyable, exalting at every stage of the transformation over the course of her show-stopping Villain Song. Indeed, she's so carried away with excitement that she doesn't even notice what she's becoming until after the transformation is complete.
• Hexxus of FernGully: The Last Rainforest starts out as a tiny blob of pollutants, but is able to expand into larger forms by feeding on the Leveller's exhaust — a process he clearly enjoys, judging by the maniacal laughter. Eventually, he's able to mold himself into a semi-solid shape, then uses a shock from the Leveller's wiring to transform himself into an anthropomorphic cloud of toxic gas for his big Villain Song... and the transformation is accompanied by a very suggestive set of lyrics that conclude with a satisfied-sounding "that's rather nice." It's worth noting that the fan-made female covers of this particular song often take the subtext out of the equation by just featuring The Immodest Orgasm.
• The Little Mermaid:
  • The Little Mermaid: While her first two transformations, done by the evil Ursula, are disorienting and chaotic, Ariel's final transformation into a human, aided by her father, is greeted joyfully.
  • The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea: Both Ariel and Melody turn into mermaids in a calm, pleasant manner. Melody is particularly excited, since she has dreamed of being a mermaid for a long time, but even Ariel, who is worried about her lost daughter, smiles as she becomes a mermaid again.
• Downplayed in NIMONA (2023): Nimona finds shapeshifting so natural that not transforming starts to become uncomfortable after a while, akin to holding in a sneeze. As such, shapeshifting provides her with a genuine sense of freedom and release, hence why she's so Perpetually Protean.
• In Turning Red, Mei experiences joy in transforming immediately after deciding to keep her red panda spirit.

Films — Live-Action

• Black Swan: Throughout the film, Nina experiences Sanity Slippage while preparing to dance in Swan Lake, and hallucinates herself beginning to turn into the titular swan. Though she's horrified by it at first, as her personality turns darker over the course of the film, she ends up embracing the change during her final performance, sprouting feathers and wings while she performs a passionate ballet. Of course, since it all happens in her head, the audience assumes she's simply that powerful a ballerina, and erupt with thundering applause.
• Used and subverted in Faust: Love of the Damned: M uses his powers to make Claire's breasts grow, a process that she clearly finds incredibly pleasurable... up until she collapses under the weight of her now-gigantic bosom. Claire's enjoyment soon turns to horror as her backside expands to ludicrous proportions, her limbs wither into stumps, and she melts into a giant mass of literal T&A; eventually, M restores her to normal - with a warning to toe the line in future.
• Late in In the Mouth of Madness, Linda Styles is forced to read Sutter Cane's final novel, resulting in her undergoing an Eldritch Transformation like all the other readers in Hobb's End. Far from being horrified by the process, Styles is clearly enjoying it: after sprouting a cluster of tentacles, she can be seen approaching John Trent with an intoxicated-looking grin; later, during an offscreen transformation, she can be heard moaning loudly, and even giggles as she chases John around the road while contorting her body out of shape.
• Deado-s in R.I.P.D. appear human until exposed to cumin, whereupon they go irreversibly One-Winged Angel; consequently, most of them avoid it at all costs. However, when Roy and Nick try to get answers out of Pulaski (a.k.a. Fat Elvis) with a handful of cumin, the Dead-o decides he's "sick of hiding," and snorts the lot out of Nick's hand. As he begins to change, Pulaski gleefully chuckles "I thankyou, thankyouverymuch," then shudders violently like he's just taken a hit of cocaine as he expands into a morbidly-obese giant. He even remarks "that's better" as the transformation concludes, before flinging himself into battle with a triumphant war cry.
• The perverted elite of Society all enjoy their shapeshifting powers and take great pleasure in the process of transforming. In one early scene, Jenny twists her body around so that her breasts face the same direction as the cheeks of her ass, moaning loudly as she does so. In another case, Jenny and Nan are encountered in the aftermath of having merged themselves, and the latter demonstrates an almost post-coital satisfaction. Taken to its logical conclusion in the finale, when Society uses their powers to merge with an innocent victim in a grotesque orgy, moaning and shrieking throughout.
• Trick 'r Treat: a surprise party of nubile young women turns out to be a gathering for werewolves. They all look beyond ecstatic and moan pleasurably as they sprout fangs, peel off their skins, and reveal the beasts beneath.
• The Wolfman (2010): The behind-the-scenes features emphasize that while Lawrence Talbot's werewolf transformation is clearly agonizing and unwanted, Sir John Talbot is at ease with his transformation to the point where he actually enjoys it, in part because his lonely, human life is devoid of any joy save for the thrill of the hunt. This is further demonstrated in the climax, in which Sir John not only completes his transformation painlessly and even gleefully in a matter of seconds, but he follows up by ripping his shirt off - in contrast to Lawrence's fully clothed werewolf.

Literature

• Morphing in Animorphs is usually a grotesque and deeply horrific-looking process that doesn't involve much fun up until the morph itself is in use. However, in #48: The Return, Rachel is empowered by Crayak for the sake of a battle to the death with Visser One, allowing her to change from one form to another without having to first demorph, even creating new morphs via the power of imagination alone. Under these circumstances, she finds the process of morphing an exhilarating, even empowering experience, quickly finding herself Drunk on the Dark Side long before she actually puts her Super-Rachel morph to use and curb-stomps her opponent.
• In Blood and Chocolate (1997), Vivian is a loups-garoux (werewolf) who usually revels in her transformation to her wolf form. It sounds painful but Vivian finds it tolerable and sees the transformation itself as something beautiful. Notably, when she's trying to hide herself from her human boyfriend Aiden mid-transformation, she finds the physical aspect far more uncomfortable as she's fighting rather than embracing it, even expressing dismay that the situation is making the transformation seem like something shameful. When she and Aiden decide to have sex, Vivian transforms in front of him, believing he will accept her and find the beauty in it too. Unfortunately, Aiden instead reacts with terror and revulsion, much to Vivian's sorrow.
• In The Things, the alien Villain Protagonist reveals that shapeshifting is not only a natural survival trait of its species but inherently pleasurable, especially when it comes to "taking communion" by merging itself with other life-forms. Indeed, it's so used to seeing the process of transformation and assimilation as normal that it's left confused as to why none of the base personnel ever transform to resist the cold and why they all react badly to the sight of the Thing "taking communion" with other life-forms. Ultimately, the fact that humanity find the notion of losing their individuality too horrifying to contemplate leads the Thing to enact a Mind Rape on the entire human race simply so that they can understand the beauty and pleasure of communion.

Live-Action TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Played with, in regards to Glory, a Big Bad goddess who involuntarily shapeshifts into a mortal male named Ben. They strongly dislike the arrangement: he hates her evil personality and finding himself in female clothes at odd times, while she hates being unable to access her full power. Yet the transformation itself appears to be physically enjoyable. In one extreme example, both characters seem to experience an Immodest Orgasm.
• In Stargate Atlantis, it's eventually revealed that Wraith have the ability to reverse the Rapid Aging effect of feeding by providing the victim with some of their own Life Energy, a power they call "The Gift of Life." The process of regaining your youth — especially after being drained almost to death — produces a powerful sense of invigoration and euphoria: when Todd uses it to repay his debt to Sheppard in "Common Ground", Sheppard is immediately energized and on his feet in seconds, while in "Travelers", Sheppard forces another Wraith to return the life-force that was just stolen from Larrim, who admits that being restored felt "kinda good." Unfortunately, the same euphoria makes it very useful for creating loyal worshippers by repeatedly draining and rejuvenating victims until they become addicted to the process.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
  • Changelings like Odo consider their shapeshifting powers so natural that they will think nothing of changing for amusement alone, taking joy in the act of becoming something different and in being something different. Furthermore, they particularly enjoy merging themselves into a single shapeshifted entity in a process they call "linking", which they treat as sex in all but name - to the point that the Female Changeling uses it to seduce Odo.
  • In the episode "The Begotten," a depowered Odo finds himself adopting a sickly baby Changeling and trying to teach it how to use its powers. Among his earliest lessons is that shapeshifting itself is fun, and he recalls that he found learning how to become simple geometric shapes "immensely rewarding" when he was young. Later in the same episode, the baby is able to restore Odo's powers, prompting him to spontaneously transform into a hawk, soar across the Promenade, and change back with an expression of pure, jubilant bliss on his face... one that quickly turns to sorrow as he realizes that he only regained his powers because the baby was dying and wanted to help him in its final moments.

Tabletop Games

• Werewolf: The Apocalypse: In Freak Legion: A Player's Guide To Fomori, the Ferectoi shapeshifter known only as Johnson is introduced transforming into his battle form and enjoying every second of it, even laughing maniacally as carapace begins sprouting over his body. For good measure, it's indicated that this process would normally be agonizing to any normal human being, but Johnson experiences the "sweet pain" as pleasure.

Video Games

• Prior to the final mission of Dawn of War I, Sindri manages to unlock the power of the Maledictum and become a Daemon Prince... and as the transformation begins, he sounds distinctly enraptured, voice rising to an intoxicated scream as he slowly rises into the air.
• Used and subverted in the finale of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: upon reaching the Colossus at the centre of the lost city, Klaus Kerner is eager to use it to become a god as the Atlanteans supposedly did. Once he activates the machine, Kerner is bathed in unearthly energies and begins to change, laughing triumphantly as he grows to an enormous height... and then everything goes wrong: his left eye begins to swell, he sprouts fur, antlers sprout from his head, and he shrinks down into a tormented dwarf that immediately dives into the nearest lava pit.
• In The Legend of Dragoon, the various Dragoon transformations often feature the characters roaring in excitement as their wings and magical armor take shape around them. However, this is especially true of Rose, Shana, and Miranda, as their excited screams sound just a tiny bit on the suggestive side. For good measure, both Shana and Miranda suffer an Out-of-Clothes Experience in the middle of their transformations.
• Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles: Contrary to most Resident Evil villains — who usually have a Painful Transformation before they get their Power High — Alexia is giggling with glee as she shifts into her One-Winged Angel form for her boss fight. This is Downplayed in the original event during Resident Evil – Code: Veronica where she laughs before transforming and simply looks smug during the transformation itself.

Web Original

• SCP Foundation: SCP-7955, a human cultist turned shapeshifter, explains that people who are given these powers initially experience intense surges of pleasure while transforming, leaving them so overwhelmed with euphoria that they can easily lose track of what they're doing. This fades after a few weeks, but 7955 apparently still feels warm and fuzzy while transforming, and tests of his blood reveal heightened levels of endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine during these periods.

Western Animation

• Ben 10: The first time Kevin mutates after absorbing the Omnitrix' power in "Kevin 11", he clearly enjoys the experience, judging by his expression. Subverted in the end of "Framed", when he painfully becomes an amalgam of Ben's aliens, and in the next spin-offs.
• The Incredible Hulk: Jennifer Walters's first transformation into She-Hulk has her making noises practically indistinguishable from an orgasm.
  She-Hulk: Feels like somebody's lighting my fire!
• Miraculous Ladybug: Most of the transformations have the characters dancing and having fun with their transformations. The most notable is Adrien's first transformation: while his counterpart Marinette is confused and frightened when she transforms for the first time, Adrien is moving smoothly and joyfully through the whole thing.
• Steven Universe:
  • Amethyst frequently transforms into just about any shape and enjoys every bit of it, much to Pearl's annoyance.
  • Many fusion transformations in the show result in this, since the fusion dance is a reflection of the characters' relationship. Stevonnie occurs when Connie and Steven are just laughing together, and Ruby and Sapphire's fusions into Garnet are generally a joyful reunion between two lovers. Pearl and Amethyst both express joy at fusing with Garnet because of the confidence boost being part of Garnet gives them.

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