Animal Transformation

Tropes and genres
Related tropes/genres	Cats (trope), Centaurification, Bestiality, Selkie, Shapeshifter, Spirit Animal, Were-Animal, Kemonomimi (includes catboys and catgirls), Werewolf, Penguinfic, Merpeople
See also	Alternate Universe, Animagus, Anthropomorfic, Cat AU, Crack, Furry Fandom, Minerva McGonagall, Tentacles
Related articles on Fanlore.

interior art for the Doctor Who zine The Cat Who Walked Through Time: artist: eccentricone

art by Maggie Symon from the zine, Children of the Sun Aliens transform Spock into a sort of giant sabertooth wolf-thing (called "Gral") as part of an experiment.

Animal transformation is a fanfic trope in which one or more characters are transformed into an animal, or else an Alternate Universe story wherein the characters are cast as animals.

Often though not always such stories are considered crackfic, but they may be especially long and involved specimens of the genre. (Fic about characters cast as or being turned into inanimate objects or ideas is sometimes called Anthropomorfic.)

Although examples can be found for an enormous variety of animals, the most common types are pets, especially cats.

The animal transformation trope may be even more popular in Japanese fandoms than in Western ones; many doujinshi feature characters as animals, drawn either with selected animal features (as in the ears and tails of catgirls) or completely changed. When a character has only the animal ears and tail, it's known as Kemonomimi.

Fic set in fandoms where it is canon for characters to turn into animals, such as Harry Potter animagus fic or stories about other fantasy or comic characters with shapeshifting superpowers, usually are not called animal transformation fic but labeled with the universe's term. In Fullmetal Alchemist, for example, there are canonical attempts to fuse humans with animals (typically with tragic results); the resulting creations are called chimeras.

Because The Sentinel has canon examples of spirit animals, both Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg are often portrayed as transformed into a jaguar and wolf respectively.

interior art from Missing Links #2, artist is TM Alexander

Examples

(For examples where characters turn into wolves or other wereanimals (e.g., cyclically or via a bite), see the Werewolf and Wereanimal pages. For more examples where characters are turned into cats, see the Cats page. For examples where characters spend part of their time as penguins, see the Penguins page. For examples where characters spend part of their time as dragons, see the Dragon page. For examples where characters are centaurs, see the Centaurification page. For examples where characters turn into unicorns, see the Unicorn page.)

• Fullmetal Alchemist: Change in Life-style by sockren. Angsty Roy/Ed story in which Ed is turned into a chimera. WIP.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Number Twenty Eight by Sevlow. Angst-heavy Gen fic, and one of the more iconic chimera-fics in the fandom. Ed is also turned into a chimera, but unlike many chimera fics, in which Ed just acquires animal features, he is mostly transformed into an animal (a dog, in this case) and retains only some of his human consciousness and ability to communicate.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: And Then Ed Took a Level in Badass, fanart of Chimera!Ed with tentacles by jeredu.
• Hawaii Five-0: I Can’t Take You Anywhere by melawen_c, a Steve/Danny fic in which Steve and Danny turn into dogs.
• Merlin: In A Thousand Different Skins Merlin decides he wants to learn to fly and uses his magic to turn into different animals, but some of it is a bit beyond his control and Arthur finds out about his magic.
• Starsky & Hutch themed list of animal transformation fics: He's Such An Animal
• Stargate: Atlantis is somewhat infamous for animal transformation and AU fics, as on these lists: Animal AU recs and Animal Transformation recs, which include a number of penguinfics.
• Star Trek: TOS: In Children of the Sun by Gloria Fry with art by Maggie Symon) aliens transform Spock into a sort of giant sabertooth wolf-thing as part of an experiment, originally zine-published.
• Star Trek: Reboot: In Kittens and Puppies, Oh My! by anonymous, Kirk is transformed into a puppy and Spock into a kitten. They play, groom each other and sleep together while McCoy searches for a way to reverse the effects.
• Supernatural: In the Berserker Series by leonidaslion Sam and Dean both have animal spirits: Dean a wolf and Sam a cougar.
• Supernatural: Too Big for This World by krisomniac. In which Dean is transformed into a very large horse.
• Supernatural: Hissy-fit by damerel. Sam/Dean fic in which Sam is turned into a snake.
• Supernatural RPF: Man's Best Friend by belyste. J2 fic in which someone on-set temporarily turns Jensen into a tiny dog. Despite not recognizing him, Jared takes excellent care of Jensen, leading to realizations.
• The Eagle: To the Ends of the Earth (The Seal Formerly Known as Prince Remix) by carmarthen, Marcus/Esca fic in which the Seal Prince was a selkie whose coat Marcus did not actually steal to win him as his bride.
• One Direction: A Reptile Dysfunction by makesomelove, Harry/Louis High School AU fic in which Louis is cursed and becomes a lizard.
• Genshin Impact: Fantastic Beasts and How to Keep Them by Grinch Studio, an animatic in which the player character Aether attempts to wrangle many Genshin characters who have been turned into animals (generally matching their in-game constellation, for those whose constellation features an animal).

External links

• The Turn A Character Into A Cute Fluffy Animal (Or Keep Them A Cute Fluffy Animal) commentfanworks meme
• Fanworks tagged with Animal Transformation and Were-Creatures tags at Archive of Our Own