It's a very popular stereotype for shapeshifting characters to be basically mundane in their Shapeshifter Default Form, and that they need to become something else to be powerful: a Shapeshifting Failure is a sign of weakness, the Shapeshifter Mode Lock makes them harmless, and if the character shows up in default mode, they're presumed to be zero threat to anyone. Indeed, it's one of the reasons why classic werewolves of film and literature are treated as harmless until the next full moon.
More recently, though, certain metamorphs have begun to exhibit powers even while not transformed, usually related to their alternate shape/s: for example, they may be able to use their other form's senses, regenerative abilities, or even a toned-down version of their strength. Though this can apply to almost any shapeshifter, it most commonly occurs in those with only one alternate form, usually to give them an edge until the plot can allow them to go One-Winged Angel.
Of course, don't be surprised if it turns out that the shapeshifter's Kryptonite Factor also carries over to their default form along with the benefits — in which case the silver bullet might just be useful even against untransformed werewolves.
Please note that the key thing about this is that the powers the character possesses in default form have to be connected to their nature as a shapeshifter, be it an additional trait of the species or some form of Required Secondary Powers. If these powers are independent of their nature — like a werewolf also coincidentally being a wizard, for example — it doesn't count.
Contrast Henshin Hero, however the two may overlap in cases where the character has a scaled-down set of powers even when not transformed.
Contrast Trickster Transformee, in which the shapeshifted state is so much weaker than the default form that the character has to rely on cunning and stealth.
Compare Monstrosity Equals Weakness.
Examples:
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Animation
- Rainbow Bubblegem: During certain episodes, Purple Star retains her wand from her magical girl form even when not powered up. One example is when she uses the wand to teleport to the festival after the Starfish Kingdom's king inflicts curfew on her.
Anime & Manga
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Ling notices Envy can make a metal railing buckle by jumping on it and that their feet sometimes sink into the dirt, things which do not correlate with the size of their preferred human shape, causing the prince to suspect the shapeshifter may be hiding their true form. Ling is ultimately proven right when an enraged Envy tries to kill him and Ed by reverting to their real appearance — a gargantuan, eight-legged, reptilian monster covered in writhing bodies with a powerful Healing Factor. However, despite their innate power, Envy's overreliance on this form to win fights ultimately proves to be their undoing.
- One Piece: Emporio Ivankov's Horm-Horm Fruit gives them Sex Shifter powers, both on themselves and on others, but more importantly, allows for hormone manipulation regardless of their form; right before the Battle at Marineford, this allows Luffy to heal from month's worth of damage under the course of several hours, at the cost of a decade of his life.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Magical girls mostly transform before combat, but they are perfectly able to use magic and benefit from their extreme endurance and agility in their civilian forms as well, as seen when Mami uses magic to style her hair, Homura fixes her poor eyesight, and the entire cast jump across buildings all without transforming.
- Transformers Victory: One of the major advantages Deathsaurus has over his rival Star Saber is that he can access most of his powers and abilities in both his robot and bird-dragon mode, while Star Saber in his starfighter mode is unable to use the sword skills he's so famous for. Among these abilities are his "Death Wing" attack (where he channels energy into the bottom tips of his wings before launching them at an enemy) and the use of his mighty Living-Metal-Destroying-Cannon. While Deathsaurus' bird-dragon mode is much more heavily armoured and additionally grants him a Breath Weapon, in robot mode both Death Wing and the Living-Metal-Destroying-Cannon become more versatile: he's able to use these wing tips as hand-held weapons and it's easier to aim the Cannon in his more maneuverable robot mode.
Audio Plays
- Big Finish Doctor Who: In "Loups-Garoux", werewolves are near-unstoppable juggernauts capable of keeping up with a moving train and pinning down an accelerating car while transformed. However, even in human form, they're frighteningly powerful: not only are they effectively immortal, but they can also influence the minds of human beings to overlook their presence and terrify them into unthinkingly following orders — sometimes even to the point of Psychic-Assisted Suicide.
Comic Books
- Old Man Logan: The elderly Bruce Banner still has his Hulk strength in human form.
- WildC.A.T.s: Maul is a Sizeshifter who gains strength and durability the bigger he gets, but even in his default size he's still significantly stronger and tougher than an ordinary human.
Fan Works
- The Awakening of a Magus:
- As part of being the youngest Magus to ever awaken, Harry has the ability to shapeshift into any person or animal. He often goes out in public as either his pre-awakened self or as a copy of a previous Magus to hide his true identity, but his default form is incredibly strong, can do magic without a wand, can sense magic, and can trigger others' magical potential, among other things.
- Remus, being a werewolf, discusses having higher than average strength even in human form, so much that Sirius could normally never beat him in an arm-wrestling match.
- Dungeon Keeper Ami: Youma have their glamour ability to shapeshift, but those practiced in it can also use the power to glamour things that aren't themselves in their default form, like transforming clay into a working instant camera.
- Enter the Dragon (Harry Potter): Inverted; Harry's natural state is a large dragon, and the human form he uses to attend Hogwarts is a form of self-transfiguration. However, transfiguration is only as complete and thorough as the caster makes it, and Harry was not yet ten years old when he learned how. He just wanted a shape that could give hugs and go to school, without bothering to change minor details like his muscle strength and the toughness of his skin. As a result, a small 11-year-old boy can crumple a tempered steel blade in his fist like paper, and drag the entire basilisk behind him into the castle after killing it. He doesn't have fire breath or wings as a human, but he's still absurdly dangerous.
- Resonance Days: One of the first weird things Kyoko notices when she wakes up is that she can summon her weapon without transforming, which should be impossible, and her Transformation Trinket is nowhere to be found. She later learns that because she is dead, there is no longer a division between her physical body and her soul, so she can use her soul-based magical powers freely, though it will physically exhaust her.
- The Rigel Black Chronicles: Werewolves have sharper senses even while human, especially their sense of smell, which has Harry worried that Remus will notice that it's her, not Archie, at Hogwarts. She responds by making a perfume from Archie's sweat to disguise herself as him for Defence classes.
Films — Animated
- NIMONA: Zig-zagged; Nimona is an unimaginably powerful shapeshifter but her default form is capable of casually throwing heavy axes across the room, stopping a spinning sawblade with her bare arm, and even having an arrow removed from her leg without feeling pain. However, it's eventually made clear that the feisty teenage girl isn't Nimona's true appearance — just a form she happens to like. Indeed, since the climactic flashback reveals that she didn't take the form of a human child until she met Gloreth, it's possible that Nimona doesn't even have an original form after all, in which case, these powers are consistent across all her assorted shapes.
Films — Live-Action
- Power Rangers: The Rangers are granted superhuman physicality in both human and Ranger form by the Power Coins. This is best displayed by an unmorphed Billy No Selling a headbutt from a bully.
- Underworld:
- As formidable as Lycans can be, the eldest of them don't even need to assume their gigantic Wolf Man shapes to be powerful. Lucian himself only transforms once in a flashback, remaining in human form at all other times — during which he has the power to expel silver bullets from his body, catch up with a moving car on foot, and survive being hit by the same car unharmed. He even (barely) survives being shot with the otherwise infallible silver nitrate rounds, allowing him to provide vital advice to Selene and distract Kraven long enough for her to save the day before being fatally shot.
- Even very young Lycans can be unnaturally resilient in human form: Michael, barely a few days after getting bitten, falls from a fourth-story window and lands on his feet without suffering any harm at all.
- Van Helsing:
- Werewolves possess superhuman strength, resilience, and agility even in human form, though this can only be witnessed in newly bitten victims who haven't yet reached the midnight of their first full moon — as afterwards, they're fully under Dracula's control and remain in werewolf form permanently.
- This is why Dracula decides to use the newly infected Velkan as a component in his machine since even untransformed werewolves can survive voltage that would kill ordinary human beings — a point that's driven home rather forcefully when Dracula's minions peel the charred corpse of Velkan's own father out of the machine before forcing Velkan into it. Over the course of the ensuing experiment, Velkan takes the brunt of a lightning bolt and is still conscious enough to warn Anna to run for it before his final transformation begins.
- After getting bitten by Velkan late in the film, Van Helsing himself begins to demonstrate similar powers in the last few days prior to his first full moon, managing to fling heavy lab equipment around with ease, jump over the gates of Dracula's castle with Carl and Anna in either arm, and survive being knocked off the battlements by Dracula.
Literature
- Animorphs: After Tobias gets Shapeshifter Mode Locked into a red-tailed hawk, he's still capable of communicating via thought-speech. About a quarter of the way through the series, the Ellimist restores Tobias' ability to morph, albeit with the hawk as his default form.
- In Discworld, werewolves often have a few abilities in their default form, although with some of the minor characters, it's not always clear what the "default" is (one scene in The Truth features one who starts out as a Wolf Man, then transforms by getting more wolf-like). Ludmilla Cake in Reaper Man is a powerfully built human, and Angua still has her keen senses, just not quite as sensitive as in wolf form. Also in Reaper Man, Lupin the wolfwere seems to have near-human intelligence in his default wolf form, although that's not entirely uncommon amongst Discworld animals anyway.
- The Dresden Files: The Alphas are a pack of werewolves who use a spell to transform into wolves or back into humans. Approximately a decade after they learned to turn into wolves, they learned to use their same shapeshifting spell to hasten their body's healing when in their default human form.
- Mercy Thompson: Whilst they are still weaker than in their wolf forms, all Werewolves still possess enhanced strength, durability, and reflexes, as well as their healing factor allowing them to quickly heal all wounds that aren't made by silver. Inverted with Werewolf magic (such as the ability to fool onlookers into mistaking them for simply big harmless dogs), which whilst still active in their beast forms, can only be used to actively hide them all together in their human ones (though this isn't due to lacking the ability in their beast forms, just that it simply requires a level of focus most werewolves struggle to maintain whilst transformed).
- The Twilight Saga: The "werewolves" note have super strength, speed, stamina, and durability in both human and wolf form. These abilities are stronger in wolf form.
Live-Action TV
- Big Bad Beetleborgs: The titular Beetleborgs are Henshin Heroes who were granted the ability to transform into their favorite comic book superheroes by the phantasm, Flabber. However, Flabber also gave them each an individual superpower that they can activate in civilian form (and only in civilian form) with a certain hand gesture: Drew has telekinesis, which is activated by pointing a finger at what he wants to levitate; Jo has Super-Strength, which she activates by cracking her knuckles; Roland snaps his fingers with both hands to use his Super-Speed; and Josh triggers his Invisibility by dusting his palms.
- Grimm: Most Wesen need to Woge in order to use their strength and any other supernatural powers they might have. The Koschie are one of the few exceptions: though they need to partially Woge in order to use their Healing Hands and fully Woge for their Touch of Death, they are borderline unkillable even in human form. In the finale of "Red Menace," Myshkin unknowingly drinks heavily from a bottle of poisoned vodka without feeling the effects and survives being stabbed in the chest without ever Woging; in the end, using his healing powers to save his assassin's life is what finally kills him.
- Power Rangers:
- Power Rangers: Dino Thunder: Similar to the Beetleborgs, the heroes have unique powers they can only use in their civilian form in addition to the ability to transform into Power Rangers: Connor has Super-Speed, Ethan has Nigh-Invulnerability, Kira has a Super-Scream, Tommy can turn invisible, and Trent has Chameleon Camouflage.
- Power Rangers Mystic Force: The Rangers in this season are wizards and thus, their ability to morph is tied to their magic, so they are still capable of casting spells even when unmorphed.
- Power Rangers Ninja Steel: In addition to letting him turn into a Power Ranger, the Blue Ninja Power Star lets Preston do magic even when he’s in his civilian form, such as levitating objects, pulling rabbits out of a top hat, turning the other Rangers back into humans when a monster turned them into toys, and more tricks. In Presto Change-O, Mick explains that the Ninja Steel has the power to fulfill a person’s greatest desires, so the Blue Ninja Power Star gave Preston the power to do magic because he dreams of being a stage magician.
- Star Trek: The Founders are most commonly feared for their ability to assume the shape of any individual, creature, or object. However, even when in their natural liquid state, they can move at impressive speeds and pour themselves through narrow passageways... and they're also very resistant to phaser and disruptor fire in their default form.
- Teen Wolf: Werewolves, werecoyotes, and werejaguars, even in human form, have greater strength, speed, and stamina, along with heightened senses. Stiles figures out Scott is different even before he transforms for the first time due to these new abilities.
- Ultraseven: Unlike the majority of the Ultra heroes, Ultraseven isn't merged with a human host and so even when unable to go into his true Ultra form, he still has his telekinesis (the same ability that allows him to famously launch his Eye Slugger at enemies to decapitate or dismember them). In comparison, those Ultras who take over hosts are basically regular humans, though they generally still have telepathy.
Tabletop Games
- Princess: The Hopeful: While untransformed Nobles are by and large mundane humans, they have Practical Magic — a small number of Charms that they can activate even while untransformed, as well as an ability related to their Court.
- Warhammer 40,000: Assassins of the Callidus Temple are primarily known for using the drug polymorphine to enact a Kill and Replace on inconspicuous servants and corrupt officials alike. However, a combination of their training and the flexibility provided by polymorphine allows them to do incredible things even in default form: they're well known for infiltrating through vents that ordinary human beings would find difficult to enter. Asaid Virenus takes this to its logical conclusion: thanks to her permanent empowerment by Hyperpolymorphine, she can squeeze through pipes and push herself through grilles to reach her targets.
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Garou can use the majority of their gifts in any form, though they lose both their Healing Factor and vulnerability to silver in their birth form (except for Metis, who are born in Crinos war form).
- Werewolf: The Forsaken: Werewolves can take various forms — Dalu (bigger, more powerful human), Gauru (wolf-man), Urshul (dire wolf) and Urhan (wolf) but even in Hishu (human) form, they have perfect senses, regenerate damage at a fast rate, have access to a wolf's senses, and so on.
Toys
- Transformers:
- The "default form" for a Transformer is usually their robot mode, but several Transformers can only access their special powers in their alternate modes note However, some Transformers can access their powers in both modes, but quite often they're more potent or useful in the alternate mode.
- Jazz has the ability to emit a blinding, deafening "sound and light show" using powerful in-built speakers and his headlights. While he can also use it in robot mode, he generally prefers to utilise it in his vehicle mode due to providing a smaller target.
- Warpath can make use of his powerful cannon in robot mode thanks to it being mounted in his chest, but he's much more effective using it in his tank mode thanks to not only providing a more stable firing platform but because he's also more heavily armoured in that mode.
Video Games
- Digital Devil Saga: The party consists of humans who assume the forms of demons to fight. When in human form, they lose access to their magic... at least in gameplay. Heat lobs a fireball in a cutscene, and Roland gets past electronically locked doors by jamming his fist in the console and sending the computer the ON signal.
- Fire Emblem: Zigzagged; Laguz are Little Bit Beastly humans that can shapeshift into a full Dire Beast, but even in their human form they are said to be physically a lot stronger than regular humans (called beorc), and have heightened senses of smell, sight, and other mystical affinities. Bird laguz are Winged Humanoids that can even fly in human form. That said, in battle, laguz are a lot weaker than armed beorc when not transformed: in the first of the Tellius games they can't attack at all, basically being a free kill; in the second game they can at least counter with punches and kicks but, with the exception of the laguz kings, they shouldn't be near the frontlines when not transformed.
- Mortal Kombat: The shapeshifting sorcerer Shang Tsung can conjure many powers such as skull-shaped fireballs, ground fireballs, and object summoning (i.e. summoning a bed of nails to impale his opponent as done in some of his finishers) even before being able to morph into another fighter and copying their moves.
- Pokémon: There are two Pokemon that can learn the move Transform, which copies an opposing Pokemon: Ditto, a blob of slime that really can't do anything but shapeshift, and Mew, a mythical Pokemon which was the basis for Mewtwo. Transform is actually one of Mew's less-effective moves, as Mew can learn every TM and (in games where they exist) HM and TR in existence, making it a Jack of All Trades.
- [PROTOTYPE]: Alex Mercer is a shapeshifter whose primary gimmicks involve him either assuming the identities of his victims or shaping his body into weaponry and armour. However, even in default mode, he's still capable of throwing cars, withstanding hailstorms of gunfire, outrunning helicopters, and performing impossible feats of Le Parkour — it's just that most of these feats aren't as great as what Mercer can accomplish with Muscle Mass and Armour. As such, when Mercer is infected with a parasite designed to weaken him, his shapeshifting powers are crippled... but he's still deadly in combat.
Webcomics
- El Goonish Shive: Grace is a Half-Human Hybrid (well, quarter-human) with Voluntary Shapeshifting. She spends most of her time transformed into a mostly non-powered human disguise, but her "true" form has psychic powers, enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes, fire-proof fur, and multiple other abilities.
- Wilde Life: As an Animal Person, Clifford is much stronger, faster, and more perceptive than a human even when he's not in wolf form, able to hop over an 11-foot fence and throw a grown man across the room without effort.
Western Animation
- Ben 10: In "Ken 10", Kevin 11,000 (the adult version of Kevin 11), is shown to possess Super-Speed in his human form. Kevin also possesses Super-Strength and Super-Toughness even without absorbing materials in Ben 10: Alien Force onwards.
- Danny Phantom: Danny can use some of his ghost abilities while in his human form, oftentimes involuntarily. He needs to go ghost in order to use his full array of powers, however.
- Gravity Falls: In "Into The Bunker," the Shapeshifter can assume the form of just about anything and even combine them into new shapes. However, in his default form, he tore his way through the steel bars of his cage in the backstory, turns out to be capable of Wall Crawling, and even survives getting an axe buried in his chest, casually ripping the whole thing out of his body a moment later.
- Love, Death & Robots: In "Shapeshifters," the werewolf marines aren't allowed to transform in battle due to Fantastic Racism, instead being used as trackers and target spotters for their human comrades, since they still possess their incredible senses in human form. They also possess a powerful Healing Factor that makes them just about Immune to Bullets, and judging by the truck-tire barbells used in Sobieski's improvised weightlifting set, they're incredibly strong.
- Star Beam: The titular character has been shown doing certain feats her powered-up form can do even in her civilian guise. Examples include when she quickly rushed over to save Stella too fast for a mere human to run at in the episode "Superfan" when the latter saves some birds and falls out of a tree. During another episode, StarBeam quickly rushes toward Gunther and Greta at an absurdly high speed to keep them from falling into a mud pit, and in yet another, she manages to hold a heavy box with one hand.
- WinxVerse: While the Winx Club themselves, as well as other fairies, can use their magic as normal civilians, their full range of spells is used when in their fairy forms.
- W.I.T.C.H.: The girls can use their Elemental Powers outside of Guardian form but to a more limited extent.
