Shapeshifters are some of the best characters in video games — because technically, they’re all the characters. One moment, they’re beautiful, immortal creatures, and then next they’re flying rodents! That’s just one of the possibilities, of course. Some shapeshifting ventures are more gracious than that, but shapeshifters invideo gamesare always interesting characters.
Such characters can also somewhat immerse themselves into the role by assuming the personality or mannerisms of the object or creatures they copy. In turn, theirbehaviors and characterizationare either messed up or at times, or they’re just hard to predict. They can also set up great plot twists when they’re caught in their guises. These shapeshifter characters are the living proof of that.
8Ditto (Pokemon)
It’s a good thing that Ditto has the intelligence level of a pet. If they were smarter, they could have taken over the world given how versatile and omnipotent they can be. A Ditto doesn’t just copy the form or abilities of otherPokemon, they can also mimic people or other things. Having a Pokemon like that is simply too powerful.
This does bring up concerns stemming from paranoia. A human could be a Ditto and none in thePokemonworld will be the wiser, as long as the impersonator Ditto wears sunglasses. It’s a good thing they’re generally peaceful and harmless Pokemon and can only be as damaging as their trainer wants.
7Morrigan (Dragon Age: Origins)
Speaking of volatile shapeshifters, Morrigan fromDragon Age: Originsis one of the most wayward. She’s a witch who was trained by one of the best, and one of the earliest powers she learned was shapeshifting. As a little girl, Morrigan used her powers to spy on human civilizations or even steal things. She could shapeshift into spiders, birds, or even monsters.
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Sure enough, she found more malicious applications for her shapeshifting powers as she grew up. Morrigan’s guile and deceptiveness don’t help alleviate any trust issues associated with her. But even so, her natural charm andgoth girl appearancewill keep the players coming back for more bittersweet affection.
6Alucard (Castlevania)
TheCastlevaniagames have their fair share of shapeshifters in the form of vampires. While Dracula is one of the most powerful examples, he’s not as fancy or as stable as his son Alucard or Adrian Ţepeş. Alucard is a half-human, half-vampire hybrid and mostly isn’t fazed by sunlight, making him an ultimate shapeshifter.
Alucard is also able to tap into his vampiric heritage and transform into all manners of beasts including bats, wolves, or even a poisonous mist. He’s certainly not as powerful as his father, but he also doesn’t share as many vampiric weaknesses. Despite being more morally upright than his father, he’s still a conflicted and volatile character, as he fits neither in human cities nor vampire circles.
5Bayonetta
Bayonetta is technically a witch, but in actuality, she’s a little of everythingfrom skilled marksmanto bold warrior. In her own game, she’s even powerful enough to be classified as a goddess, since she can defeat just about anything depending on the player’s skill. As for her shapeshifting abilities, Bayonetta mostly utilizes her Beast Within powers to change into either a panther, crow, or bat.
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Those three beasts have their own benefits for Bayonetta and can be utilized depending on the situation. Apart from the Beast Within abilities, Bayonetta can also shapeshifther hairto a certain degree. Most of the time, she weaponizes her Wicked Weaves to create huge hammers, swords, or a hair storm, putting her enemies in hairy situations.
4Chaos (Sonic The Hedgehog)
Chaoss a literal deity. It’s the God of Destruction in theSonicmythos. However, it was once a peaceful creature with a warm heart, often keeping to itself in its tranquil domains. Chaos only became wrathful as a result of continued attacks from Pachacamac (warlord of the Knuckles Clan). Afterward, Chaos' bad temper got the better of it.
It quickly became a rage-filled monster. And with its liquid abilities as well as a penchant for mimicry, Chaos sought revenge against its offenders. Even after inflicting retribution, Chaos would go on to continue its unbridled and senseless hatred toward the world. True enough to its name, this shapeshifting god cannot be controlled nor tamed.
3Ganon (The Legend of Zelda)
Ganon or Ganondorf is one of the most persistent and longest-standing villains inThe Legend of Zeldagames. He has always been the biggest thorn in Link and Zelda’s side. His iteration as Ganon inThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pastis one of the most proficient at shapeshifting.
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This version of Ganon can change his form and shape at will into a bat or even another human wizard who calls himself Agahnim. To that end, he’s theultimate evil wizardinA Link to the Past. He’s capable of transforming into other beings while hurling all kinds of elements and even turning invisible.
2Kirby
Despite the cutesy and kid-friendly appearance, Kirby is no slouch. He’s canonically one of the most powerful godly beings invideo game history. Kirby is able to bend reality to his will, and not many other video game characters outside its franchise can provide a challenge.
To that end, shapeshifting is just one of Kirby’s many abilities. His shapeshifting, however, is a lot less nebulous compared to the other shapeshifters here. Kirby’s transformation powers mostly consist of being elastic enough to change into another object’s shape. He can do this through the Mouthful Mode where it swallows another object. If that object is large enough, Kirby will stretch to the object’s contours. It still counts.
1Players (Prey)
Then again, the most powerful video game shapeshifters of all are most likely the players.Prey(2017) explores this idea through one of its enemies. In this horror game, there are creatures called Mimics who are smart alien creatures thatassume the formsof environmental objects to avoid threats. From time to time, they can be seen learning to change into human forms.
Luckily, the game — at some point — lets players utilize the Mimics' powers. They can turn into smaller objects to squeeze through environmental obstacles and even outsmart enemies. Thus, this kind of shapeshifting provides boundless creative and resourceful opportunities. That’s something not usually present for a lot of shapeshifter beings.
