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Codex / Powers / Shapeshifting

body power

Shapeshifting

Also called Metamorphosis, Form Manipulation, Transformation

Shapeshifting is altering the user's own physical form. The dividing line that determines power level is mass: characters who change appearance only are impersonators, while characters who change mass and internal structure are genuinely difficult to kill, because there is no fixed body to attack.

30 known users 3 universes 72 sourced feats
How it worksScalingUsersFeatsLimitsCountersRelatedFAQ

How it works

Appearance-only shifters change how they look. Mystique is the canonical example — she can be anyone, but she has roughly a human body underneath, and she can be shot. This is a spy power, not a combat one.

Mass-changing shifters alter volume and density. Clayface has no fixed internal structure, so conventional injury means very little; the way to beat him is containment, dehydration or dispersal rather than damage.

Biological mimicry shifters copy function as well as form. Beast Boy becomes any animal and gains its capabilities, which is broad but locked to real biology.

The undersold axis is information. A shapeshifter who copies a face is caught the moment they speak. Envy copies people convincingly enough to destroy relationships; the power is only as strong as what the user knows about the target. That is why the best shapeshifter stories are about intelligence work rather than combat.

How it scales

  1. Appearance

    Alters face, voice and surface features. Roughly fixed mass.

  2. Animal forms

    Becomes other creatures and gains their capabilities.

  3. Mass-changing

    Alters volume, density and internal structure. Injury stops meaning much.

  4. Amorphous

    No fixed form at all. Must be contained rather than defeated.

Who has shapeshifting

Across 3 universes. This list crosses publishers — something no single wiki can do, because every franchise keeps its own separate database.

CharacterUniverseFranchiseFeats
ApocalypseMarvelMarvel Comics2
CarnageMarvelMarvel Comics3
KlawMarvelMarvel Comics2
LokiMarvelMarvel Comics2
Mister FantasticMarvelMarvel Comics2
MystiqueMarvelMarvel Comics4
SandmanMarvelMarvel Comics—
VenomMarvelMarvel Comics3
Beast BoyDCDC Comics3
ClayfaceDCDC Comics3
Elasti-GirlDCDC Comics2
Elongated ManDCDC Comics2
Floronic ManDCDC Comics2
Martian ManhunterDCDC Comics1
Plastic ManDCDC Comics2
Swamp ThingDCDC Comics2
CellAnime & MangaDragon Ball2
DenjiAnime & MangaChainsaw Man3
Edward ElricAnime & MangaFullmetal Alchemist3
EnvyAnime & MangaFullmetal Alchemist3
Eren YeagerAnime & MangaAttack on Titan3
Erza ScarletAnime & MangaFairy Tail3
JiraiyaAnime & MangaNaruto3
Juvia LockserAnime & MangaFairy Tail2
Ken KanekiAnime & MangaTokyo Ghoul2
KuramaAnime & MangaYu Yu Hakusho3
Majin BuuAnime & MangaDragon Ball3
Muzan KibutsujiAnime & MangaDemon Slayer2
OrochimaruAnime & MangaNaruto3
ZetsuAnime & MangaNaruto2

The feat ledger

Every entry cites the work it comes from. Feat means it was shown in the work; Statement means a character or narrator said it. Nothing here is a fan estimate unless it is tagged Calc.

Mystique — Alters appearance, voice and colouring but not her mass, which is the canonical limit on her power

Statement Ms. Marvel Volume 1 #16 (1978) · Earth-616

Clayface — Has no fixed internal structure, so conventional injury does very little and containment is the standard countermeasure

Feat Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Beast Boy — Transforms into any animal, extinct species included, but cannot leave animal forms or lose the green colouring

Statement Doom Patrol Volume 1 #99 (1965) · Post-Crisis DC

Envy — Impersonates specific individuals precisely enough to destroy their relationships from the inside

Feat Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Martian Manhunter — Shapeshifts and phases through solid matter using the same underlying Martian physiology

Feat Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Majin Buu — Absorbs opponents into his own body and gains their abilities and intelligence

Feat Dragon Ball · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Majin Buu — Reshapes his own body at will, including turning opponents into food

Feat Dragon Ball · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Majin Buu — Splits into separate beings with distinct personalities

Feat Dragon Ball · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Cell — Transforms through three distinct forms as he absorbs the androids

Feat Dragon Ball · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Cell — Perfect form is stated to be the ceiling of his design, not a stage

Statement Dragon Ball · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Apocalypse — Reshapes his body at will, including size and limb structure

Feat X-Factor Volume 1 (1986) · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Apocalypse — Converts parts of his body into machinery and weapons

Feat X-Factor Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Loki — Takes any form, including other characters, convincingly enough to fool them

Feat Journey into Mystery (1962) · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Loki — Changes sex and species, which the source myth and the comics both treat as routine

Statement Thor Volume 1 · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Plastic Man — Takes the shape of objects, not just people — furniture, vehicles, machinery

Feat Police Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Plastic Man — Changes colour as well as form, which is what makes the disguises work

Statement Police Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Mystique — Takes any humanoid form down to voice, fingerprints and retinal pattern

Feat Ms. Marvel Volume 1 (1978) · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Mystique — Cannot copy powers along with appearance, which is the ability's stated limit

Statement Uncanny X-Men · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Mystique — Holds an impersonation for months without detection

Feat Uncanny X-Men · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Envy — Takes any human form precisely enough to replace someone unnoticed

Feat Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Envy — Reveals a true form far larger than any shape it usually takes

Feat Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Clayface — Reshapes his body into any person, and holds the form under scrutiny

Feat Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Clayface — Physical attacks pass through him without effect, so he is fought with cold or sound

Statement Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Beast Boy — Becomes any animal he can picture, keeping his own mind

Feat The New Teen Titans · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Beast Boy — Extinct and alien animals are within range, so the limit is imagination rather than biology

Statement The New Teen Titans · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Elasti-Girl — Reshapes her mass into forms other than her own

Feat Doom Patrol Volume 1 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Elasti-Girl — Her exposure to volcanic gases is the stated cause, not a mutation

Statement Doom Patrol Volume 1 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Zetsu — Splits into black and white halves with separate personalities

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Zetsu — Takes the appearance of others convincingly enough to infiltrate

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Klaw — Forms solid constructs out of sound, including creatures

Feat Fantastic Four Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Klaw — Reforms after being dispersed, so he is difficult to kill permanently

Feat Fantastic Four Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Swamp Thing — Reshapes his body at will, including to enormous size

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Swamp Thing — Grows a body on another planet from local flora

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Mister Fantastic — Reshapes himself into objects — a parachute, a shield, a container

Feat Fantastic Four Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Mister Fantastic — Alters his face enough to pass as someone else

Feat Fantastic Four Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Juvia Lockser — Dissolves into water entirely and reforms elsewhere

Feat Fairy Tail · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Juvia Lockser — Traps opponents inside her own water form

Feat Fairy Tail · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Floronic Man — Reshapes his plant body into weapons and larger forms

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Floronic Man — Regrows lost limbs immediately from surrounding plant matter

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Elongated Man — Reshapes his face and body to alter his appearance

Feat Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Elongated Man — Forms his body into tools and containers

Feat JLA · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Eren Yeager — Transforms into a fifteen-metre Titan by injuring himself with intent

Statement Attack on Titan · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Eren Yeager — Hardening lets him form solid structures from Titan matter

Feat Attack on Titan · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Eren Yeager — Holds three Titan powers at once, which no previous holder managed

Feat Attack on Titan · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Muzan Kibutsuji — Takes the form of a man, a woman or a child to move unnoticed

Feat Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Muzan Kibutsuji — Reshapes his body into blades and whips mid-combat

Feat Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Denji — Transforms into the Chainsaw Devil by pulling the cord in his chest

Feat Chainsaw Man · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Denji — Chainsaws emerge from his arms and head, not from any weapon he carries

Feat Chainsaw Man · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Denji — Fights devils many times his size and wins by aggression rather than technique

Feat Chainsaw Man · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Erza Scarlet — Requip swaps her armour mid-strike from a pocket dimension

Statement Fairy Tail · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Erza Scarlet — Swaps armour faster than an opponent can adapt to the previous one

Feat Fairy Tail · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Erza Scarlet — Holds over a hundred armours simultaneously in storage

Statement Fairy Tail · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Venom — The symbiote forms weapons, tendrils and a full disguise

Feat The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Venom — It carries the abilities of every previous host, including Spider-Man's

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Venom — Mimics ordinary clothing well enough to pass in public

Feat The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Carnage — Forms blades and spikes directly from his own body

Feat The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Carnage — The symbiote bonded to Kasady's bloodstream, not just his skin, which is why separation fails

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Carnage — Produces new symbiotes by seeding them, unlike Venom

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Edward Elric — Reshapes his automail arm into a blade mid-combat

Feat Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Edward Elric — Equivalent exchange binds every transmutation — nothing is created

Statement Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Edward Elric — Repairs and modifies equipment on the spot rather than only attacking

Feat Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Jiraiya — Summons giant toads that fight independently alongside him

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Jiraiya — Fights Pain alone and identifies the mechanism before dying

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Jiraiya — Uses hair and toad oil techniques that no other character replicates

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Orochimaru — Sheds his body entirely and emerges from it renewed

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Orochimaru — Detaches and reattaches parts of his own body at will

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Orochimaru — The curse mark grants power to others at the cost of his influence over them

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Kurama — Reverts to his true Yoko form, a silver fox demon

Feat Yu Yu Hakusho · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Kurama — The Yoko form requires enormous energy and cannot be held long

Statement Yu Yu Hakusho · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Ken Kaneki — Manifests a kagune from his back as a weapon

Feat Tokyo Ghoul · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Ken Kaneki — Ghouls can only digest human flesh and coffee, a biological constraint not a choice

Statement Tokyo Ghoul · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Kurama — Uses death plants that kill on contact without further direction

Feat Yu Yu Hakusho · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Limits

  • Appearance-only shifters keep human vulnerabilities.
  • Mimicry fails on information the user does not have — habits, knowledge, relationships.
  • Most systems require the user to have seen the target.
  • Transformation usually takes a visible beat, which fast opponents exploit.

Counters

  • Detection that ignores appearance: telepathy, scent, energy signature.
  • Containment and dispersal against amorphous forms.
  • Asking a question only the real person could answer.

Questions

Can Mystique change her mass?

Generally no. Mystique's shapeshifting is written as altering appearance, colouring and surface features while keeping roughly her own mass, which is why she can impersonate a person but not become an elephant. It is the standard limit separating her from amorphous shifters like Clayface.

Last updated 2026-09-06 · machine-readable version