On Writing About Shapeshifters

Shapeshifting is probably one of the most overpowered super powers. You can be pretty much anyone, do pretty much anything and also access a wide array of other powers, based on how that shapeshifting works. That being said, I don’t see shapeshifting much in video games. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any popular games where you play as some kind of shapeshifter. The one exception for this is various classes in games like World of Warcraft, but even then, the shapeshifting is limited.

Despite that, there is one place where I’ve seen lots of shapeshifting, and that’s in roleplaying games. I.e. things like Dungeons and Dragons. In particular, there’s the Polymorph spell. Druids also get a lot of shapeshifting spells that work the same way, but happen to have different names. Wildshape is the most common, and aabicus has got a great list of reasons why you should try Wildshape here.

Now, I’ve only really ever had shapeshifting once, for a short campaign, but while I had it, it was a lot of fun to use. I mostly used shapeshifting to get out of tight spots or to run away. Because wildshape allowed me to turn into a bird, allowing me to, well, leg it. At the time, we were low level characters, meaning my list of options was quite low and we were always low on health. Granted, this was Pathfinder and not D&D so our DM was a bit more loose with what we could do, but having fight or flight options was nice.

There’s also Shapechange and True Polymorph, but these are 9th level spells. And, frankly, I’ve never had a character that’s reached a high enough level to use 9th level spells. These spells though are much more potent and have way more upsides. Shapechange is particularly strong as you basically get the benefits of both your default race and the race of whatever you are shapeshifting into. The only downsides are that you need to make sure your equipment is still wearable, and that you need to have seen the creature you want to shapeshift into. But frankly, at level 17, when most people unlock this spell, you’ve probably seen a handful of dragons anyway, and aren’t really reliant on basic armour and weaponry.

But shapeshifting is stupidly hard to balance, which is why polymorphy has so many drawbacks in Dungeons and Dragons. Thing about it: being able to shapeshift without drawbacks means you can escape from almost any situation. Fall off a cliff? Turn into a bird and fly away. Get trapped underwater? Turn into a fish and swim away. Find yourself facing a dragon? Turn into a dragon yourself! And that’s not to mention the much more clever ways you can abuse shapeshifting. If there’s a locked door, you can simply shapeshift your fingers into a key to open it. Or you could turn yourself stupidly thin and just slide under the door.

Heck, look at Mystique from the X-Men. She was stupidly powerful. While she couldn’t shapeshift powers like telepathy or control over metal, she could easily shapeshift into physical traits, like Angel with his wings or Wolverine with bone claws. Combined with secret spy levels of intelligence, Mystique was nigh unstoppable if she wanted to be. Of course, bullets still hurt her, but Mystique also has enhanced healing abilities.

Aabicus has written some interesting things with shapeshifters. His more notable characters have had to survive in the middle of nowhere, using only their shapeshifting powers to protect them. In his D&D adventures, aabicus once turned into an amoeba to stop a bomb implanted in some guy’s body, but he’s also used shapeshifting to make keys and quills and other tools that he normally wouldn’t have on him.

Now, I actually have shapeshifters in my writing too. There’s actually a whole species of shapeshifters. Thing is, I had to nerf them pretty significantly. I ended up doing this with some loose size restrictions, but also the fact that my shapeshifting species can give themselves amnesia and other brain injuries. By changing into other beings, they can easily forget who they are in the process. They also need to have the knowledge to shapeshift into a particular creature.

Still, these characters are a lot of fun to write since they can do some very silly things. After all, rather than shapeshifting into something stupidly strong just to fight, why not instead shapeshift into a love interest or something? There’s so much you can do with the power, it’s a shame you don’t see it more often.