1. punkyeleven

    punkyeleven Member

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    The ability to change into an animal in the modern world

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by punkyeleven, Jul 12, 2019.

    In the story I'm working on the main theme and characters are people who can change into animals. But I have the problem of thinking how would this ability work in the modern world, what can they do and how can they use it as their advance? The animals are various from fly to bear or giraffe. The people can change into them very quickly, they can also change partly (for example only hand) and they can change some aspect in their human form (like having very good eagle eyesight).
    But I can't think of any examples of how these abilites could be helpful or useful since they have to keep it secret. I thought that it'll probably be useful in some work or even in army, but it seems like they don't need to change into full animal for that.
    I feel a little bit like this ability is more like a burden than an advantage. Anybody has any thought?
     
  2. TWErvin2

    TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

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    Spying and/or industrial espionage? Some animal forms would prove advantageous in such ventures.
     
  3. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    And escaping law enforcement, of course.
     
  4. AndieBoDandy

    AndieBoDandy Active Member

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    Perhaps that is what you write your story around. I like Superman. He's all powerful, almost invincible, and has unshakeable morals. However, I LOVE Batman. I think it is the flaws that make him the more interesting character.
    I also think it would be normal that your eagle character, has bird-like clarity of vision (while in human form), your bear/gorilla has super-human strength, your puma character has increased speed, your wolf, an enhanced sense of smell and so on...
     
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  5. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I read the Animorph series, and they used the alien gifted
    ability for infiltration, combat, and whatever else they needed
    to complete their goals against the baddies. Though while they
    could turn into any animal/alien that they touched for only 2hrs,
    otherwise they will get stuck in that form permanently. Small
    spoiler Tobias gets stuck as a red tail hawk. :p

    So yes it has applications for real world setting, but you have to
    define the rules and logic behind it, otherwise it just feels like a
    McGuffin device to force your plot forward, which is kinda a
    plot demand, or pulling the rabbit out of the hat. :p

    Good luck. :)
     
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  6. Matt E

    Matt E Ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8 Contributor

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    If they can make super subtle partial transformations, they could gain super powers: strength (bear muscles), sonar vision (bat), invisibility (chameleon), super smell (dog nose), super vision (eagle eyes), super hearing (not sure which animal). A full transformation would let them gain anonymity to kill people (werewolf), spy (weremosquito), and steal stuff (weremonkey, I'm thinking like Abu from Aladin)
     
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  7. punkyeleven

    punkyeleven Member

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    Thank you all for the answers so far! They're really helpful!
     
  8. making tracks

    making tracks Active Member

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    Even just for fun, imagine if you were a free-runner who could change into a cat, or if you're into urban exploring loads of animals would be helpful for you to slip into locked places or stay light on rotting floorboards.
    Then to be helpful I guess you could change in to sea animals and help rescue people who have been caught in the tide, you could help track people as a sniffer dog, if police have a suspect for missing persons etc it would be easy to spy on them and see if they let something slip when they think no one is listening.

    They'd also have to get quite creative about simple things like how to carry things - what would they do about carrying their wallets and purses around, what if they need ID or money at the other end once they transform back? What happens to their clothes when they transform and how does this affect what they can do? Like @TWErvin2 said, spying seems an obvious first choice but what if they need to collect evidence, how could they keep a camera with them or use it without opposable thumbs?

    Edit: also it's really interesting to think about what it would be like to have completely different senses that our brains aren't wired for. In these stories it's usually a given that you get the animals' senses but keep your own mind. That could be a huge adjustment the first few times, like if you became a bee and could see in UV it must really mess with your head to begin with - when you think about it we can't even imagine new colours then they can suddenly see whole new spectrums! It's really cool. It would be nice to see a story that explores this. Does their brain rewire itself each time? What's that like?
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2019
  9. LazyBear

    LazyBear Banned

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    Hang upside-down in a tree to avoid paying rent. Hunt obese humans during night for easy free food. It's the easy life.
     
  10. HolliDaze

    HolliDaze New Member

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    I have a nearly identical base idea behind my book, but, in mine, they don’t managed to hide it from society at all, for... reasons.:geek: I don’t think our stories would be all that similar either way, besides the shape shifting aspect (and it’s not as if that’s never been done)
    I agree with espionage, perhaps military uses as well? Imagine turning into a bird, flying at a bad guy, then turning into something quite large, like an elephant. I always imagined that would cause quite a bit of damage, though it could injure the shifter as well. If they banded together, they’d be practically impossible to catch, birds could perch up in trees and warn the others, who have to do little more than take off and fly away should someone intrude on them.
     
  11. Baeraad

    Baeraad Senior Member

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    I'd say the main advantage is having a wide variety of abilities constantly at your fingertips. Most things that animals can do, technology can do better, so if there's a situation where there's time to mount an organised response, there's not usually going to be a point in sending in the shapeshifters. However, when you're sending people into a situation where all sorts of different things could happen and they'll have to rely on themselves and improvise quickly? That's where shapeshifters would shine. For almost any task you can think of, there's an animal somewhere that has evolved to be much better at it than a human without the right equipment could ever hope to be.

    Spying and sabotage have already been mentioned. I'd say the military could also use shifters, though not so much for big battles as for commando missions. And they'd be terrifying assassins. As the Animorphs series puts it at one point, if you have a shapeshifter as an enemy, then you can never be sure he isn't watching you as a fly on the wall right now - and will turn into a tiger and pounce on you the moment you let your guard down.

    And of course, any mission that required going deep into the wilderness for any reason they'd be perfect for. For a very wide definition of "wilderness," too. There aren't any animals evolved for space flight, but an astronaut that could grow small enough to fit in a tiny gap, become strong enough to lift massive pieces of cargo, propel themself through the air, or gain the ability to see in the dark would be really handy if there was a disaster on a space station where everything started breaking down.
     
  12. punkyeleven

    punkyeleven Member

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    Wow, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of the answers! Thank you guys, it's really helpful, especially now when I just finished the first draft and I can focus more on details like these. I'll explore the topic more, all your suggestions are really great!
     

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