Transformation Name Announcement

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Kevin: What's with the shouting names thing anyway? Ben: It strikes fear into my enemies. Kevin: . . . You go right on believing that, bud. —Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

What's the most stylish way to end a Transformation Sequence, a shapeshift, or a mode change? For some heroes, it's simply to shout the name of their new form right as the Stock Footage ends. Humongous Mecha of the transforming or combining variety are susceptible to this habit, as are Magical Girls with long, sparkly transformations (roughly all the modern ones).

Alternatively, the name of the form can be the activation word for the transformation, or at least part of it. Again, Super Robots do this often, simply because it's easy to Hand Wave or at least (if you're more current) poke fun at it, and because it's style.

For another variation, the hero himself needn't announce his form change, but his commander, his spotter, or a piece of machinery can do it for him.

Compare Calling Your Attacks, By the Power of Greyskull, Invocation and In the Name of the Moon. May be part of Transformation Sequence, Shapeshifting and/or Super Mode. In some cases, comes with a side of nekketsu.

Examples of Transformation Name Announcement include:

Anime and Manga

Magical Girl

• The ur-magical girl example, from the original transforming Magical Girl: "Ai no senshi, Cutey Honey sa!"
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's machines announce their own mode changes, such as "Barrier Jacket: Aggressor Mode."
  • Though the Transformation Sequence itself goes without it. Mode changes are only announced when already in battle gear.
• Every Pretty Cure team does this, individually and in groups.
  • The "Yes! Precure 5 GoGo" versions are practically this trope and In the Name of the Moon combined.
• The Powerpuff Girls Z. "Hyper Blossom!", etc.
• Akazukin Chacha has "Let Love, Courage and Hope — Magical Princess, Holy Up!". As an aside, the name of Chacha's Magical Girl Warrior form is Magical Princess, not Holy Up as a lot of people seem to think.
• Ojamajo Doremi has "Pretty Witch [insert name]-chi!".
• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: "[insert name] Pearl Voice!" Well, in the manga, at least. The anime changed it so the phrase was just for transforming, and they just used their regular names.
• Sailor Moon's Sailor Jupiter does it the first time she transforms.
• The manga version of Princess Tutu has the titular magical girl stating her name after every transformation--"I am Princess Tutu! I dance to guide your heart!" In the anime, she generally doesn't do this.

Mecha

• GaoGaiGar. All of them, both transforming and combining, heroes and villains. Indeed, many of the Braves are this way.
  • The dragon bros. don't always do this, though. And it's very odd when Volfogg does it, as he's often working alone and has no one to announce it to.
• Tekkaman Blade's titular character did this nearly every time. In Tekkaman Blade II, Tekkamen Vesna, Sommer and Hiver carry on the tradition.
• Getter Robo, every single incarnation up til Armageddon. "Change, Getter-1! Switch on!"
  • Then again Ryoma compensated by holding his "Getter" part of the phrase for four freaking seconds.
  • Three words: "CHANGE GETTER EMPEROR!!!" Also known as "the voice that quakes the universe itself."
  • In the case of Getter Robo though, this is what they do at the start of the transformation, justifying it. Afterall, they're combining at several miles per hour, if they don't know exactly which form they're supposed to be combining into, its very likely they'll crash and burn, a lesson more than a few Getter Test Pilots learned fatally.
• Zoids New Century Zero. "Liger Zero, CAS complete!"
• Voltron. Also the original: "Let's GoLion!"
• "From now on, this mech's name is... GURREN-LAGANN!" The first time for each new robot, the present Hot Blooded hero would name it.
  • The pilots of every iteration of the mech tend to give a Rousing Speech whenever the thing gets bigger...and it's usually accompanied by explosions. Viral (Gurren Lagann), the orbital Mugann fleet (Arc Gurren Lagann), the face of that weird battleship thing (Super Galactic Gurren Lagann), and then a galaxy (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.)
    • "TENGEN TOPPA!!! GURREN LAGANN!!! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!?!?!?!?"
• In Transformers, a few incarnations will use "[name], transform!" as their transformation word.
• Combattler V and Voltes V both shout the robot's name when it finishes forming.
  • So is Daimos. In Super Robot Wars Advance, this gets spoofed by Gai Daigoji (if he survives), whereas after Kazuya roars Daimos' name, Gai yells out "AESTEEE!!! VALIIIISSS!!!", much to Akito's confusion.
    • Naturally, since Gai knows about it, you'd better believe Gekiganger 3 has an example. In this case, it happens in The Movie when Ken brings out the Gekiganger V- he does some poses and shouts "GEKIGANGAAAA... V!" in a similar fashion to Combattler V.
• Both Hiroshi and Kenji of Steel/Koutetsushin Jeeg would strike a pose and shout "Koutetsu Jeeg!" once all the Parts were together.
• For a Super Robot show, Gravion somehow averts this most of the time... until Sandman himself announces the mecha's name after it finishes combining, which shocks Raven. His reply when asked why? "I've always wanted to do that at least once."
  • Well, only averted for the main Choujuu Gasshin. "Elgo Form!" should count. Also, at the end of Sol Gravion's combination the pilots shout its name.
• The Commandos in Transformers: Robots in Disguise always cap off their combination sequence with "Ruination, awaken!"
• Happens in Gunbuster episode 5 after the combination sequence. "GUN...BUS...TEEERRRR!"
  • And not to forget Diebuster, for both Buster Machine Number Seven and Diebuster itself. Number Seven's is particularly long, as it gives it's weapons class *and* attached unit.

Other

• In the Pokémon anime, the first aspect of an evolution a Pokémon tries out is generally its voice. Pokémon cries being what they are...
  • In the Pokémon games, you get the cry directly after an evolution as well, but there, the cries consists of roars and similar things.
• Digimon :In the English version they instead call out what form they will take, which makes sense for those that can take different forms at the same level but brings questions to those didn't know they can evolve in the first place.
  • Actually the Digimon call out the form they have just taken after the evolution takes place
• Bleach: A zanpakutou releases into shikai as a result of the shinigami calling out a release activation phrase that ends with the announcement of the zanpakutou's true name, at which point the zanpakutou transforms into its true form.
  • When a zanpakutou releases into bankai, the shinigami simply announces "Bankai" and then enters the Transformation Sequence. Once the transformation has ended, the shinigami concludes with the zanpakutou's new name which sums up the nature their weapon (and any changes that have occurred to the shinigami's own appearance) has revealed as a result of entering bankai. Shinigami who have achieved bankai are also able to activate their shikai silently (but rarely do). With bankai, silent activation seems to be impossible, but announcing the name of the transformed zanpakutou is entirely optional.
  • Arrancar have their own zanpakutou and releases, which operate in the same manner as a shinigami's shikai. Despite their zanpakutou not being empathic weapons like those of shinigami.
• Mega Man NT Warrior gave this to Megaman for Style Changes and Soul Unisons.
• Used as an affirmation of identity in Solty Rei when Eirene keeps calling Solty by her original name of Dike: "MY NAME IS SOLTY REVANT!!!" *Full-strength Power Fist*.

Live Action TV

• Nearly every Super Sentai series makes regular use of a "roll call" where the heroes shout first their names, then the name of the team in unison. Later shows expanded this into a full In the Name of the Moon, but their names are still part of it. Some older shows also had the heroes simply say their names as their Activation Phrase.
  • It's also a Super Sentai tradition for the heroes to announce the names of their mecha, both while summoning/combining it and right after it's been summoned/combined, often with a couple of words added to it. A few recent examples:
    • Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger: "Build up! Dekaranger Robo!"
    • Mahou Sentai Magiranger: "MagiKing, Number One!"
    • Go Go Sentai Boukenger: "Daibouken, Combination Complete! First Gear In!"
    • Juken Sentai Gekiranger: "GekiTouja, Burning Up!"
    • Engine Sentai Go-onger: "Engine-O, Tune-Up! Go-On!"
    • Samurai Sentai Shinkenger: "Shinken-O, United under Providence!"
    • Tensou Sentai Goseiger: "Gosei Great, advent!"
    • Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: "Complete, GokaiOh!"
    • Tokumei Sentai Gobusters: "Go Buster-Oh! Ready? GO!"
• Power Rangers doesn't have them say the same thing every time unless they're sticking very close to Sentai, but the formation of a Megazord calls for something, even if it's just "Power up!" or "Let's do it!" Often, it's the name of the formation (especially in series with numerous formations, in which case the Rangers have to help the audience keep it straight. "Predazord: Blue Moon!" "Isis Megazord: Predator Mode!")
  • Though they have been known to mess this up: The second season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers kept referring to Thunder Megazord as Mega Thunderzord.
  • And they don't just do this for their mecha. In about half of the seasons, the team has a habit of doing individual Transformation Name Announcements and ending with a group In the Name of the Moon (and the other half still have at least one or two roll calls, even without the group ending).
  • Wild Force embodies this trope with its call: "Guardians of the Earth, UNITED WE ROAR! Power Rangers Wild Force!"
    • Since Sentai influence increased as of late, we get this a lot more. I give you: "Space Patrol Delta, defenders of Earth!"
    • "We call forth the magic, Power Rangers Mystic Force!"
    • "Call to adventure, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive!"
    • "We summon the animal spirits from within! Power Rangers Jungle Fury!"
    • "Rangers together! Samurai forever!"
  • Of course, in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Rangers would often pose beneath the Power Coin symbols after morphing and yell "Power Rangers!" Back when the original Rangers were the only Rangers, there was no need to differentiate.
  • Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder didn't have one for the whole teams, but it did have each Ranger yelling "Power of *element here!*" or "*Dinosaur here* Power!" after the morph stock footage ended. This is the sort of bit of Ranger ceremony that's different from season to season - which shouted phrases are for coolness' sake and which are necessary to activate gear, and whether the just-because yells come before or while posing after.
• "I am the child of the sun, Kamen Rider Black RX!"
• In Kamen Rider Den-O, Kamen Rider Decade,and every series after, the Transformation Trinkets announce the names of the forms the Riders take. In Kamen Rider Double, this even goes for the Monsters of the Week. In Kamen Rider OOO it's only for single color combos.
• In Zoboomafoo, Zoboo changes from normal lemur form to fully talking puppet form by eating a snack from the snack machine. To better describe this process, he eats the snack, belches, then spins around shouting "Zoboomafooooooooooo!!!!!" and he can talk from there.

Video Games

• In .hack//G.U., Haseo shouts, "SKEITH!" when releasing his Avatar. Ditto Kuhn and Pi.
• Mega Man Battle Network 5: Twin Leaders for the Nintendo DS has Megaman doing this with Soul Unisons, similar to the anime.
  • And Star Force 2, which introduced voice acting to that series, has Subaru invoking the names for all of his Tribe Ons, Double Tribes and yeah, Tribe King (combining all three possible forms). For the alternative Burai forms, he says instead, "I'm... the only one I can trust."
  • Star Force 3 brought voice acting to the english games, and This Troper really has to admit it's awesome to hear Geo shouting "FINALIZE! RED JOKER!"
• LEEEERROOOOYYY!!! JEEENKIINS!!!
• "I AM Turok!"
• Though Super Robot Wars includes practically every Humongous Mecha example above, the Original Generation does surprisingly little of this despite the Loads and Loads of Characters. It's all good, though, since the one character who does this often is Fighter Roar from Banpresto's Great Battle series. It's even part of his name.
  • Sanger also gets an epic yet delayed one that comes with its own title card when Dygenguard finally becomes combat-ready. It was absurd enough that the villain even broke the fourth wall to call him out on it (in the English version).
    • Which was put back in the Japanese remake and the anime.
• "I am Crimean Royal Knight, Fifth Platoon Captain Kieran! See me and tremble!"

Web Comics

• "I am ... MISTER MIGHTY! (and this is Jane, my wife)."
  • Lampshaded here, when Professor Odious comes to visit.

Web Original

• A Very Potter Sequel "I am Woman. Hear me...SMASH"

Western Animation

• "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"
• Throughout Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben 10 does this whenever he transforms. Though it varies whether he calls out the name of which alien he transforms into or the alien he intended he transformed into. Word of God stated numerous times that the reason why they had Ben do it was so the younger fans will know the names of all the alien transformations. Ben 10: Omniverse dropped it.
  • The episode "Hero Time" however does show Ben transforming without calling the alien names which would suggest it's a conscious choice on his part. Begs the question of why he does it when he's trying to sneak around.
• The result of two guys watching too much of this: Mecha Shiva, Mecha Shiva, Mecha Shiva!
• Darkwolf lets off an epic one of these in Fire and Ice while holding off Mooks.
• He-Man: "I have the power!"
• She-Ra: "I am She-Ra!"
• The entire Rivera family in El Tigre calls out their hero or villain name upon transforming from their civilian identities:
  • El Tigre! White Pantera! Puma Loco! Plata Peligrosa!
• Powdered! Toast! MAN!