10 Video Game Transformations Nobody Saw Coming

It's expected that video game characters, like any other fictional folk, undergo meaningful development over the course of their journey, whether heroes or villains.

But sometimes this development is a little more literal, physical, and uh, gross.

What better way to show a character's "growth" than literally have them turn into a steroid-pumped brute, become an awesome cyborg ninja, sprout monstrous tentacles, or turn into an immortal jelly thing?

Everybody loves a spot of imaginative body horror, whereby a character is transformed from their typical human shell into something entirely new, and more likely than not, totally revolting.

While games often heavily foreshadow these transformations in advance, in the case of these 10 games it basically happened completely out of nowhere, whether to fans' disgust, confusion, fascination, joy, or sheer curiosity.

In some cases it absolutely worked due to the creative creature design and generally imaginative execution, while in others fans were wondering quite why an already brilliant character had to suddenly turn into an eyesore of an abomination.

Either way, you didn't see it coming, and jaws were collectively dropped around the world when these characters reached their final forms...

Given that The Joker isn't exactly the most physically imposing foe in Batman's rogues gallery, Arkham Asylum developers Rocksteady had to get creative when designing the game's final boss battle against the Clown Prince of Crime.

They made the totally unexpected and highly divisive decision to have The Joker chug an overdose of the Titan mutagen in a last ditch attempt to kill the Caped Crusader.

As such, the Joker we know and love is transformed into a gigantic, hulking, shirtless brute with ripped trousers who looks more like the Hulk than his namesake.

As surprising as it was, most fans understandably felt that having The Joker turn into a steroidal action figure caricature of himself complete with a ridiculous mohawk haircut ran counter to the game's generally more subdued and restrained atmosphere.

It doesn't help that the subsequent boss fight is the least interesting and creative in the entire game, suggesting Rocksteady ran out of generally good ideas for how to stage a satisfying climactic battle between the iconic hero and villain.

Though Joker's decision to dose himself with Titan had major implications for his role in the sequel Arkham City, the initial transformation was just a step too silly for many.