'This is my true form' reveal

[takadote26]

In older fiction, this trope is very commonplace- but in a world where other entities (supernatural, Lovecraftian, yokai, fae, Biblical angels, the divine, etc) walk alongside mortals; sometimes the seemingly humanoid characters aren't really 'human' or mortal (at all). Long story short, how does modern fiction deal with the "This is my true form" reveal when the true form is quite mundane, booooring and/or unexpected for otherworldly characters?
Note: Asian folklore deals with the concept of 'animism', which means that anything has a humanoid form, even inanimate objects and trees
(Specifically for miss McTaggart, a Lovecraftian scholar who strictly exists on a 'last name basis'- else the fabric of reality will implode)

 

[Luxuria]

I sometimes play with this trope in my work, but not through hiding it. You watch my characters slowly morph throughout the story into a more... monstrous look. It's really fun and I think I like playing with the 'Frankenstein' effect. Where the character can't hide the grotesque changes as either it cannot be hidden with magic, or lay people have found a way to view the true form at will. Anyway, I like writing the characters dealing with how others react to them as I feel it makes the world more real.

 

[Louanne Learning]

supernatural, Lovecraftian, yokai, fae, Biblical angels, the divine,

This is a broad field, and I imagine we'd have a lot of variation behind the philosophy of each category?

Long story short, how does modern fiction deal with the "This is my true form" reveal when the true form is quite mundane, booooring and/or unexpected for otherworldly characters?

This seems a relevant question for the Qantaga roleplay you and I are currently involved in.

maybe we need to zero in on the word "mundane" - what's mundane in one dimension is not necessarily mundane in another. For example, with Lovecraft's monsters, it's not that they are trying to destroy humans - but humans are just beneath their notice

 

[takadote26]

Yeah, I like to think that to a supernatural being humans are of the 3rd dimension while they [the being] is of higher dimensions (4D or more), so what seems like advanced magic to us may just be as easy as 'taking off a jacket' to them (discarding their humanoid form)? Thoughts?

 

[Pending]

Yeah, I like to think that to a supernatural being humans are of the 3rd dimension while they [the being] is of higher dimensions (4D or more), so what seems like advanced magic to us may just be as easy as 'taking off a jacket' to them (discarding their humanoid form)? Thoughts?

maybe not even 'taking off a jacket'. Think of a 3-d object living in a 2-d world. All it would have to do is turn and it could look completely different.