With the exploits of weretiger Atsushi Nakajima continuing soon in season 4 of Bungou Stray Dogs, fans interested in his special ability over the rest of the cast's may be interested in exploring anime that feature their own shape-shifting characters.
There's a great variety of anime characters with the power to change forms, from those who enjoy it and use it all they can like in Fruits Basket.
10 The Pack - Wolf’s Rain
Wolves don’t take human form because they enjoy it. They're being hunted to extinction, and need to hide if they want to survive. With their human disguises, they blend in with society and try to keep their true natures buried. So far, it’s working: humans believe wolves to be extinct, save for the vicious wolf hunters who know they are still among them.
Though technically the wolves are hiding their true forms through alchemical illusions, the effect of shape-shifting is the same to human eyes and cameras. It reflects their personalities: for instance, Kiba’s hair and eyes as a human don’t match his fur or eyes as a wolf, unlike the others’, marking him as inexperienced with disguise and different from the rest.
9 Tamaki Amajiki - My Hero Academia
Many of the strongest Quirks in My Hero Academia involve the holder taking animalistic form or being able to alter their own body, but only a few of them involve direct shape-shifting. Manifest gives Amajiki the power to temporarily transform his body into anything he consumes, which he has put to such creative use that he’s one of U.A.’s top students.
Amajiki keeps a variety of snacks on his utility belt so he can give himself any kind of boost he needs in the field, from claws to wings to even tentacles: what’s more, he’s not limited to only one morph at a time. He also makes sure to carefully plan his regular diet to give him the attributes that keep him strong.
8 The Zodiac - Fruits Basket
Like any generational curse, none of the of the Sohma clan born possessed by animal spirits want to be shape-shifters. But they don’t have a choice: when one Zodiac dies, the spirit es to another Sohma newborn, cursing them to transform into an animal of the eastern Zodiac when hugged by a member of the opposite sex.
How much each Zodiac member resembles the animal they transform into varies, but all of them struggle with their conditions. Most of their parents reject or mistreat them for it, and they struggle to build relationships both inside and outside the family. The worst lot of all is that of Kyo, who is one of the best cat companions in anime, but at a terrible cost.
7 Mikitaka Hazekura - JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
In the episode “I Am an Alien,” Josuke meets Hazekura, a strange young man who claims to be from outer space. His Earth, Wind, and Fire might be a Stand or might be part of a set of extraterrestrial powers, but whichever it is, it allows him to shape-shift into any object: even his human shape may or may not be his real one.
Hazekura may be odd, but he’s a big fan of Earth and its people, always friendly and helpful to everyone he meets. He helps Josuke out however he can, from shifting into loaded dice to help him win a game against Rohan, to being ready to sacrifice himself to free Josuke from Super Fly. He isn’t able to transform into other people or complex machines, but still gets as much out of his ability as possible.
6 Atsushi Nakajima - Bungou Stray Dogs
Atsushi was born a shape-shifter, but didn’t know it until he was eighteen. When Yokohama’s Armed Detective Agency informs him that the giant white tiger preying on the town at night is him, Atsushi is shocked, and agrees to up with them to help protect the city.
As Atsushi takes on greater challenges and grows more confident, he goes from only transforming into his tiger form under the moonlight to being able to control the transformation himself. A good thing, too: plenty of Yokohama’s least savory characters are willing to pay top dollar for a live weretiger sample, so Atsushi is the target of a hefty bounty.
5 Envy - Fullmetal Alchemist
Envy takes great pleasure in their ability to transform into anyone. Even the humanoid form they typically take is a shift: when pushed to their limit, they will revert back to their original form as a toothy, big-eyed green grub. They much prefer the former: it’s very hard to smirk evilly as a grub.
Their favorite trick is transforming into their opponent’s loved ones to deter them from attacking, such as how they make Maes Hughes freeze for a fatal second by turning into Hughes’ beloved wife. But when they try it on someone who has no qualms about attacking a fake (like Roy Mustang), they’re quickly put on the defense, yelling indignantly about what kind of person would do something like that.
4 Ditto - Pokémon
Evolution is one thing, regional forms are another, and Ditto is a different beast entirely. Though it’s one of the Pokémon that would be toast without its ability, that ability still gets it pretty far. Ditto may not have a powerful move set, but it makes up for it by being able to shape-shift into anything. Pokémon, humans, objects: If a trainer names it, Ditto can be it, but Ditto’s own beady features will replace the subject’s face.
Ditto’s shape-shifting abilities are thoroughly explored whenever it gets the spotlight, in any medium. From the anime episode “Ditto’s Mysterious Mansion,” in which Team Rocket attempt to steal a trainer’s Ditto, to the film Detective Pikachu, in which the villain’s lieutenant is revealed to be a Ditto taking human form, this little blob’s power is always fun to watch.
3 Weapons - Soul Eater
The ability to transform into a weapon in the world of one of the scariest body horror anime is genetic, but it’s anybody’s guess when or if weapon traits will show themselves. Often, the weapon doesn’t know they are one until one day out of the blue there are huge, sharp shards of metal bursting from their body.
Some weapons can fight on their own (and some, such as the guillotine Justin Law, cannot be wielded and have no choice), but they do best when paired with a meister to wield them. DWMA students are taught to highly value this partnership, in which a close bond between souls is necessary to reach peak power, but weapons in particular are intensely protective of their meisters and trained to put their partner’s life first in battle.
2 Hana’s Family - Wolf Children Ame And Yuki
Sometimes shape-shifting runs in families, and in one of the best anime about parenting, audiences follow the story of the odd one out. Hana falls in love with a werewolf and has two children with him, Yuki and Ame. But when her partner dies, Hana is forced to raise young children with natures she doesn’t understand in a world that’s hostile to them.
The siblings take polar opposite approaches to their shape-shifting natures. Yuki takes more after her father, embracing her human side and only showing her wolf traits under duress or as a show of trust to the person she loves. Ame never feels like he belongs in human society, viewing himself as a wolf instead, and eventually shifts permanently to live in the forest as an animal.
1 Haku - Spirited Away
Being an incredibly powerful spirit feared and respected throughout his world, Haku has many abilities that other spirits don't. One is being able to switch between the form of a young human and his true form: an enormous white dragon. In his true form, he keeps his green eyes and primarily white coloring, which is how Chihiro recognizes him even while unaware he has another form.
Though the Kohaku River of which he was the god has been long since filled in, meaning he can never return home, Haku still maintains his powers. Able to fly as a dragon, Haku can carry Chihiro on his back any distance, a thrilling experience for the both of them that brings them closer together as friends.