What forms has Odo taken?
- Thread starter GNDN
- Start date
Just a few of the top of my head...
Odo: Rat, hawk, plasma, a chair covering, a trip-wire, a wall, humanoid with piston arms, a glass, a control PADD on a shipping container, Curzon (sort of), Id monster-esque thing.
Others: Fog, crystal/Nerys, Julian, Miles, Odo, starship, vase.
Odo: Rat, hawk, plasma, a chair covering, a trip-wire, a wall, humanoid with piston arms, a glass, a control PADD on a shipping container, Curzon (sort of), Id monster-esque thing.
Others: Fog, crystal/Nerys, Julian, Miles, Odo, starship, vase.
I guess I'll just have to do a full re-watch! That will coincide nicely with Warped9's thread. I would like to form a comprehensive list and datalogan was very correct in listing Odo's default, to us form. Chronologically, it may be the 'hand' that Odo formed to slap Dr. Mora's hands away from his science experiment controls early on, but that was never seen, only mentioned. Same holds for the 'Cardassian neck trick'. Would love to see some fan art on that.
Odo's off the top of my head: the Rosetta Stone Directory panel in "The Way of the Warrior", the Female Changeling in "Tacking into the Wind", and didn't he appear as another bird on the station? Or was that Laas?
Honorable mentions go to Odo's tuxedo and his bottomless coffee cup.
Others: Laas as fire and his T2 style blade. Martok, Admiral Leyton, Romulan, infant Changeling mimicking Odo
I'd also be curious about any examples from the novels, as I've never read a DS9 book. If there are significantly surprising ones, throw 'em in spoiler tags with the book title and maybe I'll get myself some new DS9?
Odo's off the top of my head: the Rosetta Stone Directory panel in "The Way of the Warrior", the Female Changeling in "Tacking into the Wind", and didn't he appear as another bird on the station? Or was that Laas?
Honorable mentions go to Odo's tuxedo and his bottomless coffee cup.
Others: Laas as fire and his T2 style blade. Martok, Admiral Leyton, Romulan, infant Changeling mimicking Odo
I'd also be curious about any examples from the novels, as I've never read a DS9 book. If there are significantly surprising ones, throw 'em in spoiler tags with the book title and maybe I'll get myself some new DS9?
I don't see it mentioned yet - a bag (in Second Skin). 
.
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Interface panel ("The Way of the Warrior"). I think that's the same one GNDN mentioned, though.
Also, a Cardassian vole...though I am not sure if that appeared onscreen, or if I am remembering a scene from a book.
Also, a Cardassian vole...though I am not sure if that appeared onscreen, or if I am remembering a scene from a book.
In an attempt at thoroughness, I have begun rewatching S1. These are the examples I've found so far with some commentary included:
Emissary
Humanoid form (later revealed to be an approximation of Dr. Mora)
Bajoran uniform
Functional combadge (no direct evidence at this point if this is part of Odo or an actual combadge)
Gelatinous form (revealed when a criminal hurls a mace at his face)
Sack (to be filled with latinum. This brings up the question of Odo's weight. Is it somehow variable based on his form? I imagine the Cardies would be suspicious of an empty bag if it weighed the same as a 2-meter tall humanoid?)
Past Prologue
Rat (raises the question of mass as well as weight)
A Man Alone
Chair (in Ibudan's quarters on the transport ship)
Babel
Cart (Quark "I thought the front wheels were sticking a bit")
Captive Pursuit
Painting (in Corridor 14A, Habitat Level 5)
Q-Less
Not Shown (Quark guesses: A table? A Chair? The wine bottle!
)
Emissary
Humanoid form (later revealed to be an approximation of Dr. Mora)
Bajoran uniform
Functional combadge (no direct evidence at this point if this is part of Odo or an actual combadge)
Gelatinous form (revealed when a criminal hurls a mace at his face)
Sack (to be filled with latinum. This brings up the question of Odo's weight. Is it somehow variable based on his form? I imagine the Cardies would be suspicious of an empty bag if it weighed the same as a 2-meter tall humanoid?)
Past Prologue
Rat (raises the question of mass as well as weight)
A Man Alone
Chair (in Ibudan's quarters on the transport ship)
Babel
Cart (Quark "I thought the front wheels were sticking a bit")
Captive Pursuit
Painting (in Corridor 14A, Habitat Level 5)
Q-Less
Not Shown (Quark guesses: A table? A Chair? The wine bottle!
)
Regarding the weight issue, I've always assumed the explanation of that had to be similar to the "Z-space" explanation from the Animorphs books.
Interestingly, John Peel's kids' book, Prisoners of Peace, assumes that mass IS a problem. (Which is something I like about the book, when I think about it...evidence that Peel doesn't talk down even to young children.)
Interestingly, John Peel's kids' book, Prisoners of Peace, assumes that mass IS a problem. (Which is something I like about the book, when I think about it...evidence that Peel doesn't talk down even to young children.)
I'm not familiar with Animorphs. What is the approach in Prisoners of Peace, that the forms must be of similar mass? Or is there a way around that?
Continuing with S1:
The Nagus
Liquid State (to slip under an airlock door)
The Vortex
Odo:
Glass (which is shattered into pieces, then regroups and reforms)
Other:
STONE (object that morphs into a key. Bashir says "It's an amalgam of organic material and some sort of crystal)
The Forsaken
Odo's hairstyle (first described to Mrs. Troi, "I imitated the hairstyle of the Bajoran man who was assigned to me")
Regenerative State (Odo in liquid form. "I turn into a liquid every sixteen hours")
Past References, not shown:
Chair
Razorcat (forms Odo would imitate on command at parties)
So how long can Odo survive if he is split into several pieces, and can the pieces shapeshift independently? We don't know if there is a particular central nervous system or brain.
It was assumed by Starfleet that if a shapeshifter expelled part of itself as "blood" while in humanoid form, that the sample would not be able to retain it's shape.
In that series, the excess mass was extruded out into that series' equivalent of subspace/hyperspace.
In Prisoners of Peace, there was no cheating around the mass issue. Even if he became, for instance, a rat, he'd have to be walking on a structure capable of supporting his mass (which in that book was stated to be like a normal humanoid man's weight) compressed into such a small space.
(The issue of strength needed to move, being so dense and so small, was not covered--the mass issue alone was considered an insurmountable barrier in the situation described in the book, which was to walk out onto a ceiling support beam.)
But does disregard the established 'rules' of the DS9 universe.
Even though the series never goes into it, it's evident that Odo can shift his shape with no mind paid to mass. Maybe Peel would have preferred to write about the T1000? 
As early as that book was written during DS9's run, I don't think there was necessarily evidence one way or the other. I think it was written during the first or second season.
I did consider that, but Odo had already shown to have variable mass in the first season, and the book came out in 1994, half way through the second season. Benefit of the doubt though, for sure.
Oooooh, you should definitely start the DS9 relaunch. Totally worth it... though I stopped reading after the "Soul Key."
I did consider that, but Odo had already shown to have variable mass in the first season, and the book came out in 1994, half way through the second season. Benefit of the doubt though, for sure.
I actually heard--though I'm not sure--that the earliest books of some series, for TV tie-ins, are actually written before most or even any of the show airs, based on the series bible and maybe scripts. Can't say if that's the case with this one, but it would certainly explain a thing like that.
Very tempting! Are books for the series still being written? And how many volumes are there presently?
I'm sure I'll be in a mood for more good DS9 stories once I've finished the series again
Onto Season 2:
The Circle
Label on a shipping container
Rat (This is twice now. Maybe there was one in Dr. Mora's lab that Odo was fond of imititating
)The Siege
Wall Panel (unless he was another painting as in Captive Pursuit)
Trip wire (I wonder whether Odo chose to be passive here, or if he applied any 'muscle' to the line when he tripped the Bajoran militia members)
Invasive Procedures
Cart (another one, this time with engineering tools)
There seems to be less shape-shifting in Season 2. Here are some more:
Necessary Evil
Cardassian Neck Trick (Odo mentioned that he used to do this for entertainment. It was Dr. Mora's idea and Odo had practiced for weeks)
The Alternate
Monstrous Form (Odo as a monster from his own id. Very reminiscent of Forbidden Planet)
Shadowplay
Chair and Animals (Odo once again mentions forms he used to take to amuse others)
Spinning Top (a fun effect and a very touching scene. Great combination of FX and performance which I fondly remember from first viewing)
Necessary Evil
Cardassian Neck Trick (Odo mentioned that he used to do this for entertainment. It was Dr. Mora's idea and Odo had practiced for weeks)
The Alternate
Monstrous Form (Odo as a monster from his own id. Very reminiscent of Forbidden Planet)
Shadowplay
Chair and Animals (Odo once again mentions forms he used to take to amuse others)
Spinning Top (a fun effect and a very touching scene. Great combination of FX and performance which I fondly remember from first viewing)
Rounding out seasons two and three (if there's anyone interested 
):
The Maquis, Part II
Tentacle (Odo uses his Plastic Man/Elastigirl style tentacle arm to grab a Maquis member off a ladder)
Crossover
Eeeeevil Uniform (Mirror Odo looks quite smart, and this uniform apparently inspired the real-world addition of a belt to early S3 Odo's uniform)
The Search, Part I
Uniform (Odo adds a high collar and belt to his uniform)
Liquid State (first time we see Odo actually using his bucket)
The Great Link (four changelings, including the Female Changeling emerge from the link and loosely mimic Odo's humanoid appearance and costume)
The Search, Part II
The Link (Odo and the Female Changeling link)
Rocks, Flowers and Trees (Odo talks about having imitated this form, not seen on screen)
Arbazon Vulture
Gelatinous Tentacles (to pick the lock on the door)
Second Skin
Sack (Sisko handily tosses this, one-handed, again raising the question of weight/mass)
The Abandoned
Gelatinous State (allowing the Jem-Hadar to jump though him)
Heart of Stone
Gelatinous Shield (deflecting falling rocks during a near cave-in)
FEMALE CHANGELING as Kira (and the crystal that encases her)
The Die is Cast
MALE CHANGELING as Romulan Colonel Lovok
Vicarian razorback (Garak imagines that Odo could become one to attack him)
Facets
ODO as Kurzon (he also makes an instant change of clothes)
The Adversary
MALE CHANGELING as Bashir, Ambassador Krajensky, Odo, and an Odo-like form of his own (he also uses a tentacle to attack)
"Blood Test" (first seen here, Odo comments that "When any part of me leaves my body...[it reverts back to a gelatinous state]")
):The Maquis, Part II
Tentacle (Odo uses his Plastic Man/Elastigirl style tentacle arm to grab a Maquis member off a ladder)
Crossover
Eeeeevil Uniform (Mirror Odo looks quite smart, and this uniform apparently inspired the real-world addition of a belt to early S3 Odo's uniform)
The Search, Part I
Uniform (Odo adds a high collar and belt to his uniform)
Liquid State (first time we see Odo actually using his bucket)
The Great Link (four changelings, including the Female Changeling emerge from the link and loosely mimic Odo's humanoid appearance and costume)
The Search, Part II
The Link (Odo and the Female Changeling link)
Rocks, Flowers and Trees (Odo talks about having imitated this form, not seen on screen)
Arbazon Vulture
Gelatinous Tentacles (to pick the lock on the door)
Second Skin
Sack (Sisko handily tosses this, one-handed, again raising the question of weight/mass)
The Abandoned
Gelatinous State (allowing the Jem-Hadar to jump though him)
Heart of Stone
Gelatinous Shield (deflecting falling rocks during a near cave-in)
FEMALE CHANGELING as Kira (and the crystal that encases her)
The Die is Cast
MALE CHANGELING as Romulan Colonel Lovok
Vicarian razorback (Garak imagines that Odo could become one to attack him)
Facets
ODO as Kurzon (he also makes an instant change of clothes)
The Adversary
MALE CHANGELING as Bashir, Ambassador Krajensky, Odo, and an Odo-like form of his own (he also uses a tentacle to attack)
"Blood Test" (first seen here, Odo comments that "When any part of me leaves my body...[it reverts back to a gelatinous state]")
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