Humans not only desire to change themselves but also some kind of wish and interest in 'changing and transforming' more generally, regardless of the time and country: a piece of European literature "The Metamorphosis" by Kafka, and a western tradition that a man transforms into a wolf on nights of the full moon, for example; also in Japan, there are costume dramas like Mito-komon (a drama in which the audience's impression of an average old man changes once he shows his inro and it is revealed that he is one of the vice-shoguns of the Tokugawa gosanke [three privileged branches of Tokugawa family]), Kamen Rider (the Masked Rider) and Ultraman.
自身の変装だけでなく、西洋文学のカフカの『変身』や、狼男になった人が満月の夜に変身してしまうという西洋の伝承などから、日本においても、時代劇の水戸黄門（ただの爺が、印籠により徳川御三家の副将軍の一人に変身すると採れる客観からの設定）や仮面ライダーやウルトラマンまで、時代や洋の東西を問わず「変身する化ける」ということに、ある種の願望や好奇心がある。