The article explores the ways Róbert Csaba Szabó’s novel Alakváltók (“Shapeshiftžers”) represents Romania’s 20th century history, with special respect to the regime change in 1989. Accordingly, I link the motifs of “shapeshiftžing” and metamorphoses to the novel’s desillusionary view on the prospects of political change and transformation in Eastern Europe. Focusing on the central character of Rajnai/Perjovschi, I conclude that the story of his life displays at the micro level what totalitarian power attempts to achieve at the macro level: the disfigurement, concealment or total eradication of personal and group identities.