Is there a idiom or common expression to describe someone who used to be shy, unsocial, unskilled, or even perceived to be useless, who somehow transformed himself or herself to be influential and powerful?
In other words, someone who used to be "nobody" who managed to become "somebody"
For those of you who know about Pokemon, I am thinking of something along the lines of Magikarp transforming to Gyarados, or that "mega-evolution" of that scale
to
Best Answer
You gave a hint: from nobody to somebody is a quite common expression.
There is also an idiom from Chinese culture which is the basis of your Magikarp-Gyarados example: "liyu (carp) jumps over the Dragon Gate." According to Chinese legend, when carps in the Yellow River jump over the Dragon Gate, they transform into dragons. The Dragon Gate refers to a grand waterfall at the Yellow River at Henan.
Sources:
• Magikarp Power / tvtropes.org
• Asian Carp / wikipedia
• egreenway.com