Programmable soft materials have shown applications in artificial muscles, soft robotics, flexible electronics, and biomedicines due to their adaptive structural transformations. As an ordered soft material, directional shape changes of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) can be easily achieved via external stimuli thanks to its anisotropic elasticity. However, harnessing the interplay between molecular ordering, geometry, and shape morphing in this anisotropic material to create programmable and complex shape changes remains a challenge. Here, by integrating the concepts of kirigami or Chinese paper cutting “JianZhi” in the light‐actuated LCE encoded with controlled molecular orientations, various complex 3D shape morphing behaviors are demonstrated. Versatile combinations of fundamental shape changes such as bending, folding, twisting, and rolling are enabled by fine‐tuning the molecular orientations and geometries in the monolithic LCE kirigami. Furthermore, various functions such as fluttering of the Chinese crane bird “QianZhiHe,” arbitrary directional locomotion in the annulus and linear locomotion in the complex Chinese character are also realized. These complex, fast‐response, untethered, remote, reversible, and programmable shape morphologies actuated in a monolith of LCE kirigami will open opportunities in soft robotics and smart materials.

Programming shape changes in soft materials requires precise control of the directionality and magnitude of their mechanical response. Among ordered soft materials, liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) exhibit remarkable and programmable shape shifting when their molecular order changes. In this work, we synthesized, remotely programmed, and modeled reversible and complex morphing in monolithic LCE kirigami encoded with predesigned topological patterns in its microstructure. We obtained a rich variety of out-of-plane shape transformations, including auxetic structures and undulating morphologies, by combining different topological microstructures and kirigami geometries. The spatiotemporal shape-shifting behaviors are well recapitulated by elastodynamics simulations, revealing that the complex shape changes arise from integrating the custom-cut geometry with local director profiles defined by topological defects inscribed in the material. Different functionalities, such as a bioinspired fluttering butterfly, a flower bud, dual-rotation light mills, and dual-mode locomotion, are further realized. Our proposed LCE kirigami with topological patterns opens opportunities for the future development of multifunctional devices for soft robotics, flexible electronics, and biomedicine.