Non-linear deformers, such as the Bend, Flare, Sine, Squash, Twist and Wave have a much larger place in animation as well as modelling, as they can be used to both intricately manipulate objects to exact values, and also to emulate certain things, for example the Squash deformer could be used in a slow motion animation sequence using a ball, representing the deformation of the ball itself, as it compresses on contact with a harder surface.
Whilst Some have similar, simple uses, some of the deformers can even be used in the creation of particle effects, like using a Wave deformer to produce the normal map for the splash of a raindrop, combined with a Diffuse and Specular map to emulate the moment a raindrop makes contact wwith another fluid surface.
I have also done some minor research into the manipulation of meshes using Linear deformers, looking at Lattice, Wrap and Shrinkwrap deformers as can be seen above, the most commonly used of these is the lattice deformer, which gives any mesh a bounding box, controllable via the channel box/attribute editor.
All of these deformers, whilst easily used for modelling purposes, cannot necessarily be used for animations in just any way imaginable, as the values of the deformers do not transfer directly from Maya to game engines with ease, this currently limits users to making full animations for objects and not using deformers. However, as game engines develop further, more and more of the deformers will be capable of use within, to aid animation in the long run, saving time for animators and modellers alike.
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