History DeadlyUpgrade / AnimeAndManga

** Kid's Sanzu Lines are an unusual an example of this. It was implied since this was first brought that he will get the upgrade that would prove deadly to his father. If so, Shinigami is remarkably (well, not so surprising coming from him) upbeat about the prospect. After defeating Noah with this Super Mode, Kid seems aware of the Lines connection to his [[TrulySingleParent father]], but does not seem to know what effect the temporary upgrade has on Shinigami. [[spoiler:Said effect actually entails that Shinigami-sama -a Great Old One- died.]]

** ''Anime/DragonballGT'' reveals that by taking control of the transformation into an ape, a Saiyan can reach Super Saiyan 4, which Goku and Vegeta can maintain ''without'' exhausting themselves. However, the real problem comes when they perform a FusionDance into Gogeta against Omega Shenron, who has enough power to waste their galaxy if he wanted. Gogeta can use ''both'' Goku's and Vegeta's deadliest attacks ''[[AllYourPowersCombined as one,]]'' the first hit knocking out Omega Shenron's stolen Dragon Balls, and the second would've ''killed'' the weakened Syn Shenron...but he's too much of an idiot clown to do the job soon enough. Instead, he forgets the fusion will only last 30 minutes, and wastes precious time screwing with the dragon on ''cheap parlor tricks.''[[note]]It wasn't a goof-off waste of time. He was purposefully acting that way in order to get Shenron to use his negative karma attack so that he could reflect it and convert it into a positive karma attack, thereby dispelling the cloud surrounding the Earth. It just took too long to get that job done before "getting serious".[[/note]] When Gogeta ''does'' try to execute the final blow...[[EpicFail the fusion comes undone...]]with less than ''[[OhCrap ten]]'' minutes elapsed. And they ''[[CurbstompBattle pay]]'' for it...
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Every exorcist has a synchronizing rate with their empathetic weapon. If they force their Innocence to go over this rate, they can gain a power boost but their bodies break down and they suffer a HeroicRROd.
* Creator/JunjiIto wrote a horror story called ''Dying Young'' in the anthology ''Flesh-colored Horror.'' The premise involved a mysterious contagious symptom that makes girls incredibly beautiful, but eventually causes the girl to drop dead in a couple months.

** Pain ([[spoiler:Nagato]]) used the Demonic Statue to suck out the souls of Hanzo's men, which emaciated his body. Later, Pain's jutsu that destroys much of Konoha shortens his lifespan. Even just maintaining his HiveMind and using any of his jutsu wreaks havoc on his ''real'' body. According to Konan, he's in danger of dying due to overexerting himself in his battle with Naruto. [[spoiler:This might be why he follows "Madara" despite his own incredible power.]] Then he uses a jutsu to [[spoiler:DisneyDeath revive everyone he killed, and this ages him to death. He only gets to revitalize his body after death in Edo Tensei, using the Preta (Hungry Ghost) Path's powers to suck in Killer B's Version 2 chakra, reversing his transformation.]]
* People who possess the ''Manga/DeathNote'' in the anime of the same name can give up half of their remaining life span to gain the ability to discover the true name (which, [[MagicAIsMagicA by the rules,]] they need to know to kill a person) of anyone whose face they can see. An even larger downside is that if they lose their Death Note, they lose the power-- but also the half of their remaining life they sacrificed. If they find their Death Note again, they have to sacrifice half of their remaining life again to regain the power, meaning they'd only have 25% of their original remaining life span left.
* In ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'', no one's life is literally in danger, but junior high tennis is [[SeriousBusiness taken very seriously,]] so permanent physical damage may well be equal to death, or [[FateWorseThanDeath even worse.]]
** One of the earliest example is the Hadoukyuu, a powerful shot that hurts the arm of whoever hits it, as well as whoever is bold, or stupid, enough to try to return it. Used initially by Ishida Tetsu, who then passes it on to Kawamura Takashi, who develops a Dash version which is even more destructive. Then we meet the big brother of Tetsu, Gin, who has [[Mystical108 108]] levels of this move, of which level ONE is equal to the Dash version. Despite this, Gin loses to a fluke which is widely seen as [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours a cop out.]]
** Tezuka Kunimitsu, widely regarded as one of the best players in the series has several {{Deadly Upgrade}}s. The Zero-Shiki Drop Shot and the Invincible Tezuka Zone place considerable stress on his left arm, but he still manages to go into a 37-35 tiebreaker, which is ridiculous for tennis. Later on, these both get upgraded into a serve version, making it literally unreturnable, and a Reverse Zone, which places SIX times the burden on his arm, making it turn a deep purplish hue by the end of the match. Obviously, none of his teammates want him to sacrifice his arm for the sake of victory, seeing that he has a promising professional career in his future. Ironically, in the matches where these are first unveiled, he loses, creating blots on an otherwise perfect official record.
** Another ridiculous technique will ruin one's shoulders, since these players have only hit puberty, and their bodies are still maturing. Yet another one ruins the player's legs, because he's been running at hyper speeds. There's even a player who literally becomes a devil, complete with bloodshot eyes and newly-turned-white hair.
** The most ridiculous example of this trope is the Pinnacle of Perfection, which appears to take the player who achieves this state to a higher plane of existence, but at the cost of losing all of his memories, including those of how to play tennis, rendering this upgrade, at face value, essentially useless. Currently, not surprisingly, the main character is believed to have obtained this state, seeing as how the manga is finally coming to an end. However, it turns out the Pinnacle of Perfection has no drawbacks. It is revealed that Ryoma used it during his match with Kintarou, before losing his memories. Losing his memories was because of an accident, not because of the Pinnacle of Perfection.

* These pop up fairly often in ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
** In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', when Greymon was pushed by Taichi into evolving, he changed into the dark [=SkullGreymon=], a mindless monster. When he evolved "naturally", he became his true Perfect form, [=MetalGreymon=].
** Takato in ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' had a similar experience: When [[spoiler:Beelzebumon kills Leomon,]] Takato's rage and grief is so intense that it corrupts [=WarGrowlmon=]'s evolution and he becomes Megidramon, which would be fine, except Megidramon's power is ''so'' great, that it begins to destabilize the fabric of the Digital World. It's not until Takato gets a hold of himself that Megidramon devolves back into Guilmon, and together, they [[FusionDance Bio-Merge Evolve]] into Dukemon/Gallantmon.
** In ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', the Beast Spirit evolutions ended up being {{Deadly Upgrade}}s in a sense because the kids couldn't control the power at first and went berserk, wrecking areas and nearly killing each other. Of course, they eventually got over this problem. Only Zoe and [[spoiler:Koichi]] were able to control their Beast Spirits right away ([[spoiler:in Koichi's case, when he gained his true Spirit forms]]).
** ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' and its associated tamagotchi introduces Burst Mode, a DeadlyUpgrade version of Season 2's Mode Change. In the tamagotchi, if the Digimon runs out of "Burst Points," it dies. [[spoiler: In the anime, Masaru combines Takato and Taichi's mistakes, and mis-activates Burst Mode, changing his partner [=ShineGreymon=] to Ruin Mode, who quickly ran out of energy and died. Though, since the minions of [[StoryArc the arc's]] BigBad died first, he got better thanks to ResurrectiveImmortality.]]
** In the ''Manga/DigimonXrosWars'' manga, [=MachLeomon=] upgrades himself with the Abyss Truffle, which an elder Mushmon explains to be this. The Abyss Truffle gives [=MachLeomon=] both a PowerHigh and a regular high along with his new form, but would have killed him had he not been finished off by Shoutmon X3 first. If he'd been weaker, using it would have killed him instantly.

* Ichigo in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is able to throw around massively powerful ''Kuroi Getsuga Tenshō'' (energy blasts), but doing so too often risks losing his personality to his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Hollow side.]] He can allow his Hollow side to come out in times of distress, whose violence and power is usually enough to annihilate any opponent. After training with the Visored, he can even do so without going [[SuperpoweredEvilSide evil,]] but only for eleven seconds.
** Later, he eventually [[spoiler:transforms into a powerful humanoid Hollow, capable of defeating Ulquiorra easily. However, evidently he goes completely berserk, and temporarily gives in to his Hollow side.]]
** [[spoiler:Ichigo eventually learns the Final Getsuga Tensho, the final form of his zanpakuto which surpasses even his Bankai. He puts it to use in his final battle against Aizen, allowing Ichigo to defeat him. The downside of this power is, once he uses it, he loses his Shinigami powers permanently.]]
** Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Ishida's final "upgrade" is one-use-only. He removes his 'Senrei' gloves, which make it more difficult to collect spirit particles- therefore someone who can collect the normal amount of particles while having the glove on has reached the pinnacle of Quincy power. When the gloves are removed, that limit is removed, so a much greater amount of particles can be collected. However, this amount is far too much for his body to handle, so his body [[BroughtDownToNormal seals his powers altogether.]] He gets his power back later, though, by pushing himself to exhaustion so that being shot near the heart reopens the paths to his power. This leaves him with a Quincy "cross" shaped scar where the arrow struck.]]
** Cirucci Sannderwicci gains the ability to bypass her released form's drain on her spiritual energy by discarding her wings, enabling her to use a large energy sword from her tail at the cost of never being able to use her wings again.
** The ultimate technique of Komamura's clan, [[spoiler:the Human Metamorphosis technique, temporarily grants them an immortal human body.]] To perform the technique, they have to cut out their own heart. [[spoiler: It, too, is one-use only, leaving the user a mortal non-anthropomorphic animal.]]
* EVA-01 and EVA-02 in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' were given strength and capabilities in accordance to the Sync Ratio between the pilot and machine, but the higher the values, the more likely that the pilot might [[{{Synchronization}} suffer the injuries the mecha did,]] go insane, or [[spoiler:get absorbed into the mecha.]]
* Franchise/SailorMoon can transform into Princess Serenity and blow the BigBad away with her [[AppliedPhlebotinum silver crystal]] and ThePowerOfLove...but she dies every time from all the energy output.
** In the live-action ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', she can upgrade to Princess Sailor Moon, in which she is possessed by Princess Serenity and has access to great power. Unfortunately, Princess Serenity is something of a sociopath in that series that doesn't care if she hurts anyone to kill the monster of the day, constantly plays a harp that is actually feeding the energy of Queen Metaria and accelerating the destruction of the planet, summons monsters to beat the crap out of her friends when they try to stop her...oh, and she's perfectly happy to ''destroy the world and kill everyone on it'' if anything happens to her lover. Needless to say, this makes Princess Serenity as much of a threat as the Dark Kingdom at the end of the series.
* The anime ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' almost entirely revolves around the caveat that when the series' eponymous half-demons overclock their powers too far they turn into monsters far more dangerous than those they were created to destroy; some of the more powerful of these 'awakened ones' are the primary villains of the series.
** However, Claymores who have gone past their limit and managed to return to normal are able to do so more easily, allowing them to use more of their power, provided they don't go TOO far past their limit. However, it's theorized by said Claymores that they may still be awakening because of it, just very, very slowly.
* The ''[[Anime/MegaManNTWarrior Rockman.EXE]]'' anime series did this in their final two seasons, with a twist - Rockman didn't control his transformation, a child named Trill did. Sometimes this worked out, like when Rockman was fighting the very giant Cyber Beasts he was drawing his transformation from; and sometimes it didn't, forcing the other characters to devise a complicated plan to capture him and settle him down which usually failed several times.
** The parallel game, ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 6'', played with the same mechanic. In battle, you can take the beast form for three turns, after which you drop into a weakened, untransformed state. Of course, you can do it again, which puts you totally out of control and attacking randomly, and if ''that'' doesn't win you the battle, you go into a state so tired and weakened that you have to continue the battle at a pretty significant disadvantage. Of course, it doesn't stop the writers from arranging chapters where Mega Man is forced into uncontrolled transformation and you have to lug some other character over to put him down and get him back to normal.
** In 4 and 5, the player can gain certain "Dark Chips". They are a variation of normal chips (there's Dark Fan, Dark Vulcan and so on), but with immense power and ability to change the tide of a fight. There are, however, two drawbacks. One is that every time Mega Man uses the chip, his HP lowers by 1 permanently. Also, the more he uses Dark Chips, the faster he will be placed under "Dark Mega Man" state. He becomes a super-powerful rampaging machine that randomly uses Dark Chips, moves chaotically and doesn't stagger when being hit, but he also slowly loses HP until he reaches 1, at which point he goes back to the normal state. The only saving grace for 4 is the ability to have multiple playthroughs, so you can recollect HP upgrades and basically negate the HP downs. It's made a bit better in [=BN5=], where you sacrifice a chip of a certain type to go into a cross form, but using them regularly will permanently shave 1 HP off your max limit per use.\\
Later on, Mega Man gets the ability to do this with Dark Chips. Chaos Unisons (as they're called) allows Mega Man to use (most) effects that he can use in a regular Cross, with the addition of being able to use the Dark Chip sacrificed as a ChargedAttack. Fail the charge, though, and Dark Mega Man will show up-- on the enemy's side. In addition, you only have the ability for one turn, the failure window for the charge doubles each time you use the Dark Chip, and you lose the ability to use the corresponding normal Cross for that battle. [[GameBreaker And then you realize the charge releases instantaneously if you let go of the fire button while the game is paused, and you can see what state the charge is in...]]

* The lead character of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' has a tendency to do things that are really bad for her, especially in the second series. This goes from using the dangerously explosive Cartridge System to using her WaveMotionGun's full-power form, Excelion Mode. It's revealed in the third series, ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', that [[spoiler:at some point during the TimeSkip this all caught up with her, and what should have been a [[OnlyAFleshWound minor injury]] in battle caused such extensive damage that she had to spend months learning to walk again.]] She later has her Excelion Mode replaced with a weaker Exceed Mode, which is a more traditional SuperMode. At the end of the series, however, she deploys a new Blaster Mode, which [[CastFromHitPoints causes direct physical damage to herself and her weapon as a result of drastically boosting her power]]. Of course, by the time she receives this, she already has a known tendency to use techniques and upgrades that pushes her body to the breaking point, so instead of telling her not to use it, her [[TheLancer long-time partner]] tells her not to ''over''use it.

* In the ''Anime/{{Witchblade}}'' anime, the use of Witchblade is shown as too taxing for a human body, and wielder of a Cloneblade sooner or later [[PhlebotinumBreakdown falls]] a victim to rapid and irreversible body deterioration ending with spectacular SuperPowerMeltdown. In some cases it will also corrode their mind as well. Both original and {{Evil Knockoff}}s are {{Clingy MacGuffin}}s, of course.
* In ''Manga/OutlawStar'', the three rare Caster Shells, numbered [[FourIsDeath 4]], 9, and [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13]], are so powerful that it also takes away part of Gene Starwind's life whenever he fires one. On a side note, 4 and 9 are considered unlucky numbers in Japanese culture, and 13 is an unlucky number in western culture.
* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' has the Berserker's Armour, which draws out the full physical strength of the wearer. However, the armour also draws out the SuperpoweredEvilSide of whoever wears it, and while the wearer can ignore pain, this is a double-edged sword, since the strength of whoever wears the armour will badly damage their body. Also, the armour mends broken bones by ''piercing through flesh with spikes''. This led to the previous owner dying of blood loss after every single bone in his body was broken.
* Upgrading one's Alter Power in ''Anime/{{S cry ed}}'' includes the risk of not only dangerously messing up the user's body, but also eventually draining the user's entire life force. As the series goes on, the Upgraded Alter Power users show more and more damage to their own bodies from continual use. Kazuma and Ryuhou show scars across their bodies where their Alter Powers bond to their bodies, while Straight Cougar is actually ''unable to walk properly because of how messed up his legs are.''
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'':
** Alexander Anderson uses the Nail of Helena on himself and becomes [[spoiler:a plant-thing far more powerful than his normal self]] but using it requires him to stab himself in the heart.
** Likewise, [[spoiler:Dark Walter is vastly superior to his elderly, human self in terms of speed, dexterity and skill (he's able to slice a skyscraper in half at one point). But his endurance for prolonged combat is quite poor as he quickly develops an IncurableCoughOfDeath very soon after engaging Alucard in battle, due to the fact that his [[BodyHorror body is breaking down because of the Doctor's hasty surgery]].]]
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi learns a BlackMagic version of this. He gets to equip spells to his body to boost strength and/or speed, depending on what he equips, at the cost of damage to his ''soul''. The arc's BigBad refers to it as "magical doping".
** His master later reveals that [[spoiler:its turning him into a demon.]] He is almost eerily nonplussed by that revelation, something he handwaves by pointing out that, technically, his master is [[spoiler: a demon]], and she's still a good person.
** [[spoiler:Chao Lingshen]] also has one of these, in the form of magical runes carved on her body that release a titanic magical power when unlocked. However, doing so causes her intense pain whenever she casts something, so they're normally sealed. Akamatsu has stated that it's in some way related to the BlackMagic Negi later uses.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', Natsu consumes the [[spoiler:Etherion magic absorbed by the Tower of Paradise]]. This brief and HUGE power boost gives Natsu the edge he needed to give the [[spoiler:fake]] BigBad Jellal a beatdown. But at the start of the following arc Natsu suffers narcolepsy due to consuming non-fire related magic.
* In ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', there are two kinds of aura used while fighting: Dou (letting your anger burst out) and Sei (keeping a calm and level head). It's possible to combine the two for more power, but doing so rips apart the muscles and puts heavy strain on the mind. Of the two who've used it, one ended up in a wheelchair. The other one [[spoiler:died, but for unrelated reasons.]]
* In ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'', D-Boy/Blade's constant transformation from human to Tekkaman and back is disintegrating his central nervous system (the other human-based Tekkamen were also going to die as a result of incompatabilities). When he gets his SuperMode upgrade, in at least the Australian version "Teknoman", the main villain comments that this upgrade causes death within a few months, and it is shown to cause D-Boy/Blade to lose memories as a result of transformation instead of having its previous deleterious effect on the central nervous system.\\
So long as a Tekkaman was fully converted with an intact crystal then they could switch between forms with no penalty. The problem was that early on in the series D-Boy's crystal was broken and although the shards were placed on Pegas to allow transformation it was flawed and and repeated use of the flawed transformation was what caused nervous system damage to him. It also meant that so long as he used the broken crystal he'd have a time limit before going berserk. It was also true that if a human and Tekkaman plant weren't completely compatible, then they'd eventually die (which is what happened to D-Boy's sister).
* In ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'', combat android-turned-maid Mahoro has an Ultimate Attack that is actually fueled by her life-force, so every use of it shortens her already brief lifespan.
* Subverted in ''Manga/DragonHalf''. Mink's power grows constantly when she passes her metamorphosis, due to be a red dragon/human hybrid. However, if she achieves her maximum might and completes her metamorphosis, a prophecy states that "a black monster shall appear". A magic bracelet allows her to stop her power development at will, but against the stronger enemies she keeps facing, she is forced to [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential unlock more potential]]. When she finally unleashes all her power to save her true love, the transformation comes? The black beast finally is showed in front of them all. [[spoiler:As a tattoo on Mink's butt.]]
* Using the black blood in ''Manga/SoulEater'' is this, as the advantages given by that kind of madness (hardening the blood against injury, not caring about injuries you're receiving or giving because you're out of your mind) are negated by the consequences of doing so too much; the insanity could become permenant. The heroes eventually get around this by being able to control insanity for their own uses, but whether this trick would have continue to work is unknown.
** The Nakatsukasa Purpose is originally seen to be this, but only because Black Star was going about using the Demon Blade mode the wrong way. Until he was beaten into re-thinking his approach, he was told explicitly that over-using the Forbidden Technique would kill him. Once Black Star faces the will inside the Demon Blade and declares that he will strive on the path of warrior to resolve the despair of fallen warriors, he became capable of using the mode without issues.
** Kid's Sanzu Lines are an unusual an example of this. It was implied since this was first brought that he will get the upgrade that would prove deadly to his father. If so, Shinigami is remarkably (well, not so surprising coming from him) upbeat about the prospect. After defeating Noah with this Super Mode, Kid seems aware of the Lines connection to his [[TrulySingleParent father]], but does not seem to know what effect the temporary upgrade has on Shinigami. [[spoiler:Said effect actually entails that Shinigami-sama -a Great Old One- died.]]
* Speaking of blood, [[SuperhumanTransfusion vampire blood]] in ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' is this to a human (Tsukune) who receives it. First, it either heals the recipient's body completely or kills him, which already makes it [[EmergencyTransformation a last resort]]. Then, it [[HourOfPower temporarily]] gives him the powers of a vampire, but after so many uses, the change becomes permanent. Unfortunately, the blood gradually breaks down his body and mind from within, and had its progress not been stopped by a PowerLimiter, he would have been turned into a [[TheBerserker rampaging]] [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]]. It still surfaces occasionally.
* [[BewareTheNiceOnes Cho Hakkai]] from ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'' can turn into a nearly unbeatable super-powered youkai by taking off his [[RestrainingBolt power limiters]]... but runs the very real risk of "losing himself" to the Minus Wave that's [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashing]] weaker-willed youkai.
** And the same goes for Son Goku of the same series, much like the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' example above-- fitting, since they're based on the same character from mythology.

* ''Anime/BraveCommandDagwon'' has Daidouji En becoming Super Fire Dagwon only 3 times due to this. That form, while immensely powerful, requires a burst of energy from the Dagbase to even start the combination and is basically the equivalent of one person controlling two bodies - it eats up the user's stamina like nothing else. He's tough and a walking embodiment of willpower, but it still left En in a hospital bed after each use.
* [[spoiler: Edward]] uses this in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist.'' After receiving a massive injury during a fight, he [[spoiler: uses his soul as a mini-Philosopher's stone, stopping the blood loss in exchange for a few years of his life]].
* Toward the end of the ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' anime, Al [[spoiler:becomes a Philosopher's Stone]]. After that, any use of alchemy costs him a piece of his body.
* In ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'', the villains have developed some sort of serum to activate/boost the powers of potential ten'nyo, but once someone is injected with it their body begins to break down,a process that seems to be accelerated by frequent use of ten'nyo powers.
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler: becoming a MagicalGirl grants you magic powers, but the more often you use them, the faster you fall prey to TheCorruption and eventually turn into a witch. The only way to avoid that fate is to die before it happens.]]
** [[spoiler:Madoka]] is an extreme example of this, having been repeatedly buffed by [[spoiler:a time-travelling Homura]] to the point that activating her powers even once would cause her to become [[GodzillaThreshold Godzilla's worst nightmare]] moments afterward. [[spoiler:She eventually subverts this by making a contract specifically to erase all witches from every point in every timeline--including the one she'll become.]]
* ''Manga/OtogiMatsuri'': The power granted by the Phoenix-like god named Suzaku is a mystical bow that appears as an extension of Yousuke's arm, that fires arrows of light with the power to kill evil spirits in a single shot. In exchange, Suzaku declares that it will take Yousuke's "future"... meaning that the young man only has a year left to live.
* [[spoiler: Break]] from ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' has this. [[spoiler: The more he uses his [[EldritchAbomination Chain]], the more it destroys his body...he's already gone blind and has repeated moments of BloodFromTheMouth.]] And yet, he's still [[HandicappedBadass extremely badass]].
* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', protagonist Ryuuko's [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman sentient uniform, Senketsu]], enhances her physical strength, durability and agility to superhuman levels, but constantly drains her blood to the point of unconsciousness, [[spoiler: until she stops subconsciously rejecting the embarrassingly {{Stripperiffic}} outfit at which point the disadvantage is negated]].
** Antagonist Satsuki gains the same powers but is able to avoid this drawback due to knowing how the godrobe works and [[spoiler:having no shame]]. Later in the series however [[spoiler:we learn that using the godrobe for long periods takes an enormous toll on her health which she has been suppressing by sheer force of will]].
** In the final episode [[spoiler: Senketsu absorbs the power of "Absolute Domination" becoming supremely powerful at the cost of overloading and being destroyed shortly afterwards]].
* In the first ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' movie, ''Tenchi Muyo In Love'', Achika (Tenchi's mom in the ''Anime/TenchiUniverse'' continuity) ends up unlocking her Juraian powers, then proceeds to blow it all striking down KAIN. This ended up cutting her lifespan so much that she dies when Tenchi is only 3.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has a few. One of the most notable is in Part 2: Wamuu's final attack, "Converging Squall", draws air in and out of tubes in his chest, creating razor-sharp winds that hit everywhere around him. However, the friction created by this attack slowly tears his body apart from the inside. Wamuu only dares to use it against Joseph after already losing his arms and taking a Hamon blow to the chest, which will kill him anyway if he doesn't finish the fight in minutes.
* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', [[FunctionalMagic Nen]] is an example of ConditionalPowers. The greater the restrictions placed on a Nen user, the greater the power. [[spoiler:Main character Gon]] crosses the DespairEventHorizon during the Chimera Ant Arc and, in his own words, "uses everything" to make himself strong enough to crush the one who pushed him over the horizon. At the cost of never being able to use Nen again and an extremely shortened lifespan, he is temporarily aged to adulthood and gains Nen that rivals the Chimera Ant King's.
** [[spoiler:Kurapika]] also has a similar form of this with his own contract, [[spoiler:every time he uses emperor mode, which makes him a master of all 5 Nen Types and essentially a god, each second he spends in the form shaves weeks off of his life, and if he were to use it for so long, he'd eventually die with how much of his life is cut off.]]
* In the anime adaptation of ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', Alcyone tricks Ascot into giving this to one of his pet monsters. It hugely increases its power and freezes the whole landscape, but before long it turns it into a small iceberg with PowerIncontinence and it eventually shatters. Ascot is ''not'' happy.
* The Griselda and Libertus Hyper-Zoanoids are this in ''{{Manga/Guyver}}''. Libertus are designed to rip through other Hyper-Zoanoids like tissue paper while Griselda can, at short ranges, over-power the telepathic control of a Zoa''lord''. However to power those abilities they need to spend most of their time in nutrient tanks because there's no other way to absorb enough energy and even with that the stress on their systems is slowly killing them. (Predicted survival time is about two years).
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' reveals that [[spoiler: consuming the cerebrospinal fluid of a Titan Shifter allows someone to become one themselves. Unfortunately, once this happens, they have only 13 years left to live. Their human bodies gradually break down until they die, complete with BloodFromTheMouth.]]
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' reveals that [[spoiler:One for All is this for Quirk users. Oh sure, they can accept without any issues and combine it with their own Quirk, but One For All doesn't just take the Quirk inside itself, it also puts incredible strain on the user's body that burns them out. Sadly, no one had an inkling until the fourth user spent twenty years as TheHermit trying to strengthen the Quirk and he found his life coming to a premature end and necessitating the transfer of the Quirk, and it wasn't until All Might did serious research that the vestiges within One For All put it all together. The only reason All Might and Izuku could use it to its full potential is because they were Quirkless, thus they could handle it and make it their own without having their life force sapped. What makes this even sadder is that Quirkless could be gone within a generation, and even if that didn't happen, they could never handle all of the power One For All has accumulated over the years, thus Izuku might most likely be ''the last holder of One for All'']].
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'', this is the signature trait of Gundams in the show's universe. Gundams can hook directly into the bodily systems of their pilots through [[AppliedPhlebotinum Permet]], which vastly strengthens the suit, improves overall control, and allows for the use of AttackDrones. However, doing this also places an immense strain on the mind and body of the pilot, risking "data storms" that ravage their physiology. Permet Score 2, the lowest score to show off the signature VolcanicVeins, leaves its users pained and hyperventilating, 3 is even moreso, and 4 has been known to kill its users or disable them for life in a matter of seconds, even if they've been artificially enhanced to take the strain. Consequently, the technology is banned, and though some terrorist groups or blacksite companies do make illicit use of it, the pilots are very much aware that their days are numbered. The main Gundam of the series, the Aerial, is [[OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce the sole exception to this rule]], able to go up as high as Score 8 without harming the pilot in the least, which unlocks a mess of other abilities other Gundams can't even approach. Unfortunately, the way it gets around this problem is... [[PoweredByAForsakenChild questionable]].

** Toward the end of the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime]], Al [[spoiler:becomes a Philosopher's Stone]]. After that, any use of alchemy costs him a piece of his body.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' reveals that [[spoiler:One for All is this for Quirk users. Oh sure, they can accept without any issues and combine it with their own Quirk, but One For All doesn't just take the Quirk inside itself, it also puts incredible strain on the user's body that burns them out. Sadly, no one had an inkling until the fourth user spent twenty years as TheHermit trying to strengthen the Quirk and he found his life coming to a premature end and necessitating the transfer of the Quirk, and it wasn't until All Might did serious research that the vestiges within One For All put it all together. The only reason All Might and Izuku could use it to its full potential is because they were Quirkless, thus they could handle it and make it their own without having their life force sapped. What makes this even sadder is that Quirkless could be gone within a generation, and even if that didn't happen, they could never handle the all power One For All has accumulated over the years, thus Izuku might most likely be ''the last holder of One for All'']].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' reveals that [[spoiler:One for All is this for Quirk users. Oh sure, they can accept without any issues and combine it with their own Quirk, but One For All doesn't just take the Quirk inside itself, it also puts incredible strain on the user's body that burns them out, using the analogy of an already-filled cup overflowing and breaking apart. Sadly, no one had an inkling until the fourth user spent twenty years as TheHermit trying to strengthen the Quirk and he found his life coming to a premature end and necessitating the transfer of the Quirk, and it wasn't until All Might did serious research that the vestiges within One For All put it all together. The only reason All Might and Izuku could use it to its full potential is because they were Quirkless, thus they could handle it and make it their own without having their life force sapped (using the analogy of an empty cup that can be filled safely). What makes this even sadder is that Quirkless could be gone within a generation, and even if that didn't happen, they could never handle the all power One For All has accumulated over the years, thus Izuku might most likely be ''the last holder of One for All'']].

** Orochimaru's Curse Seal allows the person to use more chakra, and increases their attack power, but using it for too long will corrupt them and the seal will completely take over. Sasuke was unusually capable of controlling this [[spoiler:and the otherwise unstoppable transformation of the person from whom the Curse Seal originated. But now Sasuke seems to have lost the Curse Seal altpgether in his fight with his brother.]]

* In the DarkerAndEdgier ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' light novel ''LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'', Nurse Joy advises Ash against evolving Pikachu because ones that evolve into Raichu too young end up giving themselves heart attacks from being unable to control their electricity output, leaving them traumatized enough to avoid using their powers entirely and slowly kill themselves.

* Ichigo in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is able to throw around massively powerful ''Kuroi Getsuga Tenshō'' (energy blasts), but doing so too often risks losing his personality to his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Hollow side.]] He can allow his Hollow side to come out in times of distress, whose violence and power is usually enough to annihilate any opponent. After training with the Vizard, he can even do so without going [[SuperpoweredEvilSide evil,]] but only for eleven seconds.
** And in recent events, he's [[spoiler:transformed into a sort of Super Hollow, capable of defeating Ulquiorra easily. However, evidently he's gone completely berserk, and has (at least temporarily) given in to his Hollow side.]]