History GodzillaThreshold / VideoGames

* In ''Videogame/EldenRing'', the shattering of the titular Elden Ring has left the world in ruin, and the Tarnished (banished warriors who died long ago) are brought back to life and called to the Lands Between to reforge the Elden Ring, claim the title of Elden Lord, and restore the world. One of the Tarnished revived and summoned is known as the Loathesome Dung Eater, a completely insane murderer who slaughters people and performs a defiling ritual on their corpses that prevents his victims from going to the afterlife. Dung Eater's endgoal is to spread this horrifying curse to everyone in the world... and everything in the Lands Between is ''so bad'' that summoning ''this guy'' is considered better than the alternative of leaving the world to rot.

** The heroes of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' perform HeelFaceBrainwashing as their ''modus operandi''. They are fully aware of the ambiguous morality of their actions, but the problem is their targets are ''terrible'' people who are practically untouchable by other means due to being in high positions of authority.

** Related to the above, [[HumongousMecha Numidium]], the largest [[Superweapon Dwemer Homunculi]] ever constructed was [[TheDreaded the bane of basically anyone unfortunate enough to cross its gargantuan path.]] Why? Because it could ''literally stop you from existing just by refusing to believe you do''. Never mind the fact that its mere activation caused an almost biblical shitstorm across Nirn. Even in lore, absolutely nothing has ever been able to truly stop or destroy it, with even the most powerful mages and army garrisons serving only to annoy it. The world at large doubtlessly sees its disappearance as a blessing and presumably hope it NEVER comes back.

* The titular Metroids themselves from the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series are these essentially, since, while the Metroids themselves are '''incredibly dangerous''', they '''pale''' in comparison to the '''MUCH''' more horrific [[TheSymbiote X Parasites]], in which the [[PreCursors Chozo]] created and genetically engineered the Metroid race specifically to combat/absorb them completely and safely, proving very successful, despite the Metroids themselves gaining an equally-infamous reptutation as a galactic-level threat as well.

** Templars, when faced with a dire situation when confronting a rebellious or imperiled Mage Circle, have the option of calling for a "Right of Annulment," which basically means ''completely and utterly'' purging the offending Mage Circle in question. The Rite is only called in only the most dire of circumstances, usually when it is determined that a circle has been too compromised to save, and that purging it is the only way to prevent further casualties. At least...on paper, anyways. Due to the heavy moral and ethical ramifications that come with purging an entire Circle, especially if/when the PlayerCharacter manages to resolve Mage-related situations without resorting to the Rite, much is had about how ''necessary'' such Thresholds are, and how they may be used for oppressive purposes rather than protection, which ends up being a major part of the tensions between Mages and Templars for the following two games.

** In ''LetsPlay/{{Boatmurdered}}'', one of the leaders created a lever that would flood the entire entryway and fields near the fortress with lava. [[InventionalWisdom For some reason.]] It is used once as a last-ditch way to get rid of a combined elephant-goblin invasion, in project "Fuck the world". However, with a bit of refinement, [[SubvertedTrope it eventually becomes the standard method of dealing with any threat.]] The elves were not pleased. Nor was the human trading caravan that got caught up in it.

** The galaxy was being threatened on all fronts by [[BugWar the Rachni]], leaving the Galactic Council so desperate that the Salarians decided to find their own tough, relatively primitive, hyper-aggressive race, the Krogan, and give them spaceships and high-tech weapons. It worked, but then the Krogan became aggressive expansionists, leading the Salarians to unleash a biological weapon on them to drive them to near sterility. In ''Mass Effect 3'', you're faced with undoing the sterility plague so that the Krogan can be the galaxy's shock troops once again.

*** Due to Shepard's actions in "The Arrival", they have been branded a war criminal and terrorist throughout Citadel space. Then the Reapers arrive. The charges are immediately dropped because not only does everyone realise that Shepard was ''[[TheExtremistWasRight right]]'', but they are the ''only'' person who's ever been capable of actually '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu killing]]''' them!

*** By the end of the game, your coalition can include several of the biggest threats in galactic history.
*** Admiral Hackett points out that there is no way in hell that a super weapon as powerful as the Crucible would ever be seriously considered under normal circumstances, but the Reapers have forced humanity's hand, as defeating them conventionally is an absolute impossibility. Indeed, no one even knows what the Crucible even ''does'', all they know is that it can generate an immense amount of energy. The fact remains that the Crucible is the only thing in the galaxy with enough raw power output to defeat the Reapers, though, so...
*** The Codex entry "Desperate Measures" discusses different ways that are being considered to stop the Reapers that would never be considered in normal warfare, such as destroying mass relays to strand them in distant systems (they'd just go the long way) or ramming them with starships traveling at FTL speeds (integral safety protocols make it impractical at best).

*** Three of the four possible endings of the game involve this in one way or another. Because of the situation, [[spoiler:the Catalyst offers the only real way out, so either Shepard has to go with one of three options — none of which are a clear-cut victory and all involve some sacrifices — or doom the galaxy. If Shepard takes too long, the Crucible is destroyed. If Shepard refuses any of the above options, the galaxy falls and it's up to the next cycle to do the job using what Shepard's people left behind.]]
*** Ironically, Shepard appearing on the battlefield becomes this for the Reapers, as they will turn their dreadnought-killing guns away from entire fleets in an attempt to finally kill him/her.

** Upon discovering what lay beyond the adamantine [[HilarityEnsues the hard way]], Bay 12 forumgoer [[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80043.0 SpiralDimentia]] decided to release a captive (hostile) ''bronze colossus'' in hopes of it fighting the horrors (how he had imprisoned a bronze colossus is [[NoodleIncident another story for another time]]). This didn't work, but was applauded as [[CrazyAwesome sufficiently dwarven]], especially since he tried to resettle the place ''twice'' after losing everything, despite the bronze colossus and the abominations still being in residence there.

* The backstory of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' reveals that, after being defeated by the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Hero of Time]] and [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in the Sacred Realm]], the monstrous [[BigBad Ganon]] somehow managed to escape. He began to utterly destroy Hyrule, and the people hoped a new hero would arise...but none ever did. They prayed to the gods for help, but even they were powerless before Ganon, and ultimately decided that the only course of action was to sent torrential rain that drowned nearly ''everyone'', including the evil sorcerer. The only people who lived were a few select people who fled to the mountaintops to begin life anew.

* The backstory of ''Series/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' reveals that, after being defeated by the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Hero of Time]] and [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in the Sacred Realm]], the monstrous [[BigBad Ganon]] somehow managed to escape. He began to utterly destroy Hyrule, and the people hoped a new hero would arise...but none ever did. They prayed to the gods for help, but even they were powerless before Ganon, and ultimately decided that the only course of action was to sent torrential rain that drowned nearly ''everyone', including the evil sorcerer. The only people who lived were a few select people who fled to the mountaintops to begin life anew.
** In ''TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'', the people of Lorule engaged in constant warfare over the Triforce, and the leaders of the kingdom eventually decided that the fighting had grown so terrible that the only way to end it was destroying the relic itself. This was an ''extremely bad idea'', as the Triforce is a CosmicKeystone; without it, Lorule itself began to disintegrate. [[spoiler: This leads to ''another'' Godzilla Threshold moment: Princess Hilda of Lorule decides that the only course of action is to steal Hyrule's Triforce, which involves partnering with the EvilSorcerer Yuga to summon Ganon--as in, the world-destroying monster--to get it.]]

** Upon discovering what lay beyond the adamantine [[HilarityEnsues the hard way]], Bay 12 forumgoer [=SpiralDimentia=] decided to release his captive (hostile) ''bronze colossus'' in hopes of it fighting the horrors. This didn't work, but was applauded as [[CrazyAwesome sufficiently dwarven]], especially since he tried to resettle the place ''twice'' after losing everything, despite the bronze colossus and the abominations still being in residence there.

* ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad2'' has a villain be the one who gets pushed too far. With his [[TheEmpire evil empire]] defeated and the heroes closing in on him, he decides to break the last remaining seal and let [[EldritchAbomination The Dark One]] out of his prison. Needless to say, this [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness does not work out well]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt for anyone]].

* In ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'', [[spoiler:the ''entire plot'' is this. Humans were driven to extinction by billionaire fuck-up Ted Faro creating machines that could convert bio-mass to energy; he failed to account for a glitch that sent the machines into consuming bio-mass and self-reproduction at an accelerated rate. While humans took the fight back to the machines, more were being self-produced faster than humans could defeat them in addition to the machines just learning and preparing better tactics against the humans. It had gotten so bad that the GodzillaThreshold was passed and two joint plans were made: Operation Freedom in which humans were thrown en masse as sacrifices to the machines while the real plan was the Zero Dawn initiative: a plan to reproduce all life on the planet after the machines ran out of biomass; and from there, multiple AI would facilitate the rebirth of humanity.]]

* ''Videogame/AIWarFleetCommand'': The AI starts considering you NotWorthKilling, and putting off your demise since there are explicit, but unspecified threats much closer to its level keeping it busy outside of the galaxy. Provoke it enough, it'll send some spare trash armies at you, still more than enough to make your life difficult. Keep at it, and you'll start facing actual local armies and a bit of the good stuff it keeps off-galaxy, usually fighting whatever problems it deems more important than you. After that come the local big guns, both AI-made and reverse-engineered. And if you're unwise or backed up enough to keep going, the AI decides this line has been crossed and brings in stuff like [=Hunter/Killers=], Avengers and even the Mothership. The latter is explicitly noted as something the AI would not bring even if it was in danger of losing the whole galaxy, but that circumstances forced its hand. And at the end of a certain campaign in the first game, in comes the very last resort, the Galactic Control Ship. The damn thing is made to tear an entire galaxy apart by itself, and just its reactor going critical in death wipes out whole star systems. [[spoiler:Thankfully, if you see it, it's likely you have some [[BenevolentPrecursors powerful benefactors]] helping you out]].

* This is a function of most FirstPersonShooters where your character can mow through hundreds of potential enemies like a OneManArmy and come out the other side a victor, but this is humorously lampshaded for the way Vault Hunters work in the VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} universe, implying that getting a Vault Hunter involved, what with their total disregard for their own safety and focus on obtaining loot, basically means you've won the battle regardless of the opponent. In the Sir Hammerlock DLC for Borderlands 2, there is a humorous moment when the villain realizes he's not going to beat you prior to the final mission and begins panicking and crying because he knows how unstoppable your character is.

* ''Videogame/Doom2016'': It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:retrieving the Doom Slayer in the first place]] was the threshold-crossing plan that the UAC had if Hell's incursions got too bad. While that would most definitely deal with the demons, it'd also wreck their whole Argent Energy operation, which is why they were tampering with Hell in the first place, and the demons would put up a ''lot'' of resistance if they tried it, leading to horrible casualties. Naturally, things get bad enough, and [[spoiler:the Slayer does indeed wreck their Argent Energy operation, enraged at the fact people are ''still'' trying to fuck around with Hell forces even in this day. Still, it got the demons dealt with]].

** Upon discovering what lay beyond the adamantine [[HilarityEnsues the hard way]], Bay 12 forumgoer [=SpiralDimentia=] decided to release his captive (hostile) ''bronze colossus'' in hopes of it fighting the... [[EverybodyKnewAlready you know]]. This didn't work, but was applauded as [[CrazyAwesome sufficiently dwarven]], especially since he tried to resettle the place ''twice'' after losing everything, despite the bronze colossus and the... you know... still being in residence there.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

*** There are ''very'' rare moments where the Divines fully intervene in events within Mundus, usually in response to an attack by one of the Daedric Princes. The most notable example is against Mehrunes Dagon during the [[Videogame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion Crisis]], where Akatosh manifested an avatar when Martin Septim sacrified himself, and defeated Mehunres Dagon's avatar. The result of that battle was that there were no longer any Dragonborn Emperors, and without Dragonborn to lead it, the Septim Empire began its slow decline and disintegration. Another example is [[PlayerCharacter the Vestige]] during the events of ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsOnline'', who gained the direct blessings of Akatosh to allow them to fight Molag Bal in the heart of his realm of Coldharbour. In that case, Akatosh did not even consider granting his blessings and power until the Vestige had left Nirn entirely and was inside Coldharbour, due to the damage that their battle would cause to Nirn.

*** When [[spoiler:a Flood-infested ship crashes in New Mombasa]] during ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', Commander Keyes proposes to overload a slipstream engine inside the crashed ship and wiping out everything in the area. Though usually rather cautious in his decisions, Lord Hood only replies with '''"Do it."'''

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
** The Illusive Man tells you that a Reaper was killed (with the round eventually hitting another planet) by a mass accelerator round, and that the race who fired the shot didn't fare much better.
** In the DLC ''Arrival'', this is invoked, as the Reapers are set to arrive at the Alpha Relay in mere hours. There is only one viable solution to stop it from happening: [[spoiler:destroying the Relay, and thus setting off a supernova-level explosion that wipes out a nearby colony world with over 300,000 batarians]]. It isn't pretty, but it ''has'' to be done.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' races past the Godzilla Threshold [[SerialEscalation before the player even presses start.]]
** Due to Shepard's actions in "The Arrival", they have been branded a war criminal and terrorist throughout Citadel space. Then the Reapers arrive. The charges are immediately dropped because not only does everyone realise that Shepard was ''[[TheExtremistWasRight right]]'', but they are the ''only'' person who's ever been capable of actually '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu killing]]''' them!
** The continuity's equivalent of Godzilla, the literal mother of all Thresher Maws, is summoned and it proceeds to [[spoiler:''kill a Reaper'']].
** By the end of the game, your coalition can include several of the biggest threats in galactic history.
** Admiral Hackett points out that there is no way in hell that a super weapon as powerful as the Crucible would ever be seriously considered under normal circumstances, but the Reapers have forced humanity's hand, as defeating them conventionally is an absolute impossibility. Indeed, no one even knows what the Crucible even ''does'', all they know is that it can generate an immense amount of energy. The fact remains that the Crucible is the only thing in the galaxy with enough raw power output to defeat the Reapers, though, so...
** The Codex entry "Desperate Measures" discusses different ways that are being considered to stop the Reapers that would never be considered in normal warfare, such as destroying mass relays to strand them in distant systems (they'd just go the long way) or ramming them with starships traveling at FTL speeds (integral safety protocols make it impractical at best).
** One planet decided to blow itself up so they didn't suffer a FateWorseThanDeath and become indoctrinated.
** In the ''Leviathan'' DLC, [[spoiler:Shepard brokers a [[EnemyMine truce]] with the [[TheRemnant last surviving members]] of the EldritchAbomination race that inadvertantly ''created'' the Reapers, gaining their help to defeat their errant progeny]].
** Three of the four possible endings of the game involve this in one way or another. Because of the situation, [[spoiler:the Catalyst offers the only real way out, so either Shepard has to go with one of three options — none of which are a clear-cut victory and all involve some sacrifices — or doom the galaxy. If Shepard takes too long, the Crucible is destroyed. If Shepard refuses any of the above options, the galaxy falls and it's up to the next cycle to do the job using what Shepard's people left behind.]]
** Ironically, Shepard appearing on the battlefield becomes this for the Reapers, as they will turn their dreadnought-killing guns away from entire fleets in an attempt to finally kill him/her.
* In the backstory of ''Videogame/MegaManBattleNetwork 6'', the Cybeast Falzar was created in order to defeat Cybeast Gregar, except Falzar itself went out of control, [[FromBadToWorse becoming as much of a threat as Gregar was]].

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''
** Zygarde, an [[OlympusMons Olypmus Mon]] introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', has a built-in Godzilla Threshold first introduced in the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] and which migrated into the games in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''. Its Formes all share the same base Attack stat. Its 10% Forme is an attack dog with [[FragileSpeedster a small HP pool but impressive speed]]; this one manifests on a case-by-case basis and is supposed to fall apart after its needs are served. 50% Forme is a slower, but beefier serpentine dragon that [[JackOfAllStats won't be outspeeding Ninjask anytime soon but won't be going down too quick]]; this one sits in a nice cave and keeps an eye on the ecosystem. When threats to the ecosystem appear, it takes its Complete Forme, [[BishonenLine a humanoid breaker]] with [[StoneWall a massive HP pool, beefy defenses]], and [[MightyGlacier an improved Special Attack at the cost of Speed]], and it does not revert until the threat goes away. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration In gameplay terms]], a 10% or 50% Forme Zygarde with Power Construct that loses half or more of its HP without getting knocked out will change into Complete Forme, with the HP boost of Complete Forme being ''added'' to its total instead of maintaining the percentage, and it won't revert until after the battle is over.

* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', when attacking the [[DirtyCop SPPD]], Sergeant Yates eventually decides to release the one prisoner he deems capable of dealing with a pack of ten year olds: [[spoiler:former Subway spokesperson and convicted pedophile Jared Fogle]].

* Has happened at least once in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''. At some point in recent history, humankind's disbelief of anything supernatural had grown enough to threaten the very existence of supernatural beings. Seeing this situation, the {{youkai}} sages decided to erect the Hakurei barrier to rip Gensokyo from real world, so that the land would become the final haven of everything supernatural. They knew that they were going to offend the Dragon of Gensokyo, and the Dragon did appear in all its catastrophic glory, covering the sky from one horizon to the opposite, while downpouring from the Dragon's body threatened to drown the land. [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Amazingly, the Dragon was willing to listen to the sages, and it agreed to their plan.]] Then it disappeared, and (thankfully) never seen again since then.
** It happened again in ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'' — the Lunarians, a race of moon-based immortals, are functionally immortal, having fled from Earth's impurity and thus made themselves incapable of dying. Then large amounts of [[NatureSpirit fairies]] start spreading across their lifeless world, bringing lifeforce, and with it, death. Worse yet, their fantastic tech is worse than useless, since it's entirely based off the concept of purification, and the invading fairies are purified lifeforce, rendering them 100% immune to anything the Lunarians could throw at them. It reaches the point where their leadership begins desperate preparations to purify and invade Gensokyo, which at the time the Lunarians consider ''enemy territory''.

* ''Franchise/Pokemon''

* The Aether Foundation are so concerned by the threat of [[OutsideContextProblem the Ultra Beasts]] in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' that they attempt to create an entire new [[OlympusMons Godzilla]] to fight them in the form of the Type: Full project. It doesn't work, and the resulting Pokémon are renamed Type: Null and sealed off. [[TheRival Gladion]] steals one and manages to raise it to the point where it actually ''can'' fight an Ultra Beast, eventually evolving it into Silvally — a Pokémon which is essentially a weaker version of ''the creator of the Pokémon world''.

* ''Videogame/Doom2016'': It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:retrieving Doomguy in the first place]] was the threshhold-crossing plan UAC had if Hell's incursions got too bad. While that would most definitely deal with the demons, it'd also wreck their whole Argent Energy operation, which is why they were tampering with Hell in the first place, and the demons would put up a ''lot'' of resistance if they tried it, leading to horrible casualties. Naturally, things get bad enough, and [[spoiler:Doomguy does indeed wreck their Argent Energy operation, enraged at the fact people are ''still'' trying to fuck around with Hell forces even in this day. Still, it got the demons dealt with]].
** DoomEternal continues this given the state of Earth by the time Doomguy shows up. Needless to say, there isn't a human alive that isn't happy to see him arrive regardless of how terrifying he is.

* In the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', there are ''two'' Godzilla Thresholds. The first is the usage of Only One Crash and the creation of the SuperRobot SRX and the powerful Hyper Tromium Buster Cannon. The second? Unsealing the RTX-008L Huckebein L, one of two robots powered by ''a black hole'' and basically ''weaponizes'' it.

* In ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2'', the "Conquest" ending revolves around the main character deciding the threshold has been crossed, though the rest of the party disagrees. Nepgear goes through with the "Godzilla" option anyway, ultimately [[spoiler:murdering all of her friends, their siblings, and then her own sister]] before confronting the BigBad. [[spoiler:She ''is'' able to defeat CFW Arfoire, but the villain points out in her final words that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nepgear had just committed the same catastrophe she was trying to head off]]: Gameinustri has technically been destroyed, since its now just a single nation ruled by Nepgear, and despite the reassurances of her remaining colleagues, the lone CPU admits that Arfoire may be right that stagnation and decay is inevitable, no mater how hard she tries. [[DownerEnding Roll credits]].]]

* In ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2'', one possible ending revolves around the main character deciding the threshold has been crossed, though the rest of the party disagrees. [[spoiler:After Nepgear goes through with the "godzilla" move (by traumatically murdering all of her friends, including a pair of children, and then her own sister), she confronts the BigBad, only to find out she's just committed the same catastrophe she was trying to head off. Yes, she can kill the BigBad, but it's so inconsequential now that there's no point. [[DownerEnding Roll credits]].]]