History Main / GodzillaThreshold

** Under normal circumstances, Pyrrha only uses her MagnetismManipulation Semblance in minor, subtle ways in battle, keeping her capabilities controlled and hidden. However, when she decides to fight [[TheHeavy Cinder]], she knows how uniquely dangerous Cinder is and just how high the stakes of the battle are for Beacon Academy and global communications, so uses her Semblance to its maximum potential and reveals just how powerful she truly is when she fights unleashed. This throws Cinder, as a result. [[spoiler:She is able to fight toe-to-toe with Cinder, who has to resort to true magic and the aid of a Grimm Wyvern to handle her. The fight only decisively turns in Cinder's favour once Pyrrha's Aura runs out, leaving her unable to use her Semblance any more. Cinder's true magic, however, doesn't run out of Aura.]]

** Yang Xiao Long used to use her Semblance to win just about every battle, until this ended very poorly in her encounter with Adam Taurus in Volume 3. Since then, with the help of her dad, she changed her fighting style so that her Semblance becomes this for her, and only uses it when it is the only way to defeat her opponent, such as against Adam Taurus when she encounters him again in Volume 6, and against [[spoiler:former ally Elm Erdene]] in Volume 7.
** Team CFVY has one in Velvet Scarlatina, who Team Leader Coco Adel had been keeping in reserve as her team's secret weapon. Velvet's true capabilities were revealed in the Battle of Beacon, where she does battle with two mechs that only one of which gave the entire Team RWBY a hard time, as nothing else that anyone else could throw at them did any damage. Her true capabilities? She is able to copy the weapons and movements of any character that she has taken a picture of with her camera, making her a completely adaptable weapons master.
** While even the thought of a Maiden using her powers in battle is usually this, any use of the four Relics (Choice, Knowledge, Creation, and Destruction) is much more so of this, due to their reality-warping powers and limitations built into them to ensure that they were not used freely. [[TheHero Ruby Rose]] is the only person other than [[BigGood Ozma]] to use one.
** In Volume 5, [[spoiler:Raven Branwen]] has been hiding her identity as the Spring Maiden for years. It's only when, during the Battle of Haven, that her 'ally' Cinder Fall, the Fall Maiden, betrays her and attacks [[spoiler:Raven's decoy, Vernal,]] in order to steal the powers for herself that [[spoiler:Raven]] crosses this threshold, reveals her true abilities, and fights Cinder for the fate of Haven. [[spoiler:Thankfully, Raven wins, due to a last minute diversion from Vernal.]]
** Volume 6:
*** When Salem realizes that Ozpin has already reincarnated, found Qrow, and is on his way with the last Silver Eyed Warrior and her allies in tow to get the Relic of Knowledge to a safe place in Atlas and reunite with General Ironwood to devise a new plan to reunite humanity against her, Salem decides to step out from the shadows after all these years, raise a Grimm army, and storm Atlas to ensure that this doesn't happen.
*** When Cinder fights [[spoiler:Neo]], she avoids using her Maiden powers so that she would not be recognized, as she was still a wanted terrorist after her attacks on Beacon and Haven. It's only when Cinder recognizes that she cannot defeat [[spoiler:Neo]] without them that she displays them to force her to stand down.
*** Deconstructed when Caroline Cordovin decides to use a giant mech, designed for fighting giant Grimm, [[DisproportionateRetribution against six kids, a Huntsman, and an old lady]] with the full intent of killing them to get a message across to the city of Argus, which did nothing wrong against her, all because they tried to sneak to Atlas behind her back. Plus, it backfires so horribly that said kids, Huntsman, and old lady are forced to incapacitate the mech, rendering it useless against a giant Grimm that does show up, attracted to the negativity from the city of Argus generated by the people in response to Cordovin's extreme methods.
*** Played straight twice soon after, when Ruby is forced to use her Silver Eyes against the Leviathan, as nothing else will work on it. When the she realizes she can't activate her eyes in time, Ruby actually uses the Relic of Knowledge to freeze time so that she can activate her Silver Eyes in time.
** Volume 7:
*** When a massive Grimm invasion storms Mantle due to the machinations of Tyrian and Watts, Ironwood decides to reveal the existence of the top-secret Amity Communications Tower prematurely, despite the fact that this risks Salem discovering it and destroying it, as to reunite the people against the Grimm and to lure Tyrian and Watts into a trap.
*** Ironwood crosses several more in Episode 11, Gravity. When he realizes that [[spoiler:Cinder]] has infiltrated Atlas Academy, and that Salem as been able to silently sneak up on Atlas with a large army of Grimm, Ironwood crosses the ultimate threshold and decides to lock the Relics of Creation and Knowledge in the Atlas Vault, and use the former to lift Atlas into the atmosphere instead of the Amity Communications Tower in order to keep the Relics safe from the her reach, despite the fact that this would leave the many people that haven't been evacuated from Mantle to die, not to mention that he decides to send Winter to claim the Winter Maiden powers from Fria, knowing that this will end the elderly woman's life early, in order to hasten the transition. To top it off, when [[spoiler:Team RWBY]] won't go along with this, he crosses another threshold and orders his men to arrest them and their allies. This ends up being Deconstructed and Exploited when it backfires horribly, as it weakens his forces even further, costs him the allegiance of [[spoiler:Robyn, Pietro, and Penny, who became the Winter Maiden as a result of Cinder's attack]], only arrested one of the nine people he wanted to arrest in the first place, and proved only to play right into Salem's hands anyway.
*** When [[spoiler:Cinder]] is able to hold off Winter and Penny long enough to create an opening for her to steal the Winter Maiden Powers, the current Winter Maiden, Fria, activates her powers once more to fend off [[spoiler:Cinder]], despite being old, frail, and on the verge of death even without [[spoiler:Ironwood's or Cinder's]] attempts to end her life prematurely.
** Volume 8:
*** Near the end of the Volume, the heroes run into a multitude of problems. First, Salem is on Atlas itself, even if she had been destroyed by a WaveMotionGun from Ozpin's cane, she'll just regenerate. Secondly, Ironwood is threatening to destroy Mantle if the current Winter Maiden doesn't surrender to him. And thirdly, said Maiden, [[spoiler: Penny, is suffering from a computer virus uploaded into her by Watts and Ironwood earlier that compels her to open the Vault and self-destruct.]] With so many issues thrown into their faces at once, the heroes decide that they need to [[spoiler: take the Staff of Creation and use it to create a new body for Penny sans the virus. Then, they create a portal network that will evacuate the people of the entire kingdom to Vacuo, the only nation with a functioning Huntsman Academy to handle the refugees. The results are...mixed. Due to Cinder and Ironwood's interference, Penny is killed, Team RWBY and Jaune are thrown into the void, and the Relics are stolen. But, The people are evacuated, and Winter Schnee gains the Maiden powers to protect them with, and TheStinger for the Volume hints the lost heroes are still alive, just...elsewhere.]]

** In "A Better World", the League has to fight the Justice Lords, their KnightTemplar parallel Earth counterparts who have no compunctions about killing or lobotomizing their enemies. Batman notes that, even if the League aren't willing to sink that low, there's no way they can win unless they do ''something'' unexpected. They resort to making an alliance with Lex Luthor, and allow him to walk free with a Presidential pardon once the Lords are defeated.

** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', [[spoiler:Ant-Man becomes Giant-Man, knowing that the power could kill him]], in order to allow Cap and Bucky to escape and find out who was responsible for framing Bucky. [[spoiler:''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' has this again, only UpToEleven: Ant-Man becomes absolutely huge to prevent the bad guy from running away with Dr. Pym's shrunk laboratory, a size so big it eventually makes him pass out.]]

* In ice hockey, a team that is down a goal or two near the end of the game or so may elect to pull their goalie to put another attacker on the ice. It gives the possibility of tying the game, at the risk of the leading team having a much easier chance of scoring again. On average, the leading team scores an empty net goal about 1/3 of the time while the trailing team scores a goal about 1/9 of the time -- in the long run this strategy is detrimental to the team that pulled its goalie. However, in most cases, what matters is that you've lost the game and not what the margin of defeat was. In addition, [[{{Metagame}} recent developments in professional-level play]] have indicated that it may actually be more beneficial to pull the goalie earlier than was considered normal. In an example of this turned UpToEleven, in a 2015 NCAA playoff game, the Miami [=RedHawks=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nyuGoxYzNQ played]] ''12 minutes and 48 seconds'' with an empty net down 4 goals. The [=RedHawks=] [[HopeSpot managed 3 unanswered goals]] before finally giving one up with only 6.3 seconds left, losing 7-5.

* In ''Film/JurassicWorld'', the ''I. rex'' has shrugged off everything that the heroes have thrown at it -- tranquilizers, bullets, rockets, ''Velociraptors'', it's all failed. Claire [[spoiler:orders Paddock Nine opened, releasing the ''Tyrannosaurus'' from the original film]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin'' episode "A Race to the Finish", Sludge, Drudge, and Trudge are terrorizing the Jungle Grunges' village. In order to fight them off, Arin and Aruzia willingly use Vitamin Z to tap into their SuperpoweredEvilSide, turning into the Iron Warrior and Aluminum Amazon, powerful armor-clad monsters who mindlessly attack anything in sight. Though Teddy and the Grunges manage to splash them with water, causing the transformation to wear off, the village still suffers significant collateral damage.

* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra'': During Kuvira's assault of Republic City, the heroes not only enlist the aide of [[ManipulativeBastard Varrick]] to build a response to the giant mecha suit, but also release [[StarterVillain Hiroshi Sato]] from prison to help. Lin explains how returning Sato to prison once they're done with him is an option and that they need every GadgeteerGenius they can get their hands on, and Sato is more than willing to help because he loves Republic City more than he hates any Benders. [[spoiler:Sad to say, [[HeroicSacrifice Sato doesn't survive the battle]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': In the episode "[=JX5=]: The Final Ending" Johnny, while in an EnemyMine situation with five of his archenemies who have gained his powers, suggest that they form one huge [[{{Fartillery}} Power Poot]] to destroy Dark Vegan's flagship after he rips out the self-destruct button. It works, destroying the entire fleet.

** The [[PhysicalGod kwamis]] can use their powers independently of their human holders, but usually refrain from doing so because they have limited control over them. Even so, the titular villains in "Style Queen" and "Gang of Secrets" proved so effective that [[DestroyerDeity Plagg]] and [[MasterOfIllusion Trixx]] had to use their respective powers to save the heroes; Plagg nearly destroyed Paris, while Trixx ''only'' made the Eiffer Tower [[ItMakesSenseInContext wobble like a slinky]].

** Releasing Discord in the first place to try and "reform" him could be seen as one of these; although Princess Celestia did not know of any immediate threats to Equestria, the ''possibility'' of one so great that they would need Discord's help was her reasoning for freeing such a dangerous being. Basically they released "Godzilla" early so they'd have time to convince him to help them before the threshold-level threat actually showed up.
** From the same arc, the other princesses [[spoiler: giving Twilight all of their powers so that Tirek couldn't steal it]] could be this as well.

* In the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', [[BigBad Drago]] has devastated San Francisco and is preparing to release [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the demon world unto Earth]]. To stop him, the heroes have to free his father Shendu from his [[SealedEvilInACan imprisonment]] to fight him. Fortunately for them, Shendu is more angry at his son for trying to take over "his" world than at the heroes for his previous defeats at their hands, and he keeps Drago busy long enough for them to figure out how to banish both of them. Happens again when Shendu struggles against Drago and the cast elect to restore his full power by giving back the talismans.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender:''
** Aang's original plan to defeat the Fire Lord is to wait for Sozin's Comet to pass. He realizes he's not going to master all four elements before it comes and that the Fire Nation has already conquered every major population area in the world, and thus decides that since there's not much more practical conquering the Fire Nation could do anyways it would be smarter to weather the enhanced-Firebending assault, master all four elements properly, and then take down the Fire Lord. Zuko shoots this down, explaining how Ozai plans ''[[FinalSolution to burn the entire Earth Kingdom to cinders]]'' using the comet and that, ready or not, they ''have'' to stop him before the comet comes.
** During Kuvira's assault of Republic City, the heroes not only enlist the aide of [[ManipulativeBastard Varrick]] to build a response to the giant mecha suit, but also release [[StarterVillain Hiroshi Sato]] from prison to help. Lin explains how returning Sato to prison once they're done with him is an option and that they need every GadgeteerGenius they can get their hands on, and Sato is more than willing to help because he loves Republic City more than he hates any Benders. [[spoiler:Sad to say, [[HeroicSacrifice Sato doesn't survive the battle]]]].

** In ''Outsiders'', it's revealed that The Light has the "Nuclear Option", which is to target and murder every last member of the Justice League's families. However, they know that doing so would lead to MutuallyAssuredDestruction as the Justice League would go to great lengths to obliterate The Light, so they don't treat that option lightly, going so far as to actually ''murder'' Ocean-Master when he attempts it for shits and giggles.

'''Agent K:''' There's ''[[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed always]]'' an Arquillian battle cruiser, or a Corillian DeathRay, or an intergalactic plague that's about to wipe out life on this miserable little planet. The only way these people get on with their happy lives is they [[PunctuatedForEmphasis do. Not. Know about it]]!

** [[spoiler:Godzilla, in turn, considers the threat Mechagodzilla could pose if Ghidorah wakes up and hijacks it to be enough to directly attack Apex facilities, even though this will turn mankind against him. Ghidroah's rampage at the end of the film [[TheExtremistWasRight proves this to have been a valid reaction]]]].
** [[spoiler:The deterioration of Skull Island's ecosystem is enough to convince Monarch to evacuate Kong and mount an expedition to Hollow Earth, which could provoke Godzilla into action]].
** [[spoiler:[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking A minor example]], but Kong normally [[HonorBeforReason has reservations against biting his opponents]]. Godzilla is enough of a threat for Kong to sink his fangs into Big G's gills, only for Godzilla to throw him off a moment later]].
** [[spoiler:Ghidorah hijacking Mechagodzilla and going on a rampage through Hong Kong is enough for Godzilla and Kong (who just had a massive fight a few minutes earlier) to put aside their differences and [[EnemyMine team up to kill the alien robot monster]]]].

** All over the place in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong''.
*** [[spoiler:The potential dangers a rogue Godzilla could present are such that Apex is willing to create Mechagodzilla ''using one of the skulls of King Ghidorah''.

** In ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'', General Ross's failure to capture the Hulk forces him to give Emil Blonsky a performance-enhancing serum. Once Blonsky becomes the similarly powerful Abomination and ends up terrorizing Harlem, Ross is forced to free the Hulk so the soldier will be stopped.
** ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' reveals that Nick Fury's idea to assemble a DysfunctionJunction of {{super|hero}}powered loose cannons is SHIELD's ''backup plan'', behind using AppliedPhlebotinum to build a WeaponOfMassDestruction and later nuking New York. The weapons in particular are called out as a bad idea, since they ''could'' potentially defeat Loki and his army...but they would also signal to the rest of the universe that humanity is ready for a higher level of warfare (which they absolutely ''are not''). This trope is also directly referenced at the start of the final battle:

** Discussed in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', time magic is forbidden for being too destructive. [[spoiler:Strange ends up resorting to time magic when he fails to stop Dormammu from being let into their universe and forces Dormammu to leave Earth with time magic. As the dust settles, Mordo ''quits'' over these actions, believing that the sorcerers are doing the wrong thing.]]

** ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': At first, Yon-Rogg tries to keep the Accusers and their [[NukeEm sledgehammer approach]] away from Earth. After [[spoiler:realizing that Carol is recovering her memories of her life on Earth and is going to figure out the truth, he calls for Ronan]].

Once the Threshold is crossed, ''any'' {{plan}}, with even the smallest possibility of success, no matter how [[CrazyEnoughToWork ludicrous]], {{dangerous|ForbiddenTechnique}}, or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo abhorrent]], suddenly becomes a valid option. This serves both narrative and authorial purposes. Suppose the heroes are given EmergencyAuthority. Or they have an awesome weapon that nonetheless causes a lot of property damage, like a KillSat. Or a [[SealedEvilInACan captured]] or [[EvilIsNotAToy dormant]] monster. Or one knows a DangerousForbiddenTechnique that will put their life at risk. Or [[TheOnlyOne the only ones left]] who are in a position to try and save the day are the RagtagBunchOfMisfits who've been bumbling their way in the background the whole time. The powers that be [[ChekhovsGun have to use it]], but [[IThoughtItWasForbidden it can't be done lightly without portraying them as either]] [[MoralEventHorizon careless or cruel]]. So the author contrives to make the situation call for its use in such clear terms the audience understands this was done as a last resort — and, if it's handled properly, the audience doesn't even notice.

--->'''Dr. Serizawa:''' And what will become of us if a weapon such as that I now have, falls into the wrong hands?\\
'''Ogata:''' Then you have a responsibility no man has ever faced. You have your fear, which might become reality, and then you have Godzilla, which is reality.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/ACrookedMan'': The Illuminati attempt to gather the Infinity Gems to use against Ginnungagap. However, Ginnungagap has already taken from them (except the Mind Gem as Xavier is on good terms with Ginnungagap) and giving them to more responsible people.
* ''Fanfic/AgeOfStrife'': The Nurglite incursion, which included no less than three Great Unclean Ones, almost drove Mirande to daemon summoning herself in her attempt to stop it.
* In ''Fanfic/AshesOfThePast'', Blast Burn is treated like this, as its nature as a Fire Type equivalent of Hyper Beam means the only thing more destructive is ''the local equivalent of a nuclear strike''. Exactly because of its power, any Pokémon that learns it has an artificial mental block created to prevent it from using it on their own volition, and '''must''' be ordered to do that.
** Early on, Charizard mentions Victini using V-Create ''was'' the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, putting it on par with an actual nuclear strike.
* ''Fanfic/BequeathedFromPaleEstates'': After seeing Joffrey's madness firsthand, Lyarra is so distressed at the idea of her father still going through the ArrangedMarriage between him and her younger sister Sansa (he actually wasn't planning to, but she didn't know that) that she writes a letter to ''Catelyn Stark'', begging her not to let it happen. Catelyn, after verifying the story, writes back, vehemently agreeing with her and with Ned when he tells her he's not accepting the betrothal.
* ''Fanfic/CheshireMiraculousLadybug'': After the Black Queen incident, Marinette decided that the situation is dire enough that she [[spoiler: recruited allies - what means that she is being forced to sent some of her kwamis: Alya become the Fox Holder Rena Rouge and Alix the Horse Holder War Horse]].
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek''/''Series/DoctorWho'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9319253/1/A-Captain-And-A-Madman A Captain and a Madman]]", the Eleventh Doctor (nearing his death at Lake Silencio) finds himself trapped in the ''Star Trek'' universe, but finds various clues to suggest that he existed in this universe in some form. After exhausting most of his leads, the Doctor is left with only one solution; taking Captain Picard as a companion and a credible character witness, the Doctor travels to ''Voyager'' during its time in the Delta Quadrant so that he can [[spoiler:infiltrate and essentially 'hack' the Borg Collective, turning the Collective's full processing power to the task of determining the true nature of this universe]].
* ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'': For Braavosi ships, raising a black flag is this, as it's an order to fight to the death, and is only given if there's no other choice, such as [[spoiler: at the Battle of Tyrosh, when they're overwhelmed by the Tyroshi fleet and have nowhere to go]].
* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'':
** Apophis is desperate enough in the fight against [[TheAlliance TeTO]] that he welcomes Anubis back into the System Lords despite not remotely trusting him.
** The terrorist attacks by the Syrannites (a xenophobic sect that hates anything that deviates from Surak's teachings) get serious enough that the Vulcan government invokes the clause in the [=TeTO=] charter that revokes a religion's protected status if that religion is a public threat. As this has never been done before and sets a dangerous precedent, the [=TeTO=] general assembly is hesitant to do this, and the motion barely passes.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Eugenesis}}'', Prowl and Perceptor are perfectly willing to meddle with TimeTravel, knowing what time travel can unleash (in Prowl's case, from first-hand experience), simply because they feel the current situation is that bad. This earns them a serious WhatTheHellHero from Nightbeat, although he still ends up agreeing with them. Later on, [[spoiler:a revived Optimus Prime]] agrees to take part in the fight against the Quintessons, knowingly risking his life, not to mention using time-travel himself, for the same reasons.
* In the first story of the ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', Dark Danny's return results in [[spoiler:Clockwork bringing in Danny and Sam's future selves]] and Sam getting ghost powers of her own in order to stop him.
* In ''[[https://trekfanfiction.net/kennethalowenberg/star-trek-the-five-enterprises/ The Five Enterprises]]'', Q of all people is pushed to this point after some initially-unknown force attacks the Q Continuum, neutralises every other Q, and then erases Earth from history. With only a microsecond to act as the other Q transfer all their power to him, Q focused all of his thoughts on 'Enterprise', which results in him preserving Deep Space 9 (the last place he visited in the corporeal world before the attack) and all five of the existing Federation ships named ''Enterprise'', from Captain Christopher Pike in the original to Captain Picard's ''Enterprise''-D, as the only hope to restore the timeline.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]], the [[AlienInvasion Reaper invasion]] causes the normally-benign-if-ineffective Citadel Council to be replaced by the [[TyrantTakesTheHelm United Defense Command]], a huge believer in StrawCivilian among other things, which are all shown to be negative InUniverse. Nobody really argues because the Reaper threat is just that big, even though afterward people realize what a mess it made.
** In the sequel, ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', problems with FasterThanLightTravel cause a [[spoiler:Force-sensitive Siren]] to believe the line has been crossed because [[NegativeSpaceWedgie trans-dimensional gateways]] will let in an AlienInvasion so terrible that [[WellIntentionedExtremist killing everyone]] is justified to stop the use of these dangerous drives. When the invasion is revealed to be [[spoiler:the Flood]], who proceeds to conquer ''two-and-a-half galaxies'', some of the heroes wonder if [[TheExtremistWasRight the crazy killer might have a point]] once [[spoiler:Cortana]] insists the only way to stop the invasion is to [[spoiler:starve it to death by eliminating all sapient life]].
* In "[[https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=36889 A Greater Compliment]]", when Charley Pollard meets the Ninth Doctor and learns about the Time War, she's horrified to think that the War pushed the Doctor to a point where his only option was to destroy his own people to save the universe; considering the lengths he went to just to save ''her'' life when Charley's existence put the universe at risk, Charley knows that the only circumstances under which the Doctor would have destroyed Gallifrey would be if he had literally exhausted every other option.
* ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'': In the "The Apokolips Agenda" arc, virtually every Pre-Crisis hero is battling on Apokolips in a desperate struggle to prevent Darkseid from learning the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid, who has been summoning more and more powerful villains to slow the heroes, finally reaches the threshold and resurrects Trigon, who turns all of the heroes to stone. In response, Kid Eternity, whose power allows him to resurrect a deceased person briefly by saying their name, speaks a name before he turns to stone: [[spoiler: Jim Corrigan. Cue the Spectre materializing and killing Trigon with a single blow.]] Now that's SummonBiggerFish.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/HereThereBeMonsters'', two old, giant-sized enemies of Captain Marvel, Mister Atom and Red Crusher, are rampaging through America after crushing the combined power of Canadian and USA land forces. The President sends the Air Force out, but he is painfully aware that if an aerial bombardment does not work, and the Marvel Family fails to appear, he might have to drop a nuke.
* In ''Fanfic/{{A New World|IcedFairy}}'', when faced with the imminent Lunarian invasion and everyone who could stop them burying their heads in the sand, Kanako arranges for Suwako [[spoiler:to release the ''[[AnimalisticAbomination Mishaguji]]''.]]
* ''Fanfic/ImperfectMetamorphosis'' is what happens when crossing the Threshold is ''exactly'' the wrong thing to do, as the different characters implementing their own contingency plans just escalates the situation, going from "bad, but manageable" to almost CosmicHorrorStory levels. Fittingly, [[TheDitz Cirno]] gets to perform the stupidest one, reckoning that her friend Rumia is in such desperate peril that getting [[HumanoidAbomination Yuuka]] involved is a reasonable idea.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'':
** In ''Of Kryptonians and Queens'', it is suggested that Merlin has reached this point when he summons Etrigan to oppose Morgana's latest demon incursion.
** In ''In Hand and Foot'', the situation becomes so bad that the Defenders and the Turtles are willing to work with the Punisher despite their usual distaste for his methods.
** In ''Counterpart Conferences'', it is revealed that the Batman of Earth-1992 has been searching the multiverse to find the missing Joker and Ra's al Ghul, having correctly deduced that they have travelled to a different Earth. While he and Alfred each agreed that Batman can't interfere in the other Earths he witnesses, they make an exception when they witness the Batman of Earth-99, who has not only killed his enemies but gone so far as to kill Superman because he was concerned about what the Man of Steel might do, Batman and Alfred agreeing that version of Bruce Wayne has to be stopped.
* ''Fanfic/TheInstituteSaga'' has the Omega Protocols, by which the different superhero teams request the support of every supervillain, to fight off a threat to the entire world. ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}'s arrival to Earth's orbit prompts Franchise/{{Superman}} to make the call.
* In the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11904468/1/An-Interdimensional-Meet An Interdimensional Meet]]'', when the Flash, Supergirl and the Martian Manhunter are forced to fight Doomsday (here the mutated and brainwashed Jeremiah Danvers), the Flash initially tries to stop Doomsday by [[spoiler:vibrating and trapping him inside a hill, and when that fails, Supergirl takes Doomsday into orbit and throws him into deep space, hoping that his inability to fly will ensure that Doomsday can't come back]].
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13642067/1/Justice-League-Rebellion Justice League Rebellion]]'', with the Seven Deadly Sins running rampant throughout Tokyo (with one of them taking Kallen's mother as a host and another taking Lelouch) and learning that the Wizard had passed on, Kallen/Queen Shazam and Doctor Fate are forced to summon the one person that knows the most about the Sins: the previous wielder of the Power of Shazam, Black Adam, who was banished by the wizard for using his power to slaughter his previous oppressors.
* ''Fanfic/KimiNoNaIowa'': In the opening days of the Abyssal War, China was being hit hard enough, with major cities like Beijing and Tianjin heavily damaged or outright razed to the ground and high-level leadership fatally wounded or killed, that the PLA was ordered to do everything, even including the NuclearOption, to drive back the invaders. They did.
* ''Fanfic/LifeAfterHayate'' mentions the [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Time-Space Administrative Bureau's]] General Order #27: "The capture of or possession of dimensional flexure equipment by any non-Bureau person or group is unacceptable. Any normal rules of engagement may be suspended at the discretion of the guard force as necessary to prevent it falling into the hands of others." Leti Lowran stresses to the Wolkenritter that this is the one circumstance where they can do ''anything'' if they think they have to.
** Later on the story mentions the Carneades Protocol, which amends the normal rules of engagement to include the statement "any level of collateral damage necessary to complete the mission is acceptable." It is essentially the Godzilla Threshold given form: no matter how much damage you might be able to do if you put your mind to it, your failure is considered worse.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11715396/16/Mater-Familias Mater Familias]]'' [[Franchise/DragonBall Bulma]], trapped in the Capsule Corporation by a hacked Android 16 with Imperfect Cell and Gero coming there, decides to do something she admits was insane or truly desperate: [[spoiler:add cell samples from Android 17 and 18 to the still coccoonized Present Cell]], hoping that, having been recovered before Gero's machine could properly brainwash him, he'll help. It works, partly [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe because he's actually grateful for that]] and partly because Cell manages to disgust him.
* In ''Fanfic/TheMoonsFlashPrincess'', before Asuna arrived with the Silver Crystal and the other SAO survivors the war against the Dark Kingdom had brought the Sailor Senshi to their physical and psychological limits, to the point Minako was about to cross it and call in powerful allies that ''would'' cause great collateral damage.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fics:
** ''Fanfic/TheAudience'': In chapter 41, Art [[LampshadeHanging mentions this trope by name]] in reference to the Mane Six and the use of the Elements. He must then give a brief, summarized description to Fluttershy.
** In ''Fanfic/TheBridge'', 200-something Gyaos flying straight towards Canterlot with nothing else to stop them? Time to revert the ponified Godzilla back into his true form. Princess Luna was ''not'' happy about it. [[spoiler:Thankfully, it's a heroic version of the character.]]
** ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' has two instances of this — first is when Princess Celestia decides to consult [[spoiler:Discord about [[ArtifactOfDoom The Bag of Tirek]], which has corrupted the MirrorUniverse Equestria into carrying out a genocidal campaign against Earth and humanity]], which he agrees to because [[EvenEvilHasStandards even he is disgusted with what Queen Celestia is doing to the humans]]; second is that [[spoiler:humanity has rigged the Yellowstone Supervolcano with several [[NukeEm nukes to detonate]] and likely destroy the world as part of a TakingYouWithMe plan, if only to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled avoid living as brainwashed slaves]] to a xenocidal tyrant]].
** In ''Fanfic/ADreamOfDawn'', Nightmare Moon's reign over Equestria is so disruptive that summoning Discord actually makes life better.
** ''Fanfic/EscapeFromTheMoon'': In chapter 15 of the sequel ''The Mare From the Moon'', Twilight describes Daybreaker as this.
-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': "I... asked her about that, after Starlight told me about the whole thing. She compared it to something from one of Spike's comics, actually. That most of the time, she feels like she lives in a world of cardboard, and that she always has to hold back to keep from breaking everything around her. Daybreaker is what happens when she doesn't ''care'' enough to hold back anymore, to let loose with everything she has without worrying about the consequences. And that's something that she'd only use as an absolute last resort."
** "Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls": [[spoiler:Captain Celestia considers her Zanpakuto too dangerous to release in a populated area.]] Everytime she'd used it so far [[spoiler: forrests spontaneously catched fire, lakes evaporated in seconds and mountains melted]] it's easy to see why.
*** Lament. He's already unstable but in his [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Resurrection]] he loses the shreds of control he has and acts like a feral beast out to kill everything in sight. He knows about it and if he really needs to use it he makes sure there's no one dear to him around. He even has a bunker under his tower for his family to hide from him.
** ''Fanfic/TheImmortalGame'': The Mane Six become so desperate to defeat [[BigBad Titan]] that Twilight comes up with one final contingency in case the Elements of Harmony fail, or they die before being able to use them. That contingency? [[spoiler:[[EnemyMine Releasing Discord to fight him.]]]]
** ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/253045/i-am-going-to-save-and-or-destroy-equestria I Am Going To Save And/Or Destroy Equestria]]'': In this alternate universe, Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon fought each other to a MutualKill. Without them, the sun and moon get out of wack and Equestria is overrun by the fiends of Tartarus and other villains. A group of pony survivors decide their only option is to resurrect King Sombra and hope he'll hate the villains for taking over "his" kingdom more than he'll hate them (the resurrection spell requires the subject's remains, so it couldn't be used on Celestia or Luna). Fortunately, the spell brings back Sombra's body with a human named Ambrose's soul in control, and he's willing to help them after getting over the initial shock and confusion.
** During her battle with Discord in ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/362591/knights-of-the-realm Knights of the Realm]]'', Twilight Sparkle resorts to [[spoiler:removing all her restraints]]. Considering the last time that had happened (during ''training'') and that in this fic she's a master of [[spoiler:''Chaos magic'']], it's obvious why, even facing Discord, it took her a while to resort to that.
** In ''[[Fanfic/AMidsummerNightsDreamKillbles A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' chapter 8, [[spoiler:with Midsummer Night rendered inoperable after the fight with Rasputin, the previously reluctant brothers decide that they should share Jaeger schematics with the Equestrians]].
* ''Fanfic/MiraculousEscalation'':
** Skitter's intervention causes Hawkmoth to consider [[PoorCommunicationKills negotiating in person]] with Ladybug and Chat Noir rather than sending out Akumas.
** [[spoiler: Echidna's rampage through Paris]] drives Chat Noir to use [[TouchOfDeath his power]] on a living person.
** Later, when [[ApocalypseHow Gold Morning]] begins, Taylor reaches two at once: She resorts to using [[spoiler: [[SuperpoweredEvilSide an akuma]], rather than calling a Champion]], and she uses it on [[spoiler:''the Simurgh'', as a means of controlling ''all of the other Endbringers''. That's technically ''twenty-one Godzillas'' responding to the threshold]].
* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops'':
** One example where viruses got into the [[Fanfic/TheMLPLoops Equestrian Loop]], creating a loop so horrifying that Sleipnir, the admin for the Equestrian Loop, personally entered the loop, rescued Twilight, fought their way into the lower levels of Hell, locked Hell from the inside, and then ''crashed the loop by causing the apocalypse''. How horrifying is something when creating further multiversal instability is better than letting it continue to exist? Also note the Sleipnir is portrayed as one of the most responsible and levelheaded of the admins.
** There was also an example of Twilight and Pinkie Pie ending up in a 1984esque version of Equestria, Twilight's response?
--->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Pinkamena Diane Pie?\\
'''Pinkie Pie:''' Yes Twilight?\\
'''Twilight Sparkle:''' You know all those things I normally ask you not to do? '''Do them'''.
* ''Fanfic/MLPNextGenerationKnowFear'': The war against the griffons is going badly enough (even with the aid of Starburst's [[Franchise/GreenLantern new powers]]) that Celestia decides to have one of Equestria's godly rulers (herself, the other alicorns and Discord) unlock their full power and join the battlefield as a show of force. Everyone else is horrified by the potential consequences of this, but they go through with it anyway, with Twilight being the one whose power is unlocked, and she proceeds to take on an entire griffon army by herself [[spoiler:— only for it to turn out that the griffons [[CrazyPrepared already had plans prepared to neutralize her]]]].
* ''Fanfic/AMoonAndWorldApart'': While Celestia and Luna have their differences, there is one thing that can keep them from fighting: the threat of Discord breaking loose if they do so too close to his statue.
* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': Kyril is this to Celestine. Despite having a vision about the Good Hunter ends up either the saviour or destroyer of her land, the latter being the more likely outcome as he is a brutal killer, she has no choice but to call for his assistance, in order to end the war with Olga swiftly.
* In the ''Series/Charmed1998'' fanfic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3562774/1/Once-and-Future-Witches Once and Future Witches]]", the Charmed Ones are forced to travel back and forth through time to stop a threat targeting Leo, resulting in the Charmed Ones of 2007 working with their younger selves of 1999 (which leads to Prue and Paige meeting), as well as Chris coming back from 2026 to help them further. In the end, the group determine that their threat is a demon trapped outside of Time seeking to form a new Triad, with part of that plan involving attacking Leo in three separate time periods aided by a warlock and a darklighter. The groups subsequently determine that the only way to stop this demon is [[spoiler:to create a 'good' Triad to counter it, with Piper, Paige and Chris representing witches, whitelighters and Elders respectively (Chris counts as an Elder as Leo was an Elder when he was conceived)]].
* [[spoiler:Literally]] crossed in ''Fanfic/PersonaEG''. Flash Sentry and several of his friends are backed into a corner when [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer uses [[EvilKnockOff shadow versions of every persona Flash has ever used]]]]. Exhausted and about to be killed, Flash summons the only persona in his collection that he has not used yet, [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Gojira]]]]. Complete with GiantFootOfStomping entrance and a giant [[KillItWithFire Atomic Breath attack]] that nearly roasts [[spoiler:Sunset]] alive.
* ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'':
** Celestia comments that [[TopGod The Elders]] would only directly intervene (rather than through Their children or Avatars) in something happening in mortal reality if it was a threat to ''all'' of existence, because that is the only situation where the damage would be greater than that caused by [[EldritchAbomination Them]] entering reality. To put this in perspective, [[spoiler:Nightmare Paradox's GroundhogDayLoop plan]] completely screwed up the [[BadFuture Dark World]] timeline and cost countless ''trillions'' of lives, and even ''that'' wasn't enough for Them to intervene. Such a threshold is finally crossed in the Finale Arc, when [[spoiler:Discord's [[RewritingReality endgame]]]] proves terrible enough that Havoc and Entropy, at least, step in to lend aid.
** It turns out that the Equestrian military has specific protocols in place for situations like this, including {{Kaiju}} attacks, that require direct interference from the Princesses. Fittingly, it's called [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Article 1954]].
** During the Wedding Arc, things get so desperate that Twilight and Cadence seriously consider the possibility of releasing Discord to [[EvilVersusEvil fight Chrysalis]], but only as an absolute last resort. [[spoiler:Of course, [[DramaticIrony they don't realize]] that he's ''already'' free...]]
** As the heroes prepare for one final battle with Discord, [[spoiler:Celestia persuades Mother Deer/Harmony to upgrade the Elements of Harmony to their full potential]]. She comments that normally, she would not have done this for several years, until the Mane Six had fully mastered them, but considering they're about to face Discord, they need all the help they can get.
* ''Fanfic/ThePowersOfHarmony'': The use of forbidden Lifeforce magic is considered to be an absolute last resort, due to the fact that it leaves the user an addict who grows more uncontrollable over time. [[spoiler:During the War of the Sun and Moon, Libra had to use it to immobilize Nightmare Moon's undying army; his Echo Blair is still carrying that burden a thousand years later.]]
* ''Fanfic/{{SAPR}}'': With no time or possibility of reinforcements, Pyrrha and Jaune [[spoiler:release the supposedly-repentant Cinder from stasis to help them stop the corrupted Amber from taking the Relic of Choice]].
* ''Fanfic/SixesAndSevens'': How [[spoiler: King Azzuri]] justifies letting Michael obtain a sample of the heart-shaped herb - though he stresses that the sample is ''all'' they're getting unless the Allied governments are willing to negotiate.
-->'''[[spoiler: King Azzuri]]:''' Giving you even one sample of the herb will only tempt more to come to steal from my people. But there is a madman who cannot be stopped without great effort. Maybe what you plan to do will buy those who oppose him a day. Will bring victory closer.\\
'''Michael:''' Thank you, [[spoiler: your majesty.]]\\
'''[[spoiler: King Azzuri]]:''' But let it be known. Tell your masters that we will not tolerate theft from our people. They may come to us, and negotiate a fair agreement. That is all we want: respect.
* In ''Fanfic/TheStarsAscendant'', Celestia notes that had she realized just how powerful Tirek had become, she would have ordered Twilight to rip the Elements of Harmony out of the Tree of Harmony. Given that the tree had been withering without the Elements of Harmony, it might kill the tree, but Celestia felt it would have been justified in order to defeat Tirek. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary.
* ''Fanfic/TheStarsWillAidTheirEscape'': The last time [[EldritchAbomination Nyarlathotep]] emerged in Equestria, Celestia was only able to stop him by calling down the power of the sun and incinerating everything for miles, sacrificing the lives of every pony in the affected area (most of whom were rendered hopelessly insane by Nyarlathotep anyway) in order to stop him from spreading. And all that succeeded in doing was temporarily banishing Nyarlathotep back where he came from — he describes it as having been inconvenient.
* ''Fanfic/TriptychContinuum: A Mark Of Appeal'': The Princesses' worst-case contingency scenario: In the event they are both infected with red-tinge, and it manifests in a way that will cause them to destroy themselves or the world, they plan to ''deliberately release'' Discord and plunge the world back into chaos... [[EvilVersusOblivion because even chaos is better than total death]].
* In ''Fanfic/TheOdysseyResurgence'', SG-1 comes to appreciate how stretched the ESD's resources must be when General Landry (''Series/StargateSG1'') tells General Adams (''Film/IndependenceDayResurgence'') about the Replicators and Adams considers the possibility of turning the Replicators on the Harvesters to stop them, although Adams accepts Carter and Landry's argument that the Replicators are too dangerous to seriously consider that as an option.
* ''Fanfic/{{Persephone}}'': Hiccup tells Stoick that his mother's alive out of desperation that Stoick will at least spare Astrid and the dragons and hopefully change his mind about the Red Death.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11265467/1/Petrification-Proliferation Petrification Proliferation]]'': upon learning that [[Franchise/HarryPotter Slytherin's monster]] was a basilisk, Dumbledore ''shuts down Hogwarts'' for the remainder of the term, evacuates the students and informs the DMLE, who promptly recalls every Auror and Hit Wizard aside the bare minimum patrol from Azkaban to inspect the school for nests and eggs. This is because, for the quite small population of the Wizarding World, a single basilisk is effectively the equivalent of a ''nuke'', and had the beast managed to kill the students before being slain the effect would have been worse for them than the nuking of London would be for the Muggle United Kingdom-hence it being illegal to ''not'' report a basilisk sighting and the British Ministry mobilizing everything they had to make sure there weren't any more at Hogwarts.
* ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': After the NearVillainVictory of Operation Steel Lighting, Captain Black organizes an emergency Plan B to be used in case Jade is ever on the verge of utterly defeating the heroes again. When this happens during [[FinalBattle Operation Endgame]], the plan is triggered, revealed to be [[spoiler: reanimating the statue of Lo Pei and unleashing him]]. [[LampshadeHanging Tellingly]], one of the codes needed to put this plan into action actually is "Godzilla".
* ''Fanfic/ReCoded'':
** The [[spoiler:Neuron Link Program]] is created by Dr. Kogami as a last-ditch attempt to kill the Ignis by combining the Ignis' and origin's minds, killing the Ignis wherever they are but also leave the origins braindead. This is such a big deal that Lightning is desperate for its location and [[spoiler:Ai is willing to die so Yusaku and the others won't die from it.]]
** [[spoiler:As the Laplace is corrupting his mind into madness and kill everyone he loves, Revolver activates the Tower of Hanoi and links it to his mind before setting it to destroy the old LINK VRAINS in a desperate SuicideByCop gambit to kill himself to stop the Laplace inside him.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6911792/1/The-Science-is-Not-Impossible The Science is Not Impossible]]", when Megamind accidentally travels to an alternate timeline where he and Metroman basically had each other's childhoods, he reveals that he actually did have a plan that could have legitimately killed Metroman that he never bothered to use back home because he freely concedes that he never ''seriously'' wanted his foe dead; [[spoiler:lure Metroman into space and then trap him in a black hole]].
* ''Fanfic/ShadowsAwakening'': During the penultimate battle in the Forge of Shadows, Daolon Wong is empowered to the point of nearly defeating the J-Team singlehandedly. This forces Jade to remove the Tiger Talisman, which has been keeping her growing corruption by [[SuperPoweredEvilSide the Queen]] in check — this allows her greater control of her powers, enough to fight Wong evenly, but risks her being fully corrupted by the Queen. [[spoiler:In fact, the Queen grows strong enough to [[EnemyWithout separate from Jade entirely]], thus becoming the new BigBad.]]
* ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' crosses the threshold a few times.
** Episode 63 has a villainous example. Sonic, Shadow, and Eric turn into their Super forms and are on the verge of defeating Tsali once and for all. So what does Tsali do? He ''summons [[{{Satan}} Lord Maledict]] himself'' for backup. Cue [[SummonBiggerFish Maledict showing up]], rescuing Tsali, and [[CurbStompBattle utterly curbstomping Sonic and friends]].
** When Dark Tails nearly annihilates the fleets of both sides, both the Demons and Angels separately devote all their attention to taking him down, to the point where the Demons reactivate a galaxy-destroying superweapon just in case. And then Dark Tails achieves godhood in Episode 75 and nearly decimates the entire galaxy, they both decide to take it on together — the threshold is taken to the the point where ''Jesus Christ and Satan'' pull an EnemyMine and decide to (temporarily) help each other.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Spellbound}}'', when the Unseelie Court [[spoiler: kidnaps Marinette]], Adrien asks Plagg to activate "Plan Z": pouring enough magic into Adrien to let him fight a Court chief, but at the cost of permanently changing his body and making him too inhuman to ever wield a Miraculous again.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Symbiosis}}'', the act of calling the Elite Four from the Pokémon League is a sign that everything has gone to hell. Team Rocket successfully {{mind rape}}s and mind controls [[PsychicPowers Sabrina]] and forces her to kill everyone in her gym and destroy Saffron City. It gets so bad that [[SoulPower Agatha]] and her massive Ghost Pokémon entourage have to be called in.
* [[spoiler:Daemon]] from the ''Fanfic/TamersForeverSeries'' is considered to be such an unbeatable opponent that the Tamers' only hope is for [[spoiler:Takato to die before Daemon can absorb the power of a god]].
* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': In Chapter 15 of ''Changing of the Guard'', when Ben refuses to run from Vilgax, since that would just cause him to spread chaos and destruction chasing the Omnitrix through the galaxy, and at least in Arcadia they have the home field advantage, the Azmuth A.I. [[spoiler: unlocks the Omnitrix's Master Control]] so he can at least give Ben the best chance he'll get for success.
* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'':
** For most of the story after Alabasta, Vivi fiddles with the [[SecretWeapon Sirocco-charm container]] that her father gave her whenever she is faced with a particularly terrifying enemy, as if contemplating crossing a threshold there is no going back from. As we find out during the ride to storm Enies Lobby, it contains [[spoiler: the seed of an active Logia Devil Fruit]], hence Vivi's hesitance to actually use it unless she's absolutely certain it's necessary. She finally crosses that threshold mark during Strong World, where she's left desperate to help the Straw Hats get an edge on Shiki [[spoiler: and thus eats the seed, becoming a wind-based Logia]].
** Cross contemplates appealing to B.R.O.B. to [[spoiler:save Merry]], but given their JerkassGod status...
*** He finally caves and makes a bargain shortly before Enies Lobby, and as it turns out, it does agree to give Cross a chance if he puts on a good enough show. And if he doesn't, it will still consent to [[spoiler:saving Merry]]... if Cross considers [[GenderBender the Ivankov treatment]]. [[BrainBleach No one objects when Cross refuses,]] although when it comes to the very last minute, Cross shows that he would be willing to go that far if there were no other choice.
** Almost the first thing that Cross does when he discovers the call-in function of the SBS is blacklist [[spoiler:Donquixote Doflamingo]], citing that person as someone too toxic to even give a chance to dig their own grave. During the Marineford Misery arc, Cross allows that person to speak on the SBS; specifically, [[spoiler:he lets him make his canonical WrittenByTheWinners cynical speech over the SBS for the whole world to hear]], just to add a little more retaliation against the Navy and Government for going through with the war.
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': When [[spoiler:the race of killer robots known as ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Necrons]]'' were taking over the galaxy and killing ''literally everything'', the Emperor of Mankind]] was desperate enough to [[spoiler:agree to a truce with the Ruinous Powers]] and let [[spoiler:Earth fall to Chaos.]] Usually he'd never, ever, consider such a scenario.
* In ''Fanfic/TouhouIbunshu'', the events of ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' and ''Imperishable Night'' are construed at this: both times, it merely served as a delaying tactic that ultimately only helped make enough time for the heroines to step in as unexpected reinforcements. In the first, [[spoiler:Flandre had begun to gather enormous amounts of energy in an effort to cast a massive spell to annihilate Gensokyo; Remilia delayed her by taking the energy and dispersing it as the scarlet mist]]. In the second, [[spoiler:Mokou attempted to use the moon as a catalyst to energize a vast undead fairy army, and Eirin used a powerful spell to hide the moon and stop time in a desperate gambit to block her]].
* In the ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' fic ''Fanfic/TwistOfFate'', Moses uses his TimeMaster powers to defeat Teitoku Kakine by making him suffer RapidAging. Moses explains that he would normally not do something this horrible, but the situation they were trying to stop is extremely desperate, Kakine wouldn't get out of their way, and he was strong enough to shrug off Moses' attempts to [[TimeStandsStill freeze him]].
* ''Fanfic/TheUltimateEvil'': It's made clear that the Demon Sorcerers view using the Book of Ages as this due to the potential risks of [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 reality being destroyed]], but they don't have any other choice if they want to escape the Netherworld.
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'', the Scooby Gang is facing a Kryptonian vampire. Since it's mightier than Supergirl — and we're talking about the Pre-Crisis version who was known to ''kick moons out of and back in orbit'' here — the Girl of Steel gets tools capable of killing or banishing a Kryptonian and tells the Gang to use them if things go South, no matter what. Note that she's usually against killing, but she's willing to make an exception for Zol-Am.
-->'''Buffy:''' And this is...what?\\
'''Giles:''' I do believe I know. I'm not quite sure I'm comfortable with it. At all.\\
'''Supergirl:''' (nodding) These are our two last lines of defense. This is a Phantom Zone ray. Just worry about the white button. If you touch that, whatever you point this at will be instantly banished to the Zone. This one I've set to burn out its power element just two minutes after activation. That should prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. If all else fails, use this on Zol-Am. I don't want him back in the Zone. I don't know if he can infect other inmates there with vampirism, and I don't want to find out. If I don't have to.\\
'''Buffy:''' Yeah. One vamp with powers to change the course of mighty graveyards is all we need for now. And what's in this little box?\\
'''Supergirl:''' (grasping her wrist) Don't.\\
'''Giles:''' I know what is in there. Kryptonite.\\
'''Buffy:''' Kryptonite? You're serious?\\
'''Supergirl:''' What do you think? If even the Zone projector fails, you have to use this against Zol-Am. It must be in close proximity to him for several minutes to kill him. If it gets knocked too far away, or he manages to fly off, or lead gets between it and him... he can recover. Also, don't expect him to be too pleased.\\
'''Buffy:''' We can't use that against him while you're around.\\
'''Supergirl:''' Buffy. You'll only use this as a last resort. But if that happens, you will use it whatever the circumstances.\\
'''Buffy:''' But...\\
'''Supergirl:''' Whatever the circumstances. Am I clear?
* In the ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''/''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' crossover ''[[https://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/4789 Walpurgisnaught]]'', when Touma learns of the abominable system the Incubators do with Magical Girls and Witches, he breaks his [[ThouShaltNotKill no-killing code]] with sentient beings and obliterates Kyubey.
* In ''Fanfic/WhiteDevilOfTheMoon'', when a {{combination attack}} of Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate's strongest attacks don't work on Queen Metalla, Nanoha is forced to load up the Silver Crystal into Rising Heart, despite the fact that Nanoha could die going all-out.
* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'':
** When Earth is falling to an alien invasion, with the Justice League and several members of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' dead, Orange Lantern gets desperate. So desperate that he wants power more than he wants to remain himself. So he summons the [[PhysicalGod Ophidian]], the Embodiment of Avarice, which [[FusionDance semi-possesses his body]] and gives him full access to its power, but makes him obsessively focused and blocks his ability to feel any emotion except avarice.
** OL later tells Martian Manhunter that that actually wasn't his last resort: he has the Grimorium Verum, a guide book for extremely powerful demons, which he would have used to summon an actual demon if the Ophidian had fallen through.
* Alex Mercer in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12361169/1/Wolf-in-Sheep-s-Clothing Wolf in Sheep's Clothing]]'' is TheDreaded to anyone who knows of him, even visibly scaring ''Ozpin''. He is an immortal, invincible [=EX=]-Class Grimm (meaning he is more powerful and dangerous than any other Grimm on the planet) that not even ''a nuclear bomb'' could kill. You can tell how desperate Ozpin truly is when he ''asks'' Alex to protect Beacon after Salem makes her move. Thankfully, Alex accepts.
* ''Fanfic/WorldwarWarOfEquals'': The threat of pending invasion by the Race is enough for Switzerland to abandon its long-standing neutrality and join the European Coalition, and for [[EnemyMine Israel to join forces with its Arab neighbors]] (primarily Egypt). After the war begins and grows desperate for some, we see more examples — when Ukraine is nearly completely overrun, its military starts using nerve gas, while President Viktor Yanukovych asks for [[HarsherInHindsight Russian aid]]; Syria breaks out its chemical weapons program in light of neighboring Iraq being overrun; and China, desperately trying to HoldTheLine against the Race, [[spoiler:is the first nation to use nukes against the invading forces]].
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13545968/1/Wilhuff-Tarkin-Hero-of-the-Rebellion Wilhuff Tarkin, Hero of the Rebellion]]'' deals with the argument:
** The Base Delta Zero OrbitalBombardment protocol reduces a planet to a lifeless husk, as it continues until all life forms have been wiped out, all liquid water has been vaporized, the atmosphere has been blasted into space, and the crust has been melted down... And even TheEmpire considers it a last resort in case the situation on a planet has gone ''that'' bad, with Tarkin citing an incident where a planet was being overran by a horde of {{Kaiju}} as a case where it was ordered and called off at the last moment when it was discovered a certain chemical would kill it. It's finally ordered when Tarkin discovers the existence of [[Literature/GalaxyOfFear D'vouran]], a literal people-eating ''planet'' capable of hyperspace travel.
** During a conversation with Tarkin, Thrawn claims that the [[EarthShatteringKaboom Death Star]] is not ''that'' urgent... And when Tarkin asks what Thrawn would consider worth of the Death Star the Grand Admiral reveals the existence of the [[EldritchAbomination Mnggal-Mnggal]], a spreading monstruosity that in the Unknown Regions is considered so horrible that [[EnemyMine a sighting interrupts any battle in the area until the infestation has been dealt with]] and that it has consumed an entire planet surrounded by a Mnggal-Mnggal-controlled fleet, and it's ''that'' that Thrawn would want to use the Death Star against.
** In the same conversation, Tarkin thinks he didn't expect to find out there are ''two'' planets worth of using the Death Star against.
[[/folder]]

** Almost the first thing that Cross does when he discovers the call-in function of the SBS is blacklist [[spoiler:Donquixote Doflamingo]], citing that person as someone too toxic to even give a chance to dig their own grave. During the Marineford Misery arc, Cross allows that person to speak on the SBS; specifically, [[spoiler:he lets him make his canonical WritenByTheWinners cynical speech over the SBS for the whole world to hear]], just to add a little more retaliation against the Navy and Government for going through with the war.

** During the Marineford Misery arc Cross allows [[spoiler: Doflamingo]] whom he had always ensure not to let get as much as a word edgewise, [[spoiler: to make his canonical WritenByTheWinners cynical speach over the SBS for the whole world to hear.]] Cross was that desperate to discredit the Marines and show the world just how hypocritical they are.

'''Michael:''' Thank you, [[spoiler: your majesty.]]