Dragon Ball has a habit of employing the Godzilla Threshold to showcase just how desperate the situation is.
- An extremely early example in the original Dragon Ball was Roshi (as Jackie Chun) using the "Lightning Surprise" attack on Goku, with the notion that Goku would give up rather than be killed by it. Stubborn ol' Goku refused to give up, but fortunately the full moon appeared and he turned into an Oozaru/Great Ape.
- Goku becomes this for the Red Ribbon Army in that arc, and they resort to hiring the ruthless mercenary Tao Pai-Pai. How desperate were they? He charges 100 million zeni per kill (1 billion in the dub). And that includes anyone he might kill along the way, which in this case includes Bora and a tailor.
- Sending in Tao Pai-Pai backfires on the Red Ribbon, as Bora's death gives Goku a reason to raid their base - and late during the battle, attendant Black, seeing anything else had failed, fires a nuke at him, another threshold all on its own. Goku deflects the missile into a mountain and kills Black, making the remaining Red Ribbon survivors realize they have lost and run the hell away from the invincible child.
- In the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, Tien resorts to this when fighting Goku in the finals: he uses the Kikōhō, or Tri-Beam, a crushing move that decreases the lifespan of the person who uses it.
- For the King Piccolo arc, Pilaf realized he could never take over the world with Goku around (or, using the Dragon Balls, keep it), so he resorted to tracking down the rice cooker where the Demon King Piccolo had been sealed in centuries before. King Piccolo is an Ax-Crazy Card-Carrying Villain with more power than anyone in the world was known to have at the time with a reputation of being too powerful to kill, and if he got back his youth he'd become even stronger. King Piccolo being called a Demon King for a reason, his reward to the Pilaf Gang for freeing him and helping restore his youth is to force them to jump from their own airship without parachutes.
- Master Roshi's original plan to deal with King Piccolo had been to recover the Dragon Balls, including the two Piccolo had already in his possession, and wish him dead. Upon witnessing Piccolo swallowing his two Dragon Balls specifically to prevent such a trick, Muten resorted to the Mafuba, the same technique that had sealed Piccolo away, fully knowing it would kill him and seal those Dragon Balls away with the demon.
- King Piccolo crossed this threshold for Korin as well: he suggested Goku drink the Ultra Divine Water, a poisonous drink that will vastly increase the strength of the one who drinks it... but all previous attempts resulted in an agonizing death (and in the anime, is at the end of an ice and cave maze with snowstorms, a giant snow monster, and deceitful illusions). Goku decides to try it, and despite going through agony, he lives.
- For Piccolo Jr. in Dragon Ball Z, this happens twice in the Saiyan Arc:
- At the start, after Raditz withstood one of his attacks without so much as a scratch, he goes to Goku for aid. Keep in mind, at that point Goku was his sworn enemy; it's later revealed he developed a technique specifically designed to kill him, the Makankosappo / Special Beam Cannon.
- After Raditz is defeated, the onset of the Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa crossed it again, and so he took Gohan, the son of his enemy, in the hopes that training him will allow him to harness his vast untapped potential. Similarly, the normally extremely picky Kami agrees to train Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yajirobe as well.
- The Genki Dama/Spirit Bomb is largely considered to be an ultimate technique. King Kai (or North Kai) described it as this trope to Goku, explaining that because the Spirit Bomb involves collecting the energy from the environment around the user, up to and including the energy released from the Sun (or any nearby star to the planet), using it has the risk of destroying the planet the user is on, and advised against its usage unless the situation is dire. It also requires immense skill, because the ball gains an amount of ki that often vastly overshadows the user's. Oh, and to form it you have to stand completely still with your arms up in the air, leaving you completely defenseless. If things have gone so far south that the person Goku is fighting not only is too strong, but his victory threatens either the world, the galaxy, or even the universe, Goku will use the Spirit Bomb, risking the planet's very destruction along with his opponent, and himself. One proposed gambit near the end of the series involved convincing every person on Earth to sacrifice energy in order to power it up against against the villain that had been casually blowing up planets left and right. It works, but barely, and everyone on Earth is exhausted as a result.
- Along with the Spirit Bomb is the Kaio-Ken, a Dangerous Forbidden Technique that could increase a user's power by multiple levels. Goku is told to only use x2, as the surging ki will damage his body if he attempts to go any higher, but fighting Vegeta forces him to go x3, then x4 during a Beam-O-War between the Kamehameha and the Galick Gun (and his body pays the price). When he's fighting Frieza, Tien and Yamcha are shocked when King Kai tells him that he's been using the Kaio-Ken the entire time and Frieza's still too powerful.
- The Ginyu Force is this for Vegeta. When he realizes that not only are they headed to Namek, but are mere minutes away, he throws his pride to the wind and suggests teaming up with his enemies Krillin and Gohan so that they might pool their Dragon Balls and have a chance of victory.
- In the Frieza Saga, with said tyrant mere minutes from arriving and killing everyone, Krillin is convinced that the best thing to do to potentially stop him is to use their last wish to make Vegeta immortal. At this point in the series Vegeta was still in his ultra-violent Blood Knight stage and would very likely kill the rest of the Z Warriors he'd allied with once they weren't of any more use to him. The only reason he ultimately doesn't get it is that at the last second before Dende can complete the wish, the Grand Elder, the Namekian who created the Dragon Balls, dies of grief, which causes Porunga to disappear.
- During the Android Saga, Dr. Gero activates the rebellious 17 and 18 once his attempt to defeat the Z Fighters himself went south and he had them literally at his door. Oh, sure, they easily manage to defeat the Z Fighters... but not before turning on Gero and killing him.
- Piccolo despises the idea of merging with Kami to the point that he says he would never do it, even to fight Frieza. Once the Androids prove too much for him and his allies, he swallows his pride and goes to Kami's Lookout to do just that. Kami himself is unwilling to merge with Piccolo at first, as it would mean leaving the earth with no guardian and no Dragon Balls. But when he senses Cell, who is more dangerous and more murderous than the Androids, he casts aside those worries and consents to the fusion to stop the threat.
- A lot in the Buu Saga:
- Majin Buu himself is this to everyone involved. His level of power and destructive tendencies were so high that the heroes keep saying that they'll revive everyone he killed with the Dragon Balls. This is initially one city, then several, then eventually Buu kills everyone on the planet. Then he starts blowing up entire worlds. The Supreme Kai violates his traditions to bring Gohan to their world and train with the Z-Sword in the hopes that he can defeat Buu. And then the predicament gets so bad that Vegeta puts aside his pride as a fighter for the aforementioned Potara Fusion to put a stop to him. Old Kai even offers the sacred World of the Kais as their consequence-free battle ground so they could fight Kid Buu with no concern over collateral damage.
- Goku being revived was this to the Kais. Old Kai gave his life to bring Goku back to life as Buu, having absorbed Gotenks and Piccolo, beats the stuffing out of a massively powered up Gohan. Until this moment, a Kai has never given their life to a mere mortal.
- Vegeta's revival also qualifies. With the fight against Buu getting more and more dire, King Yemma and Fortuneteller Baba pull Vegeta's soul out of Hell, restore his physical body, and send him to Earth so he can have a second shot at defeating Buu. Goku being there was a bonus, as neither Yemma or Baba knew that Old Kai revived him.
- Potara Fusion becomes this for Goku and Vegeta, both very proud fighters. Goku was willing to forever fuse with both his own son, and when no other option looked available, even Mr. Satan just to get a chance to defeat Buu. As for Vegeta, when told that this method is permanent, he initially refuses until Goku emphasizes that Buu had killed his family. Keep in mind, this is before it's revealed that only Kais are permanently bound by the Potara Earrings, and even then, none of the Kais in Universe 7 were aware of that fact.
- Dragon Ball GT: Vegeta despises the embarrassing Fusion Dance and working together with Goku, but Omega Shenron's threat is so great that he immediately suggests performing the dance with Goku. Later, Goku defeats Omega Shenron with a Spirit Bomb formed from energy collected from the entire universe.
- Frieza's revival in Resurrection 'F' is only brought about by his empire falling apart following his death, and his minions, while not happy about the idea, see his fear factor as the only way to restore it to its former glory. Sadly, Frieza is concerned only with getting revenge on Goku, and goes so far as to kill one of his minions (or in the Super adaptation, simply injure him and then torture him during his four-month training) simply for suggesting that he focus on rebuilding his empire and leave Goku alone.
- Frieza's men going to Earth also count. Before the empire began to completely fall apart, they were searching for New Namek to no avail. They wanted to avoid Goku at all costs, and when they finally went to Earth, stayed just long enough to find the Dragon Balls and make their wish before getting the hell off the planet.
- In Dragon Ball Super, we're shown the Super Kaio-Ken, a fusion of the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan/Super Saiyan Blue form and the Kaio-Ken technique. The technique is insanely powerful and pushing it to x10 makes Beerus, the God of Destruction, go Oh, Crap! However, because it's an incomplete technique, it's extremely dangerous as it has a 90% failure rate, a short timespan, if done wrong, it could kill Goku, and even when it's done right, it can render Goku unable to effectively use his ki for some time after. He brings it out to full face the equally powerful Hit, who was improving himself at a frightening rate.
- In the Future Trunks arc it's shown that in that timeline Shin, the Supreme Kai, went even further than in the main timeline to deal with Buu due having only Future Trunks rather than all the Z Warriors to help him: he went to Trunks and invited him to his world like he did with Gohan in the main timeline, but here he did it well before Babidi had recovered enough energy to release Buu, and threw making Trunks his disciple in as an additional measure. As a result, Majin Buu is not released, but Shin and his attendant Kibito get killed before they can explain Trunks he now has some special powers, and the Z Sword is destroyed, killing the Old Kai and that timeline's Beerus with him.
- Upon Future Zamasu having a Villainous Breakdown as a result of the Mafuba seal, he decides not to play around anymore and decides to fuse with Black Goku. The latter, despite having the situation under control obliges and as a result, Fusion Zamasu has been born.
- Despite unleashing the power of Vegito and Trunks somehow harnessing the power of the Spirit Bomb, Zamasu still won't go down and threatens the multiverse by merging with it itself. This forces Goku to call in the Future version of the God of Gods Zeno, who decides this universe is just too corrupt and just eradicates it.
- When Zeno organizes the Tournament of Power, with any of the universes involved facing Cessation of Existence if eliminated, all universes cross it immediately, or at least come ready to do just that:
- When they have only three fighters left, Heles, the beauty-fixated Goddess of Destruction of Universe 2, orders said three warriors to do anything it takes to win, no matter if it's not beautiful, quickly followed by team captain Ribrianne leading everyone into giving them her own, Roasie's and Kakunsa's powers.
- When all other Super Survival plans failed, Paparoni of Universe 3 went for something that he expected to kill him: fusing with the robot Koicéareta, unleashing the incredibly powerful Anilaza at the full risk of losing himself in the fusion. Paparoni indeed lost his consciousness immediately, and thus the universe known for its brains lost its smartest scientist and gained a mindless monster that nobody else in its universe could hope to stop.
- Universe 4 didn't have any explicit card, only a team full of Combat Pragmatists-and such an obvious gimmick as invisible fighters. Being so obvious, nobody expected the invisible fighters, who end up fighting their last stand and eliminating Piccolo from the tournament.
- Universe 6 went in with Kale, their universe's Legendary Super Saiyan, knowing they couldn't control her. Also, Champa gave Kale and her friend Caulifla Potara Earrings to perform a fusion in case Hit was defeated, and their two Namekian fighters fused with every single other Namekian warrior of their universe (thus permanently killing them) in the hope to have enough power to win.
- Originally Universe 7, home to the Z fighters, had not crossed it... Then Majin Buu falls asleep and is unable to participate in Tournament, and Goku is forced to attempt to recruit (and promise full resurrection after winning) the last person anybody expected, or wanted: Frieza! In addition, Master Roshi was forced to use the Mafuuba Jar repeatedly, a Dangerous Forbidden Technique that consumes a large amount of ki to use, enough that even someone like Roshi stood a high chance of dying from. No one prior had used multiple Mafuuba Jars and lived, and Roshi knew full well this was the most suicidal strategy he had ever done.
- Universe 9 just sent out assassins to kill Goku and Frieza before the Tournament even started, equipping them with Energy of Destruction to make sure they succeeded. Fat lot of good that did them...
- Universe 10, known as the Macho Universe for their reliance on strength and brawn over smarts in anything, is forced to use the latter, taking advantage of the tournament rules forbidding ki-based flight by employing two winged fighters.
- Universe 11 apparently didn't need it... Because the very act of bringing in their aces, Top and Jiren, was it. Top was a God of Destruction in training, and his full ascension (which could have happened at any moment and indeed did happen during the Tournament) carried the risk of him killing an opponent (due to the fact that Top never had enough time to learn how to control Energy of Destruction) and thus being erased from existence on the spot for breaking the rules. As for Jiren, he was a mortal stronger than a God of Destruction and didn't care in the slightest for the rest of the team, only for the prize of being proclaimed the best fighter, and allowed his teammates to get eliminated to make sure he'd have it by default once he eliminated the other teams. The last actually cost them the victory, as during the final fight he's eliminated by and with Goku and Frieza, leaving Android 17 as the last fighter standing and the winner.
- Being that powerful, Jiren causes his opponents to cross it all the time: during their first fight Goku resorted to the Spirit Bomb, immensely powerful but with a long charge-up time during which he has to be in base form, as that was the only thing he still had left that could carry a chance to actually defeat Jiren; after Jiren seemingly kills Goku with his own Spirit Bomb (thus escaping erasure as it was Goku's own attack), the group that assembles to take on Jiren includes Paparoni with the components for Koicéareta, Universe 4's invisible fighters, and the entirety of Universe 2's remaining team with Ribrianne (who was terrified by Jiren) ready to charge first, with Hit walking up to join the group; later, Goku and Vegeta, who hate joining forces, do just that to try and fight Jiren, and later Goku does the same with Frieza, of all people. The latter is what finally defeats Jiren for good, and even then they had to drag him out and get eliminated themselves.
- Jaco the Galactic Patrolman introduces the Galactic Patrol's Extinction Bomb, capable of killing off any life form on the planet. It's used if the danger on the planet is that bad... Or whatever is attacking it is unstoppable, as this quick death will be faster and less painful than the attacking enemy murdering everyone. When he came to Earth to deal with an impending Saiyan invasion, Jaco had orders to use it if the Saiyan was too strong (that is, an adult as opposed to a child)... And he admitted it would have killed only the Earthlings, as the Saiyans are immune.
- In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Broly's Legendary Super Saiyan power is so overwhelming that Goku and Vegeta decide to work together, culminating in them performing the Fusion Dance to bring about Gogeta.
