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Deadly Upgrade
The human version of Explosive Overclocking. A hero, often one who is already able to transform into a super-charged mode, discovers, is granted, or reveals that he is capable of a further transformation which gives him unstoppable power.

This transformation comes at great cost, though, as, once he uses it, it's only a matter of time before he dies, explodes, goes insane, becomes a mindless super-powered beast, or ascends to a higher plane of existence. Even if it doesn't poison him, he still may have to use his own life force to attack.

When he's forced to pull it out, his friends will have to talk him down, coaxing him into reverting to his former form. He may have to go away for a few episodes to live among the gods or somesuch.

Often, the extreme bodily stress will be demonstrated by the character's blood slowly oozing from one nostril.

Compare Heroic RROD, My Skull Runneth Over, Phlebotinum Overload.

Examples

Anime
  • Goku's transformation into a giant, mindless ape in Dragonball. Also, the "Kai-Oh-Ken" technique from Dragonball Z risked permanent damage to Goku's body whenever he used it — especially when he overclocked it. However, thanks to My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours, by the time he's fighting against Freezer, he can multiply it by twenty-fold.
    • Super Saiyan 3 is another example, a few minutes of use drained Goku of about 12 hours of his life force, and Gotenks, who burned out his 30 minute fusion in 5 minutes.
      • Don't forget Tienshinhan, who is the badass normal, manages to almost keep up during the Cell Saga by using the Tri-Beam attack. It was only so powerful because he fed it with his own life force.
      • Better than it was in Dragonball, where he risked death by using it once.
  • Inu Yasha's transformation into his full-demon form.
    • And as an inversion, he can also transform into human form during the nights of the New Moon. What makes this a "Deadly Downgrade"? Simple; in human form, he loses all of his demonic powers, meaning he's easy prey for any of the demonic enemies he's made in his life... or, indeed, any true demon that realises what he is, as half-demons are almost universally despised by their full-blooded kindred.
  • Almost every extremely powerful technique in Naruto is some version of this:
    • The later phases of Naruto's demon transformation. The excessive amount of chakra disintegrates his body's cells, while at the same time the regeneration ability it provides heals him. In the end, it works to eat away at his lifespan.
      • Not only that, but now with his Hermit Mode he doesn't even need his 4-tailed transformation. Of course, that too has it's downsides, but just having to charge up before battle beats dying sooner.
      • Of course, the 4-tailed form is nothing compared to his 6-tailed form...
      • Or his 8-tailed form!
      • Just imagine what happens when he finally gets the 9th tail.
      • And probably before the end of the manga he will be the one to absorb all the Bijuus getting also a 10th tail...
    • Tsunade possesses a technique that allows her to instantaneously regenerate, but it also speeds up her cell division and shortens her lifespan.
    • Naruto also has a Badass Normal, Rock Lee, whose power revolves solely around the Deadly Upgrade, in that he can open up certain chakra gates to gain large power boosts at the expense of damaging his body. The more gates he opens, the more injured he becomes, and if he were to open up all gates, he would become extremely powerful for a short time and then die.
    • Choji's Three Colored Pills each give as successive boost in Chakra, but burn out the user's body. The final, red pill instantly burns all the fat from his body and converts it to energy, but nearly kills him in the process. It would likely be fatal to anyone who's not as fat as he is.
      • If he eats the last pill, he will definitely diet
      • The pill also causes the user's cells to break down, but medicine from the Nara clan can stop the effect.
    • Uber-recently in the manga, it was revealed that the Mangekyo Sharingan will eventually render its user blind. Of course, there's a way around it, but that way involves plucking out your brother's eyes.
      • There is also the matter of how Sasuke now has (part of) Orochimaru sealed inside him, and the obvious dangers that entails.
      • Fortunately, Sasuke's strong will kept Orochimaru down until Itachi could kill Orochimaru in his fight with Sasuke. Once the battle was over and Itachi was dead, Sasuke gained the Mangekyo Sharingan and thus has to deal with a whole new set of Blessed With Suck.
    • And don't forget Orochimaru's Curse Seal, which allows the person to use more chakra, and increases their attack power, but using for too long will corrupt them and the seal will completely take over.
      • Sasuke was unusually capable of controlling this and the otherwise unstoppable transformation of the person from whom the Curse Seal originated. But now Sasuke seems to have lost the Curse Seal in his fight with his brother.
    • In the fillers, Kagerou's Ephemeral Vengeance technique seemingly shortens her lifespan, even though it is not what kills her.
    • Pain's jutsu that destroys much of Konoha shortens his lifespan.
      • Recently it's been revealed that just maintaining his Hive Mind and using any of his jutsus wrecks havoc on his real body. According to Konan, he's in danger of dying due to overexerting himself in his battle with Naruto. This might be why he follows Madara despite his own incredible power.
  • People who possess the Death Note in the anime of the same name can give up half of their remaining life span to gain the ability to discover the true name (which, by the rules, they need to know to kill a person) of anyone whose face they can see. An even larger downside is that if they lose their Death Note, they lose the power — but also the half of their remaining life they sacrificed. If they find their Death Note again, they have to sacrifice half of their remaining life again to regain the power, meaning they'd only have 25% of their original remaining life span left.
  • In Prince Of Tennis, no one's life is literally in danger, but junior high tennis is taken very seriously, so permanent physical damage may well be equal to death, or even worse.
    • One of the earlist example is the Hadoukyuu, a powerful shot that hurts the arm of whoever hits it, as well as whoever is bold, or stupid, enough to try to return it. Used initially by Ishida Tetsu, who then passes it on to Kawamura Takashi, who develops a Dash version which is even more destructive. Then we meet the big brother of Tetsu, Gin, who has 108 levels of this move, of which level ONE is equal to the Dash version. Despite this, Gin loses to a fluke which is widely seen as a cop out.
    • Tezuka Kunimitsu, widely regarded as one of the best players in the series has several Deadly Upgrades. The Zero-Shiki Drop Shot and the Invincible Tezuka Zone place considerable stress on his left arm, but he still manages to go into a 37-35 tiebreaker, which is ridiculous for tennis. Later on, these both get upgraded into a serve version, making it literally unreturnable, and a Reverse Zone, which places SIX times the burden on his arm, making it bleed a deep purplish hue by the end of the match. Obviously, none of his teammates want him to sacrifice his arm for the sake of victory, seeing that he has a promising professional career in his future. Ironically, in the matches where these are first unveiled, he loses, creating blots on an otherwise perfect official record.
    • Another ridiculous technique will ruin one's shoulders, since these players have only hit puberty, and their bodies are still maturing. Yet another one ruins the player's legs, because he's been running at hyper speeds. There's even a player who literally becomes a devil, complete with bloodshot eyes and newly-turned-white hair.
    • The most ridiculous example of this trope is the Pinnacle of Perfection, which appears to take the player who achieves this state to a higher plane of existence, but at the cost of losing all of his memories, including those of how to play tennis, rendering this upgrade, at face value, essentially useless. Currently, not surprisingly, the main character is believed to have obtained this state, seeing as how the manga is finally coming to an end.
  • In One Piece, Tony Tony Chopper (a reindeer who can become a humanoid with the power of the Person-Person Fruit) can access four additional forms besides his animal, human, and hybrid forms with the use of pills called "Rumble Balls". However, if Chopper takes more than two Rumble Balls within six hours, he turns into a mindless hulking monster.
    • Not only is this move dangerous to those around him (due to his mindless rampaging), but for some reason it causes internal bleeding (shown by the blood coming from his mouth, despite never being harmed), making it lethal for himself as well.
      • It's because Chopper's Monster form requires massive amounts of energy to keep going, far more than Chopper actually has. In addition, Chopper is essentially unconscious while he's in that form so he can't leave it on his own.
    • Gear Second not only drains Luffy's stamina faster than normal, but according to Rob Lucci, it shortens his lifespan by increasing his metabolism. Lucci also states that if Luffy were not a rubber man, his heart would explode if he used the technique.
  • In Digimon Adventure, when Greymon was pushed by Taichi into evolving, it changed into the dark SkullGreymon, a mindless monster. When it evolved "naturally", it became its true Perfect form, MetalGreymon.
    • Takato in Digimon Tamers had a similar experience: When Beelzebumon kills Leomon, Takato's rage and grief is so intense that it corrupts WarGrowmon's evolution and he becomes Meggidramon, which would be fine, except Megidramon's power is so great, that it begins to destabilize the fabric of the Digital World. It's not until Takato gets a hold of himself that Megidramon devolves back into Guilmon, and together, they Matrix Evolve into Dukemon.
    • Digimon Savers and its associated tamagotchi introduces Burst Mode, a Deadly Upgrade version of Season 2's Mode Change. In the tamagotchi, if the Digimon runs out of "Burst Points," it dies. In the anime, Masaru combines Takato and Taichi's mistakes, and mis-activates Burst Mode, changing his partner ShineGreymon to Ruin Mode, who quickly ran out of energy and died. Though, since the Minions of The Arc's Big Bad died first, he got better.
  • Ichigo in Bleach is able to throw around massively powerful kuroi getsuga tenshō energy blasts, but doing so too often risks losing his personality to his Hollow side. He can allow his Hollow side to come out in times of distress, whose violence and power is usually enough to annihilate any opponent. After training with the Vizard, he can even do so without going evil, but only for eleven seconds.
    • And in recent events, it's revealed that he's transformed into a sort of Super Hollow, capable of defeating Ulquiorra easily. However, evidently he's gone completely berserk, and has (at least temporarily) given in to his Hollow side.
    • Meanwhile, Ishida's final "upgrade" is one-use-only. He removes his 'Senrei' gloves, which make it more difficult to collect spirit particles- therefore someone who can collect the normal amount of particles while having the glove on has reached the pinnacle of Quincy power. When the gloves are removed that limit is removed, so a much greater amount of particles can be collected. However, this amount is far too much for his body to handle, so his body seals his powers altogether. He gets his power back later, though, by pushing himself to exhaustion so that being shot near the heart reopens the paths to his power. This leaves him with a Quincy "cross" shaped scar where the arrow struck.
    • Cirucci Thunderwitch gains the ability to bypass her released form's drain on her spiritual by discarding her wings, enabling her to use a large energy sword from her tail at the cost of never being able to use her wings again.
  • EVA-01 and EVA-02 in Neon Genesis Evangelion were given strength and capabilities in accordance to the Sync Ratio between the pilot and machine, but the higher the values, the more likely that the pilot might suffer the injuries the mecha did, go insane, or get absorbed into the mecha.
  • Sailor Moon can transform into Princess Serenity and blow the Big Bad away with her silver crystal and The Power Of Love... but she dies every time from all the energy output.
    • In the live-action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, she can upgrade to Princess Sailor Moon, in which she is possessed by Princess Serenity and has access to great power. Unfortunately, Princess Serenity is something of a sociopath in that series that doesn't care if she hurts anyone to kill the monster of the day, constantly plays a harp that is actually feeding the energy of Queen Metaria and accelerating the destruction of the planet, summon monsters to beat the crap out of her friends when they try to stop her, oh, and she's perfectly happy to destroy the world and kill everyone on it if anything happens to her lover. Needless to say, this makes Princess Serenity as much of a threat as the Dark Kingdom at the end of the series.
  • The anime Claymore almost entirely revolves around the caveat that when the series' eponymous half-demons overclock their powers too far they turn into monsters far more dangerous than those they were created to destroy; some of the more powerful of these 'awakened ones' are the primary villains of the series.
  • The Rockman.EXE series did this in their final two seasons, with a twist - Rockman didn't control his transformation, a child named Trill did. Sometimes this worked out, like when Rockman was fighting the very giant Cyber Beasts he was drawing his transformation from, and sometimes it didn't, forcing the other characters to devise a complicated plan to capture him and settle him down which usually failed several times.
    • The parallel game, Mega Man Battle Network 6, played with the same mechanic. In battle, you can take the beast form for three turns, after which you drop into a weakened, untransformed state. Of course, you can do it again, which puts you totally out of control and attacking randomly, and if that doesn't win you the battle, you go into a state so tired and weakened that you have to continue the battle at a pretty significant disadvantage. Of course, it doesn't stop the writers from arranging chapters where Mega Man is forced into uncontrolled transformation and you have to lug some other character over to put him down and get him back to normal.
    • Also in some of the "Mega Man Battle Network" games, the player can gain certain "Dark Chips". They are a variation of normal chips (there's Dark Fan, Dark Vulcan and so on), but with immense power and ability to change the tide of a fight. There are, however, two drawbacks. One is that every time Megaman uses the chip, his HP lowers by 1 permanently. Also, the more he uses Dark Chips, the faster he will be placed under "Dark Megaman" state. He becomes super-powerful rampaging machine, that randomly uses Dark Chips, moves chaotically and doesn't stagger when being hit, but he also slowly loses HP until he reaches 1, at which point he goes back to the normal state.
  • In Rave Master, Sacrifar, the appropriately-named 9th form of Ten Commandments sword bestows the wielder with overwhelming power, at the cost of being gradually consumed by the sword both physically and mentally. At its first appearance, there is quite a bit of Lampshade Hanging over how crazy the man who forged the sword was to put in that form.
    • A member of the Dragon Race (like Let, Julia, or Jegan) can invoke the great power of the Dragon God, but only by sacrificing their lives to the deity.
  • The lead character of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has a tendency to do things that are really bad for her, especially in the second series. This goes from using the dangerously explosive Cartridge System to using her Wave Motion Gun's full-power form, Excelion Mode. It's revealed in the third series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers, that at some point during the Time Skip this all caught up with her, and what should have been a minor injury in battle caused such extensive damage that she had to spend months learning to walk again. She later has her Excelion Mode replaced with a weaker Exceed Mode, which is a more traditional Super Mode. At the end of the series, however, she deploys a new Blaster Mode, which causes direct physical damage to herself and her weapon as a result of drastically boosting her power. Of course, by the time she receives this, she already has a known tendency to use techniques and upgrades that pushes her body to the breaking point, so instead of telling her not to use it, her long-time partner tells her not to overuse it.
  • In Chrono Crusade, Rosette is able to make Chrono, a demon who has the power level of a human child, into his true form, a badass bishounen demon, at the price of her lifespan. She's probably going to die before she hits thirty, and it's a big risk for her to use even a couple of minutes.
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh, the Spell Power Bond can double the attack strength of any Machine-type Fusion monster; however, at the end of the turn in which it is used, it decreases the user's Life Points by the original attack power of the monster. Possibly another example of explosive overclocking. Similarly, the Spell Limiter Removal can double the attack strength of all the user's Machine-type monsters for one turn. After which, they are destroyed.
  • In Witchblade anime use of Witchblade is shown as too taxing for a human body, and wielder of a Cloneblade sooner or later falls a victim to rapid and irreversible body deterioration ending with spectacular Super Power Meltdown. In some cases it will also corrode their mind as well. Both original and [1]s are [2]s, of course.
  • In Outlaw Star, the three rare Caster Shells, numbered 4, 9, and 13, are so powerful that it also takes away part of Gene Starwind's life whenever he uses it. On a side note, 4 and 9 are considered unlucky numbers in Japanese culture, and 13 is an unlucky number in western culture.
  • Guts from Berserk has the Berserker's Armour, which draws out the full physical strength of the wearer. However, the armour also draws out the Superpowered Evil Side of whoever wears it, and while the wearer can ignore pain, this is a double-edged sword, since the strength of whoever wears the armour will badly damage their body. Also, the armour mends broken bones by piercing through flesh with spikes. This led to the previous owner dying of blood loss after every single bone in his body was broken.
  • Upgrading one's Alter Power in S-Cry-Ed includes the risk of not only dangerously messing up the user's body, but also eventually draining the user's entire life force. As the series goes on, the Upgraded Alter Power users show more and more damage to their own bodies from continual use. Kazuma and Ryuhou show scars across their bodies where their Alter Powers bond to their bodies, while Straight Cougar is actually unable to walk properly because of how messed up his legs are.
  • Alexander Anderson from Hellsing uses the Nail of Helena on himself and becomes a plant-thing far more powerful than his normal self but using it requires him to stab himself in the heart.
  • Ryoga from Ranma 1/2 learns a very powerful, depression-fueled technique called the Shi Shi Hokodan, which becomes more powerful as the user gets depressed and/or miserable. This makes using it in battle rather risky, as its most powerful form basically requires the user to be so depressed that they don't care if they live or die — while the technique doesn't influence the user's mood itself (Fanon to the contrary), that does make using it against an opponent capable of outrunning or withstanding it not the brightest idea tactically. Not to mention that, when using the 'perfected' form (which fires the energy upwards so that it drops down on the user like a Sphere Of Destruction), it's possible for the attack to hit the user if they get snapped out of their moment of emotional hollowness.
  • In Mahou Sensei Negima, Negi learns a Black Magic version of this. He gets to equip spells to his body to boost strength and/or speed, depending on what he equips, at the cost of damage to his soul. The arc's Big Bad refers to it as "magical doping".
  • In Fairy Tail, Natsu consumes the Aetherion magic absorbed by the Tower of Paradise. This brief and HUGE power boost gives Natsu the edge he needed to give the fake Big Bad Gerard a beatdown. But at the start of the following arc Natsu suffers narcolepsy due to consuming non-fire related magic.
  • In Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple, there are two kinds of aura used while fighting: Dou (letting your anger burst out) and Sei (keeping a calm and level head). It's possible to combine the two for more power, but doing so rips apart the muscles and puts heavy strain on the mind. Of the two who've used it, one ended up in a wheelchair. The other one died, but for unrelated reasons.
  • In Tekkaman Blade, D-Boy/Blade's constant transformation from human to Tekkaman and back is disintegrating his central nervous system (this troper doesn't recall if this is true or not, but thinks the other human-based Tekkamen were also going to die as a result of incompatabilities). When he gets his Super Mode upgrade, in at least the Australian version "Teknoman", the main villain comments that this upgrade causes death within a few months, and it is shown to cause D-Boy/Blade to lose memories as a result of transformation instead of having its previous deletorious effect on the central nervous system.
  • In Mahoromatic, combat android-turned-maid Mahoro has an Ultimate Attack that is actually fueled by her life-force, so every use of it shortens her already brief lifespan.
  • Subverted in Dragon Half. Mink's power grows constantly when she pass her metamorphosis, due to be a red dragon/human hybrid, but if she achieves her maximum might and completes her metamorphosis, a prophecy states that "a black monster shall appear". A magic bracelet allows her to stop her power development at will, but against the stronger enemies she keeps facing, comes Time To Unlock More True Potential. When she finally unleash all her power to save her true love, the transformation comes… the black beast finally is showed in front of them all. As a tattoo on Mink's butt.
  • Using the black blood in Soul Eater is this, as the advantages given by that kind of madness (hardening the blood against injury, not caring about injuries you're receiving or giving because you're out of your mind) are negated by the consequences of doing so too much; the insanity could become permenant. Currently the heroes have gotten around this by being able to control insanity for their own uses. Whether this trick will continue to work remains to be seen.
    • The Nakatsukasa Purpose is originally seen to be this, but only because Black Star was going about using the Demon Blade mode the wrong way. Until he was beaten into re-thinking his approach, he was told explicitly that over-using the Forbidden Technique would kill him. A condition to his current use of it is that if he falls to mindless acts of violence - as seems to have been the fate of all previous users - it still could.

Comic Books
  • Strikeforce Morituri: The premise was that aliens have invaded Earth and nearly succeeded in conquering it and stripping it of its resources. A scientist discovers a process which can provide humans with superhuman powers, effectively creating a group of defending superheroes. However, the process would also ensure that the empowered humans would die within a year of being empowered.

Folk Lore
  • The Leanan Sidhe of Irish folklore does this. She grants inspiration to the artistic at the cost of sanity or even life. This may be the inspiration for the Deep Space Nine episode referenced below.

Literature
  • Literary example: Isaac Asimov's Foundation series had a scientist character whose ability to make intuitive logical leaps was overclocked in this way by an emotion-controlling telepath, which brought him to the brink of death.
  • In A.E. Van Vogt's Isher stories, the vibratory technology that enables the Weapon Shops can also be used by humans to grow into a several hundred foot tall giant that's practically invincible... but it will also cause you to age at an exponentially increased rate. This is, of course, no impediment whatsoever to secretly immortal benevolent puppeteer of humanity Robert Hedrock.
  • The Young Wizards book series features spells of this magnitude on occasion, which involve trading part or all of the caster's life to cast.
  • The Sword Of Truth series has "Wizard's Life Fire", an overclocked version of the already powerful Wizard's Fire that kills the user.
    • Then again, this power is typically only used when all hope is lost and you're about to be killed already. Burn the enemy off the world as they take you out.
  • In the world of Wheel Of Time, all males who have magic powers gradually go insane, or begin rotting before they're dead. Doesn't help that they're generally much stronger than their female counterparts. They fix it late in the series, but those who already are tainted aren't getting any better.
  • In The Curse of Chalion, the god known as The Bastard will occasionally grant a death miracle - the one who prays for someone else's death and the one who wronged him will always die. (The Bastard's death-demon can only enter or leave the world by the hole into heaven made by a death, so two deaths are required each time). A failed attempt is not fatal, but it is considered a crime of attempted murder - if the god didn't answer, the victim didn't deserve to die.
  • Everywhere in The Dresden Files, if only to prevent the eponymous character from getting Game Breaker levels of power. These include making a deal with the Leanansidhe twice, and getting shafted both times she winks out of existence without helping him the second time, and later discovers the first time she helped him, he didn't need it due to his special ability to wail ass on Eldrich Abominations all by himself. Then there is the fallen angel whose power he could call on, but too much and he risks losing control of his body. And Soulfire, which powers his spells at the cost of his soul.
  • In Mercedes Lackey's and James Mallory's The Obsidian Trilogy, there are numerous ways to do this with magic, usually by trying to do something that carries a mageprice of death (or worse). Another, more specific example comes up in the third book, where it's revealed the city Mages had developed a ritual that would grant them effectively infinite energy for their spells, but the strain of which would kill them in seven years.

Live Action TV
  • Stargate SG-1 did this repeatedly:
    • "Upgrades" had a set of gauntlets which accelerated human metabolism to give them superspeed and superstrength, but which suppressed the users inhibitions,making them reckless. It also had a built-in time limit due to the user's immune system fighting off the virus it used to generate the effects. Of course, this has to happen at the most inconvenient time, in the middle of a mission...
    • "The Fourth Horseman": An ascended ancient reverts to human form to help SG-1, but effectively overclocks his own brain to hold on to his godlike knowledge, eventually causing severe brain damage.
    • "The Fifth Race" and "Lost City" both dealt with a device used to put information directly into one's brain; however, human brains are not advanced enough for it, and one's mind would eventually be totally overwritten by the knowledge transmitted.
    • The concept is lampshaded in the episode "200" where it is mentioned that to maintain the Status Quo, all that had to be done was to add a dangerous side-effect to any super-powers the characters may obtain.
  • Also Stargate Atlantis — Lt. Ford is addicted to a Wraith enzyme that gives the user superior strength and durability, but causes a kind of madness. Ford's men eventually die in Wraith custody from withdrawal. McKay takes an obscenely-high amount of the enzyme, becoming a small colossus; he overpowers his guards and races back to the stargate, collapsing on the Atlantis control room floor and has to ride out the withdrawal in the infirmary.
    • Also in Stargate Atlantis, Dr. McKay gets zapped by an Ascension Machine (I defy anyone to come up with a less ridiculous description) and gets a few superpowers. But of course (in a hilarious scene) he finds out he has to ascend or die.
  • Doctor Who: "The Parting of the Ways". Rose absorbs the Time Vortex, gaining godlike powers which would have killed her had the Doctor not sacrificed himself instead.
    • And more recently, in the season 4 finale: Donna Noble gained the mental power of a Time Lord, which allowed her to be a critical aid in defeating Davros and the Daleks. However, once everything was done it began to overload her brain, forcing The Doctor to erase her memory to save her.
  • Angel: The deadlier sort of Hilarity Ensues when Lorne has his sleep removed for a party.
    • Albeit, unlike most other examples of this trope, this was deadly to everyone else, rather than to Lorne himself...
      • LORNE SMASH!
    • Of course, one could say Angelus himself is a form of this trope.
    • One Monster Of The Week Angel fought was a vampire who'd removed his own heart to make himself unkillable, but that only lasted for a limited time before he spontaneously turned to dust.
  • Star Trek Deep Space Nine: An alien woman seduces Jake Sisko, and heightens his creativity so that she can absorb the resulting energy, causing him to write compulsively to the point of collapse and beyond. Needless to say, the heroes discover what is happening just in time to save his life.
  • In the 2000 The Invisible Man TV series, Darien Fawkes can make himself invisible by the means of "Quicksilver", a substance secreted by an artificial gland implanted in his brain — but the gland also secretes toxins that will drive him mad and kill him, if not neutralized with a shot of "counteragent."
  • Most of the more recent Kamen Rider series have used this trope as a plot point.
    • In Kamen Rider Kuuga, the main character has an "ultimate form" that he can assume, at the risk of becoming evil.
    • In Kamen Rider Agito, one of the riders (Gills) suffers cellular decay from continued transformations.
      • The first version of the G3-X Armour would cause several physical strain on a user that wasn't completely submissive to its "perfect" AI system. The G4 Armour, while being the most powerful version, would eventually kill the user from overexertion.
    • In Kamen Rider 555, the Orphenochs seem to be the embodiment of Deadly Upgrade:
      • Orphenochs are dead humans who either become Orphenochs after suffering some accidental death, or are "sired" by other Orphenochs. The process requires the human to die either way.
      • The Orphenochs are subject to physical degeneration over time. The way to prevent this decay, however, destroys any remaining vestige of their prior humanity.
      • The Kaixa Gear consumes Orphenoch DNA as fuel, consuming so much that most users die after a single use. The Faiz Gear works much the same way, but has a warning system that rejects users that it would kill. The Delta Gear works for anyone, but carries a risk that the user will become addicted to the power.
    • In Kamen Rider Blade, the main character can assume his "King form" through a process that fuses all 13 of the monsters he's sealed as opposed to merely the "Ace". However, prolonged use of this form will turn him into a monster himself.
    • In Kamen Rider Hibiki, there is a sword that can transform a Rider into an "Armed" form; however, if the Rider is not "ready" for the transformation, he loses the ability to transform.
    • In Kamen Rider Kabuto, the Big Bad forcibly transforms himself from his human form in a final attempt to destroy the hero.
    • In Kamen Rider Den-O, Zeronos uses cards that consume the memories that others have of his older self to transform.
      • Later, his Palette Swap upgrade Zero Form changes things so that the memories consumed are of his present self.
    • In Kamen Rider Kiva, the prototype IXA system puts incredible strain on its user's body, and can only be used for a short period of time before apparently overheating. This is eventually used to help defeat Rook, by tricking him into using the IXA gear.
      • The power of Dark Kiva takes an even more savage toll on its user if they are an ordinary human rather than a Fangire; Otoya Kurenai dies from overstrain after his third fight as Dark Kiva.
  • In an episode of Red Dwarf, Kryten comes up with a plan to restore Holly's computer-senility-ravaged IQ to its original level at the cost of operational runtime. Due to a miscalculation, her IQ is actually doubled...but she ends up with just under four minutes to live.

TabletopGames

Video Games
  • In Baldurs Gate 2, the PC is granted the ability to assume the form of the Slayer, a manifestation of his dead father Bhaal, the God of Murder. Not only does maintaining the transformation kill you, using it is an inherently evil act that lowers your reputation, and may cause you to turn on party members.
    • It also isn't much of an upgrade, seeing that you can't cast spells in this form, and if you're a combat class already, can actually make you less formidable. However, it does come with no small amount of side benefits, such as immunity to many powerful nuisance spells, and as such for many characters is the tactic of choice for fighting certain creatures, like demi-liches.
  • Front Mission 3 had the Imaginary Numbers and Real Numbers, groups of genetically engineered individuals to gain extraordinary abilities, such as reaction time, piloting ability, or tactical knowledge. The Imaginary Numbers were insane to start with, but both they and the Real Numbers got significantly less stable as they used their capabilities more until the individual eventually snapped.
  • Front Mission 5 applies this trope in a similar fashion. Certain individuals have Type S devices implanted in their brains, which give super-human reaction times and allow some pilots to interface directly with specific mecha. Such devices aren't without cost, though: those so enhanced lose portions of their memory and even basic functionality, with even the best-case results losing upwards of 20% of their memory.
  • In Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, it is revealed that the Vampire Killer whip drains the life force of any non-Belmont who uses its true power. Jonathan Morris is warned against relying on it too much. Luckily for him, though, there is no in-game penalty for using the whip.
  • Also in Order of Ecclesia, you can get an item called the Death Ring. It boosts all your stats by a considerable amount...at the cost of you effectively becoming a One Hit Point Wonder.
  • The dragon transformation in Breath Of Fire: Dragon Quarter results in rapid accumulation of points on the D-Counter, which constantly increases at a much slower rate, cannot be lowered by any means, and results in a Nonstandard Game Over when it hits 100%, strongly discouraging you from using it at all.
  • Earthbound has the party (become robots in order to time travel, because time travel does not work on organic matter. No guarantee exists that the characters' souls will find their way back from the robots afterward, though naturally they do.)
  • In the Heaven's Feel route of the Fate Stay Night VN, Shirou gets Archer's arm transplanted onto him after his own is lost and Archer is dealt a fatal wound. It is wrapped in a cloth that seals its power, but even if left like this, it would kill him from power overload within ten years unless he cut it off or became a good enough mage to seal it himself. Just loosening the cloth causes significant memory loss; taking it off completely is a guaranteed death sentence, with rapid destruction of mind and body on top of that with every use. He still manages to overcome Black Berserker, Black Saber, Kotomine, and (in the "Normal End") the corrupted Grail before his mind dies.
  • In Dot Hack, Kite has Data Drain, which weakens enemies to the point where they can be taken out with a single hit. But using it can result in level and stat reductions or an instant game over. He gets an upgrade that allows him to use it on multiple targets and yet another that increases the chance of getting a rare item, but both increase the likelihood of negative effects occuring.
  • In the video game Haze you have access to a super-drug called Nectar which gives you enhanced speed, accuracy, and grenade range, but overdosing could result in losing control of your character or even death.
  • A central point of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Samus gets a powerful "Phazon Enhancement Device" added to her suit that allows her to transform into a hyperactive killing machine, but over-use of it will cause her to become 'corrupted' and end the game.
    • And even if you don't overuse it, it'll probably kill you anyway - witness the PED-equipped Marine with the suspiciously shaky hands in the Preview Channel video, to say nothing of the other three hunters, who apparently go over to the Dark Side right out of the gate, and AU 242's warning to Samus on Bryyo:
    "We have discovered that the unique Phazon in your body, once activated, will eventually overreact, resulting in terminal corruption. In providing you with the PED, we have inadvertently placed you in grave danger. (pause) We are sorry."
    • And in a moment of Fridge Brilliance, using the PED also explains why the space pirates' experiments with Phazon frequently caused unstoppable rage: Firing indiscriminately is the easiest way to get rid of excess Phazon, preventing an overdose.
  • Used in Kingdom Hearts 2 with Anti-form. Engaging a Drive form (other than Final Form) has a chance of instead turning into Sora into something akin to The Heartless (suggested to be his connection to when he briefly changed into one in the first game). AntiForm is completely unable to gain experience, and it's completely unable to recover health. Slightly related to both, it's also the only form that Sora can't cancel partway through. It's not bad if you're just starting against a boss, and at full health. But if either recovery or experience points are in the coming, you will be affected by the downsides.
  • In Prince of Persia: Warrior Within the Prince at one stage puts on the 'Mask of the Wraith', which sends him back in time and transforms him into a monstrous wraith. In this form his health slowly drains (and unlike the Dark Prince in The Two Thrones, he has no alternate means of regenerating it) but his sand tanks refill on their own at such a fast rate that he effectively has unlimited sand. Under the circumstances, you need it.
    • This doesn't quite count as the Sand Wraith's health does not drop below 25%.
  • In Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones at certain points, the Prince transforms into the Dark Prince, who is faster and stronger, but cannot use his left hand for grappling or picking up weapons, instead he has a spiked chain-whip. In addition, he slowly loses life to the darkness, which can be replenished by absorbing Sands of Time. He reverts back to the original Prince if he touches water.
  • In Prince Of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, transforming into the Shadow shortens your life meter by many potions, and using the Flame costs further health. Both are necessary to defeat the Final Boss.
  • One mission in Devil May Cry 3 has Dante acquire a key needed to progress to the next area. Said key drains the soul of the bearer, and he can't let it go until he reaches the area it's used. Of course, sticking around too long without health refills will eventually kill him. To give Dante a fighting chance, the key also allows him to be in Devil Trigger form permanently.
    • This is an echo of a mission in the original Devil May Cry, which carried all the same consequences for waiting around along with the same perpetual Devil Trigger benefit.
  • Rampage Mode in the Oneechanbara series, a product of the Baneful Blood carried by most of the playable characters. Their offensive abilities are greatly increased, at the cost of taking double damage and constant health drain. There's also a Double Rampage Mode which is even more powerful and even more deadly.
  • Valkyrie Profile Covenantof The Plume has the titular Destiny Plume - when used on an ally, if multiplies their base stats by ten, making them effectively unstoppable, but costs them their life at the end of the battle. It could almost count as a Heroic Sacrifice, except the choice is never theirs to make.
  • At the end of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. You discover an ancient Atlantean machine that transforms men into gods, and the Nazis want to reward Dr. Jones for the find by letting him be the first to use it and ascend to godhood. But this will inevitably result in Body Horror.
  • Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic has Martyr enchantment: it doubles one unit's HP, but this unit dies once the battle ends.
  • Rugal Bernstein of The King Of Fighters acquired some of the Orochi power after '94, becoming Omega Rugal. The problem is that those without the Orochi bloodline have no way of controlling it. After his defeat in '95, the power overloads and reduces him to his component atoms.
  • Mission Critical featured the Hype/Telecon System, which allowed the player to control the ship's combat drones with his mind. Unfortunately, the nanotech injection required to take advantage of it would cause certain death within a few days. Luckily, you're able to hit the Reset Button shortly before the end of the game.
  • In Tsukihime even before the story starts, Shiki had the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception activate, greatly supplementing his killing power. Obviously. Of course, it burns his brain out and he'll die in ten years or so but... Also when he overtaxes even that in order to see Satsuki's polluted blood in his veins, open his brain up to be able to comprehend the death of things that aren't even alive, and worst of all, use his eyes as X ray eyes while looking for poison to kill in Kohaku's blood. The last one sends him temporarily blind as well as surely cutting his life back a few more years.
    • The Nasuverse really likes this trope, doesn't it?

Web Comics
  • Problem Sleuth gained wings, glowing armor, superpowered weapons/writing implements, and access to insanely potent attacks upon using Sepulchritude, however, once his Ink of Squid Pro Quo (which powers Sepulchritude) ran dry, he was left helpless, nearly paralyzed and at the brink of death.
  • In the webcomic Mindmistress, the title character uses a piece of Applied Phlebotium that grants her Braniac-level intelligence. But if she leaves it active for too long, it will leave her with brain cancer, if not killing her outright.

Western Animation
  • On Justice League Unlimited, The Flash goes really, really, really fast, and ends up nearly pulled into another dimension, communing with a quasi-mystical "speed force," one of the show's many Shout Outs to the comics.
  • One episode of the Men In Black cartoon had Agent Jay accidentally use an intelligence-improving device that would eventually cause his head to explode. After using his new brain to help deal with a time-traveling villain who was erasing the founding members of the Men In Black from history, Jay managed to deal with this by hijacking the baddie's time machine and preventing it from happening in the first place.
  • In the second season finale of WITCH, the heroines must unleash "their dragons within", literally becoming the elements water, fire, earth, air, and quintessence. Because water, fire, earth, air, and quintessence aren't human, the girls lose their humanity as a consequence, and must be brought back to normal by their loved ones after the end of the fight.
  • In Transformers Animated, Sari, after the Robotic Reveal, uses her Key to upgrade herself and try to fight the asteroid monsters. As soon as the fight is over, though, she loses control of her body and starts destroying everything around her, despite her best efforts to stop, including accidentally stabbing Bumblebee when he gets too close and nearly offlining him.

Real Life
  • Anabolic steroids are well known for their ability to make us harder, better, faster, stronger, etc. The downside is that there are a HUGE amount of side effects, not the least of which are heart problems, cancers, "roid rages," and man-boobs.
    • Sometimes Truth In Television. Not all anabolic steroids and analogues are all that dangerous when taken in controlled amounts (assuming they're pure, and illegally-obtained drugs often aren't). Others are suffering in liquid form, inviting the physiological side affects mentioned above and others, as well as significantly increasing the risk of manifestation of psychological disorders in those with pre-existing conditions.
  • Vast majority of psychostimulants leave user in a "smoking ruin" state by the time they wear off; mostly due to straight metabolical overload, so the more performance enhancement given, the more damage caused (usually not permanent). Exclusions (like Eleutherococcus group) works by rising power throughput and more adaptogenic with useful side-effects than stimulating.
  • Not to mention adrenaline. The flight-or-fight system normally doesn't pump enough of it to harm your heart or body, usually. However combine it with certain Heart conditions (like Broken Heart condition) and your heart will not surivive. Outside sources of Adrenline, if not in a controlled will cause your BPM (Beats Per Minute) to sky rocket and cause a heart attack. And this isn't even getting into adrenal disorders like, Adrenaline Overload (as some doctors call it), which is basically the flight-or-fight system activating randomly and not turning off for a while.
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