"That board with a nail in it may have defeated us, but the humans won't stop there. They'll make bigger boards and bigger nails, and soon, they will make a board with a nail so big, it will destroy them all!"
—Kang, Treehouse of Horror II
"I'll tell you what my superior told me some twenty years ago, before I defected. Never forget that our enemies have someone just like you, doing exactly the same thing as we speak."
— The Killing Room (2009)
Gordon: What about escalation?
Batman: Escalation?
Gordon: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor piercing rounds.
Batman: Escalation?
Gordon: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor piercing rounds.
Vision: In the 8 years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, a number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate.
Captain America: Are you saying it's our fault?
Vision: I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe.
Captain America: Are you saying it's our fault?
Vision: I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe.
— Captain America: Civil War (2016)
"Finally, it bears remembering that while the Vanguard Cannon was unmatched in power for its time, the energy output of conventional laser weaponry has increased nearly thirty fold during the span of the Neutral Rim War. The effectiveness of shields and armor have also increased to compensate. I’m afraid that if you're expecting the Lancer's laser to penetrate the hull of a dozen capital ships, all lined up in a neat row, then you will find yourself disappointed."
—Ava Crescentia, Sunrider 4: The Captain's Return
As human soldiers had quickly become useless in war, utterly outclassed by machines, they were almost entirely phased out. This lead to the second era of the Final War, where machines fought machines in a back-and-forth tide as new designs were phased in and out at a feverish pace, each designed specifically to counter the last.
—Guttertank Terminal entry, ULTRAKILL
Oppenheimer: Once it's used, nuclear war, perhaps all war… becomes unthinkable.
Teller: Until somebody builds a bigger bomb.
Teller: Until somebody builds a bigger bomb.
