History GodzillaThreshold / Literature

* ''[[Literature/{{Touch 2017}} Touch]]'', in which we are presented with a monster so far left nameless, which was so powerful that it convinced every global government to work together with one another in order to try and kill it. [[spoiler: They still fail.]]

* ''Literature/StarcraftOnePeopleOnePurpose'' deconstructs this. In ''VideoGame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid'', [[spoiler: The Protoss had to cut themselves off from the Khala, a pshycic link between all Protoss that allows them to communicate via telepathy, because [[GodOfEvil Amon]] had taken control of it]]. However, even if they had to cut off their access to the Khala because the alternative- being thrall to Amon's hatred- was so horrible as to be unthinkable, it's shown here that the Khala was such an integral part of Protoss society (for those who used it before) that nobody was particularly joyous they had to abandon it, with some of the radical elements even trying to get it back without regards to the consequences.

** To a lesser extent, in 'The Faceless Ones', Skulduggery and the group are willing to work with the Necromancers, including the White Cleaver, to stop the Diablerie.
** In 'Mortal Coil', the threat of the Remnants is enough that the group, with no questions asked, accept the hired help of Billy-Ray Sanguine, a sociopathic murderer who is one of their most prolific enemies.
** Happens repeatedly in 'Death Bringer'. The threat of Melancholia, the Death Bringer, killing millions is enough that Skulduggery considers bringing out his SuperpoweredEvilSide, Lord Vile, the previous Death Bringer, to be justified. In response, once the threat is ended, Valkyrie has to bring out Darquesse, her own SuperpoweredEvilSide, who is prophecised to destroy the world, in order to stop Vile.
** In 'Kingdom of the Wicked', this is at first averted, with Argeddion deliberately locking away the heroes' Godzillas. By the end of the book, however, the good guys have allied with (and powered up) unstable and unstoppable magic thugs to bring down Argeddion, and then once again released Lord Vile and Darquesse to stop those thugs.
** 'Last Stand of Dead Men' is a book of Thresholds being crossed.

*** On the villainous side, the above is even more of a Godzilla Threshold specifically for Ravel post-betrayal. Skulduggery and the Dead Men are the biggest threat to his regime there is, and they specifically hate him and want him dead. He nonetheless reluctantly frees them so they can lead the defense of Roarhaven.
** 'Dying of the Light' keeps up with the sheer number of Thresholds crossed. Darquesse will destroy the world (and many others) if she isn't stopped, leading to all principles being thrown out the window. The heroes ally themselves with (and in many cases arm with dangerously powerful weapons) Sanguine, Ravel, Vampires hated even by other Vampires, two Death Bringers at once, and [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Remnants]].

** Generally speaking, Touma is unwilling to rely on the full power of Imagine Breaker, which has only been released by accident a couple of times. Even during WorldWarIII, against Fiamma of the Right, he suppressed it rather than use it. But at the climax of ''New Testament'' 13, facing a quite literal PhysicalGod who is currently [[spoiler:riding a meteor toward Academy City]], Touma has finally run out of options and seems to be preparing to ''purposefully'' unleash that power for the first time in the franchise. Fortunately, the threat is dealt with by others before he has to go that far.

** Villainous example in ''Sky Masters''. His flotilla in shambles after a Filipino ambush, with only death or dishonourable retreat on the cards, BigBad Admiral Yin decided to NukeEm. Things go downhill from there.
** ''Battle Born'' has two. The Korean GeneralRipper, seeing all conventional attempts failing to stop a Chinese invasion, carries out a coup so he can get the nuclear launch codes. In turn, to stop him from making things go nuclear, [=McLanahan=] has Dreamland forces attack his command centre even though Korea is supposed to be America's ally.

* In ''LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'', the US has a backup plan in case of [[AlienInvasion [=BETA=]]] landfall in Alaska called "Red Shift". It involves setting off several hundred hydrogen bombs, which would create a strait and a new line of defense, and allow the US to shore up a new defense line. Unfortunately, this plan would also kill just about anyone living in Alaska at the time, namely the main characters as well as the remnants of the Soviet Union.

** The Endbringers are three NighInvulnerable, superpowered monsters who have collectively brought humanity to its knees over the course of decades of city-destroying and superhero-slaying attacks. Nuclear weapons are the ''least'' of the measures attempted against these monstrosities, as demonstrated when one parahuman makes a plan to attack one with [[spoiler:a weapon capable of destroying ''India''. [[TheJuggernaut It doesn't work]].]] This is codified in the "Endbringer Truce", one of the most sacred rules all superpowered people abide by: all grievances between capes are postponed during an Endbringer attack, be they factional, professional, or personal. Heroes and villains alike respect the truce because even with the total cooperation of everyone on both sides, Endbringer attacks are still universally total disasters. If the truce was broken, the infighting or villains and heroes simply not showing up for fear of betray would make the already catastrophic events even worse.

* ''Literature/{{City of Bones|1995}}'' by Creator/MarthaWells is set a thousand years AfterTheEnd, when some supernatural catastrophe reduced most of the world to the barren Waste. It's ultimately revealed that this was a ''side effect'' of the Ancients' efforts to [[spoiler:seal an invading army of malevolent alien spirits in their home dimension]].

** In ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars'' Khan has a satellite in place capable of destroying the ozone layer that serves to keep the governments of the world from moving against him. Once they catch word that he is developing a biological weapon to wipe out all of humanity they decide they've got nothing to lose anyway and attack.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', it is ''briefly'' allowed that actively using the powers of the One Ring, with all its corrupting influence and built-in malice, is either ''never''... or at utmost desperation. They never do.

** "Literature/TheConcreteJungle", the story that dives into the origins of SCORPION STARE, shares a historical example — evidence that the [[{{Ghostapo}} Nazis]] were planning to weaponize gorgons (humans who produce the basilisk frequency as an observer effect due to a rare brain tumor) was enough to get the British military to threaten chemical attacks on civilian targets if they didn't knock it off.

** In ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars'' Khan has a satellite in place capable of destroying the ozone layer that serves to keep the governments of the world from moving against him. Once they catch word that he is [[KillEmAll developing a biological weapon to wipe out all of humanity]] they decide they've got nothing to lose anyway and attack.

** 'Dying of the Light' keeps up with the sheer number of Thresholds crossed. Darquesse will destroy the world (and many others) if she isn't stopped, leading to all principles being thrown out the window. The heroes ally themselves with (and in many cases arm with dangerously powerful weapons) Sanguine, Ravel, Vampires hated even by other Vampires, [[UpToEleven two Death Bringers at once]], and [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Remnants]].

** The Endbringers are three NighInvulnerable, superpowered monsters who have collectively brought humanity to its knees over the course of decades of city-destroying and superhero-slaying attacks. Nuclear weapons are the ''least'' of the measures attempted against these monstrosities, as demonstrated when one parahuman makes a plan to attack one with [[spoiler:a weapon capable of destroying ''India''. [[TheJuggernaut It doesn't work]].]] This is codified in the "Endbringer Truce", one of the most sacred rules all superpowered people abide by: all grievances between capes are postponed during an Endbringer attack, be they factional, professional, or personal. Heroes and villains alike respect the truce because even with the total cooperation of everyone on both sides, Endbringer attacks are still universally total disasters. If the truce was broken, the infighting or villains and heroes simply not showing up for fear of betray would make the already catastrophic events event worse.

* In ''Literature/RevelationSpace'', the Mademoiselle considers destroy an entire populated planet with the ''Nostalgia For Infinity'''s [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Hell-Class weapons]] to be preferable to allowing [[spoiler:Daniel Sylveste to travel to [[BigDumbObject Cerberus]] and unwittingly re-awaken the Inhibitors, for [[PrecursorKillers a very good reason]].]]

** When Ar-Pharazôn sought to take Immortality from the Valar, the Valar, unwilling to actively kill men, who as Children of Ilúvatar fall under their protection, instead ''give up'' their stewardship of the world and let ''God'' handle it, and the ''World'' is changed for it.

** Tavi thrives on plans that are [[CrazyAwesome so crazy they might just work]], reaching a peak at the final battle in which he lures the BigBad to a place where [[spoiler:two of the world's most powerful Furies sleep and then provoking them]]. His lover Kitai figures where he went [[FollowTheChaos by thinking of a place only an absolute fool would go to, and a lunatic would follow]].

* ''Literature/Skulduggery Pleasant'' has this happen basically once a book towards the end of the first series.

** Happens repeatedly in 'Death Bringer'. The threat of Melancholia, the Death Bringer, killing millions is enough that Skulduggery considers bringing out this SuperpoweredEvilSide, Lord Vile, the previous Death Bringer, to be justified. In response, once the threat is ended, Valkyrie has to bring out Darquesse, her own SuperpoweredEvilSide, who is prophecised to destroy the world.

* In ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', the only situation in which any of the Unforgivable Curses can be used with impunity is [[{{Outlaw}} during an encounter with a Death Eater, against the Death Eater]], and justifiably so considering how low Lord Voldemort and his followers had proven willing to stoop by the time Barty Crouch Sr. decided to authorize use of the Unforgivable Curses specifically in such encounters.

* ''{{Literature/Touch}}'', in which we are presented with a monster so far left nameless, which was so powerful that it convinced every global government to work together with one another in order to try and kill it. [[spoiler: They still fail.]]