History Main / TooPowerfulToLive

* Ananta is this in ''Webcomic/{{Kubera}}'' both in-universe and out. Had he been alive and thus inclinced, his power could have solved a lot of the problems in the main story, and thus numerous parties planned his death for their own ends.

* Ananta is this in ''Webcomic/Kubera'' both in-universe and out. Had he been alive and thus inclinced, his power could have solved a lot of the problems in the main story, and thus numerous parties planned his death for their own ends.

* Ananta is this in [[Webcomic/Kubera Kubera]] both in-universe and out. Had he been alive and thus inclinced, his power could have solved a lot of the problems in the main story, and thus numerous parties planned his death for their own ends.

* Ananta is this in [[Webcomic/Kubera]] both in-universe and out. Had he been alive and thus inclinced, his power could have solved a lot of the problems in the main story, and thus numerous parties planned his death for their own ends.

* in [[Webcomic/Kubera]], Ananta is this, both in-universe and out. Had he been alive and thus inclinced, his power could have solved a lot of the problems in the main story, and thus numerous parties planned his death for their own ends.

** And again with [[spoiler:[[Characters/MCUHela Hela]]]], from ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', who was so powerful that even [[Characters/MCUThorOdinson Thor]] and [[Characters/MCULoki Loki]] together could barely deal any lasting damage. [[spoiler:WordOfGod is that, at least while she's on Asgard, not even ''Thanos'' could've beaten Hela.]]

A villain who is just too powerful to exist for more than an episode or two. If they aren't killed ''[[DeusExitMachina now]]'', [[StoryBreakerPower their presence will dominate the entire story forever]].

If the writers try re-using them, the result is almost always VillainDecay.

* The Chimera Ant King Meruem from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', along with his Royal Guard. They were easily the most powerful beings in the world, [[spoiler:in the human-inhabited part anyway]], and none of the human Hunters sent against them could beat them in a fair fight. So they don't fight fair. [[spoiler:Gon kills Neferpitou with a DeusExMachina DeadlyUpgrade (and still loses an arm to her), and Netero kills the rest with [[FantasticNuke a suicidal (and poisonous!) bomb]].]] Had Meruem lived, he would've either dominated the world or (had the HeelFaceTurn he was teetering on the edge of happened) rendered all of the main characters redundant.

** Kars, the BigBad of Part 2, obtains CompleteImmortality and AdaptiveAbility combined with VoluntaryShapeshifting cranked [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]] at the climax, thus achieving the status of Ultimate Lifeform. He also obtained the hero's power of [[KiManipulation The Ripple]], only hundreds of times more powerful, making him both immune to it and capable of using it on a much greater scale. He's only defeated when [[spoiler:Joseph uses the mother of all {{Indy Ploy}}s to blast him into space shortly afterwards, as well as making it look like he planned the whole thing (He didn't but he would say anything to {{troll}} Kars.). Kars tries to return to earth using air jets, but this only makes the situation worse as his body freezes over. Unable to change his course, [[AndIMustScream he now floats inert through the cosmos. Begging for death but unable to die,]] [[GoMadFromTheIsolation his higher brain functions shut down]]]].

** [[KilledOffForReal Invoked]] with [[spoiler:Twice]]. As pointed out several times; [[spoiler:because his Quirk can create infinite doubles of anyone or anything (including a High-End Nomu that took the combined efforts of Japan's top two heroes to defeat), the only thing keeping him from being an absolute StoryBreakerPower and overwhelming all of Japan with a limitless army, is his own trauma, caused by an AmbiguousCloneEnding, that leaves him afraid to use his Quirk to its fullest potential -- a trauma he largely heals from during the Meta Liberation Army Arc. Hawks, the heroes' [[TheMole inside man]] in the League,]] recognized this and made a priority of taking him down first when the heroes attack the villains' base. [[spoiler:However, when it becomes clear that Twice is [[RedemptionRejection too loyal be talked down]], Hawks is left with little other choice than to kill him on the spot, before he can single-handedly turn the tide of the fighting. Unfortunately, his efforts end up being in vain as Dabi manages to get a sample of Twice's blood for Toga, whose PowerCopying aspect of her Quirk means that the threat of Twice's Quirk lives on.]]

** [[spoiler:Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard himself is definitely this. This man was the owner of one of the most powerful Devil Fruits ever and is one of the few people to have challenge Gold Roger himself on equal terms. His Devil Fruit, again, so powerful that it has the ability to ''shake the entire world!'' Whitebeard definitely has earned the title WorldsStrongestMan despite being [[FeelingTheirAge way past his glory days]].]]

* ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'': [[spoiler:The final E.M.M.I.-[=07PB=]]] is relegated to a CutsceneBoss because it would be too powerful to fight in-game. [[spoiler:As shown just prior to its attack, its ability to stunlock Samus from anywhere on the map the ''instant'' it detects her through its Power Bombs, as opposed to the E.M.M.I.-[=05IM=] and E.M.M.I.-[=06WB=] needing to get a direct line of sight on her through their blasts, mean it's impossible to run from it in gameplay unlike the other E.M.M.I. as it can simply attack Samus without having direct contact or even being close to her. Said detection abilities are enhanced to the point where not even the Phantom Cloak can hide her from it.]]

** [[spoiler:Smaug dies very early on in "Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies" for that exact reason: the film's titular battle would have gone very differently if he had still been around by then.]]

** The second [[Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron Avengers movie]] had the titular [[Characters/MarvelComicsUltron Ultron]], who had to go because he could make copies of himself and could realistically destroy the whole planet.
** And again with [[spoiler:[[Characters/TheMightyThorGiants Hela]]]], from ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', who was so powerful that even [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] together could barely deal any lasting damage. [[spoiler:WordOfGod is that, at least while she's on Asgard, not even ''Thanos'' could've beaten Hela.]]
** ''[[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Infinity War]]'' spends the vast majority of its runtime demonstrating what happens if a villain like [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] ''isn't'' killed off: [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins he wins.]] [[DownerEnding Half the universe dies]]]]. Conversely, ''[[Film/AvengersEndgame Endgame]]'' [[spoiler:kills off that version of Thanos [[DiscOneFinalBoss in the first 20 minutes]], though it was clear Thanos was depowered due to using the Stones multiple times and on the verge of dying anyways, and the version of him that fights the heroes in the FinalBattle is a younger, less experienced, non-Infinity Stone-powered Thanos [[TimeyWimeyBall from an alternate timeline.]] And even then he had to be killed off, otherwise he would have wiped out the ''entire universe'']].

* [[spoiler:Tabuu]] from ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary''. [[spoiler:He wipes out the entire roster in one second before Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog destroys his wings to weaken him.]]

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': All the main villains from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' to ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', except Vegeta, [[spoiler: and Frieza during the end of Super]], fall into this:
** Frieza was so powerful that it took a legendary Super Saiyan to bring him down. Even scarier, he was that powerful ''naturally''. [[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF When he finally buckled down and trained]] he got close to [[TopGod Beerus']] level. [[spoiler: Now revived, he plans to re-establish his Empire and buckle up and train for ''years'' before his final battle.]]

** Broly. Despite his tendency to [[JokerImmunity avoid death with little explanation]], he is [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity too powerful and insane]] to be allowed to live. His power rapidly rises and he is prone reckless rampages. The only way to put a stop to him is to put him down. And it takes [[HurlItIntoTheSun the surface of the sun]] to kill him. [[spoiler: His CanonImmigrant counterpart was also about to be killed off, as he was growing exponentially powerful every ''second'' of the battle, but fortunately he was a good guy and his friends timely saved him from being annihilated. Even ''Goku'' says he has the potential to be far more powerful than ''Beerus''.]]
** Majin Buu would have literally destroyed the universe if he wasn't killed. He also got more powerful by absorbing people and had regeneration powers that put Cell to shame. He was technically never ''completely'' killed either, [[spoiler: with the Good Buu surviving on while Kid Buu was reincarnated into a good, human version of himself named Uub. Thus it is impossible for the pure evil Kid/Super Buu to ever exist again]].

** Lucy herself in the manga's finale, [[spoiler: when her vectors become large enough to cover entire continents. Naturally, using so much power essentially rots her body and kills her within a few minutes]].

** Kars, the BigBad of Part 2, obtains CompleteImmortality and AdaptiveAbility combined with VoluntaryShapeshifting cranked [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]] at the climax, thus achieving the status of Ultimate Lifeform. He also obtained the hero's power of [[KiManipulation The Ripple]], only hundreds of times more powerful, making him both immune to it and capable of using it on a much greater scale. He's only defeated when [[spoiler: Joseph uses the mother of all {{Indy Ploy}}s to blast him into space shortly afterwards, as well as making it look like he planned the whole thing (He didn't but he would say anything to {{troll}} Kars.). Kars tries to return to earth using air jets, but this only makes the situation worse as his body freezes over. Unable to change his course, [[AndIMustScream he now floats inert through the cosmos. Begging for death but unable to die,]] [[GoMadFromTheIsolation his higher brain functions shut down]]]].

** [[KilledOffForReal Invoked]] with [[spoiler:Twice]]. As pointed out several times; [[spoiler:because his Quirk can create infinite doubles of anyone or anything (including a High-End Nomu that took the combined efforts of Japan's top two heroes to defeat), the only thing keeping him from being an absolute StoryBreakerPower and overwhelming all of Japan with a limitless army, is his own trauma, caused by an AmbiguousCloneEnding, that leaves him afraid to use his Quirk to its fullest potential -- a trauma he largely heals from during the Meta Liberation Army Arc. Hawks, the heroes' [[TheMole inside man]] in the League,]] recognized this and made a priority of taking him down first when the heroes attack the villains' base. [[spoiler: However, when it becomes clear that Twice is [[RedemptionRejection too loyal be talked down]], Hawks is left with little other choice than to kill him on the spot, before he can single-handedly turn the tide of the fighting. Unfortunately, his efforts end up being in vain as Dabi manages to get a sample of Twice's blood for Toga, whose PowerCopying aspect of her Quirk means that the threat of Twice's Quirk lives on.]]

** [[spoiler: Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard himself is definitely this. This man was the owner of one of the most powerful Devil Fruits ever and is one of the few people to have challenge Gold Roger himself on equal terms. His Devil Fruit, again, so powerful that it has the ability to ''shake the entire world!'' Whitebeard definitely has earned the title WorldsStrongestMan despite being [[FeelingTheirAge way past his glory days]].]]

* Sara from ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo''. She's easily the second strongest character in the series, giving both Mugen and Jin a run for their money. [[spoiler: Letting Mugen kill her in their second fight was the first time he regretted killing someone.]]
* ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'': Sabrac [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzags this trope.]] He shows up for a single epic battle in the second season before disappearing again. He has no interest in the final battle after accomplishing his task. In Season 3, he fully participates in the final war, but by that time almost everyone is aware of how exactly to defeat him, thanks to Yuji Sakai. Then he chooses a battleground that prevents the protagonists from using their previous method of defeating him. [[spoiler: Additionally, Sabrac ''serves'' Yuji in Season 3, who had become a WellIntentionedExtremist. Ultimately, Sabrac holds his own against three of the most skilled and powerful Flame Haze in the series, only being defeated due to a moment of distraction. Even then, he could have saved himself had he not chosen to die.]]

** Alexander Luthor Jr., the BigBad of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. He was essentially a superpowered [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] ([[spoiler:okay he was technically the son of an alternate universe Lex Luthor]]). After a year of flawlessly manipulating the heroes ''and'' villains of the DCU, he nearly destroyed the current universe to create his own "perfect" Earth. In the end he was completely defeated and was brutally murdered in a filthy alley by [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]].

* Kai in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'', who becomes so absurdly powerful by the end of the movie that [[spoiler: Po not only kills him, but renders him DeaderThanDead to ensure that he's not coming back]].

** [[spoiler: Jean Grey]] in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' disintegrates an entire army before [[spoiler: Wolverine kills her]].

** [[spoiler: And in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', the same thing happens to [[TragicVillain Wanda Maximoff]]. With her RealityWarper powers combined with the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]], she's an InvincibleVillain who lays a savage beatdown on the assembled [[RedshirtArmy Masters of the Mystic Arts]] at Kamar-Taj, and is able to [[CurbStompBattle wipe out]] the Illuminati (which, bearing in mind, includes an alternate universe version of ''[[TheWorfEffect Captain Marvel]]'') in a matter of moments. If she'd been allowed [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor to turn to good once again]], she'd be able to defeat almost any future threat by giving them a funny look, necessitating her [[UncertainDoom apparently]] [[HeelRealization heroic sacrifice.]]]]
* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' climaxed with the titular squad's battle against [[EldritchAbomination Starro]], a {{Kaiju}}esque [[AttackOfthe50FootWhatever gigantic star-like monster]] that escaped from Jotunheim. As Starro managed to enslave the citizens of Corto Maltese and came within seconds of managing to TakeOverTheWorld while being able to NoSell nearly everything the Squad threw at him [[spoiler: (except [[LethalJokeCharacter Polka-Dot Man]], who was killed for the same reason)]], he had to go.

* In an unusual heroic example, [[spoiler: Lash following her HeelFaceTurn]] in ''Literature/WhiteNight.'' She had millennia of knowledge, immense magical power, a PhotographicMemory, and can communicate with Harry at the speed of thought. Had she not committed a HeroicSacrifice, she could have been a total game breaker for the good guys.

** Arthur Petrelli. [[spoiler: After gaining godlike powers, he's killed by Sylar, but not before convincing Nathan to go along with his plan]]

* [[EverybodyHatesHades Hades]] of ''Series/{{Once Upon a Time}}'' is hands-down the series' most powerful villain, but didn't appear until Season 5's latter half. [[spoiler: He soon forges a weapon known as the Olympian Crystal, likely [[InfinityPlusOneSword the strongest weapon in the series]], bar none, meaning he'd be able to kill literally anyone and banish their soul. If Zelena hadn't used it on ''him'' and sent his soul to an unknown fate, he would have soon taken over Storybrooke, and likely the whole planet afterwards.]]

** There are many examples in Fate, but rather the author prefers "Too Powerful To Ever Use Their Full Potential (Until It's Too Late)." WordOfGod states that [[SmugSuper Gilgamesh]] is easily the strongest Servant, but he never pulls out his full strength until it's too late. If he fought seriously from the start, even Lancer and [[spoiler: Bazett]] would have been helpless before him.

* ''{{VideoGame/Metal Gear Solid 3|SnakeEater}}'s'' [[spoiler:The Boss]] was feared by the CIA for having overwhelming charisma and powerful connections across all superpowers to go with their unknown agenda, so they spent billions of dollars and concocted a scheme that killed thousands of America and Russia's elite just to assassinate [[spoiler: The Boss]] and make it look like an international mess-up. The official story is that [[spoiler: The Boss]] defected and had to be killed by the one person who could take [[spoiler: The Boss]] down clean and efficiently: Snake. The real story is that [[spoiler: she was supposed to recover Volgin's super-inheritance, a 100 billion dollar cache of untraceable, non-controllable funds that could easily resurrect the Philosophers from the grave, but Volgin went insane and nuked a science facility, which instantly pointed fingers at The Boss, who had just recently defected to Volgin, making her necessary to take out to clean the nuclear incident]]. The actual truth is that [[spoiler: The Boss]] was planning on forcing the United States and Russia to form a permanent alliance and create one world order, and he CIA [[spoiler:and KGB]] worked together to manipulate [[spoiler:Volgin into nuking the facility]], just to ensure [[spoiler:The Boss]] was defamed and assassinated in the most degrading way they could imagine. Learning all of this is what caused Big Boss to ''snap''.

* The villain of ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' can mind control Pokémon, and bestow its unwilling minions with its own power to [[TakenForGranite turn Pokémon into stone]], making them enemies that none of the numerous [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]] can stand up to, or even run away from. [[spoiler: [[NearVillainVictory By the climax]], Dark Matter gained enough power to turn everyone in the world sans the two protagonists into stone while at a hair's-length away from throwing the world into the sun only to be KilledOffForReal by the story's end, one of the few times this happens to the franchise's antagonists.]]
* If you happen to be a ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' villain and contract {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s by [[TheVirus whatever virus or parasite]] you injected into yourself, your chances of death are guaranteed to rise drastically. [[spoiler: The sole exception was [[BreakoutVillain Albert Wesker]], a generic [[TheMole Mole]] ascended into primary villain via [[FakingTheDead staging his death]], and [[JokerImmunity survived multiple times]] throughout the franchise. The T-Virus he injected into himself acts as a StoryBreakerPower for him rather than infecting him. But eventually, [[TooCoolToLive his fame overshadowing everyone else]], and his [[TooDumbToLive excessive use of the Uroboros virus]], finally got him to be KilledOffForReal in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''. But it still doesn't stop Wesker and his offsprings from reappearing in Mercenaries mode throughout the franchise.]]
* [[spoiler: Tabuu]] from ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary''. [[spoiler: He wipes out the entire roster in one second before Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog destroys his wings to weaken him.]]
* A heroic example occurs with Metroplex in ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron''. Being a robot that transforms into a ''city'', it's natural that incredibly few things could ever hope to bring him down in a straight fight. However, his very presence strains ''both'' sides, as the Autobots are forced to use a ''lot'' of energon to keep him running. [[spoiler: He eventually gives his own energy up to help fuel the Ark so that the Autobots could fly off-planet and hopefully lure Megatron with them to give Cybertron time to recover.]]

* Tigerhawk of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''. His first appearance had him [[spoiler: destroy the Predacon base and blow away the Preds themselves effortlessly]]. The next episode he was killed taking on a powerful warship buying time for the Maximals. Interestingly Tigerhawk's StoryBreakerPower may have been given to him ''because'' he was going to be removed from the show so quickly due to MerchandiseDriven reasons (Hasbro couldn't decide if they were even going to sell his toy and almost didn't include him in the show at all).

* A non-villainous version is explored in the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Legacy: Part 2." After Superman (who was being held in a [[PowerNullifier red sun lamp]] [[TailorMadePrison lit prison cell]]) states that his attempted takeover of Earth was a result of being [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed by Darkseid]], which gets [[CassandraTruth dismissed as lies]] by [[GeneralRipper Gen. Hardcastle]], he tries rescuing a critically injured Supergirl and escape, but is quickly recaptured. Luthor and Hardcastle go into Superman's cell, telling him that it's been decided that since even keeping him locked up is too much of a safety risk for Earth, he'll be given a lethal injection, a syringe filled with liquid kryptonite. Once Superman and Supergirl have been executed, Luthor gloats that Lexcorp [[TheyWouldCutYouUp will make a fortune from bisecting their bodies]]. [[spoiler: Luckily, Lois Lane sneaks into the base and helps Superman escape.]]

*** [[spoiler: As it turns out, only his physical body was defeated. His dark essence remained and possessed Megatron's corpse for the series finale. He comes within inches of destroying Cybertron before being defeated once again.]]

* In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', every time the villain Phoenix dies and comes back he is noticeably stronger. He doesn't just adapt -- he becomes stronger in all areas. Best shown when it took ''three'' finishing moves in a row in Water Dragon Style to take him down a second time. Seriously, when you think about it he would have eventually become a god far stronger than even the White Wizard if he was allowed to last the whole series. [[spoiler:Before the halfway mark, he's [[HurlItIntoTheSun kicked into the Sun itself]], where he'll never escape the gravity.]]