All The Tropes

Godzilla Threshold: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Godzilla Threshold (view source)

Revision as of 02:07, 10 April 2017

32 bytes removed ,  7 years ago
update links
VisualWikitext
(update links)
Line 54:
* Although a little drawn out, this is used in a minor way in ''[[The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]] (2009)'' at the end of the "Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" arc. After Haruhi spends a few days royally screwing with reality during the filming of the culture festival video, Kyon {{spoiler|restores reality by making Haruhi read a disclaimer, thus distancing the movie from reality}}. In the epilogue, Kyon tries to make future events easier by flat-out telling Haruhi the identities of the SOS members(Which was theorized to possibly cause her to rewrite reality on a conscious level), only to be be completely ignored.
* A recurring element in the ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise is how circumstances, individuals and so on prompt the need to cross such thresholds. Whether it's the development of mobile suits in the first place or even the use of nukes. In the Universal Century in particular, the Principality of Zeon goes as far as to pull off a [[Colony Drop]] that ''erased a chunk of Australia off the map'' (even if it wasn't the intended target) if it meant the possibility of dealing a decisive blow on the Earth Federation.
* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', more than a few figures eventually invoke this in order to achieve their goals or stop others from achieving theirs.
 
 
Line 75:
 
== Film ==
* Most 1950's monster flicks often had [[Nuclear Option|nuclear weapons]] as a last resort, from ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' to ''The Beginning Of The End''.
** So did Ang Lee's ''Hulk''. They bombed a lake, though, and so there were no collateral casualties. But it was certainly the last available option once Hulk and Banner Dad had unleashed all their rage.
* The teenagers in ''[[Freddy vs. Jason]]'' wanted Jason, the guy that killed 20 of their friends, to win the fight against Freddy—if only because Jason would go back home, since he has no other reason to be in Elm Street.
Line 163:
* In ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' episode "The Last Sontaran", despite the fact that Sarah Jane [[Doesn't Like Guns]] and distrusts the military, the presence of a Sontaran ship on Earth prompts her to immediately make plans to call in UNIT.
* In the ''[[Star Trek]]'' universe, the Godzilla Threshold is instantly crossed whenever a single omega particle is detected. Omega protocol authorizes the captain of the vessel to use any means (even breaking the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause|Prime Directive]]) to destroy it.
** The original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' had the episode "Operation: Annihilate!", which involved them considering passing the Godzilla Threshold to prevent the spread of an alien pancake parasite. Kirk demanded the find and [[Take a Third Option]].
** Kodos the Executioner/Anton Karidian in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' episode, "The Conscience of the King" used this as his excuse to execute half the colonists of the Tarsus IV colony when a fungus destroyed most of their food supply.
 
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' is infamous for [[The Empire|the Imperium's]] use of ''[[Earthshattering Kaboom|Exterminatus]]'' to deal with certain threats so dire that destroying your own world is preferable to the alternative. As much as fans like to joke about it [[Character Exaggeration|being ordered because someone's playing music too loud]], only an [[Inquisitor]] has the authority to sign a world's death warrant, and they're expected to do so only as a last resort (the definition of which can vary greatly depending on a given Inquisitor's philosophy, paranoia, or radicalism). The two most common instigators for ''Exterminatus'' are:
** [[The Corruption|Chaos]]. A cult uprising is one thing, but if daemons are actually rampaging around at will, the world may be past saving. Even if the Imperium managed to cleanse the planet, the taint of Chaos would remain, like lingering radiation [[Dissimile|that's also sentient and teaches people how to build dirty bombs]]. Of course, the problem with destroying a planet in the grip of Chaos is that past a certain point the world isn't quite physically ''there'' anymore, so the best you can do is try to quarantine it.
*** A ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' novel notes dryly that once daemons have control over a planet and it passes beyond that 'certain point', Exterminatus, at best, will do nothing. In a worst-case scenario, it might end up giving the new inhabitants ideas.
Line 182:
** Beyond all of those is the Eschaton Key. When Malfeas created the Unconquered Sun, he granted him the power to utterly annihilate Creation in the event that any of its worst enemies should gain control over it. It's been used only once; to destroy the rival Creation that an enemy Primordial attempted to supplant the original with. After that, the Unconquered Sun sealed his world destroying power within a broken device that is beyond the ability of anyone less than the most powerful Solars to repair and operate.
** ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'' revealed that if things get really, really, Ebon-Dragon-just-signed-his-name-on-the-Moon bad, there are certain world-shaking Astrology charms that can be unlocked for the Sidereals. These allow them to do things like give gods or Exalts battlefield promotions - to ''Celestial Incarnae''.
* Any situation in which you would consider casting Vengeful Gaze of God in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons|D&D 3rd Ed]]'' is probably past the Godzilla Threshold. For those who don't know, it's an epic level spell that will almost certainly kill whatever you're casting it on...but the chances of the caster surviving too is slim to none. Even the ''book'' says, "The backlash damage<ref>which is in the ''hundreds of dice''</ref> will almost certainly kill the caster, but most would consider this cost worth it."
** Or, in 3e/3.5e, anything in the Elder Evils rulebook. By the end of the plot arc involving (insert featured superboss here), a spell that obliterates your section of the Multiverse would probably be deemed an acceptable course of action to stop those creatures, especially in Atropus's case.
** 3.5e's Wu Jen spell, Transcend Mortality. When you cast the spell, you become nigh indestructible for the duration. The cost? You burn out the rest of your life force to cast the spell, and when the effect ends, turn into a small pile of ash.
Line 214:
* At one point in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'', Jade suggest that the only way to save the world is to {{spoiler|sacrifice the lives of 10,000 replicas, which in game basically boils down to sacrificing 10,000 babies. A few hours later you really don't get a choice otherwise.}}
* Villainous example occurs in [[Star Fox 64]]. Facing down a battalion of Andross's ships, the general is throwing everything on hand at you, save for a prototype the scientists insist is too dangerous. At the end of the level, he yells "Deploy it now!" and the prototype serves as the boss - a biomechanical dimension hopping battlecruiser with free will.
* The second disk of ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 2]]'' reveals that pretty much every threat from the first disk, from the terrorist organization trying to conquer the world to the [[Eldritch Abomination]] sealed inside the protagonist, was part of a plan by {{spoiler|Irving}} to combat the most ludicrously overpowered threat of all time: {{spoiler|a parallel universe that eats other universes.}}
* In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]: [[Devil Survivor]]'', the government has a 'final option' that it will unleash on the Yamamote Line if they can't take control of the situation taking place inside. This is why nobody inside has more than six days to live. {{spoiler|A side-story leads to Atsuro finding out about the 'final option' and how it works. It's [[Paranoia Fuel|a chip installed in all japanese electronics]] that lets the government control them remotely. They can use it to overload them and create enormous amounts of EM radiation, which would effectively turn Tokyo into a giant microwave oven and fry every electric circuit and every living being inside.}}
** This is the smallest of three Thresholds in the game, incidentally. It takes a third place to {{spoiler|the [[Council of Angels]] being willing to rob humanity of free will and seize control of Earth if humanity doesn't stop associating with demons}}, and {{spoiler|the main character willingly becoming the [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|King of Bel]] and letting demons loose on earth just to keep the angels from ever bothering humanity again.}}
* ''[[StarcraftStarCraft]]'', the Protoss consider the Godzilla Treshold crossed when they find out the Zerg have infested a world. Their standard solution is an orbital bombardment that burns everything on the planet to a crisp.
** Arcturus Mengsk sees the Confederacy's corruption as having crossed the threshold to justify using a psi emitter to lure the Zerg to their capital world, then lets the Protoss burn the Zerg and Confederates both. However, its only Mengsk who sees it this way, the others see it as a [[Moral Event Horizon]] for him.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the Godzilla Threshold is pretty consistent: for really, really bad threats, the Horde and Alliance work together. Most of the time they're at each others' throats in a Cold War or even proxy war. Against pests or regional threats, the Alliance and the Horde ignore each other or even try to backstab each other so their own people can claim the prize first. But against an [[Eldritch Abomination|awakened Old God]], the beachead of a [[Legions of Hell|demonic invasion]], the [[Zombie Apocalypse|Lich King]], or the biggest and most evil dragon ever, they ally. [[Status Quo Is God|Temporarily]].
Line 224:
** In ''[[Fallout New Vegas]]'', certain characters resort to extreme and genocidal lengths {{spoiler|most especially Ulysses}} to justify wiping the slate clean and "begin again."
** By ''[[Fallout 4]]'', the East Coast Brotherhood considers the Institute so much of a threat {{spoiler|that an almost fully rebuilt Liberty Prime is brought along to the Commonwealth}}.
* Capcom loves this trope, from the total destructions of Raccoon City in ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'' and {{spoiler|Fortune City}} to the massacres at Santa Cabeza and Willamette in ''[[Dead Rising]]''.
* In ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'', the Templars believe the threshold has been crossed after the Circle Tower is overrun by abominations. Their Knight Commander has already sent word to the Chantry in Denerim requesting permission to invoke the Rite of Annulment which would allow him to use the full might of the Templars to completely purge the Tower. This happens at the worst possible time since you really need the support of the mages against the Blight. You do have a couple options though: 1) kill the abominations yourself and save the mages, or 2) kill ''everything'' in the Tower and have the Templars now free of their responsibilities of mage babysitting join you.
* In ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'', many failed, incomplete, or patently insane [[Doomsday Device|DoomsdayDevices]] get activated as a last ditch effort to hold off invaders when all other methods have failed; a common version is [[Dug Too Deep|digging straight down through adamantine veins]] as a final "screw you" to the would-be conquerors.
Line 232:
{{quote|'''{{spoiler|Price}}:''' Do you know how to put out an oil fire, sir? You set off a ''bigger'' explosion next to it. Sucks out all the oxygen. Snuffs the flame. (...) We've got a pretty big fire. We're going to need a ''huge'' bang...}}
** Also in the sequel, when the team has to take Makarov's bomber, Volk, out of Paris alive so he can be interrogated. When they get to the bridge over the Seine, they meet a Russian barricade which won't let them through. The air support manages to wipe them out, but in the process {{spoiler|they end up bringing the ''Eiffel Tower'' down.}} This is because the President gave them a clear order to do what they have to do to bring Volk alive.
* In ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]'', Litchi crossed this in two phases on a personal case. The first phase, on realizing that Lotte Carmine was inflicted with an extreme corruption of the Boundary which practically has no normal permanent cure and begging for Kokonoe to help does no use, she sees it fit to corrupt herself with the Boundary to find symptoms and develop the cure from experience. The second phase is when she found no cure overall and her own corruption was getting to her, she sees it fit to {{spoiler|join the NOL for the small hope of cure, despite the organization storing someone who's pegged as extremely shady and suspicious (Hazama), or blatant [[Complete Monster]] of a father (Relius).}}
* In ''[[Mortal Kombat 9]]'', after an effort to change timeline causes {{spoiler|Sindel to brutally murder the majority of the heroes}}, Raiden sees it fit that {{spoiler|the only option left is to ''ally'' with [[Obviously Evil|Quan Chi]] to stand a chance against Shao Kahn, with the souls of the dead heroes as the wager. The bad news, Shao Kahn already sold the soul of the heroes to Quan Chi. The good news, only by fighting the dead heroes would Raiden get an [[Eureka Moment]] on how exactly to beat Shao Kahn.}}
* In the ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' DLC ''Arrival'', this is invoked, as {{spoiler|the Reapers are set to arrive at the Alpha Relay in mere hours}}. There is only one viable solution to stop it from happening: {{spoiler|destroying the Relay, and thus setting off a supernova-level explosion that wipes out a nearby colony world with 300,000 batarians.}} Needless to say, it isn't pretty, but it ''has'' to be done.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1487450"