In this article, the degradation behavior and mechanism of GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with p-type gate in the third quadrant under repetitive surge current stress are studied. The electrical properties of devices under various surge current conditions are investigated. It can be found that the turning point exists in the degradation trend of threshold voltage ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text{TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ), gate leakage current ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{gss}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ), and OFF-state drain leakage current ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{dss}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ). The turning phenomenon is related to the peak value of the surge current ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{peak}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) and the stress cycle. We propose that two competing mechanisms that take place on carrier transport paths cause the degradation behavior. When <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{peak}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is low, the electron trapping effect is the main degradation mechanism. As <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{peak}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> exceeds a certain value, as the stress cycle increases, the hole trapping effect will be greatly enhanced and even cause the reversal of the degradation rate of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text{TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{gss}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{dss}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> . Furthermore, at higher <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{\text{peak}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , new donor traps can be generated in the gate, causing the permanent and negative shift of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text{TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> . Based on the simulation, further experiments, and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text{TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> recovery characteristics, the competing mechanism is confirmed. These results provide deep insights and references for the reliable applications of GaN HEMTs.