Torture Chamber Episode

""THERE! ARE!.... FOUR!!! LIGHTS!""

- Star Trek the Next Generation

Torture. That word should evoke all kinds of horrible images of pain and suffering and humiliation. Even when it is merely described, it has the effect of reducing many to wailing shivers. It takes a special kind of person to withstand brutal torture. No surprise, those characters make excellent heroes.

An episode about reinforcing how Badass the hero is... by showing them completely helpless and at the mercy of someone who doesn't have their best interests. Expect a lot of defiant comebacks. The torturer will almost always be Affably Evil. A Battle of Wits is commonplace also. Permanent psychological damage is a possibility.

Subtrope of Bottle Episode.

Film

 * Barbarella: Her brief stint in the Ex-sex-sive machine. It proved that orgasming her to death... would not be possible.

Live Action TV
""I must have my scream.""
 * The Stargate SG-1 episode "Abyss" is about Jack being tortured for information by Ba'al -- mostly information he doesn't actually know.
 * Star Trek the Next Generation: The source of the page quote is "The Chain of Command, Part II". Picard, after being captured by Cardassians, is tortured for information. When the torturer is failing to make any progress in breaking Picard, he attempts to get Picard to tell him that there are five lights when there are only four. Picard defiantly insists there are four lights, despite being put through a full-body pain experience every time. In the end, Picard doesn't break, and leaves the torturer sobbing. He later tells his counselor that he in fact, did see five lights, the final time he was asked.
 * Babylon Five: After being captured by the Clark Administration, Sheridan was sent to an interrogation center on Mars, where he underwent brutal psychological torture and attempts to subvert his hold on reality. It didn't work.
 * Another B5 example: G'Kar, after captured by the Centauri under Emperor Cartagia. As part of his scheme with Londo, he needed to stay alive, and this involved giving up his pride to preserve his life, giving Cartagia his scream.


 * Farscape: Happened to Crichton at least once per season, starting with that Aurora Chair.
 * The Firefly episode "War Stories," where Wash and Mal are captured by Niska and have to endure his worst while waiting for the rest of the crew to bail them out.
 * The writers of Prison Break wanted to add one of these in the second season, but the Moral Guardians didn't approve.

Western Animation

 * The Question spends most of the Justice League Unlimited episode "Flashpoint" being either tortured or carried out of the torture facility.
 * Recess somewhat parodies this with "The Box". The episode deals with Miss Finster's new punishment for the kids, "the box", which is just a square drawn on the blacktop. After T.J. ends up in there, it ends up breaking him and sends him into a Madness Mantra.
 * "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted"..