Electric Torture: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

It's almost guaranteed that a variation on this conversation will take place:

 

'''Big Bad''': [[Kick the Dog|DO IT]]! }}

 

 

This trope appears to be weakening in recent years after "[[Torture Porn|torture horror]]" films such as the ''[[Hostel]]'' series breaking into the mainstream, though this genre began back in the 1970s with films like ''Mark of the Devil'' and ''Salo Or The 120 Days Of Sodom''.

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

** Note: In the actual Japanese dialog for this, Ryouko shouts "[[Too Kinky to Torture|I'm coming]]!" to irk Ayeka, but the subtitles in later releases of the OVA do not reflect this, cleaning it up to "That tickles!"

* Slaves in the Magical World of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' are equipped with collars that allow their owners to perform electric torture on them with but a few words, though these are supposed to only be used when the slave attempts to escape.

* ''[[Samurai Gun]]''. The forces of the Shogonate develop an [[Anachronism Stew|electric chair]] for interrogations.

*** That may be a hint as to how Pokemon were used in wars in their world...

*** Of note is that [[Harmless Electrocution]] is ''completely subverted'' in this case. Not only is the pain from the shock agonizing, everyone its used on takes awhile to recover (thankfully they're all Pokemon, who seem to heal much quicker than humans anyway) and {{spoiler|he even manages to ''kill'' Zoroark with it, though she's revived by Celebi.}}

* In ''[[Shugo Chara]]'', {{spoiler|Chairman Hoshina acts this way towards Ikuto, telling the scientists to push him further even though the X energy in Ikuto's violin is causing him harm.}}

* Killua of ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' had been subjected to this so many times in his youth that he developed an affinity to electricity, which he used when creating his Hatsu techniques.

* In [[Freezing]], after objecting to (and launching an investigation into) unethical experimentation by the world government Chevalier, {{spoiler|Elizabeth Mably}} is arrested, stripped to her underwear, and has electrodes attached to her head and breasts, with the sessions of electrocution lasting for over ''20 minutes at a time'' (the downside of [[Super Strength]]; the Chevalier know this won't kill her) It's played straight as an arrow, complete with the minion/Big Bad conversation ("But Sir, if we do any more than this, she might receive permanent brain damage..." "I don't care"), but manages to be genuinely horrifying courtesy of showing things like {{spoiler|Elizabeth}} drooling and losing bladder control, and her eyes rolling up into her head.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Happens (in an unexpected and fairly graphic sequence) to Lightfoot in ''[[G.I. Joe]] Special Missions'' #13.

 

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Sith Lords ''love'' to do this to their victims in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe. [[Expanded Universe]] information on how the Force works turns this into a subversion; it's not actual electricity, per se, more like a visual manifestation that symbolizes using the dark side to inflict terrible pain on someone you feel extreme hate for.

** Of course, as the page image indicates, [[Pragmatic Villainy|Vader wasn't above letting a machine do the work]].

* ''[[Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance]]'': Yeong-mi, the main character's girlfriend, has electrodes clamped on her earlobes and gets electroshocked to death.

* Used on the hero in ''[[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension]]'':

* Used on [[James Bond]] in the book ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me]]'', [[Groin Attack|on his favorite bodily organ.]]

* In the film ''Braddock: Missing in Action III'', a sadistic Viet Cong does this to Col. James Braddock (Chuck Norris) while Braddock's son watches. But, this being [[Chuck Norris]]...

* Employed in ''Black Momma White Momma'' by a [[Banana Republic]] dictator to a presumed rebel. As is typical for the movie, the girl is rendered topless first.

* ''[[Tron]]'': Subverted. The MCP tortures Sark by 'depriving him of cycles'. In this case, he RUNS on electricity, so this requires the opposite action to get the desired effect.

** Dumont the I/O Tower Guardian is also given this treatment when he was captured by Sark and brought on board his Carrier.

* Played with in ''[[The Artist]]'', as the movie begins with an audience watching George Valentin's [[Show Within a Show|newest movie]], where Valentin's character is being subjected to some sort of electric torture.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Canon Sue|John Galt]] goes through this at the end of ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]''. [[Too Kinky to Torture|Not only does he stoically endure the torture, but he's able to professionally troubleshoot the torture device, while still tied down, when it breaks after being turned up too high]].

* The book ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'' had such a device used on the protagonist, though it was not even close to the worst torture he was subjected to.

* In ''[[Incarnations of Immortality|On A Pale Horse]]'', the hero's girlfriend is tortured by being stripped to her waist, and [[Breast Attack|her nipples being touched by active electrodes]]. [[Author Appeal]] and [[Fetish Fuel]] ahoy.

* The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] has the use of Electric Judgment by the Jedi. [[Double Standard|The only difference it seems to have from Force Lightning]] is that it is often not intended to be lethal.

* [[Frederick Forsyth]]'s ''[[The Day of the Jackal]]'' sees the French Action Service resort to electric torture on Viktor Kowalski, with the ex-Foreign Legionnaire dying after he breaks and finishes confessing. One set of electrodes is [[Groin Attack|attached to the penis.]]

* Daniel Keys Moran's ''The Last Dancer'' has a standard part of the plot being wireheads who have a circuit installed in the pleasure center of their brain, which is apparently highly addictive, but which requires an electrical connection to work. Sedon tortures D'van (aka William Devane) by installing the same thing into the pain center of his brain. The really nasty thing is that Sedon uses a battery pack to power it, and when Denice escapes with D'van and Sedon, for several hours Sedon doesn't mention to Denice that the battery pack is still supplying agony to D'van...

 

 

** Effective as it's the first time in the new series you see the Doctor acting actively "cruel" to another creature, showing just how seriously he takes the situation.

** Played straight and abundantly through the whole series since the Doctor, being a Time Lord, lasts better under electricity than normal people. Great for the writers, not so good for the poor Doctor.

* Number Three's torture of Baltar in the third season of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'', made even ''more'' uncomfortable for the viewer by the perverse sexual overtones. This may or may not be [[Truth in Television]]; some people like that kind of thing...

** Subverted when Mal and Wash [[Casual Danger Dialogue|have a hilarious argument while they're being tortured]].

** Also the Zat guns did this with one shot (second shot kills.) In their first season of use, that is. Later this was quietly shifted to a much-less-interesting [[Stun Guns|phasers-on-stun]] effect.

** This can also be assumed to be what is happening in "the booth" in that same episode.

** The episode "Dagger of the Mind" features the neural neutralizer. Admittedly, it wasn't made for torture, and, being based on direct neutral stimulation, it didn't need any electrode-like things to be attached to the subject. Dr. Tristan Adams nevertheless figured out a way to make it into a very painful brainwashing device.

** And the methods are a [[Homage]] to ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'', above. Right down to the [[How Many Fingers?]] torture trigger (with Picard's memorable "THERE ARE ''FOUR'' LIGHTS!" at the end).

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' had the Centauri Emperor torture G'Kar with an "electric whip" that delivered an increased charge each time, with a guaranteed fatal shock on the 40th blow, simply because he wanted to hear G'Kar scream. [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|He does, on the 39th lash.]]

** Several episodes also feature Narn "Paingivers" which directly stimulate pain centers, producing much the same on-screen effect as standard electric torture.

** "Comes the Inquisitor" featured electrified bracelets which could be (and were...a lot) activated at the press of a button on the titular inquisitor's cane.

** In the first season, his daughter was interrogated with good old-fashioned electro-shock therapy equipment when she'd gone undercover in a [[Bedlam House]] in [[Ruritania]].

** Syd also gets shocked when the NSA arrest her and take her to a secret prison facility in the third season.

** [[Blondes Are Evil|Julien]] [[Evil Brit|Sark]] had his way with Vaughn in season 3 as they volleyed insults back and forth.

'''Aeryn''': "I will make you watch your life." }}

** Fortunately, despite the pain, giving Crais a chance to review his life, where he came from, the decisions he made, and their consequences started his [[Heel Face Turn]].

** Noah turns the tides on her in season 2, when he straps her into a chair in a small pool of water and drenches her, so that anytime she tries to shock him, she ends up zapping herself instead.

* Electroshock collars were used in one of the universes jumped to in ''[[Sliders]]'' to prevent people from lying.

* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' alluded to this in an early 2009 commercial parody. One of the items offered at Guantanamo Bay's going-out-of-business sale was '''C-C-C-CAR BATTERIES!!!'''

* [[Legend of the Seeker]] has the Mord-Sith, whose [[Agony Beam|Agiels]] cause intense pain and flashing light when they touch someone. Using it enough can kill them, but it doesn't leave any sort of mark when they're done.

 

 

* Used widely in South America during the 60s-80s.

** The ''parrilla'' was an infamous interrogation tool routinely used by the Chilean secret police during Pinochet's dictatorship (1973-1990). It was a metal frame prisoners were strapped onto naked, while the questioners applied electrodes to whatever body part they thought appropriate.

** The "Cadeira do Dragão" (Dragon's Chair) was an electric chair used as a torture device and part of the plethora of torture devices used by the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 60s-70s.

* Used by Syria after the Yom Kippur war on [[Badass Israeli|captured Israelis]], though it hardly ever earned them any good intelligence.

** This is herited from French police and army, who used this generously on Muslim people during the Algerian independance war. It was called "Gégène". The leader of the French far-right party is (in)famous for having used this with enthusiasm.

 

* In the backstory for ''[[Star Control]] II'', thousands of years ago, many of the Ur-Quan voluntarily wore "Excruciators" for months or years to prevent them from being mind-controlled by the Dnyarri (as the one doing the mind control also feels the pain and has to break the link). The experience left most quite insane.

* Squall is subjected to electric torture in early Disc 2 of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''. More so, if you refuse to feign cooperation.

** Well, actually {{spoiler|it's possible to use electric Pokémon like Pikachu as power sources, so they were actually sucking electricity from it's body}}. But it still qualifies as torture.

* Occurs in the first two ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' games, just to fulfill a villain's perverse fantasies (much more blatantly in the second). In the first one, it's done to Alice, and giving the proper responses ({{spoiler|the first one every time}}) opens a [[Sidequest]] (and saves her from being shocked). In the second one, you choose who gets the torture, and the responses you give determines the contents of a later treasure chest.

** It does have the side effect of healing whatever status anomalies he might have at the time when he uses it during battle though. Fassad probably knows this, as he seems to be about fifty times more likely to shock the monkey when he's inflicted with one of these statuses.

* Done to Bruce Morgenholt in ''[[Splinter Cell]]: Chaos Theory'', Sam arrives too late to do anything, and finds him suspended above a bathtub having endured a very long torture. Players will hear his screams before they get to him.

** It should be noted that faction leaders are never killed, just kept alive for interrogation. If you defeat an enemy faction early in the game, they will be kept in your stronghold for ''several hundred years.''

* All of the torture featured in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' employs electroshock. Many of them involve the Sith and their Force Lightning, but there's a prominent scene in which it's delivered by [[Muggles]] via more conventional "force cages".

* Similarly, in [[The Old Republic]], Sith Inquisitors carry out torture with Force Lightning. Only this time, [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|players can do it too.]]

* In ''[[Return to Castle Wolfenstein]]'' Agent Zero is being shocked to extract information by an SS scientist in the titular castle.

* In ''[[Hitman]]: Contracts'', 47 finds one of his targets in the aftermath of one of these. The proper way to assassinate him is to let the machine run until it finally kills him.

* In ''[[Wet]]'', Rubi is captured due to some subterfuge. She is suspended with her feet in a tub of water connected to a car battery charger, but the interrogator loses interest and orders her killed after about 30 seconds. Naturally, she quickly makes her escape and turns the tables on the torturer. She's [[Action Girl|badass]] like that.

* Implied in ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2''. Soap locks himself and Ghost in a garage with their target's assistant, while Ghost is seen doing... something involving a car battery and jump leads.

* In the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC for ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', {{spoiler|Feron, Liara's friend and partner who was one of the people who got Shepard's body back from the Shadow Broker, is strapped to a specially-built torture chair that basically amounts to this. The only way to get him out of there without cooking his brain is to shut down the power at central processing, which means taking the Shadow Broker down}}.

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Dupree of ''[[Girl Genius]]'' [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20041231 shows us how a medical device] can be tweaked a little to deliver massive electrical shocks for interrogation purposes.

* In [[Gaia Online]]'s plot comic, {{spoiler|Don Kuro tortures Zhivago for attempting to refuse an order to kill Gino Gambino}}. Turns out he's [[Not So Harmless]] after all...

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Happens to Phase in the [[Whateley Universe]], only the the electrodes are ''inserted''.

 

 

* In the series' precursor, ''[[Justice League]]'', the Martian Manhunter is also tortured by a Nazi interrogator (after going back in time) with such methods, although all that's seen is a shot out of the outside of the building as he begins to scream while the lights flicker.

* And let's not forget, from ''[[Batman Beyond]]: Return of the Joker'', {{spoiler|Robin's torture at the hands of [[The Joker]].}}

* The Iraqis in ''[[South Park]]'' torture Santa Claus with two electrodes on the testicles.

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': Valerie uses a nasty looking taser weapon on Danny after she finally captures him. Meanwhile, Vlad has Danielle [[Strapped to An Operating Table]]...

* Duncan from ''[[Little Elvis Jones and The Truckstoppers]]'' has a shock watch, which inflicts a brief version of this on him in order for his boss to let off some steam. Yes, his boss is a colossal dick, how did you guess?

* In ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'', Emperor Zurg tries to do this to [[Robot Buddy|XR]]. It doesn't work out to well, seeing as how XR regards the voltage flowing through him as the eqivalant of a pleasant massage.

[[Category:A Tortured Index]]

[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]