Poisonous Captive: Difference between revisions

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Captured doesn't necessarily mean cowed. A Poisonous Captive is a villain held prisoner by the heroes who continues to undermine their objectives through their toxic influence. They have a tendency to spark disagreements between allies (up to and including the spread of a [[Hate Plague]]), to shake the good guys' confidence in themselves [[Hannibal Lecture|just by talking]], or just to make them feel uneasy by virtue of being closer around than they were as a free agent. Despite the heroes' best efforts, it's usually difficult to keep the villain in the dark about everything that's going on or prevent them from divining weak spots, so the longer they're held the more of a danger they pose, especially should they escape -- meaning it's all but inevitable that they will.
 
Particularly dangerous cases may pose the threat of a hero's untimely [[The Corrupter|corruption]], if they start listening to the villain's [[Wisdom From the Gutter|cynical-but-persuasive advice]], buying into their [[Utopia Justifies the Means|justifications]] [[I Did What I Had to Do|for]] [[Above Good and Evil|evil]] [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|deeds]], or being tempted by offers made in exchange for freedom.
 
Another common scenario is that the villain is held ''secretly'', meaning that if word were to leak out, the captors run the risk of getting in serious trouble with their superiors, being deposed by their inferiors, or losing PR with the general populace.
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Makes a pretty good case against [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]], but the typical reason for keeping him around is that the villain has some kind of information the heroes need desperately enough for it to be worth the risk. In some cases, murder would be counterproductive or even impossible, if the captive is immortal.
 
May be a result of [[I Surrender, Suckers]]. Compare [[Pity the Kidnapper]], a comedic version (which usually involves villains as captors rather than heroes), [[Might As Well Not Be in Prison At All]], and [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]. The inverted, heroic version often falls under [[Talking Your Way Out]].
 
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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* [[The Silence of the Lambs|Hannibal Lecter]]. Not for nothing was he the [[Hannibal Lecture]]'s [[Trope Namer]].
* ''[[The Silmarillion]]''. Sauron ended up corrupting and destroying the Numenoreans after they captured him.
* In ''[[The Three Musketeers (Literature)|The Three Musketeers]]'' [[Femme Fatal]] Milady de Winter pulls this by seducing her jailer when captured in England, twisting the guy so much that he becomes an assassin, attacking The Duke of Buckingham (also a [[Historical in In-Joke]], as this event really happened).
* In the ''[[Second Apocalypse]]'' series, Anasûrimbor Moënghus during the time he was a prisoner of Cnaiür urs Skiötha's tribe. He seduced Cnaiür's mother, convinced Cnaiür to kill his father, and talked Cnaiür into setting him free.