History Main / ElectricTorture

** In "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E03TheSummoning The Summoning]]", the Centauri Emperor had G'Kar tortured 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. He does, on the 39th lash.

* Sugar Lebowski of ''Literature/{{BZRK}}'' attempts an amateur version of this on Nijinsky, using jumper leads wired into her mains power. It hurts like hell, but only until [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Reality Ensues]] and the repeated power surges blow out the electricity in the area, and Nijinsky manages to distract her and escape.

The hero never dies or experiences serious physical injury/mutilation, and in most cases will not even show any marks, though usually requires a shoulder to help walk for another scene or so, as he is too weak to walk on his own. The hero will soon regain his strength entirely. A villain given a [[HoistByHisOwnPetard taste of his own medicine]] might die or become horribly mutilated, though.

** Emperor Pilaf [[BadBoss uses this on his minions]] in an early {{filler}} scene, using a [[CoolButInefficient hilariously overcomplicated method]]: [[HelpingHands mechanical hands]] pop out of the wall to hold them in place and put lightning rods on their head, the ceiling opens up, [[WeatherControlMachine some kind of smoke comes out of a chimney to create a thunderbutt above Pilaf's castle]], then lightning strikes the two of them [[HoistByHisOwnPetard as well as Pilaf because he was holding up a metal fork.]]

** In ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', Bond is tortured by Russians using an electric current through his penis... naturally, this is left out of the film.

** The third game, ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]]'', also has Naked Snake tortured with electricity, but meanwhile, the BigBad is also (literally) beating the piss out of him. It's incredibly uncomfortable to watch, because not only is the pain so severe that it makes the tough-as-nails agent ''piss himself'', but the sight actually [[{{Sadist}} arouses Volgin]]... and ''Ocelot as well''. In fact, it's actually implied that this event is what led to Ocelot becoming a world-renowned [[TortureTechnician expert on torture]].

** The ''picana'', described in the ''Burn Notice'' example above, was an electric cattle prod that Argentine torturers used on their victims during the Military Dictatorship ("Dirty War") (1976-1983). Oftentimes, people were raped with the picana.
** The ''parrilla'' (named for a kind of grill) 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 torturers usually considered the penis and vagina particularly appropriate (even developing a wet-steel-wool electrode for better electrical contact on female victims).

** Syria used electric shocks after the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Yom Kippur War]] on captured Israelis, though it hardly ever earned them any good intelligence.

* Jon Burge, a UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Police Department commander in the 1970s-1990s, was revealed to have [[CowboyCop used this technique (among others) to]] [[CorruptCop extract confessions from innocent Black men]] for ''most of his career''. He was later charged with and convicted of lying about it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', The Monarch and his henchmen use Electric Torture on Dr. Venture's robot to try to learn Dr. Venture's location. It's pointless, since [[IntelligibleUnintelligible they can't understand him]] well enough to know if he's answering them, but that doesn't stop them.

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2739619/1/Tortured_Truth Tortured Truth]], a ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfiction by [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/962522/Darth_Frodo Darth Frodo]].

* ''Music/NoxArcana'': The short, but ''incredibly'' disturbing track "Shock Treatment" contains the sound of crackling electricity the whole time and the victim's screams becoming louder and more agonized as it progresses.

* Variable voltage harnesses from various ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' comics serve as a restraining and torture devices for both Decepticons and Autobots.
** IDW's continuity introduced Kaon, a member of the Decepticon Justice Division who uses this method. Hell, he even ''turns into'' an electric chair.

* Sith Lords ''love'' to do this to their victims in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe. ExpandedUniverse information on how the Force works turns this into a subversion; Force Lightning is not actual electricity, per se, more like a visual manifestation of using TheDarkSide to [[AgonyBeam inflict terrible pain]] [[ThePowerOfHate on someone you feel extreme hate for]].
** Of course, [[PragmaticVillainy Vader wasn't above letting a machine do the work]], since it's stated in the EU that using Force Lightning would short out his body.
** Also, the thing Han Solo was being tortured with in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' was a scan grid. It might be a bit more clear in the Expanded Universe, but it jolted him with painful electric shocks. This is why Boba Fett was concerned he'd die; he worried that the shocks would stop Han's heart before they had a chance to freeze him.

* ''Music/NoxArcana'': The short, but ''incredibly'' disturbing track "Shock Treatment" contains the sound of crackling electricity the whole time and the victim's screams becoming increasingly louder and more agonized as it progresses.

A favorite of the PsychoElectro, and a variant of AgonyBeam. See also MagicalDefibrillator (for the flip side of electroshocking humans), ElectroconvulsiveTherapyIsTorture and HarmlessElectrocution. May be part of a RoboticTortureDevice, and one possible misuse of a StaticStunGun. Contrast with ElectricInstantGratification.

Real [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] techniques are messy, uncomfortable to watch, and difficult to simulate for TV. Such graphic violence would risk an undesirably restrictive MPAA rating or rejection by a network's standards. More of an immediate problem, a key character with broken limbs or open wounds would simply not be able to physically continue in the plot without a considerable healing period, of which there may be no room for on the timeline. Including a physically broken character in the plot would simply be an ongoing downer, defusing any joy the writer intended to create.

* Sugar Lebowski of ''Literature/{{BZRK}}'' attempts an amateur version of this on Nijinsky, using jumper leads wired into her mains power. It hurts like hell, but only until RealityEnsues and the repeated power surges blow out the electricity in the area, and Nijinsky manages to distract her and escape.

* In the dark ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27853170/chapters/68194306 Pulse and Void]]'', Yamada Hizashi aka Present Mic is captured by a villain with an energy siphoning quirk. One of the ways he’s kept from using his SuperScream is a shock collar welded around his neck. By the time Aizawa, a few other pro heroes, Bakugo and Midoriya find nim, his throat and neck are blistered and severely burned from the repeated shocks he’s received. (Dark artwork warning)

* In the dark ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27853170/chapters/68194306 Pulse and Void]]'', Yamada Hizashi aka Present Mic is captured by a villain with an energy siphoning quirk. One of the ways he’s kept from using his SuperScream is a shock collar welded around his neck. By the time Aizawa, a few other pro heroes, Bakugo and Midoriya find nim, his throat and neck are blistered and severely burned from the repeated shocks he’s recieved.

* ''[[* In the dark ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27853170/chapters/68194306 Pulse and Void]]'', Yamada Hizashi aka Present Mic is captured by a villain with an energy siphoning quirk. One of the ways he’s kept from using his SuperScream is a shock collar welded around his neck. By the time Aizawa, a few other pro heroes, Bakugo and Midoriya find nim, his throat and neck are blistered and severely burned from the repeated shocks he’s recieved.

-->-- '''Michael Westen''' in ''Series/BurnNotice'', via voice over [[ThisIsGonnaSuck as the device is about to be used on him]]

** In "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS2E9QuestionAuthority Question Authority]]", the Question was captured after attempting to assassinate ComicBook/LexLuthor and put through electroshock torture.

* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'':
** In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', the Martian Manhunter is 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.
** In the finale to ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', Darkseid launches an electrical attack on Franchise/{{Superman}} called "The Agony Matrix" that uses electricity to activate all the pain receptors in every nerve cell in his body, ''literally'' putting him in as much pain as physically possible.
*** In the same show, the Question was captured after attempting to assassinate ComicBook/LexLuthor and put through electroshock torture.

* This was used to more realistic effect in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' in an audio diary [[spoiler:of one of Fontaine's smuggler {{mook}}s. He said it couldn't be any worse than what Fontaine would do to him.]]
** You can also find this person's now-charred corpse strapped into a SteamPunk Electric Torture device.
* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', you are being tortured this way, especially at the start of the game.

** The third game, ''Snake Eater'', also has Naked Snake tortured with electricity, but meanwhile the BigBad is also (literally) beating the piss out of him. It's an incredibly uncomfortable watch, because not only is the pain so severe that it makes the tough-as-nails agent ''piss himself'', but the sight actually arouses Volgin... and ''Ocelot as well''. In fact it's actually implied that this event is what led to Ocelot becoming a world-renowned expert on torture.
** Cunningham also (very briefly) does this to Big Boss by whipping him with a stun baton (twice), as well as [[GroinAttack placing his artificial leg directly into Big Boss's groin]] between the two shocks in the very beginning of ''Portable Ops''. ''Peace Walker'' also has this happening to Big Boss.
* Implied in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 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.

* Done to Bruce Morgenholt in ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: 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.

* In ''Film/RobotHolocaust'', [[DarkChick Valeria]] inflicts this on [[KidnappedScientist Jorn.]] Valaria also gets this briefly a couple of times from [[BigBad The Dark One.]]

* In the special ''Anime/PokemonMewtwoReturns'', Giovanni does this to Mewtwo to try and get it to submit to his ownership. Eventually it frees itself [[NightmareFace rather...disturbingly]].

** In the main ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, for his battle for his eighth Indigo League badge, Ash finds himself facing off against Team Rocket, since the real gym leader (the same Giovanni from above) was away on "business", and assigned the trio as his substitutes. Team Rocket traps Ash in a platform that electrocutes him whenever his Pokémon take damage during the battle; however, this plan backfires because James also rigged Jessie's own platform to do the same to her, because he [[DidntThinkThisThrough never thought Ash would actually turn the tables on them this time]].