History Main / HannibalLecture

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': [[OurLichesAreDifferent Xykon]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0657.html gives one to Vaarsuvius]] [[[spoiler: who had just agreed to sell [[AmbiguousGender his/her]] soul to demons for incredible magical power]].
-->'''Xykon''': I used to think spells equaled power too, back when I was alive. I've learned a lot since then. You know what ''does'' equal power? Power. Power equals power. Crazy, huh? But the type of power? Doesn't matter as much as you think. It turns out, everything is oddly balanced. Weird, but true. For example...''*reaches out and puts the currently invisible Vaarsuvius in a choke hold*''...right now, power takes the form of a +8 racial bonus to Listen skill checks. So, Uncle Xykon, what's the moral of the story?
-->'''Vaarsuvius''': Unnh...gllch...
-->'''Xykon''': A big pile of spells isn't enough when the other guy has a big pile of spells AND the strength to crush your windpipe with his bare phalanges.
-->'''Vaarsuvius''': '''...'''
-->'''Xykon''': And they died happily ever after. The End.

* ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'': [[OurLichesAreDifferent Xykon]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0657.html gives one to Vaarsuvius]] [[[spoiler: who had just agreed to sell [[AmbiguousGender his/her]] soul to demons for incredible magical power]].

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "Duet", Cardassian war criminal Gul Darhe'el savagely Lectures Major Kira, coupled with openly bragging about his mass murders. It turns out his purpose was not to break her down but [[spoiler: keeping keep from guessing he isn't Darhe'el at all, but an innocent file clerk who wants to be convicted to embarrass Cardassia into admitting its guilt to Bajor.]]

* One possible low-level monster in ImprobableIsland is named Hannibal Lecture, and tries this on the player. It doesn't work.

* Parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', when Tobias, former psychologist turned acting-hopeful, manages to talk his prison bunkmate, White Power Bill, into suicide by questioning him about, "where the hate comes from."

** Brilliantly subverted in ''Masterpiece'', during [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the Rothschild/Rossi interrogation scene]]. Rossi starts by trying to interrogate Rothschild, discussing how pathetic and cowardly he is. Then Rothschild fires back, revealing his master plan to [[spoiler: dump acid on the entire team, to deprive Rossi of his "family" as Rossi did to him.]] He even walks around the room while Rossi sits, to switch the interrogator/suspect roles. Rossi panics, rushes to locate the team, sinks into a chair in disbelief as Rothschild gloats in his ear about his brilliant [[BatmanGambit evil plan]]... when Rossi [[spoiler: reveals to him that not only has this entire scene been a confession, but they already knew about the killer's plan to dump acid on them, got all the victims out safely, ''and'' that he will be there when Rothschild is executed.]] He even pulls a last-minute BatmanGambit by intentionally turning his back to groom himself in the one-way mirror, catching Rothschild and slamming him up against the wall as he is attacked. Yes, Rossi can manipulate you while stroking his beard.

-->'''Interrogator:''' Have you ever counted them? The people you've killed. I mean, that's going to be a big number, right?

-->'''Eliot:''' What do you want to know? Names? Dates? Locations? You want to know what food was on their breath? Their eyes, you want to know what color their eyes were? Want to know which ones deserved it? Or better yet, which ones didn't? Want to know which ones begged? Know why I know these things? You don't know? Because I can't forget. So there's nothing you can do, no punishment you can hand out, that's worse than what I live with every day. So to answer your question, no. I never counted. I don't need to.

* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', "The Experimental Job", a Breaking Speech by an interrogator is turned around into a Hannibal Lecture. A career CIA interrogator tries to break Eliot by getting him to talk about how many people Eliot has killed. Eliot convinces the CIA man that he's killed far more, and remembers far more details, and that it already haunts him far more than the CIA man could possibly have imagined or could possibly invoke. The CIA man is so shaken that he ends the day's session right then and there.

* MightyMorphinMechaRangers features not only Shinji vs Deathwing in a combined Hannibal and TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, but also Misato laying one onto Hikari, the poor dear, as she weeps by a Shinji who is about to die of blood loss. This is, however, almost immediately countered by Aina Sahalim, the woman behind the Apsalus, which in this verse was apparently far deadlier. She's also performed a similar role to Shinji as Misato, except she's about 100 times better at it.
** Unfortunetly for Misato, in this fic verse, Kaiba, who is a right and proper Jerk (sometimes without the heart of gold) to people, is better boss than Misato OR Gendo (though the latter isn't hard to beat).

In the climax, the prisoner's probing becomes a full-blown BreakingLecture. This method of 'interrogating the interrogator' is a subtype known as a Hannibal Lecture. The theme of the lecture is always the same: their captor is a sad, pathetic failure who is only holding the prisoner captive to give themselves delusions of adequacy. Frequently, the captor must admit they are NotSoDifferent morally.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker excels at this and BreakingThemByTalking in general. The scariest part is, it works about half the time.

* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', "The Experimental Job", a BreakingSpeech by an interrogator is turned around into a Hannibal Lecture. A career CIA interrogator tries to break Eliot by getting him to talk about how many people Eliot has killed. Eliot convinces the CIA man that he's killed far more, and remembers far more details, and that it already haunts him far more than the CIA man could possibly have imagined or could possibly invoke. The CIA man is so shaken that he ends the day's session right then and there.

%% Do not readd the Batman Beyond Return of the Joker example here. Terry was not being interrogated and therefore it is a BreakingSpeech instead of a Hannibal Lecture.

** Later, [[VillainProtagonist Skitter]] is cornered by the superhero Flechette and her ally Parian, with a dart of metal fused to her shoulder. Flechette intends to arrest her and take her in, and the only weapon that Skitter has is her knowledge of the heroes. She points out that the world isn't nearly as black and white as Flechette would like it, convinces Parian to turn to her side, and severely damages Flechette's faith in the heroes to the point that she later pulls a HeelFaceTurn, using only this information...and two hundred thousand dollars.

--->''You see a lot, Doctor. But are you strong enough to point that high-powered perception at yourself? What about it? Why don't you - why don't you look at yourself and write down what you see? Or maybe you're afraid to.''
*** This goes to nothing as Lecter immediately follows up with his infamous reference to eating a mans liver with "fava beans and a nice Chianti," and then contemptuously sends Clarice on her way: "You fly back to school now, little Starling."

* [[TheEmpath Cherish]] attempts this on the [[VillainProtagonist Undersiders]] in ''Literatue/{{Worm}}'' using information she'd gleaned on them with her power, only to have [[AwesomenessbyAnalysis Tattletale]] turn it around on her during her interrogation.

** Not to mention how Starling ended up in the book. The ending was a ''lot'' different than it was in the movie. [[spoiler: Long story short, he was able to make her fall in love with him.]]
** More like brainwashing.

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' had an example when they had one of their Cylon captives aboard the Galactica. Roslin and Adama brough Starbuck in to interrogate him. He is pretty successful at getting under her skin, but, like all Cylons and Cylon collaborators must, he goes out the airlock.

See also: ToThePain, TalkingYourWayOut, JustBetweenYouAndMe, EvilGloating, ShutUpHannibal, TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, and CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure. Compare AndThenWhat If the declarations come from simple clues, this is a form of SherlockScan.

* {{ComicBook/Loki}}, while imprisoned in a Hulk-proof cell on the Helicarrier, delivers his sterling "Can you wipe out that much red?" lecture in the middle of ''Film/TheAvengers''. [[spoiler:However, ComicBook/BlackWidow is [[WoundedGazelleGambit playing him as much as he is playing her]].]]
-->'''Natasha:''' It's really not that complicated. [[TheAtoner I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.]]
-->'''Loki:''' Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? [[NoodleIncident Drakov's daughter, Tugenov, the hospital fire?]] Yes, [[spoiler:Barton]] told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and [[IOweYouMyLife you think saving a man]] no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... ''pathetic!'' You lie and kill [[TheMenInBlack in the service of liars and killers]]. [[NotSoDifferent You pretend to be separate, to have your own code]], something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away. No, I won't touch [[spoiler:Barton]], not until I make him kill you. [[ToThePain Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear]]. And when he's done and you're finally dead, I'll let him wake [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone just long enough to see his good work]], and when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!

* In ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', Harrison gives multiple speeches deconstructing Kirk and Spock's motivations and character flaws. [[spoiler:Several of these nearly mirror Khan's monologues from "Space Seed" and ''The Wrath of Khan'' in tone, though surprisingly avoid any direct references]].

*** This goes to nothing as Lecter immediately follows up with his infamous reference to eating a dude's liver with "fava beans and a nice Chianti," and then contemptuously sends Clarice on her way: "You fly back to school now, little Starling."

As a counterpoint, it must be stated that the lecture falls flat, being two lines long and mostly about guilt-tripping the soldier about having a crush on her female commander. Yang is the person to pull this off, but the writer obviously wasn't.

Because you can't spell "Lecture" without L-E-C-T-E-R!

Named for Dr. Hannibal Lecter of the 1988 novel ''The Silence of the Lambs'', who set the standard for this trope when he was immortalized onscreen by AnthonyHopkins in the 1991 film adaptation.

Only a fool tries PerpSweating on a {{sociopath}}ic ManipulativeBastard. He knows all the tricks of psychology, and will turn the tables.

The looney starts out with a few seemingly-innocent questions about the interrogator's life or even appearance -- "why did you go into law enforcement instead of medicine like you wanted?" or "why aren't you married?" Then, the loon asks more {{armor piercing question}}s, which turn into comments, which turn into deconstructions, which turn into declarations about how the interrogator has failed in different ways. Pretty soon, the loon is doing all the interrogating and all the answering, with the poor 'interrogator' doing nothing but nodding their assent and crying.

* In one issue of his comic, {{Wolverine}} has been imprisoned by the unusual method of throwing him in a pit and shooting him constantly so he'll be too busy healing to escape and he ''still'' manages to successfully lectures the guy with the gun, who eventually lets Wolverine escape in the expectation that Wolverine will ''kill him''.

* ''Ultimate Comics Avengers'' features a cloned ComicBook/SpiderMan kept under heavy security by SHIELD as part of a Black Ops group. According to the team leader, he can "drive a man to suicide in three or four exchanges."
* In a 1990 story in ''SuicideSquad'', the Israeli superteam Hayoth captures arch-villain Kobra. They assign their team AI, Dybbuk, to interrogate him... which was his goal all along. He gets the AI to wonder whether it has free will, and ''almost'' convinces it that the only way it could ''prove'' to itself that it has free will would be to do something its creators would never have wanted... like, say, [[WorldWarIII launch a missile attack on the Dome of the Rock]].

* The graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' (which [[OlderThanTheyThink pre-dates]] ''TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' by two years - but is predated by ''Red Dragon'', the first Hannibal book) has a classic "psycho prisoner out-psychs the psychiatrist" scene. The prisoner in question evades the standard psychiatric evaluation questions, giving false responses to such things as a Rorschach test. The psychiatrist is hopeful for his progress, until a few days later, when he asks the prisoner to give true statements this time... at which point, the prisoner relates the entire story of how he mentally snapped and became [[spoiler:Rorschach]], a story so horrifying that [[CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure he is left sitting stunned in his chair long after the prisoner is led out]].