History Main / RoboticTortureDevice

** The torture device Darth Vader uses on Han Solo in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.

* Devices of this description appear in ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney'' in Goblin Town, inspired by a passing reference in Tolkien's original novel.
* The Machine in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Made all the more horrifying with the eleven fingered man politely asking for Westley to describe the sensation ForScience The book goes into some detail about it - Wesley had managed to withstand "mundane" torture by sending himself to his HappyPlace, but the Machine can ''even get in there'', torturing him down to his ''soul''. According to Rugen, it literally sucks ''years of your life'' out of you.

** The [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/IT-O_Interrogator IT-O interrogation device]] the Empire used offscreen on Princess Leia in ''Film/ANewHope''. Thankfully, BeautyIsNeverTarnished. And in fact, in the {{novelization}} and the radio play, we see that Vader sent the droid away and instead performed a rather disturbing MindProbe.
** Some EU sources state that IT-O droids often attack their victim's ''[[GroinAttack genitals]]''. You may cringe now.
** The torture device Darth Vader used on Han Solo in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.

* The first instalment ''Gamebook/EscapeFromBloodCastle'' from the Usborne Mystery Stories features a highly complicated torture machine. While the victim is stretched out on a rack, a chain of events is set off, including a chandelier being winched up, whose candles burn a rope attached to a cage, which frees a pterojackdaw, and a sharp-bladed pendulum descends over the victim on the rack.

* In Creator/AynRand's ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', there is a device designed to deliver electrocution to cause maximum pain but stopping just before the point of death.
* Creator/GeneWolfe's ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'' mentions several of these in its scenes regarding the local Torturers' Guild. Two are described in detail: Allowin's Necklace is a mechanical garrote tightened by the tidal motion of its victim's breathing (a victim breathing shallowly can last for hours), while the Revolutionary painfully awakens an unconscious urge toward self-destruction. These urges can be overridden consciously, but in unguarded moments its victims revert to scratching at their own skin or trying to claw out their eyes; they weaken as the victim does, however, and strong-willed individuals can take months to die. (There's also a brief mention of a device that will carve slogans into a victim's flesh, which is a ShoutOut to Creator/FranzKafka's ''In the Penal Colony'', though modern readers might be thinking of [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix another story altogether]].)
* In Creator/RichardKMorgan's ''Literature/BrokenAngels'' one character is subjected to the Wedge punishment for traitors; a machine designed to slowly torture them to death over the course of an entire day. While the machine is busy flaying skin, breaking bones and cracking teeth for the enjoyment of the watching crowd, it's also carefully administering drugs and medical attention to ensure that the subject is alive and conscious for as much of the ordeal as possible.
* The torture device Creator/FranzKafka thought of in the short story ''Literature/InThePenalColony'', which carves a description of the crime into the victim's skin over and over again. In its final use it malfunctions and just killed the victim brutally and quickly, rather than killing them slowly and agonizingly like it's supposed to.

* In Creator/SheriSTepper's ''Six Moon Dance'', there's a sexual bondage device which is set to inflict sadistic pleasure at first... before it just gets sadistic. And deadly.

* [[spoiler:Etta]] uses an Angel device on a loyalist to get information out of him on ''Series/{{Fringe}}''. It works by destabilising every atom in the victim's body and visibly ages them.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has a torturer robot from a crashed spaceship that is essentially a ShoutOut to the Star Wars example. Though it can also be used as a CombatMedic.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'''s Dark Eldar Haemonculi (thoroughly evil virtuoso torture technicians with almost magical high technology at their disposal) have a chilling variety of biomechanical "pain engines" to play with. These are often taken to the battlefield and used as mobile war machines by Dark Eldar raiding forces. The two most common such engines are the "Talos" pain engine - which can be fitted with giant razors, chain flails, ichor injectors and all manner of fiendish equipment (it generally renders down its victims into constituent parts and stores them for later) - and the "Cronos" parasite engine, which slowly siphons off the souls of its victims using a series of eldritch probes, vanes and hypnotic discs.

* The hilariously inventive torture machine from the original ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper''. In its dormant state it consisted of a pedestal backed by a hooded and cowled automaton; when active the automaton inflicted a different torture on almost every one of the different unit classes, including: whipping the kinky Dark Mistresses, rib-tickling giants and barbarians, spinning fairy folk around by their wings, strangling archers with their bows, transforming wizards into frogs and back again, and attacking armoured paladins with can openers.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' has a robotic surgery machine in one of the research labs. Gordon Freeman has to turn it off for some scientists to follow him...starting from the other side of the room. ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'' ups the trope by coating the machine in blood and adding more surgical tools.
* In ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the crime lord Goto sends the Exile a '[=G0-T0=]' interrogation droid similar to the one used in ''Film/ANewHope'', remarking that its abilities will prove 'useful', [[WeAREStrugglingTogether which he mostly uses on members of your own party]].
* In ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'' the player could kill a bunch of restrained mutants with one of these. This gets you a WhatTheHellPlayer comment from [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Anya]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' gives us Painbot. And its upgraded version, Hurtbot.
* The [[TickleTorture ticklebot]] from ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown.''

{{Evil Empire}}s can't just [[SlouchOfVillainy slouch around]] on a [[OrcusOnHisThrone throne]] all day, they have {{Muggles}} to oppress and {{Doomed Hometown}}s to [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed raze!]] So not every EvilOverlord can take the time out of their busy schedule to personally interrogate a captive (which, let's face it, is the only [[TortureAlwaysWorks surefire way to get them to break).]] So instead they will delegate the use of ColdBloodedTorture... to something without the blood. The Robotic Torture Device [[DeathTrap is a torture device]] with various bits of torture equipment, including but not limited to: knives, poison filled syringes, blades, [[ElectricTorture electric shock prods]], {{Agony Beam}}s, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking or worst of all]], ''[[TickleTorture feathers]].''

Depending on how you want to look at it, it either makes the torture more or less dehumanizing by having a cold and unfeeling robot administer it. At least, we ''[[AIIsACrapshoot hope]]'' it's [[TheStoic cold and unfeeling]], because otherwise [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters it could]] [[RoboticPsychopath get]] [[AndIMustScream much,]] ''[[AFateWorseThanDeath much worse.]]''

Expect TheDragon or TortureTechnician to [[CreepyMonotone coldly intone]] "WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk" as it slowly draws near the victim before TheCavalry arrives... or not, which results in a fate that makes falling into a wood chipper seem tame.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': One infamous TV Funhouse sketch features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxqapxhOvjg Torboto]], a CorruptedCharacterCopy of ''Anime/{{Gigantor}}'' made by the US government to torture prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Since the Geneva Convention doesn't disallow robots from committing torture, the government uses the machine to commit a series of heinous and cartoonishly amoral acts of torture [[spoiler: until Torboto refuses and mutinies]].

* Creator/GeneWolfe's ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'' mentions several of these in its scenes regarding the local Torturers' Guild. Two are described in detail: Allowin's Necklace is a mechanical garrote tightened by the tidal motion of its victim's breathing (a victim breathing shallowly can last for hours), while the Revolutionary painfully awakens an unconscious urge toward self-destruction. These urges can be overridden consciously, but in unguarded moments its victims revert to scratching at their own skin or trying to claw out their eyes; they weaken as the victim does, however, and strong-willed individuals can take months to die. (There's also a brief mention of a device that will carve slogans into a victim's flesh, which is a ShoutOut to Creator/FranzKafka's ''In the Penal Colony'', though modern readers might be thinking of [[TheUmbridge another writer altogether]].)

* Creator/GeneWolfe's ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'' mentions several of these in its scenes regarding the local Torturers' Guild. Two are described in detail: Allowin's Necklace is a mechanical garrote tightened by the tidal motion of its victim's breathing (a victim breathing shallowly can last for hours), while the Revolutionary painfully awakens an unconscious urge toward self-destruction. These urges can be overridden consciously, but in unguarded moments its victims revert to scratching at their own skin or trying to claw out their eyes; they weaken as the victim does, however, and strong-willed individuals can take months to die. (There's also a brief mention of a device that will carve slogans into a victim's flesh, which is a ShoutOut to [[Creator/FranzKafka The Penal Colony]], though modern readers might be thinking of [[TheUmbridge another writer altogether]].)

* The torture device Kafka thought of in the short story ''Literature/InThePenalColony'', which carves a description of the crime into the victim's skin over and over again. In its final use it malfunctions and just killed the victim brutally and quickly, rather than killing them slowly and agonizingly like it's supposed to.
* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': In the original book (1911) there is a torture chamber completely automated: when the victim falls in the room, it activates and gives him the illusion of a tropical forest. When the victim cannot endure more, [[DrivenToSuicide there is also a rope to hang himself]]. The Phantom uses it as a defense against curious people. The first victim of the book was already dead when the Phantom found him.
* In Creator/SheriSTepper's ''Six Moon Dance'' there's a sexual bondage device which is set to inflict sadistic pleasure at first... before it just gets sadistic. And deadly.

* The device Edmund gets strapped to in the final episode of ''Series/BlackAdder [I]'' features a spike going up one's nethers, shears to cut off the ears, axes to chop off the hands, a coddling grinder, and feathers to tickle under the arms.
* In the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "War Stories," Niska has some sort of robotic spider thing that buries itself in Mal's skin. Of course, Niska is not opposed to using his hands and other instruments as well.

* Series/SaturdayNightLive: One infamous TV Funhouse sketch features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxqapxhOvjg Torboto]], a CorruptedCharacterCopy of ''Anime/{{Gigantor}}'' made by the US government to torture prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Since the Geneva Convention doesn't disallow robots from committing torture, the government uses the machine to commit a series of heinous and cartoonishly amoral acts of torture [[spoiler: until Torboto refuses and mutinies]].

* ''Franchise/SarWars'':

* Let's not forget the device Edmund gets strapped to in the final episode of ''Series/BlackAdder [I]'', which features a spike going up one's nethers, shears to cut off the ears, axes to chop off the hands, a coddling grinder, and feathers to tickle under the arms..

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1609885413091233400
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/han_solo_torture.png]]]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

* The [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/IT-O_Interrogator IT-O interrogation device]] the Empire used offscreen on Princess Leia in ''Film/ANewHope''. Thankfully, BeautyIsNeverTarnished. And in fact, in the {{novelization}} and the radio play, we see that Vader sent the droid away and instead performed a rather disturbing MindProbe.

* Devices of this description appear in ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney'' in Goblin Town, inspired by a passing reference in Tolkien's original novel.

[[folder: Gamebooks]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In Creator/SheriSTepper's ''Six Moon Dance'' there's a sexual bondage device which is set to inflict sadistic pleasure at first... before it just gets sadistic. And deadly.
* The torture device Kafka thought of in the short story ''Literature/InThePenalColony'', which carves a description of the crime into the victim's skin over and over again. In its final use it malfunctions and just killed the victim brutally and quickly, rather than killing them slowly and agonizingly like it's supposed to.
* In Creator/RichardKMorgan's ''Literature/BrokenAngels'' one character is subjected to the Wedge punishment for traitors; a machine designed to slowly torture them to death over the course of an entire day. While the machine is busy flaying skin, breaking bones and cracking teeth for the enjoyment of the watching crowd, it's also carefully administering drugs and medical attention to ensure that the subject is alive and conscious for as much of the ordeal as possible.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'' the player could kill a bunch of restrained mutants with one of these. This gets you a WhatTheHellPlayer comment from [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Anya]].

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'''s Dark Eldar Haemonculi (thoroughly evil virtuoso torture technicians with almost magical high technology at their disposal) have a chilling variety of biomechanical "pain engines" to play with. These are often taken to the battlefield and used as mobile war machines by Dark Eldar raiding forces. The two most common such engines are the "Talos" pain engine - which can be fitted with giant razors, chain flails, ichor injectors and all manner of fiendish equipment (it generally renders down its victims into constituent parts and stores them for later) - and the "Cronos" parasite engine, which slowly siphons off the souls of its victims using a series of eldritch probes, vanes and hypnotic discs.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has a torturer robot from a crashed spaceship that is essentially a ShoutOut to the Star Wars example. Though it can also be used as a CombatMedic.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' with the Probulator, a table with restraints and a wide variety of, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin robotic probes]]. It's implied to be a medical device rather than being specifically for torture, but that doesn't stop anyone strapped in it from screaming in pain.
* The [[TickleTorture ticklebot]] from ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown.''
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' gives us Painbot. And its upgraded version, Hurtbot.

[[/folder]]

* Let's not forget the device Edmund gets strapped to in the final episode of ''Series/BlackAdder [I]''.

[[folder: Film ]]

* The Machine in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Made all the more horrifying with the eleven fingered man politely asking for Westley to describe the sensation ForScience

[[quoteright:259:[[http://web.archive.org/web/20080915124427/http://www.christrevas.com/starwars/egf_15torture.html https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/StarWarsTortureBot_1906.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:259:[[BlindIdiotTranslation Do]] [[MemeticMutation not]] [[TranslationTrainwreck want.]]]]

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' with the Probulator who is implied to be a robot.
** Actually, it seems to be some stationary machine, albeit one with artificial intelligence. It's supposed to do... ''something'' thawed {{Human Popsicle}}s are required to do when coming from the past.
*** ... while screaming presumably in pain. Also according to Bender it "knows how to please a man"