History Main / SelfHarm

* Nikki from ''Webcomic/BetweenTheLines'' apparently has a history of cutting herself.

* Serena d'Angelus, an artist in ''[[Literature/HorusHeresy Fulgrim]]'', cuts herself to deal with her frustrations. After the corruption of Slaanesh infects the remembrancers that went to Laeran, her self-mutilation gets worse and then she discovers that mixing blood with her paints makes shades that she cannot replicate normally.

* In ''Film/{{Gunless}}'', Sean carves notches into his left am so the scars form [[HumanNotepad tally marks]]: one for each man he has killed.

* In ''Film/{{Gunless}}'', Sean carves notches into his left am so the scars form [[HumanNotepad tally marks]]: one for each man he has killed.
* ''Film/LovingAnnabelle'': Colins is shown to cut herself, probably for dealing with her social anxiety and getting bullied.
* ''{{Film/MFA}}'': Skye cuts herself, as Noelle finds upon finding her in the bathroom. It's unstated, but clearly implied she does so as a result of her trauma due to being raped. This also {{Foreshadow|ing}}s Skye's later suicide by the same means, a razor blade.
* ''Film/TheSummerOfSangaile'': Sangaile cuts herself frequently, having both her forearms crisscrossed with scars. Auste is casual about it, even telling her to do seventeen so it matches Sangaile's age, while cutting her arm too in solidarity. It seems to be a coping mechanism for negative feelings, since Sangaile mentions she first cut herself after her mom had said she's weak. It's not explicitly stated, but implied that by the end she's stopped.
* In ''Film/{{Stiletto}}'', Lee's girlfriend Penny is shown doing this whenever she is left alone for too long. Her acts include extinguishing cigarettes on her thigh, and cutting her wrist with a pocketknife.
* ''Film/MostLikelyToMurder2018'': [[spoiler:Billy thinks the scratches on Lowell's arm are from his murder victim, but really they were self-inflicted due to the stress of his mother's death.]]
* Cho-won from ''Film/Marathon2005'' has a scar on his hand from biting himself. He used to do it all the time, but he hardly ever does it since he started running.
* In ''Film/{{Meadowland}}'', Sarah notices scars on the arm of her student Alma. She asks if it's supposed to feel good, and Alma answers, "No. It hurts." Sarah later tries cutting herself with a razor to cope with the disappearance of her son, and finds it excruciatingly painful.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Music/AmyWinehouse admitted to being a cutter, though she spoke little about it publicly. The following exchange is from a 2007 ''Magazine/RollingStone'' article:
-->I point to my left forearm and say, "I couldn't help but notice the scars. How old were you when you started doing that?" She looks at me, surprised, but doesn't have a ready-made answer, so I continue: "I mean, the cutting." Her muscles seem to tighten, and she avoids eye contact as she replies, "Um, that's really old. Really old. Just from a bad time, I suppose. "And then, stammering, "D-d-desperate times."
* Kago Ai, after being fired from Music/HelloProject by Up-Front Agency for being photographed smoking having already being suspended for it a year earlier, suffered from severe depression and started cutting herself. She has even admitted to having suicidal thoughts. She has since recovered, in addition to making a comeback as a musician and actress. Unfortunately as of September 2011, Kago Ai has once again attempted to slit her wrists and has been put on suicide watch.
* Richey Edwards of the Music/ManicStreetPreachers had a history of self-harm. The most notorious incident was when Edwards, getting frustrated trying to convince a reporter from NME that the band were for real, eventually pulled out a razor and [[CarvedMark carved "4 REAL"]] into his arm. A photograph of his stitched-up arm appeared on the cover of the magazine.
[[/folder]]

** After leaving her drug addiction from her test in the [[Film/SawI first film]], Amanda began cutting herself, which is what lands her in another trap in ''Film/SawII'' (actually, that was her part in the game's plan as a watchperson to John, but she did still harm herself). She's shown cutting one of her legs in ''Film/SawIII'', laying out all the tools before she starts (in an attempt to gain control over her situation), and later tightly grips a knife until she begins to bleed onto the floor (because she's starting to lose control, in comparison to the previous scenes).

** Paul Leahy, a victim in the first film, had run a straight razor across his wrists (either to [[AttentionWhore gain attention]] or to [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself]], as John asks via tape).

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''
** Amanda, previously a drug addict, started self-harming (via cutting) which is what lands her in another trap in ''Film/SawII'' [[spoiler:(actually, that was part of the plan but she did self-harm)]]. She is shown cutting one of her legs in ''Film/SawIII'', laying out all the tools before she starts (in an attempt to gain control over her situation), and later tightly grips a knife until she begins to bleed onto the floor (because she's starting to lose control -- in comparison to the previous scenes in the film).
** Paul, a victim, had run a straight razor across his wrists (either to [[AttentionWhore gain attention]] or [[DrivenToSuicide to kill himself]], as John asks via tape).

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Despair]] habitually tears her skin with the hooked ring she wears. At one point she cut her ''[[EyeScream eyeball]]'' open, which was mercifully only narrated, not shown. It doesn't leave permanent marks, presumably because she's as immortal as the rest of the Endless.

* ComicBook/{{X 23}} habitually cuts herself on the wrists and forearms with her claws, and is first shown engaging in this behavior [[spoiler: after being forced to kill her sensei as a test of the trigger scent]]. Laura can fall under ''all'' of the reasons for cutting noted above, and one issue of her solo series suggests she may even be inflicting fatal injuries on herself: An employee at a hotel where she was staying with Gambit reported to his manager that it appeared as if someone attempted to commit suicide in a bathroom she just left. Her HealingFactor prevents her from dying from her wounds, however, and completely heals the resulting scars.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

* An odd example of a villain, and someone who's not a teenager: Annie Wilkes in ''Literature/{{Misery}}''.

* There are several points during ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', especially early on, where Mei slaps herself to convince herself to stop talking or to punish herself for disappointing her mother. Then there is the scene where in her room, after discovering that her transformations run in the family, Mei tries (and fails) to stop them by slamming against the walls and the floor, and trying to rip off her red panda body parts.

** In the Season 5 Entrapta slaps herself with her hair to keep focused on her work and not get distracted by technology. Supposedly PlayedForLaughs, until you remember how much Entrapta was rebuked by the princesses because of her passion for techs [[Hypocrite although they only took her back because she is the best with them]].

** In the Season 5 Entrapta slaps herself with her hair to keep focused on her work and not get distracted by technology. Supposedly PlayedForLaughs, until you remember how much Entrapta was rebuked by the princesses because of her passion for techs [[Hypocrite(and that they've only took her back for the same reason)]].

* There was an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'', where Orel was doing this [[SerialEscalation to varying degrees]] to [[ThePenance achieve penitence]]. In that episode, for once, Orel doesn't get belted by Clay because of the whole penitance thing.
** A later episode, ''Numb'', has Orel's nother do this by [[spoiler: masturbating with power tools--Yes, actual power tools]].

* Shows up ''a lot'' in Creator/EllenHopkins' young adult books.

* ''Film/Thirteen2003'': The main character is a cutter.

* The main character of ''{{Film/Thirteen}}'' is a cutter.

* There was an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'', where Orel was doing this [[SerialEscalation to varying degrees]] to achieve penitence. In that episode, for once, Orel doesn't get belted by Clay

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', [[spoiler:this is the primary method that Titan Shifters use to activate their transformation since injury (and a clear goal) are required]]. Eren has a tendency to bite his hand hard enough to draw blood, which others note is actually harder than it looks.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
** At several points in the manga, Griffith claws at his arms deeply enough to bleed, usually due to going through some bad things mentally.
** Guts does this in the earlier chapters too, to what's left of his arm with his fingers.
** And then there's Farnese and her penchant for self-flagellation, which she does for religious, emotional, and sexual reasons.
* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'':
** Implied with Frederica Sawyer. In Chapter #41, scars can be seen on her wrist while she is climbing a ladder, and a few official artworks featuring her show a fairly large amount of scars on her wrists.
** When Garcia overhears Roberta (who he has a big crush on) getting intimate with a soldier he responds by crying and biting into his finger hard enough that he bleeds.
* ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'': Around a year after Sandra and Greg's deaths, Jeremy begins slamming his head and body into walls and door frames when he [[FreakOut becomes too distressed]] or during [[HeroicBSOD moments of confusion]].
* A contractor in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' has to cut himself in order to activate his powers.
* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Captain Ginyu wounds himself by stabbing his own hand into his chest, which greatly shocks Goku...but not as much as Ginyu's subsequent use of a [[GrandTheftMe body-change]] technique, leaving Goku in his badly injured body.
* After her wings begin splotching due to [[spoiler:becoming sin-bound]], Rakka from ''Anime/HaibaneRenmei'' begins cutting off the ruined feathers. She stops when Reki finds out and teaches her how to [[HideYourOtherness dye her wings]]. [[spoiler:Reki herself used to mutilate her wings as well due to being born with black wings]].
* Miyamura from ''Manga/{{Horimiya}}'' got his numerous piercings by doing them himself, using it as a form of alleviating stress and frustration from his lonely childhood. When depicting his getting the piercings in the first OVA, special emphasis is put on how his skin bruised and bled right after a flashback of kid Miyamura feeling left out in school. This is repeated in the TV anime adaptation. There's mild implication he got his tattoos for the same reason. [[spoiler:It's rather telling when some of his piercings start to close up due to him forgetting to maintain them, after his life has become occupied with a relatively wide circle of good relationships.]]
* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', there is a scene where [[BigBad Naraku]], frustrated about the feelings of jealousy and unrequited love for Kikyo (which he blames on the vestiges of his humanity, but are later revealed to be very much his own), rips the skin of his back (where he has a scar that marks him as part-human) with a sword. With a HealingFactor like his, the resulting wound is like a shallow papercut to him, but the scene implies that he has been doing it ''over and over again'' and he has implied that he tried even more drastic methods... Since he already knew that it wouldn't work, one can assume that he does it entirely because of the aforementioned feelings.
* The main character of ''Manga/{{Life}}'' by Keiko Suenobu begins cutting after her best friend turns on her. In the LiveActionAdaptation, this is replaced by an ImportantHaircut and it focuses harder on the bullying.
* It's revealed in ''Manga/LonelyWolfLonelySheep'' that [[spoiler:Little Imari]] has repeatedly broken her [[{{Fingore}} index finger]] on purpose. She started hurting herself because she was going through artist's block but noticed that when she accidentally broke her finger she no longer felt the pressure to draw. [[spoiler:Big Imari offers Little Imari to join her as an interior designer so that she doesn't have to paint anymore]].
* Chapter 23 of ''Manga/LoveMeForWhoIAm'' reveals that in the past, [[spoiler:Mogumo, experiencing heavy dysphoria, horrified that their voice was changing, attempted to use a knife to cut out their Adam's Apple. Their mother tried to talk them out of it, but Mogumo called her out for not making any attempt to understand them and their issues. They don't go through with it, but the incident fractured their family enough that Mogumo left]].
* Kosame from ''Manga/MagicalGirlSite'' has powers that are activated by her cutting herself. As a result, her wrists are covered in bandages. It's also mentioned that Kosame started cutting herself ''before'' becoming a MagicalGirl.
* In ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'', protagonist Tobia is being held captive by someone who thinks [[PsychicPowers Newtypes]] have evolved beyond the concerns of {{Muggles}} and is trying to convince him to not care about the war going on right outside. Tobia's ShutUpHannibal is to steal a knife from a nearby guard, cut his arm, and say (paraphrased) "Newtypes and Oldtypes bleed the same blood; we aren't superior, just different."
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Gaara attempted to slash his own wrists as a child but was blocked by his own sand barrier. This is after a classic example of a DarkAndTroubledPast since while he had never actually been injured due to said sand barrier and was only half-halfheartedly trying out of curiosity, the fact that a child would casually try something like that is still rather indicative of Gaara's state of mind.
** Hidan takes this UpToEleven by having to impale himself with sharp objects in order to ''sacrifice'' people for his religious ceremonies. After linking his body to someone else through ingesting some of their blood, wounding his immortal body allows him to transfer said damage to his victim.
** The summoning technique in general requires the summoner to offer some blood before they can proceed to summon their creatures. Usually the go-to method is to bite the thumb.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** While she may or may not have tried to speed the process by [[BungledSuicide cutting her wrists]] and [[BathSuicide lying in a bathtub]], Asuka was implied to have taken a more indirect route by starving herself. She's found naked with her clothes folded neatly (a hallmark of people committing suicide) and is too weak to avoid being taken into custody when Section 2 agents find her.
** One early draft of episode 24 would've shown Kaworu with scars on his wrists and neck, with the implications that they were from suicide attempts. This was apparently cut in the final draft, but it does help explain why Kaworu was so willing to [[spoiler:have Shinji kill him]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Very early, during the Arlong arc, Arlong's ally, corrupt marine officer Nezumi, "confiscates" the ransom money that Nami spent the last 8 years collecting. Arlong tells her that he didn't break their deal and the villagers decide that she has fought enough, and goes to fight him, which would lead to their certain deaths. Distraught and hopeless, Nami grabs a knife and starts violently defacing the Arlong tattoo on her arm, not stopping until Luffy grabs her hand.
** The scar under Luffy's left eye is self-inflicted, but it wasn't for much of an emotional reason. [[IdiotHero He just wanted to show how tough he was to the other pirates]] when he was a kid.
* ''Manga/PandoraHearts'': In times of emotional distress Break will claw at his empty eye socket until it bleeds. (It was pulled out of his head by the Will of the Abyss).
* In ''Manga/ShadowStar'', [[spoiler:Akira Sakura]] cuts herself - hardly surprising considering how dark the series is. She's depressed and suicidal due to [[spoiler:her father's ParentalIncest]] and bullying at school.
* In ''Manga/SuicideClub'', Saya is frequently shown cutting her forearms. Initially it seems to be a way for her to deal with her personal trauma, but it's revealed that [[spoiler:part of a previous cycle of the Mitsuko club involved Mitsuko and her followers cutting their forearms as some kind of bonding-through-mutual-pain ritual]].
* ''Manga/ThatsMyAtypicalGirl'': Takamatsu and Shimizu have scars from cutting their risks due to past and present emotional problems. The titular character has cut her wrists as well, but those go beyond self harm and were [[BungledSuicide failed suicide attempts.]]
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'':
** After being captured and imprisoned in Cochlea, the amnesiac Ghoul #240 is seen wearing bandages over his eyes. This is because he repeatedly clawed his own eyes out (he has a HealingFactor so they would regrow), to the extent the wounds kept getting infected.
** Juuzou Suzuya is shown stitching his own skin for no discernible reason. Being raised and tortured by a psychopathic ghoul might have something to do with it since he shrugs off more major injuries as well.
* One of the ''many'' signs of mental instability shown by Dilandau in ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' is how he picks at the cut on his face that [[TheHero Van]] gave him early in the series and reopens it while brooding. One of his {{Mook}}s points out that this is preventing it from healing properly and gets promptly [[BadBoss backhanded]] for it.
* ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'': The BigBad Haguro Dou becomes completely and crazily obsessed with protagonist (and werewolf) Inugami. He initially doesn't care about or even think twice about Inugami... until he pushes Inugami too far. This results in Inugami showing him his true form and scaring Haguro. Haguro goes insane from it, and obsesses and stalks Inugami after that, even cutting himself all over his arm and carving the word "Inu" onto his hand.
* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Lune]] is stabbing herself to relieve the frustration of being unable to harm humans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/SeventhHeaven'': In one episode, Mary catches Nicole (a new friend of her sister's) self-harming in her bathroom. Mary tells Eric (her father), who then tells Nicole's father. Eric gives him a card and a number to call so they can get help for Nicole. Nicole is then PutOnABus.
* In ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'', Skye Miller is revealed to be a cutter. Skye tells Clay Jensen that the scars on her wrist is what she does instead of killing herself. This leads her to being taken to the hospital and then admitted to a mental health facility to deal with her problem.
* ''Series/TheAffair'': After Noah sees scars on Alison's legs, she admits that she cuts herself to cope with the death of her son Gabriel. Later in the series, she's seen doing it again during an emotional breakdown.
* ''The Bad Girls Club'': Zara cuts herself after getting into a fight with the rest of the members of the group.
* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'': In one episode, Donna finds her assistant cutting herself, after suspecting it. She tries to help her, eventually persuading her to get therapy.
* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'': Agent Nelson van Alden of the Burau of Prohibition is a deeply puritanical man who self-flagellates when he finds himself obsessively attracted to Margaret Schroeder.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** After discovering she was BornOfMagic, Dawn is discovered with a knife in one hand and a large gash on the other arm. She then asks "Is this blood?", suggesting that the incident was an attempt to see if she was human.
** Faith is a bit of an atypical variant, as she's harming her body [[GrandTheftMe while her mind isn't actually occupying it]]. (As such, this could be argued not to be harming "herself" per se. That said, all of the self-loathing and rage of a self-harmer is present as she lays into her Buffy-occupied body.)
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has this on one episode, when Jeff admits to cutting himself in 7th grade to [[spoiler:fake appendicitis, just so someone would care about him]] He still has the scar, 22 years later.
* ''Series/ControlZ'': Sofia cut herself regularly in the past. Her arms are literally crisscrossed with old scars.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': On a campus where the team has been investigating a spate of murders, one of the girls there is shown cutting and deliberately trying to get herself killed by the murderer (like a suicide attempt).
* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' has had four self-injurers:
** The first was Ellie, who began cutting herself after her father leaves and her mother started drinking again. Eventually, Paige noticed and convinced Ellie to see the school guidance counselor. She's implied to have stopped cutting at some point, although she says that she'll always be a cutter, even if she never does it again.
** Later, Adam, a transgender boy, resorts to burning after his mother tries to force him to live as a girl.
** Campbell cuts himself with an ice skate and [[spoiler: jumps off a ledge and breaks his arm]].
** Zoe began burning herself as a way to cope with forcing herself in the closet.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'': In one episode, a self-harmer is treated at their clinic.
* ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'': Jules used to cut herself as a coping mechanism over her dysphoria and other issues.
* Later on in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', after Sylar has gained the power of shapeshifting, he ends up having a ShapeshifterIdentityCrisis and at one point carves his name into his arm. It heals away, an extra bit of symbolism, but it still shows that he's struggling with this new power.
* One of the students in ''Series/HigherGround'', Juliette, is a cutter and also suffers from bulimia.
* ''Series/{{House}}'': In one episode, House discovers his patient has been cutting herself.
* ''Series/{{Intervention}}'' has featured self-injurers.
* Played with in ''Series/{{Jekyll}}''; Hyde will often do things that hurt him, but they usually hurt Jackman more (and in any case, he has an extremely high threshold for pain). In his first episode, he intimidates someone by slowly [[CigaretteBurns stubbing out a cigarette on his own palm]], commenting "It'll hurt more tomorrow" (when Jackman will be back in control), and at a bar deliberately orders something that's "really bad for hangovers".
* Connor in ''Series/TheLAComplex'' deliberately crashed his car, poured boiling water over his arm, and set his house on fire.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': During one case, the daughter of a suspect is a cutter.
* ''Series/LieToMe'': Megan from "The Royal We" reveals cuts on her thigh to Dr. Lightman.
* ''Series/MadMen'': Ginsberg [[spoiler: slices off one of his own nipples]] in the throes of a nervous breakdown brought on by the agency's new computer.
* Used in the "Pretty White Kids" sketch from ''Series/MadTV'' that makes fun at WB's contemporary melodramatic teen sitcoms. The pretty popular girl secretly cuts herself and keeps blades in her locker.
* Several episodes of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' have dealt with a soldier shooting himself in the foot to get out of the fighting for a while.
** This was a favorite ploy of Col. Flagg. In his first appearance, he has a broken arm. Another intelligence officer (a friend of Trapper's) arrives in camp and said Flagg probably did it himself with a hammer, just so he could be brought to the 4077th and spy on them.
** In the same episode, when Hawkeye told Flagg he couldn't give him a medical excuse to stay at the 4077th, Flagg re-broke his arm by smashing an X-ray machine on top of it.
** In another episode, Flagg arrives at the 4077th to question a soldier who was caught stealing medical supplies. Flagg lets him escape, then wrecks the tent he was being held in. He caps it off by smashing a phone over his own head, then running himself head-first into a cabinet, to make it look like the prisoner overpowered him and escaped on his own.
* ''Series/MidnightSun2016'': Kahina frequently cuts her legs and arms with a razor to let out pain over giving up her son long ago.
* ''Series/OrphanBlack'': Helena has cuts on her back which makes it look like she has wings, and is seen cutting multiple times in season one. [[spoiler:Tomas]] also self-harms at one point.
* ''Series/PleaseLikeMe'': In the season 3 episode "Simple Carbohydrates", it is revealed that Hannah has been self-harming by hitting/bruising herself. This is shown multiple times throughout the season.
* ''Series/ThePunisher2017''. Among the other scars she got during a childhood injury, Dr. Krista Dumont is shown to have neat parallel scars on the inside of her arm, hinting at the [[MaskOfSanity psychological issues]] that later cause her to [[UnholyMatrimony ally herself with Billy Russo]].
* In a season 2 episode of ''Series/{{Quantico}}'', Dayana is seen making herself a cup of tea, but then she pours some of the hot water onto her hand.
* ''Series/TheRealWorld'': In the Cancun season, Ayiiia is caught self-harming in the bathroom and later she cuts herself on the deck.
* ''Series/{{Rome}}'': Octavia is seen cutting herself in her tent and later her sleeves are pulled up to show the marks.
* ''Series/ShadowAndBone''. People who've make it across the Shadow Fold alive put a cut on their arm to show it. The Conductor, who smuggles Grisha across the Fold, has multiple scars and admits that dicing with death on a regular basis can take a toll on one's sanity. Unfortunately when he's captured the scars reveal his identity, given that there's no-one else who's made that many crossings and lived.
* ''Series/{{Shadowhunters}}'': In "Dust and Shadows", Alec is seen shooting arrows until his fingers bleed. He refuses to let anyone heal his hand when they notice the wound.
* ''Series/ShamelessUS'':
** In the penultimate Season 2 episode, [[spoiler:Monica, the Gallagher matriarch ([[MissingMom in name, not in practice mind you]]), is shown with her slit wrists on the floor during the Thanksgiving dinner. She is bipolar, and had not been taking her medication for some time prior to the incident.]]
** In Season 4, Debbie Gallagher self-harms after a complicated breakup with her boyfriend.
* ''Series/SharpObjects'': A major part of the plot, referenced by the title, is self-harm. [[spoiler:Camille is revealed to have covered herself in scars spelling out disparaging words directed at herself. She can no longer wear short sleeves or skirts without betraying her secret]].
* ''Series/{{Skins}}'': Cassie. It's never seen though, only mentioned.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. In "Extreme Risk", B'Elanna Torres had been playing high-risk holodeck programs with the safety protocols removed. She's been treating the subsequent injuries herself so the Doctor won't find out what she's up to, but this trope is also implied when B'Elanna admits that she just wants to feel something, after receiving news of the [[EverybodysDeadDave annihilation of the Maquis]] back in the Alpha Quadrant.
* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': In "Them," Daryl puts out a lit cigarette on his hand.
* ''Series/WordOfHonor'': Zhou Zishu purposefully put the nails in his body as a form of penance for all the people he killed.
[[/folder]]

* In ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'', Amadeus Arkham's patient, serial killer Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins, states that he cuts his arms with a razor "[j]ust to feel. Just to feel ''something''."

* Joker's Daughter mentions that as a teenager she was an anorexic who also cut herself often.

* Lisa engages this during one scene in ''Lisa, Bright and Dark'' by John Neufeld.