History Main / SymbolicMutilation

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Gloucester in ''Theatre/KingLear''. There are numerous references to eyes and him in the text. He can't see the truth about his sons [[CainAndAbel Edgar and Edmund]], due to [[BastardBastard Edmund]] though he is quite gullible. Eventually, he gets his eyes torn out.
* Perhaps the UrExample is ''Theatre/OedipusRex'', who dug out his own eyes to punish himself for his refusal to see the truth until it was too late.
[[/folder]]

* Samson being blinded in Literature/TheBible could be thought of as this. He gave away his secret of strength to Delilah, despite the fact she had already tried the fake methods of taking his strength [[HeroBall he told her]]. His hair being cut off could also be symbolic as it was a mark of his connection to God and therefore his strength. He is captured and blinded but at least DeathEqualsRedemption.
** There's also ''tzaraath,'' which is often translated as "leprosy," but which others believe to be a supernatural ailment only given as divine punishment. According to Mosaic Law, one with ''tzaraath'' has to be quarantined away from people until cured. Since Miriam got it from speaking against Moses, it's often seen as a punishment for gossip and slander -- in other words, you try to hurt someone's reputation, and ''you're'' the one who will wind up isolated from other people instead of them.
** Mentioned in Literature/TheFourGospels as a form of hyperbole. Jesus was challenged by religious leaders, and he responds to them, stating that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, [[{{Thoughtcrime}} he may as well have jumped into bed with her]]...and that if his eyes caused him to sin, the response was ''not'' to tell the woman to change herself (e.g. cover up, stop wearing makeup, take off jewelry, StayInTheKitchen, etc.), but to "pluck one's eye out" (e.g., take responsibility and change one's own behavior).

-->''[[http://norse-mythology.org/tales/why-odin-is-one-eyed/ The fact that Odin specifically sacrificed an eye is surely significant]]. In all ages, the eye has been "seen" as a poetic symbol for perception in general -- consider the astonishing number of expressions, both in everyday usage and in the works of the great canonical poets, that use vision as a metaphor for perceiving and understanding something. Given that Odin's eye was sacrificed in order to obtain an enhanced perception, it seems highly likely that his pledge of an eye symbolizes trading one mode of perception for another.''

** At the end of Chapter 1 of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', [[spoiler:Venom Snake and Miller inflict this on Skull Face in lieu of simply killing him quickly, opting to use his own lever-action rifle to blow off Skull Face's arm and leg -- the same arm and leg Miller lost after the fall of Militaires Sans Frontières, which Skull Face orchestrated.]]

** [[spoiler:When Emiko Shiromura is found dead, the self-inflicted wounds she clawed into herself after the first trial, trying to get incriminating evidence off of her have been sliced open once again. The murderer was possibly after her for this reason - to get revenge on her for escaping death.]]

** Big Boss's trademark is an EyepatchOfPower, which we see him receive in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' (when he attacks Ocelot to [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl keep him from assassinating Tatyana]] and ends up getting his right eye blinded by muzzle flare in a freak accident). His loss of the eye doesn't happen at exactly the same time as the large traumatic event that sculpts his character (the death of The Boss), but does serve to distinguish the difference from a rather innocent and ordinary soldier to a single-minded, ambitious and [[BrokenAce traumatised]] one. This injury is then repeated with over the course of the series symbolising the difference in each character's outlook compared to Big Boss:

*** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', Solid Snake begins wearing an electronic sensor over his eye that resembles Big Boss's eyepatch. Between that, his visible ageing and the fact that his muscle-suit resembles Big Boss's bulky build rather than his own more sinewy one, he resembles Big Boss a lot -- more to screw with the audience than anything (going from a Big Boss who looked like Solid Snake in ''3'' to a Solid Snake who looked like Big Boss in ''4''). While saving Big Mama (the same person as Tatyana, just many years on) from a fire, the sensor explodes and damages Snake's face, with the result of inverting Big Boss's injury - a burned face but a functioning eye. This serves to indicate Solid Snake's defiance of his own fate - his face, the thing that ties him to Big Boss, has been mutilated; and his ties to Big Boss - he got the injuries rescuing the same person, but most importantly his ability to still "see" things Big Boss has become "blinded" to.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearAcid2'' significantly uses [[InternalHomage a copy of The Boss's caesarian scar on the back of the female character Lucy]] -- particularly unusual as the ''Ac!d'' games happen in an entirely separate universe to the main games. However, it supports Lucy's character as being a horrible monstrosity of a matriarch, child and wife figure simultaneously (referencing the description of The Boss from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' - "she was like a mother to me, and my master." "And your lover?"). As well as, more directly, suggesting some of the horrible surgical mutilations she would have received from the MadScientist responsible for creating her.

** This is extremely prevalent, where JerkassGod's law of EquivalentExchange dictates that the price of victory is enduring Symbolic Mutilation as a form of IronicHell. The HandicappedBadass main character Edward lost the arm that allowed him to perform alchemy and the leg on which he stood, damaging his pride by forcing him to depend on others. Similarly, his brother, who attempted to resurrect their mother in order to feel the warmth of her presence again, lost his entire physical being, now unable to feel anything at all. Their teacher, longing for [[spoiler:her dead child, loses her reproductive organs]]; the WideEyedIdealist [[spoiler:Mustang]] is blinded.

** Not directly invoked by said JerkassGod, but still relevant: action guy [[spoiler:Havoc]] gets paralyzed; the IncorruptiblePurePureness [[spoiler:Nina]] gets gruesomely [[spoiler:fused with ''her dog'' and then murdered]]; the silver-tongued [[spoiler:Kimblee]] has his throat torn out; the desperate-to-help [[spoiler:Lan Fan]] loses her arm; the list goes on from there.
* In ''Manga/ASilentVoice'', Shoko Nishimiya's right arm is in a sling after the events of chapter 43. Since she is deaf and normally uses sign language or notebooks to communicate and that is her writing hand, it makes her attempts to communicate more difficult and represents how she is being isolated from others.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademiaVigilantes'', Stendhal gets confronted by Koichi, who claimed to be the kind of guy who sticks his nose where it doesn't belong. After Stendhal gets beaten by Knuckleduster, Stendhal ends up taking those words to heart and [[spoiler:lops off his own nose so he won't have anything to stick where it doesn't belong, cementing his transformation into Stain.]]

[[folder:Comics]]

* ''Fanfic/TheBoysRealJustice'': Homelander has never been injured in his life...until Felix Faust bursts into Earth 7, with his magic leaving a (non-fatal) chest wound that knocks him out while the Justice League prevent any casualties and defeat Faust. This shows how the Justice League start chipping away at the public's view of the Seven (Homelander in particular) and how it starts to hurt Homelander's self-esteem. Something that [[CatharsisFactor none of the fic's readers have a problem with]].

* In ''Film/{{Hugo}},'' the main antagonist, Station Inspector Gustav, wears a leg brace due to an injury in World War I, which tends to freeze up on him at inconvenient moments. The specific injury isn't very symbolic, but it ties into the theme of people and things being "broken" in various ways, and Hugo's desire to "fix" them. [[spoiler:At the end, Hugo making him a better brace symbolizes Gustav [[TookALevelInKindness Taking a Level in Kindness]]]].
* In ''Film/Se7en'', Rachel Shade, the Pride victim, was a vain, bitchy model who John Doe mutilated by cutting off her nose, then gluing a bottle of pills to one hand and a phone to the other in order to leave her a SadisticChoice: call the police and live with her disfigured face and the end of her career, or [[DrivenToSuicide kill herself]]. [[DespairEventHorizon She chose the pills.]]

* During the climax of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', [[spoiler:Hela slashes out Thor's right eye, leaving him half-blind just like their late father Odin. This not only symbolizes that Thor will have to rule the survivors of Asgard, like Odin before him but also nods to the mythological Odin who plucked out his eye to gain Mimir's insight. Upon losing his eye Thor sees a vision of Odin, who gives him the insight necessary to reawaken his divine powers and fight back against Hela.]]

** [[UsedToBeASweetKid Once]], Koichi was a hero who fought fiercely to protect his fiancee from kidnappers- so fiercely that he lost an eye in the battle. But he was defeated, and he let that defeat sour him. Today, Koichi is a jaded man who's criminally negligent- blind- to most people.
->'''Nakura:''' Then it doesn’t matter as long as your relatives don’t come to harm?\\

* In TheStormlightArchive, at the climax of Rhythm of War, Vire is blinded in a way that can't be healed by Stormlight. This symbolizes both how he can't see the horror of what he's doing and that Odium is keeping him 'blind' by actively suppressing his ability to feel guilt and regret.

* The Pirate Captain from ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E2ThePiratePlanet "The Pirate Planet"]]. His body is largely robotic and he is gaining material wealth ruthlessly, replacing his humanity with materials.
* {{Invoked}} on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer.'' In one episode, Dawn becomes depressed upon learning that she's not a Potential, so Xander gives her a pep talk, saying that he feels like being TheTeamNormal has allowed him to "see" things that the others don't. Apparently [[TheDragon Caleb]] learned about this conversation from his nigh-[[TheOmniscient omniscient]] boss, because later in the season:

* Helena from ''Series/OrphanBlack'' has [[CoveredInScars extensive scarring]] on her back [[spoiler: from years of SelfHarm]] that resemble [[SymbolicWings a pair of wings]]. Although they initially represent her religious fanaticism, her scars later represent [[spoiler: how she has become a "guardian angel" to her sister Sarah]].
* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy:'' While unintentional on the part of [[spoiler: Viktor]], it's very symbolic that [[spoiler: Allison's [[SlashedThroat throat is cut]]]] during their confrontation, as Allison had spent most of her life selfishly using her CompellingVoice to get whatever she wants with no thought to how it affects others.

** There's also ''tzaraath,'' which is often translated as "leprosy," but which others believe to be a supernatural ailment only given as divine punishment. According to Mosaic Law, one with ''tzaraath'' has to be quarantined away from people until cured. Since Miriam got it from speaking against Moses, it's often seen as a punishment for gossip and slander--in other words, you try to hurt someone's reputation, and ''you're'' the one who will wind up isolated from other people instead of them.
** Mentioned in Literature/TheFourGospels as a form of hyperbole. Jesus was challenged by religious leaders, and he responds to them, stating that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, [[{{Thoughtcrime}} he may as well have jumped into bed with her]]...and that if his eyes caused him to sin, the response was ''not'' to tell the woman to change herself (e.g. cover up, stop wearing makeup, take off jewelry, StayInTheKitchen, etc.), but to "pluck one's eye out" (e.g. take responsibility and change one's own behavior).

* Perhaps the Ur-example is ''Theatre/OedipusRex'', who dug out his own eyes to punish himself for his refusal to see the truth until it was too late.

*** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', Raiden accidentally injures Solidus's ''left'' eye, which he appears almost ecstatic about, in accordance with his general fixation on Big Boss. He immediately starts wearing an eyepatch on it and even suggests being grateful to Raiden for doing it to him. Of course, his injuries are actually a mirror-image of Big Boss's, signifying that he himself is just a reflection of Big Boss rather than an individual in his own right. What's more, it also makes him ''weaker'' - [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration he now has a large blind spot on his left]] - further symbolizing how he is a pale imitation of his father.
*** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', Solid Snake begins wearing an electronic sensor over his eye that resembles Big Boss's eyepatch. Between that, his visible ageing and the fact that his muscle-suit resembles Big Boss's bulky build rather than his own more sinewy one, he resembles Big Boss a lot - more to screw with the audience than anything (going from a Big Boss who looked like Solid Snake in ''3'' to a Solid Snake who looked like Big Boss in ''4''). While saving Big Mama (the same person as Tatyana, just many years on) from a fire, the sensor explodes and damages Snake's face, with the result of inverting Big Boss's injury - a burned face but a functioning eye. This serves to indicate Solid Snake's defiance of his own fate - his face, the thing that ties him to Big Boss, has been mutilated; and his ties to Big Boss - he got the injuries rescuing the same person, but most importantly his ability to still "see" things Big Boss has become "blinded" to.
*** Raiden also has a missing eye in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''. This is because his eye and his arm were mangled by Sam at the beginning of the game - throughout the game, Raiden gets bonuses for chopping off enemies' right arms, repeating the injury done on him. The eye injury is covered, instead of with an eyepatch, with a bandanna resembling the one worn by Solid Snake, signifying to whom his allegiance is.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearAcid2'' significantly uses [[InternalHomage a copy of The Boss's caesarian scar on the back of the female character Lucy]] - particularly unusual as the ''Ac!d'' games happen in an entirely separate universe to the main games. However, it supports Lucy's character as being a horrible monstrosity of a matriarch, child and wife figure simultaneously (referencing the description of The Boss from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' - "she was like a mother to me, and my master." "And your lover?"). As well as, more directly, suggesting some of the horrible surgical mutilations she would have received from the MadScientist responsible for creating her.
* ''VideoGame/CorpseParty'': A cross between this and DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything. [[spoiler:The first ritual has the students rip a proxy doll apart, which is supposed to correspond to Sachiko, as the ritual carries her name. The correct ritual has the survivors '''unite''' said paper doll, begging her (for her forgiveness) so as to appease her wrath in order for her to pass on at last.]]
* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' has [[TheAdjectivalMan Unfinished Men]] -- [[{{Golem}} golems]] that are missing something, like a finger or a conscience.
* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'': The very nature of the monsters' deformities and injuries; it's why their faces tend to be torn apart, or their bodies wrapped in barbed wire or impaled on glass/metal.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', the cult of the Unseeing Eye seeks to get rid of all ''‘false’'' gods except for the one true god which happens to be [[spoiler:a power-hungry beholder which needs followers to find an ancient relic]]. His supporters are required to get rid of their eyes which apparently blind them and lie to them – but they do receive new senses in compensation.

* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'':

* The [[KnightTemplar Kyorl'solenurn]] clan of ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' [[InvokedTrope invoke this trope]] when doling out specific types of punishments, and since the clan in general is heavy on the [[BodyMotifs eye symbolism]] it often involves eyes, both literal and figurative, to represent how the guilty has become blind to the Goddess. Itansha was nearly blinded in both eyes after she came into conflict with the clan leaders and went into exile, while Ky'ovarde was one of the clan's {{Seers}} and had one eye put out after the Holy Mother she served was killed as a symbolic stripping of her powers. Heretics are also branded with a forehead marking showing a stitched-shut eye that may be combined with one of these.

** During the CycleOfRevenge where she maims several heroes, Vriska loses her left arm and eye. The injuries are significant both because they emphasize her left side ([[ASinisterClue i.e. her evil side]]) and identify her with Jack Noir, an OmnicidalManiac from another storyline who had the same injuries.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick,'' [[spoiler:[[DragonWithAnAgenda Redcloak]]]] losing his eye could be seen as an ''ironic'' mutilation, because now he looks like [[spoiler:his dead brother [[DefectorFromDecadence Right-Eye]]]], who opposed the very actions that brought this mutilation about. Or, played straighter: he lost an eye for being ''blinded'' to said character's advice. That said, he also [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0827.html mentions it]] as an inspiration to be more {{pragmatic|Villainy}} in his villainy.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands'': The special "Obsidian" has Marceline helping the Glass Kingdom against a dragon, with an arc about how she hides her vulnerabilities. One of the main glass characters is mocked by his peers for having a large crack on his face. [[spoiler:As it turns out, ''all'' the glass people have hidden cracks, the same way that everyone has "damage" that they want to hide. Even the monster hides a scar on its face, which comes with the reveal that it's a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds]].
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': A variation that becomes more meaningful minutes later. In "Dreamscaperers", [[TricksterGod Bill Cipher]] uses a laser to make a hole in [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Dipper]]'s dream body. Later, when Dipper finds a memory about Grunkle Stan apparently calling him a loser, Dipper loses motivation of stopping Bill Cipher from invading Stan's mind (he has a metaphorical hole in his heart). Turns out the whole memory, [[OnceMoreWithClarity one revisited by Dipper]], is Stan explaining [[ToughLove the reason for his treatment of Dipper]]: be stronger so he can fight against the world. Alongside it, Stan personally heals Dipper's hole (as in, refills his heart).

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': In [[Recap/WinxClubS3E22TheCrystalLabyrinth "The Crystal Labyrinth"]], three of the Winx are required to prove if they'd sacrifice what's most valuable to them in exchange for obtaining the Water Stars. In Stella's case, she loses her beauty, with her face getting disfigured. This symbolizes how Stella thinks people only love her for her looks and not for who she really is. Combined with her fear of being alone, for her, giving up her beauty means that everyone will abandon her. Also, she does enjoy pampering herself and being a DudeMagnet. With this, she finishes her CharacterArc of self-love.

%%* In Ancient civilizations they used these punishments. You steal from or hit your father and get your hand chopped off, kiss a married woman and you lose your lips. Basically the Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth punishment.

* This is extremely prevalent in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', where JerkassGod's law of EquivalentExchange dictates that the price of victory is enduring Symbolic Mutilation as a form of IronicHell. The HandicappedBadass main character Edward lost the arm that allowed him to perform alchemy and the leg on which he stood, damaging his pride by forcing him to depend on others. Similarly, his brother, who attempted to resurrect their mother in order to feel the warmth of her presence again, lost his entire physical being, now unable to feel anything at all. Their teacher, longing for [[spoiler:her dead child, loses her reproductive organs]]; the WideEyedIdealist [[spoiler:Mustang]] is blinded.

* ''Fanfic/TheVow'': The [[NobleWolf Wolf Boss Zhan]] follows [[ByronicHero Lord Shen]] out of loyalty, even helping without question in the panda massacre during which his [[EyeScream left eye is scarred]]. He afterwards helps Shen to prepare for the peacock's conquest of China. While firmly loyal to Shen, Zhan's really only half-blind because [[WeUsedToBeFriends Lady Lianne]] manages to instill in him doubts whatever or not Shen's conquest can change [[FantasticRacism the prejudices]] most people have about wolves, making [[AFatherToHisMen him]] consider the risks his pack will face against the imperial army. [[spoiler:Following Shen's act of sending Zhan and most of the pack away before his ultimate defeat, Zhan takes his pack to make a new life in the West, and while he learns of Shen's survival, he resigns his subordination.]]

** One could say that the constant loss of hands and limbs represents the loss of control in a situation. From Anakin's hand being cut off by Count Dooku in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' to Luke losing his hand to Vader in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', it shows the moment when the person who thought they were strong enough to face anything sees that they are really quite powerless.

* ''Film/Se7en'': Rachel Shade, the Pride victim, was a vain, bitchy model who John Doe mutilated by cutting off her nose, then gluing a bottle of pills to one hand and a phone to the other in order to leave her a SadisticChoice: call the police and live with her disfigured face and the end of her career, or [[DrivenToSuicide kill herself]]. [[DespairEventHorizon She chose the pills.]]

Compare and contrast AnArmAndALeg, which also uses severe injury to advance the plot but the injury itself won't necessarily represent anything specific about the character.

* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'':

* The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands'' special "Obsidian" has Marceline helping the Glass Kingdom against a dragon, with an arc about how she hides her vulnerabilities. One of the main glass characters is mocked by his peers for having a large crack on his face. [[spoiler:As it turns out, ''all'' the glass people have hidden cracks, the same way that everyone has "damage" that they want to hide. Even the monster hides a scar on its face, which comes with the reveal that it's a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds]].

[[folder:Films]]

*** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', Raiden accidentally injures Solidus's ''left'' eye, which he appears almost ecstatic about, in accordance with his general fixation on Big Boss. He immediately starts wearing an eyepatch on it and even suggests being grateful to Raiden for doing it to him. Of course, his injuries are actually a mirror-image of Big Boss's, signifying that he himself is just a reflection of Big Boss rather than an individual in his own right.

** On the flipside, Spandam, who beat down Robin while she was helpless amd relied on assassins to do the work for him, got his spine broken. Metaphorically, he was spineless even beforehand.

** Monty, a [[{{Wrath}} violent]] LightningBruiser, [[spoiler:loses his claws and is mangled badly enough that he's reduced to crawling for the rest of the game]].

* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy:'' While unintentional on the part of [[spoiler: Vanya]], it's very symbolic that [[spoiler: Allison's throat is cut]] during their confrontation, as Allison had spent most of her life selfishly using her CompellingVoice to get whatever she wants with no thought to how it affects others.