History Main / TortureTechnician

** [[TheCaligula Cartagia]] describing his efforts to [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming make G'Kar scream for his amusement]]: "Did you know we assigned one of our best pain technicians -- 'pain technicians', they used to be called 'torturers', ever since they got [[WeirdTradeUnion organized]] it's '[[InsistentTerminology pain technicians]]'...."
** The Clark Administration interrogator, a truly chilling PunchClockVillain, assigned to break Sheridan TwoPlusTortureMakesFive style in "Intersections In Real Time." Creator/JMichaelStraczynski based that on actual prison camp/totalitarian regime methods. Blatantly influenced by ''1984'': Sheridan is being held captive in a place without windows that makes it impossible to tell what time of day it is by a government that includes a "Ministry of Peace", an ominous "[[Room101 Room 17]]" is repeatedly mentioned, he is coerced to sign a confession of his crimes against the government and embrace the regime and his interrogator informs him that [[spoiler:if he submits, he will be released, live in peace until he's forgotten then quietly killed.]]
** [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper Sebastian]] for the Vorlons, who was based more on religious cult brainwashing techniques, but wasn't above physical violence either.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "Rumors of Death", Avon has himself CapturedOnPurpose and tortured for days without cracking, all so he can capture a top Federation [[DeadlyEuphemism para-investigator]] named Shrinker, whom Avon knows will called in to deal with particularly stubborn subjects. Ironically Shrinker's talents are such in demand he was able to survive the rebellion, and the crushing of that rebellion, by making himself [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized useful to both sides]].

* Mr. Tick from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' does some pretty nasty things with scissors.

** Considering what happened to [[CementShoes Dallas]], no matter how deserved proves Luck is just as capable.

* [[spoiler: What Erika and Walker used to be]] in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''.

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', the {{Cthulhumanoid}} known as Neuronist Painkill serves as torture officer for the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

* Dr. Zhang "Suit And Glasses" Lee on ''Series/{{Alias}}'' (or as he was known on Website/TelevisionWithoutPity, the Sadistic Dentist of Asian Persuasion).
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** [[TheCaligula Cartagia]] describing his efforts to [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming make G'Kar scream for his amusement]]: "Did you know we assigned one of our best pain technicians -- 'pain technicians', they used to be called 'torturers', ever since they got [[WeirdTradeUnion organized]] it's '[[InsistentTerminology pain technicians]]'...."
** The Clark Administration interrogator, a truly chilling PunchClockVillain, assigned to break Sheridan TwoPlusTortureMakesFive style in "Intersections In Real Time." Creator/JMichaelStraczynski based that on actual prison camp/totalitarian regime methods. Blatantly influenced by ''1984'': Sheridan is being held captive in a place without windows that makes it impossible to tell what time of day it is by a government that includes a "Ministry of Peace", an ominous "[[Room101 Room 17]]" is repeatedly mentioned, he is coerced to sign a confession of his crimes against the government and embrace the regime and his interrogator informs him that [[spoiler:if he submits, he will be released, live in peace until he's forgotten then quietly killed.]]
** [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper Sebastian]] for the Vorlons, who was based more on religious cult brainwashing techniques, but wasn't above physical violence either.
* ''{{Series/Cursed}}'': Brother Salt of the Red Paladins specializes in torture, and isn't impeded through being blind at all.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Selto Durka, who not only manages to fit this role like a glove, but knows it well enough to eventually [[spoiler:break free of a hundred years' worth of brainwashing. ]]

* [[spoiler:O'Brien]] from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' is shown to be one of these after [[spoiler:revealing himself as a HeelFaceMole. Not only is he a loyal member of the Inner Party, but a high-ranking employee at the Ministry of Love, tasked with supervising the "re-educuation" of dissidents to accept the power of Big Brother]].

* ''Film/TheEvilThatMenDo'' (1984)" Dr. Clement Molloch, a doctor who advises Latin American dictatorships on how to torture people. The movie opens with Molloch demonstrating to a group of army officers the use of ElectricTorture on a dissident journalist. He says he's advised twenty different ones in his career.

* In ''Literature/DragonBlood'' the torturer is a loyal subject of the king, and just does his job. He does it well, and is proud of his ability to, as he claims, get correct information out of his victims, rather than just some nonsense that the victim says to make the torture stop, as he claims is the case with magical torture. He wants his grandson to follow in his footsteps, and points out to his victim that he'd like to stop the torture, really, he just needs the information.[[spoiler: One is almost sorry for him when his victim stabs him. Almost.]]

* Inquisitor Glokta from ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'' trilogy is not only one of these, but ''a main character as well''...
** Not just a main character, either, but a ''protagonist'' and, dare I say it, a decent guy compared to many of the characters. When you've got one of your foremost "heroes" routinely chopping off fingers and sending innocent people to prison camps, well, you know [[CrapsackWorld what state the world is in]].
* Semirhage in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' -- She tortures people entirely by stimulating the pain (and sometimes pleasure) centers of their brains with magic. Formerly the greatest healer during the Age of Legends, she would extract a price in pain in exchange for saving people. When people finally caught on to what she was doing, she was given a choice: take a magical vow to never do it again, or be severed from magic forever. She TookAThirdOption and joined the Dark Side. People were known to kill themselves at the mere mention she would be questioning them.
* The Quisition (In- and Ex-) in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/SmallGods''. Also [[PunchClockVillain perfectly ordinary people]] doing their jobs, raising families and buying thoughtful gifts when one of their colleagues retires.

* In ''Literature/IfThisGoesOn'', a science fiction short novel by Creator/RobertAHeinlein, our hero is captured by the evil government. He notices that the several Torture Technician [[PunchClockVillain workers for the government]] show no pleasure in their job, they are strictly business. It is implied that anyone who likes to inflict pain is not permitted in that job, as they are supposed to get information, not necessarily hurt people (although that is always an option if they think it will help).
* One of the three "Unforgivable Curses" in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is the Cruciatus Curse, which inflicts excruciating pain on the victim and is primarily used as a way to effectively torture people. Naturally, every wizard who masters and frequently uses this curse qualifies for this trope. Specific examples include:

* The Mord-Sith in the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, who double as bodyguards. Uniquely, they are on the side of the "hero" (he effectively inherited them), after the first book. In fact, the first thing he did on taking power was order them to disband, but they decided to serve him anyway, on the reasoning that a man who would set them free was worth serving. Every Mord-Sith was themselves broken through torture as a girl (of which only the gentlest were taken) and made to torture their own fathers to death as well for their initiation.
* There's a gruesome variation in Franz Kafka's story ''In the Penal Colony'': there's a torture machine that slowly carves a single sentence into a person indicating the crime they committed and then lets them die for twelve hours, but it's being removed. The Officer, who works the machine and believes in it, asks to be the last person to use it and wants it to carve into him "Be Just." However, the machine malfunctions and ends up just brutally stabbing him to death.
* [[spoiler: O'Brien]] from the Creator/GeorgeOrwell novel ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'' is shown to be one of these after [[spoiler: revealing himself as a HeelFaceMole. Not only is he a loyal member of the Inner Party, but a high-ranking employee at the Ministry of Love, tasked with supervising the "re-educuation" of dissidents to accept the power of Big Brother.]]
* Doctor Jest, the chief torturer of the Melnibonean empire from ''Literature/TheElricSaga''. It's not clear how much of a sadist he may or may not strictly be, but he clearly does consider himself something of an artist who takes both pleasure and pride in his work...and somewhat chillingly there's no sign that any other Melniboneans ever disagree with him on this point. (Even Elric, who attends one of his 'sessions' with a couple of human spies, isn't particularly disturbed.)
** Torture Technician is almost the [[PlanetOfHats Hat]] of the Melniboneans in general. Their preferred method for making music is to rhythmically torture a group of surgically modified slaves, for crying out loud.
* Creator/GeneWolfe's ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'' has the WeirdTradeUnion The Torturer's Guild which is an organization of these. Like some of the other examples, they are explicitly supposed to be unemotional and just doing a job, explicitly prohibiting those of a PsychoForHire mentality. Moreover, they don't torture to extract information, only to carry out judicial penalties. It's their job to perform ''exactly'' the tortures decreed, and no more (or less).
** There is a poignant scene where [[spoiler: the now-Autarch Severian tells one of his former masters that he is dissolving the guild]], not out of ethical qualms, but because it is intolerable that good men should devote their lives to inflicting pain. The master responds that "It MUST be done by good men"; should it be left to those who take pleasure in it?
** In the jokes section of CASTLE OF THE OTTER, there is one about apprentices clumsily inflicting tortures because they are scared by the master yelling at them, until he demands "What are you trying to do? KILL the man?"
* The YA novel ''Literature/DragonCauldron'' in the ''Literature/DragonSeries'' by Creator/LaurenceYep features a cheerful and hairy man who believes one should always do one's job well. He's hurt by being called a torturer and prefers the term "facilitator".
* Sage Kindness in Scott Lynch's ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies of Locke Lamora]]''. His employer, Capa Barsavi, is said to be a very capable torturer, but when Barsavi runs out of ideas, Kindness takes over. And does so with the "mellow disinterest of a man polishing boots".
* Johnny Dread in Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' is one of these; it's part of his SerialKiller schtick. He likes psychological torture every bit as much.
* Dr. Alice Hong, the Lady of Pain, who mixes psychopathy with surgical skill in S. M. Stirling's ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'' series.
* Barin Welachin from Jennifer Fallon's ''Second Sons'' trilogy served the Lion of Senet (the world's foremost ruler and religious nut) in this capacity. The protagonist, Dirk, has at one point to talk with him and, as part of the facade he has to put up, feigns interest in the man's work. Barin is delighted to be able to share the joys of his craft to someone truly able to understand and appreciate it (Dirk was trained as a healer and had an unwarranted reputation as TheButcher of Elcast). The right hand woman of the corrupt and murderous (and dominant) segment of the church, Ella Goen, was also one of these.
* ''Literature/VenusInFurs'' has a character that borders on this, though with lots of fetishistic overtones and more psychology-heavy. The author of this novel, Leopold Sacher-Masoch, is the inspiration for the word "masochism."
* A minor, unnamed character in the pre-reviz ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' novel ''Shattered Chains'' tortures Rakel in many horrific ways--but he's not sadistic at all. To him, it's just a job. This, Rakel thinks, is worse than if he enjoyed it. To say nothing that they don't even want any information--a political enemy of hers just wants her to suffer before her execution.
* The "Turkey Makers" in the employ of TheMafia in ''Literature/TheExecutioner'' series.

---> ''You must learn to do your job coolly, officially -- for the money. It makes an enormous impression on the victims of your inquisition. What an appalling state of affairs when you find yourself being tortured not by an enemy but by a bureaucrat. Take a look at my [missing] left arm. His Imperial Majesty's specialists sawed it off in three stages; and each order was accompanied by a lengthy official correspondence. Those butchers were just doing a disagreeable, boring, unrewarding job. While they were sawing off my arm, they cursed their wretchedly low pay. And I was terrified. I had to strain my willpower to keep from talking. And now... I can see how you hate me. You -- me, and I -- you. Fine! But you have been hating me less than twenty years, and I -- you, for more than thirty. You, young man, were still toddling under the table and tormenting the cat.''
* ''Literature/JamesBond''

** Rosa Klebb in the novel ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove'' was a virtuoso Torture Technician, letting the pain of her torturers (she never actually did the work) build and build and build; then she would talk, softly and gently -- being mother to her victims. "Tell mama and it will all be over." A chilling passage in the book indeed.

* ManipulativeBastard [[Literature/XWingSeries Ysanne Isard]] dabbled in this, using injections and machines that directly stimulated pain, heat, and cold receptors rather than dismembering people. One of the first things she does is use a drug that the protagonist thinks of as one that would have him reciting things his ''mother'' had forgotten while he was in her womb, but the real goal in mind is to set up her authority and prepare them to become {{Manchurian Agent}}s. She also brought in a Trandoshan to do the grunt work of getting the protagonist in position, hooking him up, manipulating the switches and so on, because she knew his father had been killed by a Trandoshan.
* Floyd Ferris of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. He's definitely the PunchClockVillain version rather than the kind who enjoys it; he's more interested in psychology and controlling people than in actually enjoying someone's suffering.
* Taylor of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', who unfortunately for all involved, doubles as a ManipulativeBastard and DarkActionGirl. It's heavily implied that tormenting people is the only way Taylor can deal with her own [[JerkassWoobie horrific life]].
* Senor Steel in the Literature/DocSavage novel ''The Freckled Shark''.
* The entire cult of the evil god Liart from ''Literature/TheDeedOfPaksenarrion'' series by Creator/ElizabethMoon. There's a particularly graphic torture session in the third novel of the series, ''Oath of Gold''.
* The Gestapo torturers in ''Literature/TheSecretOfSantaVittoria'' take pride in their work, even taking time to explain that pulling-out-nails is overrated; electric torture is MUCH more effective.
* Milovan Djilas historical novel ''Literature/UnderTheColors'' has a prolonged torture sequence where the Turkish interrogator carefully explains to his assistant the name of each technique, where it came from, and what it USED to be called.
* Baron Ryoval in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/MirrorDance'' has a staff of torture technicians.
* In the original ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' book by Gaston Leroux, The Persian reveals that Erik (the titular Phantom) worked as one of these for the Shah-in-Shah in Mazenderan. Helps to explain a lot of things.
* Arkadeil from ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine''. His matter-of-fact, scholarly manner of ToThePain arguably makes him far creepier than many who take sadistic joy in it.
* The Philosopher in ''Literature/{{Transition}}''.
* Wanderer from ''Literature/TheHost2008'' believes Doc to be this at first.

* Susan Mortlake from ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive''.

* In Dennis Jones' ''Literature/WarsawConcerto'' several KGB officers observe as a Torture Technician interrogates and administers electro torture to a female defector. A doctor monitors her vital signs as she is tortured [[spoiler: to her death]].

* The ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Literature/NewSeriesAdventures'' novel ''In the Blood'' has an interesting twist on the "clinical and emotionless" version, with a [[MenInBlack Man in Black]] alien who is [[TheSpock actually emotionless]], comes from an agrarian world of peace and harmony, and is also an utterly conscienceless torturer and killer. Apparently, when you're part of a tranquil and passive HiveMind you don't ''need'' a conscience to maintain it, and when he arrived on Earth he saw [[HumansAreBastards what humans do to each other and other animals]] and just accepted that if this was how our society worked...

--> ''"The [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} White Christ]] never suffered so long or so terribly as did this traitor. Three days on a tree. Hardly enough for a prelude. When it came to visiting agony, the Romans were hobbyists."''
* [[AntiVillain Dieter Franck]] in ''Literature/{{Jackdaws}}'' is an unusual example in that he absolutely hates torturing people, to the point where he gets debilitating migraines after each successful interrogation session. That's ''why'' he's so good at it - where most of his peers [[{{Sadist}} draw the process out from sheer sadism,]] Dieter zeroes in on the quickest and most effecient way of breaking his victim, just so he can get it over with.

* ''Film/InMyCountry'': One of the perpetrators seeking amnesty is a police officer who used ElectricTorture on a prisoner severe enough that this left him incontinent. He protests that it wasn't his intent, as he's not an electrician. The guy's probably the least sympathetic among perpetrators aside from De Jager, only calling his victim "[[ItIsDehumanizing the subject]]" and using the old JustFollowingOrders defense.

* ''Film/TheEvilThatMenDo'' (1984). Dr. Clement Molloch, a doctor who advises Latin American dictatorships on how to torture people. The movie opens with Molloch demonstrating to a group of army officers the use of ElectricTorture on a dissident journalist. He says he's advised twenty different ones in his career.

* Dr. Emily Gray in Machinima/RedVsBlue is able to do what even Carolina cannot: get information from a captured space pirate. We don't actually see what she does to the poor son of a bitch, but the sounds of power tools, the man's screams, and Dr. Gray enthusiastically singing opera can be heard. She has to "put him back together" before Carolina is able to speak with him again.

* ''Music/WuTangClan'': Although he doesn't talk about them in the actual song, ''Method Man'' refers to various methods of torture that the eponymous Method Man and Raekwon discuss leading up to it, such as pulling someone's tongue out with a rusty screwdriver, anally raping someone with a heated hanger, or sewing someone's anus shut before proceeding to force-feed them to no end.

** Brazil is not alone in this. At the time British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/TonyBlair was calling for the British military sales industry to be more ethical, it was revealed British companies were exporting "police and internal security equipment" that inexperienced eyes might mistake for torture equipment. End users of "restraint and detention" equipment included Israel, Saudi Arabia, other Arab states, and various Far Eastern and Central/South American states - all of which were on Amnesty's list for human rights abuses. A year after Blair's call for more ethical sales, British makers were still attending international arms fairs marketing the world's best detention, restraint and interrogation equipment. The US has also been found to be guilty of this, along with training personnel from various dictatorships in "interrogation". It's fair to say most such countries (but also many democracies) employ people with these skills.
* Gertrude Baniszewski, a [[BitchInSheepsClothing seemingly kindly caretaker woman,]] subjected Sylvia Likens (a teenage girl in her care) to horrific tortures including burning with cigarettes, branding, starving, beating, rape and more. This went on for ''weeks'' until poor Sylvia finally succumbed to her injuries. As if this weren't heinous enough, she forced the other kids in her care to participate in the torturing.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

So, you're the EvilOverlord in charge of [[ArmiesAreEvil The Evil Army]]. You've got an insanely clever EvilPlan, an EvilGenius to hatch it and TheDragon to carry it out, {{Mooks}}, a QuirkyMinibossSquad to command them, [[PuttingOnTheReich and silly outfits for them to wear]] (including plenty of {{fanservice}} in the female uniforms). You have plenty of AppliedPhlebotinum. You've got a PsychoForHire for dealing with nasty stuff in the field. You may even have an AmoralAttorney to deal with any litigation-waving heroes. If you've got all that, you're missing only one thing: A guy who makes a "science" or "art" out of [[ColdBloodedTorture tearing body parts loose and inflicting serious pain]]. Enter the Torture Technician.

The Torture Technician [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin does just what his name implies.]] Based in his own TortureCellar, he takes the heroes and turns them into screaming, skinned shambles. He makes for prime NightmareFuel, as he's often sadistic to the point of overblowing it. Note that many Torture Technicians apparently believe we're still in the Middle Ages as far as [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique interrogation techniques]] go. That is, if they're not down with [[ElectricTorture electricity]]. Though a fair number favor "upgrading" their arsenal with the use of a RoboticTortureDevice.

An alternative version of the Torture Technician is when he is not a sadist but completely unemotional about his job, in a PunchClockVillain -like way. He shows neither empathy or remorse nor pleasure at torturing his victims, it's just a job at which he's really good. It usually makes him even more scary, since sadism is a simple thing but it is much harder to make any sense of someone who lacks any kind of emotional response to suffering. Such Torture Technicians are usually described and/or depicted as [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse having plain and unremarkable features]].

* Not a villain, but sometimes ComicBook/ThePunisher qualifies, especially in [[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX the MAX series]]. Hit Frank's BerserkButton, and you'll wish he was just practicing the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique.

* Senor Steel in the Franchise/DocSavage novel ''The Freckled Shark''.

*** [[PoliceBrutality Adeptus Arbite]] interrogators and [[ChurchMilitant Ecclesiarchy]] torturers are also worth a mention. The first go about things in an utterly pragmatic way, generally moving from PerpSweating to JackBauerInterrogationTechnique to TruthSerums. The latter generally aren't there to extract information, but to [[ColdBloodedTorture purify the soul through mortification of the flesh]]. The [[ThePoliticalOfficer Commissariat]] and some of the chapters of SpaceMarines also employ various specialists.
*** The Literature/NightLords legion of Chaos Space Marines wear this proudly as their [[PlanetOfHats Hat]] along with being TheDreaded even before they turned traitor.

** Franz Oberhauser from ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' tortures Bond by [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable strapping him to a high-tech version of a dentist chair]] and drilling holes into various parts of his brain while explaining what effect this is having on him throughout. This goes UpToEleven as he's [[FauxAffablyEvil disturbingly calm throughout this]], especially when he threatens to take away Bond's ability to recognize faces.

--->"There's ways of gassing them, drugging them, making them lose control, torturing them. I was really good at it. What's worse, is that killing them isn't the best thing. Making them fall...[[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil making them see our side of it,]] that was the best."

* In Dennis Jones' ''Warsaw Concerto'' several KGB officers observe as a Torture Technician interrogates and administers electro torture to a female defector. A doctor monitors her vital signs as she is tortured [[spoiler: to her death]].

* The Gestapo torturers in ''The Secret of Santa Vittoria'' take pride in their work, even taking time to explain that pulling-out-nails is overrated; electric torture is MUCH more effective.
* Milovan Djilas historical novel ''Under the Colors'' has a prolonged torture sequence where the Turkish interrogator carefully explains to his assistant the name of each technique, where it came from, and what it USED to be called.

-->What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest. How do you feel?\\
''(helpless sobbing)''\\
Interesting.

* Wanderer from ''Literature/TheHost'' believes Doc to be this at first.

* Davis from the ''ComicBook/SinCity'' story, "The Big Fat Kill," is described as an "artist" when it comes to torture, able to put someone through sheer agony without leaving a single mark on the victim, and it's implied that he's even nastier when the "tools" come out. We don't get to see what he does with the tools, because Dwight, along with all the girls of Old Town, pitch in to save Gail in a BigDamnHeroes moment. In the movie, Davis's role is handed off to Manute.

* The [[MeaningfulName Paine brothers]]--[=DeSade=], Crispo and Torquemada--from the ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'' comics. They were hired by Cobra and were assigned by TheBaroness to torture Snake-Eyes while he was imprisoned in the Cobra Consulate.
* In Mark Waid's limited series ''ComicBook/{{Empire}}'', the EvilOverlord Golgoth has a typical inner circle of lieutenants. One of them is the "Minister of Punishment", [[MeaningfulName Tumbril]], whose characterization can be summed up in one line:
-->'''Tumbril:''' I mean, you give me an enemy of the state, I'm good for an afternoon. I'd do this for free.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} villain Black Mask was reimagined as such in the early 2000s; he cites reading up on the Spanish Inquisition as an inspiration for him. His most notorious acts in this vein include torturing ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'s brother-in-law to death and driving her sister permanently insane by force-feeding her his eyeballs, and torturing and ([[DeathIsCheap for a while]]) killing Stephanie Brown during the ''War Games'' crossover event.

* Radio/TheGreenHornet falls into the clutches of one in Dynamite's ''ComicBook/TheGreenHornet: Year One'', and very nearly doesn't make it out alive (or intact).
* Creator/DCComics has got Kid Karnevil, who first appeared in ''ComicBook/{{Shadowpact}}'' and later in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''. He's [[TheSociopath a teenage sociopath]] dressed like a boy scout, and later revealed to be a Neo-Nazi, who apparently died and went to Hell, but was kicked out because he was scaring the other demons too much.

* ''ComicBook/TheMiceTemplar'' has Boris the Royal Torturer, who specializes in...well, torture. He also has no problem handing his "subjects" over to be sacrificed for Druids.

* Mr. Brass from ''ComicBook/{{Scalped}}'' is a particularly sadistic torturer.
* ''ComicBook/LobsterRandom'' is a rare example of one being [[VillainProtagonist the protagonist]].
* PlayedForLaughs in the ''ComicBook/{{Oink}}'' strip "Torture Twins''.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}'' #112, Tomahawk becomes obsessed with hunting down the Hessian officer Van Grote: a [[BaldOfEvil bald-headed]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName proto-Nazi]] who specializes in extracting information from prisoners.

* Barin Welachin from Jennifer Fallon's ''Second Sons'' trilogy served the Lion of Senet (the world's foremost ruler and religious nut) in this capacity. The protagonist, Dirk, has at one point to talk with him and, as part of the facade he has to put up, feigns interest in the man's work. Barin is delighted to be able to share the joys of his craft to someone truly able to understand and appreciate it (Dirk was trained as a healer and had an, unwarranted, reputation as TheButcher of Elcast). The right hand woman of the corrupt and murderous (and dominant) segment of the church, Ella Goen, was also one of these.

* Barin Welachin from Jennifer Fallon's ''Second Sons'' trilogy served the Lion of Senet (the world's foremost ruler and religious nut) in this capacity. The protagonist, Dirk, has at one point to talk with him and, as part of the facade he has to put up, feins interest in the man's work. Barin is delighted to be able to share the joys of his craft to someone truly able to understand and appreciate it (Dirk was trained as a healer and had an, unwarranted, reputation as TheButcher of Elcast). The right hand woman of the corrupt and murderous (and dominant) segment of the church, Ella Goen, was also one of these.

** Various former Kings and Patricians of Ankh-Morpork count, though their tendency is only mentioned in anecdotes within the text. There's a (nameless) Torture Technician with the Cable Street Particulars in ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'', however, and Captain Findthee Swing probably qualifies too.