Line #31 Main/EnhancedInterrogationTechniques


1	->'''Fisher:''' Pick a number between one and ten.\
2	'''Mook:''' Oh crap! Uh... three!\
3	'''Fisher:''' Lucky guess. You get to live. ''Now tell me something useful or we'll play another round.''
4	-->-- ''VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory''
5
6	Practices that are defined as [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] by long-held standards and international law, but are not regarded as torture by the characters or the audience.
7
8	This is done as TortureAlwaysWorks, but it would be unbecoming for our heroes to get their hands dirty with a JackBauerInterrogationTechnique. So instead, they use alternative techniques, usually psychological. They make death threats, point around loaded guns, and use things like [[SleepDeprivationPunishment sleep deprivation]]. Beatings may or may not apply depending on [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown how they're depicted]]. And sometimes, the tortures may be exacted on [[ForcedToWatch someone else]]. Also popular is the threat to turn the prisoner into the custody of some ally who does ''not'' have the same inhibitions against ColdBloodedTorture. The most common, though, is probably the DramaticGunCock and HighAltitudeInterrogation.
9
10	Named for the euphemism used by both the U.S. Government for forms of torture that don't leave marks or cause organ failure, and for ''Verschärfte Vernehmung'', [[GodwinsLaw which is what the Nazis called it when they did it and which translates to about the same]]. Compare JackBauerInterrogationTechnique, InterrogationByVandalism, and TortureAlwaysWorks. See also ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement, WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk, MaximumFunChamber.
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12	For those who don't see any distinction between "Enhanced Interrogation" and plain old torture, see DistinctionWithoutADifference, InsistentTerminology, and BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Anime/Manga]]
18	* [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist L]] of ''Manga/DeathNote'' occasionally uses things like this against the [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]] [[VillainProtagonist Light]] and [[MadLove Misa]], though it's usually rather ambiguous and falls somewhere between this, JackBauerInterrogationTechnique, and ColdBloodedTorture, easily cementing the series' GreyAndGreyMorality; all Light does is kill you, after all, but L has other ways of fighting his (futile) battles. They have the same [[MightMakesRight motives]], though.
19	[[/folder]]
20
21	[[folder:Comic Books]]
22	* In an issue of ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'', Robin convinced the mad scientist du jour to hand over the antidote for his latest chemical warfare toxin ''by pretending to expose him to it''. Turns out that a particular brand of diet soda looked remarkably like the scientist's formula in solution...
23	* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' himself has been known to use threats and the like to get what he wants. Since most criminals are terrified of him, this tends to work pretty well. Interestingly, despite being the poster boy for [[AntiHero gritty, no nonsense]] characters, he was ''not'' known for actually torturing crooks - the vague threats were more than enough... until the DarkerAndEdgier [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy remake movies]], when he is perfectly willing to throw a mobster off a fire escape in order to break his legs.
24	-->'''Maroni:''' From one professional to another, if you're trying to scare someone, pick a better spot. From this height, the fall wouldn't kill me.
25	-->'''Batman:''' I'm counting on it.
26	* ''ComicBook/NewAvengers2015:'' John Garrett tells Songbird SHIELD would ''never'' stoop so low as to torture people. No, what he's about to subject her to is just "enhanced interrogation"; holding a gun to her head to test a lie detector.
27	* In an issue of ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'', Hill threatens to waterboard a terrorist. When he says that it would be torture, she replies:
28	-->'''Hill:''' Don't you watch the news? Waterboarding's not torture. It's an advanced interrogation technique.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Fan Works]]
32	* The Alliance guards running the prison camp do this to Wash in the ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' fic “[[http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=5989 The Losing Side]]”. They don’t get physical but they yell at him, tell him what they’ll do to him, leave him tied to a chair in a room overnight after telling him and at one point, throw him in solitary confinement for a bit. Wash being Wash, he can’t take it and talks, then struggles with guilt afterward. Mal tells him that torture is torture whether it left physical marks or not.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
36	* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Harvey captures Thomas Schiff, one of the Honor Guard the Joker hired to help kill the Mayor, after seeing him wearing a nameplate that reads Rachel Dawes. He takes Schiff to an alley, ties him to a chair, shoots a gun into a nearby dumpster to prove he isn't joking, and flips a coin. Tails and Schiff would die if Schiff didn't start talking. [[spoiler:The coin was double-headed.]]
37	* Zigzagged in ''Film/DickTracy''. When Tracy interrogates Mumbles, he tempts him with water drawn from a fancy cooler, knowing that Mumbles is thirsty. Eventually, Mumbles blurts out something that seems as incomprehensible as anything else he says, but Tracy accepts that as a statement. ''Much'' later in the film, after Tracy has been framed for murder, he again confronts Mumbles with the water cooler, which had a recorder hidden inside; he's then able to slow down the recording to get Mumbles' clearly heard confession, fingering Big Boy Caprice in Lips Manlis' murder. (This would have been inadmissible evidence the first time, but now that Tracy is himself under arrest and doing this without a superior's knowledge, he is able to find out who set him up by threatening to let Big Boy hear it.)
38	* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', Faramir has Gollum beaten. This is averted in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings that book]] – Faramir makes the distinct choice NOT to force information from him.
39	* Creator/WillSmith's character in ''Film/WildWildWest'' uses the DramaticGunCock to force an impostor to reveal himself. The scene is played for laughs. To be fair, it's a dude ''impersonating the president'' who has failed to answer several direct questions about who he is.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Literature]]
43	* In Patrick Robinson's ''USS Seawolf'', [[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport PLA soldiers]] resort to, among other things, beating TheCaptain and waterboarding his [[NumberTwo executive officer]] [[spoiler:(who happens to be the President's son)]] to elicit info on the titular submarine.
44	* In ''Literature/TheCardinalOfTheKremlin'', the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] uses sensory deprivation to break an agent for the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}, but they're not able to use it on the titular [[TheMole mole]], due to his advanced age and underlying health problems. They use {{Gaslighting}} instead, which actually reinforces his will to resist. Then they discover his weakness and break him in seconds. In fact, the KGB interrogation techniques can barely be called torture at all (though the sensory deprivation is at least psychological torture).
45	* ''Literature/GhostsOfTomorrow'': When Griffin interrogates Riina in virtual reality, he has the system administrator turn up Riina's perceptions so high that he can't even move without feeling like his clothes are scraping his skin off, then turn off his ability to pass out, dissociate, try to escape, or even have facial expressions. Then he threatens to grab Riina's hand and squeeze as hard as he can. Riina quickly tells him everything he wants to know.
46	* In ''Literature/AGiftFromEarth'', by Creator/LarryNiven, the authorities don't use physical torture because it would ruin the suspect's use of the body banks. Instead, they use sensory deprivation.
47	* The Department of Homeland Security uses several, including the "simulated drowning" mentioned below, on teenagers in the book ''Literature/LittleBrother'' by Creator/CoryDoctorow.
48	* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' Gollum is tortured by Aragorn and [[BigBad Sauron]]. (And possibly Gandalf. This one is debatable, but you ''can'' read it that way.)
49	--> '''Gandalf:''' ...time was pressing. In the end, I had to put the fear of fire in him...
50	* In ''Literature/{{Night Watch\|Discworld}}'', Vimes is flung to the past where PoliceBrutality is ''scientific'', thanks to Captain Swing's system of "craniometrics". Dr. Lawn mentions that one prisoner wound up with fingers pointing entirely the wrong way. When Vimes and his men invade Swing's headquarters, they find a simple chair next to a rack of hammers... oh, and then there's the ginger-beer trick. Vimes ''fakes'' this one to terrify a confession out of a suspect, and later terrifies a clerk with a long metal ruler, and [[{{Fingore}} his own desk drawer]].
51	* Although he doesn't use the precise term "enhanced interrogation techniques", the trope is used in a definite DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything way by Thomas Cromwell in ''Literature/WolfHall''. Cromwell eschews torture for both [[EvenEvilHasStandards moral]] and [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] reasons, but his preferred methods of eliciting confessions both true and false involve the use of sleep and food deprivation, placing someone in a dark room and exposing them to unfamiliar lights and sounds, and (usually implicit) threats of ColdBloodedTorture. The text heavily suggests that these methods are not at all morally superior to physical torture and that Cromwell knows this, but is in denial.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
55	* ''Series/AlexRider2020'': Shortly after agreeing to work for Blunt, Alex is kidnapped by a paramilitary group who interrogates him about his uncle's work and Point Blanc. When he doesn't answer, he's subjected to bright lights and very loud death metal, being soaked, and [[ShameIfSomethingHappened threats to his loved ones]]. [[spoiler: He escapes, and the whole thing turns out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter by Blunt.]] It actually leaves him well-prepared to resist another interrogation later when Dr. Greif finds out he's a spy and subjects him to TruthSerum.
56	-->'''Alex:''' Turn up the music! What's next, the water? It doesn't matter, I can always get paperclips! ''[Sings chorus to Music/JakeBugg's Seen It All]''
57	* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' likes this one, particularly the episode "Taking a Break From All Your Worries," including a particularly memorable scene involving the ever-present threat of airlocks.
58	** Made even more memorable because President Roslin comes in and berates Starbuck that the [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Cylon]] she is interrogating is still a person, she speaks kindly to him and offers the forgiveness and friendship of humanity... and [[spoiler: puts him out the airlock once his threat is exposed as false. "[[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness One does not keep defective machines]]".]]
59	* During an episode of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', Frank waterboards Dee in a urinal. His own daughter. ''[[RefugeInAudacity And it's played for laughs.]]''
60	** Dee and Dennis aren't actually Frank's children. Not that it would matter to him if they were.
61	** The gang actually plan on waterboarding Dee and Dennis' biological father afterward. [[spoiler: Except they had the wrong address.]]
62	* Lots of this in TheSeventies action show ''Series/TheProfessionals''.
63	* One episode of ''Over There'' dealt with a shadowy Special Forces officer forcing the unit to help him do this towards an insurgent.
64	* The focal point of the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Harm".
65	* In ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'', Megan Reeves is forced to temporarily leave the team and take a "special assignment" despite attempting to decline, and seems subdued and out of sorts upon her return. She eventually admits (after Colby guesses as much) that her assignment involved advising on these sorts of interrogations. Her horror and disgust at this are a major factor in her decision to quit the FBI a season later.
66	* There is at least one example in ''Series/TwentyFour'' (which would otherwise use the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique instead). On Day 8, Jack threatened a suicide bomber that if he kills himself, Jack will escort his mother to the detonation site, absorbing a lethal dose of Cs-137 in five seconds.
67	* ''Series/{{Homeland}}'' has an interrogation scene after the prisoner has been deprived of sleep from sporadic DeathMetal blasts.
68	* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' has an entire episode where these are the subject. [[spoiler: Elliot, meanwhile, is more fond of JackBauerInterrogationTechnique...and better at it]]
69	* It's a recurring [[AnAesop Aesop]] in ''Series/BurnNotice'' that physical torture ''never'' works. The show mentions, and even sometimes uses, "non-violent" methods that ''do'' break someone such as prolonged isolation, being subjected to loud noise for long periods of time, sleep deprivation, etc. In the end, most of those methods take too long, so Michael devises clever ways to make a target either trust them or become completely terrified of them, usually without ever laying a hand on the subject. For instance, in the episode "Do No Harm":
70	** Sam breaks a con artist by cutting ''his own thumb'' with a very sharp knife, dripping the blood all over the con artist, all while talking about what he'll do to the guy.
71	--->'''Michael''': ''(voice over)'' There's a saying in interrogation: "Violence perceived is violence achieved." You don't want someone screaming, you want him asking questions. Asking, "What is he doing with that knife?" Asking, "If he'll do that to himself, what will he do to ''me''?" Mostly, you want him asking, "How do I make this stop?"
72	** Later during the same interrogation, Sam has two con artists tied up and blindfolded, and [[HighAltitudeInterrogation throws one uncooperative captive out of a window]] to convince the remaining one to talk. Unbeknownst to his partner, the first guy is perfectly safe -- he was attached to a wire and hauled in through the window below.
73	* Averted in ''Series/HawaiiFive0'', where [=McGarrett=] remembers coming to Guantanamo Bay and, against his superiors' wishes, treats a prisoner with respect, allowing him to pray, bringing him food (even apologizing for the food not being halal) and water. Eventually, it pays off, when the prisoner calls him years later and informs him of a terrorist plot in Honolulu. In the flashback, other guards claim that the prisoners are their enemies and should be treated as such, with one stating that they were able to use torture to obtain intel on two possible attacks. [=McGarrett=] counters by saying that tortured people will say anything to stop the torture, whether it's true or not. A little bit of respect goes a long way.
74	* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Babel", after more socially acceptable methods get her nowhere, Major Kira enlists the help of the only scientist who knows anything about the aphasia virus by deliberately exposing him to it and telling him that he can either help them cure it or die with everyone else.
75	* ''Series/TheBarrier'' is set in PoliceState that practices the casual PoliceBrutality that usually part of such states. Interrogation rooms are no exception.
76	[[/folder]]
77
78	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
79	* Well, as a member of The Truth Commission, [[Wrestling/{{Kurrgan}} Robert "Kurrgan" Maillet]] was a {{Heel}} ''called'' The Interrogator, but The Truth Commission was more like ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
83	* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', TheInquisition has a process known as the "Nine Actions":
84	** Action One is simply [[PerpSweating an interrogation done by the Inquisitor themselves, rather than through a proxy.]]
85	** Action Two is [[ToThePain a detailed explanation of the next seven Actions.]] This is the point where most suspects who can still be reasonably called "sane" break.
86	** Action Three is more verbal interrogation, [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique punctuated by "light" physical coercion, such as striking the subject.]]
87	** Action Four is [[VirtualRealityInterrogation continued physical torture, combined with psychological manipulation]] such as a JediMindTrick, FakedRipVanWinkle scenario, and other options.
88	** Action Five involves [[MindProbe a psyker delving into the surface thoughts of the suspect]], as further questioning and possible torture is going on. This helps to expose that they may still be hiding something or are telling a lie.
89	** Action Six is [[SenseLossSadness sensory deprivation and physical isolation]]. This gives the suspect time to think and consider, while the interrogators secretly monitor them.
90	** Action Seven involves [[MindRape intensive psychic probing of the suspect's mind]]. This is often quite painful on a fundamental level, and the suspect may not necessarily survive.
91	** Action Eight involves [[TruthSerums chemical assistance in an interrogation]], allowing a suspect to be more conducive to verbal interrogation and psychic probes.
92	** By the time Action Nine is reached, the Inquisitor(s) have given up trying to get intel or admittance of sin, [[ColdBloodedTorture and simply want the subject to suffer a horrific, weeks-long death]].
93	[[/folder]]
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95	[[folder:VideoGames]]
96	* In ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'', the cutscene for the third mission describes the results of an interrogation of a Taiidan frigate captain, captured in the orbit of the destroyed Kharak. After revealing to the player the information gleaned from the interrogation, the voiceover calmly states that the officer did not survive the interrogation. Considering that the Kushans have just witnessed their planet's destruction at the hands of the Taiidan, the outcome of the interrogation is understandable.
97	* The first four ''VideoGame/{{Splinter Cell}}s'' are infamous for Sam's [[BlackComedy wacky torture sequences]], the majority of which involve him psyching out mooks. Holding them at knife- or gunpoint, he then gets information by more psychological means; for example, in ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory Chaos Theory]]'', he reminds a mook [[DestinationDefenestration they're on the 60th floor]], before claiming [[MookHorrorShow you're conscious right until you hit the concrete.]]
98	-->'''Sam''': Nice wheels. ''Think the trunk is big enough for a body?''\
99	'''Guard''': Oh god! I'm not sure!\
100	'''Sam''': Tell me where Nedich is or we'll find out.
101	* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', you are allowed, and even required, to interrogate captured aliens. The reports from the lab division make it clear the "interrogated" aliens don't survive the process. One of the characters later comments that he's shocked that [[BewareTheNiceOnes the seemingly-benign Dr. Vahlen would go to these lengths]] (though everyone admits that, ghoulish and inhumane though the methods may be, they are necessary for the face of possible extinction). Although it's stated that the interrogations are less a series of questions but more forcing electrodes into its brain to administer painful stimulation for the purpose of reading the alien's brain waves since the invaders either can't or won't talk.
102	** One mission in the expansion ''Enemy Within'' implies that they do this to a human [[NebulousEvilOrganisation EXALT]] agent in the aftermath. The rest of them carry a CyanidePill (or rather, syringe) to avoid the same fate.
103	** This was also present but obfuscated in the original game, ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'': the interrogations reveal information about the alien plans and society, as well as giving you information on the alien species you just interrogated that you can't get from an autopsy, but never mentions what happens to the alien you questioned. However, your general stores will show that you now have one more alien corpse than you did before.
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106	[[folder:Web Original]]
107	* As the setting runs on BlackAndGreyMorality, the ''Website/SCPFoundation'' engages in this regularly and often uses their more psychologically-taxing artifacts to aid in this endeavor. One example is [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-136 SCP-136]], a CreepyDoll that summons a StringyHairedGhostGirl to terrorize anyone who looks at it too long. After said ghost starts killing people, its head researcher begs his superiors to let him find a way to destroy it [[IgnoredExpert but is denied]] as it proved a valuable torture device. A more horrifying example from the Russian branch of the site is [[https://scpfoundation.net/scp-1007-ru SCP-1007-RU]], an AgonyBeam virus that causes [[AndIMustScream incomprehensible amounts of pain without killing its victim]], which is also weaponized.
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110	[[folder:Western Animation]]
111	* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE21FeatOfClayPart2 Feat of Clay: Part 2]]", Batman uses a minion's [[TerrifiedOfGerms phobia of germs]] to extract information by threatening to drop a jar containing a liquid culture of a disease on the minion's head. It's a bluff, the jar merely containing a sample of completely ordinary seawater, but the fear it causes is as real as if the jar actually had contained deadly germs.
112	* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS1E13TimeWarped The Once and Future Thing: Time, Warped]]" the elderly Bruce Wayne pulls the captive Ghoul away from Batman (his younger self), who had been dangling the villain over the side of a building. "I can't believe I was ever that green," he scoffs. "''This'' is how you interrogate someone." Wayne hefts his cane and advances toward Ghoul. One fade-to-black later, the villain has confessed not only to the organization and capabilities of the Jokerz but to being a bed-wetter until he was fourteen.
113	* Inverted in ''{{WesternAnimation/Metalocalypse}}'' with a scene of a teenage Dethklok fan being forced to listen to Dethklok's music at obscenely high volume as punishment for pirating the track on the internet; he suffers severe psychological damage and becomes a villain shortly afterward, and the torture scene isn't treated as anything but a torture scene. (Of course, for Metalocalypse, it's really par for the course.)
114	* Shows up in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' of all shows. In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E25PartyOfOne Party of One]]", [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Pinkie Pie]] goes insane when she thinks her friends ditched her party because they hate her. She lures Spike into her house/lair with gems and then interrogates him as brutally as an E/I show for kids will allow. Her pet gator grabs his tail to keep him from escaping, she shines a bright lamp on him in a pitch-black room, and eventually, she starts screaming at him and giving him a DeathGlare while demanding that he confess. Spike (who had no idea what PerpSweating was in the first place) is so freaked out that he starts confessing random things. Finally, Pinkie Pie snaps and demands that he confirm her suspicions that her friends hate her. Spike has no idea what she is talking about but confirms it anyway to get her to back off.
115	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', the people of Townsville get [[TheCollector Lenny Baxter]] [[InterrogationByVandalism to reveal where he has the girls by causing him to faint from the sight of kids removing the packaging from his collectibles]].
116	[[/folder]]
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118	[[folder:Real Life]]
119	* Creator/ChristopherHitchens discounted waterboarding as a form of torture during UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, arguing that it was a morally necessary form of Enhanced Interrogation. Then he volunteered to experience it firsthand ForScience It [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome took only a few seconds]] for him to invoke a SafeWord, after which he [[https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/08/hitchens200808 wrote an article]] admitting that he was wrong.
120	--> '''Christopher Hitchens:''' I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: 'If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.
121	[[/folder]]
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