Line #118 Main/RapeLeadsToInsanity


1	->'''Scar:''' You have no idea what the soldiers have done to the people of Liore.\
2	'''Edward:''' Like what? What they do to [her]?\
3	'''Scar:''' A group of them carried her to their base. Whatever they did to her there was traumatic enough that she couldn't speak when she returned.
4	-->-- ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003''
5
6	[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Rape can be a profoundly horrifying experience]]; affecting the victim, [[AttemptedRape potential victim]], and witnesses. Effects on mental health can trigger or exacerbate disorders like depression and/or SanitySlippage. The event can be traumatic enough that the person never recovers. This is typically used as a SubTrope of RapeAsDrama or RapeAsBackstory, to justify a character's attitudes/behaviours. FridgeHorror and DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything can come into play here if a situation features a character getting approached/handled in a rough manner in a way [[TraumaButton that sets them off]] or makes them feel like they have been violated when they may not have been. Some characters will deliberately act violent to someone as a way to deliberately trigger them in a mind-game situation.
7
8	This reaction can be TruthInTelevision, but not one of the OmnipresentTropes. No two people react to a traumatic experience in exactly the same way, even when exposed to the same trauma, and there is no "right way" to cope. Professional counseling is advised regardless of how well they react to the initial trauma, because the right therapist can prevent lingering issues from festering and developing into a mental health issue.
9
10	This trope can also result from {{Gaslighting}} the victim — that is, making them question their own recollection of the assault. If enough people question [[QuestionableConsent whether or not they consented]], [[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization or even if there]] ''was'' a rape at all, this can kickstart the issues mentioned above.
11
12	See also BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil, ShellShockedVeteran (for "Combat Leads to Insanity"), the entirety of the SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes index, and HatesBeingTouched (one of several common behavioural adaptations to sexual abuse).
13
14	'''Note:''' Because of the sensitive subject, don't opine on how accurate the fictional portrayal is. Also, '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''
15
16	[[noreallife]]
17	----
18	!!Example subpages:
19
20	[[index]]
21	* RapeLeadsToInsanity/AnimeAndManga
22	* RapeLeadsToInsanity/{{Literature}}
23	* RapeLeadsToInsanity/LiveActionTV
24	[[/index]]
25
26	!!Other examples:
27
28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Comic Books]]
31	* ''ComicBook/AgeOfBronze'': Cassandra and her brother Helenus are molested as children by a pedophile in the temple of Apollo, who sneers that no one would believe them if they spoke of what happened. Which Cassandra took to heart, believing that they really had been raped by a god who cursed them with never being believed for refusing his advances, and as a result the CassandraTruth takes on [[{{Deconstruction}} a very ugly twist]].
32	* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''[='=]s Crazy Jane developed her multiple personalities after being raped by her father as a child. She did live normally for a while, but another sexual assault broke her mind for good.
33	* Bleez of the ComicBook/RedLanterns was gang-raped and mutilated by Yellow Lanterns, with her hatred for them leading to her receiving a red power ring and becoming a DarkActionGirl fueled by ThePowerOfHate.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
37	* The ''Series/{{CSI}}'' fanfic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4828756/1/Face_The_Music Face the Music]]" by [=Elm22=]. Granted, part of Grissom's mental affliction was the torture that went with the rape, but the rape still played a big part in the problems he struggled with.
38	* Light in the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic "Broken".
39	* Maka and admittedly [[spoiler:Soul]] in the ''Manga/SoulEater'' fanfiction "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6340224/1/Scars_and_Stitches Scars and Stitches]]".
40	* Gamzee in ''Fanfic/{{Hivefled}}'', sort of. There are definitely other factors involved (such as the non-sexual [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil torture]] that accompanied it, building up an immunity to [[FantasticDrug sopor slime]], and highbloods tending to be a little 'off' anyway), but the rape ''really'' isn't helping things.
41	* Averted in ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act III''. Aside from having to be healed after taking a paralyzing hit to the spine, Tsukune walks away from getting raped by a [[DemonicPossession ghoul-infected Kokoa]] none the worse for the wear.
42	* This played with in ''Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX'', with Ran and Yukari at different points. According to WordOfGod, this would be a tad downplayed, as Yukari's experiences did have an effect on psyche, as some of her then mental illness did point to that. This was later elaborated on in the ''Gensokyo Diaries'', when she placed in an asylum so she could learn how to readjust and get counseling for her trauma or, as she calls it, "mental difficulties". On the note of the Ran, this subverted initially in that she was almost raped but apparently played straight after she was raped which leave her cataleptic. Later on, played straight, it becomes apparent she is suffering [[spoiler: from a form of [[https://ohl.rainn.org/online/resources/how-long-to-recover.cfm RTS]]]]
43	* Some [[RecursiveFanfiction fan written sequels]] for the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fancomic called the "Financial Crisis Gang-Rape" will explore this, either with the victim (America) turning into an extreme StepfordSmiler, or just becoming flat out AxCrazy and taking bloody, violent revenge on his assailants.
44	* The first part of the FanFic/{{Ipseity}} series has Bucky sexually abused by his captors, which leads to him developing [[SplitPersonality DID]], along with a few other mental disorders among the other personalities.
45	* This happens with Ryuuko in ''Fanfic/ConcerningADrifter'', as her experiences traumatized her, leaving her with [=PTSD=], RepressedMemories, TraumaInducedAmnesia, and depression. Unfortunately, in part due to trauma being so great, she, at one point, attempts to kill herself, which leads to her [[spoiler: being put in a mental home, where she stays]]. Later, Satsuki, reflecting on her own experiences, wonders as to how ''she'' didn't end up in a mental home.
46	* ''Fanfic/WeMustBeKillers'': Eibhlin, District 3's youngest victor, was a "cocky genius" before being raped in a particularly traumatic fashion, [[NoodleIncident apparently as the result of District 3 trying to make demands of the Capitol]]. Whatever happened to her was bad enough that she has been depressed and easily frightened since, doesn't like to be near men, has a similar erratic speech pattern and mental process to Wiress, and is implicitly viewed as a suicide risk if left alone.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
50	* ''Film/AnAmericanHaunting'' claims that the Bell Witch ghost was caused by [[spoiler:John Bell molesting his daughter Betsy]].
51	* ''{{Film/Centurion}}'': Being raped was one of the many things that turned Etain into the sadistic Roman-hating BloodKnight she is. The others — watching her mother and sisters being raped and murdered, and having her tongue cut out.
52	* ''Film/CherryFalls'': Although she was always 'weird', Loralee is suggested to have gone from being a relatively nice, sweet girl to an abusive monster who repeatedly beat and terrorized her son while chaining him up in his bedroom after being gang-raped. He says that it was even worse because Loralee had a genuine crush on Marken, [[spoiler:who is heavily implied to be Leonard's father and the one who impregnated her.]]
53	* Subverted in ''Film/TheGeneralsDaughter''. It turns out that [[spoiler:it wasn't her brutal gang rape during military school that lead to the late Elisabeth Campbell's SanitySlippage. [[ParentalBetrayal The betrayal of her General father]], who refused to investigate the crime further because he thought they wouldn't be able to apprehend the suspects and because he allowed himself to be bought out by his own superiors, was the event that broke her mind and sent her into a downward spiral]].
54	* ''Film/GhostShip'': Katie's body is found [[spoiler:hanged]] in her quarters. If her killers had time to [[spoiler:drag her back to her quarters and string her up]], what else did they have time to do? Why else would they go to the trouble of [[spoiler:taking her all the way back to her room]] if they were openly [[spoiler: slitting everyone else's throats in the middle of the hallway]]? Chances are, [[spoiler:being hanged was just the end of [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil what they did to her]]...]]
55	** [[http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/ghost_ship.html Original script]] / First Draft confirms this. [[spoiler:To make it worse, everything happened [[ForcedToWatch in front of her father]].]] No wonder she looks like she’s been through hell and utterly distraught and broken when we see her ghost appear before Epps. Generally, people's ghosts hang around the place they died because they have unfinished business or never received closure.
56	* ''Film/GirlWithAPearlEarring'': Griet is nearly raped by Van Ruijven and when he leaves her she is shown clenching on to her clothes he tore open looking lost and terrified beyond belief. Afterwards, she's noticeably more quiet than usual.
57	* ''Film/HoodedAngels'': After being gang-raped by Confederate militia during the Civil War, Ellie becomes a PsychoLesbian PsychoKnifeNut who is easily the most bloodthirsty member of the gang, and who takes a special pleasure in killing men slowly with her blades.
58	* ''Film/IllSleepWhenImDead'': After Davey is raped, he commits suicide. The revelation that he was raped prior to his death also sends his brother [[SanitySlippage into a spiral]].
59	* ''Film/ISpitOnYourGrave'': After Jennifer is brutally gang raped, it causes her to lose it and [[RapeAndRevenge get revenge on her attackers]] by horrifically torturing them to death.
60	* ''Film/KissTheGirls'' features as its main villain a SerialRapist known as "Casanova", who kidnaps numerous women to form a captive harem so he can break their minds down through endless torture and rape.
61	* ''Film/LastNightInSoho'': [[spoiler:Sandie was raped by multiple men over a long period of time after being sex trafficked by her pimp Jack. She then murdered him (after he tried to either rape and/or kill her), and then continued prostituting herself and murdering her clients.]]
62	* ''Film/Ms45'': After being raped twice in one day, Thana goes off the deep end and starts killing any man she considers sexually aggressive towards her, and finally just any man.
63	* In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors'', it's revealed Freddy Krueger is a ChildByRape (his mother was raped repeatedly by inmates after being accidentally locked in a tower. When they found her, she was barely alive, and she committed suicide as a result of Freddy later getting out of prison and the reminder of the rape).
64	* ''Film/OnTheCountOfThree'': Deconstructed. Kevin was already suffering from mental illness as a kid due to being in foster care. He entered therapy and was raped by Brenner, who is heavily implied to use his practice helping underprivileged kids simply as a front for abusing them. However, as a result, Kevin is much more violent and unstable due to untreated PTSD.
65	* In ''Film/LaPielQueHabito'', Norma's (near) rape left her in a traumatic state where she wouldn't even recognize her father anymore and which ultimately made her commit suicide.
66	* In the movie ''Film/{{Precious}}'' and the book ''Push'' it was based on, the titular Precious is sexually abused by her father and is implied to have had the same thing happen to her by her mother, who also piles emotional and physical abuse on her. Precious finds a way out of her traumatic daily life by escaping into daydreams. In her mind, she has created an alternate world where she is loved and appreciated.
67	* ''Film/PromisingYoungWoman'': After being gang-raped in college, Nina committed suicide. Her best friend Cassie also suffers serious SanitySlippage as a result of Nina's own assault and death.
68	* ''Film/RedEye'': Lisa was hinted to have been raped in the past and attacked with a knife. Jackson accosts her in an airplane bathroom, presumably to trigger her. These occurrences made her firm in the belief that she would never be attacked that way again and stabs him in the neck with a pen she had stolen.
69	* ''Film/SuddenImpact'': The sister of the {{Anti Hero}}ine becomes catatonic after the two of them are gang-raped.
70	* A variant in ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': Judge Turpin drugged Barker's wife and raped her. Afterwards, she [[spoiler:AttemptedSuicide, which likely gave her physical brain-damage and led to her becoming a crazy derelict]]. The insanity is still causally connected to the rape, but with an extra step in between.
71	* ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'': Her past [[RapeAsBackstory rape]] was heavily implied in ''Series/TwinPeaks'', but the movie confirms that [[spoiler:Laura was raped for years by her father Leland, while -- sort of -- posessed by [=BOB=].]] While she suffers from severe SanitySlippage, it's also confirmed that [[spoiler:this was [=BOB=]'s intention to drive her to madness through this. Played with, though, in that Laura ultimately maintains her inner goodness and refuses to let BOB or the Black Lodge get to her in her death.]]
72	* In the classic silent film ''Film/TheWind1928'', Creator/LillianGish's character, who is already being driven around the bend by the neverending titular wind, finally cracks completely when the bad guy rapes her.
73	* ''Film/TheWitchWhoCameFromTheSea'': Molly's [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence screwed-up sexuality]] and descent into [[AxeCrazy murderous insanity]] are the results of unresolved sexual trauma inflicted by her incestuously abusive father.
74	* ''Film/TheWorldOfKanako'':
75	** [[spoiler:The narrator]] finally snaps after being raped by [[spoiler:the prostitution ring, and becomes violent himself]].
76	** This is left ambiguous with [[spoiler:Kanako]]. While one of the [[spoiler:child molesters]] claims that [[spoiler:Akikazu had sex with his daughter years ago, after which she became the evil person she is, and he]] seems to be very capable of doing it, we never see if this is really true or not.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Music]]
80	* In the Music/ThreeDaysGrace music video "Never Too Late", a woman is almost driven to suicide (she works through her issues, though), and we learn that she became that way as a result of possible physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a man in a striped sweater.
81	* The Music/{{Eminem}} song "Insane" is about how Slim Shady became a SerialKiller, SerialRapist and [[SelfHarm self mutilator]] as a result of being constantly raped by his stepfather and babysitter as a child. Horrifyingly, the second verse of the song is done from the perspective of a couple of bystanders chatting about how Shady's behaviour is [[GangstaRap gangsta]] and cool.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Theater]]
85	* In ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'', Blanche's descent into insanity becomes especially evident after [[spoiler:Stanley rapes her]].
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Video Games]]
89	* It's strongly implied in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', and ''especially'' in the Japanese version, that [[spoiler:Niles]] was sexually abused during his days as a StreetUrchin. The immensely sucky life he lived in his early years leads him to have... serious issues.
90	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': Eddie Low was molested by his father and grows up to be a deranged serial killer into very evil and very twisted sexual acts.
91	* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'': Ellen's anxiety, mental trauma and inexplicable fear of yellow began long before AM's rise to power. [[spoiler:She was a brilliant computer engineer when a serial rapist in yellow coveralls caught her in the elevator at the office late one night, and the trauma ruined her life; AM kept her to use that trauma to further torment her. During her scenario, you're actually confronted by the rapist (or AM's simulacrum of him) and given a chance to destroy him; doing so helps Ellen overcome her neuroses to some extent, including her fear of yellow.]]
92	* The Whistleblower DLC for ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' has Eddie Gluskin, also known as the Groom. Having been sexually abused by his uncle and father as a child, he became obsessed with sexuality and marriage, and was already a serial killer before coming to the asylum. The experiments conducted on him there only made him worse. When you finally meet him, he has already mutilated and killed dozens of other (male) inmates, turning them into his 'brides' — and he attempts to do the same to you. He fluctuates from using creepily loving terms ("Darling!") to crazily misogynistic ones ("Filthy sluts. You're like all the others.") to outright death threats ("You don't deserve my children. You don't even deserve to live."). Gluskin is quite an unusual example as he isn't obsessed with one individual in particular; anyone he sees as being a candidate for becoming his 'bride' can fall prey to his desire, usually fatally. Although it is possible that since Waylon has survived the longest and would have been his last victim, Gluskin was "attached" to him the most, especially since he held his hand before he died.
93	* Angela Orosco from ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' was abused by her father and brother which resulted in her becoming a timid recluse with suicidal tendencies.
94	* ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'': [[spoiler:Tricia's father Hawthorne]] is a serial child groomer and -killer who [[WifeHusbandry raises, abuses]] and then discards his 'daughters' when they turn seventeen. During the first playthrough, Shauna ends up [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork dealing with the situation]] before it becomes an issue. Playing a NewGamePlus [[spoiler:through the Demon Path, the party hires Shauna early on and only encounters Tricia much later. While Shauna still kills Hawthorne, Tricia is completely mentally broken, with all the nasty implications intact, and eventually commits suicide.]]
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Western Animation]]
98	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
99	** There's a RunningGag of Peter being raped by such things like worms (in a cutaway), pie smoke/aroma, a breeding bull, a bug, etc. It's implied this, combined with the other crap he endures, is what led to his ExtremeOmnisexual occasional AxCrazy persona who has committed almost every crime under the sun. He also uses SelfHarm on himself quite frequently. He's shown to be very traumatized after the rapes as well.
100	** Meg spends her free time trying to get a boyfriend (this even includes her falling for the family dog Brian when he was nice to her) and in episodes like "Stew-Roids" and "Dial Meg For Murder" she appears to exhibit attraction toward Connie, a girl who constantly bullies her. Some episodes depict her being both emotionally fragile and disturbed, derived from a desperation for love and attention, and she self-harms herself as well. "Dial Meg For Murder" implied she'd been on both ends of multiple PrisonRape situations in a women's correctional institution. As a result she came back home as a coldhearted convict who terrorized everyone who ever made fun of her, including her dad, even though she had already been disturbed before the rape it definitely didn't do any favors for her mental health.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'': the episode "Alone" reveals that Orel's teacher, Agnes Sculptham, was the last victim of Cecil Creepler, the town ice cream man who was in reality a {{Serial Rapist}}. As a radio report announces Creepler's death in prison, as well as documenting how Sculptham "heroically" dyed her hair black to [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe "lure" him into her apartment]], Agnes seems to go back and forth between horror and (disturbingly enough) [[StockholmSyndrome longing]] for her rapist, showing how badly the experience has broken her mentally. [[spoiler: Also, it's strongly implied that not only did Agnes get pregnant from the encounter, but ''she gave herself an abortion''.]]
102	** From the same episode, it's shown that Nurse Bendy being [[ReallyGetsAround taken advantage of sexually]] by the older men in town has taken a toll on her psyche (with another episode hinting that she was impregnated by a much older man [[spoiler:(Joe's father)]] ''when she was thirteen years old''). Her apartment is decorated like a little girl's, and as soon as she steps into it, she literally plays house with a "hubby" bear and a "sonny" bear in order for her to feel some semblance of having a normal life. [[spoiler:This makes the scene where she has a panic attack after her "hubby" bear falls onto her behind both {{Nightmare Fuel}} and a {{Tear Jerker}}.]]
103	* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS14E10Insheeption Insheeption]]" downplays this, as the "insanity" in question merely takes the form of a hoarding problem that the show treats as a CompressedVice. [[spoiler:Mr. Mackey the guidance counselor turns out to have developed his hoarding problem after a childhood field trip to a forest preserve, where the Woodsy Owl mascot ("Give a hoot, don't pollute!") sexually assaulted him and the terrified kid promised not to litter. After Mackey repressed the memory, the trauma took the form of a compulsion to not throw anything away.]]
104	[[/folder]]
105	%% No real life examples, please!

Context Main / RapeLeadsToInsanity