Line #26 PlayingWith/InterrogationByVandalism


1	'''Basic Trope''': The interrogator smashes the suspect's objects for interrogation.
2	* '''Straight''': Bob smashes Charlie's cabinet of dishes to make him talk.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': Bob makes Charlie watch as his house is bulldozed.
4	* '''Downplayed''': Bob [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs shows up at Charlie's house]] to interrogate him, and without making any overt threats he shows a casual disregard for his property to make the point that Charlie would be better off once he's got what he wants and left.
5	* '''Justified''':
6	** Bob knows that [[{{Greed}} Charlie would never let anything happen to his precious things]], and uses that to his advantage.
7	** [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Charlie's bones would heal]], but a burned photo album destroys a ''lifetime's'' worth of precious memories that can ''never'' be replaced.
8	** Bob is an ActualPacifist, driven to extreme measures.
9	** Conversely, he's a HotBlooded CowboyCop, but he knows [[TheFettered he could never get away with]] actually beating up a witness.
10	** The MacGuffin Bob wants is hidden somewhere in the house. If Charlie doesn't tell him, he's just going to tear the place apart until he finds it.
11	* '''Inverted''':
12	** Bob kidnaps Charlie and locks him up in his own house until he talks. Charlie [[PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes retaliates by smashing up anything of Bob's he can get his hands on]].
13	** Bob picks up a broken gun, pulls out a set of tools, and starts repairing it while threatening to shoot Charlie if he doesn't spill the beans before the gun is fully repaired.
14	* '''Subverted''':
15	** Charlie [[ThoroughlyMistakenIdentity really isn't Charlie, but Charlie's ex]] and is [[VandalismBackfire happy to let the interrogator destroy Charlie's stuff.]]
16	** "[[VandalismBackfire Um, Bob? This is your house and this is your stuff.]]
17	* '''Double Subverted''': ...but then, out comes a gift with a lot of sentimental value, and the ex starts pleading for mercy.
18	* '''Parodied''':
19	** [[GentleGiant Bob]] is trying to be the [[GoodCopBadCop Good Cop]], but he DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength and keeps breaking things by accident. Eventually Charlie calls in the Bad Cop and promises to talk if he gets his bull-in-a-china-shop partner out of the house.
20	** It's ''[[CompanionCube the stuff itself]]'' that's being interrogated.
21	* '''Zig Zagged''': Bob is a TortureTechnician, and an expert in varying his methods to suit the person in question. Sometimes, smashing their stuff is more effective than threatening violence, but if not he's perfectly willing to perform ColdBloodedTorture, or simply BreakThemByTalking. His famous unpredictability just adds to the terror he inspires.
22	* '''Averted''': Bob uses more traditional means of interrogation.
23	* '''Enforced''': Bob needs to interrogate someone, but a hero beating up an innocent wouldn't fly on the show's timeslot.
24	* '''Lampshaded''':
25	** "Oh, well I wasn't going to tell you anything, but now I've seen you're the kind of heartless monster who could bring himself to [[PokeThePoodle break some plates]], I'm [[SarcasmMode shaking in my boots]]..."
26	** [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda "You won't find any rupees here, Link!"]]
27	* '''Invoked''': "You can do what you want to me, [[BriarPatching but please, oh please don't damage my precious, precious things!]]"
28	* '''Exploited''': Though initially appalled, the destruction helps Bob to decide that ItsAllJunk, and what really matters is the people he loves. This realization makes him all the more determined to protect their secret.
29	* '''Defied''': Bob's partner Al starts threatening to break stuff, [[GoodCopBadCop but Bob stops him]], insisting that they are professionals [[EvenEvilHasStandards with standards]], not common thugs.
30	* '''Discussed''':
31	** "ShameIfSomethingHappened..."
32	** "Don't break his stuff! [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Hit him!]]"
33	* '''Conversed''': "Don't you just love it how cops on TV always break people's stuff? Had I tried to pull it off, I would have been sacked."
34	* '''Deconstructed''': Bob is eventually fired from the police department and even arrested for damaging personal property.
35	* '''Reconstructed''': Bob makes a point of telling Charlie how illegal his methods are. This quite effectively communicates that he's [[TheUnfettered willing to break the rules]], leading Bob to speculate how far he's willing to go, [[LeaveNoWitnesses especially if Bob is the only witness to his crimes]].
36	* '''Implied''': "Hey, that's a nice china collection. I bet these are worth a lot of money"
37	* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': Bob smashed everything in Charlie's house while he was away. He comes back and assumes he got robbed, shooting Bob.
38	* '''Played For Laughs''':
39	** "[[BigNO NO!]] Not my fluffy jammies! Anything but my fluffy jammies!"
40	** "Dammit! I was going to destroy these dishes for Website/YouTube! [[SarcasmMode Thanks a lot]], now I have to go to another yard sale.
41	* '''Played For Drama''': Charlie, [[BewareTheNiceOnes a fairly docile person by nature]], was worn down from keeping the secret and would have been easy to get cooperate through normal interrogation techniques. Bob, not knowing this, decides to smash his cabinet full of dishes, hoping it'd intimidate him into complying. [[VandalismBackfire However, these were the dishes that Charlie's late mother passed onto him, which, needless to say, pushes Charlie's]] BerserkButton, resulting in him giving Bob a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Now, Charlie's in a lot more trouble and Bob's in the hospital, in a situation that could have been avoided.
42	----
43	Where's the link back to InterrogationByVandalism?! Not talking, huh? smash

Context PlayingWith / InterrogationByVandalism