Redmess
I disagree, this is definitely a trope. While it is not mentioned, the scene from Film/Taken comes to mind where the hero of the story tortures someone for information, then leaves him to die.
The gist of the trope usually seems to be that Evil Justifies The Means.
Optimism is a duty.
Exalted Torturer is not more tropeworthy than a hypothetical trope named Exalted Murderer.
edited 23rd Jun '18 1:41:36 PM by MagBas
Lost in Space
What was missing in Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique that requires this as a supertrope? And the title is awful. Well, to be fair, so is the title of JBIT, as it references a specific franchise that will not be in popular memory forever.
Even though it's not as exciting a title, I might go with something more prosaic, like Heroes Using Torture.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Starform
Exalted Torturer is a character trope, JBIT is an action-taken-by-a-character trope. Admittedly it's a small distinction. A bigger distinction (and I think this is why the tropes are worth keeping distinct from each other) is that Exalted Torturer is about the work's stance on torture. Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique simply means "the heroes use torture'' whereas Exalted Torturer means "a character who uses torture, and the work portrays him or her as in the right for doing so." Exalted Torturer contains a value judgment.
Edited by StarformDCX on Jun 28th 2018 at 2:12:22 PM
The five best Superman writers are Dan Jurgens, Jeph Loeb, Geoff Johns, Kurt Busiek, and Peter J. Tomasi.
Clock is set.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Redmess
I vote keep.
Optimism is a duty.The distinction between "used by the heroes (aka, the characters that the work treats as good)" and "used by the heroes and this is treated as good" is really small. I vote not to keep.
Resetting clock.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
How sweet it is
Clock expired; closing.
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I think trope has several problems. First of all, the idea, a hero commits torture, is rather chairsy. Secondly, the article is rather long and rambley, meaning the trope has a hard time describing itself.