History Main / ToThePain

* This was a staple of [[strike:the live-action ''{{Batman}}'' TV series]] every incarnation of ''{{Batman}}''

* * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Straddling the line between this and CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon, but played entirely seriously. Why should Sirleck help Magus?

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Rogue vampire slayer Faith threatens to use the "five different torture groups" on her former Watcher Wesley.

-->"According to Eastern philosophy, the body has seven different chakra points. The Energy centers, like the heart, or genitals. The purpose of these implements is to probe those organs, inflicting the maximum amount of pain whilst keeping the victim alive for as long as possible."
** ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. When SPECTRE Number 11 has James Bond tied to a chair in her cabin, she pulls open a drawer to display a set of cutting utensils, including a dermatologist's dermatome. She takes out the dermatome and threatens to use it on Bond unless he talks.

See Also CallingYourAttacks, JustBetweenYouAndMe, TooKinkyToTorture, CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon. Very popular among characters who practice RevengeByProxy, especially those who find ForcedToWatch a bit too impractical to pull off.

** In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', members of the TheSyndicate call this "turkey basting." Since the people using it are mages (whether they know it or not), it actually has the effect of causing unspeakable pain to the interrogation suspect simply via power of suggestion.

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* From Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: "[[LordOfTheRings Come not between the Nazgul and his prey!]] Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Houses of Lamentation]], beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy [[AndIMustScream shriveled mind]] be left naked to the Lidless Eye." [[spoiler: He gets a ShutUpHannibal response, because he's addressing a disguised Eowyn - who, [[NoManOfWomanBorn not being a man]], can and does kill him.]]

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* Literature/TheBible: Deuteronomy 28:15-45 (the verses after the blessings) has God giving humanity a list of things He will do to them if they choose to disobey Him. Here are some particular verses for example (v. 20-25):

* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Marcie the insane invisible girl whips a sheet off a tray of surgical instruments, then describes how she intends to give Cordelia a GlasgowGrin.
* ''{{Angel}}''. Rogue vampire slayer Faith threatens to use the "five different torture groups" on her former Watcher Wesley.

* A very similar method is used in ''Series/AGameOfThrones''. The rat is placed in the pail, which is strapped to the interrogatee's chest. Then you hold the torch under the pail, which makes the rat rather ... ''anxious'' to get out. The process is carefully explained, just in case there's any misunderstanding on the prisoner's part as to what's going to happen.

* In UnderSiege2, the villian extracts information from two officers by threatening each with a superheated needle to the eye, casually describing what will happen when he does. His description alone (along with the fact that two [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure are lovers]]) convinces them to tell him what he wants to know.

* The commercial for ''Mercenaries 2: World in Flames'' features a hilarious song that is essentially a musical ToThePain speech. A full version of the song, along with a making-of for the commercial, is featured on EA's Website/YouTube page, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCvIw7DMHXc here]].

* In ''[[RobinHobb Golden Fool]]'', Fitz is in a sword fight with [[spoiler: Laudwine]], a one-handed man (Fitz had chopped his hand off in a previous encounter). When [[spoiler: Laudwine]] threatens to kill him slowly, Fitz responds by threatening to cut off his remaining hand and leave him alive. The idea horrifies him enough that his guard drops for a moment and he ends up dead.

* XKCD has [[http://xkcd.com/1139/ I am rubber, you are glue.]]

* In ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'', Count Rugen doesn't merely stop at explaining the workings of his agonizing torture device to the hero, but tries to draw out some scholarly conversation about its effects. "Remember, this ''is'' for posterity, so... be honest." The hero seems to pick this up, for in the "To the Pain" monologue near the end of the movie that gives the trope its name, he describes in excruciating detail how he is going to dismember the villain and make him suffer if he doesn't surrender. [[spoiler:Although providing the Trope name, this is more of a subversion -- the Hero was clearly bluffing the villain with this speech, [[YouCanBarelyStand as he was in no condition to actually beat the villain]].]]

* ''{{Missing 2012}}'': Rebecca Winstone does this to [[spoiler: Violet]] to get her to tell where Rebecca's son is. The good news is that the torture will not kill her. The bad news is that the torture will make her wish it did. Rebecca got the information, feels terrible about it, and it's not stated just how far along she got in the torture before she got the information.

* In ''TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', an old man threatens the [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife eponymous]] duo for the... eponymous pick. "I will cut out your eyes, and I will cut out your balls, and I will put your eyes in your ball sack, and I will put your balls in your eye holes!!" Too bad he can hardly move; when JB and KG realize that they could out-run him, they easily escape.

* Used in the BigFinishDoctorWho episode [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS4E3Nevermore "Nevermore"]]. The Doctor is told that part of the DeathTrap is about to pierce one of his hearts, so he uses his BizarreAlienBiology to shut down that half of his body. This also completely cancels the ToThePain sequence... because it was told to him via a speaker in one of his ears.

If the villain has a [[TortureTechnician more clinical approach to his work]], however, there is often a meta version of this trope where the audience is treated to a slow camera pan across the torture instruments, which are laid out neatly on a table.

* At the end of ''[[AsianSaga Shogun]]'': [[spoiler:Toranaga]] buries [[spoiler:Ishido]] up to his neck and invites passersby to saw away at his neck with a bamboo saw. He lasts three days, and dies "very old."

* The meta version occurs in ''Film/TheMatrix''. At the start of Morpheus' interrogation, we're given a brief pan across gleaming stainless steel surgical instruments and vials of drugs. Likewise in ''TrueLies'', but this serves as a ChekhovsGun, notably the the Patterson trocar Arnie uses to kill the guard while using the torturer as a HumanShield.

* Illness from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' sums up what her prisoners are in for if they don't talk by telling them, "The boss said that I just had to do what people used to do to me!" and [[CoveredInScars lifting up her dress to show them exactly what she means by that]]. The captives confess instantly.

* At the end of ''Shogun'': [[spoiler:Toranaga]] buries [[spoiler:Ishido]] up to his neck and invites passersby to saw away at his neck with a bamboo saw. He lasts three days, and dies "very old."

Torture. It can be slow, it can be quick, but it is [[ColdBloodedTorture always painful]]. Worse than the pain of a [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking stubbed toe]] ([[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants "And I only cried for 20 minutes"]]), torture is an excruciating agony, much like that of how sex would feel to a [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Yugopotamian]]. This torture of which we speak is also much more [[MindRape painful]] than the fact that the past two references were based on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} shows and, like all dastardly plans, goes so much better with a little [[EvilGloating gloating.]]

Don't just cut the victim, [[Quotes/ToThePain tell them about it]], describe every last detail to make them squirm. You can describe things that you couldn't show on TV and any villain who would do this you ''know'' is either [[MoralEventHorizon irredeemably evil]], totally insane, or both.

If the villain has a [[TortureTechnician more clinical approach to his work]] however, there is often a meta version of this trope where the audience is treated to a slow camera pan across the torture instruments, which are laid out neatly on a table.

Much like UnspokenPlanGuarantee, though, the hero almost always escapes the described fate. In fact, this is sometimes the ''reason'' the hero survives, because what the villain says gives the hero information he needs to find a flaw in the plan; sometimes the whole routine simply buys the hero the time he needs to think of something. (This is sometimes where BondVillainStupidity can fit.)

Historically this is TruthInTelevision, part of a three-step process to [[PerpSweating encourage the prisoner to be more cooperative]]. 'First degree' torture involved verbal threats of what you're going to do, 'second degree' was showing the prisoner the instruments of torture, while 'third degree' was application.

* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'', Haruna eventually finds out about magic during the [[TournamentArc school fighting tournament]]. Not only this, she finds out that her friends in the Library Research Club, [[ThePhilosopher Yue]], [[ShrinkingViolet Nodoka]] and [[{{Ojou}} Konoka]], have known all along and never told her (due to her incredible rumor-spreading abilities). Haruna decides to explain exactly how she thinks they should be tortured for not telling her, not just by telling them what she'll do, but by ''[[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v14/c126/4.html sketching said torture into manga]]''. [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v14/c126/5.html No, really.]] Judging by that that image, they should be tied upside-down and [[GroinAttack whipped on the vagina]]. Still, knowing Haruna, she's probably posted Doujinshi of that online already. [[RuleThirtyFour There's certainly a market for it.]]
* ''{{Tsukihime}}'' loves this, as the quote wiki shows. Arc directs the quote at [[spoiler: Shiki, after he rejects her and slices her almost to death. Again. ItMakesSenseInContext.]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Mustang:''' Stand up, monster! Go on and regenerate yourself! You'll suffer a thousand deaths before I'm done!]]

* Michonne in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead''. [[spoiler:After being captured, imprisoned, tortured and brutally raped by the "Governor", Michonne escapes with her captured comrades. However, instead of immediately returning to their camp with the rest of the group, Michonne chooses to lag behind and exact revenge from the sociopath by, among other things, cutting his arm off and scooping his eye out with a spoon. She has a CrowningMomentOfAwesome during the encounter's "to the pain" speech: "I'm--I'm not crying for me. I'm crying for you. I think about all the things I'm going to do to you and it makes me cry. It scares me."]]

* In the 2011's ''JourneyIntoMystery'' [[TheMightyThor Thor]] comic, ComicBook/{{Loki}} tells a scout from the Serpent that the scout should give Loki and Tyr the information they need, because then they'll kill him quickly instead of torturing him. Loki goes into a few vague details mostly involving how "evil and cruel" his pre-reincarnation-as-a-child self was known to be, and the scout caves, gives them the info, and Tyr kills him. Tyr then angrily informs Loki that he would never have tortured the scout, since he "has no love of torture" leading to this little gem of subversion:

* ''FanFic/TheImmortalGame'': It's a subtle example, but [[spoiler: Discord]]'s threat to [[spoiler: Titan]] during their confrontation qualifies:

Much like UnspokenPlanGuarantee, though, the hero almost always escapes the described fate.