"The barbarous custom of torturing who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has been proved that this way of interrogation produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind and what they think the interrogator wishes to know."
— Napoléon Bonaparte, in a 1798 letter
"Under torture you are as if under the dominion of those grasses that produce visions. Everything you have heard told, everything you have read returns to your mind, as if you were being transported, not toward heaven, but toward hell. Under torture you say not only what the inquisitor wants, but also what you imagine might please him, because a bond (this, truly, diabolical) is established between you and him ... These things I know, Ubertino; I also have belonged to those groups of men who believe they can produce the truth with white-hot iron. Well, let me tell you, the white heat of truth comes from another flame."
— William of Baskerville, The Name of the Rose
To make him confess what? Truth? Or lies? How can one know which it is they are telling? For under unendurable pain a man confesses anything that is required of him, true or false, and his evidence is worthless.
"You don't even get good information that way. After a point, victims admit to anything to make the pain stop."
— Garrus on the Purgatory, Mass Effect 2
"This subject will invent fiction it believes the interrogator desires. Data acquired will be invalid."
— Legion (cut dialogue from Purgatory), Mass Effect 2
"If you fucking beat this prick long enough, he'll tell you he started the goddamn Chicago Fire! Now, that don't necessarily make it fucking so!"
— "Nice Guy" Eddie, Reservoir Dogs
Darth Vader: I have traced the Rebel spies to her. Now she is my only link to finding their secret base.
Commander Daine Jir: She'll die before she'll tell you anything!
Commander Daine Jir: She'll die before she'll tell you anything!
"Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from her."
— Darth Vader, A New Hope
Barry: I heard you can attach them to a car battery, spark it up, and get—
Michael: Torture just gets you the fastest lie to make the pain stop.
Michael: Torture just gets you the fastest lie to make the pain stop.
"Torture has never been a reliable means of extracting information. It is ultimately self-defeating as a means of control, and so one wonders why it is still practiced. The only possible reason must be... pleasure."
— Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Chain of Command, Part 2"
James Bond: (crying and laughing) Yes! Yes! Now the whole world's going to know that you died scratching my balls.
Le Chiffre: Oh... I died? I died?
Bond: Yeah! 'Cause no matter what you do, I'm not gonna give you the password which means your clients are gonna hunt you down and cut you into little pieces of meat while you're still breathing. Because if you kill me, there'll be nowhere else to hide.
Le Chiffre: But you are SO WRONG!!!
Le Chiffre: Oh... I died? I died?
Bond: Yeah! 'Cause no matter what you do, I'm not gonna give you the password which means your clients are gonna hunt you down and cut you into little pieces of meat while you're still breathing. Because if you kill me, there'll be nowhere else to hide.
Le Chiffre: But you are SO WRONG!!!
"Yeah, of course he was lying. What part of the phrase, 'Recruiting African-American Muslims in Montana' did not make you call 'bullshit' instantly?!"
"He said, 'I've never found [torture] to be useful. Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I'll do better.'"
— Then-US President-Elect Donald Trump, quoting his Defense Secretary pick, USMC General (ret.) James Mattis
"You know, I'm beginning to think that maybe torture isn't the best way to get information. Maybe they just tell you what they think you want to hear to get you to stop pulling out their fingernails."
— The Devil, Reaper
Trevor: The media and the government would have us believe that torture is some necessary thing. We need it to get information, to assert ourselves. Did we get any information out of you?
Ferdinand: I would have told you everything.
Trevor: Exactly. Torture's for the torturer. Or the guy giving the orders to the torturer. You torture for the good times - we should all admit that. It's useless as a means of getting information!
Ferdinand: I would have told you everything.
Trevor: Exactly. Torture's for the torturer. Or the guy giving the orders to the torturer. You torture for the good times - we should all admit that. It's useless as a means of getting information!
Hazel: What is so funny, you asshole?
Klaus: Well, for one... you spent the last ten hours... beating me senseless, and... you've learned absolutely nothing. I mean, nobody tells me shit. The truth is, I'm the one person in that house nobody will even notice is gone. You assholes kidnapped the wrong guy! [laughs]
Klaus: Well, for one... you spent the last ten hours... beating me senseless, and... you've learned absolutely nothing. I mean, nobody tells me shit. The truth is, I'm the one person in that house nobody will even notice is gone. You assholes kidnapped the wrong guy! [laughs]
—The Umbrella Academy (2019), "Man On The Moon"
"That wasn't nice. Isn't this against the Criminal Procedure Code? Criminal Procedure Code, Article 319. Forced confessions gained through torture and intimidation are inadmissible as evidence. Anything I tell you is invalid if you 'get your hands dirty'. Didn't they teach you the basics in police academy?"
— The Killer, Persona 4: Arena Ultimax
"Every cop show makes it seem like the reason cops have to beat suspects is just because without the beatdown, they won't tell the truth. And so those beatings protect the rest of society from these lying criminals. But in real life, beating a suspect is a great way to get them to confess to something they didn't do, which means you've locked up an innocent and you let the real criminal walk free. Oh and by the way, even if the person did do the crime, their lawyer can get them off because their confession wasn't legitimate because they were beaten. So beating a suspect to solve your cases like washing your computer with water. Yeah, the virus is gone, but so's your laptop."
Agent Two: If we have to, we are willing to resort to torture methods to get answers out of you nasty hell-beasts!
Moxxie: When you say "torture" do you mean physical or psychological? Physical seems counterproductive. We would likely tell you anything if it meant an end to the pain, and you would have no way of knowing what was true.
Blizto: Or we might like it too much! And then you've got a whole new thing to deal with.
Moxxie: When you say "torture" do you mean physical or psychological? Physical seems counterproductive. We would likely tell you anything if it meant an end to the pain, and you would have no way of knowing what was true.
Blizto: Or we might like it too much! And then you've got a whole new thing to deal with.
"There are ways of asking people questions without removing their teeth. For one thing, it makes for clearer diction."
— George Cowley, The Professionals, "Not A Very Civil Civil Servant"
Dee: Ok! Ok! I admit it!
Frank: What do you admit?
Dee: I admit anything you want to hear!
Frank: What do you admit?
Dee: I admit anything you want to hear!
Lucy: [dragged back up from the lake] Stop. Stop! Torture is wrong. [coughs up water]
The Ghoul: You know, they used to do these things called "studies." Why, you couldn't open a newspaper without reading about one study or another.
Lucy: [sees her rad meter peaking rapidly]
The Ghoul: Anyway, this one particular study came out, and it said that torturing a person don't do shit. [dumps Lucy in the lake]
Lucy: [screams, is hauled up again]
The Ghoul: It made sense. I mean, a man hurts me, I wouldn't want to do him any favors. And yet the practice of torture failed to vanish from this earth. In fact, as time marched on, I've personally noticed a decided uptick... in the amount of torture being doled out across the board.
Lucy: Sir, please, I need the head. It's the only way I can get my father back.
The Ghoul: My point is... if you ask me, them studies, they was right. Torturing a person don't do shit.
Lucy: Then why... why are you doing this?
The Ghoul: Well, I ain't torturing you, sweetheart. I'm using you as bait.
The Ghoul: You know, they used to do these things called "studies." Why, you couldn't open a newspaper without reading about one study or another.
Lucy: [sees her rad meter peaking rapidly]
The Ghoul: Anyway, this one particular study came out, and it said that torturing a person don't do shit. [dumps Lucy in the lake]
Lucy: [screams, is hauled up again]
The Ghoul: It made sense. I mean, a man hurts me, I wouldn't want to do him any favors. And yet the practice of torture failed to vanish from this earth. In fact, as time marched on, I've personally noticed a decided uptick... in the amount of torture being doled out across the board.
Lucy: Sir, please, I need the head. It's the only way I can get my father back.
The Ghoul: My point is... if you ask me, them studies, they was right. Torturing a person don't do shit.
Lucy: Then why... why are you doing this?
The Ghoul: Well, I ain't torturing you, sweetheart. I'm using you as bait.
— Fallout (2024), "the Head"
