Torture



Torture is a process by which one exacts mental or physical cruelty upon another person for purposes of either interrogation or revenge for a past crime. Sometimes, a torturer commits acts out of sheer sadism. The process of torturing someone usually takes place over a prolonged period of time.

In most cases, the person being tortured is confined to a small space with restricted movement, allowing the torturer the ability to more efficiently torment them. In some circles, aggressive forms of interrogation conducted by military or law-enforcement agencies could be construed as acts of torture, and has given rise to controversey and scandal over the years.

Examples of torture

 * American Horror Story: In the season two story-arc of American Horror Story titled "Asylum", psychiatrist Oliver Thredson, who is also the notorious 1960s serial killer known as Bloody Face, kidnaps reporter Lana Winters and brings her back to his home. She is bound to his bed where Thredson taunts her with the knowledge of how he murdered her friend and lover Wendy Peyser.


 * Babylon 5: An alien being known as a Soul Hunter came aboard the Babylon 5 station where it sought out the Minbari ambassador known as Delenn. He captured Delenn and brought her back to his ship where he strapped her down to a table. He wanted revenge against the Minbari for actions that occurred during the Earth-Minbari War and used a special device in an effort to drain away Delenn's soul.


 * Being Human: On the North American version of the UK series Being Human, a middle-aged werewolf named Liam McLean captured vampire Aidan Waite and bound him to a wall with chains. Liam hated all vampires, but especially despised Aidan for killing his son, Connor. He tormented Aidan by injecting him with infected blood, which introduced a lethal virus into his system. Aidan's friend, Josh Levinson, came to his rescue, but was scratched by Liam during the scuffle, thus inheriting the curse of lycanthropy (for the second time).


 * The Blacklist: In season one of The Blacklist, a terrorist named Anslo Garrick captured former colleague Raymond Reddington in Washington, D.C. and brought him to a safe house in Baltimore, Maryland. He blamed Reddington for betraying, and ultimately mutilating him in the past and was resentful over the fact that he was only able to enjoy a taste of the lifestyle that Reddington was living. He gave him a high dosage of an anesthetic, which caused Reddington temporary neurological distress.


 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a mad preacher named Caleb - a follower of The First captured Buffy Summer's friend Xander Harris and tortured him at length. Remarking, "You're the one who sees everything, aren't you? Well, let's see what we can't do about that.", he pushed his thumb through one of Xander's eyes.


 * Farscape: On Farscape, the mad Sebacean known as Durka once spent 100 cycles routinely torturing his prisoner, the Hynerian Dominar Rygel XVI. In another episode, Scorpius captures John Crichton and has brought to his Gammak base where he tortures him in the Aurora Chair.


 * Star Trek: In the 1994 feature film Star Trek: Generations, the Klingon Duras sisters, Lursa and B'Etor torture USS Enterprise Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge in order to get information from him about the ship's engineering systems.


 * Teen Wolf: On the MTV television series Teen Wolf, an insane and unscrupulous werewolf hunter named Gerard Argent captures two neophyte werewolves named Vernon Milton Boyd and Erica Reyes as well as the non-lupine Stiles Stilinsky. He tortures all three of them, not only for his own pleasure, but also to draw out their friend, Scott McCall.


 * True Blood: On the HBO series True Blood, members of the Vampire Authority captured Bill Compton and Eric Northman and brought them to their headquarters in New Orleans. They were tortured and interrogated in order to pressure compliance, and also fitted with iStakes, which could administer a fatal stabbing directly to the heart and could be activated via remote control.