r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Character_Growth_397 • 12h ago

Characters Acknowledging that torture is not an efficient form of interrogation

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Torture is often shown as an effective way of interrogation, with writers forgetting one key detail: People lie. AAMOF, it's likely that they will lie and give you untrue information to not be tortured

The Last of Us - Joel has an interrogation map where he'd make two different people point to something on a map. If they both pointed the same thing it meant the info was true. Very often this wasn't the case

Mass Effect 2 - Garrus points out that torture is not effective because victims will lie to make the torture stop

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u/IrishSpectreN7 9h ago

Later in this very same game he gets information out of Harkin by choking him, threatening to break his neck, and then shoots him in the leg lol.

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u/jedisalamander 9h ago

That wasn't because he thought it would be effective, it was just personal lol

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u/IrishSpectreN7 8h ago

I know lol, I'm mostly kidding. The game even acknowledges that it was uncharacteristic of him.

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u/Aethanix 9h ago

tbf Harkin knew Garrus would make good on coming back if he lied.

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u/Feminiwitch 7h ago

tbf Harkin got that for being Harkin, not for the information along. He got off easy!

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u/Jijonbreaker1 8h ago

I mean, that's not so much torture. Just genuinely threatening somebody's life. They are similar, but they are two very distinct fears.