History Main / ImHavingSoulPains

* Freder in the Fritz Lang film [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28film%29 Metropolis]] clutches his chest for half the movie.
* Charles Xavier in {{X-Men}}: First Class gets a pretty nasty dose of this during his mind-link with Shaw. He clutches his head and shouts in pain as [[spoiler: Erik slowly pushes a coin through Shaw's skull, which Charles can feel the entire time through the mind-link.]] Also doubles as a BadAss moment for Charles as he holds the link through the pain.

* Hellfire -which is exactly what it sounds like- is used by some MarvelUniverse characters such as GhostRider; it causes damage to the soul rather than the body. If used long enough, it can actually render a target literally soulless.

** Happens again in ''Revenge of the Sith'' during [[ThePurge Order 66]]. [[TearJerker Yoda clutches his chest with a pained expression on his face as he feels the deaths of countless Jedi across the galaxy.]]

* IsaacAsimov's novel ''[[{{Foundation}} Second Foundation]]''. Foundation scientists create a device to use against the members of the Second Foundation; it causes intense mental agony in anyone with telepathic ability.

** And the dementors. More of the MindRape, worst-experiences-montage variety and generally not lethal, but given time and a free reign, they can drive a victim insane, rob them of their will to live, and, in extreme cases, [[FateWorseThanDeath literally eat their soul.]]

** Actually, all the post-regeneration periods (so far in the new series) probably count as well.
** The new series episode "Planet of the Ood" pulls this with the Doctor hearing the Ood singing in his head (the pain there was more from the fact that the Ood song of captivity is just ''that'' frakking depressing - he lets Donna hear it for a few moments and she almost begs him to take it away again. It's pretty depressing in RealLife too, actually).

* ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' has several examples of these, either in the form of magical attacks that leave few or no marks, or spiritual attacks that leave the target an eventual vegetable. Perhaps the most straightforward example would be the pornomancy spell Psychotrauma, which causes incredible and searing pain with no physical cause. It doesn't do as much damage unless the target is having sex with the pornomancer at the time, but because it has no physical cause it also ''can't be healed by normal means''.

* Cloud's Geostigma in ''FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' seemed to be I'm Having Soul Pains as a tic. He would suddenly cringe, run short of breath and flinch as if an invisible force were causing him pain.

* Pain with no physical source can be a symptom of Clinical Depression, or a host of other psychosomatic disorders.

** Can also be caused by zillions of things that are physically real, but hard to diagnose, for example, autoimmune diseases.

* Under stress the muscles in your chest expand and contract creating the feeling of a pain over your heart/soul area. Commonly known as Heartache.

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Slan of the Godhand slashed Guts across the chest, cutting into his soul as well as his flesh. While the wound on his body eventually healed, the wound in his soul will never go away. The cursed Berserker armor Guts wears is the only thing that is keeping the damage to his soul in check.

* Under stress the muscles in your chest expand and contrast creating the feeling of a pain over your heart/soul area. Commonly known as Heartache.

* When roused to anger, [[TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] often threatens to inflict this upon others.

When a character feels horrid pain in an... abstract way. It can be their soul, heart, spirit, [[WebOriginal/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries hair]], consciousness or the nervous system itself, but it never leaves a physical mark and involves no gore despite it being unimaginably painful.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

** ''A Wrinkle in Time'': IT is a control freak and veritable mind rape machine.
** ''A Wind in the Door'': The Ecthroi are beings of nothingness that want to extinguish everything and everyone from existence.

When a character feels horrid pain in an...abstract way. It can be their soul, heart, spirit, [[WebOriginal/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries hair]], consciousness or the nervous system itself, but it never leaves a physical mark and involves no gore despite it being unimaginably painful.

->''"Owwww... My ''Soul!'' No, seriously, this is actually making my soul hurt. I don't know ''how'' it's possible, but apparently it is."''\\
--'''Necro Critic''', ''Christmas Shoes review''

* In {{Homestuck}}, [[spoiler: this is implied to be the extension of Dirk's powers as the Prince of Heart.]]

* Heather from ''SilentHill3'' has what can be best described as "uteral contractions of the soul". [[spoiler:She removes them by taking a "soul abortion pill."]]

* Megatron's preferred method of controlling the AxCrazy [[PsychoPrototype Rampage]] in BeastWars was to jam pure energon into half of his [[OurSoulsAreDifferent spark]]. As Rampage is all but immortal, he can survive it, but it inflicts him with indescribable pain until he agrees to follow orders.

*** Those were not Soul Pains. Xemnas was tring to [[NightmareFuel Rip out his Heart]].

* In the ''KingdomHearts'' manga, Riku is shown gasping for breath, growing pale, and having difficulty walking after being bossed around. At such times, he says he "feels like his heart is about to explode."

* Something to this effect is used in ''HannaIsNotABoysName''. Although it's hard to determine the nature of Hanna's condition, he gets very weak and appears to be in pain when a ghost passes through him.

* Aubry Fitzwillliam in the '' Laws of Magic '' series is in a constant struggle to keep his soul attached to his body. It is his fault that the link got severed, though.

* Heather from ''SilentHill 3'' has what can be best described as "uteral contractions of the soul". [[spoiler:She removes them by taking a "soul abortion pill."]]

* ''UnknownArmies'' has several examples of these, either in the form of magical attacks that leave few or no marks, or spiritual attacks that leave the target an eventual vegetable. Perhaps the most straightforward example would be the pornomancy spell Psychotrauma, which causes incredible and searing pain with no physical cause. It doesn't do as much damage unless the target is having sex with the pornomancer at the time, but because it has no physical cause it also ''can't be healed by normal means''.

* DemonTheFallen has this with Thralls: By entering into a [[DealWithTheDevil Pact]] with a mortal, a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demon]] is able to strip Faith (the mana of the game line) from the soul of the mortal, giving her horrific nightmares and hallucinations as well as excruciating pains with no source. It stops being this trope when the Demon sucks more Faith than the mortal can spare, leading to stigmata or vomiting blood, etc.

* The titular character of ''[[AngelTheSeries Angel]]'' experiences something like this when he's about to lose his soul, or has just had it returned. It's at least partly an emotional effect due to extreme guilt; whether real physical pain is involved is difficult to tell. On one occasion, the show fakes viewers out after he has sex with his sire Darla.

* In ''DragonAgeII'', the white scars all over Fenris' body apparently cause him immense amounts of pain. Justified, as they're more like tattoos made out of lyrium than anything else, which has a well-documented range of nasty side effects.

[[quoteright:325:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SoulItches_5834.png]]
[[caption-width-right:325:Well said, [[{{X-Men}} Pixie]], well said.]]

** The new series episode ''Planet of the Ood'' pulls this with the Doctor hearing the Ood singing in his head (the pain there was more from the fact that the Ood song of captivity is just ''that'' frakking depressing - he lets Donna hear it for a few moments and she almost begs him to take it away again. It's pretty depressing in RealLife too, actually).

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