History Main / TooBrokenToBreak

There's a threat made to a character. Maybe it's ColdBloodedTorture, maybe it's simply not being paid enough, or maybe having their heart broken. They profoundly underreact. Is it because they're zen? Because their mental fortitude is just that great? Are they just nice?

Torture them? Meh, couldn't be worse than their traumatic past. Give them bad food? They've probably eaten worse. Underpay them? They've been through worse. Break their heart? They've felt worse.

See also ConditionedToAcceptHorror, in which is not that the person is too broken to react, but that they actually find this normal and mundane. Similar to InsanityImmunity, except in this case, the character still holds to their sanity, to DisabilityImmunity, where the disability in this case is psychological rather than physical, and to EmptyShell and StoppedCaring, with the difference that this character can still feel and care normally. Also, TheLastDance, when the character becomes this moments before their unavoidable death.

* In ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'', [[ComicBook/BlackCat Felicia Hardy]] is the only person alive who knows Spider-Man's secret identity. One mob group tried to get his name out of her through ColdBloodedTorture. The second mob group took one look at [[FacialHorror what was under her mask]] and decided there was nothing they could do to her.
* In one ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story, a villain who could [[IKnowWhatYouFear generate people's worst fears]] tried summoning the ghost of [[DeathByOriginStory Uncle Ben]] to break the webslinger. The villain is shocked when Spider-Man greets Ben happily and starts chatting with him. Peter explains that he lives with the grief of [[MyGreatestFailure failing to save Ben]] ''every single day'', and at this point, that pain and sorrow is simply a part of who he is.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'': As Bootstrap Bill helps his son Will escape from the ''Flying Dutchman'', Will points out that the other crewmen will know he did so and will hold him accountable. Bootstrap, having already pledged to serve on the hellish ship for all eternity, merely laughs and says "What more can they do to me?" [[TemptingFate Jones sends the Kraken on a detour to try and kill Will once the deception is discovered and later reduces Bootstrap to a living part of the ship]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Catra is exiled to the Crimson Waste as punishment for failure, and encounters the meanest of outlaws, who bully her for heckling them about Adora's whereabouts, as they cruelly remind her that only the strong make the rules. Catra outright tells them that they're making a mistake if they think they can threaten her, that those methods only work on people who have something to lose. Catra, however has been through too much crap in her life that she's lost ''everything'', and doesn't even care anymore. From that, she asserts her dominance.

* At the beginning of ''BioshockInfinite/BurialAtSea'' episode two, Elizabeth, [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack having come back to Rapture to save Sally]] (the Little Sister whose adoptive father she killed out of spite and then left for dead) makes a deal with Atlas in exchange for Sally's safety; fragments of Elizabeth's memory that remain from when she had her temporal powers [[BroughtDownToNormal (returning to a timeline where that version of her had died erased them along with her omniscience)]] tell her that Fontaine wants "the ace in the hole," so she claims to be Suchong's lab assistant who both knows where it is. When Atlas' patience begins to wear thin, he ties Elizabeth to a chair, slowly drags an icepick through the top of her eye socket to rest on her skull, and [[ToThePain taps it repeatedly as tells her how all her individuality, creativity, and personality can be easily erased if he hits just a little harder.]] Although you can hear her shaky breathing, she finally laughs at his efforts and invites him to go ahead and make her stop caring about all the horrific things around her. He becomes so enraged that he rips the pick out of her eye and [[OohMeAccentsSlipping lapses back into his natural Brooklyn accent]]; it's only when Sally is brought in on a stretcher and he moves to give ''her'' a lobotomy does Elizabeth panic and beg him to stop; thankfully, her subconscious gives her a clue in the nick of time and the situation is diffused.

* In an early 1980s issue of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' the Hulk is leaping around the world and lands in Afghanistan at a time when, in real life, the UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan was still going on. He drops right in front of an Afghani who barely even notices the Hulk and walks on with the same shocked expression he had had before the Hulk landed. What was going on in his vicinity is so horrific that the arrival of the Hulk doesn't even register.

* For the most part, the Abomination from ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is numb to pain and sorrow. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation While he can still have his]] SanityMeter sapped and suffer a HeroicBsod, he claims that the various monsters of the Darkest Estate don't scare him, because the beast inside him is way scarier than they'll ever be.
** Best exemplified during the fight with [[spoiler:the Heart of Darkness]]. If you hover him when [[SadisticChoice Come Unto Your Maker]] is active, he'll have the following to say:

* For the most part, the Abomination from ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is more or less numb to pain and sorrow. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation While he can still have his]] SanityMeter sapped and suffer a HeroicBsod, he claims that the various monsters of the Darkest Estate don't scare him, because the beast inside him is way scarier than they'll ever be.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': By the end of ''End of Evangelion'', Shinji has witnessed so much absolute horror he doesn't even flinch upon seeing [[spoiler: The corpse of his best friend after transmuting into a PhysicalGod surrounded by an entire ocean containing liquified humans]], and is indicated to face it with hesitant determination according to the poster, which takes place shortly after the ending of the movie.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': By the end of ''End of Evangelion'', Shinji has witnessed so much absolute horror he doesn't even flinch upon seeing [[spoiler: The corpse of his best friend after transmuting into a PhysicalGod surrounded by an entire ocean containing liquified humans]]], and is indicated to face it with hesitant determination according to the poster that takes place shortly after the ending of the movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Blue Diamond's pathokinesis takes her grief and pushes it onto anyone around her, making even the most resilient Gem break down and sob... except for Lapis Lazuli, who, after spending most of the last 5,000 years [[AndIMustScream imprisoned in a mirror]] and then the last few months [[SealedEvilInADuel using herself as a jailer to contain Jasper in their fusion at the bottom of the ocean]], is barely fazed by Blue's powers.
-->'''Blue Diamond:''' What?\\

* At the beginning of ''BioshockInfinite/BurialAtSea'' episode two, Elizabeth, [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack having come back to Rapture to save Sally]] (the Little Sister whose adoptive father she killed out of spite and then left for dead, defenseless in the bowels of the city) makes a deal with Fontaine in exchange for Sally's safety; fragments of Elizabeth's memory that remain from when she had her temporal powers before she returned to Rapture [[BroughtDownToNormal (returning to a timeline where that version of her had died erased them along with her omniscience)]] tell her that Fontaine wants "the ace in the hole," so she claims to be Suchong's lab assistant who both knows where the "ace" is and can retrieve it for him. Fast-forward a bit and Fontaine's patience is wearing thin in anticipation for the "ace"; he ties Elizabeth to a chair, slowly drags an icepick through the top of her eye socket to rest on her skull, and [[ToThePain taps it repeatedly as tells her how all her individuality, creativity, personality can so easily be erased if he hits just a little harder.]] Although you can hear her shaky breathing, she finally just laughs at his efforts to gather information she doesn't even know and invites him to go ahead and make her virtually brain dead so she'll stop caring about all the horrific things around her. He becomes so enraged that he rips the pick out of her eye and [[OohMeAccentsSlipping lapses back into his natural Brooklyn accent]]; it's only when Sally is brought in on a stretcher and he moves to give ''her'' a lobotomy does Elizabeth panic and begin screaming in earnest that she doesn't know where the "ace" is; thankfully her subconscious gives her a clue in the nick of time and the situation is diffused.

* Heavily implied in the climax of the first episode of ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}''. After the reactor core has exploded, a hapless engineer has been ordered by his idiotic superiors to "inspect the damage" to the reactor (or, to put it more accurately -- be marched at gunpoint to the roof and forced to stick his head into toxic smoke to stare into the radioactive pit where once a reactor was). The last we see of the poor man in the episode is a distance shot of him slumped in a chair staring blankly into space while his superiors, unable to ignore the obvious evidence of radiation burns on his face, are pacing around clearly screaming all manner of threats and abuse at him, none of which he reacts to in the slightest. Because he knows full well that he's been doomed to a slow, lingering death by radiation poisoning and there's absolutely nothing they can say or do to make his life worse, so there's no reason for him to care whatsoever about their empty threats.

* Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' could very well be the TropeCodifier. No matter what horrible things can happen to him in the show, [[TraumaCongaLine he's been through worse.]] An abusive childhood has made him incredibly callous. When the Monarch tries ColdBloodedTorture on him, nothing has any effect due to him having experienced almost all of it at some point. Trying to crush his spirit doesn't work either, because he's so [[JadedWashout depressed and bitter]] that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness old college friends of his consider it almost creepy to see him looking happy.]] The Monarch puts it best:

* At the beginning of ''BioshockInfinite/BurialAtSea'' episode two, Elizabeth, [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack having come back to Rapture to save Sally]] (the Little Sister whose adoptive father she killed out of spite and then left for dead, defenseless in the bowels of the city) makes a deal with Fontaine in exchange for Sally's safety; fragments of Elizabeth's memory that remain from when she had her temporal powers before she returned to Rapture [[BroughtDownToNormal (returning to a timeline where that version of her had died erased them along with her omniscience) tell her that Fontaine wants "the ace in the hole," and she claims to be [[MakerOfMonsters Suchong's]] lab assistant who both knows where the "ace" is and can retrieve it for him. Fast-forward a bit and Fontaine's patience is wearing thin in anticipation for the "ace"; he ties Elizabeth to a chair, slowly drags an icepick through the top of her eye socket to rest on her skull, and [[ToThePain taps it repeatedly as tells her how all her individuality, creativity, personality can so easily be erased if he hits just a little harder.]] Although you can hear her shaky breathing, she finally just laughs at his efforts to gather information she doesn't even know and invites him to go ahead and make her virtually brain dead so she'll stop caring about all the horrific things around her. He becomes so enraged that he rips the pick out of her eye and [[OohMeAccentsSlipping lapses back into his natural Brooklyn accent]]; it's only when Sally is brought in on a stretcher and he moves to give ''her'' a lobotomy does Elizabeth panic.

* For the most part, the Abomination from ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is more or less numb to pain and sorrow. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation While he can still have his]] SanityMeter sapped and suffer a HeroicBSoD, he claims that the various monsters of the Darkest Estate don't scare him, because the beast inside him is way scarier than they'll ever be.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Blue Diamond's pathokinesis takes her grief and pushes it onto anyone around her, making even the most resilient Gem break down and sob... except for Lapis Lazuli, who, after spending most of the last 5,000 years [[AndIMustScream imprisoned in a mirror]] and then the last few months [[SealedEvilInADuel using herself as a jailer to contain Jasper in their fusion]], is barely fazed by Blue's powers.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Blue Diamond's pathokinesis takes her grief and pushes it onto anyone around her, making even the most resilient Gem break down and sob... except for Lapis Lazuli, who, after spending most of the last 5000 years either imprisoned or in a living hell, is barely fazed by Blue's powers.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Eowyn is able to shrug off the usually crippling despair that follows the ring wraiths. It's not because she's 'just that badass'; it's because she's been living with depression for years and is just ''used'' to feeling utterly hopeless and acting in spite of it.

See also ConditionedToAcceptHorror, in which is not that the person is too broken to react, but that they actually find this normal and mundane. Similar to InsanityImmunity, except in this case, the character still holds to their sanity, to DisabilityImmunity, where the disability in this case is psychological rather than physical, and to EmptyShell and StoppedCaring, with the difference that this character can still feel and care normally. Also, TheLastDance, when the character becomes this moments before his/her unavoidable death.

* In ''Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings'', Tom is able to keep his cool while Mertil tries to kill Marco because he spent the last three years of his life in the original timeline being dragged around by aliens.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'': As Bootstrap Bill helps his son Will escape from the ''Flying Dutchman'', Will points out that the other crewmen will know he did so and will hold him accountable. Bootstrap, having already pledged to serve on the hellish ship for all eternity, merely laughs and says "What more can they do to me?" [[TemptingFate Jones sends the Kraken on a detour to try and kill Will once the deception is discovered]].