Break Them By Talking / Anime & Manga

Examples of Break Them by Talking in anime and manga.

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• Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero:
  • Phil gradually tears away at Myuu to demoralize her in episode 9, by telling her she'll be used as bait to lure out the dark clans, that she must have seduced Akatsuki to save her own skin, and even if she somehow stopped him, more would be sent after her, putting her friends on Earth in danger.
  • He tries it again in episode 11. However, he's much less successful this time around due to words of encouragement from Akatsuki prior to the fight.
• Attack on Titan: Eren Yeager becomes a master of this trope post-timeskip.
  • Early on during the Marley Arc, Eren crosses paths with his grandfather, whom he recognizes from inheriting his father's memories. In order to prevent him from figuring out that he's manipulating Falco, Eren asks him if he has any regrets about his family, which causes him to have a mental breakdown and gets him escorted out by hospital staff, which reveals that his grandfather has been confined to a mental hospital after the loss of both of his children.
  • Later on in the arc, he does it again to Reiner Braun after the two meet for the first time in four years. Although, to be fair, Reiner is extremely broken at this point anyway. It does cause Reiner to have yet another mental breakdown, culminating in him asking for Eren to kill him. He doesn't, as he wants Reiner to go through what he went through during the attack on Shingashina all those years ago.
  • Arguably the biggest example of all occurs when Eren demonstrates the true power of the Attack Titan - to see the memories of its future inheritors - by whispering into the ear of his father Grisha, who is wavering in his commitment to kill the Reiss Family and take the Founding Titan, and reminding him of what he came here to do and of all the loved ones he has lost along the way. Sure enough, Grisha loses it as the fear and regret in his face contorts into maddening rage over the course of Eren's speech and he commits the act in question, and after the deed is done he is shown yelling into the sky about what he had to do and calling out Eren for making him do it.
    Eren: Did you forget the reason why you're here? Isn't it to get revenge for your little sister who was eaten by dogs? For your fellow restorationists, for Dina, for Kruger? You have to avenge them and keep moving forward, even if you die and even after you die. This is the story that you started, isn't it?
• Toru Nanamine gives one to his editor in Bakuman。, preying on his confidence issues and inexperience by telling him that he's not more intelligent than the 50 consultants he has and threatening to go elsewhere and put his editor's career in jeopardy if he refuses to go along with his plan as the 51st correspondent.
• This is Ubik's reason for existence in Berserk. When someone activates a Behelit, it's Ubik's job to explain to the person why they're a corrupt, empty monster, why everyone they know and love is actually out to get them, and why it's a good idea for the holder to sacrifice all that they love to become an Apostle. Everything Ubik says is true - although he will make sure to frame the things he discusses in the worst possible light - making his speeches very effective.
• In Bleach, during The Reveal, Aizen delivers a several chapter long lecture to Ichigo, completely paralyzing him. Until Komamura attacks Aizen in a rage at his betrayal.
  • Aizen's response: cut off Komamura, then continue, until everyone shows up. But by then, he already finished all he said.
  • Repeated again during the Fake Karakura Town arc with not one, not two, but several, to the Vizards (making Hiyori Half The Woman She Used To Be) for the entire chapter, several pages long for Ichigo before Komamura pulls a Shut Up, Hannibal!, then giving more lectures to everyone else, especially Hitsugaya, while crossing swords with them (ends when they became so enraged they all fall), then another one to Yamamoto (forcing the old man to sacrifice himself), before CONTINUING his lecture toward Ichigo. Face it, Aizen's lecture can only end either when he finishes, or when you get killed while trying to shut him up.
  • Aizen's not the only one. In Chapter 404, we got Gin of all people giving Ichigo yet another lecture, including the line, "I thought you were better than that, but you're still a child." Many probably felt that that issue needed to be addressed by now (He's what, 15-16?) Better yet, he then proceeds to attack with another Shinso power before Ichigo can reply.
    • Upon realizing that Rukia has made peace with the fact that she was going to be executed, Gin cruelly shattered her resolve with words, telling her he would save her before revealing that he was "just kidding", giving her the faintest glimmer of hope before snatching it away. The poor girl is reduced to a screaming wreck, and with good reason.
  • Kenpachi Zaraki also gives one to Ichinose after Ichinose told Zaraki all that he wished to accomplish. It doesn't impress Kenpachi one bit and attacks back with the fact that he's had those goals put into his mind by his new master, Kariya, and by disobeying his orders by fighting Kenpachi instead of stopping Ichigo and the others Ichinose has never really cared about Kariya's ambition's and all he ever really wanted was revenge against Kenpachi for killing his captain.
  • In the final arc, As Nodt delivers one to Byakuya while under the effects of his power, The Fear. It causes Byakuya to rush forward with no thought, but it sadly gets him beaten to a coma.
• In Blue Reflection Ray, Uta causes Princess Yuki's Fragment and emotions to go out of control simply by texting her that Yuki's attempts at counseling others online was nothing but regurgitating advice she looked up on the internet, that she didn't actually understand the feelings she received, and that any connections she made were fake.
• A Certain Magical Index:
  • Touma dishes these out like candy to every Arc Villain, telling them exactly how their motives for their actions are complete bullshit and how he's gonna shatter those illusions with his bare hands. He also gives them to his allies too, in order to get them out of personal Heroic BSODs.
  • Kuroko delivers an one to Awaki during their battle in Volume 8 (Season 2 of the anime). It basically amounts to a "The Reason You Suck" Speech that utterly breaks Awaki: She suffers a huge Villainous Breakdown... and loses control of her teleporter powers, nearly collapsing the entire building on Kuroko while she escapes.
• Chainsaw Man: Katana Man tries to psych out Denji by pointing out his lack of emotional reaction to killing zombies, pointing out how even he, the supposed bad guy, sometimes feels guilt when he does so as well. While Denji is momentarily able to give out a quick Shut Up, Hannibal! and shrug the accusations off, he later admits to Makima that he is genuinely bothered by his possible Lack of Empathy.
• This seems to be a popular tactic among demons in general in Chrono Crusade, but particularly with the Big Bad, Aion. Two notable examples are in the manga, when two demons corner Chrono in a dark warehouse and proceed to rattle off a list of his crimes, and in the anime with Aion's first appearance, where he lectures everyone as a supernatural fog rolls in.
• In Code Geass, Mao uses a Breaking Speech and his Geass-induced psychic powers to perform More than Mind Control on Shirley Fenette. She's so badly damaged that Lelouch must erase himself from her memories via Geass.
  • Mao tries this again to avoid arrest by Suzaku a couple episodes later, violating his sanity by reading his mind and taunting him with such knowledge. With Shirley's More than Mind Control and Nunnally's hostage situation still fresh in his mind and Mao's visor knocked off by Suzaku prior to the Mind Rape, Lelouch had a clear shot to Geass Mao into a Fate Worse than Death.
    Mao: So that's how you justify it in retrospect? You're nothing but a spoiled brat!
    Lelouch: Mao! (activates Geass)
    Mao: SHIT!
    Lelouch: NEVER SPEAK AGAIN!
• The Dangers in My Heart: In a Volume 6 bonus chapter from when the two were in 4th grade, Ichikawa saw Moeko crying in the school halls after a boy she liked rather rudely denied liking her (Called her a hag). A few moments after the boy was crying his little eyes out and went back to apologize to her after Ichikawa talked to him. Turns out Ichikawa sadistically told the kid he'd be charged for defaming Moeko and ruined financially from paying for it for life... Because Ichi personally hated his guts already and felt like taking a chance to torment him. Present!Moeko is actually disgusted. Yamada, on the other hand, has stars in her eyes.
  Yamada: What an amazing sense of justice... beyond amazing...
  Moeko: No, no, no....
• A favored tactic of the D-Reaper from Digimon Tamers; since it feeds off despair, it naturally tries to drive people to that point by bringing up their worst fears and memories. It delivers various cruel and mocking speeches to Takato (reminding him how he always seems to screw up and telling him he could never save anyone), Beelzemon (reciting a list of his crimes to him in the voices of his victims), Jeri’s father (telling him what an awful father he was and how his daughter’s state is his fault), and poor Jeri herself (saying that Leomon’s death was her fault, that nobody would miss her if she died, and forcing her to relive her worst memories over and over).
• Dragon Ball Z:
  • Goku's fight with Frieza after becoming a Super Saiyan is half Roaring Rampage of Revenge and half this, surprisingly enough. He trash-talks Frieza during the whole battle, mocking his strength all the while, something that is definitely not usual for him at all. And the final blow which he intended to end the battle with is a deliberate, armor-piercing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to utterly obliterate Frieza's pride. Even when compared to all the physical punishment he receives during the fight, for Frieza that speech is probably the absolute worst part of the Humiliation Conga. And that's exactly what Goku is going for, since he understands that destroying Frieza's ego is a more fitting punishment than just killing him.
    Goku: You've been coming at me with everything you've got, but it's finally caught up with you, and your power level is falling fast. The fact is, I don't see the point in fighting you anymore. Your pride is already shot, and in the end, I guess that's good enough for me. You were so sure of your own power that you never imagined anyone in the universe could bring you down... especially a Saiyan. Heh. Now you know what failure feels like. See, I don't need to keep fighting you because I've already won. So go crawl off someplace and hide; I don't really care.
  • After running circles around Future Trunks, Cell tells him why he can't win no matter how much he powers up. Cell tells Trunks that all he's been doing is pumping himself up and he can do that too, which he does to prove his point. He then tells Trunks the Fatal Flaw in the Ultra Super Saiyan form. Although very powerful, Ultra Super Saiyan lacks speed, making it impossible to hit someone like Cell who is both fast and strong. To twist the knife even further, Cell informs him that Vegeta figured that out on his own, which is why he didn't use the form. Hearing this, Trunks undergoes a Heroic BSoD and tells Cell to just kill him and be done with it.
  • Super Buu gives one to Gohan in the dub using the knowledge of Piccolo to break him down emotionally. If it weren't for Goku's intervention, he would been killed after that verbal assault.
• Durarara!!: Izaya delivers one to Kida in the third arc.
  • And at the beginning of the series, he gave another one to Rio Kamichika, almost driving her to commit suicide.
  • And in the third season, he tried to do it to Anri, but Erika stopped him.
• Done in Fairy Tail when Erza fights her Edolas counterpart, Erza Knightwalker. In the final bout of their fight. Knightwalker argues how all their actions have been for the sake of keeping magic in their world in order to save it (though said magic come from the living beings from Erza's world). Erza counters that the two are still fighting long after their magic power had run out and that losing magic won't be the end of their world and they can still survive. This gets through to Knightwalker who then admits defeat.
• Fist of the North Star is a inversion where Fudoh delivers one to Raoh so crushing that it destroys his confidence for the rest of the series. Blame Raoh for explicitly telling Fudoh beforehand that he was using Fudoh a tune-up fight so that Raoh could work the fear out of his system, vaccination-style. Like Fudoh wasn't going to take advantage of that overconfidence?
• Akito's modus operandi in Fruits Basket. Sure, he punctuates it with physical abuse every now and then, but he breaks most of the Zodiacs simply by telling them the exact things that they don't want to hear.
• Fullmetal Alchemist has quite a lot of these, actually.
  • #66, Barry The Chopper, makes 14-year-old Alphonse Elric question his own existence with one of these by telling him that Ed might have faked Al's memories and that Alphonse Elric NEVER existed. It's only after Winry hits Al with a wrench and points out that no one would sacrifice an arm for a fake brother that Al figures out that he's the real Al.
    • This changes somewhat in the 2003 anime version; here, it takes Alphonse an episode which involves a pep talk from Scar and Ed telling what him what he really meant to say to him to snap him out of it.
  • Then we've got Envy, a big fan of humilating with words. Roy eventually burns his tongue off.
  • After burning Envy back to his parasitic form, Mustang nearly goes in for the final kill to avenge his fallen comrade Hughes, that is, until Ed and Riza both interfere, and along with Scar, talk him out of it, claiming it would make him like Envy. Envy proceeds to goad at the four for not killing each other in retribution for something they did (Ed not killing Scar for killing the parents of Winry or the Mercy Kill of Nina, Scar not killing Mustang over the Ishvalan massacre). It completely backfires when they prove they won't turn on each other, and Envy succumbs to the shame of losing to humans, who he saw himself superior to, and kills himself.
  • Solf J. Kimblee is a very smart psychopath with a flair for messing with people's heads and an apparent gift for considering himself the rational one in any given collision of philosophies. He delivers a Breaking Speech with a rare positive benefit (an inversion?) during the Ishvalan genocide when Roy and Riza were telling themselves that they really didn't have any choice but to take part in war crimes. Kimblee utterly shreds those ideas apart ("When you shoot a man, do you not feel even the slightest bit of pride for a job well done?"), forcing them to take responsibility and realize that they're not so different. The end result is Roy and Riza plotting to take down the military government to prevent such a genocide from ever happening again.
    Kimblee: Don't avert your eyes from death. Look forward. Look the people you're killing in the face and don't forget them. Don't forget. Don't forget. They won't forget you either.
    Kimblee: (later on while fighting Alphonse, he questions why Alphonse doesn't simply use the Philosopher's Stone to get his original body back, and following Al's response?) I see. So if you can discover an exception to the rule, you can effectively rewrite the laws of nature as we understand them. Is that how it's supposed to go? Because there is another possibility you know... you don't get your bodies back and you don't save everyone. That could certainly happen.
  • Pride later gives Edward one during their brief fight. It didn't end well for Pride.
  • Father deals a rather vicious one in the Recap Episode of Brotherhood, which has a healthy dose of Mind Screw.
  • When Ed confronts Shou Tucker on how the latter could use his own wife and daughter for his chimera experiments, Tucker claims it was for the same reasons that Ed and Al dabbled in human transmutation to resurrect their mother. As the human transmutation incident is a particular sore point with Ed, things turn out quite badly for Tucker.
  • In the 2003 anime, episode #49, Dante attempts this on Edward by stating that the law of equivalancy is 'a lie meant to comfort the oppressed and make children do their lessons'. She seems very determined to prove her point , even going so far as threatening to kill a helpless infant to demonstrate to him that even the most strenuous efforts (in this case, the infant crying for help) can get you nothing in return.
    • The truly impressive thing about this is that Dante takes the idea of Equivalent Exchange and deconstructs it, revealing that while impressive and accurate in theory, the law of Equivalent Exchange is very flawed, especially when one attempts to apply it outside of Alchemy. While someone may put in everything they've got to achieve something, what they receive will not always be of equal value to what has been given. Ed rejects this view instead of letting it get to him.
• Guy delivers an epic one to Palparepa in GaoGaiGar FINAL. All while delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
  Guy: The reason you tried to seal off GGG... the reason you couldn't come close to the G-Crystal... the reason you isolated GaoFighGar... the reason why you didn't come to directly attack our Earth... it's all because you feared us! The G-Stone's power can only grow and surpass the power of the Loud G-Stone! This is the energy BORN FROM COURAGE!
  Palparepa: WHAT HAS A GOD TO FEAR?!
• Gundam:
  • In an inversion, it's Amuro Rei giving one to Char during the events of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, waxing on about how philosophers and idealists with plans to change the world become disillusioned when things don't change as quickly as they'd like them to. It, along with the fight that followed it were meant to be the final nails in the rivalry between the two by showing Amuro had surpassed Char in every way.
  • In Episode 37 of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Flay Alister manages to get a gun on Big Bad Rau Le Creuset. Instead of disarming her, he proceeds to deliver a downright vicious Breaking Lecture that destroys her will to fight. To wit:
  Rau: If you shoot me right here, you will die within moments. The soldiers will shoot you. If that doesn't suit you, your only other option would be to point that gun at yourself and pull the trigger. The gun is loaded, I presume. On the battlefield, life is cheap; it's lost in an instant. But still, people fight for their country; for justice. However, none of that suits you. You may be wearing a military uniform, but you're no soldier. Am I wrong?
  • And then the Stockholm Syndrome kicks in, and Flay starts thinking of Rau like a father, even though by that point she's still a Coordinator-hater who can't forgive them for killing the father that Rau is a sort-of stand-in for in her mind. This is because, by that point. the girl is stuck in a hostile environment, surrounded by enemies, and it is only Rau's protection that is keeping her alive. And it's not helped by how his voice is VERY similar to her dad's.
    • He attempts this twice with Kira in the final, the first time Rau deconstructs Kira in every way, painting him as a mistake who's very existence is nothing but a blight on mankind, him being the 'ultimate' coordinator. As Rau continues to convince Kira that nobody understands or accepts him, Kira's concentration slips further and further, allowing Rau to press forward and slowly destroy his METEOR support unit. After killing Flay though, she comes to him in a sort of vision to comfort him and dismiss his doubts, renewing his resolve. After Kira is able to reengage him, Rau attempts to rant at Kira again about how humans all suck and are going to kill themselves it one way or another; and Kira is evil and his friends are all evil and Rau's plan to genocide the human race is exactly what everyone wants...to which Kira responds with variations of "No" "Shut up" or "You're wrong." He fails to actually counter any of Rau's points let alone get him to change his opinion, but Kira continues to tear Rau's Gundam apart piece by piece without hesitating for a second while Rau tries in vain to convince him he should just give up, let Rau kill him, and let everyone die.
    • Rey tries this on Kira in Destiny, but Kira promptly turns in on him by telling Rey that he's not doomed to be Rau simply because he's a clone, and that he is his own person, which kills Rey's will to fight and belief that Durandal's way is the only way. Athrun's "You're killing the future" speech to Shinn doesn't exactly work out as he's intended as it simply makes Shinn totally lose it and go frothing mad, trying to kill Athrun and trying to cut down Luna when she (seeing Shinn's losing himself to anger breaking her heart) tried to calm him down. However it still allows Athrun to win because Shinn is so angry he can no longer fight properly, focused so hard on killing Athrun he leaves himself totally open.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, after having his Gundam temporarily knocked out by an enemy ace, Shiro rips off its damaged arm and attempts to beat said ace's mobile suit with it while shouting over an open comm channel at him. When he mentions his feelings for Aina, the ace is surprised long enough that Shiro manages to bash him in the face and damage his suit's sensors.
  • Chang Wufei delivers a long attempt in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, trying to convince Heero that their attempts to bring peace by discarding weapons and soldiers were pointless, as war is simply an ingrained part of human nature. Heero's response is Contemplate Our Navels ("How many more people must we kill? How many more times must I kill that girl and her dog?"). In the end, Heero got through to Wufei because his speech made Wufei realize that starting another war will only lead to more tragedies, like the destruction of his own home colony.
• What drove Yukime to go Murder the Hypotenuse on Ritsuko in Hell Teacher Nube, something that she'd never ever think of doing in normal circumstances, was being at the receiving end of a very nasty one from her father's lackey in whuich he constantly questioned the very core of her existence and reasons to live.
• In The iDOLM@STER 2: The World Is All One!!, Hibiki is subject to this after a 961 Pro employed show manager goes on a tirade about how she has ruined the TV program by not alerting her fellow idol unit members that they were supposed to come with her. Unaware that she was tricked into coming alone, Hibiki can only stammer excuses and apologies until she begins crying. Thankfully her Producer arrives and promptly turns the tables on the lying executive.
• In Inuyasha, Naraku deals more than one of these to the heroes, and so does local Creepy Child Akago aka Naraku's "heart". In fact, Akago is infamous doing this to Kagome and almost making her pull a Face–Heel Turn by manipulating her insecurity about Inuyasha and Kikyou. Too bad they verbally slap him back.
• A particularly enlightening example in Is This A Zombie?, Ayamu is facing off with the King of the Night and we get this:
  King of the Night: You only just met her. What could you possibly understand?
  Ayamu: That's right. That's why you piss me off. You've known her for a lot longer, but you refuse to understand her! (Proceeds to beat the everliving crap out of the King of the Night at 800%)
  Ayamu: Have you ever seen her adorable smile?!
  King of the Night: Her smile?
  Ayamu: Do you know how she smiles when she's having fun? Do you know Yuu's favourite food? Do you know how Yuu feels every day of her life? She didn't ask to be born a necromancer. All she can do is live life to the fullest. I won't let someone who's given up on life say he understands her!
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Stardust Crusaders: As is befitting of a pro gambler, D'Arby's battle with his opponents includes psyching them out. In fact, this is how his Stand works, he only gets their soul when they realize, in their heart, that they've been beaten. Ironically, that's how he loses to Jotaro, as Jotaro bluffs about his cards and breaks him with psychological warfare.
  • Stone Ocean: After Sports Maxx recognizes Ermes, he tries to torment her by claiming that her sister Gloria died by her own actions. Except, since he had already became an inaudible zombie, his words didn't have any effect.
  • Steel Ball Run: Funny Valentine attempts bargaining with Johnny, as well as giving Johnny a Breaking Speech about Valentine's morality and why he has to be the owner of the Holy Corpse for his own benefit.
  • JoJolion: Yoshikage Kira talks Ojiro Sasame into biting his fingertips clean off to prove himself a man, as well as to punish him for using his Stand to hurt innocent women.
• Betsy Beltoise of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is very skilled at this. She's even known as Betsy the Wound-Licking Dagger and it's said that she will one day kill someone with her tongue. She tries doing it to Shirogane but it fails because he doesn't speak French. Then Kaguya gives her one in retaliation that leaves her a gibbering mess.
• Kyuutarou Ooba from Kemonozume uses a Breaking Lecture as a last gambit after being decapitated, dismembered and finally eaten alive, flying the protagonist into the freezing depths of outer space while scolding him on believing that there's any goodness in humanity. The protagonist replies with his last ounce of consciousness by screaming a denial and ripping off Ooba's wings, sending them both plummeting back down to earth.
• The Legend of Zelda (Akira Himekawa): In the adaptation of Phantom Hourglass, when Linebeck confronts the Cubus Sister, she drives him into a mental breakdown by bringing up how the crewmates he abandoned were turned into undead monsters.
• Life is Money: The entire point of the Deadly Game that the manga revolves around, where enough emotional distress will kill the participants in what is called a mental over. Since physical violence is prohibited, the best way to eliminate the other players is to confront them with their psychological trauma by talking. Several characters are killed this way:
  • Ishimakura is killed by being mercilessly and profanely taunted about his weight. Most of the other characters join in a chorus of telling him to die, which reminds him of his childhood experiences with bullying.
  • Niko is killed by Meguru when he deconstructs Niko's religious worldview and taunts him for not truly having the will to live. Niko desperately tries to leave the locked room that Kukuri locked him in as Meguru reminds Niko of his chronic health issues and impending death, which disturbs him to the point where he triggers a mental over.
  • Kukuri kills Aiyori by facing him in a mental battle where they each exchange words trying to expose the other's psychological vulnerability until one of them dies. The exact details of what Kukuri says to Aiyori are glossed over, but it emotionally distressed him enough to cause a mental over.
• Yuuta in the anime adaptation of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! gives one to Sanae at the end of episode 11 after she berates him for not supporting Rikka's delusions, forcing her to admit that for all her delusions, she's never been able to fight a monster or summon a weapon, and that delusions like that are pointless in the long run.
• Fate, The Woobie of Lyrical Nanoha, is talked into a small coma by her mother, Precia Testarossa. She breaks so badly it renders her literally catatonic for a brief period, and for good reason; her mother had just admitted that she despised her since the day she was born (this was after Fate had spent the entire season blindly trying to earn her affection).
  • She also received one of these from Jail Scaglietti of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, who mentioned how her adopting children that became Child Soldiers that love her made her no different from Jail himself or from her Evil Matriarch of a mother. Thankfully, her children snapped her out of it by declaring how they're the ones who chose their path and that all Fate did was raise them to be strong-willed enough to do so. Fate proceeds to kick ass all over Jail and his Numbers. To the tune of Nana Mizuki's "Pray," no less.
  • Kyrie gets one at the end of Reflection from Iris, who calls her a foolish crybaby that can't do anything on her own while mocking her naive worldview. It's especially effective since Iris had pretended to be her best friend and confidant for ten years, giving her intimate knowledge of all of her insecurities.
• In Medaka Box, this is one of Misogi Kumagawa's talents. As the self-proclaimed weakest human being in existence, he knows everything there is to know about weaknesses, physical and emotional, and can pick out people's vulnerabilities just by looking at them. To wit, when hundreds of visiting students gather to try out for training as the current student council's successors, he thins the crowd... by greeting them in the worst way, upon which 600 hearts immediately shatter.
  Misogi:「Ahem, good morning to all the minor characters!」
• Metroid (Manga): Chapter 8: "Scar". Samus is already in the middle of a Freak Out due to the events of the last chapter where she suffered a massive personal betrayal, and Mother Brain convinced her that the Chozo never loved her and thought of her only as a "bioweapon".
• In Monster, this is one of Johan Liebert's specialties. He actually drives people to suicide with it.
• Naruto:
  • During the chuunin exams, Neji gives one to Hinata before their sparring match, telling her that she's futilely fighting against fate. When she starts to break down, Naruto's cheering snaps her out of it. Unfortunately, in the ensuing fight he delivers a beatdown that nearly kills her. Verbally, however, Hinata still gets the last word in when she points out that he's the one hopelessly fighting fate and not her.
  • Naruto received one from Kabuto back in Part I too. Naruto's response was to drive a Rasengan into his stomach.
  • Pain gets in on this and uses it on Naruto. It doesn't convince Naruto to give up, but instead he decides to try and prevent the conditions which causes someone like Pain to exist. Before that Pain gave one to Tsunade about the big villages not caring if they hurt the smaller ones. She's not convinced and claims that even the big villages suffer. Not to be outdone, Pain's response was to crush the village.
  • Naruto also receives one of these from Yami Naruto in chapter 493. We don't see the end of it, but it's enough, combined with an inability to defeat his opponent in combat, to make Naruto start to seriously doubt his own morality. Naruto seems really vulnerable to these, doesn't he? This particular lecture verges on Mind Rape because Yami Naruto was a manifestation of all of Naruto's personal insecurities. He'd never had an answer for these doubts before but had ignored them; Yami forced Naruto to face them.
  • The Kyuubi attempted this a few times with Naruto in Shippuden, but each time was interrupted by, in order of appearance, Sasuke, Minato, and finally by Naruto himself, who shut it up accordingly.
  • Obito keeps bringing up Kakashi's greatest regrets, such as his obsession with the Memorial Stone. This is before we find out Tobi is Obito. Later Obito brings up Kakashi's broken promise with the intent to make Kakashi lose the will to fight him, since without Kakashi they have no chance of winning... and it works. Kakashi freezes, moments away from a complete breakdown, without Gai to snap him out of it like last time.
  • In a flashback, Madara tells Obito, after saving him, that the world sucks and he can't go back to being a ninja in his condition, with the intent of getting him to help complete the Moon's Eye Plan. It doesn't work at first, but after witnessing Rin's death Obito remembers Madara Uchiha's words and decides he was right. Ironically enough, later on Obito (posing as Madara) gives the same speech to Nagato.
  • Tobi gives another one to Naruto himself after Neji and many others die from his Wood Release Technique. He says Naruto can't protect his comrades, and with so many close to him dead and the others bound to follow, he should join them and abandon reality. It almost works until Hinata and Kurama restore Naruto's resolve.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • An interesting variation at the end of the Kyoto Arc, when the arc's Dirty Coward antagonist gets chased down by Chachazero, who delivers such a frightening Breaking Speech that the antagonist faints from fear.
  • Later, Depraved Bisexual Psycho Supporter Tsukuyomi gives one of these to The Dragon Fate, to convince him he's got romantic feelings for The Hero Negi. The scariest part is that it actually kinda works.
  • Some of Evangeline lectures wander into this territory. Notable example being when Negi ask her if Chao is wrong and should be stopped, and Eva delicately explaining moral relativism to him.
• One Piece:
  • Arlong loves this. He does many times to Nami in Arlong Arc. Firstly Arlong says that Nami can betray anyone even her parents in front of her (Mind you, he did it). Arlong later threatens Nami that he can kill everyone in her village if she escapes. Even in battle, he gives one to show her how pointless it is to fight him. Nami's reaction proves that Arlong's speech is really useful.
  • Crocodile delivers a scathing one to Vivi, while choking the life out of her over a balcony, just to twist the knife in in with another failed attempt to stop the war, and the revelation of a bomb large enough to destroy the town center, before he decides to kill her.
  • Spandam is not a physical threat, but he is skilled at doing this. While his speeches to Franky only make his victim very aggressive, his harsh rhetoric does have an effect on Robin, making her panic and cry at different points. He only fails to completely break her because the Straw Hats influence her the exact opposite way, doing everything to give her the will to live.
• As of the end of Retrace LXXIV in PandoraHearts, it seems that Jack has largely succeeded in breaking Oz by telling him that everything he's worked for and all of the relationships he's formed with the people he loves are fake and meaningless and that he's "never really had anything to call [his] own anyway." Couple that with Oz's past identity crisis and, directly after, have him get shot by his loyal servant and best friend, and you've got a seriously broken person.
• Persona 4: The Animation has quite a few of these. The Shadows do this to their hosts, but Shadow Mitsuo gives one to Yu inside the Lotus-Eater Machine:
  Shadow Mitsuo: "You have no bonds. Friendship is an illusion. You are empty."
• In Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, Nanu uses this as a tactic when battling Ash, using taunts and insults to bait Ash into making strategic mistakes and letting his emotions get in the way of the battle. He eventually learns that his opponents can just say whatever they want regardless of whether it's true or if they even actually believe it, and it's up to you whether to take their insults to heart or not.
• Kyubey in Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an expert at this, even if he doesn't look it. It's pretty much his modus operandi for hastening the process by which a Magical Girl becomes a Witch, or "encouraging" a reluctant contractee to make a deal with him. Since he's had several thousand years to practice, he's good enough at it to get the desired result most of the time. He does this twice with Sayaka, first when he brutally reminds her that she is extremely weak for a Magical Girl and then in combination with Cold-Blooded Torture to drive home the loss of her humanity, once with Homura, when he reveals to her that she has essentially doomed Madoka to unimaginable misery through overuse of time travel, and so many times to the protagonist that the viewer starts to lose count after he calls her insane for (inadvertently) throwing her friend's soul off of a bridge. Most notable is the one example that backfires, though, when he reveals too much information to Madoka at one time in an attempt to make her desperate enough to contract with him. Using that information, she is able to make a wish that actually undoes most of the damage that he's caused without harming humanity or endangering the Universe.
• Ramen Fighter Miki: Megumi, who is The Rival to Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up Idiot Hero Miki. In a normal Fighting Series, Megumi would be a Classic Villain with an Evil Laugh… but here, Megumi is just another Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up Womanchild who gives "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the very flawed Miki with an annoying Noblewoman's Laugh.
• Rebuild World: When the MegaCorp executive appointed due to Nepotism Chloe Lawrence mentions the possibility of giving a MacGuffin to terrorists to the Sakashita Heavy Industries CEO Sugadome, he responds with a breaking speech, making her retract the threat, and Faint in Shock needing to be carried out by her servants (though to be fair, any kind of setback gets that reaction from Chloe.
• Anti-Hero Saito Hajime from Rurouni Kenshin can do this to any villain in sight, (or anyone who just rubs him the wrong way) and he barely has to pause his beatdowns to give his lectures. Watsuki, (the mangaka who created Kenshin), bemoaned the fact that evil characters he created with the intention of being Terminator-like and tough fights for Saito were inevitably broken down into pieces and looked like weaklings after they actually fought Saito.
  • The granddaddy of Saito's lectures comes against Usui, where he delivers no less than three during their Duel to the Death. The final one is given with a dying Usui is pinned to the wall by Satio's sword and Saito proceeds to give him a classic "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
  • Right before Sano goes to Kyoto, they fight. Again, Saito wins but at the very end of the fight, after Saito call him a chick, he gets something like this:
    "I may be a chick right now, but I bet you and Kenshin were not that strong in the beginning."
  • Kenshin is not above doing this as well. In the manga, Kenshin's lecture to Raijuta about his misguided ideals of swordsmanship destroyed him far more than any of his attacks did. He even tells Sano that any further physical pain would be useless at this point.
    "His confidence is gone. He'll never recover as swordsman."
  • Kenshin does this to Sojiro as a way of neutralizing his superior speed. Although to be fair, most of the talking is on Sojiro's side, who cannot reconcile Kenshin's philosophy of non-killing with his own experience under Shishio's of the strong feeding on the weak.
    Yumi: Sojiro has ... broken.
• Gowther from The Seven Deadly Sins defeats his enemies by screwing with their minds, usually with his memory-altering powers. In a fight with Slader, however, he simply asks him if he actually, personally heard the King say that Seven Deadly Sins are traitors or give any of the orders that Slader's been following since the King become ill. Realizing that he might have been fooled devastates Slader, making him forget about their battle and run off to check on the King.
  Slader: I've never been humiliated like this...
  Gowther: There is a first time for everyone.
• In Slayers NEXT, Gaav questions Amelia when she attempts to attack him. Amelia stops for some seconds, confused by his words, so Gaav attacks her instead and Zelgadis is badly injured when he performs a Diving Save and shields Amelia with his own body.
• In Chapter 74 of Soul Eater the Envy Chapter of the Book of Eibon delivers a harsh one to Maka. It's enough to reduce her to tears.
• In Talentless Nana, Nana pulls this on Yuuka by pointing out all the inconsistencies in her alleged "date" with Shinji. She correctly deduces the horrible truth that Yuuka started the fire that killed Shinji and reanimated him as a corpse in a fit of murderous jealousy. Yuuka is so broken by having her actions found out that Nana easily kills her and Shinji both.
• Tokyo Ghoul: Eto specializes in this, though it's only displayed twice. The first time is when they fight Shiro and Kuro, and point out that nothing they do will bring their family back, as well as asking them what it's like for former humans to eat humans. The second time is in the sequel, when they utterly break Kanae through a mixture of pointing out the things about his "loyalty" to Shuu that he didn't want to acknowledge, and simple cold-blooded torture.
  • Downplayed when Eto talks to Souta Furuta Washuu; the two of them exchange jabs and cryptic threats, before, as he leaves, she casually asks him what it's like to not be able to acknowledge his father. Souta totally drops his usual Clown persona and slams into the glass separating them, repeating the word "Die" several times, and is later shown outside mumbling to himself, though he hurriedly puts his usual attitude back on when someone walks by. This is one of the only things anyone's said that might've gotten to him at any point in the series.
• Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs: Doing these is a favored tactic of the Jerk with a Heart of Gold protagonist Leon, usually as part of Break the Haughty. Him doing this to an entire crowd of nobles, has the accidental side effect of earning him the affections of the masochistic Deirdre.
• In X/1999, at least the manga, Satsuki Yatoji breaks Yuzuriha Nekoi into nigh-catatonia by explaining why she thinks killing people is alright. She then proceeds to put theory into practice and it takes a Heroic Sacrifice by Inuki to save Yuzuriha.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Tron combined this with a "Not So Different" Remark theme, trying to convince Yuma that he was actually working towards the same goal he was — trying to gain revenge on Dr. Faker — claiming his father had sent Astral to Earth in order to destroy it. (Whether Tron truly believed this claim is unclear, but what would make this so horrible, if true, is that it would suggest that Kazuma Tsukumo was just as sadistic as Tron was, which is pretty sadistic). The amazing thing is, that while Yuma refused to believe this, Astral was nearly convinced for a minute or two. (It wasn't the first time he had doubted the benign intentions of his purpose, seeing as he had amnesia.)
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Towards the end of Aoi's and Spectre's duel in Episode #34, Spectre made Aoi believe that she was about to win and was about to save him. However, it was only a façade as Spectre's Sunbloom Doom made him nowhere near losing. He even mocked her, calling her "a worthless woman who will never become a Blue Angel" and claiming he was the Blue Angel who killed Aoi. He then tore up the copy of the ''Blue Angel'' book he materialized and burned the shreds. The story meant the world to Aoi and gave her comfort after her parents died about ten years before the start of the series. To see it be so carelessly destroyed, in addition to her being so cruelly manipulated and mocked just moments ago, destroyed her. Seeing as the Tower of Hanoi would absorb those who lose duels in Link VRAINS and leave their real bodies in a comatose state with no hope of waking up, Spectre essentially tortured her mentally before Player Killing her in cold blood.
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh!: Capsule Monsters, Alexander the Great gives a speech to Yami over their different approaches in regards to allies. He tries to persuade Yami that sacrificing his friends is what he needs to be powerful enough to put up a fight. They essentially tell Yugi that he's right.

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