How much is realistic the "BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil" trope?

Just like the title says, how much is realistic this trope, as in "using torture to manipulate someone else" ?(doesn't have to be necessarily physical torture, can also be psychological). Is this just a case of Artistic License or there's a bit of truth there? Because in the description of the Trope's page, all of this is described as unrealistic for most of the part, yet in the Discredited Trope page I saw this, refering to the Brainwashing trope: "Realistic portrayals focus on More than Mind Control, torture and other forms of abuse, and the Dirty Social Tricks, as that is how actual brainwashing is accomplished." I'm not really sure, and I would like a better clarification on this. Hopefully I didn't do anything offensive here, considering the thematic that I brought out. If I did, let me know and I will fix the test.

Edited by Omega1065 on May 5th 2024 at 10:19:49 AM

Depends whether the idea is that being tortured, in and of itself, makes people evil, or if it's that torture can be used to break down people psychologically, making them more vulnerable to The Corruptor.

I'll point out that "brainwashing" and "turning evil" are not necessarily one and the same? Brainwashing typically means following orders, believing false memories, not being in full control of your actions, etc. Being Tortured Makes You Evil is about actual evil born from pain.

For our purposes, we don't classify real life under Morality tropes. Brainwashing may be realistic to a degree, but we cannot say that a Face–Heel Turn is.

Edited by WarJay77 on May 5th 2024 at 2:05:17 PM