Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"Do you want to know how I got these scars?"''|'''[[The Joker]]''', ''[[The Dark Knight]]''}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Ibiki has scars on his head that represent {{spoiler|the mental torture he underwent years back}}.

* In ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', {{spoiler|Izak}} gets a scar while {{spoiler|fighting against Kira}}. He could get it removed, but decides against it. He wants to keep it until he gets his revenge against Kira. In [[Gundam Seed Destiny]] he doesn't have it anymore, after giving up on his grudge.

* ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'': {{spoiler|Sensui}} is covered in scars to point out how utterly insane he is.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', [[The Joker]] subverts this since his different stories about how he got his physical "scars" (which are apparently supposed to be a metaphor for his [[Freudian Excuse|mental scars]]) contradict each other, [[Analogy Backfire|implying in turn that he's probably not being truthful about his mental scars either]]. Harvey Dent, however, plays this straight {{spoiler|because his face was burned in the same incident that killed his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes.}}

* In ''[[The Lion King]] 2'', Kovu gets a scar across his eye {{spoiler|from his [[Abusive Parents|abusive mother]] Zira, while she blames him for Nuka's death.}}

 

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In [[Warchild Series|Cagebird]], Yuri's cutting scars represent his change from willing participant to {{spoiler|unwilling victim of Falcone's pirates.}} The very act of cutting itself is used to symbolize times when Yuri's too stressed to even address his emotions in the narration.

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire|A Dance With Dragons]]'': {{spoiler|Theon}} is [[Cold-Blooded Torture|tortured]] physically, including everything from probable castration to [[Flaying Alive|flaying]]. The psychological effects include a complete loss of identity, possible insanity, and a [[Stockholm Syndrome|rather twisted relationship]] with his torturer.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* Sweets from ''[[Bones]]'' has scars on his back from his childhood abuse, which has also obviously scarred him internally as pointed out to Booth and Brennan by Gordon Gordon Wyatt.

** Also Booth himself, who has scars on the bones of his feet from torture in Iraq, and it's a representation of the emotional trauma he suffered during the experience.

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

 

 

* Hanako Ikezawa in ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'' has severe burn scars from a childhood tragedy and [[Shrinking Violet|crippling]] [[Fragile Flower|shyness]] as a result of them.

* Fenris in [[Dragon Age II]] has scars all over his body from the lyrium used to give him his phasing powers. They also represent his mental scars from years of slavery and abuse at the hands of Danarius, the Tevinter magister that Fenris managed to escape.