Sadly, both "ultraviolence" and "tortugraphy" are trends I've long seen creeping into many genres and media. Of the latter, I think I first noticed its rising popularity in SF with Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer (1980) and various "anti-hero" protagonists by other authors. -- Bo Leuf
(correlates: Comments on YoursTruly, DarwinOnSkillfulBreeders, CosmicContext, ...)