History Main / AlasPoorYorick

* In 2022 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}, Russian nationalist and [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Mangushev Igor Mangushev]] was infamously filmed putting on a show with a skull, {{dehumaniz|ation}}ing Ukrainians and calling for genocide on them. The skull allegedly was that of a dead Ukrainian defender of Azovstal in Mariupol, and he pondered making it a [[SkullCups goblet]]. Mangushev died of a bullet to the back of the head later in February 2023, he was likely executed by fellow Russians out of an internal feud.

* ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'' featured a reference in the episode "April Fools", where Three's persona of the day is a William Shakespeare pastiche named William Three and he at one point holds Seven's detachable head in a manner reminiscent of Hamlet holding Yorick's skull.

** The cover of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #346. Venom, holding up a skull covered with shreds of fabric in a familiar pattern.

* Played with in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'', when the protagonists spend the night in a Parisian crypt full of bones and Yorick just ''has'' to pick up one of the skulls. Also is HypocriticalHumor (or possibly a LampshadeHanging on Yorick's part) since earlier when one of the Daughters of the Amazon was about to kill him, she quoted the line and he mocked her for being unoriginal. Additionally, the cover to an earlier issue displays Yorick's pet monkey, Ampersand, dressed in Shakespearean attire while holding a skull -- a clear allusion to Hamlet.
* For a while ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} wound up carrying around the zombiefied head of himself from another dimension, though being Deadpool it could talk and make wisecracks.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** The cover of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #346. Venom, holding up a skull covered with shreds of fabric in a familiar pattern.

** In ''Web of Spider-Man Annual'' #1, Spidey holds the head of a robot he just defeated, purportedly because he's impressed with the advanced technology and design.
* [[RetiredMonster The Owl]] does this to a statue wearing Daredevil's mask in ''ComicBook/DaredevilEndOfDays'', and let's say it's not as heartfelt as otherwise expected of this trope.

* In Creator/JamesMichener's ''Hawaii'', Kelolo takes the skull of his beloved late wife, cleans it of all the flesh, and keeps it. He talks to her in the evenings.

* Parodied in the bizarre "Agnus Redux" cutscene from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', where Agnus is doing a monologue to a human skull for no apparent reason other than trying to [[HamToHamCombat theatrically one-up]] Dante in the opera house.

* Parodied in a bizarre scene from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', where Agnus is doing a monologue to a human skull for no apparent reason. He's trying to [[HamToHamCombat theatrically one-up]] Dante.

* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'': "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him... [[CatchPhrase in America!]]"

* In the ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode "Top Billing", Jon Lovitz kills his rival for what he thinks is the role of Hamlet in an off production of the play. It turns out he was "up" for the part of [[spoiler:Yorick]] instead. It turns out [[spoiler:the "playhouse" is actually an insane asylum where the patients were putting on the play. The lead didn't like to kiss a plastic skull, and someone kept stealing the one that they had.]] Needless to say, [[spoiler:it doesn't end well for Lovitz's character.]]

* One of the defining panels of the lead-in to the final act of ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' is a sobbing Akira cradling Miki's severed head, after she along with her whole family are killed by a mob after Ryo reveals the existence of demons to the world.

* The live-action ''Film/DevilMan'' movie (like the source material) has the main character carry around his girlfriend's severed head for most of the climax.

* In ''Manga/RequiemOfTheRoseKing'' which is based off of ''Theatre/RichardIII'' and ''Theatre/HenryIV'' Richard kisses [[spoiler:his father's severed head]] on the lips.

* ''Manga/PandoraHearts'': Retrace LXXVIII, a flashback to the aftermath of the Tragedy of Sablier shows [[spoiler:Jack]], the sole survivor, holding [[spoiler:Oswald/Glen]]'s head close to his chest [[spoiler:despite the fact that he was the one to kill him]]. It speaks volumes about [[SanitySlippage the state of his mind]] [[LoveMakesYouCrazy at that time]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow!'' As a preview for punishment, The Devil turns Miss Chalice to dust and bone and takes her noggin, dryly saying “Alas Poor Chalice, I knew her well,” before apathetically dropping her head back on her remains and restoring her body and soul.

* ''Series/BlackAdder'' features this in the first episode when Edmund kills Richard III not knowing who he is and picks up his head, only to realize who he just beheaded.

* The title of Creator/DavidFosterWallace's [[DoorStopper infamous door-stopper]] ''Infinite Jest'' [[LiteraryAllusionTitle alludes to this speech]], [[JigsawPuzzlePlot although the exact reason why]] [[AnachronicOrder will probably elude first-time readers]]: [[BrownNote the "Entertainment"]] [[MacGuffin that everyone's searching for throughout the book]] is buried with its creator, James Incandenza, hidden inside his skull.

* In 2022 during the UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}, [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Wagner PMC contractor]] Igor Mangushev was infamously filmed putting on a show on a stage in occupied Mariupol, {{dehumaniz|ation}}ing Ukrainians and calling for genocide on them. While doing so, he played with the skull of (presumably) a dead Ukrainian defender of Mariupol and pondered making it a [[SkullCups goblet]]. Mangushev died of a bullet to the head later in February 2023, he was likely executed by fellow Russians out of an internal feud.

* In ''Film/AvatarTheWayofWater'', [[spoiler:a Recombinant Avatar clone of the late Miles Quaritch comes across the site of the original Quaritch's death from [[Film/{{Avatar}} the first film]]. The clone then briefly holds the original Quaritch's skull... and then crushes it.]]

* ''Film/IronMan1'' Trilogy:
** In ''Iron Man'', Obadiah Stane [[spoiler:(as Iron Monger)]] does this with Iron Man's separated helmet. [[spoiler:Then he crushes it]].

->''"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that."''

* In Creator/JamesAMichener's ''Hawaii'', Kelolo takes the skull of his late wife, cleans it of all the flesh, and keeps it. He talks to her in the evenings.

* In James Michener's ''Hawaii'', Kelolo takes the skull of his late wife, cleans it of all the flesh, and keeps it. He talks to her in the evenings.
-->''On the fourth day Kelolo opened the grave whose burning heat had baked away Malama’s flesh, and with a sharp knife he severed her head from her gigantic skeleton. Carefully scraping the skull to remove all desiccated fragments, he wrapped it in maile leaves, then in tapa and finally in a closely woven pandanus mat. For so long as he lived, this would be his perpetual treasure, and as he grew older, in the evenings he would unwrap his beloved’s head and talk with her. He would recall that before the Christians came she had loved tobacco. He would light his pipe and when the smoke was good, he would blow it into her mouth, knowing that she would appreciate his thoughtfulness.''

* In James Michener's ''Hawaii'', Kelolo takes the skull of his late wife, cleans it of all the flesh, and keeps it. He talks to her in the evenings.
-->''On the fourth day Kelolo opened the grave whose burning heat had baked away Malama’s flesh, and with a sharp knife he severed her head from her gigantic skeleton. Carefully scraping the skull to remove all desiccated fragments, he wrapped it in maile leaves, then in tapa and finally in a closely woven pandanus mat. For so long as he lived, this would be his perpetual treasure, and as he grew older, in the evenings he would unwrap his beloved’s head and talk with her. He would recall that before the Christians came she had loved tobacco. He would light his pipe and when the smoke was good, he would blow it into her mouth, knowing that she would appreciate his thoughtfulness.''

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has a variant once Caboose enters with a skull (from the ''Halo'' mode Oddball, see Video Games above) which he claims to be his friend's, and asks for help. Doc replies "Uh, I don't know what I can really do to help him, my first aid procedures aren't very effective after decomposition."

** Used often, especially in the original manga. First we have the young Fuuma picking up his mother Saya's head and licking the blood (which turns out to be {{Foreshadowing}} of his eventual FaceHeelTurn) and then his little sister Kotori, [[TheOphelia who's gone slightly nuts]] [[BreakTheCutie after being super broken]], carrying around Tokiko's head, and then Kamui holding Kotori's head after she is ''very'' graphically killed ''and'' dismembered afterwards. In the anime adaptation, [[{{Bowdlerise}} all three of these instances were removed]], presumably because it was too graphic for TV. The end of the [[KillEmAll ridiculously depressing]] movie also ended with Kamui holding Fuuma's head, and during a vision he winds up holding Kotori's after she gets torn apart.

* In the Rugrats episode, "When Wishes Come True", Tommy and the babies believe Angelica had turned into a statue after [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor making a wish for something bad to happen to her]] after she topples Tommy's block structure. They spend the episode trying to revert Angelica to her normal self and hiding the statue from the adults when they accidentally shatter it. Tommy holds the statue's severed head and laments.

** Creator/{{CLAMP}} probably got the idea from either Jonathan Joestar holding Dio Brando's detached head in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood'' (though that's not quite an example of this trope because Dio isn't actually dead at the time), or ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', where Akira holds Miki's head, since the situation is much closer to that in X: boy holding his beloved's head and all. That was one of the defining moments of the Devilman saga, by the way. CLAMP even did fanart of Satan holding Akira's head at one point, and they did doujinshi for both series before making it big on their own.