History Main / CollectorOfTheStrange

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' Tom Servo's underwear collection was first shown in TheMovie, but it also figured in the TV show from time to time. For example, in [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E10TheGiantSpiderInvasion the episode]] where an alien doppelganger tries to replace Tom, the others play SpotTheImposter by asking how many pairs of underpants he has in his collection...
-->'''Servo Doppelganger:''' Oh please. You would have to be a total pathetic loser of the lowest quality to have an underwear collection.\\
'''Servo:''' Heh-heh-heh... ''342 pairs of cotton boxers, no duplicates, 78 pairs of silk boxers, 702 pairs of high-cut briefs, 55 pairs of low-cut briefs, seven banana-warmers, one pair of "Home of the Whopper" briefs, one vintage pair of Joe Namath knitted slingshot briefs prototype!''\\
'''Doppelganger:''' (''[[TooSpicyForYogSothoth screeches and flees]]'')

* ''Film/MouseHunt'' features EccentricMillionaire Alexander Falko, who is the world’s most famous collector of items relating to the architect Charles Lyle [=LaRue=]. When Ernie and Lars Munst discover the fabled "Missing [=LaRue=]" (the last house the man designed before he was sent to an asylum for undisclosed reasons), Falko swiftly introduces himself to the brothers as he proudly boasts that he possesses [=LaRue=]'s books, is sure that [=LaRue=] would have liked his shoes, and wants to make the building Lars and Ernie have just found his forty-third [=LaRue=] house.

* ''WebOriginal/TheNingyo'': The man who summoned Christopher to him has a large collection of live cryptids.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In "Decemberween Short Shorts", Coach Z claims to collect "embarrassing physical problems" when Homestar suggests he avoid [[ElderlyAilmentRambling talking about them]].

* Katherine in ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 1 collects heads, as the server has a mod installed that lets all mobs drop their head when they die, including other players.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': The First Family seem to have a large number of weird things lying around their home, though home much of it is a collection, how much is there for safekeeping, and how much is there because Augustus and Julius want to tinker with it is not established.

* Website/NobodyHere: "[[https://nobodyhere.com/justme/gum.here Gum]]" shows us Jogchem's collection of used chewing gum that he took from strange women, as well as bits of info about what each one was like and how they reacted to him picking it up.

* ''Games'' magazine once did an article on people with odd collections such as nuts (the edible kind), Mack trucks, doorknobs, and maps of Transylvania.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9805958/20/Family-is-Everything Family is Everything]]'' Harry is still upset at Percy's accidental destruction of Harry's collection of 2,057 ice cream sticks, which he was building into a castle.

* ''WebOriginal/SeventeenThousandSevenHundredSeventySix'' devotes half a chapter to the exploits of a group of friends who made a game out of collecting footballs signed by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koy_Detmer Koy Detmer]]. To them, it's SeriousBusiness.
* Suzy Hanson of ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'', ''[[WebVideo/SteamTrain Steam Rolled]]'', and ''WebVideo/TableFlip'' fame has started a taxidermy collection.

* According to Silas Young, ACH is an avid collector of Japanese cartoons [=DVDs=]. This went so far as to be the catalyst of a feud between the two in Wrestling/RingOfHonor, where Young decided he was going to make ACH [[RatedMForManly act more like a man.]]

* WebAnimation/EtraChanSawIt: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwOcvJzbHVs Hiiragi]] collected his children's baby teeth and their (as well as his own) fingernails and kept them inside a drawer in the closet he used to scare Akane for doing the same to her cousins Tsutsuji and Kuroki.

[[folder:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]

* One issue of ''Agent X'', featured two rather strange people who collected famous people's ''underwear''.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}:'' Through his years of crime-fighting, Batman has amassed quite a large stash of villainous weapons and gadgets that he keeps on display in his Batcave. His older incarnation is not opposed to using some of this technology if the situation calls for it. Three of the most iconic objects are a giant Joker playing card, a giant penny, and a giant dinosaur. Originally, the penny came from a 1947 comic ''strip'' story about "The Penny Plunderer", and the dinosaur from a 1946 adventure in a "Dinosaur Island" theme park. More recent continuities (such as ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'') have changed up these origins, such as ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', where the giant penny comes from a failed attempt by Two-Face to kill Batman in "Almost Got Him".
** ''JLA Classified'' #1 establishes that Batman has a [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek]] in storage. [[NoodleIncident We don't know where he got it]], we don't know what he [[CrazyPrepared plans to use it for]], but he does have one.

* ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange:'' Doctor Strange himself does this. Generally, he has a pretty good idea of what everything is supposed to do.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern:'' Agent Orange, the Orange Lantern, is driven by the light of avarice to acquire other beings. He does so by killing and consuming them. His ring then replicates their personality and creates an orange energy construct in their image which serves Agent Orange. This is the Orange Lantern Corps; they aren't welcomed. They are owned.
* ''ComicBook/IronMan:'' Exploited in one of Creator/MattFraction's early issues. Tony Stark naturally knows several wealthy people who collect bits of Iron Man memorabilia, up to and including pieces of destroyed suits. When Tony discovers that someone has been buying up these pieces and using them to create one-shot disposable supervillains, he deliberately seeds the market with some choice bits—all of which have been tagged with a special tracking virus so he can find the mystery buyer.

* The [[PlanetLooters alien Horde]] in ''Strikeforce/Morituri'' combine this with BattleTrophy. Horde leaders prominently wear souvenirs from hunts, ranging from bottle caps and trinkets to human bones and scalps.

* Both the Four and members of ComicBook/{{Planetary}} maintain large collections of the world's secrets, including mementos from dead superheroes and alien artifacts. As Mr. Snow observes when visiting a parallel earth, "They killed an entire world so that they had somewhere to store their weapons."

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** In the Silver Age, the titular character's Fortress of Solitude seemed to exist mainly as a place to house ''his'' collection of geegaws, including statues of his friends and things related to them. A few of said friends managed somehow or another to see their wing of the Superman Museum of Stalkees and most of them were flattered rather than creeped out.
** ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} collects ''cities'' which he miniaturized.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' story "The Secret of the Unicorn", the pickpocket that's been plaguing the city turns out to be an eccentric old man who keeps a collection of the wallets he's stolen, without bothering to empty the contents.

* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'': Sakura collects animal entrails, stuffed animals with various mutilations.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' Tom Servo's underwear collection was first shown in TheMovie, but it also figured in the TV show from time to time. For example, in [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E10TheGiantSpiderInvasion the episode]] where an alien doppelganger tries to replace Tom, the others play SpotTheImposter by asking how many pairs of underpants he has in his collection...
-->'''Servo Doppelganger:''' Oh please. You would have to be a total pathetic loser of the lowest quality to have an underwear collection.\\
'''Servo:''' Heh-heh-heh... ''342 pairs of cotton boxers, no duplicates, 78 pairs of silk boxers, 702 pairs of high-cut briefs, 55 pairs of low-cut briefs, seven banana-warmers, one pair of "Home of the Whopper" briefs, one vintage pair of Joe Namath knitted slingshot briefs prototype!''\\
'''Doppelganger:''' (''[[TooSpicyForYogSothoth screeches and flees]]'')

People collect things they like: movies, stamps, [[KitschCollection hummel figurines]] of [[GlurgeAddict baby animals]], bottle caps, books and action figures. It's only natural for those individuals who have a specific hobby to develop a fascination with acquiring memorabilia that is directly related to their outlet of interest. Such a pattern of human behavior is quite normal and is relatively accepted in society.

May have a FriendInTheBlackMarket. A group of these might form an ArtifactCollectionAgency. For the superhero version, see SuperheroTrophyShelf. A more mundane version would be the TrophyRoom. RoomFullOfCrazy is this taken to its logical conclusion. See also SecretGovernmentWarehouse. A specific variant only wants things (and at times people) who are [[UniquenessValue unique]] and [[LastOfHisKind one of a kind]]. Compare CreepySouvenir, for when morbid items (often body parts) are acquired as trophies.

* ''Manga/TheMermaidPrincesssGuiltyMeal'': The mermaid Sango is in charge of studying humanity, and has collected all manner of memorabilia dumped from the surface world. She's kind of like [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ariel]], except it's a job instead of a hobby and she actually knows what everything is. Her stockpile of human money comes in handy when Ela wants a bite to eat, the princess helping herself in secret much to Sango's chagrin.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': The First Family seem to have a large amount of weird things lying around their home, though home much of it is a collection, how much is there for safekeeping, and how much is there because Augustus and Julius want to tinker with it is not established.

** In the Silver Age, the titular character's Fortress of Solitude seemed to exist mainly as a place to house ''his'' collection of geegaws, including statues of his friends and things related to them. A few of said friends managed somehow or another to see their wing of the Superman Museum of Stalkees, and most of them were flattered rather than creeped out.

* ''Fanfic/TheWorldIsFilledWithMonsters'': Luna. Her "office" in Everfree Castle is not so much an actual office as a massive, dimly lit warehouse filled to the brim with a collection of objects and artifacts that she collected over her long life -- works of art, musical instruments, armor and weapons, books and scrolls, statues and monuments, chandeliers, piles of coins and precious gems, astronomical equipment and countless other things. The resulting hoard is stored with no order whatsoever, the centuries-old junk and treasures all stacked and piled haphazardly in massive heaps as far as the eye can see.

* ''Literature/GoblinsInTheCastle'': ''Goblins On the Prowl'' reveals that the Baron keeps a collection of cannonballs from famous battles. They're seen on the fireplace in the Great Hall in the first book, but aren't specifically identified as a collection until the second.

* In ''Literature/{{Pale}}'' this is an entire subset of magic practitioner. Collectors try to find magical items focusing on certain themes, and fit them in diagrams. The strongest Collector in the story, however, is a [[TheCollector collector of people]], so his diagram is an apartment complex.

* Berry Weiss on ''Series/StorageWars'' bids on storage lockers looking mostly for weird and cool collectibles. He's found things like a really creepy wooden head sculpture, and metal work helmets etched with oil-industry images.

** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': One of the [[MadHatter Malkavian]] character templates is named "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Collector]]" who collects obsessively out of a desire to understand the world. To that end, he'll collect, examine, and catalogue every single variation of a certain item for months at a time; eventually, he'll exhaust all the insights the item has to give, put the collection in storage and move onto another series of object- no matter how bizarre or macabre: insects, oak leaves, human hands, anything.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Divayth Fyr has amassed quite the collection of legendary artifacts, and has even set up a LockAndKeyPuzzle for those willing to risk their lives (to either his violent [[BodyHorror Corprus victims]] or catching the disease themselves) to try to steal them. In particular, he has a number of [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] artifacts and items associated with the Imperial Battlespire event.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonFour'', [[PlayerCharacter Clementine]] can find different items to decorate her room at the Ericson's Boarding School. Some of them are fairly standard, like fake flowers, a crystal, or drawings of some of the kids who live in the school, but she can also find and display skulls of different animals (a deer, a boar, a cat, and a ''human''). She can also decorate her room with a venus flytrap and a potted mushroom.

** Nagisa has a habit of collecting Dango plushies, given that they are based off her favorite food. Of course, this makes her all the more endearing.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': Väinö, who guards the border between a safe area and a DeathWorld zone, has this as a side effect of his occupation. He keeps track of whether people who go through his checkpoint are still alive or not via having each of them leave a small personal item behind. If someone dies, their item magically bleeds... and apparently stays in the cabinet in which it's being kept.

--> Well doc, it was my wife's idea to consult you, I like scrambled eggs and thinks it might be a mental illness.\\

* The ''Franchise/RipleysBelieveItOrNot'' family of museums and associated books and shows are such collections. The museum's oddities include diseased skeletons, weird art, torture implements, sideshow hoaxes and plenty of other randomness.

* According to Creator/KennethWilliams, Creator/CharlesHawtrey collected antique brass bedstead, believing that they would one day be worth a fortune.

* ''Manga/PanoramaOfHell'': The unnamed MadArtist collects deformed fetuses and animal parts preserved in jars full of formaldehyde, among other grotesque stuff. He's even seen ''[[{{Squick}} licking]]'' them.

** Among the kids, Dave Strider likes to collect things preserved in amber or jars, while Roxy has a shelf of dead mutant cats preserved in blocks of clear material.

May have a FriendInTheBlackMarket. A group of these might form an ArtifactCollectionAgency. For the superhero version, see SuperheroTrophyShelf. A more mundane version would be the TrophyRoom. RoomFullOfCrazy is this taken to its logical conclusion. See also SecretGovernmentWarehouse. A specific variant only wants things (and at times people) who are [[WhatMeasureIsANonUnique unique]] and [[LastOfHisKind one of a kind]]. Compare CreepySouvenir, for when morbid items (often body parts) are acquired as trophies.

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Luctiana, an elven researcher, likes to collect human artifacts from Halkeginia. However, she tends to mistake the functions of those artifacts, leading her to use them in strange ways, such as hanging a bucket on a hat stand or using an upturned umbrella as a container.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC, the [[TheMagocracy Telvanni]] [[TheArchMage Mage-Lord]] and legendary enchanter Master Neloth collects the staffs of Azra Nightwielder, a legendary master of "Shadow Magic".
** The expansive ''Skyrim'' mod "Legacy of the Dragonborn" allows you to become this on a grand scale, with an expansive museum to store and display literally thousands of items (including many from previous games), ranging from dangerous daedric weapons and armor to rare books, rare coins, weird doohickeys, severed heads, and more.

* Old Cho of ''Manga/{{Domu}}: A Child's Story'' collects little trinkets as trophies from each person he kills with his PsychicPowers. His room is so full of junk that it was thought impossible to even get inside.
* Luctiana, an elven researcher in ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', likes to collect human artifacts from Halkeginia. However, she tends to mistake the functions of those artifacts, leading her to use them in strange ways, such as hanging a bucket on a hat stand or using an upturned umbrella as a container.

* The D'Arby brothers from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' combine this with YourSoulIsMine, using their [[FightingSpirit Stands]] to claim the souls of those who lose to them in games of chance. There are a few key differences between them: Elder brother Daniel (TheGambler) keeps his victims' souls at rest and turns them into poker chips, while younger brother Terence (The Gamer) hand-carved marionettes of his victims and puts the souls into them, keeping them conscious so he can talk to them occasionally. [[spoiler:Both end up being defeated by Jotaro (who's a better cheater than them), which frees all their victims.]]
* Itsuki Sumeragi of ''Manga/{{Kakegurui}}'' has a collection of fingernails she won from all of the girls she's defeated in card games.
* Sakura from ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'' collects animal entrails, stuffed animals with various mutilations.
* Anju of ''Manga/{{Karin}}'' collects {{Creepy Doll}}s, one of which [[spoiler:houses a serial killer.]]
* [[MsFanservice Shizuoka]] of ''Manga/KenkoZenrakeiSuieibuUmisho'' is too embarrassed to let her clubmates know that she collects strange little statues in a secret closet. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint That's not what she should]] [[LingerieScene be worrying]] [[VaporWare about]].

* Tobi from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' apparently has a warehouse-sized room dedicated to storing pairs of eyes. It becomes apparent after events concerning [[spoiler:Pain's corpse and Konan]] that he does this so he can swap them around at leisure.
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi collects antiques which more often than not turn out to be powerful magic items.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the pirate empress Big Mom is a ''literal'' collector; she captures "unusual creatures" and imprisons them, using the Devil Fruit power of one of her sons to contain them in books. These poor souls are given the AndIMustScream treatment, but Brook, a living skeleton, gets it worse- Big Mom likes him so much she decides to keep him in a bag by her side, AndCallHimGeorge!
* [[spoiler:Miranda Barma]] from ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' is rather manic about collecting skulls. While it's unknown how she goes about ''acquiring'' said skulls or even ''why'' she does it, it has been established that she has a certain desire for [[spoiler:Glen/Oswald]]'s head, and the way in which she attempts to secure it very nearly leads to [[spoiler:TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]], so it may not be [[AxCrazy hard to guess the how or why]].
* The unnamed MadArtist from ''Manga/PanoramaOfHell'' collects deformed fetuses and animal parts preserved in jars full of formaldehyde, among other grotesque stuff. He's even seen ''[[{{Squick}} licking]]'' them.
* Something you might not know about Team Rocket’s James in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': He likes to collect bottle caps in his spare time.
* Ruby, the penguin in ''Manga/RaveMaster''. What he collects is unknown, but things he's at least attempted to add are Plue, a bell that becomes a sword, a man-like crab, and a [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs Bluun doll]].
* Abiru from ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' shows her love for animals by collecting their tails.
* In a darker take, Noah in the ''Manga/SoulEater'' manga uses the Book of Eibon to "collect" various artifacts he finds interesting. He's not too picky: people, swords, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s... it's all the same. [[spoiler:He even gets Death the Kid at one point.]] Oh, and [[spoiler:it turns out he's actually just a personification of the Book's will. He's nothing but the madness of obsessive collecting given form.]]

* The ''Manga/XxxHolic'' movie, not only does the movie take place at a gathering of strange collectors, but it turns out the man throwing the party collects [[spoiler:collectors themselves]].

* ''Franchise/TheLittleMermaid'': Ariel salvages discarded human artifacts, most of which are quite strange by merfolk standards (e.g. shoes, cutlery, smoking pipes, etc.). [[spoiler:[[FantasyForbiddingFather King Triton later destroys her collection in a fit of rage]].]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TwiceUponATime'', BigBad Synonamess Botch shows our unwitting heroes around his castle, where he has collections of all sorts of weird things, including dried salami, stretched cats, and stuffed and mounted bat heads.
* The titular protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' keeps a wide assortment of random trinkets that catch his fancy. The items he collects don't seem to have any particular theme, they're just anything that strikes him as interesting. (At one point he throws out a diamond ring and keeps the little velvet box instead, for example.)

* Daniel Ti'Fiona in ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' collects muscle-powered weapons, swords are his favorite, but his collection includes axes, crossbows, polearms, etc. They're displayed on the walls of his room.
* In ''Webcomic/DemonEater'', considering demons don't have much time to worry about anything, the fact that the human club exists, and the fact that it has actual human things definitely brands them for this trope.
* Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen from ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' collects people with unique abilities, such as spellsong, empathy, nether summoning, and the like. These people make up a huge part of the Nidraa'chal clan's elite force [[OneManArmy as even a single person could quickly turn the tide on the battlefield]]. In Chapter 49, Snadhya'rune aided Anahid in ousting her rival Valla'drielle and becoming the rightful Ill'haress [[spoiler:with the ulterior motive of recruiting the clan Seers once the Kyorl'solenurn ally with the Nidraa'chal out of gratitude for stopping their civil war. When Anahid uses her Seer powers to discover and expose Snadhya'rune's (very) numerous crimes to her people, Snadhya'rune tries asking for forgiveness, only for Anahid to tell her to look for forgiveness from her ''actual'' victims]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', all the kids' parental figures collect weird things: Dad collects harlequin paintings and figurines [[spoiler: because he thinks [[RoomFullOfCrazy John likes them]]]], Mom fancies wizards, Bro fills the house with uncanny amounts of puppets, and Grandpa Harley collects everything from faded beauty salon posters to globes to mummies to suits of armour to taxidermy.
** Dave Strider himself is said to like to collect things preserved in jars.

* Vrill in ''Webcomic/ShadowsOfEnchantment''. He's an artifact trader, but if he finds particularly interesting stuff he tends to just keep it (or buy it, or in some cases have it stolen). What he's really after is enchanted items, but anything rare and strange might catch his eye.

* The Fox in ''Webcomic/TallyHo'' collects golf balls.

* ''Franchise/TheLittleMermaid'': Ariel salvages discarded human artifacts, most of which are quite strange by merfolk standards (e.g. shoes, cutlery, smoking pipes, etc.). [[spoiler:[[OverprotectiveDad King Triton later destroys her collection in a fit of rage]].]]