History Main / CreepySouvenir

* As shown in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the Ferengi like to keep parts of one another as collectibles. When a Ferengi of high status (such as a Grand Nagus) dies, their bodies are vacuum-desiccated, reduce to a fine powder, then sold to other Ferengi.
** One episode had a Klingon walking into Quark's with Cardassian bone necklace. Another episode had a ''Starfleet'' officer with Ketracel White vials he took off dead Jem'Hadar, this was to show his SanitySlippage.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Moebius D was evil even before he became Moebius. [[spoiler: When he was still human, he killed people [[ForTheEvulz purely for his own amusement]] and when he kills someone, he likes to collect their decapitated heads. [[ADickInName No wonder his real name is “Dirk.”]]]]

* In Creator/AnneRice'''s ''Literature/LivesOfTheMayfairWitches trilogy, Carlotta shows [[spoiler:Rowan]] a room filled with glass jars containing rotting body parts in alcohol, including severed heads, which she claims her ancestor Marguerite kept as souvenirs of [[spoiler:Lasher altering the bodies of people he possessed]]. In the second book, Taltos, [[spoiler:Julian]] confirms that this is true.

* Ronon Dex of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' has the handle of his faithful RayGun wrapped in Wraith hair. A DeletedScene also has him showing Carter a necklace made from the fingerbones of Wraith he killed.

* The ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' collects skulls from its prey, including intelligent ones. We get to see a very impressive display at the end of ''Film/{{Predator 2}}'', including the elongated skull of a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]], laying down the foundation for the ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' franchise, and the Predators give Harrigan a flintlock pistol.

** The Bossk, who keeps Wookie pelts in his ship.

* Narrowly averted in the Holocaust drama ''Film/{{Amen}}'' when the [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate SS Doctor]] shows up at Kurt Gerstein's house and offers to show his children a "genuine Judeo-Bolshevik skull". Gerstein is horrified and tries to stop him, though it turns out all he's carrying is an [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain ape's head]] made of chocolate. But by this point of the film, neither Gerstein nor the audience would have put it past him.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' has a few serial trophy takers as well, including one in an episode called "Trophies".

* The Governor in ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' has a shelf full of heads of people he had killed, though it is unknown if all of them were necessarily zombie or human, given the series's narrative.

** A mutant serial killer who appeared in "Squeeze" and "Tooms" took small trophies from his victims, e.g. a coffee mug, an ornamental snowstorm globe, or a hairbrush. Agents Mulder and Scully find this kitschy collection in his apartment.
** "Irresistible": A necrophiliac who started to look for living victims had a hair and nail fetish. He took some fingers from dead bodies and also from a prostitute he killed. The FBI found a pillow stuffed with human hair in his bedroom and a box in his freezer that contained [[BreadEggsMilkSquick ice, Brussels sprouts, and a human finger with fingernail, painted bright red]].
** "Our Town": The town of cannibals kept victims' heads in a cabinet. They were found at Mr. Chaco's, but the whole town was guilty.
** "Paper Hearts": John Lee Roche was a serial killer who murdered sixteen little girls. He cut a piece of fabric in the shape of a heart from their clothes. He placed the cloth hearts in a copy of ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' and kept the book in his car, thus being the 'carrying the trophies by himself' variety.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' spinoff ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' features Ork Warlord [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Gorgutz Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter]] who (obviously) collects the heads of enemy leaders to put them on his "pointy stikk".

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', there is an assassin who wears a scale mail made of dog tags of adventurers she'd slain.

* In ''LightNovel/AnotherNote'', Beyond Birthday takes the left arm of his [[spoiler:second-to-]] last victim, apparently to make the crime scene more confusing to investigators. This may be a subversion of the trope, as it is not known what he did with it.

* [[NoNameGiven The unnamed]] hitman in ''Battleground'' (adapted from the short story in ''Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes'' by Creator/StephenKing) collects trophies from his victims, usually a personal item from their room. When he murders a toymaker, it's implied that this habit enables his witch mother to track the hitman to his apartment.

HumanHeadOnTheWall is a SubTrope. Crosses over occasionally with SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset, GenuineHumanHide, ShrunkenHead and HavingAHeart. Compare BattleTrophy, CollectorOfTheStrange, StalkerShrine, KitschCollection, DecapitationPresentation, FingerInTheMail, AScarToRemember, and PastVictimShowcase. There's a good chance that a SerialKiller may keep such souvenirs. TragicKeepsake is one of the few methods that this trope can be used by a good (but still creepy) character, carrying a body part of a loved one in their memory.

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Wade Crewes, a SerialKiller from the late 90s, always stole a single stiletto shoe from his victims' homes after murdering them. While he's in prison someone starts murdering new victims using his M.O. and even copies the detail of taking a shoe. Sherlock and the police are divided over whether this new killer is a copycat or whether it's the original killer and Crewes was falsely accused. [[spoiler:It turns out the copycat theory is correct, and the new killer is Crewes' ''son'' who's trying to clear his dad's name.]]

HumanHeadOnTheWall is a SubTrope. Crosses over occasionally with SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset, GenuineHumanHide, ShrunkenHead and HavingAHeart. Compare BattleTrophy, CollectorOfTheStrange, StalkerShrine, KitschCollection, DecapitationPresentation, FingerInTheMail, AScarToRemember, and PastVictimShowcase. TragicKeepsake is one of the few methods that this trope can be used by a good (but still creepy) character, carrying a body part of a loved one in their memory.

** One of the barbarian leaders wears a necklace of ears from defeated enemies. Unusually for the trope, all of them had been left alive -- they can come back to challenge her and get their ears back if they ever find the courage.

** One short story centered on a man trying to become famous by growing the world's largest nose -- and falling afoul of a collector of body oddities, who wanted to mount the nose on a plaque. Eventually, Judge Dredd finds his hideout, with an extensive collection of heads, arms, and other parts, each one notable in some way -- and each one has taken forcibly and likely fatally.

* ''Fanfic/TheVictorsProject'': One of the Delacroix Brothers wears a necklace that supposedly contains the remains of Luster Lancaster (who caused their family lot of misery and suffering) after the Mockingjay Rebellion.

* Narrowly averted in the Holocaust drama ''Film/{{Amen}}'' when the [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate SS Doctor]] shows up at Kurt Gerstein's house and offers to show his children a "genuine Judeo-Bolshevik skull". Gerstein is horrified and tries to stop him, though he turns out all he's carrying is an [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain ape's head]] made of chocolate. But by this point of the film, neither Gerstein nor the audience would have put it past him.

* In ''LightNovel/AnotherNote'', Beyond Birthday takes the left arm of his [[spoiler: second-to-]] last victim, apparently to make the crime scene more confusing to investigators. This may be a subversion of the trope, as it is not known what he did with it.

* In "The Golden Spinning Wheel" from ''Literature/ABouquet of Czech Folktales'', the heroine's wicked step-mother and her step-sister murder the poor girl and keep her legs, arms and eyes. The step-sister looks just like the heroine and takes her place as a nobleman's bride. They later trade the human remains for parts of a precious golden spinning wheel.

* In the novel ''Literature/WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin'', when Eva visits her son in prison the first time, she notices he's playing with something in his hand. [[spoiler: It turns out to be his sister's glass eye, which he took from her either just before or after murdering her.]]

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': It was said about Reavers that they skinned people alive, raped them repeatedly, ate their flesh and ''then'' murdered them. They kept the skins as trophies and their spaceships were covered with blood. They even tied whole corpses to the front of their ships. [[spoiler:Mal used this piece of knowledge to trick them while Dressing as the Enemy in the BigDamnMovie, giving Shepherd Book the "honour" of being centre on Serenity's nose. They later gave him a proper burial on Mr. Universe's planet.]]

* Subverted in one episode of ''Series/MurdochMysteries''. A suspect was seen talking with a victim on a train and he admitted he liked her a lot. They found he has homemade jewellery made of human hair of multiple people, and the victim's hair is among them. However, she gave it to him voluntarily while she was alive. Jewellery from human hair was still seen as very weird, but he was not her murderer.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* ''Film/UniversalSoldier1992'' starts out with a rogue soldier killing Vietnamese civilians -- to emphasize his insanity, he wears a necklace of human ears.

* Victor Zsasz from the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics carves a tally mark into his body every time he kills someone. His whole body is covered in them.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', the attendees at a [[CriminalConvention convention]] for serial killers euphemistically refer to one another as "collectors" due to the body parts they tend to take from their victims. When they discover a journalist posing as a dead collector some of the con staff stuff him in the trunk of a car and take turns collecting from him.

HumanHeadOnTheWall is a SubTrope. Crosses over occasionally with SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset, GenuineHumanHide, ShrunkenHead and HavingAHeart. Compare BattleTrophy, CollectorOfTheStrange, StalkerShrine, KitschCollection, DecapitationPresentation, AScarToRemember, and PastVictimShowcase. TragicKeepsake is one of the few methods that this trope can be used by a good (but still creepy) character, carrying a body part of a loved one in their memory.

* ''Film/BigDriver'': Tess learns Lester stole one of her earrings after he raped her. Upon tracking him down, she finds that his brother took ''photos'' of her during and after this, along with his many other victims.

** Dave Duchese was a serial killer who acquired the monicker "The Orthodontist" because he kept his victims' teeth as souvenirs.

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2019'', there is an assassin who wears a scale mail made of dog tags of adventurers she'd slain.

* Mr. Zsasz from the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics carves a tally mark into his body every time he kills someone. His whole body is covered in them.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' the attendees at a [[CriminalConvention convention]] for serial killers euphemistically refer to one another as "collectors" due to the body parts they tend to take from their victims. When they discover a journalist posing as a dead collector some of the con staff stuff him in the trunk of a car and take turns collecting from him.
* Perhaps the strangest example is consul Enshu Atsukau from ''ComicBook/{{Sillage}}'': he uses his telepathy to seduce females of various species. The addition to his harem is marked by a connection to a machine that links their neural systems to his in a permanent empathic link -- which requires one of their eyes to be replaced by a cybernetic implant. The machine is surrounded by row upon row of small jars with their removed eyes floating inside.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic Fanfic/ApplesEqualsCyanideEqualsLight, Ryuk has a habit of collecting mementos from humans who owned his notebook. That includes the bullets he dug out of [[spoiler: Light Yagami's body]]. Similarly, Kira keeps a finger puppet of [[spoiler: L]] as an earring.

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. During their MindMeld, Captain Janeway sees the destruction of the [[WorldTree Great Tree]] on Nee'Lix's homeworld by HostileTerraforming. Later when the Caretaker is showing them his archive, one of the exhibits is a "reproduction of the Great Tree of Rynax in the ''bonsai'' style, using a cutting taken from the original before it was sterilized." He then follows this up with a young girl abducted from Earth whose existence he is [[PeopleJars preserving in suspended animation]] after a [[AndIMustScream failed attempt at suicide]]. The scene acts as a {{foil}} to Janeway's own archive of artifacts and literature she has salvaged from the [[WorldWarIII ruins of European cities]].

--->'''Muntz:''' You know, Carl, these people who, uh, pass through here? They all tell pretty good stories: a surveyor making a map... a botanist cataloging plants... An old man taking his house to Paradise Falls? That's the best one yet. I can't ''wait'' to hear how it ends.

* ''Literature/LoneWolf''

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Voldemort has this trait. A flashback shows that he did it even as a child, stealing keepsakes from children he had magically tormented. [[spoiler: This habit results in a minor NiceJobFixingItVillain moment, as it allows Dumbledore and later Harry to deduce the locations and identities of Voldemort's Horcruxes.]]