History Main / CreepySouvenir

* ''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 [[WorldWarThree ruins of European cities]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'':Mel has a self-made painting above her bed of a moment from her childhood when her [[spoiler:mother murdered a girl her age in front of her]].

*** Topped by the Bossk, who keeps their pelts in his ship.

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}} and the Pirates Curse'' has a rather strange variation. Risky Boots kept a trophy from the Pirate Master after he died: [[spoiler:her skull-based bra and pants were made from ''his'' massive skull.]]

* [[Webcomic/DeadWinter Frank Mason]], {{Jerkass}} [[AngryChef Angry Fry Cook]] turned AxCrzy SerialKiller ChefOfIron after [[SanitySlippagelosing his marbles]] thanks to his sole reliable employee quitting on him while the ZombieApocalypse was going on. He killed his (zombified) war buddy Jack, kept his head around, attaching it to his belt, and still talking to it like it was alive. [[spoiler:After Lizzie manages to escape the same fate, he's been going around the city adding more and more heads to his belt. Specifically going after blonde women that look like Lizzie, his latest victim being [[CopKiller a female member of the surviving police force]]]].

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

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', it is shown that Charles Muntz killed various explorers who he believed was after "his" bird and kept their aviator helmets as souvenirs.

* An example that is pure {{Squick}} shows up in the CAT-III horror-slasher film, ''Film/DrLamb''. The title villain, a serial killer moonlighting as a taxi driver, would frequently target drunk hookers, kidnap and kill them and then having their corpses disposed off, but not before severing their breasts to be kept in jars of liquid formaldehyde as his personal collection. During the scene where he confesses to his crimes in a police interrogation room, the desk he's seated at displays the eight jars, each containing a severed breast, from his four victims.

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', when Captain Jack Sparrow asks his father "How's mom?", Captain Teague presents him a shrunken head. "She looks... great!"

* ''Literature/BeneathNightmareCastle'': In one battle, after you defeats a Blood-Lurcher, you are given an option to hack off one of its tentacles and keep it in your rucksack. [[spoiler: Doing so will result in the tentacle coming to life, consuming your food, and trying to attack you the next time you open your sack]].

** The Tattered Prince is a mercenary leader known from wearing a cloak stitched from rags of cloaks of his defeated enemies.

** The Ice Truck Killer from season 1 was killing prostitutes. He exsanguinated their bodies and staged their chopped up body parts to taunt the police. He stored the blood in the freezer, but it was later subverted -- he used it for another staged crime scene.

* ''Series/TheEndOfTheFuckingWorld'': While on their roadtrip, James and Alyssa find a huge house and realize the owner is away on vacation, so they decide it should be relatively safe to sneak inside and squat there for a couple days. Later, James pokes around... and finds a shoebox full of Polaroids of mutilated and raped women, and a video camera with several recordings saved of the owner doing the deed. Before he can warn Alyssa, [[OhCrap the owner gets back]].

** The presence of human remains in home-made fishing lures -- specifically, bits of tissue, bone, and hair from the known victims of a serial murderer -- is the smoking gun which convinces the Behavioral Sciences team that [[spoiler:Will Graham]] is an active serial killer. [[spoiler:It's a frame-up, and by the time Graham is seemingly exposed as a killer, the audience knows who's really responsible.]]

* 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 home-made 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.

** 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.

* The dolls around Sylvia's tower in ''VideoGame/TwoDark'' are [[spoiler: children she and Elisa killed, and stuffed.]]

** The Clown collects fingers from his kills, and wears several on a ring on his belt.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' series awards the player with trophies after completing quest that they can show off to boost their renown.These include things like the heads of various monsters and even bandits.

* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' has the distinction of a rare "heroic" example with Dhalsim, who wears a necklace of children skulls around his neck. They belonged to the [[TragicKeepsake dead children in the village he came from, and to whose memory he dedicates his fighting efforts]] in the attempt to improve the living standards of his home.

* [[Webcomic/DeadWinter Frank Mason]], {{Jerkass}} [[AngryChef Angry Fry Cook]] turned AxCrzy SerialKiller ChefOfIron after [[SanitySlippagelosing his marbles]] thanks to his sole reliable employee quitting on him while the ZombieApocalypse was going on. He killed his (zombified) war buddy Jack, kept his head around, attaching it to his belt and still talking to it like it was alive. [[spoiler:After Lizzie manages to escape the same fate, he's been going around the city adding more and more heads to his belt. Specifically going after blonde woman that look like Lizzie, his latest victim being [[CopKiller a female member of the surviving police force]]]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheGreatestGift'', Astra and Mars find a locked box formally owned by the second BigBad, Venus [[spoiler:(actually Jupiter, Astra/Venus' twin sister who stole her name)]] who's a SerialKiller. The contents aren't as bloody as one would expect, but none the less creepy, not to mention traumatic for [[spoiler: Astra.]] The contents are [[spoiler:the severed head of Astra's doll (which Jupiter beheaded just for spite), a piece of the teapot she used to permanently scar Astra's head, and (most befitting of this trope) the rope Jupiter used to ''strangle their mother to death'' while Astra was ForcedToWatch.]] As if we needed another reminder that Venus was a psychopath.

** Gannji the lizardfolk mentions that keeping a Creepy Souvenir is common amongst [[OurOgresAreHungrier ogres]]. So, when his friend Enor (an [[NonHumanHumanoidHybrid ogre/blue dragon]] hybrid) is [[InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath forced]] to kill him, Gannji suggest he keep his tail as a trophy in order to [[ResurrectionGambit resurrect him later]].

--> Why do we do anything? You travel the world, kill people, take trophies that interest you, and move on. [[NotSoDifferent I'm much the same.]] The only difference is that my trophies are somewhat more medical in nature.

* Mr. Grimm from ''VideoGame/TwistedMetalBlack'' wears the hollowed-out skull of his dead comrade Benny as a helmet. How did he get his friend's skull? It was all that was left of Benny after Grimm was [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty forced to eat his corpse to survive]]. [[FridgeLogic Benny must've had a really huge head for it to be wearable as a helmet.]]

* Mr. Grimm from ''VideoGame/TwistedMetalBlack'' wears the hollowed-out skull of his dead comrade Benny as a helmet. How did he get his friend's skull? It was all that was left of Benny after Grimm was [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty forced to eat his corpse]]. [[FridgeLogic Benny must've had a really huge head for it to be wearable as a helmet.]]

** Gannji the lizardfolk mentions that keeping a Creepy Souvenir is common amongst ogres. So, when his friend Enor (an ogre/blue dragon hybrid) is forced to kill him, Gannji suggest he keep his tail as a trophy in order to resurrect him later.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' has the distinction of a rare "heroic" example with Dhalsim, who wears a necklace of children skulls around his neck. They belonged to the [[TragicKeepsake dead children in the village he came from, and to whose memory he dedicates his fighting efforts]] in the attempt to improve the living standards of his home.

* The AlternateHistory novel ''Resurrection Day'' by Brendan [=DuBois=] takes place in a United States where the Cuban Missile Crisis turned into WorldWarIII. The US is a military dictatorship ruled by General Ramsey "Rammer" Curtis. While looking around his house, the protagonist is disgusted to find a melted brick from Moscow's Red Square, embedded in several inches of glass behind a safety barrier marked with radiation warning signs.

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* In the Meet the Medic video for ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', [[MadDoctor the Medic]] is revealed to be keeping the living head of a Blu Spy in his refrigerator. He also has several still-beating hearts in there.
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' champion Rengar uses this as a game mechanic. He can purchase an item called the Bonetooth Necklace that gives him trophies on a kill or assist. The necklace gives various bonuses depending on how many trophies he's stacked up. More explicitly morbid is the ultimate upgrade it can receive, the Head of [[TheRival Kha'Zix]].
* In ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'', Hector [=LeMans=] owns a greenhouse surrounded by a seemingly endless field of flowers. That by itself doesn't sound bad... except in this game plants are a symbol of [[DeaderThanDead death within death]], and all of that green beauty is actually the remains of people who have been killed by Hector over many years.
-->'''Manny:''' (looking at the water tanks outside the greenhouse) Hector supplies water to keep the flowers alive? Does he see them as a memorial, or as trophies?
* It's hard not to get this vibe off some of the costume outfits in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. Raider sadist armor has a pair of severed hands hanging off the hip, and the Merc adventurer outfit has a necklace of teeth.
** In the Point Lookout DLC, [[spoiler:Tobar the ferryman]] is revealed to be responsible for surgically removing part of the Lone Wanderer's brain during his trial to join the local tribe, and has been doing so for a while. He has a whole room full of brain-chunks in jars, and there's nothing stopping you from taking your own with you.
--> Why do we do anything? You travel the world, kill people, take trophies that interest you, and move on. [[NotSoDifferent I'm much the same.]] The only difference is that my trophies are somewhat more medical in nature.
* [[ActionGirl Sayla]] from ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'' collects [[EarAche the ears]] of [[CannibalTribe Udam tribesmen]] and wears them on a necklace. Her reason for doing this is that she [[HearingVoices hears the screams of her family]] from the night the Udam killed and ate them, and she thinks that cutting those ears off silences the voices.

* Somehow done unintentionally in the ''VideoGame/PacManAndTheGhostlyAdventures'' LicensedGame -- Pac collects ''the eyeballs of the ghosts he defeats.'' The dialogue introducing this mechanic briefly lampshades its strangeness, but it ends up painting Pac as a deranged serial killer of some kind.
* ''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".
* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}} and the Pirates Curse'' has a rather strange variation. Risky Boots kept a trophy from the Pirate Master after he died: [[spoiler:her skull-based bra and pants were made from ''his'' massive skull.]]
* StreetFighter has the distinction of a rare "heroic" example with Dhalsim, who wears a necklace of children skulls around his neck. They belonged to the [[TragicKeepsake dead children in the village he came from, and to whose memory he dedicates his fighting efforts]] in the attempt to improve the living standards of his home.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'', the Wraith's ax is actually made from a human skull and spinal column, taken from the body of his former boss after learning his boss had been using him to dispose of people who were wanted dead by local "clients".
** The Clown collects fingers from his kills, and wears several on a ring on his belt.

* Some of the items you can collect from fallen enemies in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' are questionable in nature, such as wrist bones from Stalmasters or wings from Aeralfos, but the most blatant example is the Moblin Flank; [[TwentyBearAsses that's right, you're slicing off the butt cheeks of dead Moblins for resources]]. Fi's Heels [[FridgeHorror are even more questionable in nature if you think about it]]; since she's a spirit and unlikely to have removable clothing, it's implied that you cut her legs off after defeating her. And then there's [[EyeScream Gohma's Lens]].

* The Fable series awards the player with trophies after completing quest that they can show off to boost their renown.These include things like the heads of various monsters and even bandits.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', a robot named Atlas kidnapped Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg and challenged Cyborg to a match and said that he would keep the other Titans as trophies if Cyborg lost. Thankfully, Cyborg won.
* A similar situation occurred in an early episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}}''. Mumm-Ra captured the heroes alive and kept them tied up with MummyWrap in his burial chamber to "display" them like trophies, even going so far as to include the Sword of Omens as a wall decoration. Fortunately for them, [[BewareTheSillyOnes he didn't count on Snarf.]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'', Spongebob and Patrick accidentally unfreeze Manray, who was Mermaidman and Barnicleboy's worst enemy, kept in frozen tartar sauce as a souvenir.
* [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Skulker]] from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' expresses on several occasions his desire to keep [[KidHero Danny]]'s "pelt" as a trophy.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', we learn that Bullock likes to collect human fingers, a habit he claims he started when he was in Vietnam. He then explains that he was only in Vietnam a few years ago.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'':
** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E10LairOfGrievous "Lair of Grievous"]] Kit Fisto and Nahdar Vebb discover that Grievous collects the padawan braids from young padawan learners he's killed.
** An episode had a clone who collected droid fingers from battles. In-universe, it was considered contraband and downright creepy.

* Itsuki Sumeragi of the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil in ''Manga/{{Kakegurui}}'' collects [[{{Fingore}} human fingernails]], often taking them from girls she defeated in gambling matches but mentions buying them on occasion. Her first appearance has her showing off a display case full of her trophies that she claims is only part of her "collection".
* In Overlord, there is an assasin who wears a scale mail made of dog tags of adventurers she'd slain.

* ''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 [[WorldWarThree ruins of European cities]].

* Captain Love in ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'' keeps his enemies' body parts in jars of alcohol and [[IAmAHumanitarian drinks from them]], supposedly to gain insight on their strategies. This becomes much creepier when he invites Alejandro to drink from the jar containing ''his own brother's head''.
* In ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'', a man who's been in the hypercube for some time starts killing and [[IAmAHumanitarian eating others]] and wearing their watches/dog tags as souvenirs.
* 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.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** General Grievious carries a collection of lightsabers from the Jedi he has killed.
** Boba Fett kept Wookiee scalps on his belt as trophies of his kills.
* ''Film/UniversalSoldier1992'' starts out with a rogue soldier killing Vietnamese civilians -- to emphasize his insanity, he wears a necklace of human ears.
* The main villain from ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'' collects limbs from people he killed - and use them to replace his own. This comes back to bite him when one of his victims was a member of a hivemind who could still control the arm and tried to strangle him.

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', when Captain Jack Sparrow asks his father "How's mom?", Captain Teague presents him a shrunken head. "She looks... great!"
** In an example that also counts as a TragicKeepsake, [[spoiler:Elizabeth keeps Will's still-beating heart in a chest since the part of becoming the captain of the Flying Dutchman involves getting it cut out. Stabbing it is the only thing that can kill him, and he trusts she'll keep it safe.]]

* ''Film/{{Haunter}}'': When Lisa discovers the Pale Man's killing room underneath the house, she finds his collection of artifacts he kept of his victims.
* ''Film/FallingDown'': Nick, the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain homophobic Nazi surplus owner]] D-Fens meets, thinks D-Fens is also a fellow right-wing nut and shows him [[RoomFullOfCrazy his backroom of Nazi memorabilia]]. His favorite possession is a used can of Zyklon-B, and he excitedly fantasizes about the number of Jews who were gassed.

* In ''Film/CrimsonPeak'', Lady Sharpe keeps a braid of hair from [[spoiler: each of her brother's former wives]].
* An example that is pure {{Squick}} shows up in the CAT-III horror-slasher film, ''Dr. Lamb''. The titular villain, a serial killer moonlighting as a taxi driver, would frequently target drunk hookers, kidnap and kill them and then having their corpses disposed off, but not before severing their breasts to be kept in jars of liquid formaldehyde as his personal collection. During the scene where he confesses to his crimes in a police interrogation room, the desk he's seated at displays the eight jars, each containing a severed breast, from his four victims.
* In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', Nancy's mother mentions that she took and kept Freddy's knives after participating in the lynch mob that killed him (which eventually turned him into the dream ghost we know).
* In ''Film/TheTournament'', Miles Slade cuts a finger off each of his victims as a souvenir.
* In ''Film/{{Darkman}}'', Durant uses his cigar cutter to cut fingers off of his victims. He keeps a collection of these fingers in a cigar box.
* In ''Film/SaveTheGreenPlanet'', Byeong-gu's creepy basement is filled with preserved human limbs in jars, which were collected from his previous victims who he interrogated and killed to find out if they were aliens.
* The SerialKiller (Music/HenryRollins) in ''Film/TheLastHeist'' collects [[EyeScream the eyes of his victims]]. He gets involved in the plot when he's about to retrieve part of his 'trophies' from a secure lock-up when a BankRobbery interrupts his plan.
* In ''Film/TheFly1986'', Seth Brundle keeps ''his own rotted-away body parts'' in his medicine cabinet. "The Brundle Museum of Natural History", as he calls it, contains his fingernails, teeth, ears, and his ''genitalia''.

* A symbolic one in ''Film/TheBigShort''. Burry asked for or just pocketed one of the banks' monogrammed coffee mugs from every bank that he visited to bet against their mortgage bonds. Since Burry was certain he was right, in his mind he was taking a keepsake from every one of the banks that he knew would go under; in effect, a piece of what would soon be their corpses.
* In ''Film/{{Slashers}}'', Chainsaw Charlie wears a bandoleer of human ears.
* In ''Film/SympathyForLadyVengeance'', Mr. Baek has kept a small token (a button, a plastic ring, etc.) from each of the children he has murdered and has them attached as charms on his cellphone. Geum-ja realizes what they are when she recognizes Won-mo's marble.
* In ''Film/TenDeadMen'', Ryan takes a souvenir from each of the men as he kills them. Most of them are body parts.
* ''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.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' lives and breathes this trope. While not every serial killer they profile takes trophies, many do. They range anywhere from articles of clothing and jewelry to photos of the bodies to eyes and other body parts. A few eat parts of their victims to keep them as a part of themselves.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' has a few serial trophy takers as well, including one in an episode called "Trophies".
* Truly bizzarely subverted in one episode of ''Series/JonathanCreek'', where a famous American horror-movie actress (clearly inspired by Creator/ElviraMistressOfTheDark) was shot dead by a masked man [[LockedRoomMystery who runs off into an outbuilding and seemingly vanishes into thin air]] and her body decapitated post-mortem. [[spoiler:Not only did she plan the whole thing herself, because she was terminally ill and thought starring in a thrilling locked-room murder mystery was AGoodWayToDie, but the person who took her head as a trophy was a LoonyFan who'd been lurking furtively in the vicinity for a few days and wasn't in on the plan... And she probably would have thought it a fitting tribute anyway.]]

* "Hair Lockets" by Music/NicoleDollanganger:
--> ''I've been collecting pieces of your hair\\
To tuck away in the locket that I wear\\
Pretty strands that grew in your youth\\
Pieces that I'll always hold on to.''

* One of the ingredients that players must collect in the ''[[Pinball/GilligansIsland Gilligan's Island]]'' pinball is a shrunken head.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' module G1 ''Steading of the Hill Giant Chief''. One chest has some dwarf and elf ears, presumably taken from victims the giants killed.
* Jaqueline Montarri, a cursed villain from ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'', collects the [[AndIMustScream animated still-conscious]] heads of women she's decapitated.
* In ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'', there is an ogre who fancies himself a sort of a samurai -- his symbol is a collection of mons from samurai he killed, stitched together.

'''No real life examples, please!'''

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[[folder:Fan Fic]]