History Main / DecapitationPresentation

Human heads are not required. Any character engaging in this is an [[AntiHero Anti Hero]] at best, unless it's [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman not the head of anything resembling a human at all]], like a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]]. In the latter case, the purpose of this trope is to show off the badassness of the character carrying the head. If it's a human head, it effectively shows that the character has [[ThouShaltNotKill no problem with killing people]] and often serves as a form of psychological warfare. An [[EvilArmy army engaging in this]] is nearly always evil and often very primitive.

--> '''Edmund Blackadder''': You see, when you've cut it off you have to hold it before the crowd and say "This is the head of a traitor," at which point they will all shout "No, it isn't. It's a large pumpkin with a pathetic moustache drawn on it."

* Yet another ''{{Warhammer 40 000}}'' example ([[GrimDark Yes]], [[EverythingTryingToKillYou happens]] [[CrapsackWorld there]] a lot, doesn't it?), any follower of Khorne will do this after killing an enemy leader (such as a Sergent or other leader) mid fight often screaming something like THE TROPHY IS MINE. He's more interested in [[NothingButSkulls what's]] ''inside'' the head, though.

** Also, in ''GodOfWar 3'', Kratos can rip Helios' head off and use it as a FantasticLightSource.

* In ''[[{{FEAR}} F.E.A.R 2]]'', [[spoiler: Snake Fist]] is decapitated right before your eyes [[spoiler: the game even has him hand you a {{BFG}} to make sure that you're good and close when it happens]] by a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Cyborg Clone Ninja Mutant...thing]] which [[PlayerPunch rips it off and carries it away]]. You find his head a short time later, deliberatly left where you will see it and just before they're waiting to ambush you.

* A bizzare example in MortalKombatDeception: [[ChaoticNeutral Havik]]'s Hara-Kiri involves him ripping off his own head then holding it out before dying.

* The Arishok in ''DragonAgeII'' appears briefly to lift a head for display, but dispenses with the drama to roll it dismissively down the carpet.

* At the end of the "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet" segment of ''TheSimpsons''' fourth HalloweenEpisode, when the gremlin displays Ned Flanders' severed (and [[LosingYourHead still-living]]) head to Bart in the window of the ambulance.

* In ''[[DarkAvengers]]'', issue 2. [[spoiler: after failing to talk Morgana La Fey out of killing Dr Doom, Osborn orders Sentry to take her out. He [[MortalKombat fatalities]] her like this.

* [[KillBill O-Ren Ishii]] does this with the head of Boss Tanaka, who she had just beheaded for disrespecting her race, during her big speech to the Yakuza.

* A bizzare example in MortalKombatDeception: [[ChaoticEvil Havik]]'s Hara-Kiri involves him ripping off his own head then holding it out before dying.

* At the end of the "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet" segment of ''TheSimpsons''' fourth HalloweenEpisode, when the gremlin displays Ned Flanders' severed (and still-living) head to Bart in the window of the ambulance.

* At the end of the "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet" segment of ''TheSimpsons''' fourth HalloweenEpisode, the gremlin displays Ned Flanders' severed (and still-living) head to Bart in the window of the ambulance.

* StargateAtlantis, episode "The Last Man": Michael does this with the head of [[spoiler: a Wraith queen]].

[[AC:Music]]
* Hawkwind's "Days of the Underground":
-->We believed in [[CheGuevara Guevara]]
-->We saw that head held up
-->And our anger welled up
-->But we kept it cool
* Eddie, the mascot of Iron Maiden, has done this pose with the heads of Paul Di'Anno (on the original, rejected cover for Maiden Japan) and Satan (on the cover of the "The Number of the Beast" single)

* In [[DarkAvengers]], issue 2. [[spoiler: after failing to talk Morgana La Fey out of killing Dr Doom, Osborn orders Sentry to take her out. He [[MortalKombat fatalities]] her like this.

[[SinCity http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pulp_comics_sin_city_marv_1495.jpg]]
[[caption-width:350: Marv shows us how it's done.]]

* A [[TheBible Biblical]] example would be Judith with the head of Holofernes.
** Possibly also Salome with the head of John the Baptist.

[[AC:Comics]]
* Infamously, the cover of ECComics' ''Crime [=SuspenStories=]'' [[http://www.comics.org/issue/11216/cover/4/ #22]].
* In one ''{{Predator}}'' comic, one of the characters held the titular Predator's head as a trophy at the end.
* ''SinCity'': Happens to Jackie's head in "The Big, Fat Kill."
** As well as the head of Kevin from "The Hard Goodbye," as seen in the page pic.
* ''ElfQuest'': After [[spoiler:Kahvi]] decapitates [[spoiler:Guttlekraw]] his head gets displayed on a spear.

Human heads are not required.

--> ''Edmund Blackadder'': You see, when you've cut it off you have to hold it before the crowd and say "This is the head of a traitor," at which point they will all shout "No, it isn't. It's a large pumpkin with a pathetic moustache drawn on it."

** -> ''Edmund Blackadder'': You see, when you've cut it off you have to hold it before the crowd and say "This is the head of a traitor," at which point they will all shout "No, it isn't. It's a large pumpkin with a pathetic moustache drawn on it."

* There's a variation of this in ''[[VorkosiganSaga Barrayar]]'', Instead of holding Vordarian's severed head up, Cordelia rolls it out of the shopping bag she has been transporting it in.

* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/60twobrothers.html The Two Brothers]'', the marshal presents the dragon's heads. Alas for him, the actual killer had gotten their tongues.