History Main / SuperheroTrophyShelf

* Similarly, the official [[UsefulNotes/CentralIntelligenceAgency CIA]] museum contains, among other objects, several captured bits of ostensible al-Qa'ida related paraphernalia, including a [[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/index.html#!/artifact/48 gas mask]], a [[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/index.html#!/artifact/47 training manual]] and [[http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/secret-cia-museum-features-osama-bin-ladens-ak-47-f6C10736776 the AK-47 that purportedly belonged to Osama bin Laden]], alongside a [[https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/index.html#!/artifact/67 German Enigma code machine]] from WWII.

That's why we have so many superheroes who are into collecting. But, instead of collecting rocks or [[TheKirk strains of alien herpes]], they'll collect alien rocks and their enemies' evil weapons. These collections might be all over their base, have their own room in the base, or be only a [[TrophyRoom modest trophy rack]] with all the keys to different cities they saved from destruction.

* The {{Comicbook/Fantastic Four}} store the advanced technological wonders that they have collected over the years, along with assorted memorabilia. The list has included Doctor Doom's time machine, a Skrull spaceship, Vibranium brass knuckles, pieces of Doctor Doom's armor and, for a short time, even Dr. Doom's comatose body.

* In the future of the Maestro (an [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future version]] of [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk the Incredible Hulk]]), Rick Jones had a trophy room/reliquary full of mementos, including ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield, {{Spider-Man}}'s web shooters, Nova's helmet, several Iron Man armors, {{Wolverine}}'s indestructible skeleton, and the Silver Surfer's board.

* TwilightHeroes, like ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' above, allows the player to fill a display case with whatever they want; this trope especially fits if said items are the trophies taken from various recurring enemies.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games throw far more artifacts and other items of power and significance at the player than they conceivably have a use for, and many players like to keep mementos of tough kills and hard-won quest rewards. Starting with the jump to 3D in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', it became possible to fill up whatever place you call home with these treasures and put them on display. However, the physics engine introduced in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and present in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', makes it far harder to display more than a few of these items, as trying to place one item next to another will usually knock the already placed item out of place, if not send it ''flying across the room''. Thankfully, many [[GameMod Game Mods]] exist for each of these games which make this process far easier, including full on dedicated trophy room mods.

** The same problem often befalls ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' players, and so ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' introduced weapon stands and armor racks for displaying the various weapons and bits of clothing and armor that the player accumulates over the game.

** Superman also gave his pal Comicbook/JimmyOlsen a souvenir of each adventure (which Jimmy, naturally, keeps scrupulously organized and labeled). This was the focus of a story in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'', where a criminal on the run corners Jimmy and orders him to provide some gizmo to help him escape the law. See the comic's cover on Website/{{Superdickery}} [[http://superdickery.com/images/stories/dick/1027_4_005.jpg here]].

** There's also a "future" Superman Museum in one of the ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' continuities -- with a holographic Jimmy Olsen as the tour guide.

--> '''Poison Ivy:''' So, Harv, what became of the giant penny?
--> '''Two-Face:''' They actually let him keep it!

* Superman's been ''in'' at least one Galactic Petting Zoo, and at least one version of Brainiac had the MO of "Collect all the knowledge, then destroy the originals so my copy's worth more".

** The Justice League also has a trophy museum at the Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C.

-->'''Ms. Oberon:''' Well, my class hung a bunch of ''Civil War swords'' on the walls. They brought them back from that...I don't know what to call it. [[ItMakesSenseInContext A kidnapping arranged by a fellow student?]]

** SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker also commented on it when he teamed up with Batman in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. "Look at all your toys! My own wing! [[FoeYay I knew you cared.]]"

* ''{{Nightside}}'' Adventurer Club's decorations: the shadow of Leopard Man, alien skull, used as an ashtray, something from ''[[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Black Lagoon]]'', stuffed and mounted, the ever-burning demon head, a mummified hand of the original Grendel monster (donated by ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' himself) and other interesting stuff.

* Literature/SherlockHolmes is the UrExample. He always keeps a "trophy" from all of his solved cases - he wears his first (the Inverness cape.)

* In Mark Millar's ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' story arc the future [[spoiler: president of the United States, ComicBook/RedSkull, has his own trophy room full of items belonging to superheroes he and other supervillains killed.]]

* In many of her games, ''Franchise/TombRaider'''s Lara Croft has one in Croft Manor that serves as an EasterEgg. Often, the treasures inside are call backs to previous titles. It makes sense for her as she's an AdventurerArchaeologist.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games throw far more artifacts and other items of power and significance at the player than they conceivably have a use for, and many players like to keep mementos of tough kills and hard-won quest rewards. Starting with the jump to 3D in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', it became possible to fill up whatever place you call home with these treasures and put them on display. However, the physics engine introduced in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and present in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', makes it far harder to display more than a few of these items, as trying to place one item next to another will usually knock the already placed item out of place, if not send it ''flying across the room''. Thankfully, many [[GameMod Game Mods]] exist for each of these games which make this process far easier, including full on dedicated trophy room mods.
* TwilightHeroes, like ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' above, allows the player to fill a display case with whatever they want; this trope especially fits if said items are the trophies taken from various recurring enemies.

* The episodic ''VideoGame/SanAndMaxFreelancePolice'' adventure games from Creator/TelltaleGames had the closet in the main characters' office fill with souvenirs from the previous installments -- including a CardSharp from the first season who was left bound and gagged for months after being interrogated.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games throw far more artifacts and other items of power and significance at the player than they conceivably have a use for, and many players like to keep mementos of tough kills and hard-won quest rewards. Starting with the jump to 3D in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', it became possible to fill up whatever place you call home with these treasures and put them on display. The physics engine, introduced in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and present in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', made it far harder to display more than a few of these items, as trying to place another item next to them will send the initial item flying across the room. Thankfully, many mods exist for all of these games which make this process far easier, including full on dedicated trophy room mods.

-->'''Bond:''' This is where they keep the old relics, is it?

* In ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', Q has a collection of items from previous movies.

* In ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', Q has a collection of stuff.

* ''{{Nightside}}'' Adventurer Club's decorations: the shadow of Leopard Man, alien skull, used as an ashtray, something from ''[[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Black Lagoon]]'', stuffed and mounted, the ever-burning demon head, a mumified hand of the original Grendel monster (donated by ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' himself) and other interesting stuff.

** Superman's Fortress of Solitude has a zoo with animals from across the galaxy, shrines to his home planet, statues of his friends and enemies, a [[PhantomZonePicture window to the Phantom Zone]], toys and weapons from all around, and even even (in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'') the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic. That is because [[OneOfUs Superman is a gigantic nerd]], and this is why the world's richest nerd's house will look a lot like the Fortress of Solitude.

** In the animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', the trophy room is started at the suggestion of Alfred, who proposes that if that the public grows to like Batman he could have a Batman museum, like the Flash has his.

** An adventure has his enemies create a trophy room as well, all part of a Xanatos Gambit. His archenemy Paul Saveen claims it was intended as a tribute to Tom's success - and actually compares it to the trophy room of a hunter.

* Subverted with ''ComicBook/AstroCity'''s Samaritan, who has "the Closet" (not ''[[TransparentCloset that]]'' kind), a PhantomZone that he uses only as storage space for the many awards and souveniers that he receives, and which merely gather the extradimensional equivalent of dust.

** Nite Owl II also keeps a modest trophy case in his workshop full of momentoes from his career as a superhero. Then again, he is supposed to be kind of a dork.

* Most iterations of the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' have a trophy room. This sometimes serves as a Chekov's Gun, despite Batman making sure the trophies are harmless. During the time the first Green Arrow was dead, the second one used a collection of his father's original cheesy arrows to defeat the Key, a super-powerful villain. Being able to open portals to higher levels of reality doesn't quite help when you're still vulnerable to a boxing glove arrow to the face.

Also, superheroes who put too much thought on their collections began to look like a bunch of overgrown children.

Superheroes also have a thing for making shrines to people: Photos of enemies, statues of friends and {{Love Interest}}s, the chattel that belonged to their old {{sidekick}}s, et cetera. This might be a bit creepy to modern readers: "So, Superman, you really have [[StalkerShrine a room in your fortress filled with depictions]] of [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} your scantly clad cousin]]? Why, exactly?" But it makes sense when you consider that, comics being a visual medium - decades before the DecompressedComic revolution - it was pretty hard to represent someone's feelings without resorting to clunky speeches like, "[[PurpleProse Jane is so beautiful! If only I could tell her how much she means to me! But I dare not...for a girl so lovely would never marry a lame man!]]"

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games throw far more artifacts and other items of Power and Significance at the player than they conceivably have a use for, and many players like to keep mementos of tough kills and hard-won quest rewards on display. The physics engine in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' made it easier to arrange and organize these than in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', but dedicated 'trophy room' mods exist for both games.

* This tendency became a major plot point of ''Film/SkyHigh''. Here's a hint for all the superheroes out there: Don't let your kid have access to your collection of confiscated supervillain weapons!

* In the future of the Maestro (an [[FutureMeScaresMe evil future version]] of [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk the Incredible Hulk]]), Rick Jones had a trophy room/reliquary full of mementos, including CaptainAmerica's shield, {{Spider-Man}}'s web shooters, Nova's helmet, several Iron Man armors, {{Wolverine}}'s indestructible skeleton, and the Silver Surfer's board.

Also, superheroes who put too much thought on their collections began to look like a bunch of overgrown children. And having stuff from different planets ''just because'' is a good way to say, "Hey, look at me, I'm a MartyStu".