History Main / CraniumChase

* In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', [=C3PO=] loses his head (which is attached to a [[{{Mook}} battle droid]] body) and gets himself a battle droid head instead. Both parts of [=C3PO=] then travel to the Geonosis Arena with the battle droids, where R2 and a Jedi help reassemble [=C3PO=].

* The second episode of ''Series/{{Cybervillage}}'' begins with Robogozins' head breaking off and the body running around.

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[[quoteright:320:[[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olaf_headless.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:"I haven't lost my mind; it's right there!"]]

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* Played with in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Though [[AnimatedArmor Al]] does lose his head every now and then, his soul is bound to the chestpiece of the armor. As a result, he can control his body and even see without his helmet.
* Celty the [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] from ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' traveled all the way from England to Japan in search of her head. It's her body that is fully sentient, whereas her head is in a deep sleep.

* In ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', Lala the Dullahan is introduced by having the protagonist help her track down her detachable head.

* On one occasion in ''Master of Kung-Fu'', the evil robot Brynocki finds himself chasing after his head after it is knocked loose.

* Daffy Duck has his head detached while Mother is demonstrating the laser beam function of DJ's spy phone in ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction''. Daffy's body starts feeling around the lab floor for its missing head. "No, no, stupid, over here."

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': As demonstrated by Anna and Kristoff's impromptu game of HotPotato upon first meeting him, the lower part of Olaf's body is often seen wandering aimlessly when his head's not attached (as pictured above).

* In ''Film/HocusPocus'', Billy's head gets lost and he spends a few seconds to find it again.
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', one of Davy Jones' henchmen loses his head. The body then stumbles about trying to find the head while the head tries in vain to give it directions. Eventually he gets tired of waiting and turns into a hermit crab to move on his own.

%%* The Headless Horseman in [[Creator/TimBurton Tim Burton's]] ''Film/SleepyHollow1999''.

* In ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'' has Humma Kavula take one of Zaphod's heads as an incentive for Zaphod to bring him the point of view gun.

* In ''Skuldeggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked'', [[spoiler:Darquesse]] gets [[spoiler:her]] head ripped off by [[spoiler:Mevolent]]. [[spoiler:She]] manages to magically reattach it before [[spoiler:her]] brain dies.
* In ''Literature/TheLegendOfHuma,'' Huma attempts to stop the immortal warlord Crynus by decapitating him with his own battle axe. Unfortunately this barely slows Crynus down, forcing Huma and his companion Kaz into a scramble to keep the severed head away from the still-mobile body. They attempt to use the head as bait to lure the body in front of the sacred Dragonlance that they believe can destroy it, but the body is alarmingly intelligent considering its brains are in a different location and dodges their attempt to skewer it. In the end, Crynus is only destroyed by the dragonfire of the Silver Dragon, just as he's about to put his head back on.

* Tsotha-Lanti, the BigBad of "Literature/TheScarletCitadel", attempts that at the end of the story after being decapitated by [[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]. Of course, with the head promptly snatched up by a powerful rival sorcerer, his chances of retrieving it appear slim, but he still runs after it.

* The second episode of ''{{Series/Cybervillage}}'' begins with Robogozin's head breaking off and the body running around.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]], Amy Pond finds a Cyberman head that still manages to be a threat thanks to CombatTentacles. After she gets some distance...

* A truly outrageous version of this trope happens in the TVB fantasy-drama, ''Series/GodsOfHonor'', when the hero Nezha is challenged by Shen Gong-bao the sorcerer on who can survive the longest after decapitation. Because of their magical nature, they both can survive decapitation and levitate their heads, leading to their flying craniums battling each other in a mid-air chase while their headless bodies remain standing on the ground.
* In the TV miniseries ''Series/KingdomHospital'', a decapitated ghost whose body had its head severed in a morgue prank wanders around the netherworldly "Old Kingdom", fumbling blindly for its missing part. [[CrossesTheLineTwice While Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At?" plays on the soundtrack.]]
* ''Series/KolchakTheNightStalker'' episode "Chopper". The skull and body of a dead man are separated. The man's ghost animates his dead body as a HeadlessHorseman and goes on a search for his head, killing the people who murdered him along the way.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "Cured", Kryten wakes up to discover that his head has been removed from his body and stuck on top of a mop handle. His head starts yelling instructions to his body which is blundering along the corridor searching for it.

* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''. A construction worker finds the severed head of a Terminator and takes it home as it goes with his goth décor. Unfortunately the rest of the body comes looking for it.

* ''Johnny Came Home Headless'' by ''Music/TheArrogantWorms'' involves the narrator's room-mate getting decapitated [[WhatDidIDoLastNight during a bender and failing to notice]]. The second verse involves him and Johnny's body trying to find it back and failing, due to Johnny being "absent-minded." The third verse inverts the trope, Johnny's head comes looking for his (now rotten) body.

-->'''Civilian:''' Hey, I'm over here! To your left! Er, my left. Er, our left. (''body goes left'') Right. (''body goes right'') No, not "go right," "correct!" (''body accidentally kicks head'') It's not a soccer game! Use your brain! Oh, I guess that's over here. (''body kicks head again'') Ow! Just bend down slow and-- (''body kicks head high into the air, and it lands on the neck'') He shoots, he scores, OW!
* In ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark3'', at one point the player encounters a beheaded [[InvincibleMinorMinion invincible]] zombie. To defeat him, the player must take his head, which is lying on a nearby table, and throw it to a pit so that the zombie jumps into the pit looking for his head.
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has an enemy called [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Yorick]], which is a skeleton chasing his own head... and continually stumbling into it and kicking it like a soccer ball.
* In ''Disney Villains' Revenge'', [[WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland Alice]] gets her head chopped off and the player has to go into a hedge maze to retrieve it.

* One of the {{Snowlem}}s in ''VideoGame/FrostyNights'' leaves his head on a windowsill. The head then rolls onto the floor when his body enters, before it puts its head back on and goes after [[PlayerCharacter the child]].

* ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' builds game mechanics around this trope. You hop about as a naked Jim, seeking to re-enter your super suit.
* ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'': Ms Fortune's head (and the rest of her body) [[DetachmentCombat are all detachable]] and she can even move around as nothing but a head after she throws it as a weapon. She can also call her body over to her head if she wants to reattach.

* In ''Webcomic/BiteMe'', Ginerva winds up falling victim to the guillotine after a group of the, ah, ''disaffected proletariat'' find her aristocratic mien to be singularly insufferable. Being a vampiress, this is a comparatively brief disadvantage. (She wears a ribbon to keep her head tied on for the rest of her existence, though.)

* [[GrimReaper Grim]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' is a [[RunningGag constant victim of this.]]
* On the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short ''Mouse Menace'', a robot cat loses its head. It feels around for it but picks up a toaster and puts it on for a while before eventually stumbling into its own head.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' episode "[[Recap/TeenTitansS2E11Fractured Fractured]]", Starfire's head and body are separated when Larry messes with reality. She then has to chase it down.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Happens [[RunningGag quite frequently]] to [[NighInvulnerable Quack Quack]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterBeach'': Inverted. Widget, one of the monsters, is a zombie and her body parts can be disassembled flawlessly. In one episode, her head wakes up without the rest of the body and she starts to look for it.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'': Ditzy jumps and tries to catch back her balloon head after it's blown by one of her sisters in one episode. Otherwise, she sometimes likes having her head separate, like having to hold its string like a balloon.
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': In the episode "Dune Quixote", Genie's head gets seperated from his body while his friends are in the middle of a life-threatening situation.
-->'''Genie's head''': ''(whistles)'' Over here! This way! ''(whistles)'' Wait, what am I whistling for? I'm the part with ears.
* ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'': Seven [[LosingYourHead is capable of surviving removing his own head]] and often finds himself in situations where he loses his head and has to get it back.

* During an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Starfire's head and body are separated when Larry messes with reality. She then has to chase it down.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} zigzags this with regard to [[TinCanRobot Bender]], depending on RuleOfFunny. In some episodes, Bender's head and body act as separate characters when separated, but they usually work together to commit crimes. One episode inverts the trope: when Bender's head is separated from his body, the head tries to chase after the body (who has found a new, more evil head).

* Celty the [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' traveled all the way from England to Japan in search of her head. It's her body that is fully sentient, whereas her head is in a deep sleep.

* In the ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' movie has Humma Kavula take one of Zaphod's heads as an incentive for Zaphod to bring him the point of view gun.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', some of J.D.'s [[ImagineSpot Imagine Spots]] feature him as the "Floating Head Doctor", in which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin his head is floating around]], separated from his body. This usually ends with J.D.'s body catastrophically screwing up the tasks that his head tells him to do.

* In ''Series/{{Ghosts}}'', the decapitated head of ghost Humphrey regularly tries (and fails) to give directions to his body to pick him up.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'', Fender's head falls off because he's lost the bolt that keeps it in place. He tries to pick it up but keeps accidentally kicking it away.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': As demonstrated by Anna and Kristoff's impromptu game of HotPotato upon first meeting him, the lower part of Olaf's body is often seen wandering aimlessly when his head's not attached.

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': In the episode "Dune Quixote", Genie's head gets seperated from his body while his friends were in the middle of a life threatening situation.
-->'''Genie's head:''' ''(whistles)'' Over here! This way! ''(whistles)'' Wait, what am I whistling for? I'm the part with ears.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' episode "Dune Quixote", Genie's head gets seperated from his body while his friends were in the middle of a life threatening situation.

* Jack, in the legend of the Jack o'Lantern. Originally it was a turnip, but he lost his head after making a deal with the devil and then double-crossing him. Neither place wants him and he uses the turnip/pumpkin as a temporary head while looking for his real one.

* In WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries episode "Dune Quixote", Genie's head gets seperated from his body while his friends were in the middle of a life threatening situation.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', while fighting the Headless Horseman, he loses his head, both in the Hallowe'en world event and in the actual dungeon fight. Players have to kill the boss' body, then his head, then kill the body all over again to win the fight.
* Played for laughs in a RandomEncounter in ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland''. A civilian is walking along, then a truck goes by and knocks his head off. The head starts giving directions to the body, which is ineffectually trying to pick up the head and put it back on.

* Tsotha-Lanti, the BigBad of "Literature/TheScarletCitadel" attempts that at the end of the story after being decapitated by [[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]. Of course, with the head promptly snatched up by a powerful rival sorcerer, his chances of retrieving it appear slim, but he still runs after it.

* In ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'', Lala the Dullahan is introduced by having the protagonist help her track down her detachable head.

* In ''Videogame/PlanescapeTorment'', there's Mertwyn the Headless, whose severed head occupies a metal box and has to be carried around... until some thugs stole it and ran off. Since the body can't see where he's going, he's been reduced to wandering the halls and bumping into things, while the head tries to get someone to bring him back. He'll also refuse to explain how this condition came about. While his body appears to be perfectly fine (aside from lacking a head), his head's condition is apparently pretty gruesome, as he begs The Nameless One ''not'' to look into the box it's kept in.

* The Onkies from the ''{{VideoGame/Grow}}'' games may sometime lose their head which rolls a bit away when falling so their body have to get it back.

* In ''Videogame/PlanescapeTorment'', there's Mertwyn the Headless, whose severed head occupies a metal box and has to be carried around... until some thugs stole it and ran off. Since the body can't see where he's going, he's been reduced to wandering the halls and bumping into things, while the head tries to get someone to bring him back. He'll also refuse to explain how this condition came about.