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* ''Film/BestSeller'': After one of Matlock's hitmen kills a witness that Cleve visited to corroborate his story for Meechum, Cleve is so pissed off that he shoots the hitman's already dead body a few more times before exiting the scene.
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* It is revealed in ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire'' that Xerxes decapitated Leonidas as he laid dead, right after the events of the [[Film/ThreeHundred first film]].
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* In the Relight special of ''Anime/DeathNote'', Light humps L's grave.
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* In the Relight special of ''Anime/DeathNote'', ''Manga/DeathNote'', Light humps L's grave.
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* ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode 272: [[DefiedTrope defied]]. After Ichigo enters his ultra-powered Hollow form and apparently kills Ulquiorra, he prepares to stab Ulquiorra's body with his zanpakuto. His friend Uryu Ishida grabs Ichigo's arm and pleads with him not to mutilate Ulquiorra's body, warning Ichigo that if he does it he won't be human anymore.
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* ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'' ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode 272: [[DefiedTrope defied]]. After Ichigo enters his ultra-powered Hollow form and apparently kills Ulquiorra, he prepares to stab Ulquiorra's body with his zanpakuto. His friend Uryu Ishida grabs Ichigo's arm and pleads with him not to mutilate Ulquiorra's body, warning Ichigo that if he does it he won't be human anymore.
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Typo.
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* In ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', Kaladin ends up mutilating Parshendi corpses and attaching bits of their natural armour to regular armour in order to exploit their BeserkButton about disturbing their dead.
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* In ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', Kaladin ends up mutilating Parshendi corpses and attaching bits of their natural armour to regular armour in order to exploit their BeserkButton BerserkButton about disturbing their dead.
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After killing a black dragon [[spoiler:that was threatening the elf's family]], Vaarsuvius animates its head as an undead, [[spoiler:uses it to cast an epic spell that kills its entire bloodline]], and then disintegrates it.
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After killing a black dragon [[spoiler:that was [[spoiler:for threatening the elf's family]], Vaarsuvius animates its head as an undead, [[spoiler:uses [[spoiler:targets it to cast with an epic spell that kills its entire bloodline]], bloodline and all of its extended relatives, taunts it for its failure]], and then disintegrates it.
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* One mission in the first ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' involves a man trying to get his wife's body back after she's killed in action so he can properly bury her, but the Alliance wants to keep her body to do tests on it since they don't have much data on Geth weapons, which she was killed by. Whether or not her husband gets her back is up to the player's actions.
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* In the Relight special of ''Anime/DeathNote'', Light humps L's grave.
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* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'', Dio desecrates Jonathan Joestar's body by severing Jonathan's head and attaching his own so he can claim it for himself. Supplementary materials reveal that Dio actually felt conflicted over doing this to one of the only people he ever respected.
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* In ''Film/DemonKnight'', Brayker DiesWideOpen. Jeryline respectfully [[DueToTheDead closes his eyes]] [[spoiler:before refilling the Key with his blood and taking his place as the new Demon Knight.]] When the Collector finds Brayker's body, he mockingly opens the eyes.
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Removing information unrelated to the trope.
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature related by blood to the that dragon'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]]
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating killing a black dragon that [[spoiler:that was threatening the elf's family, family]], Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's animates its head with necromancy, targets as an undead, [[spoiler:uses it with to cast an epic-level epic spell that ''kills any creature related by blood to the that dragon'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), kills its entire bloodline]], and then disintegrates it.]]
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
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->"Then, when [Achilles] saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the ground full length and with its face downwards.
--> ''Literature/TheIliad'', translation by Samuel Butler
--> ''Literature/TheIliad'', translation by Samuel Butler
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-->-- ''Literature/TheIliad'', translation by Samuel Butler
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expanded on my example a little
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* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'': Unwilling to [[BuryingASubstitute bury a substitute]], Steve and Cath journey into North Korea to retrieve a fallen friend. Finding out his corpse has been badly mutilated serves as a BerserkButton for Steve.
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* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'': Unwilling Realizing the North Korean government has given them the wrong dead guy and unwilling to [[BuryingASubstitute bury a substitute]], Steve and Cath journey into North Korea to retrieve the body of a fallen friend. Finding out his corpse has been badly mutilated serves as a BerserkButton for Steve.
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included redlink to something that is still in YKTTW at the moment but hopefully will be launched soonish
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* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'': Unwilling to [[BuryingASubstitute bury a substitute]], Steve and Cath journey into North Korea to retrieve a fallen friend. Finding out his corpse has been badly mutilated serves as a BerserkButton for Steve.
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* In ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', Kaladin ends up mutilating Parshendi corpses and attaching bits of their natural armour to regular armour in order to exploit their BeserkButton about disturbing their dead.
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-->"Then, when [Achilles] saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the ground full length and with its face downwards.
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->"Then, when [Achilles] saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the ground full length and with its face downwards.
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature that the dragon was related to by blood'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]]
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to nip halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to nip halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature that the dragon was related by blood to by blood'' the that dragon'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]]
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire tonip halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to
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** AffablyEvil, WickedCultured, and {{Noble Demon}}s usually avoid this whenever possible because EvenEvilHasStandards, so desecrating the dead may point to a CompleteMonster.
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** AffablyEvil, WickedCultured, and {{Noble Demon}}s usually avoid this whenever possible because EvenEvilHasStandards, so desecrating the dead may point to a CompleteMonster.Complete Monster.
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[[folder:Card games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' has the "Mutilate the bodies" card, which can be played after any combat, allowing its player to go up a level by gratuitously hacking to pieces anything or anyone that fell during the fight.
[[/folder]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' has the "Mutilate the bodies" card, which can be played after any combat, allowing its player to go up a level by gratuitously hacking to pieces anything or anyone that fell during the fight.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* From ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' we have a variation that crosses over with KickThemWhileTheyAreDown. When [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Gato]] arrives on the scene after Haku's death, the very first thing he does is [[KickTheDog kick]] Haku's body in the face as payback for Haku breaking his arm while wishing that he was still alive to feel the hit, much to Naruto's horror. This scene makes watching his KarmicDeath at Zabuza's hands all the more satisfying.
[[/folder]]
* From ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' we have a variation that crosses over with KickThemWhileTheyAreDown. When [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Gato]] arrives on the scene after Haku's death, the very first thing he does is [[KickTheDog kick]] Haku's body in the face as payback for Haku breaking his arm while wishing that he was still alive to feel the hit, much to Naruto's horror. This scene makes watching his KarmicDeath at Zabuza's hands all the more satisfying.
[[/folder]]
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* Early in ''Webcomic/SquidNinja'', the title character would pose his kills with their fingers up their nostrils, as a calling card of sorts.
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[[folder:Live action TV]]
* One episode of ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' mentions a British army unit that dug up the corpse of an old foe and beheaded it. The victim is the soldier who did the actual beheading, slain by a retired partisan of said foe after a chance meeting.
[[/folder]]
* One episode of ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' mentions a British army unit that dug up the corpse of an old foe and beheaded it. The victim is the soldier who did the actual beheading, slain by a retired partisan of said foe after a chance meeting.
[[/folder]]
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature that the dragon was related to by blood'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]]
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* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature that the dragon was related to by blood'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]] ]]
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to nip halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
** There was also a pragmatic reason for the spell, but it was warped too: V claimed a desire to nip halt a family-based CycleOfRevenge here and now (the dragon had attacked in revenge for the party slaying her son), but in the process made self an enemy of [[spoiler:anyone with a ''non-''blood relation to any of the dragon's family members]]...
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misuse
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* A pragmatic variation occurs in ''Film/TheUntouchables'', when the eponymous squad has captured a Capone henchman and is trying to get him to talk about Capone's finances. When the henchman refuses to talk, Malone wanders outside, grabs the corpse of a {{Mook}} killed in the preceding gunfight, and after pretending to threaten to kill him if he won't talk, shoots the corpse through the head, spattering the henchman with gore. The henchman, [[CaptainObvious believing he'd witnessed an actual execution]], is ''very'' cooperative afterwards.
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* A pragmatic variation occurs in ''Film/TheUntouchables'', when the eponymous squad has captured a Capone henchman and is trying to get him to talk about Capone's finances. When the henchman refuses to talk, Malone wanders outside, grabs the corpse of a {{Mook}} killed in the preceding gunfight, and after pretending to threaten to kill him if he won't talk, shoots the corpse through the head, spattering the henchman with gore. The henchman, [[CaptainObvious believing he'd witnessed an actual execution]], execution, is ''very'' cooperative afterwards. afterwards.
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Spaces in wiki words
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* Villains and {{VillainProtagonist}}s:
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* Villains and {{VillainProtagonist}}s: {{Villain Protagonist}}s:
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** AffablyEvil, WickedCultured, and {{NobleDemon}}s usually avoid this whenever possible because EvenEvilHasStandards, so desecrating the dead may point to a CompleteMonster.
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** AffablyEvil, WickedCultured, and {{NobleDemon}}s {{Noble Demon}}s usually avoid this whenever possible because EvenEvilHasStandards, so desecrating the dead may point to a CompleteMonster.
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NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
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--> "I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price." [[note]][[spoiler: A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]][[/note]]
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--> "I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price." [[note]][[spoiler: A [[labelnote:spoiler]]A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]][[/note]][[/labelnote]]
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-->At the very end, he found himself using the bayonet--the threat of it, at least--to drive off some of the men of his squad. The killing was done, but they kept on.\\
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-->At the very end, he found himself using the bayonet--the threat of it, at least--to drive off some of the men of his squad. The killing was done, but they kept on.\\ \\
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%%
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%% If you are adding examples please make sure they do not happen at a funeral (LastDisrespects),
%% are not justified to keep the victim dead (MakeSureHesDead),
%% or are not continuing to hit someone they already beat to death in a rage (PummelingTheCorpse).
%%
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--> "I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price."
::[[spoiler: A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]]
::[[spoiler: A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]]
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--> "I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price."
::[[spoiler:" [[note]][[spoiler: A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]] ]][[/note]]
::[[spoiler:
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%%
%% Examples are alphabetized.
%%
->"Then, when [Achilles] saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the ground full length and with its face downwards.
--> ''Literature/TheIliad'', translation by Samuel Butler
Usually when someone dies in fiction their body is ignored. If they're important (or just important to the plot), you may see them being buried or inspected at a local morgue, but due to the LawOfConservationOfDetail they are usually quickly forgotten. Sometimes, though, the deceased gets a lot more attention.
Sometimes a character has a [[MakeSureHesDead pragmatic reason]] to kill a dead person again, or is [[PummelingTheCorpse too emotional to stop themselves]] even though their victim is long past resistance. In this case, however, a character makes a deliberate decision to humiliate or punish the dead person even further. Sometimes they're so angry that death just isn't enough, and sometimes they're so evil they want to play with them some more. Spite, revenge, intimidation, and depravity are common motivators for desecrating the dead - for both Heroes and Villains.
It isn't always the physical corpse that's being desecrated; the spirit of the victim can be targeted for further abuse, a grave or monument can be defaced, or the works of the person can be destroyed even if they could be utilized for the betterment of society because it's more important to erase the creator.
The message sent is often dependent on what kind of character does the desecration:
* Villains and {{VillainProtagonist}}s:
** It's usually a ForTheEvulz or KickTheDog moment proving just how depraved they are.
** AffablyEvil, WickedCultured, and {{NobleDemon}}s usually avoid this whenever possible because EvenEvilHasStandards, so desecrating the dead may point to a CompleteMonster.
** It's more common as a threat than as an actual action, both because the villains usually lose or die before they have the hero's corpse to play with and because it's an easy way to show their depravity without actually having to ''show'' anything.
* Heroes:
** Usually a KickTheSonOfABitch moment because the dead villain really deserved it, or a case of PayEvilUntoEvil.
** If not, it's likely a morally gray moment (when it's arguably necessary or deserved) or sign of an approaching IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim-type MoralEventHorizon (when it [[DisproportionateRetribution definitely isn't]]). To keep them heroic, they can be disturbed by their own actions and look for a way to [[TheAtoner make up for it]].
** May be a sign of SanitySlippage or [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil morality slippage]] if they've been pushed into it by a villain's torment or goading.
* {{Antihero}}es / {{Antivillain}}s:
** Often exists to prove to the audience that they really deserve their darker reputations.
** They may be the PoisonousFriend, doing what they feel has to be done but the morally purer characters can't.
Compare this to KickThemWhileTheyreDown (where the victim is usually still alive), OfCorpseHesAlive (where the corpse is used as a puppet to maintain a pretense that the deceased is alive), and TheresNoKillLikeOverkill (in which the death itself is the abuse).
May overlap with WhatTheHellHero (if the good guys do this and are called out on it), CreepySouvenir (when a part of the corpse is kept as a trophy), DeadGuyOnDisplay (when the corpse is displayed publicly, whether mistreated or not), or LastDisrespects (when the abuse happens at the funeral). An extremely mild version of corpse abuse might be the SpitefulSpit.
Supertrope to PummelingTheCorpse (when a person can't stop beating someone they've already killed because of an emotional breakdown) and MakeSureHesDead (which is the justified version, and which may overlap with RasputinianDeath in cases where the dead has to be desecrated to keep them that way).
As a DeathTrope, spoilers may be unmarked. You have been warned.
NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
!!!When a Protagonist Desecrates the Dead:
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode 272: [[DefiedTrope defied]]. After Ichigo enters his ultra-powered Hollow form and apparently kills Ulquiorra, he prepares to stab Ulquiorra's body with his zanpakuto. His friend Uryu Ishida grabs Ichigo's arm and pleads with him not to mutilate Ulquiorra's body, warning Ichigo that if he does it he won't be human anymore.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/GameraVsZigra''. After killing the spiky shark-monster Zigra, Gamera bangs a rock against Zigra's spines like a xylophone, playing the first few notes of his own theme music.
* Sergeant Donowitz has the pleasure of killing Adolf Hitler in the movie theater in Tarantino's ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. The theater is burning, the exits are blocked, and bombs are set to detonate. But that's not enough for "the Bear Jew," who repeatedly changes magazines to continue pumping bullets into Hitler's body.
* In ''Film/PacificRim'', after downing the Kaiju Leatherback, Raleigh "checks for a pulse" by unloading several rounds into the corpse to the point where its chest cracks open and ''starts disintegrating''.
* In ''Film/TheSearchers'', Ethan Edwards demonstrates how much of an anti-hero he is by shooting out eyes of a dead Comanche warrior. He explains to his allies that, according to the Comanche religion, one can't enter the afterlife without eyes, so he's just doomed the dead man to wander the Earth forever.
* In the Spanish film ''Torrente 3'', after killing an EliteMook with their guns, Torrente and his sidekick not only [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill empty the whole magazine]] into his body, but they also throw the guns on him, ''then'' they spit on him.
* In ''Film/{{Troy}}'', Achilles promises to disfigure Hector's corpse after he kills him. After he does the deed, he drags the body behind his chariot and later, we get a close up of Hector's body to see that Achilles made good on his promise.
* A pragmatic variation occurs in ''Film/TheUntouchables'', when the eponymous squad has captured a Capone henchman and is trying to get him to talk about Capone's finances. When the henchman refuses to talk, Malone wanders outside, grabs the corpse of a {{Mook}} killed in the preceding gunfight, and after pretending to threaten to kill him if he won't talk, shoots the corpse through the head, spattering the henchman with gore. The henchman, [[CaptainObvious believing he'd witnessed an actual execution]], is ''very'' cooperative afterwards.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* Pointedly averted in ''Literature/BigRed''. The narrator notes that after the dog Big Red had killed Old Majesty, the [[BearsAreBadNews terrifying bear that had been harassing the country]], he didn't tear at or worry the corpse. He simply lay down. The author sees this as nobility of spirit.
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] [[PlayedForLaughs for Laughs]] in ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Arthur Dent threatens to have Mr Prosser (the council worker who knocked Arthur's house down) hung, drawn, and quartered, and then to cut him up into little bits, and then take the little bits and jump on them.
* In ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', Keladry normally buries enemy dead before they can be defiled by the Stormwings (see "When other people..." section below), but she allows them to have the BigBad and his {{Dragon}} because they're so monstrous.
* In ''Literature/TheStolenThrone'', Prince Maric puts the puppet king Meghren's head on a spike in front of Fort Drakon in retaliation for Meghren doing the same to Maric's mother Moira the Rebel Queen a few years before that.
* Discussed in the ''Literature/TrailOfGlory'' novel ''1824: The Rivers of War'' by Creator/EricFlint. After the first battle of Arkansas Post, Sheff has to stop men in his squad from mutilating the corpses of dead freebooters:
-->At the very end, he found himself using the bayonet--the threat of it, at least--to drive off some of the men of his squad. The killing was done, but they kept on.\\
"Stop it, boys!" He shifted the musket to his left hand and dragged off one of his privates. "He's dead, Adams. You just mutilatin' yourself now. Obey me, damn you!"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* On ''Series/BabylonFive'', Vir answers Morden's question [[CatchPhrase "what do you want?"]] as below.
--> "I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price."
::[[spoiler: A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Poetry]]
* In Homer's epic poem ''Literature/TheIliad'', the Greek hero Achilles slays the Trojan warrior Hector. After doing so, he ties Hector's body to the back of his chariot and races around the Trojan beach, proclaiming Greek superiority to Troy for twelve days and twelve nights. Achilles does this because ''Hector'' does it to Achilles's much-loved cousin and best friend Patrocles (well, Hector doesn't really desecrate Patroclus's corpse, he just ''intends'' to, and not in the exact same way that Achilles desecrated Hector's). The Trojans [[AchillesHeel do get their revenge]], and even the Gods themselves eventually get offended by Achilles's actions -- it is the involvement of the Gods that prevents Hector's corpse from being further mutilated, and the end of the Iliad involves Hector getting a proper burial by the Trojans.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* Discussed in ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'': the plot is driven by a debate regarding whether or not the eponymous character's brother, Polynices, who died trying to seize a power vacuum, deserved a proper burial or further desecration.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* The physics engine in many games such as ''VideoGames/TheElderScrolls'' allows the player character to manhandle corpses, but this rarely gets you any repercussion other than a passing comment from the [=NPCs=].
* ''VideoGame/AceAttorney'' has an example in "Trials and Tribulations" involving Dahlia Hawthorne's spirit, as Phoenix Wright and Mia Fey (who is using Pearl's body) taunt and mock her about her failed crimes in order for her [[VillainousBreakdown to get out of Maya Fey's body]]. Dahlia must then spend the rest of her time in the afterlife to forever think about these failures, especially since Mia took great glee in pouring salt on Dahlia's wounds.
* Appears a few times in the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio shakes the corpse of Vieri de Pazzi vigorously and screams rather rudely at his face, and is then rebuked by his uncle for not showing [[DueToTheDead appropriate respect]]. When he later assassinates Fracesco de Pazzi, he leaves his corpse hanging from the Palazzo della Signoria.
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', it's revealed that after murdering Al Mualim for betraying the assassin order, Altair decided to publicly burn his corpse in order to prove he was dead. This greatly troubled Abbas, one of his fellow assassins, who believed Al Mualim's corpse had to remain whole in order for his soul to reach the afterlife.
* In the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Honest Hearts'', [[BadassPreacher Joshua Graham]] creates gruesome totems out of the remains of his enemies, the White Legs tribe, to send a warning to any surviving White Legs who threaten the Dead Horses (another tribe who have elected Joshua as their protector).
* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', Lauren will spit on the Origami Killer's grave if she survives the game but the killer doesn't.
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': At one point the Imperial Agent has to track down and kill a former operative. Since he'd threatened to reveal a number of Kaliyo's secrets as well, after he's dead she says she'd like to kick his corpse around a few times, but she doesn't want the explosive implanted in him to go off.
* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': In the expansion, the human leader Lord Garithos, an all-around asshole and racist (directly responsible for the Blood Elves fleeing Lordaeron and allying themselves with the Burning Legion) is finally betrayed by Sylvanas and killed at the end of the Undead campaign. As if this wasn't enough, a bunch of Sylvanas' ghouls immediately start feasting on his corpse. [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Note that this is completely impossible in regular gameplay]] (heroes don't leave corpses, and units that are even partially eaten can't be raised back) - he evidently just has that much bad karma stored up.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' when Tagon is questioned about his willingness to take a job working security for his old enemy General Xinchub's funeral (actually a cover so they can steal the corpse) he says: "Aside from the money? I want to be sure he's actually down there when I dance on his grave."
* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature that the dragon was related to by blood'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In in the AnimatedAdaptation of ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'', the Red King is humiliated upon death in several different ways. First, [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] [[CurbStompBattle utterly whips the floor with him]] in their battle, only to hold off at the last minute so that [[HeelFaceTurn the reformed]] [[TheDragon Caiera]] may get the last blow. Caiera kills him by [[spoiler:infecting him with his Spike parasite, causing him to mutate into a zombie. Recognizing him as infected, his own robotic guards turn against him and incinerate his corpse.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/VentureBrothers'', Brock Sampson is attacked by an Egyptian mummy. After beating the crap out of it, he pisses on it, saying that the mummy must be completely desecrated or else it'll just come back to life again.
[[/folder]]
!!!When an Antagonist Desecrates the Dead:
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In one arc of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'', the BigBad claims that after he's found and tortured Frank to death, he'll rape his corpse for a year.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/LicenceToKill'', drug kingpin Franz Sanchez captures a Hong Kong agent who he believed tried to assassinate him (in fact, it was an unrelated plot by James Bond to avenge his friend Felix Leiter). The agent commits suicide by CyanidePill before he can be questioned, and Sanchez shoots his corpse several times to vent his anger.
* The French Foreign Legion film ''Film/MarchOrDie'' from 1977 has young Englishman Fred Hastings captured by the hostile Rif tribe and crucified on a Saint Andrew's cross. When the Legionnaires arrive in formation to retrieve the body, one of El Krim's men begins abusing the corpse to further humiliate the Legionnaires.
* ''Film/PanicRoom''. After getting his face burned in the home robbery, Junior tries to cut his losses and split. Upon learning that there's more money in the safe than Junior had told the other two robbers, Raoul shoots him in the head. He drags Junior's body indoors and shoots the corpse again out of spite.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in the fourth book of ''Literature/TalesOfTheMagicLand'': Urfin Jus incites his army by claiming their enemies wiped out a garrison left to control them, and fed their bodies to pigs. (Of course, the army turns on him as soon as they see the garrison members playing volleyball with the supposed murderers).
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" ends with [[spoiler:the title character's killer stomping on his face]].
--> [[spoiler:She had drawn a little gleaming revolver, and emptied barrel after barrel into Milverton's body, the muzzle within two feet of his shirt front. He shrank away and then fell forward upon the table, coughing furiously and clawing among the papers. Then he staggered to his feet, received another shot, and rolled upon the floor. 'You've done me', he cried, and lay still. The woman looked at him intently, and ground her heel into his upturned face.]]
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[spoiler:the corpses of Robb Stark and Greywind are both beheaded, and Greywind's head is placed on Stark's body. Meanwhile, Catelyn's body is stripped naked and thrown in a moat.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' episode "Dead Man's Switch" has {{blackmail}}er Charles Augustus Milverton being killed and when the body is found his face has been stamped in. [[spoiler: Unlike the book this is because the killer, Anthony Pistone, wanted to hide the scar that has inflicted from his ring, which would prove that they had previous contact and he was in on the blackmailing]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': After Robb Stark is assassinated, the Bolton soldiers sew his wolf's head onto his body and [[DeadGuyOnDisplay parade him around]] in triumph.
* In ''Series/{{Salamander}}'', the loathsome hit-man Noel kills an incorruptible judge investigating the Salamander conspiracy. His blameless PA was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so he kills her too. As an afterthought, the corpses are stripped and placed in a sexually degrading position to further humiliate them, to allow the popular press something salacious to grab onto and divert attention from the reasons for the killing, and basically just for a laugh.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' universe, the forces of Chaos are very fond of this trope - they generally make grotesque trophies of their fallen foes, often decorating their armor spikes with the heads.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* In the end of ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', Macduff severs the eponymous VillainProtagonist's head after he has slain him and has it paraded through the castle.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'', Monokuma considers doing this to Sakura's body after he found out she broke down the door to an important room the students weren't supposed to see before she died.
[[/folder]]
!!!When Other Characters Desecrate the Dead:
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'': After vice-president Alan Schact was revealed as a practicing pedophile by Spider Jerusalem and committed suicide large mounds of human bodily waste were found piled on his grave. A leaked report claimed Spider's DNA was found in the turds.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'', this is the entire purpose of metal-winged immortals called Stormwings: they defecate on and claw battlefield corpses to pieces to leave a stinking, rotten mess. (They were created by a mage in an effort to deter humans from warfare, but it didn't work.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' ends with Officer Frank Tenpenny's body being reportedly stripped naked and mutilated by several of Los Santos's homeless.
* ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'': If you get overwhelmed and killed, Covenant enemies will do this to Master Chief's corpse.
** In PVP, some players like to teabag their fallen opponents as further humiliation.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* Mentioned in the "Sternn" segment of ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'', where Captain Sternn is on trial for multiple charges of murder, piracy, and rape. His attorney urges Sternn to plead guilty from the outset, hoping to avert this trope.
--> '''Charlie''': The best we can hope for is to get you buried in secret, so your grave don't get violated.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Other]]
* In ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG'':
-->1167. I can stop rolling [damage dice] at 7x dead.
[[/folder]]
%% Examples are alphabetized.
%%
->"Then, when [Achilles] saw dawn breaking over beach and sea, he yoked his horses to his chariot, and bound the body of Hektor behind it that he might drag it about. Thrice did he drag it round the tomb of the son of Menoitios, and then went back into his tent, leaving the body on the ground full length and with its face downwards.
--> ''Literature/TheIliad'', translation by Samuel Butler
Usually when someone dies in fiction their body is ignored. If they're important (or just important to the plot), you may see them being buried or inspected at a local morgue, but due to the LawOfConservationOfDetail they are usually quickly forgotten. Sometimes, though, the deceased gets a lot more attention.
Sometimes a character has a [[MakeSureHesDead pragmatic reason]] to kill a dead person again, or is [[PummelingTheCorpse too emotional to stop themselves]] even though their victim is long past resistance. In this case, however, a character makes a deliberate decision to humiliate or punish the dead person even further. Sometimes they're so angry that death just isn't enough, and sometimes they're so evil they want to play with them some more. Spite, revenge, intimidation, and depravity are common motivators for desecrating the dead - for both Heroes and Villains.
It isn't always the physical corpse that's being desecrated; the spirit of the victim can be targeted for further abuse, a grave or monument can be defaced, or the works of the person can be destroyed even if they could be utilized for the betterment of society because it's more important to erase the creator.
The message sent is often dependent on what kind of character does the desecration:
* Villains and {{VillainProtagonist}}s:
** It's usually a ForTheEvulz or KickTheDog moment proving just how depraved they are.
** AffablyEvil, WickedCultured, and {{NobleDemon}}s usually avoid this whenever possible because EvenEvilHasStandards, so desecrating the dead may point to a CompleteMonster.
** It's more common as a threat than as an actual action, both because the villains usually lose or die before they have the hero's corpse to play with and because it's an easy way to show their depravity without actually having to ''show'' anything.
* Heroes:
** Usually a KickTheSonOfABitch moment because the dead villain really deserved it, or a case of PayEvilUntoEvil.
** If not, it's likely a morally gray moment (when it's arguably necessary or deserved) or sign of an approaching IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim-type MoralEventHorizon (when it [[DisproportionateRetribution definitely isn't]]). To keep them heroic, they can be disturbed by their own actions and look for a way to [[TheAtoner make up for it]].
** May be a sign of SanitySlippage or [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil morality slippage]] if they've been pushed into it by a villain's torment or goading.
* {{Antihero}}es / {{Antivillain}}s:
** Often exists to prove to the audience that they really deserve their darker reputations.
** They may be the PoisonousFriend, doing what they feel has to be done but the morally purer characters can't.
Compare this to KickThemWhileTheyreDown (where the victim is usually still alive), OfCorpseHesAlive (where the corpse is used as a puppet to maintain a pretense that the deceased is alive), and TheresNoKillLikeOverkill (in which the death itself is the abuse).
May overlap with WhatTheHellHero (if the good guys do this and are called out on it), CreepySouvenir (when a part of the corpse is kept as a trophy), DeadGuyOnDisplay (when the corpse is displayed publicly, whether mistreated or not), or LastDisrespects (when the abuse happens at the funeral). An extremely mild version of corpse abuse might be the SpitefulSpit.
Supertrope to PummelingTheCorpse (when a person can't stop beating someone they've already killed because of an emotional breakdown) and MakeSureHesDead (which is the justified version, and which may overlap with RasputinianDeath in cases where the dead has to be desecrated to keep them that way).
As a DeathTrope, spoilers may be unmarked. You have been warned.
NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
!!!When a Protagonist Desecrates the Dead:
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode 272: [[DefiedTrope defied]]. After Ichigo enters his ultra-powered Hollow form and apparently kills Ulquiorra, he prepares to stab Ulquiorra's body with his zanpakuto. His friend Uryu Ishida grabs Ichigo's arm and pleads with him not to mutilate Ulquiorra's body, warning Ichigo that if he does it he won't be human anymore.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/GameraVsZigra''. After killing the spiky shark-monster Zigra, Gamera bangs a rock against Zigra's spines like a xylophone, playing the first few notes of his own theme music.
* Sergeant Donowitz has the pleasure of killing Adolf Hitler in the movie theater in Tarantino's ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. The theater is burning, the exits are blocked, and bombs are set to detonate. But that's not enough for "the Bear Jew," who repeatedly changes magazines to continue pumping bullets into Hitler's body.
* In ''Film/PacificRim'', after downing the Kaiju Leatherback, Raleigh "checks for a pulse" by unloading several rounds into the corpse to the point where its chest cracks open and ''starts disintegrating''.
* In ''Film/TheSearchers'', Ethan Edwards demonstrates how much of an anti-hero he is by shooting out eyes of a dead Comanche warrior. He explains to his allies that, according to the Comanche religion, one can't enter the afterlife without eyes, so he's just doomed the dead man to wander the Earth forever.
* In the Spanish film ''Torrente 3'', after killing an EliteMook with their guns, Torrente and his sidekick not only [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill empty the whole magazine]] into his body, but they also throw the guns on him, ''then'' they spit on him.
* In ''Film/{{Troy}}'', Achilles promises to disfigure Hector's corpse after he kills him. After he does the deed, he drags the body behind his chariot and later, we get a close up of Hector's body to see that Achilles made good on his promise.
* A pragmatic variation occurs in ''Film/TheUntouchables'', when the eponymous squad has captured a Capone henchman and is trying to get him to talk about Capone's finances. When the henchman refuses to talk, Malone wanders outside, grabs the corpse of a {{Mook}} killed in the preceding gunfight, and after pretending to threaten to kill him if he won't talk, shoots the corpse through the head, spattering the henchman with gore. The henchman, [[CaptainObvious believing he'd witnessed an actual execution]], is ''very'' cooperative afterwards.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* Pointedly averted in ''Literature/BigRed''. The narrator notes that after the dog Big Red had killed Old Majesty, the [[BearsAreBadNews terrifying bear that had been harassing the country]], he didn't tear at or worry the corpse. He simply lay down. The author sees this as nobility of spirit.
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] [[PlayedForLaughs for Laughs]] in ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Arthur Dent threatens to have Mr Prosser (the council worker who knocked Arthur's house down) hung, drawn, and quartered, and then to cut him up into little bits, and then take the little bits and jump on them.
* In ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', Keladry normally buries enemy dead before they can be defiled by the Stormwings (see "When other people..." section below), but she allows them to have the BigBad and his {{Dragon}} because they're so monstrous.
* In ''Literature/TheStolenThrone'', Prince Maric puts the puppet king Meghren's head on a spike in front of Fort Drakon in retaliation for Meghren doing the same to Maric's mother Moira the Rebel Queen a few years before that.
* Discussed in the ''Literature/TrailOfGlory'' novel ''1824: The Rivers of War'' by Creator/EricFlint. After the first battle of Arkansas Post, Sheff has to stop men in his squad from mutilating the corpses of dead freebooters:
-->At the very end, he found himself using the bayonet--the threat of it, at least--to drive off some of the men of his squad. The killing was done, but they kept on.\\
"Stop it, boys!" He shifted the musket to his left hand and dragged off one of his privates. "He's dead, Adams. You just mutilatin' yourself now. Obey me, damn you!"
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* On ''Series/BabylonFive'', Vir answers Morden's question [[CatchPhrase "what do you want?"]] as below.
--> "I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price."
::[[spoiler: A couple years later, he gets his wish, as Londo puts Morden's head on a [[DeadGuyOnDisplay pike for display]] on the Palace grounds on Centauri Prime, after having him executed.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Poetry]]
* In Homer's epic poem ''Literature/TheIliad'', the Greek hero Achilles slays the Trojan warrior Hector. After doing so, he ties Hector's body to the back of his chariot and races around the Trojan beach, proclaiming Greek superiority to Troy for twelve days and twelve nights. Achilles does this because ''Hector'' does it to Achilles's much-loved cousin and best friend Patrocles (well, Hector doesn't really desecrate Patroclus's corpse, he just ''intends'' to, and not in the exact same way that Achilles desecrated Hector's). The Trojans [[AchillesHeel do get their revenge]], and even the Gods themselves eventually get offended by Achilles's actions -- it is the involvement of the Gods that prevents Hector's corpse from being further mutilated, and the end of the Iliad involves Hector getting a proper burial by the Trojans.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* Discussed in ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'': the plot is driven by a debate regarding whether or not the eponymous character's brother, Polynices, who died trying to seize a power vacuum, deserved a proper burial or further desecration.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* The physics engine in many games such as ''VideoGames/TheElderScrolls'' allows the player character to manhandle corpses, but this rarely gets you any repercussion other than a passing comment from the [=NPCs=].
* ''VideoGame/AceAttorney'' has an example in "Trials and Tribulations" involving Dahlia Hawthorne's spirit, as Phoenix Wright and Mia Fey (who is using Pearl's body) taunt and mock her about her failed crimes in order for her [[VillainousBreakdown to get out of Maya Fey's body]]. Dahlia must then spend the rest of her time in the afterlife to forever think about these failures, especially since Mia took great glee in pouring salt on Dahlia's wounds.
* Appears a few times in the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio shakes the corpse of Vieri de Pazzi vigorously and screams rather rudely at his face, and is then rebuked by his uncle for not showing [[DueToTheDead appropriate respect]]. When he later assassinates Fracesco de Pazzi, he leaves his corpse hanging from the Palazzo della Signoria.
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', it's revealed that after murdering Al Mualim for betraying the assassin order, Altair decided to publicly burn his corpse in order to prove he was dead. This greatly troubled Abbas, one of his fellow assassins, who believed Al Mualim's corpse had to remain whole in order for his soul to reach the afterlife.
* In the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Honest Hearts'', [[BadassPreacher Joshua Graham]] creates gruesome totems out of the remains of his enemies, the White Legs tribe, to send a warning to any surviving White Legs who threaten the Dead Horses (another tribe who have elected Joshua as their protector).
* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', Lauren will spit on the Origami Killer's grave if she survives the game but the killer doesn't.
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': At one point the Imperial Agent has to track down and kill a former operative. Since he'd threatened to reveal a number of Kaliyo's secrets as well, after he's dead she says she'd like to kick his corpse around a few times, but she doesn't want the explosive implanted in him to go off.
* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': In the expansion, the human leader Lord Garithos, an all-around asshole and racist (directly responsible for the Blood Elves fleeing Lordaeron and allying themselves with the Burning Legion) is finally betrayed by Sylvanas and killed at the end of the Undead campaign. As if this wasn't enough, a bunch of Sylvanas' ghouls immediately start feasting on his corpse. [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Note that this is completely impossible in regular gameplay]] (heroes don't leave corpses, and units that are even partially eaten can't be raised back) - he evidently just has that much bad karma stored up.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' when Tagon is questioned about his willingness to take a job working security for his old enemy General Xinchub's funeral (actually a cover so they can steal the corpse) he says: "Aside from the money? I want to be sure he's actually down there when I dance on his grave."
* Taken UpToEleven by Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. After defeating a black dragon that was threatening the elf's family, Vaarsuvius decides that the dragon hasn't suffered enough for her crimes. [[spoiler:The elf resurrects the dragon's head with necromancy, targets it with an epic-level spell that ''kills any creature that the dragon was related to by blood'' (cutting the world's black dragon population by about a quarter), and then disintegrates it.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In in the AnimatedAdaptation of ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'', the Red King is humiliated upon death in several different ways. First, [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] [[CurbStompBattle utterly whips the floor with him]] in their battle, only to hold off at the last minute so that [[HeelFaceTurn the reformed]] [[TheDragon Caiera]] may get the last blow. Caiera kills him by [[spoiler:infecting him with his Spike parasite, causing him to mutate into a zombie. Recognizing him as infected, his own robotic guards turn against him and incinerate his corpse.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/VentureBrothers'', Brock Sampson is attacked by an Egyptian mummy. After beating the crap out of it, he pisses on it, saying that the mummy must be completely desecrated or else it'll just come back to life again.
[[/folder]]
!!!When an Antagonist Desecrates the Dead:
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In one arc of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'', the BigBad claims that after he's found and tortured Frank to death, he'll rape his corpse for a year.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/LicenceToKill'', drug kingpin Franz Sanchez captures a Hong Kong agent who he believed tried to assassinate him (in fact, it was an unrelated plot by James Bond to avenge his friend Felix Leiter). The agent commits suicide by CyanidePill before he can be questioned, and Sanchez shoots his corpse several times to vent his anger.
* The French Foreign Legion film ''Film/MarchOrDie'' from 1977 has young Englishman Fred Hastings captured by the hostile Rif tribe and crucified on a Saint Andrew's cross. When the Legionnaires arrive in formation to retrieve the body, one of El Krim's men begins abusing the corpse to further humiliate the Legionnaires.
* ''Film/PanicRoom''. After getting his face burned in the home robbery, Junior tries to cut his losses and split. Upon learning that there's more money in the safe than Junior had told the other two robbers, Raoul shoots him in the head. He drags Junior's body indoors and shoots the corpse again out of spite.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in the fourth book of ''Literature/TalesOfTheMagicLand'': Urfin Jus incites his army by claiming their enemies wiped out a garrison left to control them, and fed their bodies to pigs. (Of course, the army turns on him as soon as they see the garrison members playing volleyball with the supposed murderers).
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" ends with [[spoiler:the title character's killer stomping on his face]].
--> [[spoiler:She had drawn a little gleaming revolver, and emptied barrel after barrel into Milverton's body, the muzzle within two feet of his shirt front. He shrank away and then fell forward upon the table, coughing furiously and clawing among the papers. Then he staggered to his feet, received another shot, and rolled upon the floor. 'You've done me', he cried, and lay still. The woman looked at him intently, and ground her heel into his upturned face.]]
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[spoiler:the corpses of Robb Stark and Greywind are both beheaded, and Greywind's head is placed on Stark's body. Meanwhile, Catelyn's body is stripped naked and thrown in a moat.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' episode "Dead Man's Switch" has {{blackmail}}er Charles Augustus Milverton being killed and when the body is found his face has been stamped in. [[spoiler: Unlike the book this is because the killer, Anthony Pistone, wanted to hide the scar that has inflicted from his ring, which would prove that they had previous contact and he was in on the blackmailing]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': After Robb Stark is assassinated, the Bolton soldiers sew his wolf's head onto his body and [[DeadGuyOnDisplay parade him around]] in triumph.
* In ''Series/{{Salamander}}'', the loathsome hit-man Noel kills an incorruptible judge investigating the Salamander conspiracy. His blameless PA was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so he kills her too. As an afterthought, the corpses are stripped and placed in a sexually degrading position to further humiliate them, to allow the popular press something salacious to grab onto and divert attention from the reasons for the killing, and basically just for a laugh.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' universe, the forces of Chaos are very fond of this trope - they generally make grotesque trophies of their fallen foes, often decorating their armor spikes with the heads.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* In the end of ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', Macduff severs the eponymous VillainProtagonist's head after he has slain him and has it paraded through the castle.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'', Monokuma considers doing this to Sakura's body after he found out she broke down the door to an important room the students weren't supposed to see before she died.
[[/folder]]
!!!When Other Characters Desecrate the Dead:
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'': After vice-president Alan Schact was revealed as a practicing pedophile by Spider Jerusalem and committed suicide large mounds of human bodily waste were found piled on his grave. A leaked report claimed Spider's DNA was found in the turds.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'', this is the entire purpose of metal-winged immortals called Stormwings: they defecate on and claw battlefield corpses to pieces to leave a stinking, rotten mess. (They were created by a mage in an effort to deter humans from warfare, but it didn't work.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' ends with Officer Frank Tenpenny's body being reportedly stripped naked and mutilated by several of Los Santos's homeless.
* ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'': If you get overwhelmed and killed, Covenant enemies will do this to Master Chief's corpse.
** In PVP, some players like to teabag their fallen opponents as further humiliation.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* Mentioned in the "Sternn" segment of ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'', where Captain Sternn is on trial for multiple charges of murder, piracy, and rape. His attorney urges Sternn to plead guilty from the outset, hoping to avert this trope.
--> '''Charlie''': The best we can hope for is to get you buried in secret, so your grave don't get violated.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Other]]
* In ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG'':
-->1167. I can stop rolling [damage dice] at 7x dead.
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