History Main / FingerInTheMail

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. Lampshaded in "First Night" when criminals kidnap a foreign dignitary for ransom and make it quite clear that they're willing to cut off his fingers if needed. Later as Cowley is briefing his minister, Later Bodie and Doyle inform him that a package from the kidnappers has been dropped off.

* Also parodied on the Nickelodeon show ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'', where the school bully, Loomer, takes the title character's Life Science baby care project doll and sends it back to them piece by piece. The horrified [[GeniusDitz Cookie]] exclaims, "What do we do now?" to which Ned smiles and replies, "Nothing." Backfires when the day before the babies are to be inspected the teacher suddenly moves up the deadline they still don't have the head.

** In another episode, mobsters have kidnapped a boxer's girlfriend to make him throw a fight. They start by showing a few of the normal items which he dismisses, then they show him her toaster (complete with toast popping up). During the fight, he checks the crowd and the mob's man is sitting there with her clothes dryer, and he keeps displaying household items up to an entire washing machine.

* A killer in ''Manga/MPDPsycho'' sends one of the detectives looking for him the armless, legless torso of [[StuffedIntoTheFridge the detective's girlfriend in an ice chest]].

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' has a particularly extreme example. When the assassination branch of the Passione mafia tries to discover their boss's identity so they can [[KlingonPromotion kill him and take over]], the boss sends them a message to back off by killing one of them, chopping him into pieces, and mailing his entire body preserved in blocks of formalin to the rest of the squad for them to reassemble like a grisly puzzle straight out of Damien Hirst's gallery.

** In "Seth and Apep," Christine's kidnappers taunt Mac with a tongue in the mail. It turns out not to be hers, though.

* In the [[DarkerAndEdgier "Five Years Later"]] run of ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'', the crazed killer Roxxas blows up the rock Legionnaire Blok and mails the pieces to the other Legionnaires. But he does so with a message addressed to Graym Ranzz, one of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad's children, saying it's a play set he can put together courtesy of his "Uncle Roxxas." Thank God Graym didn't actually open the container.

* Parodied at ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' when Strong Bad's old computers kidnap his Lappy, they send him her [[Film/TheBigLebowski "toe"]] (a keyboard key) through the mail.

[[folder:Comic Books]

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' has a particularly extreme example. When La Squadra tries to discover their boss's identity so they can [[KlingonPromotion kill him and take over]], the boss sends them a message to back off by killing one of the hitmen, chopping him into pieces, and mailing his entire body preserved in blocks of formalin to the rest of the squad for them to reassemble like a grisly puzzle.

[[folder:Comic Books]]

* In ''Film/SplitSecond'', a long-vanished SerialKiller returns and taunts the protagonist by sending him a metal briefcase that turns out to contain the heart of the first new victim packed in ice with a very large bite taken out of it.

* Case #20 of ''Videogame/CriminalCase'' opens with the player character receiving a severed finger mailed to him/her at the police station.

* In ''[[Fanfic/IcedFairysANewWorld A New World]]'', the Lunarians send a group of messengers to bargain with Gensokyo's powers, hoping they will all fall into line and allow them a clear shot at Eientei. While all negotiations end in catastrophic failure, the Scarlet Devil Mansion takes special care in sending back [[StronglyWordedLetter an appropriate response]] that includes the ears of the messenger.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' has a particularly extreme example. When the Italian Mafia's assassination squad tries to discover their boss's identity so they can [[KlingonPromotion kill him and take over]], the boss sends them a message to back off by killing one of the hitmen, chopping him into pieces, and mailing his entire body preserved in blocks of formalin to the rest of the squad for them to reassemble like a grisly puzzle.

* The plot in ''Literature/CareerOfEvil'' is kick-started when a severed woman's leg that arrives in the mail to the offices of private detective Cormoran Strike.
* In Lawrence Block's ''The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian'' an envelope containing whiskers is stuffed into Carolyn's mailbox to prove that the kidnapper has her missing cat.
* Spoofed in ''Big Dead Place''. A galley manager in Antarctica has his new oven stolen and several parts returned with ransom notes threatening destruction unless [[ComicallySmallDemand he sings "I'm A Little Teapot"]] at the next All-Hands Meeting. He complies.

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My White Whale". In a CutawayGag after Dr. Cox denies acting like a complete lunatic, doll enthusiast Dr. Norris receives a parcel containing the hand of a doll that went missing after he refused to break his schedule to look at Dr. Cox's son. Soon after, Dr. Cox reveals that [[SubvertedTrope the hand belongs to another doll]]--not the one that Dr. Norris is missing.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Forever}}'' begins with a detective receiving a human heart in the mail.
* {{Subverted}} in ''Series/GameOfThrones''; Ramsay Bolton sends King Balon Greyjoy [[spoiler: the severed penis]] of his captured son Theon. As pointed out by Ramsay's father Roose, this is rather StupidEvil, as it means Theon [[spoiler: is now useless as an heir]] and therefore no longer worth ransoming.
* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': In "Hostage", the kidnappers send Steed a lock of Purdey's hair with a warning that worse is to follow if Steed does not obey their instructions.
* ''Series/CSICyber'': In "Python's Revenge", Avery gets sent a severed human head.

* On ''Series/WithoutATrace'' after a man is kidnapped and his wife tries to deliver the ransom, she comes back with his severed finger, claiming the kidnappers want more money and cut his finger off to demonstrate how serious they are. It turns out the ''wife'' engineered the whole thing and told the kidnappers to do it to make the story more plausible.
** In another episode, the agents discover that their VictimOfTheWeek was kidnapped by a "coyote" (someone who illegal immigrant families pay to smuggle their loved ones into the country), whose trademark is to cut off the victim's ear as a warning to those who can't pay him.

* In ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', after a high-level Reaper sends two assassins after Nick, he gets a note back reading, "Next time, send your best", along with the severed heads of the assassins.

* Case #20 of ''Videogame/CriminalCase'' opens with the player character receiving a severed finger mailed to him/her at the police station.

* ''Webcomic/AmazingSuperPowers'' makes a gag out of reassembling the kidnapped victim as they receive severed appendages, but instead of a robot, detectives plan on [[http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2009/01/kidnapping/ reassembling a child.]]
* In ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'', after the Candy King discovers a chocolate spy, he sends the Chocolate Kingdom a box containing [[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/colonel-sweeto/ the spy's "nut".]]

---> '''Lisa:''' He'll pay more money if he thinks the bear's in danger.
--->'''Homer:''' Yes. Send him the eye.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Wheels and the Legman and the Case of Grandpa's Key", Steve and Roger apparently get one of Stan's fingers in the mail. [[spoiler: Subverted; it turned out it was a ruse by Stan and that the "finger" was really a mozzarella stick with the crumbs licked off.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDaltons'' parodies this trope. The Daltons kidnap Rantanplan as part of their escape plan and...cut some fur from his head and send it to the director. The guards and Miss Betty ''scream''. The director tells them that it's just fur.

* In ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', Balalaika has a yakuza boss who betrayed her killed and (offscreen) cut into pieces. She then sends a box containing some of the pieces back to his organization as a reminder that she's ''not'' to be trifled with.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' has a particularly extreme example. When the Italian Mafia's assassination squad tries to discover their boss's identity so they can [[KlingonPromotion kill him and take over]], the boss sends them a message to back off by killing one of the hitmen, chopping him into pieces, and mailing his entire body preserved in blocks of formalin to the rest of the squad for them to reassemble like a grisly puzzle.

* In the Emma Frost [[OriginStory origin comic series]], Emma and her boyfriend Troy are kidnapped by loan sharks that Troy owed money to. When they find out that Emma is the daughter of a millionaire, they ship a box full of her hair and an ear to her family, along with a ransom note. [[spoiler:The ear, it turns out, was actually Troy's, him having been killed earlier trying to save Emma.]]
* The ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story arc [[OriginStory "Origins"]] begins with a small box containing a ransom note and a sample of living tissue belonging to Judge Fargo, the first Chief Judge of Mega-City One and the founder of the Judge system, being delivered to the Hall of Justice.
* ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' In an early comic, the police ask the bereaved to ID the body part. "Is this your husband's scrotum?"
* In a story that followed ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent'', [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark]] receives a letter from Conduit (a fierce enemy of his who died in the previous arc) saying, "The Golden Gopher was mine!" that also contains a lock of ComicBook/JimmyOlsen's hair. This instantly sends Clark flying off to the address indicated by the note, which was what Conduit wanted as he had set up a DeadMansSwitch to kill Jimmy after his death (and, if possible, Superman as well).
* In the ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' tie-in issue of ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'', Magneto has Sabretooth teleported into Wakanda to assassinate T'Challa. T'Challa cuts Sabretooth's head off and sends it back to Magneto in a box.
* In ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'''s "Kitchen Irish" arc, Maginty kidnaps a rival gangster, has him extensively dismembered while he's still alive, and sends each piece in a separate package to his wife. We're shown all the gritty details, including Maginty furious about how much Fed Ex charges for same-day delivery. The wife isn't really fazed, for the record.
* In one ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'' story, ComicBook/BlackCanary is captured by crooks who send a chunk of her hair to the police. The cops think it is a fake as the hair is from a wig, but Green Arrow knows that Canary's blonde hair is actually a wig.

* In ''[[http://kinsfire.fanficauthors.net/Burning_Day/The_Beginning_of_the_End/ Burning Day]]'' the latest Dark Lord wannabe sends Harry a package containing a finger from his youngest daughter. It turns out that [[spoiler: it was actually a transfigured finger sent by Dolores Umbridge to trick him into going {{Papa Wolf}} and doing the Ministry's job for them]].
* A common feature in TheProfessionals fanfics. If Doyle is kidnapped it is almost certain that Bodie (or Cowley or CI5 or [[IHaveYourWife whoever they're trying to persuade]]) will be sent anywhere from one curl to pretty much all of his hair.

* At the end of ''Film/{{Se7en}}'', [[spoiler:a package is received from the captured SerialKiller containing the head of his latest victim -- Mills' wife]].
* In ''Film/SplitSecond'', a long-vanished SerialKiller returns and taunts the protagonist by sending him a metal briefcase that turns out to contain the heart of the first new victim packed in ice with a very large bite taken out of it.

* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', the eponymous "Big" Jeffrey Lebowski is sent one of his wife's, Bunny, toes after a botched money exchange. [[spoiler: Although this is actually a ruse to make Lebowski ''think'' they have his wife, and it turns out that one of the conspirators had his poor girlfriend provide the toe.]]
* In ''Clean Slate'', Dana Carvey is supposed to testify against a criminal who is missing his thumb, because he was kidnapped as a child and his father refused to give in to the kidnappers' demands.
* In ''Film/UnderSiege'', Strannix recounts a tale of how he sent his CIA superior the fingers of two assassins who were sent to kill him.

* In the John Wayne movie ''Brannigan'' (1975), an American member of TheMafia is kidnapped by {{London Gangster}}s who send a finger in the mail when holding him for ransom. [[spoiler:Ironically the mobster is in on the kidnapping, regarding the finger as an acceptable loss.]]
* In ''Paid In Full'' (2002), Sonny, the child of Mitch, is taken hostage [[spoiler: by his uncle Ice and an accomplice named Tommy]]. As told in a scene with Mitch explaining the event, he found an envelope in the morning containing Sonny's severed finger.
* In ''Film/AllTheMoneyInTheWorld'', a secretary receives J.P. Getty III’s ear in the mail.
* ''Film/TheatreOfBlood'': After cutting out Dickman's heart (and ensuring that it weighs exactly one pound), Edward Lionheart mails it to Devlin in a gift-wrapped box.
* In ''Film/{{Gigli}}'', Louis orders Larry and Ricki to send the DA one of his kidnapped brother's thumbs. However, they find themselves unable to go through with it, so they break into a hospital morgue and cut a thumb off a random corpse in his place. Their plan, of course, backfires when the authorities receiving the digit are able to identify thumbprint and confirm it's not Bobby's, which infuriates Mr. Starkman.
* In ''Film/ChaiLaiAngelsDangerousFlowers'', Dragon's gang sends a finger to Rose after they abduct Gus. Rose is very confused when she realizes the finger they have sent is not Gus's.
* In ''Film/{{Copycat}}'', Foley plants a severed finger under Helen's mattress as a warning/message.
* In ''Film/TheCandySnatchers'', the kidnappers plan to cut off Candy's ear so they can send it to her father. Eddy talks them out of it, so instead they force her to scream so they can record it, then purchase an ear from a worker at the local hospital.
* In ''Film/ChinaWhite'', one of the Triad higher-ups is brutally killed, and his head is placed in a wrapped box to be sent back to his subordinates.
* In ''Film/{{Limitless}}'', the main character is sent a box containing the severed hands of his own bodyguards to let him know that they've been taken out and he has no protection.

* In one ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novel, the crimelord who has the halfling Regis captive has one of his men give Drizzt and friends (out to save Regis) a package when they reach his city: a halfling's severed finger. [[spoiler:Not only is it from Regis, the crimelord does it ''again'' as they're breaking into his lair.]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** The Bloody Mummers cut off Jaime Lannister's sword hand, intending to send it to his father with a ransom demand.
** Ramsay Bolton sends flayed skin from Theon Greyjoy to a number of lords. His letter mentions the inclosed "piece of prince."

* In one of the ''Literature/AlexRider'' books, Alex swaps rooms with a friend he made in hospital to protect him from kidnappers (the friend's father is rich). When they catch Alex and decide to send one of his fingers to his "father", Alex panics and admits the truth. [[spoiler: Alex later learns that the entire kidnapping was masterminded by the friend's dad, including this part.]]

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/RoguesInTheHouse", Murilo is given a recognizable ear as a hint. That said, he admits he doesn't know if it's a hint he should flee the city as a fugitive, or that it's just a sign his upcoming execution for his not-yet-revealed treachery against the state. Either way, he decides not to wait and find out and chooses to break out Conan from prison to kill the cruel man who now holds his life in his hands.

* In ''Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf'', the people who kidnapped the prize dog of a RichBitch mail her a box full of said dog's fur. [[spoiler:This also doubles as a way to hide it in the kennel it was being kept at.]]

* In ''Literature/AmericanPsycho'', when Patrick Bateman is listing his priorities before Christmas, one of them is "saw a hardbody's head off and Federal Express it to Robin Barker – the dumb bastard – over at Salomon Brothers".
* In the fifth ''Literature/{{Pendragon}}'' book, St. Dane leaves Bobby a bag containing [[spoiler:Gunny's severed hand]].
* An eponymous example in Ghislain Taschereau's French novel ''Inspector Spector and the Dead Finger'' where the BigBad gets the inspector involved by leaving a dead severed finger on top of a mailbox for no apparent reason. Fortunately, the inspector has a secret weapon: he [[DealWithTheDevil sold his soul to the Devil]] to be [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining the world's greatest detective.]]
* In Joyce Carol Oates' ''My Heart Laid Bare,'' an entire ''body'' is delivered this way, cut up into parts and then stowed in appropriate boxes (the head in a hatbox, feet in a shoebox, etc.)
* In the Literature/PhryneFisher novel ''Away With the Fairies'', the RuthlessModernPirates who abduct Lin Chung mail his ear to Phryne.
* In ''The Bishop's Heir'' of the Literature/{{Deryni}} series, Loris sends Kelson Bishop Henry Istelyn's finger (still wearing his bishop's ring) in a show of defiance. Istelyn's head later follows.
* ''Literature/TheRifter'': How Laurie summoned John into a trap to use him to open the Great Gates: sending him one of his lover Kyle’s fingers. She chose the ring finger, because she was furious that John got his lover back when she couldn’t have her dead husband.

* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4030232/44/Flames_and_Family_II_Road_of_Ruin Flames and Family II: Road to Ruin]]''--a Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn fanfiction--Mochida gives Tsuna a box that is supposedly a gift from Mochida's boss. However, it's revealed to be [[spoiler: the finger of a little child who had been used in a deadly experiment that Mochida's boss was in charge of]]. To make matters worse especially when Mochida [[spoiler: was revealed to actually know what was really in the gift and purposefully said the wrong information in an attempt to kill Tsuna, but Ryohei got hurt instead]]. Needless to say, Tsuna [[TranquilFury was not happy]] [[ColdBloodedTorture at all.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''FanFic/PrincessCelestiaGetsMugged'', the StupidCrooks who kidnap a disguised [[PhysicalGod Princess]] [[PlayAlongPrisoner Celestia]] originally planned on doing this to 'Sunny Skies' with her ear, but ultimately [[EvenEvilHasStandards don't have it in them to do it]] and decide to use her tail and mane instead.

* In ''[[FanFic/IcedFairysANewWorld A New World]]'', the Lunarians send a group of messengers to bargain with Gensokyo's powers, hoping they will all fall into line and allow them a clear shot at Eientei. While all negotiations end in catastrophic failure, the Scarlet Devil Mansion takes special care in sending back [[StronglyWordedLetter an appropriate response]] that includes the ears of the messenger.

* Discussed in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''Series/{{Angel}}'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13381710/1/This-Year-s-Boy This Year's Boy]]"; after Faith accidentally transfers herself into Xander's body rather than Buffy's, she is abducted by Wolfram & Hart, who give Xander-in-Faith twenty-four hours to kill Angel or they will start cutting up his body.

* In ''Film/{{Limitless}}'', the main character is sent a box containing the severed hands of ''his own bodyguards'' to let him know that they've been taken out and he has no protection.

* Happens in ''Manga/{{GUNNM}}'' when Gally shows up at Desty Nova's lab looking for [[spoiler: her foster father, Ido.]] When she demands that Desty tell her where he is, he casually tosses her a head-sized metal box and tells her to take a look for herself.

** One episode deals with the heir of a wealthy family who was abducted at a young age with his brother. When the family was slow with the ransom money, his brother's ear was cut off and sent to the family; later, the brother was killed. The surviving man ''kept the ear'' in a jar of preservative.

** In "Brooklyn 'Til I Die," kidnappers send a millionaire his son's finger in a ring box, with a distinctive ring still attached.

* A less gruesome example in ''Film/TheGodfather''. The Corleone crime family are trying to locate Luca Brasi, a tough guy in their employ [[DramaticIrony whom the audience already knows has been killed]]. Then they find, left on their doorstep, Luca's bulletproof vest wrapped around a fish, which Clemenza interprets as a "Sicilian message" that Luca is dead and has been fitted for CementShoes.
-->It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.

* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: ComicBook/DarkVictory'', someone steals the body of previous untouchable crime lord BigBad Carmine Falcone (who was killed by Two Face in an attempt to "do what is necessary" to take down organized crime) and, later, sends his daughter, who has taken over the crime family, his ''finger'', which her aide recognizes as an "old style message," meaning that someone means to take everything from her, "piece by piece." At the end, the person who stole the body is revealed to be Two Face who, throughout the story, was acting leading nearly all of Batman's rogues gallery to take down the Falcone family and its associates.

* The maniacal doctor Hush from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' [[InvertedTrope turns this around]] by sending Batman the entirety of Catwoman... minus her heart.

* In one of the final Pre-Crisis ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' stories, the ShrunkenHead of a murder victim is sent to one of her friends by a psycho ax murderer who killed her out of jealousy.