History Main / StingyJack

* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'': As with other folkloric creatures, Stingy Jack turns out to be an alien. In this case, an evil creature that steals children for slave labor.

* ''Franchise/Pokemon'' has the Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, who are ghosts that are shaped like modern jack o' lanterns. Some of the moves they can learn are based on Halloween.

* ''VideoGame/{{Slashout}}'' have various pumpkin-headed enemies in the forest, who attacks you by ''throwing'' [[LosingYourHead their heads]]. They regrow a new head after throwing the previous.

* [[http://www.rockpapercynic.com/index.php?date=2016-10-31 This]] strip from ''Rock, Paper, Cynic''.

* In the ''{{Comicbook/Fables}}'' spinoff ''Jack of Fables'', Jack Horner finds a devil by the name of Old Scratch who's trapped up a tree because the locals surrounded the tree with crosses. Scratch can tell that Jack is destined for Hell and decides to make a deal with Jack. Jack frees him, and Jack doesn't have to go to Hell. Sweet deal. He agrees, Old Scratch runs free and Jack spends the rest of his life however he wants. He ends up getting caught kidnapping a princess and is executed for his crime, but the executioner is such a lousy shot that he ends up getting Jack's back, the side of his neck and his scalp cut off before the executioner somehow ends up getting his own face hacked at. Jack is denied entry into Heaven and makes his way to Hell where Old Scratch is waiting. Remembering their deal, the Devil keeps him out, giving him nothing but a lit coal to light his way. Lost in the mortal plane, Jack comes across [[Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow the Headless Horseman]], who he knocks out and takes his jack o'lantern head for himself to carry the coal.

* One of the many monsters in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'' is a tall figure with a jack o'lantern for a head that breaths fire.

* Sam from ''Film/TrickRTreat'' is a malevolent being that appears on Halloween, doing trick or treating (said tricks killing people) and has a head that looks a lot like a jack o'lantern.

* This was one of the topics in the ''Series/TruthOrScare'' episode about Halloween, as it explains how Jack O' Lanterns came to be. The legend is simplified that an Irish man named Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree, but the devil had the last laugh. After Jack died, his spirit was forced to wander alone and the only thing that keeps him close is a carved turnip. When the Irish emigrated to the United States, they brought their legends with them and used pumpkins for this one as they are easier to find.

* ''VideoGame/BoundByBlades'': The first boss, Gallows, is a {{scary scarecrow|s}} with a pumpkin for a head, who constantly glows green and can fire lasers from it's core.

* ''Franchise/Pokemon'' has the Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, who are ghost that shape like the modern jack o' lanterns. Some of the moves they can learn are based on Halloween.

* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'': Subverted. Though players are expected to assume that the alarmingly persistent humanoid pumpkin abomination Jack, who haunts [[LovecraftCountry Solomon Island]] and rules over the local population of [[WillOTheWisp Will o' Wisps]], is indeed Stingy Jack, he's later revealed to have been a turn-of-the-century Irish American musician who made the mistake of courting the daughter of local psychopathic sorcerer Archie Henderson, and was transformed into a monster as a twisted punishment after being caught with her in Henderson's pumpkin patch. Although the player never encounters him, the lore implies that the original Stingy Jack [[AllMythsAreTrue also exists in the setting]].

* What, no mention of ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'''s JustForFun/CandleJack? He'd be v[[spoiler:ery pleased to note that he very much enjoys this trope, and that he's very quickly running out of rope.]]

* As a homage to Jack from the Billy and Mandy Halloween special, Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow from ''WesternAnimation/HappyHalloweenScoobyDoo'' fits this as not only sports a scythe, but also has an army of mutated pumpkins (though they're just drones).
* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'': As with other folkloric creatures, Stingy Jack turns out to be an alien. In this case an evil creature that steals children for slave labor.

* ''Manga/BusterKeel'': Jack "the Pierrot" is one of the Shikyou ("Four Evils", the four strongest monsters in the setting) and is an S-Class monster known as Jack O'Lantern: he appears as a clownish human with a pumpkin mask and is a deranged PsychopathicManchild who dabbles in necromantic magic and summon horrible creatures he refers to as "toys". [[spoiler: He's also the only Shikyou who's actually aware of the real BigBad and his plot. Also, the pumpkin head is his real body.]]

* Lantern, the primary antagonist of the ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' {{Prequel}} ''JACK''. The murderous ghoul wears a Halloween-themed disguise when hunting, with a pumpkin-head mask and an overly-large trenchcoat. Their motivation also ties into the associated legends: [[spoiler: Minami desperately wants to live as a human, but can never escape her existence as a ghoul. Trapped living a double life, she lashes out and kills people she thinks don't appreciate their good fortune]].

-->'''Haggis''': It's what you wanted, Ed Harley. For each of man's evils, a special Demon exists. You're looking at [[{{Revenge}} Vengeance]] - cruel, devious, pure-as-poison vengeance.

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* The ComicBook/GlobalGuardians originally had a member named Jack O' Lantern from Ireland, and his powers came from a magic fairy lantern. There've been three people using the character's name. The first was killed and replaced by a supervillain's agent to act as TheMole, and then he was killed as well. The third and current version of the character is the cousin of the original. He's been a member of the Guardians and two other teams, Primal Force and the Ultramarine Corps.
* The identity of Jack O' Lantern has been taken by several people in the Marvel Universe, usually as second-string D-Lister foes of ComicBook/SpiderMan. The first Jack O' Lantern, a former CIA agent turned mercenary named Jason Macendale was probably the most notable, though he only gained any sort of prominence (and supernatural ability) after he took over as the Hobgoblin and made a DealWithTheDevil for demonic power. The current Jack O' Lantern is a lackey of the Crime Master, a pyromaniac, and appears to have regenerative abilities.
* A version of him appears in ''IDW Ghostbusters,'' in which he escapes the Devil by putting himself into a ghost trap.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* What, no mention of WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'s JustForFun/CandleJack? He'd be v[[spoiler:ery pleased to note that he very much enjoys this trope, and that he's very quickly running out of rope.]]

* Sam from ''Film/TrickRTreat'' is a malevolent being that appears on Halloween, doing trick or treating (said tricks killing people) and has a head that looks a lot like a jack o'lantern.
* Pumpkinhead from ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}'' is a demon of vengeance that is summoned from a pumpkin patch. Pumpkinhead is usually passed on from person to person, [[DealWithTheDevil given corporeal form from the corpse of the previous summoner]]. To wit:
-->'''Haggis''': It's what you wanted, Ed Harley. For each of man's evils, a special Demon exists. You're looking at [[{{Revenge}} Vengeance]] - cruel, devious, pure-as-poison vengeance.

* More than once in ''Film/HeadlessHorseman'', Headless appears with a jack-o-lantern in place of his head. Destroying the gourd does nothing to slow him down.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' episode "When Halloween was Forever", the Ghostbusters must stop a powerful Halloween ghost named Samhain (who notably has a pumpkin for a head) from gathering all of the ghosts and goblins of New York to make it Halloween Night permanently.

* What, no mention of WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'s JustForFun/CandleJack? He'd be v[[spoiler:ery pleased to note that he very much enjoys this trope, and that he's very quickly running out of rope.]]

* A [racist British song from 1900 https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/017/138] tells the story of a stingy Black man named Jack, who starves to death because he wouldn’t even spend his money to buy food. The devil doesn’t appear in this version; instead, Jack remains a ghost in order to prevent anyone from stealing the gold he was buried with. What makes this song racist is 1. it was written in a stereotypical “minstrel” dialect, and 2. the title is a pun on the similarity between the n-word and an archaic word meaning “stingy”. The cover art doesn’t help any, either.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2331 SCP-2331 ("SCRAVECROW")]]. SCP-2331 is an animated scarecrow with a pumpkin head who throws spontaneous raves, most commonly during the month of October. The last interview log implies that SCP-2331 is the spirit of Halloween, saddened over the commercialization of the holiday, trying something new to relive the joy the holiday once brought him.

Such adaptations usually portray him as possessing a [[PumpkinPerson Jack-o'-Lantern for a head]], while some simply portray him as possessing a pumpkin somewhere on his person. Because of the secularization of the holiday, how Stingy Jack is perceived differs as well, from being portrayed as a jovial soul simply searching for peace to a {{Scary Scarecrow|s}} out to cause trouble and anarchy on old Samhain -- like some sort of freakish Halloween [[TheKrampus Krampus]]. In more volatile settings, it's common to give him [[PlayingWithFire fire-based magic]].