History Main / StingyJack

* James from ''VideoGame/SavageHalloween'', the protagonist. Who's partners are rerspectively a werewolf and a vampire.

-->-- Hercules Ellis, "The Romance of Jack O' Lantern"

* ''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 uman 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]].

* Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' has some clear parallels with Stingy Jack, including his name, his undead skeletal appearance, his ceremonial pumpkin-headed scarecrow costume, and his status as the charismatic figurehead of HalloweenTown. He's a far more [[HorrifyingHero heroic]] figure, though.

* This was one of the topics in the ''Series/TruthOrScare'' episode about Halloween, as it explains about 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 wonder alone and the only thing that keeps him close is a carved turnip. When the Irish immigrated to the United States, they brought the legend to the country and use pumpkins as they are more easy to find.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': Reaper's "Pumpkin" skin is very similar to Stingy Jack in design, although he's only referred to "a dread servant" or "the Reaper", and is generally compared to the Headless Horseman more than Jack.

* ''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 the player never encounters him, the lore implies that the original Stingy Jack [[AllMythsAreTrue also exists in the setting]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween", it was revealed that Jack was a prankster in medieval times who caused Endsville so much trouble that the townspeople set up events for the queen to have one of her knights execute him. When TheGrimReaper came to his house, Jack tricked Grim into dropping his scythe, not giving it back until Grim gave him immortality. Grim agreed, then cut his head off immediately after out of anger, and Jack replaced his head with [[PumpkinPerson a pumpkin]]. Centuries later, he meets Billy (who had the scythe) and tricks him into giving him the scythe. He then uses it to turn his pumpkin patch into an army of monsters, with intentions of enacting his revenge on Grim and making it Halloween forever.

* ''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. 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.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': The character is a recurring low-level demon in the franchise, under the name Jack O'Lantern (usually changed to Pyro Jack in translation for space reasons). He has a pumpkin head, carries a lantern, and is the [[FireIceDuo fiery counterpart to the icy]] SeriesMascot, JackFrost.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': The character is a recurring low-level demon in the franchise, under the name Jack O'Lantern (usually changed to Pyro Jack in translation for space reasons). It has a pumpkin head, carries a candle or lantern, and is the fiery counterpart to the mascot Jack Frost.

* 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]].

* In the ''{{Comicbook/Fables}}'' spinoff ''Jack of Fables'', Jack Horner recalls in his youth how he found a devil by the name of Old Scratch who was trapped up a tree because the locals surrounded the tree with crosses. Scratch could tell that Jack was destined for Hell and decided to make a deal with Jack. he frees him, he does not 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 (how he got into that situation, I'll never know) and is executed for it, the executioner being such a lousy shot that he ends up getting his back, the side of his neck and his scalp cut off before the executioner somehow ends up getting his own face hacked at. He 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 then knocks out and takes his jack o'lantern head for himself to carry the coal.

Over time, the idea of Stingy Jack would be revered as a cautionary tale to those who play tricks and are virtually not Christian enough for everyone's liking, even equating Jack to certain phenomena like WillOTheWisp.

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]].

* Ickybod Clay, a recurrent character in ''VideoGame/ClayFighter'' is a ghost with a pumpkin head.
* The character is a recurring demon in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, under the name Jack O'Lantern. (Usually changed to Pyro Jack in translation for space reasons) It has a pumpkin head, carries a candle and is the fiery counterpart to the mascot Jack Frost.
* Jack Skellington in his Pumpkin King outfit in ''VideoGame/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasOogiesRevenge''.
* The 2020 indie 3D platformer ''Pumpkin Jack'' features Stingy Jack, the world's greatest rogue who infuriated the Devil and was banned from the afterlife as a result. In exchange for removing that ban, the Devil tasks Jack with defeating the Wizard, the only being standing between the Devil and control of a world that's too saccharine for its own good. Jack appears in-game as a disembodied spirit residing within a jack-o-lantern atop a scarecrow body.
* Toasty from ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998''. He wears a dark-brown cloak and a pointy hat, has a Jack o'lantern for a head/[[spoiler:mask]] and carries a god damn ''scythe''.
%%* Ickybod Clay from the ''VideoGame/{{Clayfighter}}'' series of fighting games.%%ZCE

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld''. 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 the player never encounters him, the lore implies that the original Stingy Jack [[AllMythsAreTrue also exists in the setting]].
* The titular Jack from ''VideoGame/PumpkinJack'' was left to wander the spirit plane for eternity. The Devil makes a deal with him that he can move on to the afterlife proper if he kills a Wizard trying to undo a curse.

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

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''WebVideo/{{Gnoggin}}'': "The DARK, R-Rated Origins of Pumpkaboo" features a retelling of the story of Stingy Jack, since the Pokemon in question is based on a Jack O' Lantern.

* This was one of the topics in the ''Series/TruthOrScare'' episode about Halloween, as it explains about 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 wonder alone and the only thing that keeps him close is a curved turnip. When the Irish immigrated to the United States, they brought the legend to the country and use pumpkins as they are more easy to find.

* The tale of Stingy Jack stated above, who tricked himself out of Heaven and Hell alike and was doomed to wander the world forever with a hollowed-out turnip lantern to light his way. An early form of the story in print can be seen here as [[https://books.google.com/books?id=1DxcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP40&lpg=PP40&dq=romance+of+jack+o%27lantern+hercules+ellis&source=bl&ots=0-EXyktc7F&sig=ACfU3U0m8S302zn0eElbU_0Boa4j_fXB_Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihvNTNyeXsAhUxTt8KHYE6DlgQ6AEwEXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false "The Romance of Jack O'Lantern"]] (1851). (Although note that it doesn't say the lantern was a vegetable of any kind, which may have been a later addition to tie it into the Hallowe'en tradition.

* The tale of Stingy Jack stated above, who tricked himself out of Heaven and Hell alike and was doomed to wander the world forever with a hollowed-out turnip lantern to light his way. An early form of the story in print can be seen here as [[https://books.google.com/books?id=1DxcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP40&lpg=PP40&dq=romance+of+jack+o%27lantern+hercules+ellis&source=bl&ots=0-EXyktc7F&sig=ACfU3U0m8S302zn0eElbU_0Boa4j_fXB_Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihvNTNyeXsAhUxTt8KHYE6DlgQ6AEwEXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false "The Romance of Jack O'Lantern"]] (1851).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween", it was revealed that Jack was a prankster [[ArtisticLicenseHistory in medieval times]] who caused Endsville so much trouble that the townspeople set up events for the queen to have one of her knights execute him. When TheGrimReaper came to his house, Jack tricked Grim into dropping his scythe, not giving it back until Grim gave him immortality. Grim agreed, then cut his head off immediately after out of anger, and Jack replaced his head with [[PumpkinPerson a pumpkin]]. Centuries later, he meets Billy (who had the scythe) and tricks him into giving him the scythe. He then uses it to turn his pumpkin patch into an army of monsters, with intentions of enacting his revenge on Grim and making it Halloween forever.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween", it was revealed that Jack was a prankster that caused Endsville so much trouble that the townspeople set up events for the queen to have one of her knights execute him. When TheGrimReaper came to his house, Jack tricked Grim into dropping his scythe, not giving it back until Grim gave him immortality. Grim agreed, then cut his head off immediately after out of anger, and Jack replaced his head with [[PumpkinPerson a pumpkin]]. Centuries later, he meets with Billy (who had the scythe) and tricked him into giving him the scythe. He then used it to turn his pumpkin patch into an army of monsters, with intentions of enacting his revenge on Grim and making it Halloween forever.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* This was one of the topics in the ''Series/TruthOrScare'' episode about Halloween, as it explains about 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 wonder alone and the only thing that keeps him close is a curved turnip. When the Irish immigrated to the United States, they brought the legend to the country and use pumpkins as they are more easy to find.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths and Religion]]
* The tale of Stingy Jack stated above, who tricked himself out of Heaven and Hell alike and was doomed to wander the world forever with a hollowed-out turnip lantern to light his way. An early form of the story in print can be seen here as [[https://books.google.com/books?id=1DxcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP40&lpg=PP40&dq=romance+of+jack+o%27lantern+hercules+ellis&source=bl&ots=0-EXyktc7F&sig=ACfU3U0m8S302zn0eElbU_0Boa4j_fXB_Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihvNTNyeXsAhUxTt8KHYE6DlgQ6AEwEXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false "The Romance of Jack O'Lantern"]] (1851).

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]].

Stingy Jack is a character of Irish folklore, who was said to have tricked the devil into [[MortonsFork an inescapable situation]], be it he was tricked into his pocket where a rosary was, or he climbed a tree with a cross on it--anything cross-y, really. Jack then made a simple deal with him; Jack lets him go, the Devil makes sure he [[ExactWords does not enter Hell]]. Unfortunately for Jack, his party-filled lifestyle does him in and when he enters the afterlife, he can't get into Heaven. Having nowhere else to turn to, he bites the bullet and makes his trek to Hell. But oh no, the Devil was [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor still sore over that silly joke he played!]] With Jack [[BarredFromTheAfterlife having nowhere else to go but into the infinite darkness]], the Devil did him a solid and gave him a candle (a coal from Hell, in some versions) to light his way, which he keeps to this day inside a small hollowed-out turnip as a kind of lantern.

With ye auld traditions migrating to America, some sacrifices were made and the traditions changed with the times, as soon enough the turnip was traded for the pumpkin (due to being larger and thus easier to carve) and the rest is history. To this day, the Jack-o'-Lantern (for "Jack o' the Lantern", another name for Stingy Jack) is a popular [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] icon, and the idea of Stingy Jack has transcended into media in many incarnations.

Such adaptations usually portray him as possessing a [[PumpkinPerson Jack-o'-Lantern for a head]], while other cases simply portray him as possessing a pumpkin somewhere on their person. Because of the secularization of the holiday, how Stingy 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]].

Stingy Jack is a character of Irish folklore, who was said to have tricked the devil into [[MortonsFork an inescapable situation]], be it he was tricked into his pocket where a rosary was, or he climbed a tree with a cross on it--anything [[BuffySpeak cross-y]], really. Jack then made a simple deal with him; Jack lets him go, the Devil makes sure he [[ExactWords does not enter Hell]]. Unfortunately for Jack, his party-filled lifestyle does him in and when he enters the afterlife, he can't get into Heaven. Having nowhere else to turn to, he bites the bullet and makes his trek to Hell. But oh no, the Devil was [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor still sore over that silly joke he played!]] With Jack [[BarredFromTheAfterlife having nowhere else to go but into the infinite darkness]], the Devil did him a solid and gave him a candle (a coal from Hell, in some versions) to light his way, which he keeps to this day inside a small hollowed-out turnip as a kind of lantern.

Stingy Jack is a character of Irish folklore, who was said to have tricked the devil into [[MortonsFork an inescapable situation]], be it he was tricked into his pocket where a rosary was, or he climbed a tree with a cross on it, anything cross-y really. Jack then made a simple deal with him; Jack lets him go, the Devil makes sure he [[ExactWords does not enter Hell]]. Unfortunately for Jack, his party-filled lifestyle does him in and when he enters the afterlife, he can't get into Heaven. Having nowhere else to turn to, he bites the bullet and makes his trek to Hell. But oh no, the Devil was [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor still sore over that silly joke he played!]] With Jack [[BarredFromTheAfterlife having nowhere else to go but into the infinite darkness]], the Devil did him a solid and gave him a candle (a coal from Hell, in some versions) to light his way, which he keeps to this day inside a small hollowed-out turnip as a kind of lantern.

* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book "Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns", the main characters are forced to trick or treat all night by a group of fire-breathing entities with jack o'lanterns for heads. They are revealed to be [[spoiler:anthropophagous aliens]] by the end.