History Main / CraniumChase

* Grim from ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' is a [[RunningGag constant victim of this.]]

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', one of Davy Jones' henchmen loses his head. The body then stumbles about trying to find the head while the head tries in vain to give it directions.

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

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In "The Pandorica Opens", Amy Pond is attacked by a severed Cyberman head.
-->'''Cyber-head:''' You will be assimilated.
-->'''Amy:''' Yeah? [[TemptingFate You and whose body?]]
-->''Cyber-body stomps into the room...''

[[quoteright:294:[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesBackInAction http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6206d7c53c0250ba45e55eb5a67681ac.png]]]]

* ''Webcomic.RustyAndCo'': Ezra the vampiress is decapitated three times by Madeline, each time putting back her head on her shoulders (though after a StaircaseTumble for the third). Then again by Cube, who counters her regeneration by [[HeadTurnedBackwards putting it backwards]].

Compare PullingThemselvesTogether; whereas this is a more comedic trope where only the head is detached and the body searches for it, PullingThemselvesTogether refers more to a significant part of their bodies reassembling themselves.

-->'''civilian:''' Hey, I'm over here! To your left! Er, my left. Er, our left. (''body goes left'') Right. (''body goes right'') No, not "go right," "correct!" (''body accidentally kicks head'') It's not a soccer game! Use your brain! Oh, I guess that's over here. (''body kicks head again'') Ow! Just bend down slow and-- (''body kicks head high into the air, and it lands on the neck'') He shoots, he scores, OW!

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' plays this for horror with [[spoiler:the Forest Spirit]], whose body [[spoiler:turns into an enormous EldritchAbomination draining life from nearly everything in sight]], seeking reunion with its severed head, which can still move.

* In the Punk Hazard arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'', the samurai Kin'emon's head is separated from the rest of his body--not only that, but his head is cut into pieces, too (which leads into a brief hilarity when the Straw Hats try to put it together like a puzzle). It's revealed later that it's Trafalgar Law's doing.
** Law himself, with his Devil Fruit power, can disassemble other people's body parts non-fatally. The first time we see him using his power, he detaches a Marine officer's head and replaces it with a cannonball that is about to hit him--not long after, said head screams in agony as his body gets burned, without any concern to his, well, neck.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:Film]]
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', one of Davy Jones' henchmen loses his head. The body then stumbles about trying to find the head while the head tries in vain to give it directions.
* In ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'', the King of The Moon's head prefers to stay off its body, which fills it with animalistic urges. There is a scene with the body chasing after the flying head.
* In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', [=C3PO=] loses his head (which is attached to a [[{{Mook}} battle droid]] body) and gets himself a battle droid head instead. Both parts of [=C3PO=] then travel to the Geonosis Arena with the battle droids, where R2 and a Jedi help reassemble [=C3PO=].

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

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* On ''Series/TheYoungOnes'', two headless ghosts wander through the lads' apartment having an argument. Both drop their heads, and their bodies grope around for anything spherical (a goldfish bowl, a grapefruit) that they can tuck under their arms. Later, the two reappear arguing about which head the body with the nicer bottom belongs to.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* In a non-comedy example from the ''{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, Jacqueline Montarri was cursed by the Vistani to live on without her head. She murders victims to appropriate their heads, then wears them to pass for human as she scours the Land of Mists for her missing original.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

--> Hey, I'm over here! To your left! Er, my left. Er, our left. ''[Body goes left]'' Right. ''[Body goes right]'' No, not "go right," "correct!" ''[Body accidentally kicks head]'' It's not a soccer game! Use your brain! Oh, I guess that's over here. ''[Body kicks head again]'' Ow! Just bend down slow and-- ''[Body kicks head high into the air, and it lands on the neck]'' He shoots, he scores, OW!

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* On the ''LooneyTunes'' short "Mouse Menace", a robot cat loses its head. It feels around for it but picks up a toaster and puts it on for a while before eventually stumbling into its own head.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'', Fender's head falls off because he's lost the bolt that keeps it in place. He tries to pick it up but keeps accidentally kicking it away.
* In the ''Sugar Rush Speedway'' game in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', some of Taffyta's fans are anthropomorphic lollipops, and when Ralph accidentally trashes the stands, part of the damage he does is to knock off the head of one such fan, which goes rolling along the ground whilst the body frantically chases it.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Procopius of Cesarea attributed this as a demonic power to [[ByzantineEmpire the Emperor Justinian]]. Granted, his ''Secret History'' was ramblings of a disgruntled employee trying to smear his superiors as much as ungodly possible, so...

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', one of Davy Jones' henchmen loses his head. The body then stumbles about trying to find the head while the head tries in vain to give it directions.

* ''CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has an enemy called [[{{Hamlet}} Yorick]], which is a skeleton chasing his own head...and continually stumbling into it and kicking it like a soccer ball.

Not everyone dies when their head is separated from their neck. [[LosingYourHead Some of them live on]], and prompty try to get their heads back on their shoulders [[HeadTurnedBackwards (it may take a few tries, however)]].

Usually, their bodies retain their motor abilities to do so, by some supernatural or [[RuleOfFunny humorous means.]] Having the head argue with the body and trying to give it directions is optional. In these cases, the FridgeLogic that the body has no ears to hear this is rarely adressed. Although in instances when the body doesn't seem to be paying attention to the head's instructions it is possible that the fact body doesn't have ears simply didn't occur to the decapitated character, and the body can not hear him.

Compare PullingThemselvesTogether: this is a more comedic trope, where only the head is detached, and the body searches for it. PullingThemselvesTogether refers more to a significant part of their bodies reassembling themselves.

* Played with in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. While [[AnimatedArmor Al]] does lose his head every now and then, his soul is bound to the chestpiece of the armor. As a result, he can control his body and even see without his helmet.

* Celty the [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' traveled all the way from England to Japan in search of her head. It's her body that is fully sentient, while her head is in a deep sleep.
* In the Punk Hazard arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'', the samurai Kin'emon's head is separated from the rest of his body - not only that, but his head is cut into pieces, too (which leads into a brief hilarity when the Straw Hats tried to put it together like a puzzle). It's revealed later that it's Trafalgar Law's doing.
** Law himself, with his Devil Fruit power, can disassemble other people's body parts non-fatally. The first time we see him using his power, he detached a Marine officer's head and replaced it with a cannonball that was about to hit him - not long after, said head screams in agony as his body gets burned, without any concern to his, well, neck.

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

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', one of Davy Jones' henchmen loses his head. The body then stumbles about trying to find the head, while the head tries in vain to give it directions.

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

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

* In the TV miniseries ''KingdomHospital'', a decapitated ghost whose body had its head severed in a morgue prank wanders around the netherworldly "Old Kingdom", fumbling blindly for its missing part. [[CrossesTheLineTwice While Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At?" plays on the soundtrack.]]
* On ''Series/TheYoungOnes'', two headless ghosts wandered through the lads' apartment having an argument. Both drop their heads, and their bodies grope around for anything spherical (a goldfish bowl, a grapefruit) that they can tuck under their arms. Later, the two reappear arguing about which head the body with the nicer bottom belongs to.

* ''KolchakTheNightStalker'' episode "Chopper". The skull and body of a dead man are separated. The man's ghost animates his dead body as a HeadlessHorseman and goes on a search for his head, killing the people who murdered him along the way.

--> "Hey, I'm over here! To your left! Er, my left. Er, our left." ''(body goes left)'' "Right." ''(body goes right)'' "No, not 'go right,' 'correct!'" ''(body accidentally kicks head)'' "It's not a soccer game! Use your brain! Oh, I guess that's over here." ''(body kicks head again)'' "Ow! Just bend down slow and--" ''(body kicks head high into the air, and it lands on the neck)'' "He shoots, he scores, OW!"
* In ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark3'', at one point you encounter a beheaded [[InvincibleMinorMinion invincible]] zombie. To defeat him, you must take his head, which is lying on a nearby table, and throw it to a pit, so that the zombie jumps to the pit looking for his head.

* In the ''Sugar Rush Speedway'' game in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', some of Taffyta's fans are anthropomorphic lollipops, and when Ralph accidentally trashes the stands, part of the damage he does is to knock off the head of one such fan; which goes rolling along the ground whilst the body frantically chases it.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken Mike the Headless Chicken]].

* In ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', one of Davy Jones' henchmen loses his head. The body then stumbles about trying to find the head, while the head tries in vain to give it directions.
* In ''TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'', the King of The Moon's head prefers to stay off its body, which fills it with animalistic urges. There is a scene with the body chasing after the flying head.
* In ''AttackOfTheClones'', [=C3PO=] loses his head (which is attached to a [[{{Mook}} battle droid]] body) and gets himself a battle droid head instead. Both parts of [=C3PO=] than travel to the Geonosis Arena with the battle droids, where R2 and a Jedi help reassemble [=C3PO=].
* Daffy Duck has his head detached while Mother is demonstrating the laser beam function of DJ's spy phone in ''LooneyTunesBackInAction''. Daffy's body starts feeling around the lab floor for its missing head. "No, no, stupid, over here."
* The Headless Horseman in [[Creator/TimBurton Tim Burton's]] ''SleepyHollow''.

Not everyone dies when their head is separated from their neck. Some of them live on, and prompty try to get their heads back on their shoulders [[HeadTurnedBackwards (it may take a few tries, however)]].

Subtrope of LosingYourHead. Compare PullingThemselvesTogether: this is a more comedic trope, where only the head is detached, and the body searches for it. PullingThemselvesTogether refers more to a significant part of their bodies reassembling themselves.

* In ''MediEvil'', Sir Daniel Fortesque suffers from this every now and then.

* Grim from ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' is a [[RunningGag constant victim of this.]]

* Parodied in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' when the wooden dummy Scarface's head is severed, and the Ventriloquist chases after it.

-> "Hey, I'm over here! To your left! Er, my left. Er, our left." ''(body goes left)'' "Right." ''(body goes right)'' "No, not 'go right,' 'correct!'" ''(body accidentally kicks head)'' "It's not a soccer game! Use your brain! Oh, I guess that's over here." ''(body kicks head again)'' "Ow! Just bend down slow and--" ''(body kicks head high into the air, and it lands on the neck)'' "He shoots, he scores, OW!"

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken Mike the Headless Chicken]].

* In the Punk Hazard arc of ''OnePiece'', the samurai Kin'emon's head is separated from the rest of his body - not only that, but his head is cut into pieces, too (which leads into a brief hilarity when the Straw Hats tried to put it together like a puzzle). It's revealed later that it's Trafalgar Law's doing.

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

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'', while fighting the Headless Horseman, he loses his head, both in the Hallowe'en world event and in the actual dungeon fight. Players have to kill the boss' body, then his head, then kill the body all over again to win the fight.

* In ''AloneInTheDark 3'', at one point you encounter a beheaded [[InvincibleMinorMinion invincible]] zombie. To defeat him, you must take his head, which is lying on a nearby table, and throw it to a pit, so that the zombie jumps to the pit looking for his head.

* Played with in ''FullmetalAlchemist'' in every adaption. While [[AnimatedArmor Al]] does lose his head every now and then, his soul is bound to the chestpiece of the armor. As a result, he can control his body and even see without his helmet.

Not everyone dies when their head is separated from their neck. Some of them live on, and prompty try to get their heads back on their shoulders.

Usually, their bodies retain their motor abilities to do so, by some supernatural or [[RuleOfFunny humorous means.]] Having the head argue with the body and trying to give it directions is optional.