History Main / CraniumChase

* In the ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' movie has Humma Kavula take one of Zaphod's heads as an insentive for Zaphod to bring him the point of view gun.

* In ''Literature/TheTruth'', vampire iconographer Otto Chriek is beifly seperated from his head and has to ask for help in reuniting it with his body, which is still upright and blundering around in confusion. Apparently it "stings a bit". `

[[quoteright:320:[[Disney/{{Frozen}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olaf_headless.jpg]]]]

* 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.
* ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'': As demonstrated by Anna and Kristoff's impromptu game of HotPotato upon first meeting him, the lower part of Olaf's body is often seen wandering aimlessly when his head's not attached.

* In ''Disney Villains' Revenge'', [[Disney/AliceInWonderland Alice]] gets her head chopped off and the player has to go into a hedge maze to retrieve it.

* In ''Discworld/TheTruth'', vampire iconographer Otto Chriek is beifly seperated from his head and has to ask for help in reuniting it with his body, which is still upright and blundering around in confusion. Apparently it "stings a bit". `

%%* The Headless Horseman in [[Creator/TimBurton Tim Burton's]] ''Film/SleepyHollow''.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

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

* In the TV miniseries ''Series/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.]]
* ''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.
** Vyvyan gets his head knocked off by looking out of a train window. His body is directed by his head to pick it up, but the body keeps kicking it along instead.
* ''Series/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.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', some of J.D.'s [[ImagineSpot Imagine Spots]] feature him as the "Floating Head Doctor", in which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin his head is floating around]], separated from his body. This usually ends with J.D.'s body catastrophically screwing up the tasks that his head tells him to do.
* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''. 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 finds a Cyberman head that still manages to be a threat thanks to CombatTentacles. After she gets some distance...
-->'''Cyber-Head:''' [[TheAssimilator You will be assimilated.]]\\

(''[[TemptingFate The rest of the Cyberman walks in and picks up its head]]'')

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The Onkies from the ''{{VideoGame/Grow}}'' games may sometime lose their head but they can put it back on like if nothing happened.

* In ''Skuldeggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked'', [[spolier:Darquesse]] gets [[spoiler:her]] head ripped off by [[spolier:Mevolent]]. [[spolier:She]] manages to magically reattach it before [[spoiler:her]] brain dies.

* The Headless Horseman in [[Creator/TimBurton Tim Burton's]] ''Film/SleepyHollow''.

* Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets has the Headless Haunt, a performance troupe/social club of headless ghosts who deliberately invoke this trope for comedy purposes, performing tricks such as head-juggling with their severed heads. Nearly-Headless Nick is very resentful that they won't let him in due to his partially-attached head.

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

* ''What A Cartoon!'' has two instances of this.

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 addressed, although in instances when the body doesn't seem to be paying attention to the head's instructions it is possible that the fact that the body doesn't have ears simply didn't occur to the decapitated character, and the body cannot hear him.

[[quoteright:294:[[Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6206d7c53c0250ba45e55eb5a67681ac.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:294:This is going to take a while, folks.]]

** Vyvian gets his head knocked off by looking out of a train window. His body is directed by his head to pick it up, but the body keeps kicking it along instead.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "Cured", Kryten wakes up to discover that his head has been removed from his body and stuck on top of a mop handle. His head starts yelling instructions to his body which is blundering along the corridor searching for it.