Collector of the Strange: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''Janine''': Do you have any hobby?

 

People collect things they like: movies, stamps, [[Kitsch Collection|hummel figurines]] of [[Glurge Addict|baby animals]], bottle caps, books and action figures. It's only natural for those individuals who have a specific hobby to develop a fascination with acquiring memorabilia that is directly related to their outlet of interest. Such a pattern of human behavior is quite normal and is relatively accepted in society.

* Madara of ''[[Naruto]]'' apparently has a warehouse-sized room dedicated to storing pairs of Sharingan. It becomes apparent after events concerning {{spoiler|Pain's corpse and Konan}} that he does this so he can swap them around at leisure.

* In the manga story "The Collection" by [[Shintaro Kago]], a high-school girl is intent on collecting everything the boy of her dreams touches...''EVERYTHING!!!''

 

** Of which three of the most iconic objects are a giant Joker playing card, a giant penny, and a giant dinosaur. Originally, the penny came from a 1947 comic ''strip'' story about "The Penny Plunderer", and the dinosaur from a 1946 adventure in a "Dinosaur Island" theme park. More recent continuities (such as ''[[The Batman]]'') have changed up these origins.

** JLA Classified #1 establishes that Batman has a [[Doctor Who|Dalek]] in storage. We don't know where he got it, we don't know what he [[Crazy Prepared|plans to use it for]], but he does have one.

* The Elders of the [[Marvel Universe]] are each defined by their obsession. One of them is called The Collector for obvious reasons.

* Minor Avengers villian the Collector collects superheroes.

* One issue of ''Agent X'', featured two rather strange people who collected famous people's underwear.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Owen, Danny DeVito's [[Adult Child]] character in ''[[Throw Momma from the Train]]'', collects coins. Not rare, valuable or mint-condition coins, just coins. The coins are meaningful to him because he acquired them during times he spent with his father as a kid.

* In ''[[Micmacs]]'', one of the arms makers has a collection of the body parts of famous people, such as Marilyn Monroe's molar and the heart of Louis XIV (I think), and he's trying to get Mousellini's eye.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Jennifer Roberson]] also has a character who collects the unusual, including people, in her [[Tiger And Del]] series.

 

* Gil Grissom's office from ''[[CSI]]'' mirrors the owner's fascination with insects where he keeps full preserved bodies of giant spiders and other bugs that catch his fancy.

** Not all that strange, really. Any biology professor or entomology hobbyist in the world is likely to have a similar collection.

* Gonzo on [[The Muppet Show]] kept a mildew collection.

* This is the premise of ''[[Oddities]]'' produced by Discovery.

 

== [[Music]] ==

* The Carnival in Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's "Karn Evil 9 (First Impression), parts I and II." Given that the song takes place after a nightmarish war between man and machine, the Carnival's wares (the remnants of the world before the war) would seem very unusual to the crowds.

 

== [[Radio]] ==

Linda in ''Linda Smith's Brief History of Timewasting'' collects ceramic birds. But she has to smash them when they become endangered.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne]]'', the Collector Manikin was known for his collection of human-made stuff.

 

* The Fox in ''Tallyho'' collects golfballs.

* Vrill in ''[[Shadows of Enchantment]]''. He's an artifact trader, but if he finds particularly interesting stuff he tends to just keep it (or buy it, or in some cases have it stolen). What he's really after is enchanted items, but anything rare and strange might catch his eye.

* In ''[[Demon Eater]]'', considering demons don't have much time to worry about anything, the fact that the human club exists, and the fact that it has actual human things definitely brands them for this trope.

* ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]'': [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|Iceland]] collects [[Nightmare Fetishist|penises]].

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Tara, co-host of TGWTG's weird news show, [[What The Fuck Is Wrong With You?]] collects toy hippos. In fact, she's said on the show that she has a hippo for every occasion, and there seems to be no reason to doubt this. She has become so identified with hippos that a fan created fanart of her as a superheroine with a cuddly hippo sidekick. This, in turn, spawned [http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hippo-Lantern-Corps/129852640446826 the Hippo Lantern Corps].

* [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses]] collects boils because they apparently taste nice and souls because that's part of his job of working for the devil.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

 

== Other ==

* British cartoonist/musician Gerard Hoffnung in a radio interview: "I like to collect various types of sauerkraut". Interviewer: "And what do you do with them?" Hoffnung: "That shouldn't be any concern of yours."

* Pretty much the plot of the 'Alone' house at Howl-O-Scream.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==