The matchbook in Diana Wynn Jones’ Charmed Life
On South Park, Kenny’s soul was in Cartman, Rob Schneider, and a pot roast.
The cyborg Link in the Belisarius series had a technological version; Link’s human avatar was killed more than once, but as long as the machines in Kausambi existed Link itself survived.
So on (new) Battlestar Galactica, the cylons had a soul jar on the Resurrection ship, I suppose.
On Dr Who, the pocket-watch device that holds the Time Lord’s spirit when they’re hiding. Used in the ep where the Doctor becomes the schoolmaster in the ep “Human Nature”. Also when the Master “rediscovered” his identity in “Utopia”.
StG
I want to say that the evil wizard in The Thief of Bagdad kept his soul in a ruby in an egg on top of a cliff or something. I haven’t seen the movie in 20 years or so, so the memories are fuzzy. If anyone could confirm this, that would be the cat’s pajamas.
This was the secret of the villain in the Guy Williams movie Captain Sindbad (the only non-Harryhausen Sinbad movie I like at all)
Robert E. Howard used this idea, IIRC, in one of the Conan stories.
It’s also in the Dan Simmons series Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion/Endymion/Rise of Endymion, as the crucifixes that store your personal information. At first as a little bit of horror, then as the basis for a method of FTL travel. I’m not fond of a method of transportation that depends upon killing and then resurrecting you (especially as it’s not 100% reliable), but it is the logical consequence of the idea from the first book.
The painting in Ghostbusters 2 might qualify, though I can’t quite remember the details of how it worked exactly.
Various pieces of Braniac.
(Superman, but maybe only the Animated? I dunno, I’m not a comic book geek)
Lily Tomlin’s character in All of Me, with Steve Martin.
Tubba Blubba, in the N64 game Paper Mario, was invincible without his heart, which was kept locked up in a well. Perhaps video games do not sport the highest of brows, but it was the game that taught my son to read.
I always liked him a lot. Him and Baby Yaga.
In the second novella in Charle’s deLint’sJack of Kinrowan.
Come to think of it, Spock used McCoy in this way, in Star Trek 3.
Odd to think of McCoy as Spock’s horcrux, no wonder he was bitter.