Bad taste Colonel Gaddafi jokes sprung up across the Internet even as unconfirmed reports of capture first filtered through to media channels.
Twitter users wrote "Gaddafi doesn’t Libya anymore" while a Facebook group called itself 'I can’t think of a Gaddafi gag, you’ll just have to *in-sirte joke here*' a pun on the former leader's hometown of Sirte, where he was found.
Another wrote: Muammar Gaddafi has been killed. In other news, four thousand people have figured out their Halloween costumes.
Fancy dress shops seemed to have anticipated this, offering a range of Gaddafi costumes ready for 31 October.
A rubber Gaddafi mask hangs alongside a shrek mask in China, while a full outfit remembering the dictator’s military days is possible with a £40 costume of the Colonel from Escapade. A different mask of the African despot complete with gold lamé hat is available in the UK. “Bring some controversy to your party with this latex mask of the fearsome Libyan ruler” the tagline to the picture says.
A glance at eBay also shows costume shops are not the only ones to try and cash in on the death of the dictator.
One opportunist is attempting to sell a copy of The Daily Express newspaper, its front page picturing a bloodied Gaddafi and the headline: "Gaddafi gunned down in Sewer" for £54.00 with £8.00 postage. That’s a hefty increase from it’s original price of 30p, less than a week after his death .
For a starting bid of nearly £10,000 you can buy Internet domain name In MemoryOf MuammarGaddafi.Com.
It's not the first time that masks of terror figures have gone on sale. Osama Bin Laden masks have been available for over a year now and have been "updated" since his death with a missile through the terrorist's head.
Russell Brand was fired for coming into work dressed as Osama Bin Laden a day after the 9/11 attacks. Huffington Post UK asks: is it bad taste to dress up as Gaddafi for Halloween?