History Main / KilroyWasHere

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serials [[DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]]and [[DoctorWhoS18E5WarriorsGate "Warrior's Gate"]], "Kilroy Was Here" is seen; first written on a lift shaft, later spray painted onto a wall inside a spaceship.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': In "The Trial of the Flash", Barry Allen is framed for murder and sent to prison. He finds "Henry Allen was here" scratched on his cell's wall, indicating it was the same cell his father had previously been incarcerated in.

* In ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle'', while taking shelter in a treehouse, the heroes find "Alan Parrish was here" etched on a branch, Alan being the protagonist of the original ''Film/{{Jumanji}}''. None of them have any idea who that is.

* In the end of "Kelly's Heroes" the American General, always one step behind the heroes, finds the bank looted and the gold gone with the message painted on the wall.

* In the ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' fanfic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10596850/1/Heaven-s-Conscripts "Heaven's Conscripts,"]] Rico finds the names of soldiers that had been carved in the rocks a hundred years before, from when the Dolomites were a battleground between Italian and Austrian forces in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. After killing three terrorists, she carves their names in the rock as well.

* In the Franchise/StarWars novel ''Literature/IJedi'', Luke Skywalker reveals that he, Wedge, and Biggs carved their names and a slogan ("TheEmpire or us -- [[HeroicSacrifice there is no compromise]]") on the night before attacking the Death Star as a cross between this and a [[TheDeadHaveNames preemptive memorial in case their side lost]].

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The memetically infamous "Gary was here! Ash is a loser!" The Abridged Series by [=PalletTownHeroes=] changes this to "Gary was here. Ash lost The game."

* As mentioned above, "Kilroy was here". However it originated (TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilroy_was_here a few theories]]), American soldiers began leaving Kilroy everywhere.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': The memetically infamous "Gary was here! Ash is a loser!"
** The Abridged Series by [=PalletTownHeroes=] changes this to "Gary was here. Ash lost The game."
---> '''Ash:''' '''GARY MOTHER[BLEEP]ING OAK!'''

-->...So was Red.

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This trope is pretty much as old as humanity itself (it's posited that there are hand-prints at Lascaux for this very reason, among other theories), but the {{Trope Namer|s}} is a bit of MemeticMutation from WorldWarTwo whose origin has many stories (see RealLife section below).

* In the ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' fanfic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10596850/1/Heaven-s-Conscripts "Heaven's Conscripts,"]] Rico finds the names of soldiers that had been carved in the rocks a hundred years before, from when the Dolomites were a battleground between Italian and Austrian forces in WorldWarOne. After killing three terrorists, she carves their names in the rock as well.

** A similar gag happened in Creator/TexAvery's ''WesternAnimation/KingSizeCanary'', where a cat opens a sardine box, only for him to find nothing but a small sign reading "Kilroy was here!"

* In the ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' fanfic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10596850/1/Heaven-s-Conscripts Heaven's Conscripts]]", Rico finds the names of soldiers that had been carved in the rocks a hundred years before, from when the Dolomites were a battleground between Italian and Austrian forces in WorldWarOne. After killing three terrorists, she carves their names in the rock as well.

* In the famous medieval painting "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolfini_Portrait The Arnolfini Portrait]]", the painter draw the legend ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolfini_Portrait#mediaviewer/File:The_Arnolfini_Portrait,_d%C3%A9tail_(6).jpg Johannes de eyck fuit hic 1434]]'' ("Jan van Eyck was here 1434")"

So you're somewhere--on vacation, at war, time traveling, teleporter accident, whatever--and you want something that'll stick around longer than just a FunTShirt. That's easy, just vandalize a handy surface[[note]]Vandalism is illegal in most places, so DontTryThisAtHome (or anywhere else, really)[[/note]]!

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* ''ComicBook/CartoonHistoryOfTheUniverse'' shows a Greek mercenary leaving his name on some Egyptian architecture.

* In one of the ComicBook/{{Asterix}} books, a centurion is shouting at an Egyptian for carving his name on a Roman temple, asking how he'd like it if they did that to his temples. This is likely a HistoricalInJoke to Italian archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni (see RealLife).

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* As mentioned above, "Kilroy was here". However it originated (TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilroy_was_here a few theories]]), American soldiers began leaving Kilroy everywhere.
* Graffiti tags. There's even a "language" associated with specific artists and gangs depending on what elements are present in a tag.
* Places like Names Hill, Register Cliff, and Independence Rock in Wyoming; according to Wikipedia, people on the Oregon Trail and the like carved or had carved their names in them. Names Hill also has Native American pictographs.
* One Viking trader scratched "Halfdan was here" in his native language into the wall of the Hagia Sophia when he visited Istanbul. Similar tags have been found in several places in the Mediterranian, as well as in the complex at Skara Brae in Orkney.
* During the Potsdam Conference UsefulNotes/HarryTruman allegedly had some fun at UsefulNotes/JosephStalin's expense by sneaking into his private bathroom and writing this on the wall. Stalin, in characteristic fashion, had the KGB on high alert looking for this mysterious "Kilroy".
* [[http://www.ancient-egypt.co.uk/people/pages/belzoni.htm Giovanni Battista Belzoni]] as quoted here: "To commemorate this memorable exploit, Belzoni carved his name and those of his fellow adventurers, as well as the date, on the north wall of the temple sanctuary, where the statues of Amun-Re, Re Harakthi, the deified Ramesses II and Ptah sat. Such carving was [[ValuesDissonance common practice in those days]] as unequivocal demonstration of the ownership of a monument or the paternity of a discovery."

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In earlier seasons, "El Barto" graffiti tags can be seen all over town. [[PoliceAreUseless Unsurprisingly]], the cops never suspect Bart as the culprit.
** In another episode, Bart writes his name in wet concrete, with an ImagineSpot of the future, where archeologists speculate on what he might be like.

* In ''ComicStrip/TheBoondocks'', Riley graffio-tags his name in big bold letters, then wonders how he got caught.

!Examples:

* In the ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' fanfic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10596850/1/Heaven-s-Conscripts Heaven's Conscripts]]", Rico finds the names of soldiers carved in the rocks a hundred years ago, from when the Dolomites were a battleground between Italian and Austrian forces in WorldWarOne. After killing three terrorists, she carves their names in the rock as well.