History Main / TreasureMap

* In one ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' short, while on the beach, Sunset, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie discover a map in a bottle. [[spoiler:Much to their chagrin, however, it turns out to be merely a publicity stunt when it leads them to a sushi truck]].

* [[ShroudedInMyth Legend and Wikipedia has it]] that the notorious pirate Olivier Levasseur, nicknamed ''La Buse'', threw a parchment with an encrypted message into the assembled crowd immediately before he was hanged in Saint-Denis on Réunion in 1730, [[WeaselWords allegedly]] accompanied by the words ''"Find my treasure, ye who may understand it!"'' [[note]]Or rather their French equivalent.[[/note]]. It is furthermore rumored that, since then, many a father's inheritance has been blown on projects of [[GetRichQuickScheme decoding the message and finding the treasure.]] [[SchmuckBait You can try your luck]], since [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Levasseur the cryptogram is obviously in the public domain.]] However, considering [[spoiler:that the cryptogram's history is only tracable back to 1923, there is no hard evidence that the message is original, or that such a message existed in the first place, or that Levasseur ever buried treasure. Spoiler indeed.]]

* In the novel ''Literature/TheJerusalemDiamond'', by writer Creator/NoahGordon, a new roll of copper is discovered in Israel (see in the section on Real Life) that serves as a complement to the one found in 1952, in Qumran, which would allow to finally discover the treasures described in them, including the Ark of the Covenant.

** In a subversion, the "winner" didn't actually solve the puzzle: he just used [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections information from William's ex-girlfriend]] and a metal detector. [[http://www.thefoolserrand.com/10-MQ/bitter-end.htm It's a sad story.]]

* ''Literature/WelcomeToWonderland'': In "Home Sweet Motel", P.T. and Gloria decide to have a treasure hunt to drum up business for the motel. To help customers find the treasure, they make a treasure map on some old stationary paper, which they then make copies of to sell to the customers at five dollars a pop.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Mampato}}'' and the pirates, there is a treasure and a map, but the only one who knows where this is an extremely irritating and rude parrot (when the villains get him drunk in an attempt to reveal the place where the treasure is hidden, the only thing that they get a lot of insults loudly). But after an accident with a little powder, the mystery is discovered: [[spoiler: He has the map tattooed on his skin, they only discover it after he lost all his feathers.]]
* The "Kitchen Irish" arc of ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' revolves around a modern version of this trope. An evil elderly Irish gangster had willed three map coordinates that would lead to his hidden money somewhere in New York, and given each to a different gang leader, knowing that they all hated both him and each other and would tear each other apart trying to get the others coordinates after he died. [[spoiler: On the off-chance that they ever decided to put the hostilities on hold and find the treasure together (which they do at the climax of the story), it turns out the treasure wasn't even real, it was just a bomb with the word CUNTS! carved into the C4 attached to it.]]
* Averted in the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' two-part story "[[Recap/TintinTheSecretOfTheUnicorn The Secret of the Unicorn]]" and "[[Recap/TintinRedRackhamsTreasure Red Rackham's Treasure]]"; the necessary information is not a map, but three papers that when held together reveal the coordinates of the sunken ship's location. Even then, Tintin had to reckon with Capt'n Haddock using the Paris Meridian and not the Prime Meridian for his starting point and even then, the whole message on the papers really meant that the treasure was [[spoiler:actually hidden in Marlinspike Hall]]. At one point they misunderstand the map, thinking the treasure is buried on the Island, then after digging realize that Sir Francis wouldn't have left the treasure on the island and never come back for it.

Next, they'll need to find the starting point, the right tropical isle or hidden cave. Getting there may be an adventure in itself. Once there, the heroes have to find the actual location of the treasure. This can be as simple as XMarksTheSpot", or "fifteen paces south of the dead pine" (though might find that fifteen paces for one of their group doesn't cover the same distance for another, and there's always the possibility that the landmark is no longer around - trees fall down or catch fire, rivers change course, rocks roll to a new position, etc) up to having to navigate a BambooTechnology DeathCourse, with only cryptic comments scrawled on the map to help them find the safe route through. If StatusQuoIsGod either the treasure will [[AllThatGlitters turn out to be worthless]] or the heroes will have to [[FriendOrIdolDecision abandon it for the greater good]].

The AdventurerArchaeologist will often come across treasure maps. This trope is also a form of AMacGuffinFullOfMoney. This trope is often associated with PirateBooty, despite the fact that pirates rarely buried treasure - the typical pirate would spend most of his income from a voyage outfitting the ship for the next one, and squander the rest on high living before setting out on said voyage (Given that piracy is a rather high-risk career, there's a pretty good chance that a pirate who cached his loot with the intent to spend it some years later wouldn't be alive at the time he planned to dig it up. As the pirates were smart enough to know this, they spent most of their loot at the first opportunity they got).

* ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' plays this one straight. Joan Wilder is sent a treasure map by her sister for safekeeping. But then the sister is kidnapped and Joan is forced to travel to South America to deliver the map. Inevitably, she and Jesse Colton end up following the map themselves.

* The short story "The Most Precious of Treasures" by Desmond Warzel. The map is genuine, but the treasure is...unexpected.

** Another episode subverted the idea with a parody of ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' - the criminal lied about the treasure to give himself the time to escape from prison. Of course, the Springfieldians are too stupid to realize that there's no treasure, even after they find a note from the crook telling them the truth.