Kilroy Was Here: Difference between revisions

 

This trope is pretty much as old as humanity itself (it's posited that one of the reasons there are hand-prints at Lascaux is for this very reason), but the [[Trope Namer]] is a bit of [[Memetic Mutation]] from [[World War Two]] whose origin has many stories (see [[Real Life]] section below).

 

Do not confuse with [[Kilroy Was Here (album)|the Styx album]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Pokémon]]'': The memetically infamous "Gary was here! Ash is a loser!"

 

* In chapter 11 of ''[[New Perspective Evangelion]]'' Kaworu discovers a Kilroy graffito in the entry plug of Asuka's Evangelion.

 

* ''[[Journey to the West]]'': Sun Wukong makes a bet with the Buddha that he can leap out of Buddah's grasp. He goes an extreme distance away and finds a set of pillars. Thinking that he'd won, he leaves the words "Son Wukong Was Here" on the middle pillar and urinates on it for good measure. {{spoiler|Turns out the "pillars" were Buddha's fingers. Oops!}}

* In ''[[The Neverending Story]]'', there is a mountain that is only conquered for the first time - that is, you are always "the first person to ever climb it"; it is impossible to get on the top as long as there is any memory of anyone doing it before. So leaving a tag at the top blocks everyone else from it until the tag is worn out by the elements.

* In ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'', inmate Brooks, unable to fit into society after so many years in prison, carves "Brooks was here" into a ceiling beam from which he then hangs himself. {{spoiler|At the end of the film, Red carves "So was Red" before leaving to join Andy in Mexico.}}

* [[Isaac Asimov]]'s short story ''The Message'' is about a time traveler from the 30th century to WWII North Africa who, forbidden to interfere (he can only observe) resorts to writing a message on the wall of the hut he was in. His name is [[Just-So Story|George Kilroy]].

 

* In ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'', Randy had made several graffiti like this, and after the episode where he goes back to school, he sets Earl to correct them since he [Randy] has realised that those graffiti had bad spelling.

* Two Kilroy faces appear in the opening credits of ''[[Community]]'', with the noses forming the l's in "Joel McHale".

 

* In the radio program ''[[The Black Museum]]'' (based on real cases of Scotland Yard and real objects in their 'Black Museum'), episode 'The Notes', police find notes actually saying 'Kilroy Was Here." {{spoiler|The police eventually realize the killer is actually telling them his name is Kilroy!}}

 

* In general, any video game that lets you leave behind some kind of message (text or graphical) can result in this trope.

** This, and bragging rights, is the whole point of high score lists.

* ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' has graffiti in every safe house as a form of pseudo-communication between groups of survivors. Among them is Chicago Ted, whose statistics for zombie killing become something of a legend.

* In ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'', outside Lilycove City's Pokémon Fan Club building, it is noted that a number of Trainers have scribbled their names all over its sign. There is also a small island in the waters by Seaside Cycling Road that Team Aqua (or Magma) have tagged ("Team Aqua Was Here!").

 

* [[Homestar Runner]]: "Rad, rad Robotank!"

 

* On the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short "Haredevil Hare", [[Bugs Bunny]] lands on the moon and mentions that he's the first living creature to do so. He then passes a rock with "Kilroy was here" written on it.

** In another episode, Bart writes his name in wet concrete, with an [[Imagine Spot]] of the future, where archeologists speculate on what he might be like.

** Homer tries doing this using the name El Homo, which results in him [[Mistaken for Gay|getting hit on by a man passing by]].

* In ''[[The Flintstones]]'' episode "Adobe Dick", Fred and Barney are swallowed by a whale. Inside, they spot a graffito that reads "Jonah was here".

{{quote|'''Timmy's Dad:''' Vicky was key-scratching "Vicky Was Here" on my car! I punished ''Timmy'' for key-scratching "Vicky Was Here" on my car!}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Kilroy Was Here]]