History Main / DeFaceOfTheMoon

* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'': In the story ''Z comme Zorglub'', [[MadScientist Zorglub]] wants to prove he's a [[WhosLaughingNow genius]] by advertising on the moon, using temporary ink that will fade after a few months. Unfortunately, his "unorthodox" method for recruiting henchmen - abducting random policemen and brainwashing them until they can only speak "Zorglang" (backwards words) - ends up screwing up his plans: his men do write a brand name on the moon, except it's "acoC-aloC".

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

Not to be confused with DetonationMoon, where the Moon is actually destroyed. If you're looking for [[MondegreenGag a face in the moon]], see ManInTheMoon.

Not to be confused with DetonationMoon, where the Moon is actually destroyed.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns uses lasers to project a picture of Lisa kissing Millhouse onto the Moon.
-->'''Millhouse:''' Yeah! Go moon Millhouse!

* ''{{Series/Cybervillage}}'', Baragozin has drawn his face on the Moon and is displeased about the craters making him look pockmarked.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Dr. Eggman demonstrates the power of his orbital not-fully-powered-up Eclipse Cannon, which he is using to hold the world hostage, by blowing up a huge chunk of the moon. WordOfGod has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nzxRoIX4QU confirmed]] that in all subsequent games, the moon is indeed still damaged, but the player only ever sees the good side.
** Eggman apparently fixed the moon in ''Anime/SonicX'', immediately after the ''Adventure 2'' arc. Why the newly-formed metal half would have lights on it is another question...
** In the post-reboot ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' series, the moon is still damaged.
* In the [[{{Doujinshi}} Dojin-soft]] game ''VideoGame/TouhouSoccer'', one of Youmu's attacks has her ''engrave her technique's name on the moon with her [[AbsurdlySharpBlade swords]]'', before ''cleaving'' it and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill using the momentum to hit the ball]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjtg1K8gkQ Here's the video,]] for those interested.
* One of the planets in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' is described as having a long monologue carved into its surface by batarian space pirates with energy weapons. It celebrates the superiority and achievements of one "Captain Zaysh", and it goes on to say very rude things about the parents of every human in the galaxy.
** In the second game, Jack gives an ArsonMurderAndJaywalking list of her accomplishments that includes "destruction of a space station and vandalism". If you ask why she included vandalism, she replies that she crashed the aforementioned space station into a small moon and made a new crater. "[The hanar] ''really'' liked that moon."
** Also from the second game, scanning one of the planets reveals the story of a miner who came to the planet to mine for element zero. After fruitlessly spending his every last dime, in a fit of frustration-induced rage, he hijacked a local mercenary group's gunship and wrote a 208-kilometer message stating "There's nothing here" in Russian, which is visible from orbit. [[InsultBackfire It became a tourist attraction]]. The third game reveals that some other determined individual went and erased the message, in essence defacing the defacement.
** The Great Rift Valley on Klendagon is a glancing blow from a incredibly powerful [[WaveMotionGun mass accelerator]] over 37 million years ago. In the second game, it's revealed that [[spoiler:it was fired by an ancient race as their final act of defiance against the Reapers. In this case, they weren't actually aiming at the planet at all, but at the Reaper several star systems over. The only reason they hit the planet was because after destroying the Reaper, the round simply ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome kept going!]]'']]
* Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} 2'', [[AIIsACrapshoot Durandal]] blasts rival uberintelligent AI Tycho's ship out of orbit. It crashes on Lh'owon's moon. Durandal then uses his WaveMotionGun to carve a 300 meter-high epitaph into the moon's surface for Tycho.
** This being [[MagnificentBastard Durandal]], of course, what he writes is "The just fate of fools." [[GratuitousLatin In Latin.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' the Moon (also known as Lua) is notably absent from the Earth skyline or the star charts at first. It's mentioned in passing that some people might not even believe it ever existed, or perhaps that it was lost with the fall of the [[{{Precursors}} Orokin Empire]], which used it as the seat of its power. But during the Second Dream questline [[spoiler:not only do you find it, hidden away in AnotherDimension, but also restore it to its normal terrestrial orbit]]. It's quite an impressive sight, too, having massive white and gold Orokin towers sprouting from the surface and connected by huge circumlunar rings, but also being ''[[DetonationMoon shattered]]'' and broken into multiple pieces ever since the Old War.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: Cataclysm'', the goblins terraform the zone of Azshara into a giant Horde symbol. [[http://www.wowpedia.org/images/d/d8/WorldMap-Kalimdor-cata.jpg (See that C-shaped bay at the northeast?)]] Their leader, Trade Prince Gallywix, also [[http://www.wowction.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/new-cataclysm-zone-qa-azshara-5.jpg carves his own face]] into the mountain plateau on which he builds his "Pleasure Palace".

* In ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4| A Promise Unforgotten}}'', HD Asagi uses this in her final skill, which knocks the enemies around her into orbit... right in the path of the Yoshitsuna's WaveMotionGun. As they're being annihilated, she carves a signature into the face of the earth.
** Flonne's ultimate attack in her MagicalGirl form is to [[LoveFreak carve the word love (overlapping a heart)]] on the moon's surface.

* In ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', Augus slices the moon deep enough in Episode 11 to make the sliced chunk rise high. [[spoiler:Evil Ryu punches the sliced chunk back into place in Lost Episode 1, and Oni not only does the same damage in Lost Episode 2 that Augus did, but Asura's fight with him ends up epically destroying the moon.]]
* The GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'' features Wario doing this [[spoiler:by paying a Genie to create a planet for him]].

* When flying towards the Moon in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', three great tears are visible on its surface, similar to giant claw marks. Once on the surface, you can see great city-sized cracks and rifts off in the distance, probably caused by the Hive burrowing into the lunar rock. Then there's the aptly-named Hellmouth...
* A picture in the third installment in the ''VideoGame/BeingOne'' flash game series, shows Earth surrounded by an asteroid belt left over from the "Moon impact of 2020", complete with the Moon having huge chunks blown out around the edges.
** The game that follows - aptly named "Moonrise" - involves the space station you're on coming into view of the moon from Earth orbit, causing werewolves to spring up inside the base.
* In ''VideoGame/EdnaAndHarveyTheBreakout'', the protagonist Edna can write her name or "Edna was here" on nearly every surface she comes across -- including the surface of the moon.
* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': One of the anomalies your science ships can discover while surveying star systems is a large body of writing carved into the surface of a celestial body with a mining laser. Once translated, it turns out to be a short story about an alien mercenary.

* The villains of the {{furry|webcomics}} SpaceOpera ''Webcomic/LancerTheKnightsOfFenris'' are the Drogahri, a race of [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent warlike reptilians]]. When they conquer Edenia IV, they carve [[https://lancercomic.com/comic/chapter-1-page-38/ a giant dragon figure]] into the planet's surface.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'', manga:
** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtaXu28O8bs&feature=related where the Nirvash Spec 3 has a dynamic kill animation doing this.]] [[InferredHolocaust Note that there are people and important installations on the moon.]] [[FridgeLogic How does the]] [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX satellite cannon]] [[FridgeLogic still work, after that?]]
** Doesn't help that [[Anime/GenesisOfAquarion Aquarion's]] Mugen Punch keep slamming enemies into the moon and making more craters. The ''Super Robot Wars Z'' manga [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this with a picture of [[Anime/TurnAGundam Queen Dianna Soreil]] yelling at the Nirvash and Aquarion as they flee from a defaced moon.
* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[spoiler:after Knives activates Vash's Angel Arm, Vash directs it upward to avoid destroying the entire city, creating a giant crater in the moon]]. This, in turn, adds to the dark legend of "Vash the Stampede".

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'':
** The accidental destruction of a large chunk of the moon is a major part of the backstory, and in an aversion of NoEndorHolocaust, an ensuing shower of moon debris makes the Earth barely habitable in the process.
** In "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession9JammingWithEdward Jamming with Edward]]", MPU tries to ''re-''draw the Nazca Lines, which are no longer visible, across the majority of South America using satellite lasers. Edward follows this up by drawing a smiley.
* In ''Manga/SuperDreadnoughtGirl4946'', the title character impales a {{Kaiju}} on the Moon with ''TokyoTower''. And later, during battle with Kirin, a beam attack from the title character ''chipped the moon''.

* The final battle in ''Anime/KotetsushinJeeg'' leaves the moon with a debris ring orbiting it.
* ''Manga/TheSpiritOfWonder'': The protagonist writes a love letter on the moon.
* ''Anime/GunBuster'' crosses this with SkyscraperMessages by using city lights on the night side of Earth to write out a message for Noriko and Kazumi in the final episode. [[TearJerker Welcome Home]].
** The sequel ''Anime/DieBuster'' not only shows this trope from the opposite angle but the final battle also leaves a giant imprint of [[spoiler:Nono as the titular Diebuster mecha]] on the far side of the moon.

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'': Shiny Chariot's last performance before disappearing involved her [[spoiler:firing a magic arrow so powerful that it impacted the moon and left it marked with a giant 4-pointed star.]]

* The Creator/ArthurCClarke short story ''Watch This Space'' (part of a series of short stories talking about a single moon journey) had astronauts releasing gases into the lunar environment to analyze their reactivity when unfiltered sunlight hit them. Somebody sabotaged the chemical release tube so that, instead of being released as an amorphous cloud, they formed the [[spoiler:Coca-Cola]] logo (he isn't explicit about whose logo it was, just that it [[spoiler:had some Cs and Os in it, as well as Ls and As]]). It didn't ruin the experiment (they analyzed the reactions anyway), but the guy was fired. He didn't care, though, because the company was so grateful for the advertising coup that he was pretty much set up for life. The reason the image wasn't messed up by atmospheric turbulence is because there isn't any on the moon.

* A more serious example in Heinlein's ''Literature/TheStarBeast'', the Hroshii threaten to burn an incandescent mark a thousand miles long on the face of the Moon to show they "'ain't foolin'" when there were delays in recovering Lummox for them.
* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Buy Jupiter'' a race of aliens wish to purchase the atmosphere of Jupiter, but negotiators for Earth refuse to sell it to them until the aliens finally admit they want it to use as a billboard advertising their product for passing starships. Then Earth starts thinking about how much the competitors will pay for Saturn...

* Charles Stross' ''Literature/TheAtrocityArchive'' features an alternate Earth where the Nazis won the war with the aid of an EldritchAbomination from another dimension, and proceeded to lord their triumph over the rest of the world by having their ally carve Hitler's face onto the surface of the ''moon'' with mystic runes.
* In the 4th book of Jack Vance's ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'', Lens Larque's grand scheme is to [[spoiler:explosively imprint his hideous face in a moon over a planet of racist snobs]]. In something of a subversion, the hero [[spoiler:kills Larque before he can realize his triumph[[note]]and indeed refuses the villain's dying-breath plea to press the button, and lets him die thinking it never will be pressed. He was ''pissed'' at Larque.[[/note]] but then carries out the plan anyway, because the snobs really ''do'' have it coming.]]
---> "Go out into your back garden. There's a great Darsh face hanging over your garden wall."

* In Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/LordOfLight'', one example of the weaponmaking ability of [[GadgeteerGenius Lord Yama]] is how the "fire wand" he made for Lord Agni scarred the faces of all three moons when Agni stood on the seashore and waved the thing.
* ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends The Han Solo Trilogy]]'' tells how one of Han's former classmates once tried to wipe an Imperial logo off a small moon orbiting their MilitaryAcademy. He underestimated the power of the stolen antimatter, and [[DetonationMoon the whole moon went boom]].
* One of Creator/LarryNiven's stories, ''Literature/TheWomanInDelReyCrater'', has a variation not driven by any kind of vanity; highly radioactive waste is stored in a large moon crater, which has had a giant "verboten" sign blasted over it as a warning of the danger.
* The novelisation of ''Series/RedDwarf'' mentions advertisers beginning to deface entire ''constellations'' with slogans visible from Earth. By ''[[StarKilling artificially inducing supernovas]]''. Just to sell Coca-Cola. (This may or may not be a ShoutOut to the above Arthur C. Clarke short story.)
* In the backstory to ''[[AuthorTract The Probability Broach]]'', one of the superpowers intimidates its rival with a "humane demonstration" of its new weapon - which ''cracks the moon''.

* In Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'', a giant stone face carved into the side of a tremendous mountain is an essential plot point. Presumably an example of this trope, as it's carved to resemble one of the Dreamworld's gods.
* Similarly to Judge Dredd, adverts are beamed onto the moon in the sci-fi-future part of ''Literature/CloudAtlas''. It's been happening for so long that when an old man explains what it was like in his youth, the protagonists find the idea bizarre.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/CountToTheEschaton The Hermetic Millennia]]'', Blackie painted a hand across the moon to ensure that Menelaus got his challenge.

* In one of the books of the ''Viriconium'' cycle by M John Harrison, it is mentioned in passing that a previous culture had written their name in the stars … but no one could read their writing any more.
* The Douglas Preston, co-author of the Literature/AgentPendergast series, novel ''Impact'' revolves around figuring out what punched a hole straight through the Earth. As it nears its climax an even more impressive spectacle occurs when an apparently larger object does the same to the moon, leaving a large field of debris in its wake on the exit side. [[spoiler:The protagonists learn that there is an incredibly ancient alien structure on one of Mars' moon which was seemingly "woken up" by a NASA mapping mission. They speculate it to be a computer controlled weapon and that the 2 events were shows of force/warning shots meant deliver a message to any intelligent life that evolved on Earth, and that if unanswered the next shot would [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the Earth]].]]

* The protagonists of ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' give the moon a small touch-up job reminding the now-saved world about the power of love. Despite appearing at the end of the series, the altered moon is such an iconic image that it actually makes a cameo in the AlternateUniverse movie [[spoiler: where it's seen at the end of a dimensional tunnel]]. The moon is notably ''not'' defaced in the SequelSeries, ''Anime/EurekaSevenAo'' [[spoiler: because the setting is actually in the distant past]], but it is seen defaced in [[spoiler: Elena Peoples MindScrew visions, hinting at her connection to the original series's time period]].

** [[spoiler: Madara's master plan involves turning the moon into, essentially, a giant hypnotic eyeball.]]

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': In ''End of Evangelion'', the Giant Naked Rei is wounded so grievously that the arc of blood released splashes onto the moon, leaving a large red slash on it. [[spoiler: [[WildMassGuessing This scene is also]] [[EpilepticTrees alluded to in the second]] ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movie.]]

* The Creator/ArthurCClarke short story ''Watch This Space'' (part of a series of short stories talking about a single moon journey) had astronauts releasing gases into the lunar environment to analyze their reactivity when unfiltered sunlight hit them. Somebody sabotaged the chemical release tube so that, instead of being released as an amorphous cloud, they formed the [[spoiler: Coca-Cola]] logo (he isn't explicit about whose logo it was, just that it [[spoiler:had some Cs and Os in it, as well as Ls and As]]). It didn't ruin the experiment (they analyzed the reactions anyway), but the guy was fired. He didn't care, though, because the company was so grateful for the advertising coup that he was pretty much set up for life. The reason the image wasn't messed up by atmospheric turbulence is because there isn't any on the moon.

* In the 4th book of Jack Vance's ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'', Lens Larque's grand scheme is to [[spoiler: explosively imprint his hideous face in a moon over a planet of racist snobs]]. In something of a subversion, the hero [[spoiler: kills Larque before he can realize his triumph[[note]]and indeed refuses the villain's dying-breath plea to press the button, and lets him die thinking it never will be pressed. He was ''pissed'' at Larque.[[/note]] but then carries out the plan anyway, because the snobs really ''do'' have it coming.]]

* The Douglas Preston, co-author of the Literature/AgentPendergast series, novel ''Impact'' revolves around figuring out what punched a hole straight through the Earth. As it nears its climax an even more impressive spectacle occurs when an apparently larger object does the same to the moon, leaving a large field of debris in its wake on the exit side. [[spoiler: The protagonists learn that there is an incredibly ancient alien structure on one of Mars' moon which was seemingly "woken up" by a NASA mapping mission. They speculate it to be a computer controlled weapon and that the 2 events were shows of force/warning shots meant deliver a message to any intelligent life that evolved on Earth, and that if unanswered the next shot would [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the Earth]].]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjtg1K8gkQ Here's the video]], for those interested.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' the Moon (also known as Lua) is notably absent from the Earth skyline or the star charts at first. It's mentioned in passing that some people might not even believe it ever existed, or perhaps that it was lost with the fall of the [[{{Precursors}} Orokin Empire]], which used it as the seat of its power. But during the Second Dream questline [[spoiler: not only do you find it, hidden away in AnotherDimension, but also restore it to its normal terrestrial orbit]]. It's quite an impressive sight, too, having massive white and gold Orokin towers sprouting from the surface and connected by huge circumlunar rings, but also being ''[[DetonationMoon shattered]]'' and broken into multiple pieces ever since the Old War.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: Cataclysm'', the goblins terraform the zone of Azshara into a giant Horde symbol. (See that [[http://www.wowpedia.org/images/d/d8/WorldMap-Kalimdor-cata.jpg C-shaped bay at the northeast]]?) Their leader, Trade Prince Gallywix, also [[http://www.wowction.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/new-cataclysm-zone-qa-azshara-5.jpg carves his own face]] into the mountain plateau on which he builds his "Pleasure Palace".

* ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'': [[spoiler: When Pizzahead reveals himself in the second phase of the final boss fight, the moon in the background abruptly gains a likeness of his face.]]

* In ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'', the Altarians ''[sic]'' do this with expected results. [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1671# comic 1671]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' involves stealing the moon!

** In ''ComicBook/TheLastDaysOfSuperman'', Superman believed he was dying from a Kryptonian virus, and among the preparations he made for his death was using his heat vision to write "Do good to others and any man can be a Superman. [signed] Superman (Clark Kent)" on the surface of the moon. When it turned ou that he wasn't going to die after all, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and Krypto removed his secret identity from the message; the rest of it, however, was apparently there to stay.

* ''Literature/RestaurantToAnotherWorld'': Similar to ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}'', a huge chunk of the moon is blown off in the fantasy world, an artifact of the a war between the 8 great dragons amd other godlike beings.

* ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends The Han Solo Trilogy]]'' tells how one of Han's former classmates once tried to wipe an Imperial logo off a small moon's face. He underestimated the power of the resulting explosion and [[EarthShatteringKaboom the whole moon went boom]].

** MPU tries to ''re-''draw the Nazca Lines, which are no longer visible, across the majority of South America using satellite lasers. Edward follows this up by drawing a smiley.

* ''LightNovel/RestaurantToAnotherWorld'': Similar to ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}'', a huge chunk of the moon is blown off in the fantasy world, an artifact of the a war between the 8 great dragons amd other godlike beings.