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Comic Books
"There will be no glory in your sacrifice. I will erase even the memory of Sparta from the histories! Every piece of Greek parchment shall be burned. Every Greek historian, and every scribe shall have their eyes pulled out, and their tongues cut from their mouths. Why, uttering the very name of Sparta, or Leonidas, will be punishable by death! The world will never know you existed at all!"
— Xerxes, 300
Film — Animated
Pepa: We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no. We don't talk about Bruno!
— Encanto
Shifu: I will not let you destroy Oogway's memory!
Kai: Why not? He destroyed mine!
Kai: Why not? He destroyed mine!
Film — Live-Action
Vidal: Tell my son the time that his father died. Tell him—
Mercedes: No. He won't even know your name.
Mercedes: No. He won't even know your name.
Lord Zedd: I want you to destroy Zordon, so that my evil may once again reign supreme!
Ivan Ooze: I will not only destroy him, I will obliterate his entire legacy. It will be as if Zordon of Eltar never existed!
Ivan Ooze: I will not only destroy him, I will obliterate his entire legacy. It will be as if Zordon of Eltar never existed!
"They came with nothing. Nothing. And they flourished. For six centuries there has been a Jewish Krakow. Think about that. By this evening those six centuries are a rumor. They never happened. Today is history."
— Amon Goeth, Schindler's List
"'Decency'? A man has the 'decency' not to fuck up. Now, that's one thing. That's real 'decent' of him. But the other kind of decency, it doesn't really matter. We sell it, but it's an export. We sell it because we don't use it. 36 hours from now, this entire episode will be over — and so will you. Our universe will have a hole in it, with your outline. And you will have moved on, to — an alternate universe. A universe of shit. You'll be lost to civilization, and you will be unborn, unmade, and undone. So go get some real decency, son, and un-fuck this mess."
— General Hoyt, The Shape of Water
Peter Parker: They're coming here because of me, right? Because I'm Peter Parker? So cast a new spell. But this time, make everyone forget who Peter Parker is. Make everyone forget... me.
Stephen Strange: No.
Peter: But it would work, right?
Stephen Strange: Yeah, it would work. But you got to understand, that would mean everyone... who knows and loves you... We'd... We'd have no memory of you. It'll be as if you never existed.
Stephen Strange: No.
Peter: But it would work, right?
Stephen Strange: Yeah, it would work. But you got to understand, that would mean everyone... who knows and loves you... We'd... We'd have no memory of you. It'll be as if you never existed.
"Let the name of Moses be stricken from every book and tablet, stricken from all pylons and obelisks, stricken from every monument of Egypt. Let the name of Moses be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of men for all time."
— Pharaoh Sethi, The Ten Commandments (1956)
"You're nobody. You signed the papers, remember? Now we're the only two people on the face of this earth that even know you're a cop. How about we just erase your file, huh? How 'bout that? How about we erase your file and then bang: you're just another soldier for Costello open to arrest for I don't know how many felonies. Huh? What do you say we do that, Captain?"
— Staff Sergeant Dignam, The Departed
"If you're a man, Winston, you're the last man. Your kind is extinct. We are the inheritors. Do you realize that you are alone? You are outside history. You unexist. Get up."
— O'Brien, Nineteen Eighty-Four
"Rutherford unperson. Substitute Ogilvy. Ogilvy bio details as follows: war hero, recently killed, Malabar front. Today awarded posthumous secondary order of conspicuous merit second class."
— Winston Smith, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Literature
People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.
"...this chap'll turn out to be one of a comparatively new type of international criminal who's been turning up in rather frighteningly large numbers in the sabotage game, terrorism and so on. They're people without a traceable history of any sort, probably white Africans with a grudge, various fringe Americans—but that's all supposition because they turn up out of thin air. The lads in Records here call them men from nowhere. Drat silly twopenny-blood sort of name, but it does describe them. What I'm saying, sir, is that it's a waste of time trying to find who this fellow was, because in a sense he wasn't anybody."
— Bill Tanner, Colonel Sun
"Rules of Engagement for darknet communities are as follows: kill everyone you find, burn every structure, and destroy every vehicle. Without exception. The knowledge and equipment that makes these communities work must be eradicated. The cultural memory that they ever existed must be erased."
— The Major, Daemon
"You are losing my interest, and that is very dangerous. In a moment I will have forgotten you quite entirely, and will never be able to remember just what I did with you. What I forget not only ceases to exist, but never really existed in the first place."
— King Haggard, The Last Unicorn
The Emperor: In the time of the Aegypta there was an empress named Hatshepsut. By all accounts of her that survive she was an equitable and proficient ruler, by the standards of her time. She rebuilt her land in the wake of war and occupation, erecting great monuments and bringing prosperity to her people. She reassembled the Aegypta's navy, using it to re-establish their old empire, and launched military campaigns against the nations who had once been their oppressors.
Lion El'Jonson: A legacy whose parallels are not hard to see.
The Emperor: And yet those who came after her did all within their power to ensure that she would have no legacy. Her name was chiselled from every monument, her every deed and triumph stricken from public record. Even her body was removed from its royal tomb.
Lion: Why, if her reign was so equitable?
The Emperor: Because those who succeeded her desired it. Because sometimes what comes before is too troublesome to be paved over in rockcrete, to amend with a monument to compliance or a golden aquila on an Imperial flag. Sometimes it is enough only that it be destroyed, that no trace of it but darkness and ash be left to endure.
Lion El'Jonson: A legacy whose parallels are not hard to see.
The Emperor: And yet those who came after her did all within their power to ensure that she would have no legacy. Her name was chiselled from every monument, her every deed and triumph stricken from public record. Even her body was removed from its royal tomb.
Lion: Why, if her reign was so equitable?
The Emperor: Because those who succeeded her desired it. Because sometimes what comes before is too troublesome to be paved over in rockcrete, to amend with a monument to compliance or a golden aquila on an Imperial flag. Sometimes it is enough only that it be destroyed, that no trace of it but darkness and ash be left to endure.
Twenty years ago, there was an academic study of the five hundred truly great novelists since the Second War. I was not in their company. I had slid down the page to a footnote, where I am described as a sort of Lucifer who turned his back on 'modernism,' a movement that had ended, I had always thought, in the year of my birth. During The '50s, a university student told me that when he had wanted to write a dissertation on me, he had been warned that he would be thought a fairy and that no university would ever hire him.
— Palimpsest, by Gore Vidal
Not that we'd ever hear of him again. Outside the hermetically sealed circle of his immediate contacts — his briefing officer, mission controller and director in the field — there wouldn't be any enquiry. After tonight, along those warrenlike corridors of that anonymous building in Whitehall where no one officially exists even when they're alive, there'd be no questions asked, and the name of North would never be mentioned again. In the Bureau, death is a disease with no complications.
— Quiller, The Mandarin Cypher by Adam Hall
Live-Action TV
"When a spy gets fired, he doesn't get a call from the lady in HR and a gold watch. They cut him off. They make sure he can never work again. They can't take away his skills or what's in his head, so they take away the resources that allow him to function. They burn him."
— Michael, Burn Notice
"No one's getting shot, Legasov. The whole world saw you in Vienna; it would be embarrassing to kill you now. And for what? Your testimony today will not be accepted by the State. It will not be disseminated in the press. It never happened. No, you will live. However long you have. But not as a scientist. Not anymore. You'll keep your title and your office, but no duties. No authority. No friends. No one will talk to you. No one will listen to you. Other men, lesser men, will receive credit for the things you have done. Your legacy is now their legacy; you will live long enough to see that. ... You will not communicate with anyone about Chernobyl ever again. You will remain so immaterial to the world around you that when you finally do die, it will be exceedingly hard to know that you ever lived at all."
— Charkov, Chernobyl
You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views, which can be uncomfortable... If you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.
Helen A: I think you'll find everyone on Terra Alpha is very happy.
The Doctor: Some people on Terra Alpha are very difficult to find.
The Doctor: Some people on Terra Alpha are very difficult to find.
"Your words will disappear, your house will disappear, your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear."
— Sansa Stark to Ramsey Bolton, Game of Thrones
"Your legacy has been erased, Azura. Whatever minute waves your being managed to propagate throughout the universe have been canceled out."
— Emperor Cleon XIII, Foundation (2021), "The Leap"
Music
Nothing shall remain!
Neither memory nor name!
It will be as though
You never, ever lived!
Neither memory nor name!
It will be as though
You never, ever lived!
— Manowar, "Hand of Doom"
Professional Wrestling
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now, some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent. Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit's name tonight. On the contrary, tonight's show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process. Tonight, WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world - entertain you."
—Vince McMahon officially deletes Chris Benoit from the WWE's history, ECW 06/26/07
Tabletop Games
"All memory of your existence will be wiped from reality. You will die, and no one will mourn."
— Memnarch, Magic: The Gathering, "Door to Nothingness"
"We do not pile the skulls of our enemies, nor make them into ornaments. We grind them into dust. We leave nothing for their families to weep over, nothing for their descendants to honor."
— Anafenza, Khan of the Abzan, Magic: The Gathering
The mage cannot be sensed in any way, so no interaction with others is possible. All records of the mage are lost, destroyed, misplaced, or thrown away. Devices like cameras, sound records and medical equipment are entirely incapable of registering the mage's existence. If the mage's name is written in stone, concrete or metal, the name chips or corrodes away. The mage suffers from brief moments of amnesia as she begins forgetting her own existence. For a moment or two, several times a week, she may physically fade from the Tellurian as her body becomes incorporeal.
— What happens when Batini Occultation goes too far, Mage: The Ascension - Lost Paths
Video Games
"You're afraid of being ashes. You're afraid of being forgotten. And you will be forgotten, Joker. Because of me."
— Batman, Batman: Arkham Knight
"Did you ever stop to think that eventually there's a point where your name gets mentioned for the very last time? Well, here it is: I'm going to kill you, Chell."
Nokris was cast out, his name removed from the World's Grave, the Books of Sorrow. In the king's rage, all memory of the unfavored son was obscured, all but one statue, defiant in its permanence.
— Destiny 2: Warmind
"Sinclair, I don't care how you accomplish Lamb's removal from the public eye. Indeed, I'd rather cease contact with you altogether. But allow me to make this plain: I don't want to see Lamb on the streets again, peddling her Bolshevik fever dreams to my people. Bury her memory, Sinclair. Bury it, and salt the earth."
— Andrew Ryan, BioShock 2
"Cipher will rewrite the records, and I will vanish from human memory."
— Skull Face, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
"No one living has heard of the village of my birth, and no one ever will."
— Gul'dan, World of Warcraft
State records do not recognize the existence of this species.
— When the Citizenship status of a species is set to "Undesirables" in Stellaris
Sindel: Your name will be stricken from every monument, every shrine.
General Shao: But you can't erase it from the hearts of Outworld.
General Shao: But you can't erase it from the hearts of Outworld.
Webcomics
Ennesby: It's got both our names in it, Tenzy.
Tenzy: You were never here, and I never even existed.
Ennesby: Ah, the thrill of being part of history in the unmaking.
Tenzy: You were never here, and I never even existed.
Ennesby: Ah, the thrill of being part of history in the unmaking.
Web Animation
"This isn't like kids giving Jimmy the silent treatment. This is everyone simply forgetting there ever was a Jimmy, and forgetting that they forgot."
— Cody, Alternate History Hub, "The Dystopian World of 1984 Explained"
Web Original
WWE announced this morning that they are done with barbecued piece of gristle Hulk Hogan because of a leaked transcript where he uses his deep fried mouth slit to shit out the n-word a bunch of times. The WWE's website is now 40% less orange, because they have already erased every sign of Hulk Hogan from it.
— "So whatcha gonna do when the Hulkster runs racist on you? WWE: Um, fire you." by Michael K., Dlisted
by Michael K., DlistedUgh. Even when he's nothing but a solid-white blob with a question mark◊ over his face, Josh Duggar still manages to give me the creeps.
◊ over his face, Josh Duggar still manages to give me the creeps.— "TLC Might Yank Josh Duggar Off 19 Kids & Counting" by Michael K., Dlisted
by Michael K., Dlisted Western Animation
"The Warners' films, which made absolutely no sense, were locked away in the studio vault, never to be released. As for the Warners themselves — who made even less sense — they were locked away in the studio water tower, also never to be released. Publicly, the studio has disavowed any knowledge of the Warners' existence to this very day..."
— "Newsreel of the Stars", Animaniacs
Elf King: For centuries, no elf has ever left Elfwood.
Speako: Except for Leavo.
Elf King: Speak no more of Leavo, Speako!
Speako: Except for Leavo.
Elf King: Speak no more of Leavo, Speako!
Real Life
"Pastors and bishops of the Church of Uganda (Anglican) told me Amin’s spies would often sit quietly in church services. Days later, certain members of the congregation would simply disappear. Most were simply shot. Others were tortured. Some were fed to crocodiles. To be a Christian under Amin was to put your life on the line."
— W. Stanley Mooneyham
"Ideally, instead of [a situation where a player was found to be sexually abusive] becoming a huge stink on Twitter; a ban is announced, and then that individual ceases to exist from the Splatoon [competitive] community. No one hears about them again. The victim doesn't have to be reminded of them by anything that remains in the scene. They don't have to feel that sudden rising panic upon hearing their name, a fight-or-flight response suddenly kicking in at a time they're just trying to enjoy themselves. Memeing on the situation does the opposite. A meme is, by definition, something repeatable — something that keeps coming back.
I have not named the individual who is banned throughout this video for a reason. I don't say the names of people who I don't want people to remember. The people who have the authority and ability to refuse them entry to our community already have their names on a list and will make sure they don't come back. Saying their name only makes them more remembered. Sometimes it can even make them more popular."
— Squid School's statement on the Splatoon Competitive Community Safety panel, "Splat Safety"
