History Main / XMarksTheSpot

* ''Videogame/BanjoKazooie'''s Treasure Trove Cove has an X painted on the ground, which can be {{Ground Pound}}ed to trasform it into an arrow pointing the way to another X. After several iterations of this, the player will find a treasure hest containing a jiggy.

* ''Literature/{{The Phantom Ship|1837}}'': Subverted but a possible inspiration to ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. Philip and Krantz bury what treasure is left from the ''Utrecht'' on an island for the Company to pick up later. They bury it beneath a coconut tree, which they have "marked with their axe."
* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' may be the TropeMaker. Creator/RobertLouisStevenson was painting a watercolor with his stepson, and the painting of it became an engrossing story in its own right, with the appearance of the fantastically/horrifically named locations on the island culminating in the story's apotheosis, the X where the treasure is located. To hear the nephew tell it, it was quite exciting. The novel came from that rainy afternoon's adventure in watercolor.

* ''Literature/ThePhantomShip'': Subverted but a possible inspiration to ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. Philip and Krantz bury what treasure is left from the ''Utrecht'' on an island for the Company to pick up later. They bury it beneath a coconut tree, which they have "marked with their axe."

* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' may be the TropeMaker. Creator/RobertLouisStevenson was painting a watercolor that he was using to entertain his nephew, and the painting of it became an engrossing story in its own right, with the appearance of the fantastically/horrifically named locations on the island culminating in the story's apotheosis, the X where the treasure is located. To hear the nephew tell it, it was quite exciting. The novel came from that rainy afternoon's adventure in watercolor.

* ''Literature/ThePhantomShip'': Subverted but a possible inspiration to ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. Philip and Krantz bury what treasure is left from the ''Utrecht'' on an island for the Company to pick up later. They bury it beneath a coconut tree, which they mark with their axe.

* A humourously coincidential example: When the long-lost grave of King UsefulNotes/RichardIII was rediscovered under a car park in Leicester, many noted that it even happened to be marked by a big 'R' (a 'Reserved Parking' marking).

* A humourousl coincidential example: When the long-lost grave of King UsefulNotes/RichardIII was rediscovered under a car park in Leicester, many noted that it happened to be marked by a big 'R' (a 'Reserved Parking' marking).

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': North Korean pilot "5 o'Clock Charlie" comes by every day at 5 o'Clock and tries to blow up an ammo dump that's near the hospital but misses. So the guys in the unit decide to help him by painting giant arrows pointing the way to the correct location.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': In a clever variant, this is a way to locate Raftel, the ultimate Treasure Island where the titular One Piece is located. Using the writings of ancient stone blocks known as "red Poneglyphs", the writings show the position of a particular island; there are 4 such Poneglyphs in existence. Once all 4 islands are located, then you draw a cross between those 4 islands on the map, and Raftel is located at the center of that X.

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' -- a group of jagers drew a large X on the ground, where their war machine was aimed, to lure an egomaniac x-themed villain to set his tent there.

-->-- '''Zak''' recording his find, ''WesternAnimation/ZakStorm'', "[[Recap/ZakStormS1E3MorlockTheUnstoppable Morlock the Unstoppable]]"

!!Examples

[[folder:Film --Live-Action]]

[[folder:Live-Action Series]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:WebComic]]
* Inverted in ''WebComic/GirlGenius'' - a group of jagers drew a large X on the ground, where their war machine was aimed, to lure an egomaniac x-themed villain to set his tent there.
* In ''WebComic/{{Freefall}},'' a giant X on the ground is used to mark a drop zone for ice asteroids.

[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': in a clever variant, this is a way to locate Raftel, the ultimate Treasure Island where the titular One Piece is located. Using the writings of ancient stone blocks known as "red Poneglyphs", the writings show the position of a particular island; there are 4 such Poneglyphs in existence. Once all 4 islands are located, then you draw a cross between those 4 islands on the map, and Raftel is located at the center of that X.

* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Dr. Jones makes a point of telling his class that X [[DefiedTrope never, ever marks the spot.]] Later on, while looking for clues, he finds that one is actually a giant Roman numeral [[GeniusBonus 10]].

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/DoctorSteel has a song entitled, "''Planet'' X Marks the Spot", a play on this phrase.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
* An early Wrestling/DGenerationX skit had Wrestling/TripleH and Wrestling/{{Chyna}} holding up cardboard signs that read "D-Generation" and "X" while Wrestling/ShawnMichaels jumped up and down, mooning the camera. Triple H commented, "X marks the spot" as he did so.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':
** The episode "X Marks the Ed" is named after this trope.
** In "O-Ed Eleven", the Eds uncover a sheet of paper hidden in Eddy's brother's room. Edd does his best to decipher it, even laying it over a projection of a map of the neighborhood, but nothing comes of it. In a momentary fit of {{Cloudcuckoolander}} [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight intelligence]], Ed puts Eddy in front of the projection, the starting point being Eddy's nose and the end of the line leading to Eddy's ear (which so happens to be an X in design). Ed claims he was able to put it together because he is an older brother just like Eddy's brother.

Not to be confused with the [[Film/XMarksTheSpot educational short film of the same name]] not particularly related to XMarksTheHero.

Not to be confused with the [[Film/XMarksTheSpot educational short film of the same name]].

** In "O-Ed Eleven", the Eds uncover a sheet of paper hidden in Eddy's brother's room. Edd does his best to decipher it, even laying it over a projection of a map of the neighborhood, but nothing comes of it. In a momentary fit of {{Cloudcuckoolander}} [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight intelligence]], Ed puts Eddy in front of the projection, the starting point being Eddy's nose and the end of the line leading to Eddy's ear (which so happens to be an X in design). Ed claims he was able to put it together because he is a brother just like Eddy's brother.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "Just Us Justice Ducks, Part 1": [[BigBad Negaduck]] has a huge and very obvious flag over his headquarters pointing out the exact location of his lair (right in the background of the scene at that), but Darkwing fails to see it and instead goes for a cryptically-placed clue at the site of their last confrontation. [[XanatosGambit Of course]], [[MagnificentBastard Negaduck]] [[ManipulativeBastard was counting on Darkwing finding the clue and not seeing the obvious flag]].

* The {{jerkass}} bulldog from Creator/TexAvery's cartoon "Bad Luck Blackie" paints an X on the sidewalk exactly below a safe that's suspended from a pulley hoist. Bad Luck Blackie appears and stands on the X, whereupon the dog smugly releases the rope. Blackie hears the BombWhistle, looks up, assesses the situation, and calmly slides the painted X with his foot until the X is beneath the dog. ToonPhysics dictate that a falling object must land on the X, even if it must bend gravity to do so. Therefore, [[HilarityEnsues it does]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'' episode ''Arrgh!'' also features this trope. The treasure Mr. Krabs is looking for lies underneath a kinda obvious large X. (Which is located 100 steps to the west, not weast.)

* In ''DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'', Planet X conveniently has an X on its surface. They find it following a line of likewise alphabetized planets.

* In the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series, buried treasure is almost always marked with an X, sometimes because it's intended to be found; others, because it's a trap for the obliviously greedy. ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', ''[[MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge LeChuck's Revenge]]'', and ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' all have such Xs, though in all these cases the treasure is well-hidden and not out in the open with a map leading right to it. The other games also have hidden treasure, but in secret rooms or caves.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': in a clever variant, this is a way to locate Raftel, the ultimate TreasureIsland where the titular One Piece is located. Using the writings of ancient stone blocks known as "red Poneglyphs", the writings show the position of a particular island; there are 4 such Poneglyphs in existence. Once all 4 islands are located, then you draw a cross between those 4 islands on the map, and Raftel is located at the center of that X.

* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' may be the TropeMaker. RobertLouisStevenson was painting a watercolor that he was using to entertain his nephew, and the painting of it became an engrossing story in its own right, with the appearance of the fantastically/horrifically named locations on the island culminating in the story's apotheosis, the X where the treasure is located. To hear the nephew tell it, it was quite exciting. The novel came from that rainy afternoon's adventure in watercolor.