

This page contains a list of pop culture references in Warcraft.





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Please double-check the big list of all pop culture references in Warcraft before adding a reference; while attempts are made to keep them in alphabetical order, they may not be. Most importantly, please note that this page is split into the classic game and its two expansions. Additionally, references to movies that are based on books might be listed under 'Literature' instead of 'Movies' and vice-versa, and the movie you are thinking of could just be referencing another work, too. Those might be mentioned in the case of very popular ones, but it will be listed under the original reference.

To be absolutely sure the entry you want to add isn't already there, please perform a full search on the page (Ctrl+F) for both the name of the book/movie/game etc., and the name/quote of the NPC/location.





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Important: Understand that this page contains (mostly) user-submitted, non-verified content. Hence it barely contains all references that exist, but only a mere fraction. If you've spotted a reference, feel free to add it down below with a compatible description. Add links if needed.

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

This section concerns content exclusive to Mists of Pandaria

Games

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim A quest called Unsafe Passage ω τ ϖ given by Koro Mistweaver ω τ ϖ in Krasarang Wilds results in a part of dialog from the game Skyrim, where the guards would repeatedly say "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee" , which also became an internet meme later on. In the quest, while escorting Koro Mistweaver, you are attacked by a group of Riverblades , after which Koro would say: "Help me up, <name>. I... I took an arrow in the knee..." .



Duke Nukem An NPC located in The Jade Forest by the name of Dook Ookem ω τ ϖ is a reference to the main character of the video game series, Duke Nukem. His quotes are also said to be based on the character.



Movies

Short Circuit The achievement Number Five Is Alive ω τ ϖ is a reference to Number 5, a designation given to 1 of 6 robots in the movie "Short Circuit". After being struck by lightning, "Number Five" becomes convinced that he is alive, and not just a machine. The achievement itself is the declaration made by the robot: " Number 5, not a machine. Number 5..... Is alive! "



Mulan Lorewalker Cho's small crimson cloud serpent, Mishi ω τ ϖ , is a reference to Mushu, Mulan's red dragon guardian. The quest "Make a Fighter out of Me" is a reference to the popular song "I'll Make a Man Out of You".



Music

Adele There's an NPC named Adele ω τ ϖ located in Townlong Steppes, more specifically in an area named The Widening Deep. The NPC moves by rolling on the ground, and with the name of the location, this is a reference to the singer Adele and her song "Rolling in the Deep".



The Coasters The Quest Yakity Yak ω τ ϖ is named after the Song Yakety Yak from the coasters.



LMFAO The achievement Every Day I'm Pand-a-ren ω τ ϖ is a reference to the song "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO, in which the phrase "every day I'm shuffling" is presented with a similar syllabication. The male pandaren /dance animation is based off of the choreography from LMFAO's music video, "Party Rock Anthem".



Queen The daily quest Red Blossom Leeks, You Make the Croc-in' World Go Down ω τ ϖ is a play off the lyrics from the song "Fat Bottomed Girls", where the actual phrase would be; "fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round" . There are also various quests for Lion's Landing that reference songs such as "We Will Rock You" "Hammer to Fall" "Under Pressure" "A Kind Of Magic" and "Don't Lose Your Head."



Caramelldansen The female pandaren /dance animation is based off of the ever-so-popular Caramelldansen (The Caramell Dance).



The Protomen The scenario Assault the Shipyard ω τ ϖ on the Isle of Thunder, has Stages named after Songs of the Band. Stage 5 = Keep Quiet | Stage 6 = Light up the Night | Stage 7 / Final Stage = Breaking out



There are several metal/rock songs used for the buffs given in The Dread Wastes by the Klaxxi Paragons.

Gza In the Heart of Fear raid the boss Blade Lord Ta'yak says upon death ``I'd always hoped to cut someone like that someday, to hear that sound. But to have it happen to my own prothorax is ridiculous.`` a reference to an identical quote from Wu-Tang rapper Gza`s Liquid Swords album, which itself was taken from the film `Shogun Assassin``



People

Television

Lost There is a Isle in the Krasarang wilds on which a bunker is with 7 skeletons around and a Stack of Papers ω τ ϖ which is a reference to the Log printout from Lost (but the note on the papers is a reference to Diablo 3 as stated above).



Dexter's Laboratory The achievement What Does This Button Do? ω τ ϖ is a likely reference to Dexter's sister Dee Dee who would often say, "oooooooooooo, what does this button do?" before pressing buttons at random on various machines in his lab.

Ranma ½ The Singing Pools, an area which is located in the pandaren starting area, The Wandering Isle, could be a vague reference to the Japanese manga series, Ranma ½, as if you fall into any of the pools, you're transformed into an animal.



K-On! On the Wandering Isle, just up the stairs from Mandoli Village is an NPC named Zach Chow ω τ ϖ and his pet tiger Azunyan ω τ ϖ . The tiger's name could be a reference to the K-On character Azusa Nakano, who has the nickname of Azunyan.



Books

Other

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm

Games

Assassin's Creed The 6th quest in the rogue-only legendary quest chain introduced in patch 4.3 is named "Assassinate Creed." This is a reference to the game series, and the stealthy nature of most missions involved in those series.



Banjo-Kazooie At the Kaja'mite Caverns in the Lost Isles starting area, the Pygmy Witchdoctor inside will on occasion say random phrases. One of them is "Eekum Bokum!" which is a catch phrase of Mumbo Jumbo from the Banjo-Kazooie series.



Bioshock At Krom'gar fortress players encounter an NPC named Large Daddy which is a reference to Big Daddy from the Bioshock series.

Portal When doing the quest [81] A Bone to Pick , you are asked to kill King Gurboggle, and in an oyster next to his throne, you can see the Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube.



Halo/RedvsBlue A Dragonmaw camp in the Twilight Highlands is named Bloodgulch and features a lazy orc named Griff.



Joust The achievement Beware of the 'Unbeatable?' Pterodactyl and the quests leading up to it are all a reference to the arcade and NES game "Joust".



Dwarf Fortress Referenced in the Southern Barren's mission Dwarf Fortress . A secondary reference is found the dwarven mob Haggis Boatmurder , which is a reference to a famous Dwarf Fortress story based around the settlement of Boatmurdered. In Menethil Harbor, the two dwarves, Hargin Mundar and Junder Brokk , are sitting on a sand bag in front of the inn having a back and forth discussion about a flood that they'd had in Ironforge, in which Jundir explains that Hargin trapped himself in a channel (which can be a common mistake for players not minding where there dwarves are placed during construction) and then dug out into the dining hall to escape, flooding the room with water and carp (a very dangerous and well known fish in the Dwarf Fortress universe).



Zero Wing One of the new released Guild Perks in 4.0.1 is called For Great Justice, which is a reference to the 'All your base are belong to us' opening from Zero Wing, which concludes with that sentence. That opening is well known as an Internet meme.



Altered Beast The Winterspring quest Altered Beasts is a direct reference to the arcade side-scroller, "Altered Beast", released in 1988 by SEGA.



Starcraft II The Mount Hyjal Quest "In the Rear, with the Gear" is a reference to the common soundbite made by Terran SCVs.



Diablo Aggro sound of Admiral Ripsnarl, boss in Deadmines instance, "Ah, fresh meat!" is probably a reference to a boss in Diablo, The Butcher. When encountered, The Butcher says the same words, but with other, more demonic voice.



Movies

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective In Blackrock Caverns, Raz's keeper is Finkle Einhorn, a play on the last names of two characters who are the same person. As Ace notes: "Einhorn is Finkle, Finkle is Einhorn"

300 The quest [84] Madness is a reference to the scene when the negotiator is thrown into a bonfire. "This is DRAGONMAW!"



Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery On The Lost Isles, near Town-In-A-Box, you get a quest to use a submersible shark robot to fight an elite mob. One of the abilities of the robot has is called "Freakin' Laser Beams", referencing Dr. Evil's wish to have sharks with freakin' laser beams attached to their heads.



Hackers In Uldum, the quest "Hacking the Wibson" is a reference to the end plot of Hackers. Whereby all of the "users" attempt to hack the "Gibson", A super-computer that can supposedly cause a mass of destruction.



Indiana Jones The Alliance Archaeology trainer, Harrison Jones, is a direct reference to the explorer , "Indiana Jones", and the character who plays him, "Harrison Ford". *You will see many, many, many different references to the various Indiana Jones movies throughout all the zones where you come into contact with Harrison Jones.



Minority Report The Val'kyr in Silverpine forest, Agatha, Daschala, and Arthura, are named after the three "Precogs" in the movie Minority Report, Agatha, Daschal, and Arthur.



Office Space On the mercenary ship, and during quests in Vashj'ir, there are 2 NPC's named Mack and Samir. These 2 NPCs now placed together appears to be a reference to Peter's coworkers Mike Bolton and Samir Nagheenanajar



What About Bob? On the mercenary boat during the starting questline that takes you from Stormwind to Vashj'ir there is an NPC named Budd on the boat. He starts singing "I'm on a boat... and I'm sailing!". This appears to be a reference to the scene in What About Bob? where the deeply anxious and neurotic Bob is tied to the mast of a boat, and shouts toward the shore, "Dr. Marvin! I'm on a boat... and I'm sailing!"



Spaceballs During the quest Get Back to Town, you are given an enormous helmet that belongs to one of the Oomlot pygmies, named "Dark Tan Helmet". This appears to be a reference to Dark Helmet from Spaceballs.



Starship Troopers During the quests in Bootlegger Outpost, you are given a quest to "Wrangle" a Swarmer bug. When you turn this quest in, it is placed before Zeke Bootscuff and then Narain Soothfancy comes over and "telepathically" sees what the bug is thinking. Then they both yell "It's scared!". This leads into the quest titled: "Just Trying to Kill Some Bugs".



Star Wars: Return of the Jedi The Pygmy Witch Doctor in the Kaja'mite Cavern on The Lost Isles says "Taronto Bosch" at one point during his chanting. This appears to be a quote of C3PO in RotJ when he is telling the story to the Ewoks and is talking about the Hoth battle.



Predator After the quest "To The Cliffs" on the Lost Isles, Kilag sends you to Scout Brax on a mounted companion. Once you accept the quest "Get To The Gyrochoppa!" Scout Brax yells "Get to the Gyrochopper! Do it now!" which is a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie "Predator".



Zoolander There are multiple references to Zoolander in the Goblin starting area of Kezan. There are some "supermodels" that are having a gasoline fight. There is a part where an NPC runs up and says to another NPC "So-in-so is so hot right now!"



World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

This section concerns content exclusive to Wrath of the Lich King

Games

Alone in the Dark The achievement Alone in the Darkness ( 10 / 25 ) is a reference to the Alone in the Dark computer game series, which is mostly based on Lovecraft's works, just like Yogg-Saron.



Diablo series The monster Kaganishu, found inside a cave system in northern Borean Tundra, has a name reminiscent of Rakanishu, a Fallen guarding the Cairn Stones in Diablo II . His followers say his name as they attack, much like all Fallen in Diablo II .



Final Fantasy VII There is a flower merchant in Dalaran named Aerith Primrose. Aerith is a reference to Aerith Gainsborough , a major character of Final Fantasy VII , who wears a pink and red outfit similar in appearance to that of this NPC, and is also a flower seller.



The Legend of Zelda The achievement Friend or Fowl? requires you to kill 15 Turkeys in under 3 minutes. Once you kill 15 of them, masses of Angry Turkeys will spawn and chase you down attacking you. This is a reference to The Legend of Zelda series as this same event occurs in many of the games; as you attack Cuccos over and over, masses of Cuccos will swarm in and attempt to kill Link. In Un'goro Crater, there was an NPC gnome named Linken , who must regain his memory and has you undergo various quests to find his lost equipment as well as defeat an elite fire elemental. This refers to the games ongoing pattern of gaining bonuses and defeating bosses. Unfortunately, the quest line was removed with



Pokémon The achievements I Choose You, Runemaster Molgeim ( 10 / 25 ), I Choose You, Steelbreaker ( 10 / 25 ) and I Choose You, Stormcaller Brundir ( 10 / 25 ), all for the same boss encounter, may be a reference to a phrase used in the Pokémon franchise, however in the Pokemon franchise the name usually comes before the "I choose you!" statement. The Borean Tundra questgiver, Mootoo the Younger , is a reference to the Pokemon Mewtwo . This is further enforced by various psychic related quotes during the quest [68] Escaping the Mist , as well as the npc's similarity in eye shape to the Pokemon's.



Portal The Cooking Achievement [ The Cake Is Not A Lie ] is a direct reference to the game Portal . The phrase translates to a reward which is fictitious and was popularized by the game Portal found on Half-Life's Orange Box release. In the game, you are part of a study group controlled by a computer that attempts to motivate you to complete a series of tests involving a new device created by Aperture Science. The book Thinking with Portals - A Memorandum on Proper Portal Usage can sometimes be found in Dalaran and is a reference to the motto of the game, "Now you're thinking with portals!", used by GLaDOS after completing certain objectives.



Sewer Shark A sewer shark named "Segacedi" is located under the poison vendor in the sewers of Dalaran. This is a reference to the game Sewer Shark , released on the Sega CD add on for the Sega Genesis, also known as the Mega CD in European and Asian markets.



Starcraft During the boss fight in Pit of Saron, Scourgelord Tyrannus shouts "Power... overwhelming!". This is a quote from the Protoss Archon unit in Starcraft , as well as the game's cheat command for invincibility.



Zero Wing The achievement Set Up Us the Bomb ( 10 / 25 ) is a quote from the badly translated (Engrish) intro of the Mega Drive version of the game, including such lines as "Somebody set up us the bomb".



Movies

300 An early death knight quest called [55] Tonight We Dine In Havenshire is a reference to the movie 300 when Leonidas says "Tonight, we dine in Hell." The Scourge archers seen early on in the Death Knight quest chain are called Sky Darkeners , referring to this exchange from 300: "Our arrows will blot out the sun!" "Then we will fight in the shade." Also, the quest [55] The Light of Dawn is considered to be a reference to the Battle of Thermopylae, since there being 300 defenders of the Light and 10,000 attackers from the Scourge.



Airplane! On occasion, the Scarlet Peasants in the death knight starting area will say "I picked the wrong week to quit drinking" which is a memorable quote from Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges). He also substitutes "drinking" for smoking, sniffing glue, and amphetamines.



Aladdin The comment on the buff icon when riding the [ Magnificent Flying Carpet ] says "Don't you dare close your eyes!" which is a quote from the song "A whole new world" sung in Disney's Aladdin , while Aladdin and Jasmine are riding the flying carpet. The same reference goes for the buff icon when riding the [ Frosty Flying Carpet ] that says "A new fantastic point of view!", which is also a quote from the song "A whole new world" sung in Aladdin



Aliens The achievement They're Coming Out of the Walls ( 10 / 25 ) is a line used by Pvt. Hudson in the movie Aliens . Just after starting the encounter in Violet Hold, Lieutenant Sinclari says, "Prison guards, we are leaving!". This references the line by Cpl. Hicks, "Marines, we are leaving!"



American Pie The quest This One Time, When I Was Drunk... refers to the constant anecdotes starting with "This one time, at band camp..." told by Alyson Hannigan's character Michelle in the 1999 teen comedy American Pie .



Apocalypse Now The achievement I Love the Smell of Saronite in the Morning ( 10 / 25 ) is a play on the famous quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smell like...victory."



Bambi In Grizzly Hills, there are four NPCs located near each other with interesting names. These NPCs in question are one adult female deer named Mother of Bambina , a younger female deer named Bambina , a skunk named Flora and a small rabbit named Thudder . These four are clearly a reference to Bambi . A hunter will come out and shoot Mother of Bambina, exactly what happens in the Disney film Bambi . Whenever "Mother of Bambina", "Flora", and "Thudder" are killed, "Bambina" turns into "Vengeful Bambina" which makes her hostile to anyone and gives her a buff called "Bambina's Vengeance", increasing all her damage dealt by 2000% and attack speed by 150%.



The Big Lebowski A questgiver named Donny in Howling Fjord gives the quest [70] Out of My Element? . This is a direct reference to the character named Donny (played by Steve Buscemi) in The Big Lebowski . Several times in one of the major scenes, Walter Sobchak (played by John Goodman) tells Donny "You're out of your element!" There is an NPC named Walt at the Explorers' League Outpost who gives the quest [71] Iron Rune Constructs and You: The Bluff in which he says: "Walt at the Explorers' League Outpost in the Howling Fjord wants you to use the Iron Rune Construct 's Bluff ability on Lebronski after you've walked on his rug". This is a clear reference to The Big Lebowski . In the movie, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Lebronski) is visited by 3 thugs. One of them relieves himself on "The Dude's" rug, and several references are made about the rug through-out the movie. Also, after you've completed all the quests Walt has to give, when you open his chat window he says "The Dude over yonder is pretty upset about his rug". Phone's Ringin' Dude!



Full Metal Jacket During the Death Knight starting quests in Acherus, at the early stage of creating your first rune blade, a book can be read near the runeforges with the text "This is my runeblade, there are many like it but this one is mine." This is a reference to the mantra the Marine recruits are ordered to recite in Full Metal Jacket : "This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine". (Although this could be a movie reference, it could just as well be to The Rifleman's Creed of the U.S. Marine Corps .)



Galaxy Quest Grubthor, a rare spawn in Silithus may be a reference to Alan Rickman's repeated line, "By Grabthor's Hammer, you shall be avenged!"



Jurassic Park During the Horde version of [74] The Battle For The Undercity , when you clear to the outer ring of the Undercity, Varimathras yells "Clever girl..." at Sylvanas. This is a direct quote from the film version of Jurassic Park. Just before Robert Muldoon is killed by velociraptors, those are his last words.



John Carpenter's Vampires In the quest [71] Absholutely... Thish Will Work! , which you get in Howling Fjord, you're asked to give a Vrykul prisoner a plague cure. Eventually, he explodes and one of the guards says "I didn't know they could do that." In the movie after one of the vampires explodes one of the characters says "You didn't tell me they could do that. I didn't know they could do that."



The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Arthas, as the Lich King, bears a near perfect resemblance to the Witch-king of Angmar as depicted in The Return of the King. In the quest [80] It's All Fun and Games , you're asked to destroy the The Ocular , which floats above Shadow Vault's spires. The Ocular bears a strong resemblance to the eye of Sauron atop the tower of Barad-dûr from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King film. The Lich King's helmet has spikes on the top like those on Sauron's. The Lich King and his undead minions want to kill all living things not under his power, just as Sauron wants his army to take down all living things not under his power. Angrathar the Wrathgate appears to be based on the Black Gate of Mordor the only major way of getting into Mordor, and in World of Warcraft Angrathar is the only real entrance into Icecrown. They are also both of the same design, made of a black metal with spikes coming out, and feature a large battle outside them.



The Matrix The flavor text of [ Crude Eating Utensils ] , found in Rusted Prisoner's Footlocker, says "There is no spoon." This is also a cheat in Warcraft III that allows you to never run out of mana. During the quest [72] Projections and Plans , if you stand in the enter of the floating platform on the Glittering Strand area of Dragonblight, you'll see the falling symbols in the same effect as the opening title sequence in the Matrix: Reloaded. Before or after this quest, your character stands on a shield that prevents you from standing on the platform.



A Mighty Wind The zeppelin that transports you between Orgrimmar and Warsong Hold, The Mighty Wind, is a reference to the Christopher Guest film "A Mighty Wind".



Monty Python and the Holy Grail After defeating the Black Knight (whose name is taken from this film), you get the achievement It's Just a Flesh Wound, which is a reference to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Black Knight gets his arm cut off and says the line "It's Just a Flesh Wound".



Pinocchio In Dalaran, there is a placed called Wonderworks. The shopkeeper is named Jepetto Joybuzz , which sounds like the name of the man who made Pinocchio.



Pulp Fiction The quest [70] Zedd's Probably Dead is a reference to the movie Pulp Fiction . It is the name of one of the pieces of music from the movie, and also a character named Zed who gets killed, after which Bruce Willis's character exclaims 'Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.'"



RoboCop In the quest [71] Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty, in Borean Tundra, the objective is to slay 4 robots, one of which is called ED-210, a reference to the ED-209 enforcement droid.

Scarface When you fight Gal'darah he will sometimes summon rhinos. While doing that he says "Say hello to my BIG friend!" which is a reference to Scarface's "Say Hello To my LITTLE friend!". The quest [71] Bury Those Cockroaches! in the Borean Tundra is a reference to Tony Montana's line: "I bury those cockroaches!". While fighting Salranax the Flesh Render in the quest [79] The Air Stands Still , the orc death knight Munch also uses the line "Say hello to my little friend!" before summoning his ghoul.



Star Wars Scourgelord Tyrannus shares the Sith name of Count Dooku from the Star Wars franchise. Also, both serve a dark master (Lich King and Emperor Palpatine respectively) The quest [50] Echo Three is a reference to Star Wars: Episode V. The quest giver asks you to check on a sensor that was set up to inform Everlook of the yeti movements in the area. When you interact with the box, it teleports you into the depths of a cave. You will be hanging upside down in a chunk of ice. A "raid warning" will appear telling you to chop the ice to free yourself. When you do, you drop to the floor and there is a huge yeti named Icewhomp who you have to kill. "Echo three to Echo seven; Han ol' buddy, do ya read me?" -Luke Skywalker, Star Wars Episode V



Superman II The item Zod's Repeating Longbow has "Kneel before him" in the flavor text. This is a reference to the movie's main villain, General Zod, who makes the President of the United States (and later tries to make Superman) bow before him with the phrase, "Kneel before Zod."



Sweeney Todd Jelinek Sharpshear, the goblin proprietor of the Stormwind Barber Shop, was named "Sween Neetod" in the Wrath of the Lich King beta. The skeletons of his victims are still hidden beneath a floorboard on the second story of the shop, next to his trusty razor.



The Shadow In the quest [74] The Battle For The Undercity , King Wrynn says "I know what evil lurks in the heart of orcs", a take off from the comic book, movie, and radio program called The Shadow . His catch line, which still has its place in the American Lexicon, is "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men".



The Silence of the Lambs The Ebon Blade Prisoners in Jotunheim (freed for the quest [80] Ebon Blade Prisoners ) occasionally make a remark along the lines of "It takes the key and opens the cage," similar to Buffalo Bill's "It places the lotion in the basket."



The Terminator In Wintergarde Keep, during the quest [72] Flight of the Wintergarde Defender , your character says "Come with me if you want to live". This is a running line from The Terminator series. Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn [1] tells this to Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton [2] in the first movie. In the second movie, a terminator (played by Arnold Schwarzennegger [3] repeats this line to Sarah Connor, while in the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles [4] the line is reprised by Summer Glau [5] in her role as Cameron Philips, a terminator modeled after captured freedom fighter Allison Young who was sent back (of course) to protect John Connor. The description for the warrior talent Bladestorm is inspired by a quote from Kyle Reese when he tries to explain the threat posed by the Terminator. In Utgarde Pinnacle at the very beginning of the instance within the room with all the gold, jewels and gems with skeleton mobs, to the left just as you walk in is the terminators endoskeleton arm. Miles Dyson used that arm to make the neural-net processor for Cyberdyne Systems Corporation who later developed Skynet, the military system that launches a nuclear strike and wages war on human life in the future.



They Live When Macalroy in Valgarde offers the "Hell has Frozen Over" quest, he says "Report to Vice Admiral Keller just northwest of here and let him know that you're all out of bubble gum" which is a reference to the 1988 movie They Live [6] in which the character Nada, played by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper [7] announces "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum" [8]



Television

The 6 Million Dollar Man In Howling Fjord at the Explorer's League quest hub, an NPC named Walt gives you two quests. One is called "We Can Rebuild It" and the other is called "We Have the Technology". In the old TV show The 6 Million Dollar Man , there's a character named Dr. Walter Ellis. Also, the memorable quote from the show was "We can rebuild you, we have the technology." At the Scalding Pools, nearby Fizzcrank Airstrip, the Fizzcrank Mechanognomes can be seen saying: "The flesh is weak. We will make you better, stronger...faster.". This is another quote from the show's introduction.



Bewitched One of the clerks in the shop Sisters Sorcerous in Dalaran is named Endora Moorehead. On the 1960s TV show Bewitched , the mother of Samantha Stevens was named Endora, and was played by Agnes Moorehead. Another sister, Hagatha Moorehead, probably refers to Samantha's (seldom-seen)aunt Hagatha. No word on where her other aunt, Enchantra, has got to.



Deadliest Catch The fishing achievement, Deadliest Catch, is probably a reference to the popular Discovery Channel television program of the same name.



In Tol Barad Peninsula, there is a killable NPC named Captain P. Harris, an Undead Pirate style character surrounded by small crab, a direct mention to the recently passed Alaskan Crab Fishing Captain Phil Harris (fisherman)



Dirty Jobs An NPC named "Dirty" Michael Crowe appears in Dustwallow Marsh and sells fish.



Doctor Who In Borean Tundra, there is a Quest Item named The Ultrasonic Screwdriver (quest item). This is a reference to the Sonic Screwdriver. The entirety of the Mechagnomes is a reference to the Cybermen . The way they're made by "Decursing" gnomes (similar to the way the Cybermen "Upgrade" people), the way Gearmaster Mechazod considers what he's doing to be a gift of immortality, to a few of the Mechagnomes quotes are all indications to this. Chromie talks to you in the same manner as the Doctor, she'll tell you she met you many times before when you first meet Chromie in Andorhal, but when you skip the Intro in Culling of Stratholme once you've beaten it before, She'll make a statement similar to the Doctor's due to her constant time traveling of claiming she's never met you before, this directly reflects the relationship between the Doctor and River Song who live in reverse time lines. In [75] Mystery of the Infinite In the same fashion as "the Doctor" who likes to give out a quirky bit of advice to someone who'll be important in the future that makes no sense to anyone but the Doctor, Future You will say to you the following...



Future You whispers: Listen. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but there's going to be this party that you're invited to. Whatever you do, DO NOT DRINK THE PUNCH!

The Facts of Life A guard in the Underbelly of Dalaran is called Natalie Tootiblare, a reference to three of the main characters in the series: Natalie Green, Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey, and Blair Warner.



Firefly In Amber Ledge of Borean Tundra, Initiate Mehrtens sells an item which you can use to torture a previously captured mage. One of the lines he says is "Are you trying to meet the real me?", a reference to a line Mal says while being tortured in the episode War Stories , and this line, as the whole torture, is in turn a reference to the works of Xiang Yu . In Amberpine Lodge of Grizzly Hills, Saffron Reynolds can be found on the upper floor; she is a reference to Saffron, a con artist who was briefly married to Mal Reynolds. She is a poison vendor, a hint to how she drugged up Mal with a poison on her lips. Next to her is Yolanda Haymer, another name later used by this woman.



Futurama Professor Putricide's quotes come straight from Professor Hubert Farnsworth . "Good News, Everyone!"



Grizzly Adams In the harbor town of Venture Bay located in Grizzly Hills, you can find a male human NPC named "Grizzly" D. Adams with a bear cub by his side. This is a reference to the original movie The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams which later became a TV series.



Top Chef The Alliance Cooking Grandmaster Trainer in Dalaran is named Katherine Lee, a reference to Katie Lee Joel, the host of Season One of Bravo TV's hit series Top Chef and a cookbook author. Some people mistakenly believe this is a reference to Kathie Lee Gifford, who actually has nothing to do with cooking. The Horde Cooking trainer in Vengance Landing is named Thomas Kolichio. A clear reference to Top Chef Master Judge Tom Colicchio.



Lost In Bittertide Lake is a small island with a hatch with the Lost numbers incremented by one: 5 9 16 17 24 43.



MacGyver In Howling Fjord (60,61) is McGoyver who is building an airplane, clearly a reference to MacGyver .



Saturday Night Live A book in Acherus: The Ebon Hold (the Lich King's floating necropolis and starting area for Death Knight characters) lists various Death Knight trainees and their fates. The player's character is named on the last significant page with a note saying "Need more cowbell", a reference to a Christopher Walken sketch that the development team must have really, really liked.



Seinfeld In Badlands , in the town Fuselight-by-the-Sea there is an npc on a hill next to the questgiver to direct you to Fuselight, who is standing in front of a small crowd of engineers. His name is Cramer and his "weird" hairstyle bears a strking resemblance (as well as the anaglamation of his name) to the goofy character Kramer from Seinfeld.



Sesame Street Some of the hungering dead near Wintergarde Keep in Dragonblight say "NOM! NOM! NOM!", a term used to describe eating, coined by the Cookie Monster .



Star Trek Sailor Picardo and Sailor Philips, deckhands of the Kraken (the boat that ferries Alliance players from Stormwind to Valiance Keep) are likely to be references to actors Robert Picardo and Ethan Philips, who played the characters of The Doctor and Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager. In Borean Tundra, there are gnomes called Fizzcrank Mechagnome. While they are fighting you they say "We are Mechagnome...resistance is futile" and "You will be assimilated or eliminated." This is of course a play on the Borg. Datalore Smallsphere, a Gnome trades good seller who resides at Harkor's camp in Grizzly Hills, is a reference to the 'twin brother' androids, Data and Lore, created by Dr. Soong.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air The achievement I Could Say That This Cache Was Rare ( 10 / 25 ) is a reference to the series' theme song.



Unhappily Ever After In the quest Mr. Floppy's Perilous Adventure , Mr. Floppy, Emily's pet rabbit, is in reference to the sitcom Unhappily Ever After which ran on the WB from 1995–1999.



Voltron One of the phases of Mimiron is named "V-07-TR-0N", a reference to the anime robot Voltron. Additionally, the achievement title And I'll Form the Head! gained when looting Mimiron's Head is a quote from the show. It is also interesting that the Jewelcrafting mounts introduced in Mists of Pandaria come in 4 colors (Red, Yellow, Blue, Green), and then a fifth (Black) which can only be crafted with the original 4 mounts as mounts. This is clearly a direct reference to Voltron.



X-Files In Dragonblight are two NPCs named Agent Skully (a female Forsaken in disguise) at New Hearthglen and Deathguard Molder (a male Forsaken) at Venomspite. These two are references to the two main characters of X-Files — Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. Brann Bronzebeard in Storm Peaks sometimes says "The truth is out there".



Xena: Warrior Princes Zena <Wodin's Warrior Kitten> , the pet of Wodin the Troll-Servant at the Amphitheater of Anguish in Zul'Drak is a reference to the series and its main character. Additionally, Woden (Odin) is a norse god, while Xena once was a favorite of Greek war god Ares.



Music

Audioslave Farmer Torp at Warsong Farms Outpost gives you a quest called "Bring 'Em Back Alive", which is also the title of a song on Audioslave's self-titled debut album. (It is at least as likely, though, to be a reference to the 1930 Frank Buck book, or the 1932 movie, or the 1982 Bruce Boxleitner TV series, all of which have the same title.)



Avenged Sevenfold Avatar of Freya gives you a quest called "Returned Sevenfold". Also, one of the rewards from this quest is called "Signet of the Avenging Heart". Taking parts from the title and the reward, you end up with the name of the band. However, it's also very likely that it's a reference to the Book of Genesis, in which God states that Cain (after he is banished from Eden) will be avenged sevenfold if he is harmed.



Bob Dylan Prior to The Cataclysm, Commander Ashlam Valorfist could give you the quest "All Along the Watchtowers," a direct reference to the Bob Dylan song, in which you were required to light the watchtowers in Andorhal aflame.



Depeche Mode In the Death Knight class starting area, when Death Knight NPC's are spoken to they may utter the phrase "suffer well", which could be a reference to the Depeche Mode song "Suffer Well' from the album "Playing the Angel".



Emilie Autumn There is a male undead Grand Master Enchanting Trainer called Emil Autumn (who can be found in Howling Fjord), a possible reference to the musician.



George Fisher The NPC Gorge the Corpsegrinder in Borean Tundra is a reference to the singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of the Metal Band Cannibal Corpse .



James Brown Bronjahm <Godfather of Souls> is the first boss of the Forge of Souls dungeon. Besides 'Bronjahm' being a corruption of the name, James Brown was known as the 'Godfather of Soul'. In addition, the game music changes to a more upbeat melody when the boss is engaged, and his loot and an achievement for his heroic mode are references or direct quotes of song titles.



Megadeth Bronjahm <Godfather of Souls> , the first boss in the Forge of Souls dungeon, casts a spell named Tornado of Souls referring to the song.



Muse The achievement Supermassive ( 10 / 25 ) is a possible reference to the bands' hit "Supermassive Black Hole".



Nelly The achievement Getting Cold in Here ( 10 / 25 ) is a reference to the song Hot in Herre , whose lyrics go "It's gettin' hot in here / So take off all your clothes"



Ozzy Osbourne and Korn In Grizzly Hills, you receive the quest [75] See You on the Other Side . This is a reference to both Ozzy Osbourne's song of the same name and/or Korn's 7th studio album.

and

Spice Girls In any Cooking Daily Quests you will receive a "Small Spice Bag" for your trouble. In these bags you have a chance to get an item called "Baby Spice" which "Reduces the target's size by 50% turning them into a baby". This is a reference to Emma Bunton, one of the girls in Spice Girls, better known by the name Baby Spice.



Literature

Beowulf Drottinn Hrothgar at Hrothgar's Landing, named after him, is a reference to the Danish King Hrothgar, a character in the epic poem Beowulf.



Bhagavad Gita Deathbringer Saurfang's enraged quote, I have become...DEATH! , is a reference to this Hindu scripture. This particular quote was made well-known from its usage by J. Robert Oppenheimer upon observing the detonation of the first atomic bomb, where he said "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".



The Chronicles of Amber Watcher Corwin in Duskwood is probably a reference to prince Corwin of Amber, the main protagonist in the first half of the Chronicles



Harry Potter The crazed dwarves in the Howling Fjord's Whispering Gulch speak of "that which must not be named". This is a reference to the main antagonist of the Harry Potter novels, Voldemort , who was referred to as "He Who Must Not Be Named".



Norse Myth References to the Norse Mythologies are numerous throughout Northrend: The Vrykul are reminiscent of Norsemen (AKA: Vikings), their beliefs in fighting for the Lich King and being chosen is similar to dying in battle and going to Valhalla , where the Val'kyr serve the same role as the Valkyries , albeit in an evil fashion. The two Titan Pantheons, Aesir and Vanir, are references to the pantheons of Gods in Norse myth, the Æsir and the Vanir . The Titan watches of Azeroth, Loken, Thorim, Freya, Hodir and Mimiron, are base off of Loki , Thor , Freyja , Hod , and Mimir respectively, and their stories and backgrounds are all fairly similar.



Shakespeare For the quest [71] Parts for the Job , you have to purchase a [ Fresh Pound of Flesh ] from the travelling salesman Anton. In The Merchant of Venice , the merchant Antonio guarantees for a loan of his friend Bassanio from the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who hates Antonio and demands "a pound of flesh" cut from the merchant's body should he be unable to repay the loan in time. When Antonio's ships are lost at sea, he goes bankrupt, but the removal of the pound can be prevented. The Forsaken Anton, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any problems giving away "fresh" flesh.



The Wizard of Oz The quest [80] I'm Smelting... Smelting! in Icecrown is a play on the famous last words of the Wicked Witch of the West when she is doused in water: "I'm melting... melting!".



Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles In the sewers of Dalaran, beneath some pipes and near some glowing green ooze, there is a rat surrounded by four baby turtles, a reference to Splinter, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .



X-Men In Dragonblight, during the quest Slay Loguhn, you are tasked with killing a Wolvar named Loguhn. This mob's name is a sound-alike to Logan, the civilian identity of Marvel X-Men's Wolverine character. The presence of blade-talon fist weapons (bone claws) on Loguhn's hands further enhances their similarity.



Hägar the Horrible Elder Muahit wants you to kill Heigarr the Horrible in the quest The Tides Turn. This is a reference to the Dik Browne comic strip character Hägar the Horrible.



Batman In the Purple Parlor on top of the Violet Citadel is a butler named Alfred Copperworth who walks around and sells drinks. This is a reference to Alfred Pennyworth , the Butler of Bruce Wayne .



Sports

The Horde flight master in Light's Breach is named Danica Saint, a reference to American auto racer Danica Patrick via Saint Patrick. Danica Saint's appearance also resembles Danica Patrick.

Other

The Surge Needle in western Dragonblight looks very much like the Space Needle in Seattle, including the rotating top platform.

Flask icons are based off the scientific model for a Klein Bottle or Boyle's Self flowing Flask.

Element 115, a quest item in [74] Riding the Red Rocket , has been given the temporary name Ununpentium, and is considered to be in the center of an "island of stability" in the midst of volatile elements. To date (29 Jan 2009) the most stable isotope, Uup-299, has not been synthesized.

Annie Bonn, an NPC at Scalawag Point, is named for the 18th century Irish pirate Anne Bonny.

Iron Eyes, a taunka NPC in Taunka'le, is named for Iron Eyes Cody. Cody is best remembered as the 'crying Indian' in the 1970s series of antipollution commercials sponsored by Keep America Beautiful. Iron Eyes gives the [71] Cleaning Up the Pools , asking the player to help remove discarded machinery from the nearby geyser pools.

Algalon the Observer is likely named after the star Algol, also known as the "Demon Star" and traditionally considered an ill omen due to its unusual trait of inconsistent brightness.

The daily quests [80 Daily] Breakfast Of Champions take their name from the breakfast cereal Wheaties.

The quest [74] Riding the Red Rocket could be a reference to the Toronto, Ontario transit slogan "Ride the Rocket".

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

This section concerns content exclusive to The Burning Crusade

Classic fairy tales

Film and Television

The A-Team When returning the makings of a trap to Admiral Odesyus <Alliance Naval Command> , he says "I love it when a plan comes together", a line spoken in almost every episode of ' The A-Team by Hannibal Smith .



Apocalypse Now After respawning, Captain Arathyn says "I love the smell of nether in the morning. It smells like...victory" — one of the more famous quotes from above movie, originally "napalm" instead of "nether", said by Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore.



Aliens Outside of the Skyguard Outpost in Blade's Edge Mountains, the Skyguard gear up for their flight on the Bash'ir Landing about every two hours. During their pep talk, the Skyguard Lieutenant asks "Anyone have any questions?" to which a Ranger replies "Look, man, I only need to know one thing, where they are." This is a direct quotation from the 1986 movie Aliens where the Marines are getting a briefing from their Lieutenant and Private First Class Jenette Vasquez chimes in cockily with the above quote. When engaged, the rare spawn Voidhunter Yar in Nagrand says "In the void, no one can hear you scream!"



Austin Powers Outside of the Circle of Blood, in Blade's Edge Mountains, there is a goblin named Meminnie, a reference to the character Mini-Me in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (and subsequent films). When you kiss the frog Mojo, he quotes Austin Powers "lookalike" phrases to you.



Babylon 5 The Draenei prophet Velen is almost certainly a reference to the Minbari prophet Valen .



Battlestar Galactica In the Blizzard website promoting the new Arena Tournament, the promotional pictures show a female blood elf named "Boomer" fighting against a draenei warrior named "Apollo" as well as a rogue canamedlled "Gaius", in reference to the Battlestar Galactica characters Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, Lee "Apollo" Adama, and Gaius Baltar.



Bio-Dome Located in Netherstorm inside of the Eco-Dome stands Shauly Pore, which is a reference to actor and comedian Pauly Shore , who starred in the 1996 film Bio-Dome .



The Big Lebowski In Hellfire Peninsula, the Horde Grand Master Engineering trainer is named "Zebig" and the Alliance one is named "Lebowski".



Buffy the Vampire Slayer [ The Seal of Danzalar ] , which drops in Serpentshrine Cavern, is a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer . The phrase "From beneath you, it devours" comes from a reference in the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ; it translates to the gateway to the Sunnydale Hellmouth. The item's name is a play on "The Seal of Danzalthar" which is the name of the seal that covers the Sunnydale Hellmouth.



Captain Planet and the Planeteers The Blood Elf female laugh is meant to reference the catchphrase of Doctor Blight from the TV series Captain Planet and the Planeteers . Also, the image that displays next to the health bars of Blood Elf females in your party that are outside your visual range bears a distinct resemblance to the Doctor.



The Dark Crystal The race and culture of the Arrakoa along with the Darkstone of Terokk is a reference to the Skeksis in the 1982 film The Dark Crystal



Dirty Harry "Dirty" Larry is found in the lower city of Shattrath near the Aldor bank. He is standing next to "Epic" Malone. Both bear the label <Ruffian>.



Dirty Jobs "Dirty" Mike Crowe can be found in Theramore near the docks selling fish. This is a reference to Mike Rowe who is the star of the show.



The Exorcist In the Inn of Honor Hold, there is a questline which ends with helping a draenei exorcise a human lying on a bed. During this exorcism, the human body floats through the room and the draenei asks you to make sure nothing interrupts the process. Flying demon mobs spawn in the room which you have to destroy. During this whole sequence, the demon possessing the human also insults you and tries to scare you off with odd noises. Occasionally the body will vomit green stuff.



Fight Club At Wildhammer Stronghold, outside the inn, you will find two dwarfs: Barimoke Wildbeard and Bron Goldhammer. They have a routine that starts of with "Bron! 'Ey, Bron! Hit me!". This is a reference to the first fight between the narrator and Tyler Durden.



Finding Nemo Shark Bait is an item pickpocketed off of various naga in Outland as well as the Isle of Quel'Danas. This is taken directly from the nickname given to Nemo by his fellow tankmates. The picture used for Shark Bait is also a Clownfish , just like Nemo. The quote "Just keep swimming..." was part of a catchy phrase said throughout the movie by Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres .



Futurama In the Apothecarium area is a large, stitched together thing that periodically blorps a load of the green funk that fills the Canals, vaguely reminiscient of the Slurm Queen's behind in the episode "Fry & The Slurm Factory" Outside The Exodar, a small black cat called "Nibblet" can be seen walking around. This is probably a reference to the monkey/cat-like pet alien "Nibbler" from the show.



Gale Storm In the Blood Furnace instance of Hellfire Citadel, the first boss, The Maker drops Girdle of the Gale Storm. This is probably a reference to Gale Storm, an actress/singer from the 1940s and 1950s. She is best known for starring in the television comedy series My Little Margie, and she probably wore girdles like most women of that period.



Heavy Metal 1981 The Blood Elf NPC speech "Death to all who oppose us!" (when left-clicking on either male or female) may be a reference to a character in the final story who says the beforementioned after the main antagonist of the film turns him and his people into ruthless killing machines.



Gladiator The sword [ Gladiator's Greatsword ] is indicated to be built to "Proximo's specification" in the item description. Proximo was the slave trader/former gladiator who bought Maximus and trained him as a gladiator.



I, Robot The a quest in Outland named " You, Robot " is a reference to I, Robot , see entry in Literature section.



Indiana Jones There is an NPC in the Zul'Aman instance named Harrison Jones, a reference to starring actor Harrison Ford and his role as the title character. In his dialogue, he accuses the player of only wanting to acquire Zul'Aman's treasures for themselves, instead of taking them to a museum where they belong, in his opinion (which is one of Jones' main motives for his expeditions).



MacGyver The Grandmaster engineering trainer in Zabra'jin in Zangarmarsh is named Mack Diver, a reference to Richard Dean Anderson 's character MacGyver in the series of the same name.



M.A.S.H. The Skyguard folk at Skyguard Outpost occasionally say "Player is an officer and a gentlewoman/man." This is the same thing Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" O'Houlihan says in the M.A.S.H. play — but note that "X is an officer and a gentleman" is a common military catchphrase in English. Hence the name of the movie, An Officer and a Gentleman



Masters of the Universe In the draenei city of Shattrath, The Alliance Arathi Basin Battlemaster is named "Adam Eternum" in reference to the popular Masters of the Universe character "He-Man", whose real name is Adam. He also has a Zulian Battle-tiger as a pet, in reference to his tiger, Cringer. He also appears with a gnome behind him called "Oric Coe" in reference to Orko. When you talk to him, Adam Eternum says: "I came to Outland hoping to discover powerful artifacts to assist the League of Arathor against the Defilers in Arathi Basin... but all I've found is this smashing magical loincloth, a ridiculous gnome sidekick, and an egomaniacal undead stalker who insists I've stolen his grey skull, or some such. In any case, would you care to join the League in their fight while I continue my search?" Eternum's Horde battlemaster counterpart, Keldor the Lost, continues the reference to Masters of the Universe . "Keldor" was the identity of He-Man's arch-nemesis, prior to his transformation into the evil Skeletor . Being undead, Keldor the Lost's hood, glowing eyes, dark blue attire, and skull-tipped staff all bear a striking resemblance to Skeletor. If you speak to him, he will say: "I have travelled far in my search of a way to ultimately defeat the League of Arathor in the Arathi Basin, but that Lion-clothed lummox, Adam Eternum hounds my every move! Still, if slayers like you would return to Azeroth, perhaps we could defeat the Alliance once and for all!"



Men in Black The Netherstorm Agents in Area 52 are all dressed in tuxedos resembling the business suits from the Men in Black comics and film. They also carry the huge guns that Tommy Lee Jones equipped in the first film. The fact that they guard 'Area 52' is appropriate, as it is a take on 'Area 51'. When you leave 'Area 52' you will be hit by a flash of light and you receive a buff called A-52 Neuralyzer whos tooltip say " The flash of light you did not see did not erase your memories ". This is a reference to the "Neuralizer" device that the Men in Black used to erase and alter the memories of the people who saw an alien.



Monty Python's Flying Circus The Dark Iron Guzzlers who attack during Brewfest sometimes shout, "No one expects the Dark Iron Dwarves!", a reference to the recurring Spanish Inquisition sketch.



Napoleon Dynamite The male Blood Elf's dance moves are taken directly from Napoleon's choreographed dance sequence at the end of the movie.



Once Were Warriors In Nagrand there is a quest given by Saurfang the Younger called Once Were Warriors , could very well be directly related to the popular New Zealand Film by the same name. The emotions described within the quest text seem to confirm this more. Saurfang not returning to his home could be describing Jack in the film (the main male character of the film), Jack (like the quest giver) has abandoned the ways of his past and is not returning to them (that being the ways of the Maori ).



Pee-wee's Playhouse In Bloodmaul Ravine, players can find the ghostly disembodied head of T'chali the Witch Doctor which is possibly a reference to another similarly colored disembodied head, Jambi the Genie .



RoboCop The lines recited by The Arcane Patrollers in the Ruins of Silvermoon are RoboCop's prime directives: "Protect the innocent", "Serve the Public Trust", and "Uphold the Law."



There is an NPC called Dealer Sadaqat, who you can find at the Stormspire in Netherstorm. His title is "Potent Potables" which references the SNL Celebrity Jeopardy sketch.



Snakes On A Plane In Nagrand at Nesingwary Safari, there is a gnome style plane crashed into the ground. Unmoving snake critters spawn atop it.



Star Trek There is a quest in the Netherstorm called You're Hired, where you search for Etherlithium Matrix Crystals, a play on the Dilithium Matrix Crystals used to redirect energy generated in warp engines. In Exodar, there is a group of draenei that walk around checking out the holograms, named Audrid, Curzon, Emony, Tobin and Torias. They were all hosts of the Dax symbiont in Deep Space Nine . After completing the Netherstorm quest That Little Extra Kick , the giver and receiver of this quest (B.O.O.M. Master Mixologist Boots) dies. A goblin paramedic rushes in to stimulate his heart. After a couple of shocks, the paramedic screams "Dammit Boots, I'm a doctor, not a priest!" which is a reference to Lenoard 'Bones' McCoy 's line "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a <insert profession>" from the original Star Trek series. In Toshley's Station, there is a gnome standing to the north named Smiles O'Byron. Miles O'Brien is also referred to as Smiley in the alternate universe episodes of 'Deep Space Nine'. Warden Treelos (Cenarion Thicket, Terokkar Forest) is a Night Elf NPC who has gone insane, and sometimes says "There are FOUR lights!", which refers to the double The Next Generation episode "Chain of Command". Captain Jean-Luc Picard is captured by Cardassians, then tortured to break his will, in order to get him to admit he sees five lights where there are actually only four. In Booty Bay and Tanaris we find two engineers manning the teleporters named Jhordy Lapforge and Scooty, nods to Geordi LaForge for Star Trek: The Next Generation and to Montgomery "Scotty" Scott for the original series. The cave below Manaforge Ara in the Netherstorm is named Trelleum Mine, from the mineral known as trellium in Star Trek: Enterprise . The zone of Netherstorm has similar colors and chaotic theme as the Delphic Expanse. Prior to patch 2.4 warlocks could not summon in the Netherstorm like certain starship functions do not work in the Expanse. On the Isle of Quel'Danas, the draenei Dragonhawk Master is named Ohura, a tribute to Uhura , communications officer on the USS Enterprise. In Area 52 in Netherstorm there is a goblin named Chief Engineer Trep, a reference to Star Trek: Enterprise's Chief Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III.



Star Wars In the Badlands, Lotwil Veriatus's robot Servo says "I am well versed in over 4 languages". This is a reference to C-3PO who states "I am well-versed in over 6 million forms of communication" several times. The racetrack in the Shimmering Flats features a vehicle that is strikingly similar to the podracers found in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace . The race announcer is a two headed ogre is named Fobeed referencing the two headed podracer announcer in The Phantom Menace whose names were Fode and Beed. In the hangar in the Military Ward of Ironforge sits a dwarf pilot by the name of Xiggs Fuselighter, wearing a white and orange flightsuit, black gloves, and boots strikingly similar to that of an X-Wing pilot. This is a reference to Luke Skywalker's friend Biggs Darklighter, whom you see in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . The tooltip of the buff icon for the Priest ability Spirit Of Redemption reads "You have become more powerful than anyone can possibly imagine." which is an almost verbatim reference to Obi-Wan Kenobi's line in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . Female dwarves and gnomes have a hairstyle similar to that of "Princess Leia". In Un'Goro crater, near the exit to Silithus, there is a level 1 raptor named Obi, a reference to Obi-Wan (Obi 1). The Argent Avenger, a one-handed sword resulting from a quest in Stratholme, vaguely resembles a blue lightsaber. Also, Teebu's Blazing Longsword is it's red counterpart. In a quest to rescue the captured Princess Moira Bronzebeard, you find her wearing an outfit that bears a striking resemblance to Leia's slave outfit in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi , as well as the same hairstyle. In Blade's Edge Mountains there is a place called Toshley's Station. In Star Wars there was a place called Toshe Station in which Luke Skywalker went to in the beginning of one of the Movies to pick up some Power Converters. The quest "Picking Up Some Power Converters" will reward you with a Power Converter. The two descriptions on the item are both references to Episode IV: "Use: Destroys technological terror constructs." is from Darth Vader's quote "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed," and "The next best thing to going to the Academy" is because Luke's always talking about going to the Academy. The Power Converter shoots off a red rocket that many think looks like the missile Luke fires to destroy the Death Star. Roll a Draenei and you'll eventually get a quest called "The Kessel Run" given to you by an NPC named Kessel. You don't have to do this quest in "less than twelve parsecs" like Han Solo was able to do with the Millennium Falcon, but you will have to complete this quest in less than 15 minutes. Nearby Toshley's Station stands R3D0, a remote sentry that can speak in three different languages (Human, Gnomish, and Dwarven). This is a reference to C3PO, who was able to speak six million languages. The name is also a mesh between R2D2 and C3P0, the two robots in the movie. In the Scarlet Raven Tavern in Darkshire there is a barkeeper named "Barkeeper Han" which is a reference to Han solo in Star Wars. In Nagrand a Clefthoof Elite Named Mob is Called Banthar. If you drop the r off the end you get Bantha, a creature very similar to a Wooly Mammoth in the Star Wars Series, Banthar also look similar to a Wooly Mammoth. The Azuremyst Isles are filled with NPCs, quests, and items that reference to several science fiction stories, most notably Star Wars. For instance, the flight master of Blood Watch is named Laando (after Lando Calrissian ). In addition to this, a quest on Bloodmyst Isle is named [12] The Kessel Run . Baron Sablemane will give you a quest named [67] It's a Trap! — likely a reference to Admiral Ackbar 's famous catch phrase. Toshley's Station also has a quest named, Cutting Your Teeth. The rewards from this quest include Vibro Shanker, Vibro Dagger, and Vibro Sword. These weapons are a reference to the Star Wars, Vibrosword, Vibroaxe, Vibrodagger, which in turn are inspired by other sci-fi universes of that age. The Halaa Blade Merchants in Halaa in Nagrand are Coreiel when Halaa is Horde controlled and Aldraan when Alliance controlled. These are references to Princess Leia 's homeworld of Alderaan and Han Solo 's homeworld of Corellia . The NPC, Commander Duron may be named after Kyp Duron from the Star Wars novels.



Starship Troopers At Toshley's Station in Blade's Edge Mountains, you can find a gnome named Razak Ironsides patrolling the station's ramparts, which is a likely reference to Lieutenant Jean Rasczak played by Michael Ironside . This reference is highlighted by the fact that he is defending the outposts against Ravagers, a kind of creature resembling the insect-aliens of the movie. There is also a guard named Dizzy Dina, in reference to Dizzy Flores, played by Dina Meyer . Sometimes an event will start at Toshley's Station, where Ravagers attack the station. As the gnome guards rush to defend, you will hear Razak Ironsides yelling various quotes from Micheal Ironside in the Starship Troopers movie: "Come on you apes, you want to live forever?", "I have one rule: everybody fights, no one quits." and "You don't do your job, I will shoot you myself.". Also, at one point he calls in for reinforcements, a group of Gnomes on Mechanostriders who are led by a robot, the group is called "Roughriders", possibly after the self-proclaimed "Roughnecks", the name that the main characters from the movie gave themselves. More likely, it is a homage to former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt's calvary unit The Rough Riders, which fought in the Spanish-American War.



Transformers One of the quests in Outland summons a scripted scene involving a gigantic Fel Reaver named Negatron, a nod to the Decepticon leader Megatron .



Tremors In Hellfire Peninsula, there is a quest given by Foreman Biggums called A Job for an Intelligent Man that has you go out and kill sand worms in the area. This is a reference to the movie "Tremors", starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, in which sand worms out in the Nevada desert come up out of the ground and eat people. In this movie, Fred Ward asks Kevin Bacon "Is this a job for an intelligent man?", to which Kevin Bacon replies "Well, show me one and I'll ask him."



Total Recall When walking by the refugees in Shattrath City's lower gate, one of them can be heard saying "Hey, Man? Got some money? I got five kids to feed!" just like Bennie the cab driver from Total Recall.



UHF There is a quest in the Azuremyst Isles called "Red Snapper - Very Tasty!" which is a direct quote from the "Wheel Of Fish" scene in "UHF" starring "Weird Al" Yankovic .



Wayne's World In Zangarmarsh, there is a Horde quest called "Nothin' Says Lovin' Like a Big Stinger", and the very first paragraph in the quest description reads, "She will be mine. Oh yes- She will be mine", a famous catchphrase Wayne uses when talking about Cassandra, the guitar, and other things.



Games

Doom The sounds made by the variations of Stags is almost directly taken from the sound palette of the imps found in the game Doom .



Duke Nukem 3D The sound the Felboars and Helboars of outland shriek when they aggro is strongly reminiscent of the LARD pig-cops you encounter in several areas of this game. But then again, they are all based on pig squeals.



Final Fantasy There is a random drop in Outland that is called [ The Gunblade ] , probably a reference to Final Fantasy VIII , where main character Squall Leonhart uses a "Gunblade" as his signature weapon. The WoW weapon, however, does not look anything like the Gunblade used in FFVIII .



Jorune Lake Jorune in Terokkar is a reference to the Skyrealms of Jorune pen-and-paper roleplaying game from the '80s and early '90s.



Kingdom Hearts In Netherstorm, there is a rare spawn called Chief Engineer Lorthander, who wields a Keyblade, a reference to the weapons in the Kingdom Hearts series.



Metal Gear Solid There is a quest called "To Legion Hold" in Shadowmoon Valley, where you have to spy on enemies while you are disguised as a wooden crate, in reference to the Metal Gear Solid series, where the main character Solid Snake often uses a cardboard box to move around undetected.



Oddworld : The Ravager bears an extremely striking resemblance to the Scrabs in the various Oddworld games.

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Sinistar The Essence of Anger part of the Reliquary of Souls boss encounter in the Black Temple will shout "Beware - I live." , a quote Sinistar shouts when he is fully formed and start actively seeking the player out, in the 1982 arcade game classic Sinistar.



Street Fighter The male Blood Elf Rogue's Eviscerate animation is identical to Ken and Ryu's Shoryuken animation. A Tauren NPC in Camp Mojache in Feralas is named "Hadoken Swiftstrider". "Hadoken Swiftstrider" the Tauren NPC in Camp Mojache, Feralas gives you a quest called "Alpha Strike" which is a name combination of "Street Fighter Alpha" series and "Street Fighter 3rd Strike".



Zero Wing In Shadow Moon Valley, there is a quest called Setting Up The Bomb which is a reference to the mistranslated quote "Somebody set up us the bomb!"



Magic: The Gathering In the Blade's Edge Mountains, there is Gruul's Lair. In Gruul's Lair, there is Gruul, a massive cyclopean giant, and a reference to the Gruul guild in Magic: The Gathering,which was lead by the cyclops Borborygmos.



Literature

Frank Herbert The burrower mobs throughout several zones in Outland seem to be directly based on the sandworms of Dune. One quest in the Bone Wastes involves using an item called a "Fumper" to summon an enormous burrower called "Hai'Shulud," whose title is "The Bone Emperor", a pun on the name of the sandworms of Dune named "Shai-Hulud". The quest rewards are daggers with names based on Dune characters and weapons made from the sandworms' teeth. See also references to Herbert's Dune universe found in Silithus.



Robin Hobb The name of the tauren at the Nesingwary Safari in Nagrand, Shado 'Fitz' Farstrider, appears to be a reference to the character FitzChivalry "Fitz" Farseer, and possibly also to his mentor Chade, from Hobb's Farseer Trilogy . In addition to the similar names, Shado wears a wolfshead helm, and FitzChivalry was bonded with a wolf. (As possibly more of a stretch, FitzChivalry was a Wit or "beast magic" user, and seen by some as half-man/half-beast, a possibly fit description for a tauren.)



H.P. Lovecraft The Black Morass, an instance in the Caverns of Time set in what is to become the Blasted Lands, may refer to Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu", in which Inspector Legrasse, investigating reports of strange rituals in New Orleans swamplands, is described to have "plowed on through the black morass". The design of the zone itself closely adheres to Lovecraft's description of the New Orleans marshes.



Delmore Schwartz During the Prince Malchezaar encounter in Karazhan he can be heard saying "Time is the fire in which you'll burn..." which is a reference to the poem "Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day" by Delmore Schwartz (the same poem is also quoted in the "Star Trek: Generations" movie).



J. R. R. Tolkien A sword named " [ Stung ] " is a quest reward from killing spiders in the Ghostlands, taking its name from Bilbo's sword "Sting" in The Hobbit . In Honor Hold there is an NPC named "Marshal Isildor", a possible reference to Isildur in Lord of the Rings, the man who cut the ring from Sauron's finger. One of the lines spoken by the Draenei leader, Velen, is "Not all who wander are lost." This is a line from the poem about Aragorn in the book. The history of the elven race, including the sundering of the High Elves from the Night Elves and most of Azeroth's prehistory is a close parallel to the Simarillion. Two worgs in Zeth'Gor are named Ripp and Feng, possibly referring to Farmer Maggot 's dogs Grip and Fang.



Kurt Vonnegut In Hellfire Peninsula, there is a demon boss named Doom Lord Kazzak, who shares a name with the hound of space, Kazak, from Vonnegut's book The Sirens of Titan .



Music

Britney Spears The female Blood Elf dance is pieced together from different parts of the choreography to American pop legend Britney Spears' song " Toxic ."



Dead Kennedys In the Allerian Stronghold, there is a NPC named Lady Dena Kennedy.



John Denver In the same discussion between the Engineering Crewmember and Experimental Pilot at Area 52 mentioned above, the Experimental Pilot also says a line from John Denver's song "Leaving on a Jet Plane". "All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go."



Depeche Mode A quest in the Azuremyst Isles is called "Precious and Fragile Things Need Special Handling", taken word-for-word from the first line of Precious . The Blasted Lands quest "Everything Counts in Large Amounts" is a line from the song Everything Counts . The title of the Netherwing daily quest "The Deadliest Trap Ever Laid" is a line from the song "Home".



The Eagles In the Violet Tower in Netherstorm, Archmage Vargoth will quote several lines from Hotel California when you talk to him multiple times.



Eminem There is a vendor outside of the Mana-Tombs named "Slim" -- he is a <Shady Dealer>. This is a reference to one of Eminem's stage names, Slim Shady , and also to his hit song " The Real Slim Shady ". Said vendor's dialog includes "No my name isn't really Slim." Thus, he isn't "The Real Slim Shady".



In Flames One of the quests on Bloodmyst Isle is called "Artifacts Of The Blacksilt", which may be a reference to the In Flames song "Artifacts Of The Black Rain". There's an Emblem of Heroism reward, a trinket called "Mirror of Truth", which may be a reference to the In Flames song "The Mirror's Truth".



Elton John At Area 52 in Netherstorm, in a discussion between Engineering Crewmember and Experimental Pilot the last one says "Oh no no no I'm a rocket man" from the Elton John's song " Rocket Man ". This entire conversation is comprised of paraphrased lyrics from the song—at one point, Engineering Crewmember asks Experimental Pilot why he doesn't bring his family to Area 52, to which the reply is "This isn't the kind of place to raise your kids. It's cold, and there'd be no one to raise them." This is also a reference to William Shatner's spoken word cover of the song, considering the setting of Area 52.



Kelis The Blood Elf female has an emote where she says "My mana tap brings all the boys to the yard." Referring to a phrase in the song " Milkshake " by Kelis.



Metallica A quest in Blade's Edge Mountains is called Ride the Lightning .



Daler Mehndi The male Draenei's dance moves are taken from the video for the song " Tunak Tunak Tun " by Daler Mehndi [10] which was a moderate internet phenomenon.



Ozzy Osbourne An NPC named Osborne the Night Man is a possible reference to the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. The NPC trains rogues in Stormwind city.



Pink Floyd The Innkeeper in Thrallmar is named Floyd Pinkus <Innkeeper> . Otonambusi, the General Goods vendor in Azure Watch says, "How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your fish?" ("Another Brick in the Wall Part 2") Triage Quest: When performing the Triage quest for Artisan First Aid (Theramore - Alliance / Hammerfall - Horde), soldiers who you fail to heal that are about to die say "Goodbye cruel world...I'm leavin' you today...goodbye, goodbye, goodbye..." These are the opening lines of the song 'Goodbye, Cruel World' from Pink Floyd's album The Wall. The NPC lying down in Nessingway's Camp in Nagrand is called Harold Lane, which could be a reference to Pink Floyd's Song Arnold Lane. Trash mobs inside Auchindoun's Mana Tombs will sometimes say "If you can hear this whisper you're dying." This could be a reference to the similar message that appears in The Great Gig in the Sky off Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.



The Pussycat Dolls One of the /silly jokes for the male Blood Elf is: "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" This is a line from the Pussycat Dolls' " Don't Cha " song.



Tenacious D A drop from Ramparts off the last boss, the plate belt Tenacious Defender has the flavor text, "It has the power... to move you" — itself a reference to their song "Wonderboy". In the German version, this item was translated as "Die Toten Hosenträger" (The Dead Suspenders) referring to Die Toten Hosen , with the flavor text "Steh auf, wenn du am Boden bist." referring to one of their songs.



Other

Area 51 In the Outland, there is a neutral city in the Netherstorm called Area 52. (see Men In Black in the Film and Television section)



Amelia Earhart The flightmaster at Spinebreaker Post is named Amilya Airheart, after the famous female pilot.



Girls Gone Wild : There is a quest in Hellfire called [61] Voidwalkers Gone Wild

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Granny Smith There is a fruit vendor in the lower city of Shattrath named Granny Smith, a reference to the apple of the same name.



Greek mythology At Azure Watch, there's a Hunter trainer named Acteon, who sends players on various quests to hunt down bucks and stags in the area. In Greek myth, Actaeon was a hunter who was turned into a stag as punishment by the god Artemis for seeing her bathe nude. After being turned into a stag, he was torn to pieces by his own hounds. Also, on the road to Azure Watch form the draenei starting area, there is a fishing trainer named Diktynna, who gives a quest to gather fish with a net. This is a play on Dictynna, a goddess of fishing and nets. Odesyus' Landing on Azuremyst Isle, and Admiral Odesyus are references to Homer's ' The Iliad' . The Blacksmith in the camp is named Calypso. In "The Iliad" Odysseus washes up on Calypso's island, where she forces him to be her lover for seven years before he escapes.



Gzhun'tt In Zangarmarsh at Sporegar (19,50) is Gzhun'tt - possibly a reference to the post German and Yiddish word for health.



Marcus Aurelius In Shadowmoon Valley, there is quest called the Journal of Val'zareq: Portends of War, which leads you to the captured Marcus Aurelion <High General of the Sha'tar>. He is being held prison at Crimson Watch. This is a reference to Marcus Aurelius, an Emperor of Rome.



Paranoia In Silvermoon, the Arcane Guardians sometimes say "Happiness is mandatory, Citizen!". This is a direct quote from the Role-Playing game Paranoia.



Paris Hilton One of the bar patrons in Lower Shattrath City is a blood elf female named Haris Pilton <Socialite> made to resemble the infamous heiress. Her dog Tinkerbell is also wandering around the inn.



The Pep Boys In the quest How to Serve Goblins , Foreman Razelcraz asks you to rescue Manni, Moh and Jakk from the Fel Orc camps. This is a reference to the Emanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, and Graham "Jack" Jackson who are the founders of The Pep Boys auto parts supply chain. The :Manny, Moe, and Jack" characters were modeled after the founders.



Realm Switcher : In the quest "The Totem of Kar'dash (Horde)", while rescuing the Mag'har Captive, he screams "FROST SHOCK!!!" This may be a reference to the famous "Switcher" video. [11]

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Watcher Leesa'oh : In Zangarmarsh at the Cenarion Watchpost (23,65) is Watcher Leesa'oh - possibly a reference to actress

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Leesa Oh [citation needed]

Warden Moi'bff Jill : In Nagrand, the Kurenai NPC who accepts obsidian warbeads for kurenai reputation has a name that is a reference to a popularized Cingular commercial in which a girl says to her mother, "Idk, my bff Jill?".

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World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft. This section concerns content exclusive to

Classic Fairy Tales

A cloak called [ The Emperor's New Cape ] drops from Emperor Thaurissan in Black Rock Depths. The cloak is unique in that it is completely invisible. This is a reference to the classic fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes.

Games

Donkey Kong In Un'Goro Crater, the gorillas sometimes drop an item named [ Empty Barrel ] , a reference to Donkey Kong throwing barrels at Mario in the Nintendo arcade game and the continued importance of barrels in the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64 series.



Dungeons & Dragons In the Horde town of Tarren Mill, located in Hillsbrad Foothills, there is an orc NPC named Krusk. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons will recognize the name as one of D&D 3rd edition's iconic characters, Krusk the half-orc barbarian.



Fable In the Undercity, there is a NPC named Theresa that wanders around aimlessly. She is blindfolded and is a mind slave to one of the Undead characters in the game. This could be a vague reference to a blind seer of the same name in Fable (itself a reference to Tiresias in Greek mythology).



Mortal Kombat The same dwarves who quote Evil Dead and AC/DC while doing target practice outside of Kharanos also shout "Mortar Combat!" in precisely the same manner "Mortal Kombat!" is shouted in the soundtrack to the movie based on the videogame . (These dwarves' lines were used by the Dwarven Mortar Team unit in Warcraft III as well.)



Neverwinter Nights In Ironforge, there is a gnome named Fenthwick, possibly referring to the elf Fenthick in Neverwinter Nights. Name is similar, race is different, sex is same.



Street Fighter The male troll offensive spell cast animation is identical to that of a Hadouken. (although more likely the Kamehameha from Dragonball Z which the Hadoken is based off of.) A Tauren NPC in Camp Mojache in Feralas is named "Hadoken Swiftstrider". He gives you a quest called "Alpha Strike", which comes from the names of the Street Fighter Alpha series and Street Fighter 3rd Strike . Low level imps called Grells will sometimes perform Ken and Ryu's Dragon Punch motion when attacking. Female Human Paladins perform a Shoryuken animation when casting Hammer of Justice.



Super Mario In Un'Goro Crater, two characters named Muigin and Larion can be found. Their names come from swapping the first letters of "Mario" and "Luigi" and adding an N. Larion, who is clad in red and blue, is based on Mario while Muigin, in green and blue, is based on his brother Luigi. Also, Muigin (Alliance) and Larion (Horde) begin quests where the player must hunt Bloodpetals, which look suspiciously like the Piranha Plants from the various Super Mario Bros. games. Upon quest completion, Muigin references previous injuries when attempting to jump on the Bloodpetals, stating, "Plants shouldn't be so strong!" Several times, Larion insists that "It's Muigin's fault we're lost!" and "He told me to take the tunnel!" This is a reference to the Super Mario Bros. movie, where Luigi tells Mario to take the tunnel which strands them in the desert. A food item can be discovered in various sections of the game called the Red Speckled Mushroom. The image of the mushroom is supiciously similar to the Super Mushroom from the Super Mario games.



Ultima At the Darkmoon Faire, a periodic world event, there is a fortune teller who will ask you morality questions that are almost directly pulled from the morality questions asked at the beginnings of Ultima s 4, 5, and 6.



Ultima Online The quest Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff has the player delivering a book called Studies in Spirit Speaking. When read, the book contains a series of O s (OOOoOoo), just as the dialogue of player ghosts appeared in Ultima Online. The O s in the book also represent ASCII text in binary that reads "Ultima Online Napa Valley Knights of Chaos", referring to a player guild on an Ultima Online server. The title of the book is a reference to the game's necromancer-related skill required to understand ghosts.



Film and television

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension In Shimmering Flats there are tire tracks that go up to a wall of rock. The tracks appear on the other side of the cliff, in Tanaris, along with the ill-fated vehicle that made the journey. This is a reference to Buckaroo Banzai's jet car, which could pass through solid matter.



Alias One of the female Human's /silly emotes says, "I can't wait till this quest is done and I can look for another Garibaldi artifact," a reference to the Rambaldi artifacts pursued by Sydney Bristow. It has been suggested that this is also a reference to Michael Garibaldi, a character from the TV series Babylon 5 portrayed by actor Jerry Doyle . In Stormwind, the thieves guild hall is named SI:7, assumed to be a play on both SD-6, which is the organization Sidney Bristow works for in the show, as well as MI6 , which is best known as the British intelligence agency James Bond works for.



Aliens In the human barracks west of the town of Goldshire there are two NPCs named Quartermaster Hicks and Quartermaster Hudson, who are named after Corporal Hicks and Private Hudson from Aliens .



American Idol One of the male Orc's /silly emotes is "Man, dawg, you know, it's like I'm feeling you, but I'm not feeling you, you know?", a reference to the phrases used by judge Randy Jackson.



An American Werewolf in London In the Mage Quarter of Stormwind, the Warlock trainers can be found in the basement of a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb. This is a reference to the pub that two lost American hitchhikers stumbled upon before their unfortunate encounter with the local werewolf in this film.



Apocalypse Now In Stranglethorn Vale, there is a boss named Colonel Kurzen, who went insane and raised an army from a small, hidden compound. This is a reference to Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando. The two Colonels' backstories are very similar. It is, by extension, a reference to Kurtz from Heart of Darkness , the novel on whose story Apocalypse Now was based.



Army of Darkness Around Coldridge Valley there are some dwarves doing target practice. If one waits there long enough eventually a dwarf will say, "This...is my BOOMSTICK!", a reference to Army of Darkness . (This is the same dialogue used for the Dwarven Rifleman in Warcraft III .) The gunshop outside the Auction House in Orgrimmar is named Boomstick Imports. There are also several Gun items in the game with the word "Boomstick" in them.



Austin Powers Part of the quest chain to open Ahn'Qiraj involves a gnome named Doctor Weavil, a reference to Dr. Evil, who sends a gorilla named Number Two to attack the player working on the quest when his ransom demand fails. Inside Naxxramas, there is a cat near the entrance named Mr. Bigglesworth which was the name of Dr. Evil's cat. Killing this cat will enrage Kel'Thuzad. One of the female Human's /silly emotes says, "Sometimes, I have trouble controlling the volume OF MY VOICE!", which is a direct quote after Austin's reanimation from cryostasis. Both male and female gnomes' dancing resembles Mini-Me's dance in the second movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me .



Bewitched A troll in Sen'jin Village is named Bom'bay <Witch Doctor in Training> . In the show from the 1960s, when a witch or warlock needed help, they would call Doctor Bombay by chanting, "Calling Dr. Bombay, calling Dr. Bombay. Please come right away."



Big Trouble in Little China The [ Six Demon Bag ] is a trinket; its tooltip text says it "Blasts enemies with the power of wind, fire, that kind of thing!", quoting Egg Shen's description of the contents of his Six-Demon Bag in the film. There is a hidden area under one of the lakes in Deadwind Pass where you can view floating corpses chained to the lake floor, a reference to the "hell of the upside-down sinners".



Budweiser Commercial Female goblins sometimes greet players with a hearty "Whassuuup?!" as made popular in a Budweiser commercial.



Caddyshack There is an NPC in Darnassus, Jenal <Ditch Digger> , behind one of the large trees that houses the Druid trainers, surrounded by piles of dirt. When Jenal asked Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm what his purpose in life would be, he was told that "the world needs ditch diggers too." This line was spoken by the judge in the movie when the main character Danny expressed his doubt at having enough money for college.



Carlito's Way In Westfall, there is a Defias NPC called Benny Blaanco, a similar name as the John Leguizamo character Benny Blanco in the film.



Caveman When targeted, one of the random messages an NPC orc will say is "zug zug," a word used in this film intended to mean "sex." (This dialogue was used in previous Warcraft games as well.) One of the female Orc "flirting" lines is "You had me at zug zug," which is also a reference to one of the final lines of Jerry Maguire .



Chasing Amy / Congo A quest in Un'Goro Crater is named Chasing A-Me 01 (a reference to the movie's name), and tasks the player with finding and rescuing a mechanized female gorilla from a pack of wild apes, reminiscent of Congo .

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Chris Farley , Saturday Night Live The dance moves of the Ogres in Dire Maul, as well as the Druid Moonkin form, are the same as those made famous by Chris Farley during the 'Chippendales' sketch on Saturday Night Live .

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Cheers In the Mage Quarter in Stormwind, one of wandering NPC Erich Lohan's phrases is "Head on over to the Blue Recluse. Where everybody knows your name!" "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" is the Cheers theme song.



Commando During the second boss encounter in the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, Lt. General Andorov makes the same threat to Rajaxx that Arnold Schwarzenegger's character Matrix made to Sully: "Remember when I said I'd kill you last? I lied ."



Conan the Barbarian In the Badlands there is a crypt with the corpse of the warrior king sitting on a throne and propping up a sword, referencing a story in which Conan steals an undead king's sword. Saru Steelfury, the Artisan Blacksmith in Orgrimmar, says (if you are qualified for Expert Blacksmithing and not Artisan) "No one, no one in the world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts ... this you can trust, Steel," which is a quote from the movie.



Daria There is a female goblin NPC in Gadgetzan named Quinn, whose name and clothing are a reference to Quinn Morgendorffer, Daria's younger sister.



Doctor Who In Elwynn Forest, there is a NPC named "Auntie" Bernice Stonefield. This may be a reference to Bernice Summerfield, a companion of the Doctor. In the Mage Quarter in Stormwind, one of wandering NPC Suzanne's phrases is "If we reverse the Essence flows perhaps we can alter the polarity." This is similar to "Reverse the polarity", which was a phrase often used by the Third Doctor .



The Dukes of Hazzard In the Shimmering Flats area there is a Race Starter named Daisy wearing a tank top and "Daisy Dukes" (her shorts), based on Daisy Duke from the TV show.



Dracula The Guild Master of the Undercity is named Christopher Drakul , possibly also a reference to Christopher Lee , who played the vampire lord more than any other man in film.



Finding Forrester In Dire Maul North, if Guard Fengus is approached in conversation (if Fengus is left alive after the player becomes the new king), he will say "You da man now, dog", referencing a line in Finding Forrester spoken by Sean Connery. The line inspired the ytmnd.com website.



Forrest Gump A dwarven fisherman named Gubber Blump can be found on the beach near Auberdine; he is a reference to both Forrest and his friend Bubba. His dialogue is similar to both characters; he introduces himself, "My name's Gubber, Gubber Blump," and later recites a list of all the different ways to cook crab. In the human capital of Stormwind, the flower shop is run by Florist Gump.



Fraggle Rock There is a NPC in Un'Goro Crater who is similarly named Spraggle Frock.



Friends The male human /flirt emote 'How you doing?' is a reference to Joey Tribbiani's famous quote from the TV SitCom Friends.



Friday the 13th The lake next to the town of Goldshire is called Crystal Lake, named for a location in the movies. An Undead in the town of Brill will give you directions to the lake to the east in Lordearon, but warns you to be careful because some guy in a mask killed a bunch of people near there, referencing Jason Voorhees, the killer in the movies. A Human named Jason Mathers stands on a small pier on the shores of Crystal Lake, and sometimes when a player asks a Stormwind Guard about the fishing trainer, they will tell that the fisherman once fished up a strange mask from Crystal Lake.



Full Metal Jacket While doing the Un'Goro Soil quest as Horde, Ghede in Thunder Bluff nearly quotes Sgt. Hartman, saying: "Be advised, Jackson - I am in no mood for any comment that you think is cute or funny. I am here to make sure that the Arch Druid's research proceeds as planned, and I will weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve my beloved Cenarion Circle." When turning in the quest, he encourages you not to make any effort to help him unload the soil, and that "if the Great Spirits had wanted it done they would have miracled it up there." The [ Booterang ] , given in the Netherwing daily of the same name, has printed on it the first two lines of the Rifleman's Creed . The Creed pre-dates Full Metal Jacket by about 45 years, but was popularized by this movie.



Gamera The Blackfathom Deeps instance features a giant turtle named Ghamoo-ra, a clear reference to Gamera. In the Hinterlands, there is a turtle called Gammerita.



Gilligan's Island The now unused zone Gillijim's Isle (located far west of Stranglethorn Vale) is a reference to the 1960s TV series. The in-game zone hosted an island in the alpha stages of WoW .



The Godfather Upon seeing his son dead, the NPC Tirion Fordring says, "Look what they did to my boy," which is what Don Corleone says after Sonny is assassinated in the movie.



Godzilla In Zul'Farrak, players can summon and fight a giant hydra named Gahz'rilla, a reference to the giant behemoth of Japanese movie fame.



Goodfellas In Goldshire there is a NPC named Remy "Two Times", who states "I'll give you the best price in town...best price in town!" This is a reference to Jimmy "Two Times" in the movie Goodfellas , who has a similar tendency to repeat himself in dialogue like, "I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers." The Master Smith in Booty Bay, Brikk Keencraft, says "You think I'm a clown here to amuse you. Is that what you think? That I'm a clown? Huh, is it? You think I'm a clown don't you!" which is one of Joe Pesci's more memorable lines from the movie.



The Goonies In The Deadmines, Edwin VanCleef's pirate ship's location inside a cave bears a resemblance to that of One Eyed Willie's ship.



The Great Race The face on the front cone of the goblin racer in the Shimmering Flats bears a striking resemblance to the artwork on a couple of the vehicles operated by Professor Fate.



Rutger Hauer In the Undercity War Quarter at the west side near the sewers entrance, there are two NPC guards named Sergeant Rutger and Sergeant Houser, in homage to the famous actor.



Highlander A master swordsman named Klannoc Macleod <the Islander> can be found on Fray Island near Ratchet, a reference to either Connor MacLeod or more likely the Clan MacLeod (which figured heavily in the television series) from Highlander . He is described as the "chief warrior" and carries a katana, the Highlander's weapon of choice in the film.



Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I In Dire Maul North, after killing the Gordok King, you receive a buff that says, "You're the king - it's good to be the king!" which is a reference to the famous line by King Louis XVI.



Indiana Jones An Uldaman quest uses an amulet which must be fitted onto a staff and placed so that light will pass through it to open a door; in Raiders of the Lost Ark , Indy performs a similar maneuver to find the hidden cave in which the Ark was stored. In Searing Gorge, there is a quest found on a wounded dwarf archaeologist named Dorius which concerns the Suntara Stones , a reference to the fictional Sankara Stones sought by Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom . In Grizzly Hills, Harrison Jones can be found in some ruins being held in a cage. He gives the quest Dun-da-Dun-tah!



James Bond Stormwind's covert operations and military intelligence service is named SI:7, which is a reference to MI6, the organization that James Bond works for. (This could also be referring to the real British Secret Intelligence Service.)



Jaws The fishing trainer in Lakeshire is named Matthew Hooper. Matt Hooper is the name of the character Richard Dreyfuss played in Jaws . He was an expert on fish and sharks.



Joe Dirt One of the ghostly citizens of Caer Darrow is called Joseph Dirte. He also makes a comment referencing to Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury .



Karate Kid One of the bosses in Naxxramas instructs his students to "Sweep the leg," a line from the movie.



Kill Bill There is a weapon called the [ Hanzo Sword ] . This may be a reference to the man whom the character from Kill Bill was based upon, "Hattori Hanzo", an actual ninja who was trained from childhood and first fought in combat at 16. He lived from 1541-1596. The mob Lefty in Blackrock Depths uses the ability Five Fat Finger Exploding Heart Technique which is a parody on the martial arts-move "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique" seen in Kill Bill .



Krull Inside Onyxia's Lair, there is a skeleton laying near the edge of the lava pool with its arm reaching into the lava towards a shuriken. This plays homage to the scene where Prince Colwyn had to retrieve the Glaive from a lava pool. The creature The Beast also refers to the name given to the creature who controls the slayers from the Black Fortress







Krosh Above New-Cifera there is a big turtle named "Krosh" that is hiding wihin it's shell (armor). The name is a reference to embassador Kosh from Babylon 5.







Labyrinth In the Ironforge side of the Deeprun Tram that connects the two main Alliance cities, there's a gnome NPC named Haggle who bears a distinct resemblance to Hoggle from the Henson movie.



Land of the Lost Un'Goro Crater is a steep-walled valley filled with dinosaurs. Two NPCs here are Williden Marshal and Hol'anyee Marshal, direct references from LotL 's characters: Marshal, Will, and Holly. Also, there are crystal pylons which use red, green, blue, and yellow power crystals, visual references to the crystals used in Land of the Lost 's pylons.



Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace The weapon [ Phantom Blade ] has an identical item mesh to the sword Jobe uses in the cyberspace sword fight at the end of the movie.



Lost In Sholazar Basin players can find a metal object that when hovered over produce the numbers '5 9 16 17 24 43', which is a reference to the hatch in lost and 'the numbers'. the numbers in Lost are '4 8 15 16 23 42'.



Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Gadgetzan, in Tanaris, is very likely inspired by Bartertown from the third 'Mad Max' movie. The town has a large caged dome in the center where fighting between Horde and Alliance is permitted, which is the exact same concept as Bartertown's Thunderdome. (This feature has been removed as of 1.11.) Tanaris is a desert area that is very similar in appearance to the one in the movie (arguably, some players also contend that Gadgetzan is very similar in style to Mos Eisley in Star Wars ). Katrina Turner, an NPC in Gadgetzan, is a reference to Tina Turner and her role in the movie.



Monty Python's Flying Circus In the Eastvale Logging Camp in Elwynn Forest is a lumberjack named Terry Palin, who sometimes says, "I'm a lumberjack, and I'm OK. I sleep all night and I work all day." These are the lyrics to the chorus of Monty Python's Lumberjack Song, originally performed by Michael Palin. The song was composed by Michael Palin, Terry Jones (another member of Monty Python), and Fred Tomlinson. The NPC's name is a combination of Terry Jones and Michael Palin's names. There is a consumable item purchasable at the Darkmoon Faire called [ Crunchy Frog ] , a reference to the unpalatable chocolates described in the sketch of the same name.







The Music Man Meggi Peppinrocker in Everlook gives out the quest Trouble in Winterspring! which borrows heavily from the lyrics of Meredith Willson's song "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man . In the musical, Professor Harold Hill sings of how playing pool requires "judgement, brains and maturity," and how he's developed "a cool head and a keen eye." Meggi uses these same phrases and other direct quotes from the song's lyrics when talking about her experiences in the wilderness of Winterspring.



The Neverending Story There is a mountain giant in the region of Feralas named Rockbiter, named after a character in the movie. The region Swamp of Sorrows is likely a reference to the Swamp of Sadness, where Atreyu loses his horse, Artax.



Old School When performing the quest Triage (Alliance) for Dr. Gustaf VanHowzen , the injured soldiers occasionally say the line "...I...I think I see Blue.." This is a reference to a scene from Old School where Will Ferrell's character has been badly beaten and is slightly delirious. Once Ferrell's friend comes to help him, Ferrell says the lines "I'm so cold Mitch... I think I see Blue. He looks glorious," Blue being another character in the movie that had previously died.



Oz In the Detention Block in the Blackrock Depths instance of Blackrock Mountain, several prisoners bear names and semblances to characters on the TV show Oz , e.g. Tobias Seecher is a reference to Tobias Beecher, a prisoner and protagonist in Oz .



Petticoat Junction At the entrance to Dustwallow Marsh there is a burned out inn called the Shady Rest Inn, named after the setting of the TV show Petticoat Junction .



Pinocchio In the Badlands is a gnome with a small mechanical servant called Servo , itself a reference to the robot Tom Servo of Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Servo will occasionally say "One day I'll be a real boy."



Popeye Topper McNabb in Stormwind occasionally says, "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today," a frequent quote from the character Wimpy.



The Prisoner There is a quest in Everlook involving a mob named Number Two , who is a gorilla. Number Two was the antagonist of this influential British sci-fi programme, and a gorilla mask factored very heavily into the show's final episode.



Psycho The undead innkeepers in the Undercity and in Silverpine Forest are named Innkeeper Norman and Innkeeper Bates , named after the main character, hotel manager Norman Bates. A warlock trainer in Brill is named Rupert Boch . Writer Robert Bloch is the author of the novel Psycho , on which the movie is based.



Pulp Fiction In Ravenholdt Manor, there is a mysterious human with the name Winston Wolfe <The Wolf> . This is a reference to Harvey Keitel's character in Pulp Fiction .



Sanford and Son In the city of Orgrimmar one may visit Droffers and Son Salvage where orcs Dran Droffers and his son Malton are proprietors. Their names are anagrams for Fred Sanford and Lamont, the titular characters in this show. Their quest Ripple Recovery is a reference to Fred Sanford's wine of choice on the show. Dran calls people "dummy", one of the show's catch phrases.



Saturday Night Fever The male Human dance resembles one of John Travolta's dances in the movie.



Scarface In the Eastern Plaguelands, an NPC by the name of Tirion Fordring lives in a small house in the wilderness. When a monster approaches him, he gets out his hammer and says, "Say hello to my little friend." This is a quote from the movie Scarface from 1983 starring Al Pacino.



The Shawshank Redemption In Tanaris, there is a quest called The Scrimshank Redemption . While the content has little to do with the movie, the quest title is a clear reference to the movie.



The Simpsons A worker for the Darkmoon Faire is looking for her lost frog, Jubjub , which shares a name with the pet iguana owned by Selma Bouvier, a minor character. In the Library instance of the Scarlet Monastery, a miniboss named Houndmaster Loksey yells out, "Release the hounds!" when attacked in a voice very similar to that of Mr. Burns, the greedy owner of the Springfield nuclear power plant. The two characters also have similar hair styles. In Dire Maul, after killing King Gordok and causing the ogres to become friendly, some ogres quote The Simpsons , such as, "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!" Occasionally, one of the children fishing off the docks in Stormwind will