From Team Fortress Wiki

“

— The Soldier You cannot hurt me, I do not have time to bleed! *Cracking noise* My schedule has just opened up! Aaaohhww, my God!" ”

Class-specific references

Due to the comedic style ofas well as Valve 's humor, the game includes, usually in a humorous fashion. There are many different types, from games to movies. Jokes that have developed within the game and its community have been included. Below are references that are not specific to one class.





Achievements

A Fresh Pair of Eyes

Dominate a player using the Pyrovision Goggles and earn your own pair!

Reward: Pyrovision Goggles





A Fresh Pair of Eyes references the practice or effect of bringing in a new person to help solve a problem; the idea being that someone less familiar with the situation has a fresh pair of eyes that might see things that the rest of the team doesn't.





BFF²

Have 2 BEST FRIENDS at the same time.





Best Friends Forever, often shortened to BFF, is a somewhat outdated term for a close friendship used by younger teenagers.





Grey Matter

Get 25 Headshots as a Sniper.





Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system. The highest concentration of grey matter is found in the brain.





Mass Hysteria

Have 6 teammates using Pyrovision at the same time.





Mass hysteria is the spontaneous manifestation of similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person.





Riftwalker

Kill an enemy within 5 seconds of you traveling through an Engineer's teleporter.





In science fiction, teleportation devices are often stated to use technology which creates a rift in space, allowing a person to travel through it and out the other end while virtually no time passes in between, hence the name 'Riftwalker.'





The Great Deflate

Kill 79 enemies who have the Balloonicorn pets.





The Great Debate was a debate between two influential astronomers which took place in 1920, and concerned the nature of spiral nebulae and the size of the universe.

Escape Ferocity

Kill an enemy who has damaged the Australium carrier in the last 3 seconds.





Escape velocity is the speed needed to "break free" from a gravitational field without further propulsion.





Lift-offed

Push a player into the rocket's exhaust path at the end of the round.





"Liftoff" refers to the moment at which a vehicle such as an aeroplane, helicopter, or more appropriately, a rocket, leaves the ground.

Someone who is said to have been "offed" has been murdered.





Plan Nine to Outer Space

Launch the rocket as all 9 classes.





Plan Nine from Outer Space is a 1959 sci-fi film notorious for its poor quality.





Rocket Booster

Win a round after the enemy team has opened the rocket lid.





A rocket booster is a component inside the engine of a rocket which provides additional thrust on takeoff, and is usually jettisoned when no longer required.





The Fight Stuff

Win 138 Rounds.





The Right Stuff is a 1979 book about the U.S. manned space program. It was adapted into a film in 1983.





Cap-ogee

Win a round with at least 5 teammates on the elevator.





The apogee is the point where a satellite is the farthest away from earth. For example, the moon's apogee is 405,000 km away from earth.





Space Camp

Kill an enemy within the broken crate area while they attempt to pick up the neutral Australium.





A Space Camp is a summer camp designed to teach young people about various aspects of astronomy and space exploration.





Flight Crew

Play in a game with 5 or more players from your Friends list.





The flight crew are the personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight.





Mission Control

Pick up the Australium from its home position and capture it without dropping it.





As they are so complex, all aerospace flights require a mission control center from where support personnel monitor all aspects of the mission.

Real Steal

Win a round in which the enemy team has attempted to capture your final control point.





Real Steel is a 2011 science-fiction sports film, set in a future where human boxers have been replaced by robots.





Terminated, Too

Kill a player by pushing them into the cauldron fire.





This is a reference to the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day and its final scene.





Claim Jumper

Capture a control point within 12 seconds after exiting a teleporter.





A "claim jumper" is someone who illegally occupies or profits from a property to which another has a legal claim.





The Crucible

Win 137 Rounds.





In any year of the World Snooker Championship, held in the Crucible Theater in Sheffield, England, the winner (or the runner-up) can play a cumulative total of no more than 137 frames over all five rounds.





Raze the Roof

Kill two people on the roof of the center control point in a single life.





Raise the Roof has long meant to create an uproar or make a resounding noise (same as rattle the rafters).

More recently, the phase names the gestures similar to that shown in the icon; one instance being a dancing motion whereby the dancer pushes both hands up in the air with their palms open and facing upwards.

To "raze" a building is to demolish it.

"Graze the Roof" is the song playing in the Roof Stage of Plants vs Zombies.





Dead Heat

Play through a back-and-forth battle for 15 control point captures.





A "dead heat" in a sporting event describes a situation in which both teams are so evenly matched that neither can achieve a decisive victory.





Foundry Force Five

Play in a game with five or more players from your Friends list.





Family Force 5 is a Christian crunk rock band from Georgia, USA.





Two Minute Warring

Be part of a team that wins within two minutes.





In the National Football League, a "two-minute warning" is given when two minutes of game time remain on the game clock during each half of the game.

Attack o' Lantern

Cause the deaths of 5 players by exploding nearby pumpkin bombs.





A jack-o'-lantern is a hollowed-out pumpkin with a face carved in its front and a light source placed inside.





Candy Coroner

Collect 20 Halloween pumpkins from dead players to unlock a hat.





A coroner is a government official who examines autopsy reports and rules on cause of death.

Candy corn is a type of candy often given out during Halloween.





Costume Contest

Kill a Spy disguised as your current class.





A costume contest is a competition in which participants try to determine who has the best Halloween costume.





Optical Defusion

Kill MONOCULUS!





Optical Diffusion, the scattering of light, is an important game technology, such as in the Source Phong shader on the Valve Developer Community. However, the purposeful misspelling suggests that by defeating the Optical organ, the player is defusing an explosive situation.





Sackston Hale

Craft the Saxton Hale Mask.





In the TF2 universe, Saxton Hale is the President and CEO of Mann Co.





Scared Stiff

Kill a player scared by a ghost.





For someone to be "scared stiff", he/she must be so afraid of something he/she is unable to move. However, the term stiff may also refer to a human corpse; so, killing a scared player results in a Scared Stiff.









Sleepy Holl0WND

Kill the Horseless Headless Horsemann.





The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story by Washington Irving in which a young schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane is pursued by a ghost known as the Headless Horseman on an autumn night.

"0wnd" is an Internet slang term used to refer to someone who has been defeated in a game, usually by a large margin.

Balls-E

Destroy the tank during the final seconds of the bomb being deployed.





WALL-E is a 2008 animated sci-fi/romance film about robots.

A "ballsy" person is one who is tough or courageous.





Brotherhood of Steel

Complete a mission with 5 people on your Friends List.





The Brotherhood of Steel is one of many factions seen in the Fallout series of role-playing games.





Chippin' In

As a team, pit 10 guys in a single wave in Mannhattan.





Chippin' In means throwing in or contributing to a collective or team effort. Chippin' In also means knocking something into a hole. Additionally, the pit on this map is Captain Dan's wood chipper.





Ctrl + Assault + Delete

Destroy a sentry buster before it reaches its target.





Control-Alt-Delete is a keyboard command used to bring up the task manager in Windows, or otherwise used to restart a PC computer. This particular combination of keys is chosen due to generally being the least susceptible to ghosting.





Deus Ex Machina

Defeat a wave in an advanced difficulty mission without dying once.





A deus ex machina, literally "god out of the machine", is a plot device that suddenly and abruptly solves a story's seemingly unsolvable problem.





Do Androids Dream?

As a Scout, use the Sandman to mark 15 robots for death in a single wave.





Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a 1968 science-fiction novel about a bounty hunter who is charged with "retiring" escaped androids.





Engine Block

Prevent the bomb from ever reaching an alarm zone during the final wave of an advanced difficulty mission.





An engine block is a metal block that contains an internal combustion engine's cylinders.





.executioner

In a single wave, kill 15 bomb-carrying robots in a row before they level up.





.exe is the filename extension Windows and MS-DOS use for a program (an executable file).





Fast Cache

Pick up a credit pile that is about to expire.





In computing, a cache is a temporary place to store information, to make retrieving the same information later faster.

The term "fast cash" refers to a quick way to make money.





Frags to Riches

Earn all credit bonuses in an advanced difficulty mission.





To say someone has gone from "rags to riches" means he/she has come from a state of poverty to a state of wealth, usually in a relatively short time.

In online games, the term "frag" is synonymous with "kill".





German Engineering

Use a canteen charged with 'ÜberCharge' to destroy 15 robots.





"German engineering" is a buzzword used in recent Volkswagen advertisements.





Ghost in the Machine

Use a canteen charged with 'Teleport to Spawn' and then kill the bomb carrier within 5 seconds.





Ghost in the Machine is a 1993 film about a serial killer whose mind is transferred to a computer and goes on a murder spree.





Hack of All Trades

Play an entire mission as a single class, and do this for every class.





A "jack of all trades" is a person who is competent with many skills.





Hard Reset

As a Pyro, reset the bomb 3 times in a single wave.





A hard reset is a forced shutdown and reboot to a system by hardware means, usually done by pressing a reset button.





Heavy Mettle

During a wave, use rage as a Heavy to push a robot about to deliver the bomb.





"Heavy metal" is a term that commonly refers to a metallic element that is toxic and typically has a high density.





Kritical Terror

Use a canteen charged with 'Crit Boost' to destroy a giant robot.





A critical error is an error that is serious enough to make the program or operating system cease to run properly, causing the computer to freeze or restart.





Negative Charge

Kill 5 Medics that are ready to deploy an ÜberCharge in a wave.





A particle with a negative charge has an abundance of electrons in its outer atomic shell.





Now Legal To Eat

Ooohh Ooh Ahh Ahhhh! ...in Mannhattan





This achievement is associated with Captain Dan's wood chipper -- the sign above the chipper states that the company’s wood pulp is “Now legal to eat”. Microcrystalline cellulose is a term for refined wood pulp, which is used as a thickener in soup and as an excipient in other food products. With proper labeling, wood pulp is legal to eat.

Ooohh Ooh Ahh Ahhhh! is a stereotypical vocalization made by banana-littering giant gorillas, such as those that have famously run loose in Mannhattan.





Palace-aid

Kill a tank before it crashes through the barrier in Rottenburg.





A palisade is a defensive fence or wall made by setting wooden stakes, posts, or trunks in the ground. This is a classically expedient and less than permanent construction; but building one could aide in the defense of a stone palace, a relatively permanent installation.









RAID is a storage technology that spreads storage across multiple disk drives for performance or security.





Real Steal

As an Engineer, escape with your sentry as a sentry buster is about to detonate.





Real Steel is a 2011 science-fiction sports film, set in a future where human boxers have been replaced by robots.





Silicon Slaughter

Destroy 100,000 robots.





Silicon is a chemical element commonly used in the manufacture of electronic devices.





Sly Voltage

As a Spy, sap 10 robots at once.





"High voltage" refers to voltage in circuits that poses safety issues.





Spam Blocker

During a wave, defend the hatch 10 times from robots about to deliver a bomb.





Spam is a common term for junk mail. Spam blockers are programs that filter spam out of one's inbox.





Spark Plugger

As a Sniper, kill 4 enemies simultaneously.





A spark plug is a device that delivers electric current to a car's engine in order to ignite it.





Steel Fragnolias

Complete all waves successfully in a mission.

Reward: Power Up Canteen





Steel Magnolias is a 1989 comedy film about a group of women described as delicate as magnolias, but tough as steel.

In online games, the term "frag" is synonymous with "kill".





T-1000000

Collect 1,000,000 credits in your career.









Turbocharger

Buff 4 or more teammates as a Soldier at the same time in a single wave.





A Turbocharger is a device which delivers compressed air to an engine to allow more power to be produced.





Undelete

During a wave, use a canteen charged with 'Instant Building Upgrade' to build a new sentry gun within 3 seconds of your previous sentry gun's destruction.





To undelete a computer file is to undo a delete of the file.





Vial Sharing

As a Medic, share your canteen 5 times in a single wave.





File sharing is a method of transferring data over the Internet. It is often misused for illegal purposes.





Wage Against the Machine

Earn a credit bonus at the end of a wave.





Rage Against the Machine is a rock band from Los Angeles, California, USA.

Log Jammin

Kill 15 enemies in the rafters above the central capture point.





In the Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski, Logjammin' is the title of a pornographic movie in which the character Bunny Lebowski starred.

Weapons

Baby Face's Blaster





This weapon is a reference to Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis, an infamous bank robber during the early 20th century.





Conscientious Objector

We gave peace a chance. It didn't work.





A conscientious objector is someone who refuses military service for ideological reasons.

The description of the weapon references Give Peace a Chance, a song by John Lennon.





Frying Pan







The Frying Pan is a melee weapon used by the survivors in Left 4 Dead 2.





Half-Zatoichi

Soldiers and Demos Can duel with katanas For a one-hit kill





The Half-Zatoichi is a reference to a long running Japanese fictional character, Zatoichi, that is a blind swordsman. The name comes from the Demoman's missing eye, making him half blind, and the Soldier having his helmet over his eyes as opposed to being completely blind, and therefore "half" Zatoichi.





Market Gardener







The Market Gardener is a reference to a World War 2 maneuver known as Operation Market Garden in which Allied forces parachuted down to meet up with ground forces in the Netherlands.





Saxxy

Winner: [Category] [Year] Imbued with an ancient power.





Cosmetic items

Alien Swarm Parasite

This cute little guy was once the scourge of humanity in another time and place. Now he's content to ride on your head and keep the sun off.





This is a stylized version of an enemy parasite from Alien Swarm.





Aperture Labs Hard Hat

Produce-powered personal illumination and cranial safety apparatus. NOT FOR USE OUTSIDE OFFICIAL APERTURE FACILITIES.





This cosmetic is a reference to the "Potato Clock" or "Potato Battery", a popular science fair project where a potato is used to power a clock or other electronic appliance and a running joke in Portal 2.





Athletic Supporter

[Insert Favorite Regional Team Here]





The Athletic Supporter sports the Monday Night Combat logo on the front.

"Athletic supporter" is an alternate name for a jockstrap.





B.M.O.C.

Be the Big Man of Christmas with this fur-fringed pom-pom hat!





The "Big Man of Christmas" is Santa Claus; the abbreviation is a play on the term "Big Man on Campus", a highly respected individual on a college campus.









This is the beret worn by Vietnam war veteran Bill in Left 4 Dead.





Bombinomicon

"If ye gaze upon one tome-themed badge this year, MAKE IT NOT THIS ONE!" - Merasmus the Magician





The name "Bombinomicon", a portmanteau of Bomb and Necronomicon, is a reference to the fictional grimoire from the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Its appearance is based on the Necronomicon seen in the Evil Dead series of filmes, which had a face, was bound in flesh, and inked in blood.





The logo of Sarif Industries from the Deus Ex series is printed on the front of the cap.





The item is a reference to the Eleventh Doctor from the television series Doctor Who, who wears a similar bow tie.





Ebenezer

If you are visited by one piece of spectral headwear this night, make it the Ghost of Christmas Hats, donated in true Smissmas spirit by Steam User Jacen.





The Ebenezer's name, as well as its description, is a reference to Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol. The description references the three spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future that visit Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character, during the course of the story.









Ellis wears this cap in Left 4 Dead 2.





Flair!

Show enthusiasm! For your favorite things!





The item's name and description are a reference to the film Office Space, in which employees of the restaurant Chotchkie's were required to wear at least "fifteen pieces of flair" (wacky buttons and decals) on their uniforms to demonstrate their enthusiasm.





Full Head of Steam

You never took a break from cp_foundry, and now you can prove it with the actual steam whistle used to call the breaks you never took!





A "Full Head of Steam" refers to a steam boiler (especially a locomotive’s) that is "all fired up", "raring to go", and operating at full pressure (also called full head). Wearing a hat with a steam whistle suggests a "Head Full of Steam". The idiom "full steam ahead" describes a task done with as much enthusiasm as possible, or to go as straight forward as humanly possible.





Hat of Undeniable Wealth And Respect

Earned by completing 28 objectives in 'The Great Steam Treasure Hunt.' Beware the Cephalopod padlock.





The hat is level 28, the same number of objectives required to be completed in The Great Steam Treasure Hunt to earn it.





Human Cannonball

Ask any daredevil what they strap onto their heads before getting shot out of a cannon and the answer will be the same: a glassy, unfocused stare from years of head trauma. Head trauma that could have been prevented with this sharp-looking crash helmet.





The human cannonball is a popular circus stunt in which a person is launched from a cannon.









This hardhat sports the KritzKast logo on the front.

The description is a tagline for pirate radio.









The hammer symbol on this medal is a reference to Valve's map editor, Hammer.

The item is referred to as a "Func_Medal", a reference to the various func-prefixed entities available for use with the Hammer editor.





Marxman

Everyone knows laughter is the best medicine. But did you know that laughter is also the best disguise? No? Well, good thing you're not a cop infiltrating the Chinese mafia, then. Oh wait you are. AND NOW YOU'RE DEAD. Look, rookie, these glasses are actually hilarious.





The item is designed to resemble the popular novelty item Groucho glasses, which are based on the comedian Groucho Marx.

The name is a play on the term "marksman", referring to a person who can shoot well.





Max's Severed Head

Expertly crafted headwear from cruelty-free farms in the Philippines. Hollowed-out skull casing wicks moisture away when in the heat of battle.





This hat is made from the head of Max from Sam & Max. The description is a reference to the first Sam & Max comic, Monkeys Violating the Heavenly Temple, which took place in the Philippines.





Philateler

Congratulations on doing more yesterday to support the TF2 map-making community through map stamps than anyone else! Wear this with pride before it changes hands tomorrow!





Philately is the collection and study of postage and imprinted stamps.





Point and Shoot

The next time someone accuses you of not being a real wizard because you refuse to (read: can’t) do spells, poke them in the eye with this magically blinding pointy hat and run.





Amadeus, a wizard in Trine 2, wears a hat similar to this. The description references the fact that Amadeus is incapable of conjuring a fireball, a recurring joke in the Trine series.









The description references this hat's origins; it is visible on the Human Commando player model from the early "Invasion" version of Team Fortress 2, as well as the files that were leaked in 2003 with Half-Life 2's source code.









This item features Portal's companion cube.

The item is level 13, the same number of games required to be played in the Potato Sack pack to earn it.





Spine-Chilling Skull

Express your undying hatred for the living.





This hat is level 31, referring to Halloween on the 31st of October.





Spiral Sallet

Little known fact: knights in chess travel over other pieces by rocket jumping.





The Spiral Sallet is named after the eponymous hat[1] from Spiral Knights, though it bears more resemblance to the Mighty Cobalt Helm[2]





Spirit Of Giving

The more gifts you give away, the bigger your heart will get! Get what gift-givers call "the Smissmas spirit," and what cardiologists call hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.





The item is a reference to the classic Dr. Seuss story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! whose title character is born with a heart two sizes two small but when he gives Christmas presents to the Whos of Whoville, his heart grows three sizes.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the medical term for thickening and growth of the heart.





Teufort Tooth Kicker

These steel-toed dogs were scientifically engineered (in a wind tunnel) by America's foremost authorities on mouth-kicking to perfectly fit the inside of an idiot's mouth.





The Capture the Flag map 2Fort is often referred to as "Teufort" in TF2's supplementary material.





Top Notch

Welcome to a secret society so exclusive it makes the Illuminati look like a Costco. How exclusive? You are the only member. This is the only item of its kind in all of existence. So don't craft it, Miney.





The hat adopts the likeness of Markus "Notch" Persson's personal avatar, a drawing of himself in the artistic style of Minecraft, on which he was the lead developer until the game's official release.

Something which is described as being "top notch" is first rate, or excellent.





Towering Pillar of Hats

A-ha-ha! You are as PRESUMPTUOUS as you are POOR and IRISH. Tarnish notte the majesty of my TOWER of HATS.





This hat and its description are references to the hidden Gentle Manne of Leisure page on the Classless Update.





Voodoo Juju

Only the finest leather hats come with tattoos and piercings.





The Voodoo Juju is level 31, referring to Halloween on the 31st of October.





World Traveler's Hat

Given to generous souls who have donated to community map makers. The effect will only be visible while on a map that has been donated towards!





Should a player contribute enough to obtain 200 stamps for their World Traveler's Hat, its rank will change to "Unobtainium", a reference to a recurring alloy in science fiction and speculative science.

Bots

Some bots which have names that reference other games include:

Responses and sounds

The Soldier and Demoman often reference Greek myth in their taunts of each other, especially concerning the Cyclops.

One of the stock death responses used in Trailer 2 is the infamous Wilhelm Scream, a well known movie sound effect. This was also the death scream used for the Civilian class, when it was originally accessible via console commands.

Haunted Fortress 2, the soundtrack to the Scream Fortress Update, contains screaming sounds used by the Witch Infected from Left 4 Dead.



"Flawless Victory, now do it again!"

This line from the Administrator is a reference to the Mortal Kombat announcer's famous "Flawless Victory!" line.



"Merasmus talks about guns like you ain't got none, mortals! That's because I sold them all! (laughter)"

This line from Merasmus is a reference to Dr. Dre's 1999 single "Forgot About Dre", specifically referencing the lines "Now you wanna run around talkin' 'bout guns like I ain't got none / What, you think I sold 'em all?"

Companies, posters, and signs

Many signs and posters decorating the maps, many depicting businesses in the Team Fortress world, make a wide assortment of references; see List of companies and List of posters.

Other

Team Fortress 2 carries a heavy retro 1960's style, drawing heavy thematic and musical inspiration from famous spy films and series such as James Bond, Get Smart and The Avengers.

A Communities vs. Pros 3: Cold War tournament poster features the tagline "The Nuclear Winter Approaches" which is a reference to Duke: Nuclear Winter.

References in other games

Due to its high popularity, references of Team Fortress 2 can be found in other games as well.

References in other media

Erfworld has a character who bears striking similarity to the Engineer.

Team Fortress 2 is referenced in the Robot Chicken episode "Choked on Multi-Colored Scarves", which features a sketch in which Robot Chicken's Nerd is depicted as a class.

Sources





See also



