List of pop culture references in Warcraft/MoP

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World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Gaming

• Battletoads
  • The toads at the Pools of Purity (Rash, Zitz, and Pimple) are named after the toads in the arcade game.
  • The quest  [15-35] Bottletoads also references the game, as well as the internet meme and prank based around it. The lines "Coincidentally, I make a jam out of gelatinous toadspawn. I call it "Bottletoads" and "it's a big hit with the kids around here. Can't keep any in stock." are references to the Battletoads trolling meme.
• BioShock Infinite — Elizabeth Birdsong is a reference to one of the main characters Elizabeth who looks very similar with dark hair, blue eyes, and blue and white clothes. She is guarded by Songbird, which her NPC's last name is taken from. Many of her lines reference her personality and the fantastical universe of Columbia, like "I never imagined such a world", "the possibilities are infinite," and "this world is so different."
• Dead Space — The quest  [30-35] Dread Space is an obvious reference to the Dead Space video game series.
• Diablo — The achievements granted for killing rares,  [A Worthy Opponent],  [Could We Find More Like That?] and  [Glorious!] are all famous quotes from the Templar companion in Diablo III.
• Duke Nukem — Dook Ookem and his quotes are based on Duke Nukem.
• Harvest Moon — The Tillers faction is a shout out to the Harvest Moon series; examples include the giving of gifts to people to gain their friendship and the presence of the  [Blue Feather].
• Hearthstone
  •  [Hearthsteed] is a mount released to those who won 3 games during the promo.
  • Hearthstone game boards can be found in the Shrine of Two Moons and Shrine of Seven Stars with some fellow NPCs playing and others watching.
• Master of Orion — The Klaxxi may be a reference to an insect race called the Klackons in the game.
• Mortal Kombat — The White Tiger Xuen seems to be a has of this. Along with his achievement  [Finish Them!], he also says "Test. Your. Might!" when you accept his quests.
• Pikmin — Many quests at Rikkitun Village, such as  [30-35] Great Vessel of Salvation, plays on the likeness of the Pikmin and Sprites.
• Pokémon — The Pet Battle System is an obvious shout out to the Pokémon series.
• Real-time strategy —  [30-35] Reeltime Strategy is an oronym on the genre name.
• StarCraft
  • In the cockpit of the  [Sky Golem] is a picture of the Sarah Kerrigan, aka the Queen of Blades.
  • [Zergling Rush] pet ability references a tactic where a player will devote resources very early in the game to producing as many Zerglings as quickly as possible and attack the opponent with them, who ideally will have spent fewer resources at this point on building units and more on his or her economy. Some Zergling rushes can be timed to hit before an opponent has created a single defensive unit.
• StarFox 64 —  [20-35] Do a Barrel Roll! is a reference to a popular internet meme spawned by a line said by Peppy Hare.
• Street Fighter
  • In Kun-Lai Summit there is a female pandaren called Lun-Chi <The Streetfighter>, whose attire resembles Chun-Li's.
  • One of the female pandaren's jokes also references Chun Li: "Let's see, uh, forward, down, forward, PUNCH! No... Down, up, kick..?"
  • Some aspects of female pandaren's appearance and animations also distinctly resemble Chun Li, most specifically their /cheer emote.
• The Elder Scrolls — A quest  [15-35] Unsafe Passage in Krasarang Wilds has you escorting a group of pandaren that gets ambushed by a rain of arrow. At one point, quest giver and escortee Koro Mistwalker will say Help me up, <player>. I... I took an arrow in the knee...

Literature

• A Song of Ice and Fire
  • Members of the Shado-Pan faction will sometimes say: "We are the watchers on the walls." or "We are the sword in the shadows." These are very similar to some of the vows taken by members of the Night's Watch in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. Also the Shado-Pan themselves have many similarities with the Night's Watch.
  •  [Syrio's Gloves of Tutelage] and their flavor text are a reference to the character Syrio Forel from the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.
• I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream — The quest name  [10-35] I Have No Jade And I Must Scream is a play off the title of this short story.
• Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire — The quest  [30-35] Shadow of the Empire is a reference to the Star Wars novel Shadows of the Empire and surrounding media.
• Stranger in a Strange Land — The quest  [90] Stranger in a Strange Land is a reference to the Robert Heinlein novel of the same name.
• The Story of Ferdinand — Ferdinand may be inspired by this children's book, that features a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. Ferdinand's aggro quote also likely refers to this.

Movies and television

• The Dark Knight —  [15-35] Why So Serious? is taken from a popular catchphrase uttered by The Joker.
• The Goonies —   [35 Daily] The Truffle Shuffle is named after a dance performed by the character Chunk.
• Up — The three main characters (portrayed by Kar, Rusty Nail, and Dig) and the old man's house, with several balloons attached, can be found on one of the peaks^[53, 13] in the Jade Forest.

Music

• Caramell — The female pandaren's /dance is based off of the internet meme derived from their song Caramelldansen.
• Heavy metal — In Dread Wastes resides a faction called The Klaxxi, that provide a large amount buffs as enchants and augmentations, and these buffs all have a name referring to some heavy metal song.
  • Black Sabbath - Iron Man(tid) and Children of the Grave (enchantment)
  • Slayer - Angel of Death and Raining Blood (enchantment)
  • Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity (enchantment)
  • Deep Purple - Speed King (augmentation)
  • Metallica - Seek and Destroy and Master of Puppets (augmentation)
  • Manowar - Battle Hymn (augmentation)
  • Judas Priest - Painkiller (augmentation)
• LMFAO
  • The male pandaren's /dance is based off of the choreography from their music video "Party Rock Anthem."
  • The name  [Every Day I'm Pand-a-ren] is a reference to the same song.
• Queen — The daily quest  [15-35 Daily] Red Blossom Leeks, You Make the Croc-in' World Go Down is a play on the lyrics from the Queen song "Fat Bottomed Girls", the chorus of which features the line "Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round".

People

• wowcrendor —  [Greatbelt of the Crendor] is a reference to wowcrendor.

Other

• The quest   [15-35 Daily] Jumping the Shark takes its name from a popular expression meaning that a form of entertainment is declining in quality beyond recovery.