List of pop culture references in Warcraft/WotLK

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World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Comic and manga

Gaming

  • Alone in the Dark —  [Alone in the Darkness] (10 / 25) is a reference to the this computer game series, which is mostly based on Lovecraft's works, just like Yogg-Saron.
  • Baldur's Gate — The Council of Six is likely named after the Council of Six from Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, a mysterious high council presiding over a magical order of magi known as the Cowled Wizards. Ironically, the wizards' job to (sometimes violently) enforce the regulation of magic is more reminiscent of the Blue Dragonflight than the Kirin Tor.
  • Castlevania —  [Vampire Hunter] is a reference to the popular pastime in Castlevania. This was tied to the Wrath of the Lich King launch event and the special encounter also had loot which referenced the game:  [Vampiric Batling] and  [Monster Slayer's Kit]. The last one has all the weapons you need to defeat the vampires and zombies: Inv staff 05.png Monster Slayer's Symbol, Inv potion 03.png Monster Slayer's Holy Water, Inv axe 01.png Monster Slayer's Axe, Inv throwingknife 02.png Monster Slayer's Dagger. This item appeared during a special event in Karazhan, which also has references to the series.
  • City of Heroes — Portal Jockey (10 / 25) is a reference to Portal Jockey Badge, one of the most coveted items in the game, providing +5 Endurance and +5% hit points.
  • Diablo — 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 — 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.
  • Pokémon
    • 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.
    • Mootoo the Younger is a reference to the Pokemon Mewtwo. This is further enforced by various psychic related quotes during the quest H [10-30] Escaping the Mist, as well as the NPC's similarity in eye shape to the Pokemon's.
  • Portal
    •  [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.
    • 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.
    • During Love is in the Air, some locations have wooden crates with ribbons and hearts on them. These resemble the Weighted Companion Cube from level 17.
  • 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.
  • The Legend of Zelda —  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.
  • Zero Wing — 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".

Literature

Movies and television

  • 300
    • N Death Knight [8-30] Tonight We Dine in Havenshire is a reference to a scene where Leonidas says "Tonight, we dine in Hell."
    • The Scourge archers seen early on in the Death Knight questchain are called Sky Darkeners, referring to this exchange from 300: "Our arrows will blot out the sun! Then we will fight in the shade."
    • N Death Knight [8-30] 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.
  • A Christmas Story —  [Red Rider Air Rifle] is a reference to the Red Rider BB gun that the main character, Ralphie, wants for Christmas. The rifle will sometimes "backfire" causing the player to become stunned for a short period of time. The debuff is called [Right in the eye!] which is an obvious reference to the movie.
  • A Mighty Wind — The Mighty Wind is a reference to the Christopher Guest's movie.
  • Airplane! — On occasion, Scarlet Peasants will say "I picked the wrong week to quit drinking", which is a memorable quote from Steve McCroskey.
  • Aladdin — Flying carpets, like  [Magnificent Flying Carpet] and  [Frosty Flying Carpet], give you the buffs "Don't you dare close your eyes!" or "A new fantastic point of view!" which are quotes from the song "A Whole New World".
  • Aliens
    • They're Coming Out of the Walls (10/25) is a line used by Private Hudson in the movie.
    • Just after starting the encounter in the Violet Hold, Lieutenant Sinclari says, "Prison guards, we are leaving!". This references the line by Corporal Hicks, "Marines, we are leaving!"
  • American Pie — B [120 Daily] This One Time, When I Was Drunk... is a reference to the constant anecdotes starting with "This one time, at band camp..." told by Alyson Hannigan's character Michelle.
  • Apocalypse Now — 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."
  • Army of Darkness
  • Back to the Future
  • 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 the characters of the movie. Moreover, a hunter will come out and shoot Mother of Bambina.
  • Battlestar Galactica — Kara Thricestar, is named for Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, a character from the TV series.
  • Bewitched — Endora Moorehead is a reference to Endora, the mother of Samantha Stevens and played by Agnes Moorehead. Another sister, Hagatha Moorehead, probably refers to Samantha's (seldom-seen)aunt Hagatha.
  • Deadliest Catch —  [Deadliest Catch] is probably a reference to this popular Discovery Channel television program.
  • Dirty Jobs — An NPC named "Dirty" Michael Crowe appears to be a reference to its host Mike Rowe.
  • Doctor Who
    •  [The Ultrasonic Screwdriver] is a reference to the Sonic Screwdriver.
    • The Mechagnomes are 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. 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.
    • In N [15-30] Mystery of the Infinite, Future You tells you 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!, 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.
  • Firefly
    • 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.
    • Saffron Reynolds 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.
  • Full Metal Jacket — During the Death Knight starting quests in Acherus, 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 an obvious reference to the mantra the Marine recruits are ordered to recite in the movie "This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine".
  • Futurama — Professor Putricide's quotes come straight from Professor Farnsworth.
  • 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!"
  • Glengarry Glen Ross — Chief Engineer Leveny is named after Shelly Levene, one of the salesman in the real estate office. The Goblin Siege Engineer's complaints about tools is similar to the complaints of the real estate salesman in the movies complaining about their leads. They also ask about a meeting they are being made to attend, which turns out to be with [[Blakelow],] who abuses the engineers and challenges them to a crafting contest, ending in an exortation to "Always be crafting!" similar to a speech in the movie.
  • Indiana Jones
  • Jurassic Park — During H [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 movie version of Jurassic Park. Just before Robert Muldoon is killed by velociraptors, those are his last words.
  • Lost — In Bittertide Lake there is a small island with a hatch with the Lost numbers incremented by one: 5 9 16 17 24 43.
  • MacGyver — McGoyver, who is building an airplane, is a clearly reference to MacGyver.
  • 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 — A [10-30] Zedd's Probably Dead is a reference to the movie. 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."
  • Saturday Night Live — A book in Acherus: The Ebon Hold 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.
  • 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!".
    • H [10-30] Bury Those Cockroaches! is a reference to Tony Montana's line "I bury those cockroaches!".
    • While fighting Salranax the Flesh Render in N [25-30] The Air Stands Still, Munch also uses the line "Say hello to my little friend!" before summoning his ghoul.
  • 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.
  • South Park
    • In Howling Fjord, the Valgarde defenders are armed with rifles. Before killing approaching NPCs they yell "It's coming right for us." A reference to an early South Park episode dealing with the Second Amendment. It was explained that with the new changes in government you could only fire your weapons in self defense, therefore, hunters could legally shoot anything by claiming self defense, but only after yelling "It's coming right for us."
    • While not quite making it into The Burning Crusade (as it was renamed  [Gladiator's Slicer]), the  [Sword of a Thousand Truths] was introduced as a drop in the new Naxxramas, and renamed  [Slayer of the Lifeless], complete with the flavor text, "Foretold by Salzman," both obvious nods to the "Make Love, Not Warcraft" episode.
    •  [Make Love, Not Warcraft] is a reference to the South Park episode of the same name, where the South Park gang play World of Warcraft. The achievement requires you to the same thing that Stan did to his dad before he died.
    • Xevozz sometimes says "Profit!" when killing a player. This 'slay' line is the third of three in the game files. This is a reference to the Unterpants Gnomes and their business plan.
  • Star Trek: The Original Series
  • 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).
  • Superman II —  [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: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street — Jelinek Sharpshear 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 Big Lebowski
    • Donny and the quest A [10-30] Out of My Element? are a direct reference to the character named Donny (played by Steve Buscemi). Several times in one of the major scenes, Walter Sobchak tells Donny "You're out of your element!"
    • The objective of A [10-30] Iron Rune Constructs and You: The Bluff, given by Walt, is a clear reference to when Lebowskiis 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."
  • The Facts of Life — Natalie Tootiblare is a reference to three of the main characters in the series: Natalie Green, Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey, and Blair Warner.
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air — I Could Say That This Cache Was Rare (10/25) is a reference to the series' theme song.
  • The Goonies — Chester Copperpot is a reference to Chester Copperpot, a character in the 1985 movie.
  • The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams — "Grizzly" D. Adams and his bear cub are a obvious reference to the original movie, which later became a TV series.
  • The Lord of the Rings
    • 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 H [25-30] 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 The Return of the King.
    • 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] says "There is no spoon."
    • During A [15-30] Projections and Plans, if you stand in the center 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.
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas — Alchemist Finklestein is a tribute to Doctor Finklestein. He gives out the quest N [20-30] Lab Work which also references the fact that Doctor Finklestein was the Halloween Town's mad scientist.
  • The Princess Bride — When you are fishing up coins in the Dalaran fountain, you will sometimes receive  [Inigo's Copper Coin], which has inscribed on it, "I wish I had my father back...", referencing the main character's dead father.
  • The Shadow — In H [74] The Battle For The Undercity, King Wrynn says "I know what evil lurks in the heart of orcs", a take off from this. 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 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 Simpsons
    • In N Death Knight [8-30] Nowhere To Run and Nowhere To Hide sends you to kill Mayor Quimby, an obvious reference to Joe Quimby, the mayor of Springfield.
    • Stampy is a reference to Bart Simpson's pet elephant of the same name.
    • Crazy Cat Lady (10/25) is most likely a nod to the series' infamous Crazy Cat Lady.
    •  [Unblinking Eye] might be a reference to one of the Stonecutters' initiation rituals in Homer the Great (which all, except the last one, consist of the blindfolded initiate being paddled on the ass by a line of people).
    • On the Azeroth's Fortune mini-game page of the Cataclysm homepage, one of the fortune titles is "Don't sleep. Gnomes will eat you." This refers to the episode Lisa's First Word, when Bart's poorly crafted clown headboard badly frightens Bart into insomnia and constantly repeating "can't sleep, clown will eat me."
  • The Six Million Dollar Man
    • The quests A [10-30] We Can Rebuild It and A [10-30] We Have the Technology are a referece to the memorable quote of Dr. Walter Ellis "We can rebuild you, we have the technology."
    • Fizzcrank Mechagnomes can be seen saying: "The flesh is weak. We will make you better, stronger...faster". This is another quote from the show's introduction.
  • The Terminator
    • During A [15-30] 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.
    • 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.
  • They Live — When Macalroy offers A [10-30] Hell Has Frozen Over..., 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[2] in which the character Nada announces "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."[3]
  • This Is Spın̈al Tap
  • A [10-30] It Goes to 11... is a reference to when the guitarist is asked why he doesn't just make 10 louder on his amp, he replies "But it goes to 11...".
    • Going along with this reference,  [Doesn't Go to Eleven] refers to the same quote about the amp, this time joking that it doesn't go to eleven.
  • Top Chef
  • Unhappily Ever After — In A [15-30] Mr. Floppy's Perilous Adventure, Mr. Floppy, Emily's pet rabbit, is in reference to the sitcom.
  • Vampires — In A [10-30] Absholutely... Thish Will Work!, 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."
  • Voltron — One of the phases of Mimiron is named "V-07-TR-0N", a reference to the anime robot Voltron. Additionally,  [And I'll Form the Head!] is a quote from the show.
  • Wing and a Prayer — N [20-30D] A Wing and a Prayer is likely a reference to the 1944 war movie of nearly the same name.
  • X-Files
  • 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

People

Other

References

 
  1. ^ Burley, Rich (2003). The Order of the Stick #1. Giant in the Ground.
  2. ^ http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0096256
  3. ^ http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/quotes
  4. ^ Schaffner, Lauryn 2021-10-18. Corpsegrinder’s 'World of Warcraft' Character Name Changed Due to Past Homophobic Slurs. Loudwire. Retrieved on 2021-10-21.
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