Easter Eggs

I don't think I've ever seen a thread about Easter Eggs in games. Do you have a favorite Easter Egg in video games? Or have you seen one you think is just too funny?

I found this on Twitter today and made a capture with the original poster for proper credit.

Gothic 1 has a metal cover of a medieval Swedish ballad in it, performed by a German metal band. It's kind of absurd.
Here's what it sounds like in Gothic


And here's the song sang by someone who actually speaks Swedish, with the text in both (old) Swedish and (modern) English in case you wonder what they sing

I love the easter eggs in newer id Software games, like the Wolfenstein room in RAGE:

Hitman: Blood Money is full of quality easter eggs, the most memorable being that one^

If you hit the jukebox in Devil May Cry 3 it plays music from the first game.

Ratchet and Clank and Jak liked to reference each other.

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Bayonetta is chock-full of Easter eggs. Some of my favorites include:

Bayonetta tells Fortitudo, "Flock off, feather face!", which Dante said to the Griffon in Devil May Cry.

When she's between dimensions, Bayonetta draws the facial markings of Amaterasu from Okami on Luka's face with her lipstick. When in panther form, Bayonetta is also trailed by flowers (albeit dead ones), which was also true of Amaterasu.

Luka mentions that if Bayonetta kills him, it would make his "girlfriends" Claire, Trish, Sylvia, and Ammy sad, referring to the female leads of Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, and Okami. (Interestingly enough, the art book reveals these characters are real in the Bayonetta universe, but they're Luka's three cats and dog.)

One of Rodin's stock lines when Bayonetta enters The Gates of Hell is "Hey, check this out... whadya buyin'? Heh heh heh... heard that in a game once." The game of course being Resident Evil 4.

Jeanne's color scheme and role as mysterious antagonist from the main character's past turned protagonist's closest ally is a direct send up of Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney.

Before fighting Gomorrah in the second game, a blue flame emerges from Bayonetta's left eye, a trademark characteristic of Black Rock Shooter.

And lest we forget, Bowser's arms replacing those of Madama Butterfly's for Wicked Weaves when wearing the Princess Peach or Daisy costumes.

There's literally multiple wiki pages on the references in these games, so I could go on.

Also, on an unrelated note, Raz from Psychonauts makes a cameo in Alice: Madness Returns.

I wonder if there's a bit more to that Psychonauts thing, or if it's just a cute reference. EA, who published Madness Returns, about 2 years prior said that they'll never work with Tim Schafer ever again, as he's unreliable, can't stick to deadlines and balloons the budget (which is funnily enough, also what Activision said... and it was caused by the same game! Brütal Legend ).

I wonder if there's a bit more to that Psychonauts thing, or if it's just a cute reference. EA, who published Madness Returns, about 2 years prior said that they'll never work with Tim Schafer ever again, as he's unreliable, can't stick to deadlines and balloons the budget (which is funnily enough, also what Activision said... and it was caused by the same game! Brütal Legend ).

I haven't played Psychonauts yet but the main character has a similar theme to Alice. A young protagonist with mental abilities who is investigating something sinister - Alice does the same thing. She's going through something related to the mind to investigate something no one else knew was happening (aside from the antagonist). Or it could be a nod to Schafer but I like my theory better.

@mockturtle I finished Alice last month and didn't see that reference! And I knew about quarter of those Bayonetta references but I never realized there were so many. Now I feel like playing it again and hunting for them. (I know I can just wiki it but it's more fun this way)

I haven't played Psychonauts yet but the main character has a similar theme to Alice. A young protagonist with mental abilities who is investigating something sinister - Alice does the same thing. She's going through something related to the mind to investigate something no one else knew was happening (aside from the antagonist). Or it could be a nod to Schafer but I like my theory better.

@mockturtle I finished Alice last month and didn't see that reference! And I knew about quarter of those Bayonetta references but I never realized there were so many. Now I feel like playing it again and hunting for them. (I know I can just wiki it but it's more fun this way)

Yeah, yours sounds more likely :P I just thought it was funny to see that, after EA's strong words about Tim, who seemingly had not realized that EA was upset with him and his company, and fully expected them to fund Brütal Legend 2.

This one will only make sense if you're familiar with Stargate SG1 (and you should be, of course, otherwise I shall never speak to you ever again (many people actually consider that a blessing)). When Kratos and Atreus reach the Mountain's Base in God of War (2018), the boy expresses wonderment about their surroundings and Kratos merely replies, "Indeed." That is a great callback to Christopher Judge's Teal'c from Stargate. I probably giggled more than I should have the first time I saw that scene.

This one will only make sense if you're familiar with Stargate SG1 (and you should be, of course, otherwise I shall never speak to you ever again (many people actually consider that a blessing)). When Kratos and Atreus reach the Mountain's Base in God of War (2018), the boy expresses wonderment about their surroundings and Kratos merely replies, "Indeed." That is a great callback to Christopher Judge's Teal'c from Stargate. I probably giggled more than I should have the first time I saw that scene.

*cocks head, raising single eyebrow*

*cocks head, raising single eyebrow*

Indeeeeed. 👌

In Super Mario Sunshine, you fight the shadow of a huge manta ray that flies out of the haunted Del Fino hotel. As you damage it, it breaks up into smaller rays before disapating.

One of the final passages of Stephen King's The Shining says, "a ghostly manta shape, floating away over the hotel. It was paper thin, like a shadow, and then broke into smaller forms before turning into smoke and drifting away."

Really cool and wierd to see a reference to an American horror novel in a Japanese Mario game.

Speaking of Mario Sunshine, apparently there's a weird enemy you can encounter through hacking. (Starts at 5:28)

Speaking of Mario Sunshine, apparently there's a weird enemy you can encounter through hacking. (Starts at 5:28)

Yeah I've seen that video, crazy! And I recommend watching all this guy's videos "Oddheader" because they're chocked full of obscure video game secrets, easter eggs, and unsolved mysteries.

Link's Awakening also had quite a few noteworthy Easter eggs.



My favorite is the signed picture of herself that Christine sends to Mr. Write. And of course, Mr. Write is based upon Dr. Wright from Sim City on the SNES, who is in turn named after Will Wright, the creator of Sim City.

Not sure if this counts as an easter egg but I loved the references to earlier games in Lara's treasure vault in Tomb Raider III. I always wondered how she brought back that T-Rex head... Bet the taxidermist had some questions.



She also has the ark of the covenant in TR 1.

Star Wars/Final Fantasy fans might find this interesting.



Edit: They even snuck a Star Trek reference in there...

Star Wars/Final Fantasy fans might find this interesting.



Edit: They even snuck a Star Trek reference in there...

Without seeing it (I' m at work)
Biggs and Wedge in VI,VII and XIV
Necron's (?) speech at the end of IX

Without seeing it (I' m at work)
Biggs and Wedge in VI,VII and XIV
Necron's (?) speech at the end of IX

And Nanaki being an acronym of Anakin. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I'm rather upset that I missed that one. 🤨 There's still some other interesting references, the one with the tonberries was pretty funny.

Without seeing it (I' m at work)
Biggs and Wedge in VI,VII and XIV
Necron's (?) speech at the end of IX

Haha, I'm not even a Final Fantasy fan but I had the same thought. These "obscure video game references" videos are the same 98% of the time.

Haha, I'm not even a Final Fantasy fan but I had the same thought. These "obscure video game references" videos are the same 98% of the time.

See I am a FF fan but not a star wars fan. I think those two are pretty well known generally.

But im 59 seconds in and already annoyed, aside from the god awful misuse of aspect ratio's and extremely poor quality of thr footage used, it's already tried to suggest a Cloud/Sephiroth statue pose is similar to a real life state, even though the poses are i)different and ii)incredibly generic.

Some of the references seem pretty obvious, but a lot of them are based on common tropes or existing narrative hooks which Star Wars may or may not have made popular. But hey, 80s Star Wars fans accused Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers of ripping off Star wars even though i)they aren't remotely similar and ii) Yamato was made first...

And Nanaki being an acronym of Anakin. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I'm rather upset that I missed that one. 🤨 There's still some other interesting references, the one with the tonberries was pretty funny.

This and the Red XIII does seem a bit of a reach to me, it might be possible but its very convoluted and relies on assumption. It could easily be a coincidence.

See I am a FF fan but not a star wars fan. I think those two are pretty well known generally.

But im 59 seconds in and already annoyed, aside from the god awful misuse of aspect ratio's and extremely poor quality of thr footage used, it's already tried to suggest a Cloud/Sephiroth statue pose is similar to a real life state, even though the poses are i)different and ii)incredibly generic.

Some of the references seem pretty obvious, but a lot of them are based on common tropes or existing narrative hooks which Star Wars may or may not have made popular. But hey, 80s Star Wars fans accused Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers of ripping off Star wars even though i)they aren't remotely similar and ii) Yamato was made first...

WTF, I watched the first minute. Those poses are nothing alike. Same with the 3 girls that appear shortly after.

Did you know that Star Wars is a reference to Mass Effect? In both games, a male character is known to shout and speak English. Both have arms that are used to manipulate weapons in an aggressive way, evoking the duel between Darth Vader and Luke in the Empire Strikes Back film.