References in DDO

As many people have discovered over the years, there are many subtle and not-so-subtle comedic, silly or even serious references and homages to other things both in DDO and out of DDO. Here are a few examples... please feel free, if you find any more, to add your own.

Comics

• In the final quest in the Phiarlan Carnival arc, Under the Big Top, an optional Tiefling named Maz'il'tilnik appears, with whom you can make a deal. While talking about it, you can ask what happens when he says his name backwards... and he throws a fit, complaining about an "overrmuscled, blue and red armored do-gooder of a paladin" who keeps showing up to try to trick him into doing just that - then says his name backwards several times, to no effect. This is a reference to Superman's standard method of dealing with his enemy Mister Mxyzptlk.
• In The Marketplace, hireling vendor Crimson Annja is a reference to fantasy comics and movie character Red Sonja, or to the historical fiction literary character she was based on (but in the latter case, her name should arguably be Crimson Annya) (see also #Literature, #Movie).

Gaming

• In the third quest in the Catacombs series, "The Crypt of Gerard Dryden", the map is a very similar to a Sorry!® game board, complete with colors, and your goal is to get to the middle (like a Sorry! game).
• "The Enemy Within" is named for 1980s classical campaign series for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay The Enemy Within Campaign. (What?! this isn't DnD!)
• Xy'zzy, the Hound of Xoriat, is named for Xyzzy, the magic word in the original Colossal Cave Adventure, which also subsequently appeared in various Infocom games over the years.
• In The Shroud (Raid), each of the Shrouds first 3 phases were designed to mimic various classic arcade games:
  • Phase 1 is modelled after the classic arcade game Gauntlet, by Atari.
    • Upon entering you'll immediately notice four corpses, they are named very similarly to the four characters from the Gauntlet arcade game: Scarlet Warrior, Jade Elf, Azure Valkyrie and the Golden Wizard
  • Phase 2 borrows some of its elements from the classic Pac-Man, by Namco
    • The Ghost return to the center to come back to life, just like pac-man, and the power pellets are represented by the trees which regenerate spell points.
  • Phase 3 is vaguely reminiscent of Frogger, by Konami
    • The Whirling Blades represent the cars, and the player dodging them is Frogger.
• In the Marketplace, in front of the monk trainer, there are 2 people kneeling in front of him, one is called Kendrik and the other Ryutar, referencing Ken and Ryu, 2 characters from the Street Fighter Franchise.
• Kobolds sometimes yell "Dizafrabadoo!". That should be a reference to a similar line in Baldur's Gate II.
• The four guests in A Study in Sable are references to the four characters from the Gauntlet games. The guests are colour coded the same way the Gauntlet II characters are on the title screen. Dareon Krenner is the blue wizard, Sir Chadrus Thurling is the yellow warrior, Flora Reynard is the red valkyrie and Alyk Glenweir is the green elf. Additionally the Valkyrie in Gauntlet Legends is called Freya which is an obvious inspiration for Flora Reynard.
• DM Dialog in Friends in Low Places refers to the area with the archer ambush as "Overflow Control #1", perhaps a reference to Zork's "Flood Control Dam #3" [1]

Literature

• The entire Korthos Island series is likely a reference to H.P. Lovecraft's "A Shadow Over Innsmouth", where an out-of-the-way coastal town is secretly run by fish-men-worshipping cultists. Although unrelated to the Innsmouth story, it's notable that the end quest features a Mind Flayer, a monster inspired by Lovecraft as well.
• Detritus in the quest Reclamation is actually a reference to Terry Pratchett's Discworld Detritus which in the Discworld is an troll, but on that world trolls are creatures made out of living rock which closely resembles an earth golem in D&D
• In the quest Delirium, the chef is attacked by the hams and clams he has been cooking. Occasionally, he will scream "the horror, the horror," this is a reference to the final words of Kurtz, a mass murdering colonialist, in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
• The quest Redwillow's Ruins contains references to Douglas Adams' science fiction / comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: the troll Geeblebrox is a reference to Zaphod Beeblebrox, while the scorpion Ravenous sounds like a reference to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.
• The quest Detour also contains a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference. Dolthin says, "oh no, not again," when dying and Benson takes a moment to point out what was said. The same thing was the only thought of a bowl of petunias in the HHGTTG. WikiQuote HHGTTG. Dolthin's name is likely a play on dolphins, which also figure prominently in the plot of the HHGTTG series of books.
• Bluffing shows the overhead text "Mostly harmless", another reference to Douglas Adams' series.
• In the quest Prove Your Worth, the pirate Fezzik is a reference to the big Turkish wrestler in William Goldman's fantasy romance novel The Princess Bride (see also #Movie).
• In the quest Murder by Night, the werewolf Ogiyon Tomain and his opening line are a reference by anagram to another character in Goldman's The Princess Bride, Spanish fencer Inigo Montoya. Both are classified as highest-ranking: Ogiyon Tomain is a wolf pack Alpha Male, while Inigo Montoya is a Fencing Wizard.
• During the Mabar Endless Night Festival event, in Delera's Graveyard, Perky Piotr advertises "drugs" Night-Black Coffee and Draught of Midnight. That sounds like a reference to Philip K. Dick's The Days of Perky Pat and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, in which an item, a concept and a firm all named Perky Pat are associated with virtual worlds, virtual goods, role-playing games, false lives, religion and recreational drugs.
  • During the Treasure of Crystal Cove event, in Smuggler's Rest, Perky Petra advertises "drugs" Butter-Rum Coffee and Pirate's Grog. There are also other, less likely potential references, not citable in this wiki.
• The quest A Study in Sable is a reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective mystery novel A Study in Scarlet, first in the series about Sherlock Holmes. In the quest, the flesh golem Wollstonecraft is a reference to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, about arguably *the* flesh golem in recent literature; the Purple Dragon Knight Sir Ebermund Harker and her niece Winne Harker (the quest giver) are a reference to characters in Bram Stoker's Gothic horror novel Dracula, Jonathan Harker and others (not cited because of spoilers). In the quest you find journals written by Lucille. After reading one you get a notification saying: "Vampire diaries read.". This is a reference to The Vampire Diaries novel series (and TV show).
  • There is a more direct reference to Frankenstein in the encounter It's Alive! After completion, the fleshwright will name the newborn flesh golem as "Shelley"
• The items Ann Velsing's Belt and Ann Velsing's Band, their special ability Hunter of the DeadHunter of the Dead: 3 extra uses of Remove Disease per rest. If have Hunter of the Dead III Enhancement: additional weapon damage versus Undead. and their former owner, are a reference to another character in Stoker's Dracula, noted hunter of the dead Abraham Van Helsing (not linked because of spoilers), or to one of his many non-canonic relatives, most likely Marvel Comics' character Rachel Van Helsing. If you look her up, beware of spoilers (say, scanned comics pages on the Internet).
• Crimson Annja / Red Sonya of Rogatino. See #Comics: she's listed in connection to the original comics character.
• In the raid The Chronoscope, Associate of the Twelve Veheer F'nord is a reference to the word fnord, which has several relevant but subtly different meanings, so that one will never be totally sure of which one, if any, applies to the raid (and this note!).
• In the quest Partycrashers, NPC secret agent Cyan orders "a Dirty Kobold, shaken, not stirred": while a Dirty Kobold is an actual, in-game drink, the preparation she requests is a reference to secret agent 007's own (see also #Movie).
• The rare vampire Varney is named after the classic Gothic novel Varney the Vampire.

Movies

• The quest "The Bookbinder Rescue" is full of references from 1980s action movies:
  • When you rescue any of the Binders, your dialogue options are quotes from The Terminator: "Come with me if you want to live" and "Stay here, I'll be back".
  • While you are negotiating with Quendrel, one of your options involve a phrase inspired by They Live: "I'm here to crack skulls and take names... and I don't have a quill or paper to write on."
• The quest "Come Out and Slay" in the Sharn Syndicate series refers to the movie The Warriors (1979) . The basic plot of the movie is a group of gangs meeting, one of the leaders being killed, and then the title gang's escape back to their home territory, fighting all the way. The quest title itself is a reference to a line toward the end of the movie, where one enemy gang member is taunting the Warriors to "come out and play".
• The weapon Item:Spinal Tap is most likely a reference to rockumentary This is Spinal Tap In Update 39, Patch 2, the damage die is changed to a physically impossible d11, referencing the movie's "Up to Eleven" gag.
• In the quest A Cabal for One, the hobgoblin Olos Nobrac, when spelled backwards, sounds like a reference to the character Han Solo in the space opera movie series Star Wars and his condition during parts of Episode V and Episode VI.
• In The Weapons Shipment, when the titan is summoned, Liella's taunt to Gorgith-Tor is a reference to the Emperor's taunt of Luke near the end of Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. Except, of course, that the closest thing Eberron has to a Death Star is a Warforged Titan. Liella d'Orien herself sounds like a reference to Leia Organa.
• In Irestone Inlet, the Captain is YarYar, and his First Mate is Dinks, a reference to Jar Jar Binks from the Star Wars prequel movies.
• Clarice Roden, the Moth Collector in the Marketplace, is a reference to the movie "Silence of the Lambs." Clarice was the name of Jodie Foster's character, and the villain put moths in the mouths of his victims.
• In the game there's more than one reference to romantic comedy adventure film The Princess Bride. See #Literature: they're listed in connection to the original novel.
• Hireling Lilo Blackstitch is a reference to animated science fiction comedy film Lilo & Stitch.
• In the quest The Claw of Vulkoor, the line you can choose to speak to Ionna, "Scorpions! Why does it have to be scorpions?", is a reference to a similar line spoken by ophidiophobe Indiana Jones in adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark. The movie is cited in the introduction to the book Eberron Campaign Setting as part of the inspiration for the creation of the Eberron world itself.
• In the quest Slavers of the Shrieking Mines, the ogre mage Boss Tanka could be a reference to the Japanese character Boss Tanaka in the action thriller movie series Kill Bill, based on their respective names and criminal inclinations, and the arguably more-or-less Japanese feel of the quest's setting.
• In the quest A Study in Sable, you can fight a werewolf named Willem. Upon defeat, the werewolf screams the famous Wilhelm Scream.
• In the House Kundarak Crafting Hall, artificial auctioneer The Auctionator is a reference to science fiction action series Terminator, and especially to its main antagonists.
  • Another such reference is the Marut ARN-01D, an unstoppable mechanical creature named after the Terminator himself. His final line is "I will...return again...", another way of saying "I'll be back".
• Crimson Annja / Red Sonja. See #Comics: she's listed in connection to the original comics character.
• The item Silence of the Tasty Hams is a reference to parody movie Il Silenzio dei Prosciutti, which itself is a reference to psychological thriller movie The Silence of the Lambs and several other movies.
• Cyan's Dirty Kobold / 007's Dry Martini. See #Literature: it's listed in connection to the original spy series.
• Enter the Kobold is a possible reference to the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon - this fits with some Kobold's beliefs that they 'are' dragons. (There is another interpretation to this - see Music below.)
• In Acute Delirium, Belashyrra seals a portal to Xoriat with the phrase "Utaalk adarab otkin". Reversing each word in this utterance gives the phrase used to deactivate the robot Gort in 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still.
• From Fury of the Wild: In The Avengers, "I'm Always Angry" is how Bruce Banner explains why he can change to The Hulk at will.
• In the Cannith Manufactury, an iron golem gives the warning "Leave this area. You have ten seconds to comply." A similar warning comes from the heavily armed police droids in the Robocop franchise.
• In the quest The Madness of Crowds, Giant Suziar questions you. One of your reply options is "I'm here to slay Giants and and drink stew... and I'm all out of stew.", another reference to a similar line from They Live.
• In the quest House of Pain, a Beggar says, "I've seen things you wouldn't believe. A Dwarf with his head on fire, descending from the heavens! No matter, all will be gone, like tears in the rain." That's a reference to a similar line from science fiction movie Blade Runner. The setting of the quest, up and down a city of towers, mostly among dark places, is similar to the setting of the movie, too.

Music

• The five quests out in The Vale of Twilight are all musical references to hard-rock or metal.
  • "Running with the Devils" is the first track from Van Halen's 1978 Van Halen album.
  • "Rainbow in the Dark" is a track and a singlecut from Ronnie James Dio's 1982 Holy Diver album.
  • "Let Sleeping Dust Lie" is a reference to "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" from the Michael Schenker Group's MSG album.
  • "The Coalescence Chamber" is taken from the name of metal band Coal Chamber. Indeed, "Coal Chamber" is often the shortened name used by players for the quest.
  • "Ritual Sacrifice" is a thrash metal group that formed in Rhode Island in 1987.
• "Ghosts of Perdition" is named for Swedish death-metal band Opeth's 2005 album (and title track) "Ghost of Perdition". 4th track of the album is "Atonement".
• In the quest Prove Your Worth, the pirate Penzants is a reference to Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance.
• A harbor NPC- Questgiver for The Captives is Pearl Drumling. Her name is a reference to a Pearl Musical Instruments LTD who is a global manufacturer of percussion instruments including drum kits played and endorsed by many famous musicians including James Kottak of the The Scorpions.

Performers

• Ataraxia shares her name with an Italian Neoclassical Darkwave band.
• Fear Factory is a reference to the industrial band of the same name.
• A rare wilderness encounter in Ataraxia's Haven is Schenker "The Scorpion King", another reference to guitarist Michael Schenker who was an early member of the German rock group The Scorpions.
• A monk finishing move Shining Star requires Earth, Wind and Fire moves to trigger, and dances opponent when successful. This refers to 1970s funk/disco band Earth, Wind & Fire, which had a hit song also called "Shining Star".
• The named rapier from The Tide Turns, the Elyd Edge's name is an anagram for "Geddy Lee," the lead singer of Rush.
  • The "elvish script" at the bottom's translation is an almost verbatim lyric from Rush's song "Anthem," and the elvish script itself may be a reference to the Rush song "Rivendell" off of the same album.
  • The epic version of the rapier has "Screaming," to which Lee's early vocal performances have been compared.

Albums

• The flesh golem rare in Good Intentions, Amaranthine, shares the name with an Enya album of the same name.
• Black and Blue is the name shared by a Backstreet Boys album and a Rolling Stones album.
• Enter the Kobold is most likely a reference to hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
• The legendary raid Riding the Storm Out is a reference to the album of the same name by REO Speedwagon.
• Crafting material Chipmunk Funk refers to the 1980 Alvin & The Chipmunks album Chipmunk Punk.

Songs

• "The Prisoner" and "Invaders" are tracks from Iron Maiden's debut album The Number of the Beast.
• "Ghost of a Chance" is a reference to the Rush song of the same name.
• "Creeping Death" is a reference to a song of the same name from Metallica on Ride the Lightning.
• Gianthold's Trial by Fire is a reference to a song of the same name from American thrash metal band Testament from their sophomore album The New Order.
• "In the Flesh" is the first track off Pink Floyd's The Wall album
• "Wake Me Up Inside" comes from the song by Evanescence.
• When the Wizard King Raiyum dies, he states, "I'm a god why can't I live on?" A reference to "Powerslave" by Iron Maiden.
• The quest Don't Drink the Water likely borrowed its name from the Dave Matthews Band song of the same name from the album Before These Crowded Streets.
• In Machrotechnic: "Hammer Time!" is a catchphrase of rapper M.C.Hammer, from his song "U Can't Touch This".
• Friends in Low Places is a Garth Brooks song.

Real life

• In the challenge Treasure of Crystal Cove, the Kobold Union Workers keep uttering what sound as lots of quotations from several sources. For example, "A small step for a Kobold, a huge leap for Koboldkind!" is a reference to Neil Armstrong's famous words spoken while beginning walking on the Moon.
• In the public area Tower of the Twelve, the Daelkyr researcher Mandelbrot sounds like a homage to late mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot, whose field of research and most-influential brainchild can be defined "maddening" (as Daelkyr are). The Daelkyr in Eberron are all bounded (i.e., they can't escape their bounds), as are (in a manner of speaking) all the points in the Mandelbrot set, as are (while we are at it) the almonds in the dessert with the same name. The points that lie around the Mandelbrot set are often visualized in ways that bring Daelkyr home plane Xoriat to mind.
• The end boss in Ghost of a Chance (epic) is named Major Mal - a reference to longtime Turbine dev and former DDO Live Producer MajorMalphunktion/ProductionMalphunktion.
• The spell/effect Xiaobo's Shock Dust sounds like a homage to cultural phenomenon Liu Xiaobo Shock and to writer, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo himself.
• In the raid The Chronoscope, vendor Falquen al-Sarrac can sell you Flametouched iron weapons and repair your equipment. That's a reference to the Arabic language expression "dar al-sarrac". From that, or from the related "dar al-sina'a" (loosely translated as house of manufacturing, house of industry), through the usual multiple distortions and declensions of the written and spoken word throughout the centuries and the kilometres and the cultures, came such words as tarsianatus, tarzanà, tazanà, terzinaia, tersâne, drassanes, darsena, arzenale, arsenal. That would be, in common modern usage, a place where you build and repair ships (i.e. a shipyard) or a place where you store and repair weapons.
• In the public area Meridia, giant Bank Security officer Roussimoff sounds like a homage to late wrestler and actor André René Roussimoff, better known as André the Giant, who also played Fezzik in the movie The Princess Bride (see also #Movie and #Literature).
• The raid boss Eudoxia took her name from Peter the Greats first wife.
• The treasure items from the Anniversary Party have punny names.
  • The Mother Board tower shield is named after a computer component.
  • The Forum Posts were originally fence posts from a speaking forum. The DDO internet forums have thousands of posted messages -- and of course, those posts may be flaming, chilling, caustic, shocking, or clamorous.
  • Posting such messages, or other anti-social behavior, can get you banned from the forums or the game itself. This is what fans called "being hit with The Banhammer".
• The spell Otto's Sphere of Dancing conjures up a glittering orb that compels enemies to dance in the cone of light below it. It's a visual pun on a Disco ball and the dancing that occurs beneath it. (Although the sound effect is closer to techno than disco.)
• In the quest The Endless Revels, if you sort certain books in the library, Nebet the librarian sighs and tells you the books were actually arranged according to the Pekul-LaForce Protocol. That pays homage to DARLENE and David S. "Diesel" LaForce, who worked for TSR mostly as cartographers on D&D products.

Television

• In the final quest in the Attack on Stormreach arc, Siegebreaker, two of the optional foes you encounter are Brinky and The Pain - spoonerized versions of Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs as well as their own show. The monsters' dialogue is similar to mice's catchphrases.
• In the Chronoscope raid the main villain is named Tremas. This is both an anagram of Master and the name of a character (Tremas of Traken) that the Dr Who villain stole the life energy from. Also, both the Chronoscope raid and Dr Who feature time travel as a major part of the plot.
• Also in the Chronoscope raid, the final boss is a Conjoined Abishai Devastator. When the five individual abishai are forming this boss, four of them say what elements they will add, then the final one says "And I will form the head!". This is a reference to Voltron, Defender of the Universe, a TV show from the 1980s.
• One of the hireling vendors in the Marketplace is called "Kaeless", which is a reference to Kahless the Unforgettable, a Klingon "god" in science fiction TV, movie, novel, game series Star Trek.
• On board Guild Airships, in the Engine Room, you can see a device (on the left in this picture) that looks remarkably like an arcane steampunk version of a Federation warp vessels' warp core, specifically the class 9 warp core found on board Intrepid-class starships, for example the USS Voyager from TV series Star Trek: Voyager. The background drone you hear when belowdecks also sounds like a reference to Engineering on board Voyager.
• There are 3 named items in Caught in the Web named after My Little Pony Friendship is Magic characters, Twilight Sparkle (Twilight, Element of Magic) Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon (Nightmare, the Fallen Moon) and Princess Celestia (Celestia, Brightest Star of Day).
• In the quest A Small Problem, Brawnpits' line, "Patience, grasshopper", and his ongoing calling you "grasshopper" is a reference to similar lines spoken by Shaolin Master Po to young student Kwai Chang Caine throughout action adventure western drama television series Kung Fu. The origin of the nickname is in a dialogue you can read both here and here.
• Groundskeeper Willem from the quest A Study in Sable, is a reference to groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons. Willem lives in a shack in the hedge maze and Willie lives in a shack on the school grounds. Willie was also in a Simpsons halloween episode called "The Shinning" loosely based on the Stephen King novel "The Shining" where a hedge maze was significant to the story.
• Mentau the Flesh Maker, from Flesh Maker's Laboratory and Litany of the Dead, is a play on the mint slogan, Mentos, the Freshmaker'.
• In Fear Factory from the Harbinger of Madness chain, Undead Barbarian, Undead Cavalier, Undead Magician, Undead Ranger, and the all dead acrobat are from the 1980s DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS Cartoon.
• At the end of Made to Order you travel a long tunnel through a series of different types of doors. This is either a reference to the opening titles of Get Smart, or the start of the weekly movie in Mystery Science Theater 3000
• In the quest Best Laid Plans, on discovering a certain corpse, an Enforcer yells "Oh my god, they killed Lenny!", and a Technician adds "You bastards!". That's a reference to similar lines Stanley "Stan" Marsh and Kyle Broflovski yell after witnessing each of the many deaths of Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick in animated sitcom series South Park.

External links

• Funny things hidden in-game
• Easter Eggs and Puns in DDO