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Discussion > WoWJan 7, 2020 8:00 am CT

What’s the best hidden pop culture reference in World of Warcraft?

What would World of Warcraft be without references to pop culture? There were a huge number when the game first released, and they have just kept coming. Stan Lee in Stormwind. Stormwind and Orgrimmar guards sporting light sabers on May 4th. NPCs playing Hearthstone at the shrines in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. WoW Classic players get the wonderful Linken quest line which was removed during Cataclysm. (Seriously? Can’t that be somehow returned to the modern game, please? It’s so awesome.)

To jog your mind, here are a few more of the wide variety of pop cultural references contained within the game:

  • In Stormsong Valley Severus the Outcast is likely a reference to Severus Snape from Harry Potter.
  • In New Dalaran, if you go to the Legerdemain Coffee shop, you’ll see two couches in the center of the first floor. A human named “Roscoe” occupies one and a high elf named “Rachele” sits on the other one. This is an obvious reference to Friends and its on-and-off-again couple, Ross and Rachel.
  • The first reference Alliance players are liable to encounter, particularly if you play a Human, is the lumberjack, Terry Palin at the Eastvale Logging Camp. This refers to  Michael Palin and the Lumberjack song from the sketch comedy Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
  • Have you found Grohl Grohl, the Master Drummer in Kun Lai? This is a reference to musician Dave Grohl.
  • The genie, Robin, off the coast of southern Nagrand in Draenor is an homage to Robin Williams.
  • In the Horde quest, “Madness,” the Negotiator asks, “Does this red shirt make me look expendable?” This refers to the well-known Star Trek trope where crew members wearing red shirts always died.

I was in Boralus last week, waiting around until raid time and noticed a sausage vendor next to the shoeshine guy. How long have we been in Boralus and I never noticed this vendor? What’s more, clicking on the pig roaming around behind the tables showed me his name. That’s him in the above photo. For those who don’t get the reference, this is from J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbits eat breakfast and then “second breakfast” at about 8:30. Plus, second breakfast contains bacon. Double culture reference.

The game is chock full of sly winks like this. Today’s question is simple: Which pop culture references you’ve come across in the game are your favorite?

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