10 Times Witcher 3 Referenced Your Favorite Movies, Series, & Books
There's no doubt that the talented writers behind The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt love hiding Easter Eggs throughout the Continent. They reference films, tv shows, books, comics, even their own future game, Cyberpunk 2077. Since the re-release of Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch, players have returned to the game, finding more and more hidden details.
There have been some quite obvious references; dead Tyrion Lannister - someone made the little man fly from a sky cell, Hattori from Kill Bill, the killer rabbit from Monty Python. However, some lesser-known Easter Eggs take time, care, and endless exploring to discover by stepping off the beaten track.
10 Breaking Bad
When it comes to Breaking Bad, this game directly and subtly quotes from the badass show. For one, there's an achievement Geralt can earn called 'Let's Cook' - awarded for learning 12 potion formulae.
North of Novigrad, there's an illusion covered cave. Inside, a laboratory with document 'Alchemist's notes.' The alchemist is complaining about his assistant Jester, who had, "One Job. ONE." Also that he'd "better go out with a bang than to die slowly in a hospital." There's no dispute as to who wrote that document, has Walter White's signatory voice all over it.
Directly west of Erde, a Walter White looking bandit is cooking fisstech. He looks very Heisenberg - minus the hat.
9 Fight Club
This is both unsurprising and on point. It makes perfect sense that Geralt's opponent should be Tyler Durden from Fight Club. This happens during the quest 'Fists of Fury' - the last of the Novigrad fistfights.
Not only does Geralt fight Durden, but there's a text, Codex of Loth Halfbreed's, which documents the Fight Club rules. The location of this document is in a guarded treasure south of Fort Astre Ruins. Geralt may read the codex, just not talk about it.
8 Harry Potter
Sorcery, monsters, and spells are just a few things that Witcher 3 and Harry Potter have in common, but that's not all. The Goblet of Fire exists in the Continent.
At the Borsodi Brothers' Auction House in the 'Open Sesame!' quest, a glass cabinet contains an artifact named the Goblet of Fire. Even Geralt has never heard of this object. Perhaps it was brought through a portal, or maybe it originated from the Continent. Whatever the suggestion, it's the same cup.
Another interesting mention happens during the quest 'The Oxenfurt Drunk,' where a monster telepathically whispers to Geralt about its lust for blood. There might be a Basilisk in the pipes?
7 The Wizard Of Oz
The Witcher 3 pays quite a tribute to fairy and folk tales. There's a whole realm dedicated to them. In the quest 'Beyond Hill and Dale...' Geralt is transported to the land of a Thousand Fables, featuring the famous yellow brick road. While he is there, there is some unknown (wicked witch) character squashed by apparently Little Red Riding Hood's Grandma's home. Just visible are some ruby slippers. There also is a book, Travel Between Worlds, which references a land called Zo - Oz spelled backward.
6 The Addams Family
There's a rather lovely play on words when it comes to featuring the creepy, gothic, and fantastic Addams Family in Witcher 3. Lurtch village, named after the butler from both the Addams and the Evves family, is located east of Lidenvale.
The parallels are quite clear, Addams and Evves - Adam and Eve. The lady of the Evves family, Mortilanca, sounds like a dead ringer for Morticia Addams.
5 Batman
Catwoman, Batman, and Robin exist in the Continent as gang robbers. Here, however, they simply go by Selina, Bruce, and, well, Robin. In the Blood and Wine expansion quest 'The Last Exploits of Selina's Gang,' there's a note from Robin to Bruce (obviously Selina's lover) talking about 'kitty face'. Buried in Beauclair Cemetery is Selena. Unsurprisingly, there're many jewels there, and a cat purring nearby.
In the quest 'Ghosts Of The Past,' a bounty hunter is causing some disturbing trouble. The bounty hunter is Anount Vester/Manfred Whimplebottoms - a name Geralt considers befitting clown. Vester's preferred killing technique is ripping out teeth, complimented by cutting his victims' mouths, ear to ear - a signatory Joker move.
4 The Odyssey
Homer's The Odyssey is easily the oldest reference in Witcher 3. It follows Odess Thaka - or Odysseus of Ithaka - and his exploits on his odyssey.
In Velen, near the village of Heatherton, there's a guarded treasure with a flock of sheep beside it. Nearby lies the classic one-eyed monster, the cyclops. Following The Odyssey, these sheep are used to hide under so Odess Thaka could escape the cyclops. After blinding it, of course. There's even a bestiary entry; "To fight it, it's best to use a sharpened wooden stake as to poke it's one eye out."
Another reference to the epic is during the quest 'The Lord of Undvik.' Hjalmar's crew travels past the sirens and their enticing singing. The Helmsman clogs his ears to protect himself. Clever, but doesn't hear the crew's warning and subsequently crashes the ship.
3 Lord Of The Rings
The most notable reference is when Geralt recruits Zoltan to join fight protecting Ciri from the Wild Hunt. Zoltan replies, in Gimli dwarf-type fashion, that, "You'll have me, and my ax."
"My dearest, my darling, my treasure, my spoon!" all but omits the word 'precious' in describing the beloved spoon-key, a quest item in Blood and Wine expansion. The quest 'Spoontaneous Profits' contains a note from Smigole Serkis, a play on both the character and actor [Andy Serkis] that plays Smeagle/Gollum in Lord of the Rings.
Someone stole Smigole/Smeagle's beloved - again. The spoon-key leads to Smigole Louis Serkis' Cookbook. In the last pages of the recipe book, under 'Beauclairois Rabbit, ' it claims that the spoon-key unlocks a studio, containing legendary recipes. Sorry Smeagle, seems your Witcher counterpart preferred Sam's method instead of 'raw and wrrriggling.'
2 Star Wars
The mention may be small, but the deal is enormous. Roaming the Continent is another Mandalorian bounty hunter. While world jumping, why not include a galaxy far, far away? 'The Sad Tale of the Grossbart Brothers' is a quest by the bounty hunter Djenge Frett, referencing Star Wars' Jango Fett, the clone template, and 'father' of the first on-screen Mandalorian, Boba Fett. Djenge is looking quite the local Skelliger here but is still the most renowned bounty hunter in the galaxy - continent.
1 Asterix
Aside from the annoying 'Permit A38' quest, imitating The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, The Witcher 3 contains another allusion to the French comics. In Velen, during 'The Truth in the Stars,' an old sage jokes that he obtained his magical powers by falling into a witches' cauldron.
Strikingly similar to Obelix, the best companion of Asterix, who gained his superhuman strength by falling into the village druid's brew of magic potion. The secret tonic of Asterix empowers all Gaulish villages in aid against attacks from Caesar's army. Although if over consumed, there's bound to be side effects.
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