In-jokes and references/Northrend

Blizzard has included many in-jokes and pop-culture references in various forms throughout WoW.

Characters

Alfred Copperworth

Reference to the butler Alfred Pennyworth on Batman.

Avatar of Freya

Her quests reference the bands "Avenged Sevenfold" and "Heart".

Harrison Jones

Reference to Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford, the actor in all of the Indiana Jones movies. In Grizzly Hills.

Bambina, Mother of Bambina, Thudder, Flora

Reference to Bambi - a novel by Felix Salten.

ED-210

Reference to ED-209, a flopped police robot from the movie Robocop.

Everett McGill

Reference to the actor of the same name, who appeared in such films as Dune, Quest for Fire and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.

Magus Fansy Goodbringer

Reference to Fansy the Famous Bard, a player from the early days of EverQuest's Sullon Zek "no rules PvP" server. Fansy gained something of a cult following on the server for single-handedly forcing the game's developers to change the server rules by repeatedly taking advantage of the low-level PvP immunity to train dozens of high-level mobs onto players from the other teams, and doing so with a truly memorable style to boot.

This is almost certainly a direct nod to the film Aliens, the character reference being to Private Vasquez. The in-game model of Vaskess has short cropped black hair and a red bandanna, the same that Private Vasquez wore in Aliens.

Officer Van Rossem

Might refer to the Dutch specialist and historian about the United States Maarten van Rossem.

Another possibility is the Swedish aviator Carl Gustaf von Rosen, most well known for flying relief flights for the Red Cross and to refugees in Biafra.

Instructor Razuvious

During the start of the fight, he's yelling "Sweep the leg! You got a problem with that?", which is an obvious reference to Cobra-Kai technique to eliminate Daniel from the tournament in the original Karate Kid movie.

Babagahnoosh the Grumpy

Reference to Baba ghanoush, an Arab dish.

Rueben Lauren

The name of the Cloth Armor Merchant in Dalaran is probably a reference to Ralph Lauren.

Monster

Jormungar

A reference to the Norse mythological being "Jörmungandr", translated as the sea-serpent (or "worm").

Quests

The Part-time Hunter

The questgiver wants players to kill an animal called "Pitch". Next to Pitch there is some hunters from the Frenzyheart Tribe, when players attack Pitch one of them yells "It's coming right for us!". An obvious reference to "Uncle" Jimbo from South Park that kills animals in "self defense" by shouting "It's coming right for us!".

Precious Elemental Fluids

This quest appears to be named after lines uttered by General Jack D. Ripper in the movie Dr. Strangelove. The general was obsessed at the idea that water fluoridation was "a communist plot to sap our precious bodily fluids."

Death From Above

This is an Alliance quest obtained from Sergeant Hammerhill in the Borean Tundra, who wants players to use a net to pull down and kill Scourged Flamespitters.

A Bear of an Appetite

Hugh Glass, sitting at a camp in Grizzly Hills, asks players to fish up some salmon to feed his grizzly friend. In real life, Hugh Glass was a mountain man mauled by a bear, robbed, and left to die in the wilderness, struggling through 200 miles to survive. (The Saga of Hugh Glass by John Myers, ISBN 0-8032-5834-8)

Quality Assurance Lingo

Cannot Reproduce, Retest Now, Not a Bug and Need More Info, all quests in Icecrown and part of the same quest chain, are also terms often used in software quality assurance.

Aces High!

This quest is available on the upper ring of the Nexus in Coldarra and is the daily to train for the 3rd phase of Malygos. It's also a Song of the UK band Iron Maiden.

The Ultrasonic Screwdriver

This quest begins once players find the [item of the same name], and references to the British TV series Doctor Who. The Doctor in this series has an item called a Sonic Screwdriver, which can effect almost anything mechanical or electrical, similar to what Crafty Wobblesprocket says about the Ultrasonic Screwdriver in the second quest, Master and Servant.

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