In-jokes and references/quests

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

Quests
So many quest titles are in-jokes or references of some form or another that they require their own sub-category!


 * A quest in Un'Goro Crater named after the song by The Beatles and is given by the NPC ((NPC||Ringo}}, named after Ringo Starr, who sings the song.


 * A quest in Darkshore referencing the film The Absent-Minded Professor


 * One of the chain quests that starts in Shadowmoon Valley involving the Black Temple is named after a movie with the same name, as well as the song.


 * The quest in Bloodmyst Isle which requires players to kill ravagers is named after the comic series "Alien vs Predator".


 * Quest in Western Plaguelands, reference to a song by Bob Dylan, made famous by Jimi Hendrix.

The name of this quest is base on the satirical writing "A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick" written by Jonathan Swift in 1729.


 * The three captains targeted in this quest chain (, and ) are named after former coaches of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team (Don Perry, Rogie Vachon and Barry Melrose).


 * One of the quests from the rebel camp in Stranglethorn Vale, this is also a title of a song by Bon Jovi.


 * A quest in Ashenvale that contains the text "{name} we cannot allow... an expansion path gap", a reference to Dr. Strangelove.
 * This is also a reference to the saying "The Shamrock and the Thistle," referring to a person of Irish descent and a person of Scottish descent.
 * And of course, as a play on the classic phrase, "Between a rock and a hard place"

, this is another reference to Frank Herbert's Dune, as are the quest rewards which reference to characters from the book. Part of the quest requires you to plant a, which is a reference to a Thumper used for calling Sandworms in the book. Also, the name of the bone worm that is summoned during this quest,, is a reference to the sandworms from the book, whose Fremen name is Shai-hulud.
 * : Muad'dib, which is the fremen name of Paul Atreides
 * : Which is a reference to the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit.
 * : Which is a reference to Chani.


 * The title of the quest which involves collecting kodo bones in Desolace is named after the movie "The Bone Collector", based on the book of the same name by Jeffrey Deaver.


 * These quests, picked up from Sporeggar in Zangarmarsh, are likely a reference to the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and more specifically the demands of the Knights Who Say Ni.


 * The title of the quest is based on a song of Jethro Tull called "Bungle at the Jungle".

(multiple quests)

 * Alterac Valley Wing Commander names, , , , and  are references to Top Gun- movie character names Goose, Jester, Maverick, Slider, Viper, and Iceman.


 * Quest in Un'goro Crater to find the, reference to the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy. The mechanical ape's name and in fact the whole quest is also a reference to the gorilla 'Amy' who forms a bridge of communications between men and apes in the book Congo by Michael Crighton. This may also be a possible reference to an alleged speech bug which made the player name come out as A_newbie 01 or something pertaining to that.


 * A quest in Outland is a reference to the movie titled "Cruel Intentions".

(AKA Cure for Harpies)

 * One of the Quest rewards for killing in the Barrens is the . Zovirax is a tradename treatment for the most common form of herpes, herpes simplex.
 * Additionally, the name itself puns off the sexually-transmitted disease, Herpes Simplex.
 * At the end of the quest, "Serena Bloodfeather", you get told "Thank you again for helping us suppress the Harpy epidemic." Suppression is the name given for herpes treatment.


 * This is an Alliance quest obtained from in the Borean Tundra, who wants you to use a net to pull down and kill Scourged Flamespitters.  This is named after  a Battletech move where a battlemech jumps down on an enemy firing all of its weapons. It is a very dangerous move.


 * An alliance quest in Darkshore, this is also the title of a Peter Murphy song.


 * An alliance quest in Darkshore, the title seems to be a nod to Uriah Heep's 1970's hit Easy Livin'


 * A quest located in the Blasted Lands is a line of the chorus in the Depeche Mode song "Everything Counts".


 * A quest located in Darkshore is a riff off of the Peter Gabriel song, "The Family and the Fishing Net"., the NPC who you obtain the quest from, is a reference to the shrimp fishing business in the movie Forrest Gump (see also "Fruit of the Sea" below).


 * The title of one of the quests in Shadowmoon Valley is named after the movie, "The Fast and The Furious".


 * A clear reference to the movie Forrest Gump, where Gump's shrimp catching friend waxes similarly about all the ways that he loves shrimp.


 * A quest in Gnomeregan has the name Gnome Improvement which might be a reference towards the popular mid-90's show called "Home Improvement" featuring Tim Allen and more.


 * In Tirisfal Glades Gordo asks you to bring Gloom Weed ("Master want weeds") to Junior Apothecary Holland. Probably a reference to marijuana, which is often connected to The Netherlands or Holland where usage of marijuana is not prosecuted.


 * One of the Death Knight quests in the starting area. It refers to Grand Theft Auto, another video game.


 * Quest in the Eastern Plaguelands named after the classic Led Zeppelin song.


 * Quest is a reference to the famous quote "I see dead people," from the movie "The Sixth Sense". "iseedeadpeople" was also a cheat code in Warcraft 3.


 * The Kessel Run is a route in Star Wars of smuggling Glitterstim spice between Kessel and Tatooine. Han Solo claims to have run this "in less than twelve parsecs". This would have required him to come dangerously close to a cluster of black holes. An NPC in Blood Watch, whether or not you complete this quest, refers to you as 'the one who made the Kessel Run in less than 15 minutes.'


 * A reference to Number Five in the movie Short Circuit. A constant phrase throughout the movie was: "Number 5 is alive!"


 * A quest in Nagrand named after the novel with the same name made by Alan Duff.


 * A quest in Toshley's Station in Blade's Edge. A reference to Star Wars: A New Hope, where Luke said to his uncle that he was going to go into Toshi Station to pick up power converters, which his uncle said he had to finish his chores in reply to. There is also an NPC droid outside the station that, when spoken to, introduces itself by saying it's fluent in over two forms of communication. This is obviously a reference to the droid C3PO from the Star Wars saga and that at most any one nonhuman or orc character knows only two languages.


 * The rewards of one of the quests in Uldaman which requires players to collect power stones is, , and . This is a reference to brands of batteries Energizer, Duracell, and Eveready.


 * A quest in the Azuremyst Isles taking its name from the first line of the Depeche Mode song "Precious".


 * A quest in the Azuremyst Isles referencing the "Wheel Of Fish" scene in the film UHF by Weird Al.
 * Also a tribute to Oxhorn's brilliant short movie Red Snappah (itself a UHF reference) about gold farmers and opening AQ.


 * A quest in Sholazar Basin given by is a reference to the band Avenged Sevenfold who derived their name from the bible quote "vengeance seven times over" about Cain for slaying his brother.


 * A quest in Un'goro Crater to find dinosaur bones, which is referencing the Rush song "Roll The Bones" (the title track of their 1991 album.) Along with this, the World of Warcraft credits say "Happy 30th RUSH", as the game was released in 2004 and Rush's debut self-titled album was released in 1974.


 * A quest in Ratchet, referencing a Thundercats outtake reel where Panthro trips over his line and says "What the f--- is a samophlange?"


 * One of the quest in Bloodmyst Isle is most likely named after the movie "Saving Private Ryan".


 * Quest in Tanaris, reference to "The Shawshank Redemption".


 * The quest text for, a quest in the Howling Fjord from NPC Captain Ellis, reads, in part, "Ye don't have to go home, but ye can't stay here..." in reference to the Oak Ridge Boys song 'You Don't Have to Go Home (But You Can't Stay Here)' or possibly the Semisonic song 'Closing Time' that includes the lyric, "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here."


 * Quest in Shadowmoon Valley, it consists of using a to disguise yourself and intercept a conversation between  and . The Box o' Tricks is a wooden box that is actually the disguise itself and is a reference to the game Metal Gear, that has as one of its symbols, since Metal Gear Solid, the cardboard box Solid Snake use very often as disguise. Jovaan even gets to question the wooden box to Warbringer Razuun, like the soldiers of the Metal Gear games do when the box is not somewhere it's supposed to be.


 * A quest giver in Eco-Dome Midrealm, Netherstorm, Outland. A reference to Pauly Shore, as a neighboring NPC's remark on how he uses the word "buddy" as a punctuation.
 * Pauly Shore appeared in the film Bio-Dome which is very close in name to the location of this quest giver, "Eco-Dome".


 * One of the daily Cooking quests given by at Silmyr Lake in Terokkar Forest. The title is a reference to "Pimpin' Ain't Easy" by Slick Rick".


 * A quest in the line for Blacksmiths to specialize in Armorsmithing. The name is a fairly obvious reference to the Karate Kid's 'Wax on, wax off'.


 * In the Alliance quest, wants the player to kill troll players in the Alterac Valley battleground and "...return to me with their mojo. To reiterate: I want you to steal their mojo." In the second Austin Powers movie, Dr. Evil stole Austin's mojo.


 * There and Back Again is a book that was 'translated' by J.R.R. Tolkien as The Hobbit.


 * Quest in Blade's Edge Mountains asks you to collect 15 Razaani Light orbs. The title to this quest may be in reference to the popular song by the artist BT named "Tripping the Light Fantastic". The verb phrase "Tripping the Light Fantastic", has a long history beginning with the poet John Milton in 1645.
 * There is also an Ultra-Fractal coloring formula in the UF public database named "Trapping the Light Fantastic". This is likely a coincidence, as the formula name is based on the same song.


 * Dying soldiers sometimes quote Pink Floyd's Goodbye Cruel Word ("Goodbye cruel world... I'm leaving you today...").
 * Some soldiers also claim to see Blue, which is a reference to the movie Old School ("I see Blue...He looks glorious!)


 * Quest in Stranglethorn Vale, a reference to the song by Guns N' Roses.


 * Quest in the Eastern Plaguelands, referencing the song "When Smokey Sings" by ABC, a tribute to singer Smokey Robinson.


 * A quest in Netherstorm named after Isaac Asimov's book, "I, Robot".