In-jokes and references/pop references

NOTE: See the "Not really Easter Eggs" thread on the page for why the items below should be moved to the In-Jokes and References article. Eventually they will be moved there.
*Edward and Tyler: The Forsaken warriors who participate in a "fight club" in the War Quarter of the Undercity, Edward and Tyler are a tribute to Edward Norton and Brad Pitt's characters in the movie Fight Club, Narrator and Tyler Durden.
*This is Spinal Tap: Safety First (Thousand Needles), a quest in Thousand Needles describes Razzeric as "never content unless he goes to eleven!" This is in reference to the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, in which an amp's volume knob goes beyond ten, to eleven.
*Chen's Empty Keg: Refers to the secret Pandaren Brewmaster hero Chen Stormstout who aided Rexxar in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
*The 1 Ring: A tribute item to the Lord of the Rings. Flavor text reads "Not quite as good as The 2 Ring". "The 2 Ring" and The 5 Ring" also both exist as in game items."
*Innkeeper Bates: Innkeeper of the Undercity, this character is named after Norman Bates, innkeeper of the infamous Bates Motel in the movie Psycho.
*Linken: A gnome in Un'Goro Crater dressed in all green, this character bears a striking resemblance to the character of Link from the Legend of Zelda series. The quest to restore his memory is full of Zelda puns and references at literally every turn.
*Miners and Stripminers: Busy at work in the Deamines are the Miners and the Stripminers. Looking closer you should notice that the Stripminers have actually stripped and wear no clothes on their torso.
*Dadanga: A large Kodo once lived in the Un'Goro Crater, standing not far from Linken, parodying the Dodongo lizards from the Zelda games. Several comments about her by nearby NPCs echoed dialog about the Dodongos in Zelda and their distaste for smoke and fire. Dadanga died in Cataclysm, but her grave is just ouside of Marshal's Refuge.
*Larion and Muigin: Characters in Un'Goro Crater based on Mario and Luigi of Nintendo fame. They are involved in a series of quests to study and cultivate the local carnivorous plants, not unlike the kind that often appear in the Mario games. The reward for this is a giant hammer, Mario's original weapon from Donkey Kong.
*Donkey Kong: There are certain gorillas in Un'Goro Crater who, when killed, drop barrels as loot. The character Donkey Kong is known for throwing large barrels at Mario.
*'Kevin Smith: A quest in Un'Goro Crater called "Chasing A-ME 01" is just ripe with puns. The name is a play on the movie Chasing Amy, and the gorilla A-ME is also a reference to the gorilla Ami in the Michael Crichton novel and subsequent movie, Congo. Some people also insist that this is a continuation of the myriad Mario Bros. jokes in the area, referring to Mario 64s cry of "It's a-me, Mario!"
*Triage Quest: When performing the Triage quest for Artisan First Aid, soldiers who you fail to heal that are about to die say "Goodbye cruel world...I'm leavin' you today...goodbye, goodbye, goodbye..." These are the opening lines of the song "Goodbye, Cruel World" from Pink Floyd's album The Wall.
*The Abominable Greench: Obviously, based on Dr. Seuss's The Grinch.
*Dannal Stern: Warrior Trainer in Deathknell, his name is similar to the actor Daniel Stern.
*Clarice Foster: Female NPC in Spirit Rise in Thunder Bluff, her name is similar to Jodie Foster's character in Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling.
*Harold Raims: Weaponsmith in Deathknell, his name is similar to the actor/director Harold Ramis.
*Gahz'rilla: This reptilian monster in Zul'Farrak is a reference to Godzilla.
*Podracer: In the Shimmering Flats, the goblin racers look like Podracers from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
*Fobeed: The two-headed ogre race announcer in the shimmering flats shares his name profession and...well two-headedness with the podracer announcer in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, this goes along with all the other Phantom Menace references therein now all we need is for Illidan to replace his two large horns with a bunch of smaller ones and paint his face red and black while on vacation there.
*Helm's Bed Lake: Possible Lord of the Rings reference? (Helm's Deep)
*Metzen the Reindeer: Obviously named after creator Chris Metzen and playing on the similarity of his name to Blitzen from the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas.
*Klannoc Macleod <The Islander>: Found in The Barrens, off the coast south of Ratchet. This is an obvious reference to the movie/TV show Highlander.
*Six Demon Bag: This trinket is a magic amulet used in the movie Big Trouble in Little China, and the flavor text in the description is a direct quote from the movie about the nature of the bag's magic.
*SI:7: The Stormwind spy organization is based on MI:6, the renowned spy agency, known for hosting such charming and malevolent spies such as 007 (a.k.a. James Bond). 
*Dragonlance: The Pig and Whistle located in Stormwind's Old Town, round the corner from SI:7, is a tribute to the famous tavern in Dragonlance where the Heroes of the Lance took a short break from their adventuring to raise some coin for their travels, starring the notorious archmage, Raistlin Majere. The inn was operated by its owner, William Sweetwater. The name of the inn is also possibly a reference to the famous Pig 'n Whistle Restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.
*Paranoia RPG: One of the sayings of the Arcane Guardians in Silvermoon City is "Happiness is Mandatory, Citizen" - a reference to one of the basic tenants of living in Alpha Complex in the Paranoia Roleplaying Game.
*Daniel Ulfman: A mindless zombie wandering near Deathknell, his name is similar to composer Danny Elfman, of the band Oingo Boingo, and their famous song "Dead Man's Party". Also, he was the author of the soundtrack for the film The Nightmare before Christmas, that sports a visual style not entirely unlike that of the Undercity. Standing near him are Samuel Fipps, Karrel Grayves, and Stephen Bhartec, references to Sam Phipps, Carl Graves, and Steve Bartek, also from Oingo Boingo
*Alcaz Island: The prison island in Dustwallow Marsh is similar to Alcatraz Island prison in San Francisco.
*General Zog: The name of this Ahn'Qiraj War Effort officer sounds a lot like General Zod, the Kryptonian criminal who was banished to the Phantom Zone in the Superman franchise. As of 3.3 there is also a Bow Called Zod's Repeating Longbow with the flavor text of "Bow before him". A reference to the line "Come to me, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!" 
*Star Trek: Scooty the teleporter operator in Booty Bay and Jhordy Lapforge in Gadgetzan. Sprock, a member of faction <Away Team>, also operates a teleporter in Gnomeregan. In Tinker Town, Tinkmaster Overspark's Techbot ("Save Techbot's Brain" Quest) uses a "Positronic Brain", the same as of the character Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation (which itself is a reference to Isacc Asimov's robot novels (see below). Nogg <Apprentice Engineer> in Orgrimmar may be a reference to the DS9 character with a similar name who worked for chief engineer Miles O'Brien for some time.
*Isaac Asimov: Tinkmaster Overspark's Techbot uses a "Positironic Brain", which was used for all the robots in Isaac Asimov's Robots series.
*Fraggle Rock: Un'Goro Crater: A goblin named Spraggle Frock.
*Bob Dylan: The Western Plaguelands quest "All Along the Watchtowers" is named after a song by Bob Dylan and made famous by Jimi Hendrix.
*Smokeywood Pastures: Obviously a spoof of Hickory Farms.
*Cringer/Battlecat: A quest given by Winna Hazzard in Felwood requires creating a Corrupted Saber, which is a green and teal striped tiger that looks almost identical to Cringer from the He-Man franchise.
*Houses of the Holy: Quest in Eastern Plaguelands for Stratholme, in reference to a song by Led Zeppelin.
*Sword of Omen: THUNDER, THUNDER, THUNDERCATS! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
*Terry Palin: A lumberjack in Eastvale Logging Camp, and an obvious amalgamation of Monty Python alumni Michael Palin and Terry Jones (but possibly Terry Gilliam). Palin wrote and originally performed "The Lumberjack Song" with the Monty Python Troupe, but the lead-in skit has Michael Palin as a blood-covered barber and Terry Jones as his bewildered client.
*Algernon: The wight that is standing near the Alchemy trainer in Undercity. This is possibly a throwback to the science fiction story written by Daniel Keyes. (Flowers for Algernon) Algernon is wielding, lo and behold, a set of flowers.
*O RLY?: Auctioneer O'reely's (Thottbot) name sounds like the infamous internet slang. O'reely is in Booty Bay. In addition to this, there is actually an Owl named "O'Reily" (Allakhazam) that flies around Narain Soothfancy's (Allakhazam) house in Steamwheedle Port. And Auctioneer Yarly is in Undercity. The YA RLY owl was later created as a counter owl.
*Shakespeare: One of the banker NPCs in Undercity is named "Ophelia Montague". Where Ophelia was Hamlet's love interest in the play Hamlet, Romeo's family in Romeo and Juliet is called Montague.
*Trading Places: Two of the banker NPCs in Undercity are named "Randolph Montague" and "Mortimer Montague", a possible reference to the two wealthy antagonists, Randolph and Mortimer Duke, from the 1983 comedy Trading Places.
*Hanzo Sword: The Hanzo Sword is either a direct reference to historical character Hattori Hanzo, blacksmith and ninja, which itself is referenced in the film Kill Bill.
*The Hindenburg: At the Tirisfal Glades zeppelin tower, the NPC for the Stranglethorn Vale zeppelin's name is Hin Denburg. An obvious reference to the Hindenburg.
*Labyrinth: In the Ironforge station of Deeprun Tram, you'll find an irradiated Gnome sleeping on benches and rummaging through the trash. His name is Haggle, and he looks very much like the Muppet Hoggle from the movie Labyrinth.
*Bewitched: Bom'bay the Witch-Doctor in Sen'jin Village is a play on Doctor Bombay, the doctor of a family of witches in the classic TV sitcom Bewitched. Also, this is the name of a Swedish "fake Indian" artist, with songs such as "Calcutta" and "S.O.S"...
*Star Wars: Princess Moira Bronzebeard's bronze bikini is very similar to Princess Leia's attire when she is held captive by Jabba the Hutt and Moira has the same hairstyle as Leia had in A New Hope.
*Jethro Tull: A quest in Un'Goro Crater named Bungle in the Jungle is probably a reference to the Jethro Tull song.
*Grimbergen: The huge beer crag in the Gol'Bolar Quarry in Dun Morogh has the name and logo of the Grimbergen beer on it. Grimbergen is a well known Belgian abbey beer.
*Pink Floyd's The Wall: In Azure Watch, there is an NPC named "Otonambusi" that states "If you don't eat your fish, you can't have any pudding!" This is an obvious reference to a part in Pink Floyd's The Wall where a male can be heard shouting "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!" at the end of Another Brick in the Wall(Part II).
*The Skytower: In Orgrimmar, there is a tower named The Skytower. Orgrimmar and Durotar are "Orc-lands". The actual Skytower is in Auckland in New Zealand
*Innkeeper Rene in Brill refer to Rene Artois, owner of the cafe in Nouvion, France from famous British movie "'Allo ' Allo.
*Dispatch Commander Metz: Dispatch Commander Metz in the Eastern Plaguelands has facial hair and a hairstyle not unlike that of Chris Metzen. In addition, Dispatch Commander Metz wears goggles, creating a similar appearance to Chris Metzen who commonly wears glasses. Also, the name is an obvious spoof. 
*Circuses: The bankers in Ironforge are named Barnum, Bailey, and Soleil...referencing the Barnum and Bailey Circus as well as the Cirque du Soleil.
*Pink Floyd: There is an innkeeper in Thrallmar named Floyd Pinkus.
*Cannibal Corpse: Located in western Borean Tundra is a Horde NPC named Gorge the Corpsegrinder, which is obviously a reference to Cannibal Corpse's lead singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, who has claimed in an interview to be an avid World of Warcraft player.
*Guns n' Roses: "Lose Your Illusion" Is an achievement you can earn in Ulduar. This is a reference to the Guns n' Roses albums "Use Your Illusion"
Category:Lore