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Ingame References

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Overview

Much like Easter Eggs, the "City of" franchise is filled with slang and references to outside material. Some times these take the name of a zone, or an issue update. Other times a contact will be a wink towards one of the Developers favorite shows or games. While these may seem similar to Easter Eggs, they're usually not hidden, just requiring knowledge of the outside material.

Issues

Badges

  • The exploration badge, Around the Bendis Badge, is likely named after Brian Michael Bendis, a comic book writer best known for the cop/superhero series,Powers and work on various Marvel titles.
  • The exploration badge, Doc Whedon Badge, is likely a reference to Joss Whedon, a writer best known for the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer televison series. Whedon has also been a comic book writer, working most recently on Astonishing X-Men for Marvel comics. The "Doc" portion is reference to Doc, a another character in Whedon's Buffy series.
  • The Achievement badge Malleus Badge seems to refer to the Malleus Maleficarum.
  • The Exploration Ace Badge mentions that the hero is named Mustang. The text has been changed at some point and I remember that same hero being called Corsair. Both names come from American fighters which saw considerable action during WWII in the Pacific teather: Mustang and Corsair.

Story Arcs

The Clockwork Captive

In The Clockwork Captive story arc, during the Rescue the kidnapping victim before the Clockwork can move him mission, a note can be found with 'CVX-1701 junction RVB-0070' written on it. The registry number for the starship Enterprise from the Star Trek TV and movies series is NCC-1701.

Zones and Places

  • Perez Park, and it's various neighborhoods and badges, are named after various famous comic book creators.


  • Skyway City
    • The Gruff neighborhood is most likely named after Three Billy Goats Gruff. This is a fairy tale where a Troll tries to prevent three goats from crossing a bridge. This area is a hangout for Trolls.
    • The Land of the Lost neighborhood shares a name with a television series, (Land of the Lost). The Lost enemy group can be found in this area.



  • Dark Astoria neighborhoods (at least some of them) seem to be named after directors of horror films:


  • Terra Volta neighborhoods seem to refer to 1930's pulp comic characters:
    • Carter Engineering refers to John Carter.
    • Challenger Technology may refer to Professor Challenger from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.
    • Gordon Trench refers to Flash Gordon.
    • Walker Energy refers to Christopher "Kit" Walker, secret identity of The Phantom.
    • Rogers Industries refers to Buck Rogers.
    • Savage Waste Disposal refers to Doc Savage.
    • The very name of Terra Volta (The land of Volta) can be related to Alessandro Volta, developer of the electric battery.



  • Brickstown Some of the names seem to be related to the legend of Gilgamesh.
    • Dark Waters seem to be referred to one of the parts of Gilgamesh' travel. Water is very important in the Gilgamesh myth, and the tunnels under Brickstown are full with water here as well.
    • Mashu Bridge is related to the Mashu tunnel.
    • Ziggurat is an old babylonian construct.



  • Peregrine Island
  • Some of the neighborhoods seem to be related to the DC hero Aquaman:
    • Curry Cove seems to be named after Arthur Curry, the civilian identity of the hero.
    • Mera Heights seems to be named after Aquaman's ex-wife, Mera.
    • Nelson Borough can be related to the DC hero Dr. Fate.


  • Rikti Crash Site neighborhoods are named after battles where the American Army has been present:
    • Bloody Lane comes from Antietam during the American Civil War.
    • The Bulge (battle of), also called the Ardennes Offensive was the last offensive from the Nazi army during WWII.
    • The DMZ comes from the DeMilitarized Zone, from the Vietnam War.
    • Little Round Top was the place of one of the actions during the battle of Gettysburg, in the American Civil War.
    • Point Du Hoc action was part of the Normandy Landing during WWII.
    • Pork Chop Hill is related to the battle of the same name which took place during the Korean War.
    • Sunken Road seems to be referred to the Antietam Battle as well.


  • Nerva Archipelago
    • The very zone is named after the Roman Emperor Nerva. According to an NPC in City of Villains, "Nerva was a Roman Emperor who selected his heir rather than choosing a blood relative".
    • Agincourt, the Longbow massive base, seems to be named after the battle of the same name. Notice the role of the English longbow during the battle.
  • Mercy Island
    • Darwin's Landing is named after Charles Darwin, the creator of the theory of evolution, which is based on the concept that stronger beings defeat the weaker ones - very fitting to the way Lord Recluse treats Mercy Island as a test to remove those too weak to live up to their destiny.

NPCs

  • Agent McClane and Operative Gruber, the contacts of the Winter event 2005 seem to be based on the characters of the same name from the film Die Hard.
  • Aleister Crowley, also mentioned in many of the Magic enhacements, was a real life person as well: Alistair Crowley.
  • Ganymede is from Greek Mythology, the most beautiful of mortals.
  • General Hammond in Firebase Zulu seems to be named after the character of the same name of Stargate
  • Gordon Stacy is a police captain you can find in Brickstown as a contact. His named seems to be composed of two famous police characters in comics: the first would be Comissioner Gordon, from Batman, and the second would be Captain Stacy, father of Gwen Stacy, first girlfriend of Spiderman.
  • Hard Luck, the Golden Giza enforcer, seems to have a well-hidden reference here: during one of his missions you will be asked to save his brother, whose surname is "Luciano". Hard luck himself is know for his bad luck, making him an Unlucky man. And he's involved with the Family deals. This makes him a gangster who could be called "Unlucky" Luciano. "Unlucky" Luciano --> "Lucky" Luciano
  • Nectanebo, often mentioned in the Magic origin enhacements, was a real life pharaoh of Egypt: Nectanebo I.
  • Pirates: The Rogue Isles are mentioned as a nest of thieves and pirates at one time. Many of the pirates mentioned in missions and badges were, in fact, real:
  • Protean, the villain who killed Manticore's parents, takes his name from the god Proteus
  • Rasputin, the monk, is mentioned by the Paragon Times as the mentor of the infamous Baron Zoria, founder of the Circle of Thorns.
  • Scheherazade signs can be seen in several zones of Paragon City. There is no clue about the meaning of those signs as of today.
  • Serafina is said to be a Djinn.
  • Technician Naylor (aka Portal Technician Grant Naylor), Grant Naylor is the "name" of the author of the BBC's Red Dwarf series. In actuallity, its the last names of the two writers combined as if it was one person. - Wikipeidia's entry on Red Dwarf

Enemy Groups

  • Arachnos: Is no surprise that many of Arachnos' troops take its names from different kinds of spiders:
    • Wolf Spiders: Wolf Spider.
    • Crab Spiders: Crab Spider.
    • Blood and Night Widows: Black Widow Spider.
    • Tarantulas: Tarantula Spider.
    • Mu Mystics are, of course, related to the mythical nation of Mu, which seems to be based on the real life legend of Mu.
    • Lord Recluse himself is related to the deadly Brown Recluse Spider.
    • Ghost Widow may be referred to the Black Widow Spider as well.
    • Scirocco and Ice Mistral take their names from different kinds of wind instead: Sirocco and Mistral.
    • Captain Mako and Barracuda take their names from deadly sea predators: Mako and Barracuda.


  • Banished Pantheon: several kinds of enemies of this villain group have its own real life history:


  • Clockwork: some of the soldiers of this group are named after XIX century computer engineers:
    • Babbage is named after Charles Babbage.
    • Tesla soldiers are named after Nikola Tesla.
    • Besides, some of the bosses you can find during the Synapse Task Force are named after famous cannons:


  • Circle of Thorns:
    • Behemoth can be referred to a Biblical demon.
    • Succubus are female demons from the medieval legends.
    • Baphomet is a demon of uncertain origins, and apparently connected to the Knights Templar.
    • Caleb
    • Lilitu comes from the Mesopotamian legends. Notice the legend about her having to kill her children.


  • Coralax: During the story arc "Calystix the Shaper", a history of the cult is mentioned. One of the chapters matches perfectly with the events related in The Shadow over Innsmouth, from Howards Phillips Lovecraft. Perhaps the whole group is based on the Deep Ones.




  • Gold Brickers
    • King Midas, the leader of the Gold Brickers, takes his name from King Midas in Greek Mythology who turned everything that he touched into gold.
  • Longbow: the heroic militia whose name comes from the reach of its influence, seems to be named after the bow of the same name, also renowned for its reach: The English Longbow
    • Ballistas, the Longbow heaviest hitters, are named after a siege machine which is, basically, a powerful crossbow.


  • Luddites: This group actually existed during the XIX century:



  • Praetorians seem to take their name from the Roman guard corps of the same name which was tasked with the protection of the Emperor. It's a fitting name for this group: notice the table of relations between the Emperor and his guards here.


  • Red Caps are a malevolent kind of goblin in the British myths.
    • Jack in Irons comes from the British myths.




  • The Cabal:



  • Trolls:
    • Caliban - The name of Julius Caesar's sword, also a character in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Wikipedia's page on Caliban.
    • Grendel, the former leader of the Trolls, is related to the being of the same name in the poem Beowulf.



  • Unseelie Court are part of the fairy myths from the British Isles. The Unseelie Court means "Unholy Court". [1]


  • Warriors seem to be based on the street gang of the same name of the film The Warriors.


  • Wyvern takes its name from the mythological being of the same name. Talons, fangs and stings are parts of that being.

Weapons and Equipment

Many of the weapons found in the hands of the City of Heroes/City of Villains groups and characters are real:


  • Melee Weapons
    • Handclaws are used by groups such as the Tsoo Bronze Leopard school, the street gang of the Praetorian Bobcat and even the Arachnos Blood Widows.
    • Daggers are used mostly by mystical groups.
    • Sai is a rare weapon which can be found in both Tsoo and Praetorian ninjas groups.
    • Kama is another of the weapons also almost exclusively used by the Tsoo.
    • Machete is the standard hand to hand weapon of the mercenaries Sky Raiders, also used by some Luddites.
    • Tomahawks are found in the hands of the undead soldiers of the Banished Pantheon.
    • Broadswords are found in the hands of the Warriors, Heroes, Luddites...
    • Scimitar sword is used by the Circle of Thorns and the Snakes.
    • Katanas are a common sight among the Tsoo. Out of them, only groups like the Knives of Artemis or Chimera's ninjas use them.
    • Bayonet is still in use as the standard hand to hand combat weapon for the troop of the Nemesis Army.
    • Shibboleth are used by some Luddites.
    • Taser is available to both players and the Malta Group.


  • Ranged weapons
    • Molotov cocktails are used during riots caused by groups such as the Scrapyarders of Sharkhead Isle. They are favored by the arsonist Hellions as well.
    • Caltrops are not a "true" ranged weapon but can be thrown a short distance. Used by Knives of Artemis and Praetorian ninjas.
    • Shuriken is an oriental weapon which can be uncommonly found in game. Only stealthy groups such as the Knives of Artemis or those with an oriental background like the Tsoo use this weapon.
    • Darts are used often by the same groups which use shurikens. Rather than hurt the darts, instead, tend to poison or sleep the target.
    • Long bow is the only kind of bow currently in game. Found in the hands of foes with a stealthy nature or medieval/mythic background, or even in the hands of street gangs with old ages tastes such as The Warriors. Also, bows are the signature weapon of the group Wyvern, but I'm not sure about the kind of bows this group use.
    • Crosssbow can be found often in the hands of the same groups which use long bows, and for the same reasons.


  • Firearms
    • Revolvers can be found extensively very early in game in the hands of many criminal groups. This is the most basic firearm. The game uses a simple model for this weapon, so it's impossible to determine the model the devs used, or even if they used one. In the high level game only the Malta Group Gunslingers seem to use a version of this weapon.
    • Desert Eagle is a fearsome high caliber pistol often found in game as Heavy Pistol. Used by street gangs, security forces public and private, and even by Longbow.
    • Shotguns can be found commonly in the hands of high rank members of street gangs or low level paramilitary. This is a potent, destructive weapon designed for close combat range, do not confuse it with a rifle.
    • Uzi Submachinegun is often found in the hands of many street gangs in Paragon City filling the role of Submachinegun. Paragon Police Detectives and private Security forces make use of it as well.
    • Thompson submachinegun this 30s' classical is found in the hands of the Family thugs exclusively. Often shown with the bulky and unpractical drum magazine.
    • Muskets are another of those old-fashioned weapons the corpses of the Banished Pantheon use exclusively. Anyways the weapon more than a musket looks like a pistol.
    • MP5 Submachinegun often fills the role of Advanced Submachinegun in game. Used by paramilitary forces, mercenaries and well-funded security forces.
    • Lee-Enfield Rifles are used by the poor souls the Banished Pantheon uses as reanimated corpses. Despite the name, the model looks much more like an Enfield rifle.
    • M16 Assault Rifle is the rifle found in game fulling the role of Assault Rifle. It is always presented with what appears to be an grenade launcher below the barrel. Despite of this, many enemies don't use any kind of grenades and fire the rifle only. Found in the hands of high level members of street gangs, private security forces and the Paragon SWAT among others.
    • SCAR assault rifle is a last generation assault rifle which can be found exclusively in the hands of the Paragon Police Ghosts.
    • Gatling Gun A miniaturized version of this weapon is used by the Nemesis Support Troops, in a strange weapon which combines both a flamethrower and a Gatling gun.


  • Equipment
    • Night vision googles are used by hi-tech groups such as the Malta Group and the Knives of Artemis.
    • Pickelhaube is the name of the famous German spiked helmet still in use by the Nemesis Army.
    • The helicopters used by Longbow to go and come from disputed (PvP) zones seem to be russian Mil-Mi 8. Besides, during one of the missions from Peter Themari in City of Villains your character will be sent to Skyway City to save Olivia Darque. There you can see the Blood Bay helicopter: For some reason, the model is not a Mil-Mi 8, but a fearsome Mil-Mi 24.

Other items and Artifacts

  • Orichalcum can be found as Salvage in the hands of the Circle of Thorns.
  • The Sforza Horse, which you can find in a mission against the Family, could be seen in the film Hudson Hawk.
  • An Ushabti can be found in the hands of the Hellions during a low level mission.
  • The Jewel of Enki can be found in the hands of Hellions.
  • The Bands of Shu seem to be currently in the hands of the Malta Group.
  • A mission against the Warriors will make you encounter The Platonic Solids, which exist in real life.
  • Protonium will drop off severel villain groups as Salvage.
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