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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

Zones and Places

  • Perez Park, and it's various neighborhoods and badges, are named after various famous comic book creators.
    • Perez is named after George Pérez, a comic book illustrator and writer
    • Gaiman Woods is named after Neil Gaiman, best known in comics for his unique update of The Sandman.
    • Everett Lake is named after Bill Everett, a comic book artist and writer most famous for creating the superhero,The Sub-Mariner.
    • 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.


  • 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:




  • 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.

NPCs

  • 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
  • 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
  • General Hammond in Firebase Zulu seems to be named after the character of the same name of Stargate
  • Protean, the villain who killed Manticore's parents, takes his name from the god Proteus
  • Serafina is said to be a Djinn.
  • Nectanebo, often mentioned in the Magic origin enhacements, was a real life pharaoh of Egypt: Nectanebo I.
  • Aleister Crowley, also mentioned in many of the Magic enhacements, was a real life person as well: Alistair Crowley.
  • The monk Rasputin is mentioned by the Paragon Times as the mentor of the infamous Baron Zoria, founder of the Circle of Thorns.
  • 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:

Enemy Groups

  • 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.



  • Trolls:


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


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



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


  • The Cabal:




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


  • 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.



  • 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.


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.
    • 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.
    • Tomahawks are found in the hands of the undead soldiers of the Banished Pantheon.
    • Broadswords are found in the hands of the Warriors.
    • 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.


  • Ranged weapons
    • 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
    • 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.
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