Easter Eggs and Cultural References



There are a number of real-life references and Easter eggs in the whole Ultima series. Completeness is strived for in this list, although it is possible that some subtle ones have slipped under the radar up to now.

See also Real-life equivalents of the characters.

Ultima I

 * When the Stranger uses a spaceship to become a Space Ace in Ultima I, the starfighters that have to be shot down look suspiciously much like the Tie-Fighters of the Empire in "Star Wars".
 * The Pillar of Ozymandias is a direct reference to the famous poem by Percy Shelley. The inscription on the pillar ("I am Ozymandias, King of Kings / Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!") is a direct quote from the poem, as is the "Nothing beside remains" comment.
 * The Dark Knight from the manual looks a lot like the Black Knight form "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

Ultima II

 * The Stranger can steal food at the takeout window of "McDonalls" in Port Benefice in Ultima II. A clear jab at McDonalds, the biggest fastfood retailer of the world (meaning that you actually stuff yourself with fastfood in Ultima II!) You even meet a "Ronall Mc Donall" in Port Benefice.


 * Owen K. Garriott (Richard's father) can be found in a town on Mars, while Richard Garriott himself can be found on Neptune in a Computer Camp.
 * The concept of the Time Doors (the precursor to the Moongates) as well as the cloth map showing how they interconnect are both ideas taken from the film Time Bandits.
 * "Planet X" might be a reference to the classic Looney Tunes short "Duck Dodgers in the 24½ Century."
 * Close inspection of the town map for New Jester (on Uranus) reveals the shapes of Pac-Man and a Ghost in the trees.
 * New Jester also contains an area called "Monkey Ward," which was a common nickname for the (now defunct) major American retail chain Montgomery Ward. As this is located next to a collection of "seers," this is probably the intended reference.
 * There is an NPC named Sister Sledge, a cleric whose only response is to sing "We Are Family!" This refers to a popular disco song perhaps best known as the unofficial anthem of the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
 * 666, the number of the Devil, is found two times in the game. The first is in Pirate Harbour, where they are visible on the map. The second time they are the coordinates of Earth. Make of that what you want...

Ultima III

 * Some shameless self-adventisement. One bartender tip is: "EXODUS: Ultima III, which is next? Now could it be!"

Ultima IV

 * Buddha and Michaelangelo are met in Skara Brae. Buddha is described as a great philosopher while Michaelangelo says "May thou always desire more than thou can accomplish!", which hints at his real-life perfectionism.
 * Charles Dickens can also be found in Skara Brae and is descibed as a bard who loves to write stories and thinks they are good for the spirit.
 * You meet Short Round from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in Yew. He says he's working for Jones and that Indy is currently on an adventure.
 * In the Amiga version of the game, talk to anyone and tell them "ojnab" -"banjo" backwards- and they will reward you with the secret number of a person named Banjo Bob. Banjo Bob was the author of the Amiga version of Ultima IV.

Ultima V

 * In the city of Skara Brae there is a tombstone which reads 'Here Lies the Tale End of a Bard', a reference to the game The Bard's Tale. Notably, The Bard's Tale is  primarily set in (and underneath) a large city that is coincidentally also named Skara Brae.1161104355-00.gif
 * If you swear at any of the NPCs during conversation they will scold you. The list of accepted swear words is actually quite long and can be found by hex-editing the U5 data files. In DOS version, it's located in the file DATA.OVL. Last but apparently not least in the swearword list is "ELECTRONIC ARTS"...
 * The council member Goeth in Jhelom who says everything backwards plays on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
 * Aside from getting a horse by stating this wish after dropping a coin into a well, the Avatar can also wish for "corvette", "ferrari", "lamborghini", "lotus", or "porsche". The horses created are a lot faster than normal ones.
 * Yelling "FLIPFLOP" in the Apple II version of the game causes each tile on the screen to invert itself, top to bottom. Yelling it again restores the view to normal. Note: this doesn't work in the 16-bit ports (propably too much work).

Ultima V: Lazarus

 * Britain graveyard has a tombstone with text Here lies Kefka. The world hast not heard the last of me! Wha hoo hoo hoo hoo! Possibly a reference to Kefka Palazzo, the antagonist of Final Fantasy VI, also known for famous laughters.

Ultima VI

 * Hanging on the wall of the Avatar's house is a painting of the box art from Ultima V.
 * The pizza box in the Avatar's house greatly resembles the distinctive box style used by Domino's Pizza at the time this game was made.
 * Asking Lord British about books reveals that he loves to read"The Wizard of Oz". If the player should obtain that book from the Lycaeum and present it to Lord British, he will reward the player with a lot of Peer Gems.
 * The tavernkeeper Amanda at Serpent's Hold looks astoundingly much like Guinan from Star Trek TNG. This is surely no coincidence, since the programmers of the series are proven Star Trek fans (and the joke was widely expanded in Ultima VII, as seen below).
 * By 1990, Richard Garriott had a real bad relationship with Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts. Garriott felt that EA's practices were bad for Origin. This caused him to name the murdered bloodthirsty priate, who stole the Silver Tablet, after him: Captain Hawkins.
 * This joke on EA's costs went even further, a number of the Ten Pirates of Hawkins are modeled after people that were big in EA. They include:
 * Alastor Gordon :Bing Gordon
 * Bonn :Steward Bonn
 * Old Ybarra :Joe Ybarra

Ultima Underworld I

 * On Level 6, there is a little maze where you gather a substance simply by walking over it, it comes complete with four tough to kill ghosts and teleporters on the sides. It is suspiciously similar to a Pac-Man level.
 * The Book of Honesty by Ravenhurst of Moonglow is a reference to the "Honest Book of Truth" that (in the Principia Discordia) was given to an Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst, a pseudonym of Kerry Wendell Thornley.
 * There is a non-hostile dire ghost in the southwest of the 6th level. Looking at it is is revealed to be "A spectre named Warren". This plays on Warren Spector, producer of a number of Ultima games.

Savage Empire

 * The Three Stooges appear as members of the Disquiqui tribe. Chafblum has a specific response if the player mentions the word "nyuk" to him.

Martian Dreams

 * Right in the intro there is a poster of the Ultima VI game box art hanging in the Avatar's room, complete with the title on it.
 * If the player goes into solo mode with Spector and attempts to make him repair the wiring at the power station, Spector will shout Avon's "I am not expendable" tirade from "Blake's 7".
 * Chsheket's pure robot form looks a lot like the Maschinenmensch robot from the movie "Metropolis".
 * A set of Ruby Slippers is hidden within the game (not easy to find). Worn and used, they offer the player the chance to view the ending series of cut scenes out of sequence. If the player chooses not to view this, he sees a brief view of a Kansas wheat field. Clear references to "The Wizard of Oz".

Ultima VII

 * There is a dead Crocodile in Hook's hideout on Buccaneer's Den. Looking into it reveals a pocketwatch. A clear reference to "Peter Pan" (Crocodile, Clock, Pirate with a hook)
 * Northwest of Cove is a flower field. As soon as they walk over it, the Avatar and companions will fall asleep. This plays at a scene from the "Wizard of Oz".
 * East of Britain, a Kilrathi starfighter parks in the corn field of farmer Mack, Mack also tells of the cat-like being that came out of it (before he killed it and ate it). This is an actual Kilrathi starfighter from Wing Commander. Clicking on it will start the Wing Commander music.
 * The Fellowship's procedures and practices emulate many new religious movements, and most blatantly, they resemble Scientology. (Batlin also greatly resembles L. Ron Hubbard, both in appearance and in that he describes himself as a polymath.)
 * Right at the start of the game, you can see an Ultima VI game box and the cloth map from that game (exactly the same as in RL!) sitting beside the computer of the Avatar. You can also see the Metal Ankh beside the mouse.
 * In Dungeon Covetous, the Avatar meets Malloy and Owings. Both, their looks and their behavior make it clear, these two are actually Laurel and Hardy! (And what they say it REALLY funny)
 * In Serpent's Hold, many of thee inhabitants are modeled after the crew of the Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". The list is quite long, it includes:
 * Sir John Paul = Cap. Jean-Luc Picard (Bald, and the leader)
 * Sir Richter = Cmdr. Riker (Second in-command)
 * Sir Hoffre = Lt. Worf (Hoffre is from another race, raised by humans)
 * Denton = Lt.Cmdr. Data (Looks like the tin man and makes jokes that aren't funny)
 * Lady Leigh= Dr. Beverly Crusher (Leigh is a red-haired healer)
 * Lady Tory = Deanna Troi (Tory is an Empath, and good at giving spiritual help)
 * Jordan = Lt. LaForge (Black Skin and very blind)


 * In Cove there is a bard named De Maria who is named after Rusel DeMaria
 * In Skara Brae there is a homage to J.R.R. Tolkien on the cemetery: the plaque beneath the statue near the crypt reads: "JRRT - a great man - a great writer"
 * Parody references in books:
 * "Struck Commander" is a play on Origin's Strike Commander.
 * "Mandibles" is obviously a parody of the novel and film series Jaws.
 * "Magic and the Art of Horse-and-Wagon Maintenance" is the Sosarian version of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.


 * Among the books, there are references to several real-world literary works:
 * "Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure" by Bill Peet
 * "Ringworld" by Larry Niven
 * "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein
 * "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
 * "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" by Ian Fleming
 * "Play Directing: Analysis, Communication and Style" by Francis Hodge
 * "On Acting" by Laurence Olivier
 * "The Transitive Vampire" by Karen Elizabeth Gordon


 * There are a few book authors that are hideous puns:
 * "The Silence of Chastity" written by "I.M. Munk" (I am monk)
 * "What could be left but the ashes" written by "N. Flaims" (in flames)


 * The signpost method for killing Lord British alludes to the time a metal plate hit Richard Garriott in the head. The line 'Yancey-Hausman must pay!' refers to the company responsible for the maintenance of Origin's office building.

Ultima Underworld II

 * In Killorn Keep, the Avatar finds the Trilkhai, cat-like creatures, that think they had once a glorious past. The Wisps later will later confirm this, saying they were once space-dwelling. A clear reference to the Kilrathi of Wing Commander. 'Trilkhai' is an anagram of 'Kilrathi'.
 * Also in Killorn Keep, male Avatars can tell Mystell that their name is Abraham Lincoln.
 * In the purple zone of the void, there is a homage to the days when dungeons were made of vector lines (like Akalabeth), complete with VERY simple drawn enemies. It is quite fun to find and play through this little memory of older days.
 * The sequence where the Avatar has to recolor a pyramid in the Void 5 times by jumping an each step one time is an exact replica of the puzzle-game "Q-Bert". Even the pads for getting back to the top are there.
 * A number of paintings in Castle Britannia are box art from previous games.
 * Nystul holds a secret. Should the Avatar manage to open his chest, it reveals the book "Sex" by Madonna. Likewise, Lord British stores spare eyeballs in his chest.

Ultima VII/2

 * In the caves on the way to the ice plains of the Serpent Isle, the Avatar gets a key. It fits a tower in the Knight's Forest. Inside, the Avatar finds Captain Stokes, a software pirate, who is just busy with copying Ultima VIII (how is that possible?). And using the different parts of the computer also reveals some hidden advertisements for Strike Commander and Wing Commander (both Origin products).
 * The face of Jim Hammons (Umbrae Dragon) was used as the face of Ensorcio, the mage in Sleeping Bull.
 * In the town of Monitor, there is a woman named Lydia who specializes in tribal tattoos. Although not conclusive, it is possible that her name is a reference to the 1940s song "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," once popularized by Groucho Marx.
 * If you persist in double-clicking on animals and do so continuously, you will get strange results. Do this to a cat, and the cat will explode, someone in your party commenting "Bloody cats!" If you do it to a sheep the Avatar will strip off his/her clothes (don't worry, the small pixelated graphics will not show anything explicit) and he/she and the sheep will lie down on the ground together. When this occurs, someone in your party will comment "You're a baaaaaad Avatar."



Ultima VIII

 * There's a reference to the "Doom Insanity" section of the official Doom FAQ (referring to the pre-release age, at least) in the game quotes section. One of the reasons cited for why Doom shipped late was "if Origin can do it, so can we"; conversely, Ultima VIII team said "if id can do it, so can we".
 * The "Eye of the Boulder, the Runes of the Myth Drainer" book is a jab at Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor, especially considering how that game series was still technologically outdated compared to Ultima Underworld.
 * The "Ear of Arricorn" books refer to The Eye of Argon, a notoriously bad fantasy novella.
 * Jely, author of the "Cheesy Book", is none other than Jason Ely, the programmer who wrote the code for books. He wrote it to test multi-page books, and the other developers found it funny and decided to keep it in the game.
 * The morphing object (cube, sphere, tetrahedron) is a reference to Electronic Arts' old logo.
 * When listening to Mordea ranting in her throne room, throwing out orders to Salkind, one of her orders is "Off with her head". This could play on the Queen of Hearts (Mordea is in a way also a queen) from "Alice in Wonderland".
 * One tombstone in the Cemetary reads: "ARNOLD HASTA LAVISTA BABY". It seems the programmers were also fans of Terminator 2.
 * Look at the Pagan Calendar: 6 times of the day, 6 days form a week, 6 months form a year... 666, the number of the Devil. Surely no coincidence, since the programmers wanted Pagan to be a real dark world.
 * One of the puzzles in the Shrine of the Ancient Ones is clearly the popular "Towers of Hanoi".

Ultima IX

 * The paintings in the Avatar's house on Earth are taken from the box art of previous Ultima games.
 * Turning on either of the TVs in the Avatar's house will reveal an EA Sports commercial, complete with announcer.Headstone.jpg
 * Turning on the Avatar's computer will reveal a "coming soon" plug for Ultima Online 2. (But sadly, UO2 was never released.)
 * The prisoner in Lord British's dungeon is clearly Richard Garriott who is of course Lord British in real life. The prisoner claims to also be Shamino, Lord British's other alterego.
 * In the optional part of Hythloth, there is one sequence where the Avatar has to shrink down so that he can enter a small passage. He does this by drinking some special water. This obviously plays on "Alice in Wonderland".
 * In the mountains near Yew is a big, decorated tombstone dedicated to "Phyllis Jones". Phyllis Jones is the late mother of Scott Jones, the lead artist of the game.
 * When the game starts and you are in your house on Earth, visit the kitchen and go to the refridgerator. If you open and close the refridgerator door eight times you will discover severed human body parts.
 * Looking at the stove in the Avatar's house will reveal the reflection of the artist who'd designed it.