History ShoutOut / Fallout4

* In Nuka-World's Safari Adventure, you can find out that the company tried to clone polar bears, but they always came out [[Film/GalaxyQuent inside out, and then subsequently exploded]].

* Concept art shown at E3 depicts one mutant creature with an appearance and pose heavily resembling a famous picture of WebOriginal/TheRake.

* Captain Ironsides' vendetta against the Boston-based Weatherby accounting firms the [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext U.S.S. Constitution repeatedly crashes into]] is a reference to the Creator/MontyPython short film ''[[Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife The Crimson Permanent Assurance]]'', which also features a gang of unlikely pirates (elderly accountants in the film rather than robots) in a flying ship who attack American accounting firms.

* The sheer number of voiced player names have some hidden shout-outs, including: Music/{{Aaliyah}}, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} KalEl]], [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash]], [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Battousai, Kenshin]], [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], [[{{Film/Chappie}} Chappy]], [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Deschain]], [[Film/MadMax Rictus, Erectus, Imperator, Furiosa, Rockatansky, Toecutter]], [[Franchise/StarTrek Kirk, McCoy, Picard]], [[Manga/{{Akira}} Akira, Kaneda, Tetsuo]], [[Film/TheMatrix Neo, Trinity, Morpheus]], [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley, Weyland, Yutani, Hicks, Hudson, Dallas]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]], [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Mikami]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn, Jake, Sweetpea]], [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss, Everdeen]], [[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]], [[Film/{{Yojimbo}} Sanjuro, Yojimbo]], [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake, Plissken]], WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana, Jones]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leo, Don, Mike, Raphael]], [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Roland, Brick, Maya, Zed, Psycho]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon, Freeman]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty, McFly]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony, Stark]], [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve, Rogers]], [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Peter, Venkman]], [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick, Sanchez]], [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob, Ross]], [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} John, Connor]], [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Hawke]], [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter Gabriel, Logan, Lian]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy, Spike]], [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel]], [[Franchise/IncredibleHulk Bruce, Banner]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]], [[Film/TheProfessional León]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry, Mason, Cheryl]], [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, Han, Solo]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Malak]], [[Creator/JetLi Jet, Li]], [[Film/WaynesWorld Wayne, Campbell]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael, Myers]], [[Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience Jeff, Corwin]], [[Creator/DarylHannah Daryl, Hannah]], [[Film/{{Predator}} Dutch, Schaefer]], Music/{{Prince}}, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]], [[VideoGame/DeusEx Denton]], [[VideoGame/{{Dishonored}} Corvo]], [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam, Fisher]], [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Isaac, Clarke, Ellie, Carver]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena, Gomez]], [[Music/IstvanAKiraly Istvan]], [[Creator/MadeleineLEngle Madeleine]], [[Film/TheFifthElement Leeloo, Korben]], Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/Titanic1997 Jack, Dawson, Rose]], [[UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli Muhammad, Ali]], [[Franchise/JamesBond James, Bond]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Harley, Quinn]], [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock, Holmes]], [[Machinima/RedVsBlue Church, Washington, Texas]], [[Music/JenniferLopez Jennifer, Lopez]], [[LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} Markipoo]], etc.
** From the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' franchise itself, there's Harold, Marcus, Cheng, Moira, Butch, Autumn, and Grognak. A handful of designers and writers such as Sawyer have their names in too.
*** [[DevelopersForesight Some of the names even work better together.]] For example: choose "Rockatansky" and your canine companion will be "[[ADogNamedDog Dog]]", just like Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior. If you delay getting him until after completing ''When Freedom Calls'', or have a different follower, he will stay as "Dog" for much longer, until he gets summoned by Valentine in ''Getting a Clue''.
* Early on in the Brotherhood of Steel quest line, you fight a squad of synths [[VideoGame/HalfLife in a rocket testing chamber, and you can ignite the test rocket to kill all of them]].
* The nuclear command room briefly seen in the intro sequence is a direct allusion to the same room featured in ''Film/DrStrangelove.''

** Arlen Glass himself is a shoutout to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Glass_and_Associates Marvin Glass]], real world inventor of numerous 1950-70s mechanical toys.

** Additionally, Valentine's [[BodyHorror rubbery skin and seemingly rotting flesh]] can be seen as a reference to the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series, where it's been mentioned that [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet's]] earliest [[KillerRobot Terminators]] had poorly-made skin formed from rubber [[UncannyValley that made them stand out very easily from humans]].
* The Memory Den in Goodneighbor calls to mind ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'', and even ''Anime/TheBigO'' with a RetroUniverse flair.
** Both Nick Valentine and X6-88 (a Courser) have a lot of similarities to Rick Deckard from ''Film/BladeRunner'', specifically what they are and their jobs and how they act and do said jobs. [[spoiler:Magnolia]] is also very similar to Luba Luft from ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep'', both being singers who're actually androids.
*** Deacon's initial dialogue about Coursers is very similar to Cypher's warning about Agents in ''Film/TheMatrix''.

** The S.A.F.E. Test you have to take prior to entering Covenant is strongly reminiscent of [[spoiler:the Voight-Kampff test from ''Film/BladeRunner'', and similarly designed to detect {{Artificial Human}}s.]]
*** Doubles as MythologyGag as the test is actually the G.O.A.T. Test from ''VideoGame/Fallout3'''s character generation, minus the last question (which did nothing anyways).
** Both Takahashi's single line "Nani ni shimasho ka?" and occupation as a noodle seller are a reference to the "Noodle Bar" scene.

** Frankly, the ''whole setup'' of the game's story is practically a direct lift of ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep''. It's a future where humanity has been devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, a group of people simply decided to leave the radioactive wasteland (though these guys live underground), and those scientifically-inclined survivors make android slaves that are almost perfect "replicants" of humans to where you can't even tell their identity unless you kill them. Furthermore, many of the aforementioned androids attempt to escape and gain freedom (often having their memories replaced to do so), only to be hunted down by other androids and hired bounty hunters.
* Many of the fighting taunts and Raider monologues are highly reminiscent of the bandits in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''.
** The Norwegian ghoul raiders that you encounter at the FMS ''North Star'' may as well be Draugr with guns.
** Aboard the ''Prydwen'', you can find samples of [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/e/ed/Experimental_plant.png/revision/latest?cb=20151227011059 a suspiciously familar plant]] that's been dubbed 'Glowleaf' by the scientists. Sadly, it doesn't make any noise whatsoever.
** The scene in Diamond City when someone suspected that his brother was replaced with a Synth looks very similar to what happens in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' the first time the Dragonborn enters Markarth -- the guards even still say "There are no Synths in Diamond City" (just replace "Synth" with "Forsworn").
** The Brotherhood of Steel mess officer aboard the Prydwen mentions that [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim he used to be a field scribe, until a Deathclaw crushed his femur]].

* When you're victorious in a fight with Deacon as a companion, he will occasionally comment this with [[Creator/CharlieSheen "Winning!"]]

* Considering the influence of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games, it's possible that Cait's resemblance to the default female Commander Shepard is intentional.

* The general design of the Institute, once the Sole Survivor finally arrives there, is [[spoiler:heavily based after dystopian sci-fi of the 1970s and 1980s, with ''The Art of Fallout 4'' [[WordOfGod even describing]] [[Film/LogansRun Logan's Run]] as Bethesda's main inspiration for the Institute's art design.]]
** The Institute also borrows heavily from both [[spoiler:''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Franchise/MassEffect'']], with the clothing that most Institute residents wear resembling [[spoiler:[[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet uniforms]]]], and the Institute generally looking like it wouldn't be out of place next to [[spoiler:[[Franchise/MassEffect the Citadel]]]].
* Gen 1 synths also appear to be T-600 robots from ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'', while the Gen 2 ones appear similar to some of those in ''Film/TerminatorSalvation''. Sometimes they also say "You must be terminated!" when in combat.

** It doubles as an ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' reference as well, to the scene in which Simon Petrikov, the man who would become the Ice King, sings the Cheers opening song in a ruined city to a young Marceline.

* A corpse can be found beside a tractor, a broken fence and two Feral Ghouls, referencing a scene from Episode 1 of Telltale's ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' game.
* There's a raider leader in Malden Center named [[Music/TheBeatles Helter Skelter]].
* There's a scripted event where you'll walk out into Goodneighbor and find a Synth shot dead in the street with long brown hair and wearing flannel and jeans called [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Sammy]].

* There's a secret cache (which can give the player [[GameBreaker "The Gainer"]]) in Hub City Auto Wreckers locked with a peculiar mechanism. The code to open it is [[Creator/LookingGlassStudios 0451]].

* The story begins with our hero, a young, handsome veteran of America's most recent war being lured into an underground complex where he's forcibly put into cryonic suspension. Unfamiliar as he is with the technology, he awakens believing that he's only been asleep a matter of hours, but quickly discovers that is has in fact been a matter of centuries as he staggers outside and finds the once-familiar landscape transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, America having been long since devastated by a series of wholly unforeseen tactical strikes by Communist armies from the Far East, and American society reduced to little more than a loosely connected group of militaristic rival gangs living out of scavenger shantytowns in various states of disrepair. After rescuing the leader of one of the more heroic gangs from attackers, he agrees to join their cause and sets out to find and destroy the nefarious, technologically superior enemy that all in the wasteland live in fear of, and having plenty of other adventures along the way. Savvy players may recognize this as the core plot of classic pulp-era science fiction franchise ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers.''
* When you visit Diamond City for the first time, you'll meet [[Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn Piper At The Gates]]. Additionally, one of Ada's lines is [[Music/TheWall "You can't have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!"]]
** Robobrains always had elements of this, but the Automatron expansion adds a few more: You have robots with organic brains taken from murderous psychopaths as their central processor with a single cold calculating eye mounted up front. They move around on a tracked chassis and look rather like giant salt shakers. They interpret all orders as a license to kill anything and everything. They also have an electronically synthesized voice. All it would take is for them to scream "EXTERMINATE!" to be exactly like the [[Series/DoctorWho Daleks]].
*** One could go even further and argue that the various "subjects" reactions to being in a robot body being suicidal, with only the most depraved examples of humanity being able to withstand the installation process and then becoming murderous without routine control measures, could be a shout out to ''Film/RoboCop2''.
** The sequence of doors at the entrance to the Mechanist's stronghold is straight out of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Or possibly ''Series/GetSmart''. Or both.

* In ''Far Harbor'', the player can run into the ransacked base of a group of survivors that had been overran by Mirelurks and other aquatic beasts. The names of the survivors as found in the {{Apocalyptic Log}}s are Bray Husky, Rowan, Luke, and Braun, all of whom match the members of the [[Wrestling/TheWyattFamily Wyatt Family]]. It’s a double reference for Bray because his first wrestling gimmick was known as "Husky Harris".
** The final Husky holotape, simply titled "Holotape", found next to Bray's corpse, laments that "Jeez, this place was impenetrable. We could see anyone coming for miles. Underwater goddamn fish monsters.". Which is very similar to [[Film/{{Tremors}} Burt Gummer's]] lament of a otherwise great shelter being destroyed by unforeseen creatures: "Food for five years, a thousand gallons of gas, air filtration, water filtration, Geiger counter. Bomb shelter! Underground goddamn monsters."
* The Bloodworms from the ''Nuka-World'' DLC bear a strong resemblance to the Graboids from the ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' franchise. Encountering them in the Wild West themed Dry Gulch park just makes it stronger. One of the notes on a corpse even says "I keep hearing things. Tremors or something."
* The three scientists in the Secure Beverageer lab in Nuka-World are all named from characters ([[ThemeNaming the first name from the actor and last from their character]]) in classic Sci-Fi or horror films. First is Rex Meacham, whose name is derived from Rex Reason and Cal Meacham in ''Film/ThisIslandEarth''. Next, Kate Leavitt gets her name from Kate Reid and Ruth Leavitt in ''Film/TheAndromedaStrain''. Finally, there's Kevin Bennell, whose name comes from Kevin [=McCarthy=] and Miles Bennell in ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956''.
* The Hidden Cappies of the ''Nuka-World'' DLC is a reference to the "Hidden Mickeys" collection event scattered throughout Disneyland.
** In addition, the [[spoiler:fate of the park's owner]] is a reference to one of the urban legends surrounding Disneyland.
* In Nuka-World, the leader of the Disciples is Nisha, an AxCrazy OneWomanArmy of Indian descent who loves torturing, killing and violence. [[VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel Sound]] [[VideoGame/Borderlands2 familiar?]]

* Now you can [[MemeticMutation "Praise the Sun"]] in ''another'' desolate (albeit considerably more technologically advanced) wasteland populated by feral beings and backstabbers, since some players have found a [[VideoGame/DarkSouls bonfire]] in the [[http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/08/31/fallout-4-nuka-world-has-a-really-cool-dark-souls-easter-egg Nuka World DLC]].
* Also in Nuka-World, you can find a terminal in the Vault-Tec: Among the Stars exhibit with logs written by one [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 J. Hodgson]], who was an unknowing test subject as an employee of the exhibit.

* One of the lyrics in the ''Raider Radio'' song "Baby, Quit Raiding My Heart" is "''[[Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar Bring back the love]] you stole''". Knowing what a huge weeaboo Music/AndrewWK is, this was probably intentional.
** Speaking of ''Fist of the North Star'' references, one of X6-88's combat lines is "{{You Are Already Dead}}."

* If you're fighting Raiders alongside Gage in ''Nuka World'', Gage will sometimes say that they can steal what the Raiders stole and, "the great [[Disney/TheLionKing Circle Of Life]] goes on."
* The Parlor at Nuka-World is a Pre-War theater that showcased cola-themed knockoffs of ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', ''Theatre/TheBestLittleWhorehouseInTexas'', ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'', and ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd''.

* The creation of the Synths that you see in the Institute is very similar to Leeloo's re-creation in in ''Film/TheFifthElement''.
* One of the greetings by Proctor Cade (the medical chief aboard Prydwen) happens to be, "[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Please state the nature of the medical emergency.]]" It may also be an {{Actor Allusion}}: Robert Picardo did some voice work for the game as Institute scientist Alan Binet, and Cade's voice actor Dwight Schultz would be best known to fans of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' and/or ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' as Reginald Barclay.

* One LoadingScreen for the Rust Devils features a heavily modified Assaultron with a strong resemblance to [[Film/GalaxyQuest Sarris]], especially in the face and back.
* Should you engage Institute synths with [=MacCready=] as your companion, he may call out the enemy type by yelling "[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Institute toasters!]]"

* X6-88’s name is a shout-out to the US Navy’s 688 or Los Angeles class hunter/killer attack submarine.

** In fact, all but ''two'' of the U.S. Covert Operations Manual magazine titles are {{Shout Out}}s - More specifically, there's [[VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory "Squeaky Floorboard, Sudden Death"]], [[Literature/WhoGoesThere "Who Goes There?"]], [[Franchise/MetalGear "Bushes, Boxes and Beehives Camouflage Special"]], and "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" (which has the same title as a popular song from the musical "Gold Diggers of Broadway").

** The sequence of doors at the entrance to the Mechanist's stronghold is straight out of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.

* The sheer number of voiced player names have some hidden shout outs, including: Music/{{Aaliyah}}, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} KalEl]], [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash]], [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Battousai, Kenshin]], [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], [[{{Film/Chappie}} Chappy]], [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Deschain]], [[Film/MadMax Rictus, Erectus, Imperator, Furiosa, Rockatansky, Toecutter]], [[Franchise/StarTrek Kirk, McCoy, Picard]], [[Manga/{{Akira}} Akira, Kaneda, Tetsuo]], [[Film/TheMatrix Neo, Trinity, Morpheus]], [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley, Weyland, Yutani, Hicks, Hudson, Dallas]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]], [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Mikami]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn, Jake, Sweetpea]], [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss, Everdeen]], [[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]], [[Film/{{Yojimbo}} Sanjuro, Yojimbo]], [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake, Plissken]], WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana, Jones]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leo, Don, Mike, Raphael]], [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Roland, Brick, Maya, Zed, Psycho]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon, Freeman]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty, McFly]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony, Stark]], [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve, Rogers]], [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Peter, Venkman]], [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick, Sanchez]], [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob, Ross]], [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} John, Connor]], [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Hawke]], [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter Gabriel, Logan, Lian]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy, Spike]], [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel]], [[Franchise/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce, Banner]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]], [[Film/TheProfessional León]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry, Mason, Cheryl]], [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, Han, Solo]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Malak]], [[Creator/JetLi Jet, Li]], [[Film/WaynesWorld Wayne, Campbell]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael, Myers]], [[Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience Jeff, Corwin]], [[Creator/DarylHannah Daryl, Hannah]], [[Film/{{Predator}} Dutch, Schaefer]], Music/{{Prince}}, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]], [[VideoGame/DeusEx Denton]], [[VideoGame/{{Dishonored}} Corvo]], [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam, Fisher]], [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Isaac, Clarke, Ellie, Carver]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena, Gomez]], [[Music/IstvanAKiraly Istvan]], [[Creator/MadeleineLEngle Madeleine]], [[Film/TheFifthElement Leeloo, Korben]], Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/Titanic1997 Jack, Dawson, Rose]], [[UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli Muhammad, Ali]], [[Franchise/JamesBond James, Bond]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Harley, Quinn]], [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock, Holmes]], [[Machinima/RedVsBlue Church, Washington, Texas]], [[Music/JenniferLopez Jennifer, Lopez]], [[LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} Markipoo]], etc.

* In ''Far Harbor'', the player can run into the ransacked base of a group of survivors that had been overran by Mirelurks and other aquatic beasts. The names of the survivors as found in the {{Apocalyptic Log}}s are Bray Husky, Rowan, Luke, and Braun, all of whom match the members of the [[Wrestling/TheWyattFamily Wyatt Family]].

** One side mission has you looking for a MadArtist SerialKiller named [[Creator/HPLovecraft Pickman]], who makes macabre and disturbing paintings and has creepy tunnels under his studio.

* Should you engage Institute synths with MacCready as your companion, he may call out the enemy type by yelling "[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Institute toasters!]]"

* Should you engage Institute synths with MacCready as your companion, he may call out the enemy type by yelling "[[BattlestarGalactica2003 Institute Synths!]]"

** Both Nick and X6-88 (a courser) have a lot of similarities to Deckard from ''Film/BladeRunner'', specifically what they are and their jobs and how they act and do said jobs. [[spoiler:Magnolia]] is also very similar to Luba Luft from ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep?'', both being singers who're actually androids.
*** The Courser uniform is a dead ringer for Roy Batty's own BadassLongcoat.
** The S.A.F.E. test you have to take prior to entering Covenant is strongly reminiscent of [[spoiler:the Voight-Kampff test from ''Film/BladeRunner'', and similarly designed to detect {{Artificial Human}}s.]]
*** Doubles as MythologyGag as the test is actually the G.O.A.T. from ''VideoGame/Fallout3'''s character generation, minus the last question (which did nothing anyways).
** Frankly, the ''whole setup'' of the game's story is practically a direct lift of ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep?''. It's a future where humanity has been devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, a group of people simply decided to leave the wasteland (though these guys live underground) and make android slaves that are almost perfect "replicates" of humans to where you can't even tell their identity unless you kill them, many attempt to escape to gain freedom, often having their memories replaced to do so, only to be hunted down by other androids and hired bounty hunters.

* There are several references to Creator/HPLovecraft:

** In the Dunwich Borers Quarry (itself already a ShoutOut to Creator/HPLovecraft), there's for some reason four feral ghouls all named after famous rock musicians.

** The whole Cabot questline has numerous references to Lovecraft. For one, the city in the Rub' al-Khali is a reference to ''The Nameless City''. Furthermore, the ''SS Wakeful'' in Lorenzo Cabot's journal is a reference to the ''SS Alert'' from Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu. Also, Lorenzo's journal entries generally mirror several different Lovecraft stories - most notably ''The Rats in the Walls'', ''The Moon Bog'', and the aforementioned ''Call of Cthulhu''.
*** A ''very'' obscure one involving Cabot House: [[spoiler:The House may be named after the Cabot Museum from the Creator/HPLovecraft and Hazel Heald story [[http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/oa.aspx Out of the Aeons]]. The museum is located in Beacon Hill and used to be a mansion before its conversion, and considering [[GoMadFromTheRevelation what]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld the]] [[LovecraftLite Cabot House]] [[HumanoidAbomination quest line]] involves...]]
** The Mirelurk Kings seem to resemble the Deep Ones, with their human-fish-frog look. Another lesser example would be the Lurkers.

** The female Sole Survivor pretty much ''is'' Jack if you take the time in the character creator to make them resemble one another, albeit minus the extensive tattoos and foul mouth, and a helluva lot more mentally stable. You can even get her ''ME 3'' haircut from any of the barbers. And the Atom Cats even ''call'' her "Jack".
* The general design of the Institute, once the Sole Survivor finally arrives there, is [[spoiler:heavily based after dystopian sci-fi of the 1970s and 1980s, with ''The Art of Fallout 4'' even describing [[Film/LogansRun Logan's Run]] as Bethesda's main inspiration for the Institute's art design.]]
** The Institute also borrows heavily from both [[spoiler:''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Franchise/MassEffect'']], with the clothing that most Institute residents wear resembling [[spoiler:[[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet uniforms]]]], and the Institute generally looks like it wouldn't be out of place next to [[spoiler:[[Franchise/MassEffect the Citadel]]]].

* The name Professor Goodfeel was named after Max Jacobson, also known as Dr. Goodfeel. And if you hacked the terminal and set it into guard mode? He says "[[Series/DoctorWho Exterminate!]]"

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVvXLoNW8Jw There's an entire bar that's a reference to]] ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', complete with skeletons taking the positions of the cast members, and the name of the bar, Prost, [[BilingualBonus being German for Cheers]].

* The Laser Musket is a crank-powered energy weapon in the game, and seems to have been at least partially inspired by a similar weapon in ''Disney/TreasurePlanet''.
* A corpse can be found beside a tractor, a broken fence and 2 Feral Ghouls, referencing a scene from Episode 1 of the Telltale ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' game.

* The Super Mutants have become even more reminiscent of ''The ComicBooks/IncredibleHulk'' than before, often complaining about "puny humans".

* When getting out of the elevator from Vault 111 at the end of the tutorial, there is what seems to be a Shout-Out to ''VideoGame/BioShock'', with 'Kindly' prefacing it's safety rules in that spot alone.

* Exploring the Commonwealth's wilderness, you'll frequently run across vaguely humanoid bundles of sticks and twigs hidden up in the trees, which might look [[Film/TheBlairWitchProject disturbingly familiar]].

* A terminal in Listening Post Bravo describe a sergeant receiving messages containing phrases like "internal void," "dreams are getting darker" and "blood runs so still" from a callsign by the name of D.E.K. D.E.K. stands for ''Dead End Kings'', a studio album by DoomMetal / AlternativeMetal group Music/{{Katatonia}} and the phrases are lyrics to their song "Dead Letters" off that album.
* In Far Harbor, the player can run into the ransacked base of a group of survivors that had been overran by mirelurks and the like. The names of them as found in the ApocalypticLog are Bray Husky, Rowan, Luke and Braun, wrestlings WyattFamily

* The Bloodworms from the Nuka-World DLC bear a strong resemblance to graboids from the ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' franchise. Encountering them in the Wild West themed Dry Gulch region just makes it stronger. One of the notes on a corpse even says "I keep hearing things. Tremors or something.".
* The 3 scientists in the Secure Beverageer lab in Nuka-World are all named from characters, the first name from the actor and last from their character, in classic Sci-Fi or horror films. Rex Meacham from Rex Reason and Cal Meacham from Film/ThisIslandEarth. Kate Leavitt from Kate Reid and Ruth Leavitt in Film/TheAndromedaStrain. Last is Kevin Bennell from Kevin [=McCarthy=] and Miles Bennell from Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956.
* The Hidden Cappies of the Nuka-World DLC is a reference to the Hidden Mickeys scattered throughout Disneyland.

* Now you can [[MemeticMutation Praise the Sun]] in another desolate albeit more technologically advanced wasteland populated by feral beings and backstabbers, since some players have found a [[VideoGame/DarkSouls bonfire]] in the [[http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/08/31/fallout-4-nuka-world-has-a-really-cool-dark-souls-easter-egg Nuka World DLC]].

* The caricature of Father that appears in the quest pictures looks exactly like [[VideoGame/MegaMan Dr. Light]].
* One of the lyrics in the ''Raider Radio'' song ''Baby, Quit Raiding My Heart'' is "''[[Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar Bring back the love]] you stole''". Knowing what a huge weeaboo Music/AndrewWK is, this is probably intentional.
** One of X6-88's combat lines is YouAreAlreadyDead.

* If you're fighting raiders alongside Gage in ''Nuka World'', Gage will sometimes say that they can steal what the raiders stole and, "the great [[Disney/TheLionKing Circle Of Life]] goes on."
* The Parlor at Nuka-World is a pre-War theater that showcased cola-themed knockoffs of ''Theater/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', ''Theater/TheBestLittleWhorehouseInTexas'', ''Theater/AStreetcarNamedDesire'', and ''Theater/SweeneyTodd''.

* [[Main/DaChief DaChief]]'s {{Retirony}} entry in the BADTFL terminal mentions destructive [[Film/DieHard Willison]] and fearless [[Film/LethalWeapon Gibbs]].

* One of the greetings by Proctor Cade (the medical chief aboard Prydwen) happens to be, "[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Please state the nature of the medical emergency.]]" May also be an actor allusion: Robert Picardo did some VA work for the game as Institute scientist Alan Binet, and Cade's VA Dwight Schultz would be known to fans of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' or ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' as Reginald Barclay.

** In fact, all but ''two'' of the U.S. Covert Operations Manual magazine titles are {{Shout Out}}s - More specifically, there's [[VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory "Squeaky Floorboard, Sudden Death"]], [[Literature/WhoGoesThere "Who Goes There?"]], [[Franchise/MetalGearSolid "Bushes, Boxes and Beehives Camouflage Special"]], and "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" (which has the same title as a popular song from the musical "Gold Diggers of Broadway").

* The sheer number of voiced player names have some hidden shout outs, including: Music/{{Aaliyah}}, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} KalEl]], [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash]], [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Battousai, Kenshin]], [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], [[{{Film/Chappie}} Chappy]], [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Deschain]], [[Film/MadMax Rictus, Erectus, Imperator, Furiosa, Rockatansky, Toecutter]], [[Franchise/StarTrek Kirk, McCoy, Picard]], [[Manga/{{Akira}} Akira, Kaneda, Tetsuo]], [[Film/TheMatrix Neo, Trinity, Morpheus]], [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley, Weyland, Yutani, Hicks, Hudson, Dallas]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]], [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Mikami]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn, Jake, Sweetpea]], [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss, Everdeen]], [[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]], [[Film/{{Yojimbo}} Sanjuro, Yojimbo]], [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake, Plissken]], WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana, Jones]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leo, Don, Mike, Raphael]], [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Roland, Brick, Maya, Zed, Psycho]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon, Freeman]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty, McFly]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony, Stark]], [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve, Rogers]], [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Peter, Venkman]], [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick, Sanchez]], [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob, Ross]], [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} John, Connor]], [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Hawke]], [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter Gabriel, Logan, Lian]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy, Spike]], [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel]], [[Franchise/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce, Banner]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]], [[Film/TheProfessional León]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry, Mason, Cheryl]], [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, Han, Solo]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Malak]], [[Creator/JetLi Jet, Li]], [[Film/WaynesWorld Wayne, Campbell]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael, Myers]], [[Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience Jeff, Corwin]], [[Creator/DarylHannah Daryl, Hannah]], [[Film/{{Predator}} Dutch, Schaefer]], Music/{{Prince}}, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]], [[VideoGame/DeusEx Denton]], [[VideoGame/{{Dishonored}} Corvo]], [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam, Fisher]], [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Isaac, Clarke, Ellie, Carver]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena, Gomez]], [[Music/IstvanAKiraly Istvan]], [[Creator/MadeleineLEngle Madeleine]], [[Film/TheFifthElement Leeloo, Korben]], Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/Titanic1997 Jack, Dawson, Rose]], [[UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli Muhammad, Ali]], [[Franchise/JamesBond James, Bond]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Harley, Quinn]], [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock, Holmes]], [[WebOriginal/RedVsBlue Church, Washington, Texas]], [[Music/JenniferLopez Jennifer, Lopez]], [[LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} Markipoo]], etc.

* As does the ComicBook/IronFist perk.

* The sheer number of voiced player names have some hidden shout outs, including: Music/{{Aaliyah}}, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} KalEl]], [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash]], [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Battousai, Kenshin]], [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], [[{{Film/Chappie}} Chappy]], [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Deschain]], [[Film/MadMax Rictus, Erectus, Imperator, Furiosa, Rockatansky, Toecutter]], [[Franchise/StarTrek Kirk, McCoy, Picard]], [[Manga/{{Akira}} Akira, Kaneda, Tetsuo]], [[Film/TheMatrix Neo, Trinity, Morpheus]], [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley, Weyland, Yutani, Hicks, Hudson, Dallas]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]], [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Mikami]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn, Jake, Sweetpea]], [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss, Everdeen]], [[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]], [[Film/{{Yojimbo}} Sanjuro, Yojimbo]], [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake, Plissken]], WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana, Jones]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leo, Don, Mike, Raphael]], [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Roland, Brick, Maya, Zed, Psycho]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon, Freeman]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty, McFly]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony, Stark]], [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve, Rogers]], [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Peter, Venkman]], [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick, Sanchez]], [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob, Ross]], [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} John, Connor]], [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter Gabriel, Logan, Lian]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy, Spike]], [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel]], [[Franchise/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce, Banner]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]], [[Film/TheProfessional León]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry, Mason, Cheryl]], [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, Han, Solo]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Malak]], [[Creator/JetLi Jet, Li]], [[Film/WaynesWorld Wayne, Campbell]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael, Myers]], [[Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience Jeff, Corwin]], [[Creator/DarylHannah Daryl, Hannah]], [[Film/{{Predator}} Dutch, Schaefer]], Music/{{Prince}}, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]], [[VideoGame/DeusEx Denton]], [[VideoGame/{{Dishonored}} Corvo]], [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam, Fisher]], [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Isaac, Clarke, Ellie, Carver]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena, Gomez]], [[Music/IstvanAKiraly Istvan]], [[Creator/MadeleineLEngle Madeleine]], [[Film/TheFifthElement Leeloo, Korben]], Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/Titanic1997 Jack, Dawson, Rose]], [[UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli Muhammad, Ali]], [[Franchise/JamesBond James, Bond]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Harley, Quinn]], [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock, Holmes]], [[WebOeiginal/RedVsBlue Church, Washington, Texas]], [[Music/JenniferLopez Jennifer, Lopez]], [[LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} Markipoo]], etc.

** Frankly, the ''whole setup'' of the game's story is practically a direct lift of ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep?''. It's a future where humanity has been devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, a group of people simply decided to leave the wasteland (though these guys live underground) and make android slaves that are almost perfect "replicates" of humans to where you can't even tell their identity unless you kill them, many attempt to escape to gain freedom, often having their memories replaced to do so, only to be hunted down by other androids and hired bounty hunters. And that's not even the half of it.

** The whole Cabot questline has numerous references to Lovecraft. The city in the Rub' al-Khali is a reference to ''The Nameless City''. the ''SS Wakeful'' in Cabot's journal is a reference to the ''SS Alert'' from Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu. His journal entries mirror several Lovecraft stories, such as ''Rats in the Walls'', ''The Moon Bog'', and the aforementioned ''Call of Cthulhu''.
** A ''very'' obscure one involving Cabot House. [[spoiler:The House may be named after the Cabot Museum from the Creator/HPLovecraft and Hazel Heald story [[http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/oa.aspx Out of the Aeons]]. The museum is located in Beacon Hill and used to be a mansion before its conversion, and considering [[GoMadFromTheRevelation what]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld the]] [[LovecraftLite Cabot House]] [[HumanoidAbomination quest line]] involves...]]

* The general design of the Institute, once the Sole Survivor finally arrives there, is [[spoiler:heavily based after dystopian sci-fi of the 1970s and 1980s, most obviously [[Film/LogansRun Logan's Run]].]]

* There's a secret cache out in the wasteland locked with a peculiar mechanism. The code to open it is [[Creator/LookingGlassStudios 0451]].

* Exploring the wasteland, you'll frequently run across bundles of sticks and twigs up in the trees, which look [[Film/TheBlairWitchProject disturbingly familiar]].
* The story begins with our hero, a young, handsome veteran of America's most recent war being lured into an underground complex where he's forcibly put into cryonic suspension. Unfamiliar as he is with the technology, he awakens believing that he's only been asleep a matter of hours, but quickly discovers that is has in fact been a matter of centuries as he staggers outside and finds the once-familiar landscape transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, America having been long since devastated by a series of wholly unforeseen tactical strikes by Communist armies from the Far East, and American society reduced to little more than a loosely connected group of militaristic rival gangs living out of scavenger shantytowns in various states of disrepair. After rescuing the leader of one of the more heroic gangs from attackers, he agrees to join their cause and sets out to find and destroy the nefarious, technologically superior enemy that all in the wasteland live in fear of, and having plenty of other adventures along the way. Savvy players may recognize this as the core plot of classic pulp-era science fiction franchise ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers''.

* One LoadingScreen for the Rust Devils features a heavily modified Assaultron with a resemblance to [[Film/GalaxyQuest Sarris]], especially the face and back.

* One side mission has you looking for a MadArtist SerialKiller named [[Creator/HPLovecraft Pickman]], who makes macabre and disturbing paintings and has creepy tunnels under his studio.
** Pickman himself, being a SerialKillerKiller and SoftSpokenSadist, also seems to draw from {{Series/Dexter}}.
* In the Dunwich Borers Quarry (itself already a ShoutOut to Creator/HPLovecraft), there's for some reason four feral ghouls all named after famous rock musicians.
* A ''third'' reference to Lovecraft is the Kingsport Lighthouse. Kingsport was the earliest fictional town in what became known as LovecraftCountry, and in ''The Festival'', a group of cloaked cultists perform pre-human rites.
* A ''very'' obscure one involving Cabot House. [[spoiler:The House may be named after the Cabot Museum from the Creator/HPLovecraft and Hazel Heald story [[http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/oa.aspx Out of the Aeons]]. The museum is located in Beacon Hill and used to be a mansion before its conversion, and considering [[GoMadFromTheRevelation what]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld the]] [[LovecraftLite Cabot House]] [[HumanoidAbomination quest line]] involves...]]
* The Mirelurk Kings seem to resemble the Deep Ones, with their human-fish-frog look. Another lesser example would be the Lurkers.

* The sheer number of voiced player names have some hidden shout outs, including: Music/{{Aaliyah}}, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} KalEl]], [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash]], [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Battousai, Kenshin]], [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], {{Film/Chappy}}, [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Deschain]], [[Film/MadMax Rictus, Erectus, Imperator, Furiosa, Rockatansky, Toecutter]], [[Franchise/StarTrek Kirk, McCoy, Picard]], [[Manga/{{Akira}} Akira, Kaneda, Tetsuo]], [[Film/TheMatrix Neo, Trinity, Morpheus]], [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley, Weyland, Yutani, Hicks, Hudson, Dallas]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]], [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Mikami]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn, Jake, Sweetpea]], [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss, Everdeen]], [[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]], [[Film/{{Yojimbo}} Sanjuro, Yojimbo]], [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake, Plissken]], WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana, Jones]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leo, Don, Mike, Raphael]], [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Roland, Brick, Maya, Zed, Psycho]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon, Freeman]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty, McFly]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony, Stark]], [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve, Rogers]], [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Peter, Venkman]], [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick, Sanchez]], [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob, Ross]], [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} John, Connor]], [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter Gabriel, Logan, Lian]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy, Spike]], [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel]], [[Franchise/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce, Banner]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]], [[Film/TheProfessional León]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry, Mason, Cheryl]], [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, Han, Solo]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Malak]], [[Creator/JetLi Jet, Li]], [[Film/WaynesWorld Wayne, Campbell]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael, Myers]], [[Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience Jeff, Corwin]], [[Creator/DarylHannah Daryl, Hannah]], [[Film/{{Predator}} Dutch, Schaefer]], Music/{{Prince}}, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]], [[VideoGame/DeusEx Denton]], [[VideoGame/{{Dishonored}} Corvo]], [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam, Fisher]], [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Isaac, Clarke, Ellie, Carver]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena, Gomez]], [[Music/IstvanAKiraly Istvan]], [[Creator/MadeleineLEngle Madeleine]], [[Film/TheFifthElement Leeloo, Korben]], Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/Titanic1997 Jack, Dawson, Rose]], [[UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli Muhammad, Ali]], [[Franchise/JamesBond James, Bond]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Harley, Quinn]], [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock, Holmes]], [[WebOeiginal/RedVsBlue Church, Washington, Texas]], [[Music/JenniferLopez Jennifer, Lopez]], [[LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} Markipoo]], etc.

* How about the Institute? It's [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist a bunch of scientists living in an underground facility creating artificial humans led by a man named "Father".]]
* One of the face paint options you can choose from in the Diamond City plastic surgeon is the [[Film/MadMaxFuryRoad "Head Smudge" grease paint that Furiosa wears]] in ''Fury Road''.

* The Memory Den in Goodneighbor calls to mind ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'' and even ''Anime/TheBigO'' with a RetroUniverse flair.
** Both Nick and X6-88 (a courser) have a lot of similarities to Deckard from ''Film/BladeRunner'', specifically what they are and their jobs and how they act and do said jobs. [[spoiler: Magnolia]] is also very similar to Luba Luft from ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep?'', both being singers who're actually androids.

** The S.A.F.E. test you have to take prior to entering Covenant is strongly reminiscent of [[spoiler:the Voight-Kampff test from ''{{Film/Blade Runner}}'', and similarly designed to detect {{Artificial Human}}s.]]
*** Doubles as MythologyGag as the test is actually the G.O.A.T. from VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'s character generation, minus the last question (which did nothing anyways).

* Many of the fighting taunts and Raider monologues are highly reminiscent of the bandits in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]].
** The Norwegian ghoul raiders that you encounter at the FMS North Star may as well be Draugr with guns.

** The scene in Diamond City when someone suspected that his brother was replaced with a Synth looks very similar to what happens in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]] the first time the Dragonborn enters Markarth - the guards even still say "There are no Synths in Diamond City" (just replace "Synth" with "Forsworn").
** The Brotherhood of Steel mess officer aboard the Prydwen mentions that [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim he used to be a field scribe, until a Deathclaw crushed his femur.]]
** In Hubris Comics, you can find a unique melee weapon called Grognak's Axe, based off of the in-universe Grognak the Barbarian comics. It looks [[http://i.imgur.com/Qj0aGwf.jpg identical]] to the Iron Battle axe from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', and Grognak's design is the image for the Barbarian class from Oblivion.
* When you're victorious in a fight with Deacon as a companion, he will occasionally comment this with [[Creator/CharlieSheen "Winning!"]].
* One side mission has you looking for a MadArtist SerialKiller named [[Creator/HPLovecraft Pickman]], who makes macabre and disturbing paintings and has creepy tunnels under his studio.

* A ''very'' obscure one involving Cabot House. [[spoiler: The House may be named after the Cabot Museum from the Creator/HPLovecraft and Hazel Heald story [[http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/oa.aspx Out of the Aeons]]. The museum is located in Beacon Hill and used to be a mansion before its conversion, and considering [[GoMadFromTheRevelation what]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld the]] [[LovecraftLite Cabot House]] [[HumanoidAbomination quest line]] involves...]]
* The Mirelurk Kings seem to resemble the Deep Ones, with their human-fish-frog look. Another lesser example would be the Lurkers

** The female Sole Survivor pretty much ''is'' Jack if you take the time in the character creator to make them resemble one another, albeit minus the extensive tattoos and foul mouth, and a helluva lot more mentally stable. You can even get her [=ME3=] haircut from any of the barbers. And the Atom Cats even ''call'' her "Jack".

** The Institute also borrows heavily from both [[spoiler: [[Franchise/StarTrek Star Trek]] and [[Franchise/MassEffect Mass Effect]]]], with the clothing that most Institute residents wear resembling [[spoiler:[[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet uniforms]]]], and the Institute generally looks like it wouldn't be out of place next to [[spoiler:[[Franchise/MassEffect the Citadel]]]].

* The name Professor Goodfeel was named after Max Jacobson, also known as Dr. Goodfeel. And if you hacked the terminal and set it into guard mode? He says "[[Series/DoctorWho Exterminate!]]".
* Hubris Comics is located on Newbury Street - same as the flagship location of real-world Boston comic book store Newbury Comics.

--> '''Strong:''' Strong smash!
* One of Hancock's random conversations with unnamed Goodneighbor residents involves [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E12MargeVsTheMonorail a traveler attempting to sell the town a monorail.]]

** In addition, the [[spoiler: fate of the park's owner]] is a reference to one of the urban legends surrounding Disneyland.

** One of X6-88's combat lines is YouAreAlreadyDead

* The creation of the Synths that you see in The Institute is very similar to Leeloo's re-creation in in Film/TheFifthElement

* One LoadingScreen for the Rust Devils features a heavily modified Assaultron with a resemblance to [[Characters/GalaxyQuest Sarris]], especially the face and back.

* One LoadingScreen for the Rust Devils features a heavily modified Assaultron with a resemblance to [[Characters/GalaxyQuest Sarris]], especially the head and back.

* One LoadingScreen for the Rust Devils features a heavily modified Assaultron with a resemblance to [[GalaxyQuest Sarris]], especially the head and back.

* One issue of the U.S. Covert Operations Manual skill magazine is titled [[Film/StarWarsANewHope "Not The Soldiers You're Looking For"]].

* One of the greetings by Proctor Cade (the medical chief aboard Prydwen) happens to be, "[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Please state the nature of the medical emergency.]]" May also be an actor allusion: Robert Picardo did some VA work for the game as Institute scientist Alan Binet, and Cade's VA Dwight Schultz would be known to fans of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' or ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' as Reginald Barclay.

* The sheer number of voiced player names have some hidden shout outs, including: Music/{{Aaliyah}}, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} KalEl]], [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash]], [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Battousai, Kenshin]], [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], {{Film/Chappy}}, [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Deschain]], [[Film/MadMax Rictus, Erectus, Imperator, Furiosa, Rockatansky, Toecutter]], [[Franchise/StarTrek Kirk, McCoy, Picard]], [[Manga/{{Akira}} Akira, Kaneda, Tetsuo]], [[Film/TheMatrix Neo, Trinity, Morpheus]], [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley, Weyland, Yutani, Hicks, Hudson, Dallas]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]], [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Mikami]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn, Jake, Sweetpea]], [[Literature/TheHungerGames Katniss, Everdeen]], [[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]], [[Film/{{Yojimbo}} Sanjuro, Yojimbo]], [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake, Plissken]], WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, [[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana, Jones]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leo, Don, Mike, Raphael]], [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} Roland, Brick, Maya, Zed, Psycho]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon, Freeman]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty, McFly]], [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony, Stark]], [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve, Rogers]], [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Peter, Venkman]], [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick, Sanchez]], [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob, Ross]], [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} John, Connor]], [[VideoGame/SyphonFilter Gabriel, Logan, Lian]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy, Spike]], [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel]], [[Franchise/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce, Banner]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]], [[Film/TheProfessional León]], [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry, Mason, Cheryl]], [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, Han, Solo]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Malak]], [[Creator/JetLi Jet, Li]], [[Film/WaynesWorld Wayne, Campbell]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael, Myers]], [[Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience Jeff, Corwin]], [[Creator/DarylHannah Daryl, Hannah]], [[Film/{{Predator}} Dutch, Schaefer]], Music/{{Prince}}, [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]], [[VideoGame/DeusEx Denton]], [[VideoGame/{{Dishonored}} Corvo]], [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam, Fisher]], [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Isaac, Clarke, Ellie, Carver]], [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena, Gomez]], [[Music/IstvanAKiraly Istvan]], [[Creator/MadeleineLEngle Madeleine]], [[Film/TheFifthElement Leeloo, Korben]], Film/{{Django}}, [[Film/{{Titanic}} Jack, Dawson, Rose]], [[UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli Muhammad, Ali]], [[Franchise/JamesBond James, Bond]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Harley, Quinn]], [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock, Holmes]], [[WebOeiginal/RedVsBlue Church, Washington, Texas]], [[Music/JenniferLopez Jennifer, Lopez]], [[LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}} Markipoo]], etc.

** Frankly, the ''whole setup'' of the game's story is practically a direct lift of ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamofElectricSheep?''. It's a future where humanity has been devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, a group of people simply decided to leave the wasteland (though these guys live underground) and make android slaves that are almost perfect "replicates" of humans to where you can't even tell their identity unless you kill them, many attempt to escape to gain freedom, often having their memories replaced to do so, only to be hunted down by other androids and hired bounty hunters. And that's not even the half of it.