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Shout Out / Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!

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Player Characters

    Claptrap the Fragtrap 

Lines:

Skills:

Misc.

    Nisha the Lawbringer 

Lines:

Heads:

Skills:

  • The name of her Action Skill, "Showdown", shares its name with the quest in Borderlands 2 where she's battled in a boss fight.
  • Her "Law & Order" skill tree focuses on self-healing. In Borderlands 2, the Law was a unique revolver that she could rarely drop when killed. When it was combined with the Order shield, some damage dealt would be converted to self-healing.
  • "Tombstone" and "Hell's Comin' with Me!" (also "One For Each Of Ya," when Doc Holliday drunkenly responds that he's got two guns to shoot the double images he's seeing)
  • "The Riflewoman" skill tree
  • "Bona Fide Grit". The flavor text for One For Each of Ya, "Fill your hands, you son of a female skag!", references a line from the movie.
  • "Unchained"
  • "Fistful of Bullets"
  • "The Unforgiven"
  • "Magnificent Six"
  • "Hot Lead" is a reference to the Western of the same name.
  • "Rough Rider" refers to the Rough Riders, a nickname for the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry serving during the Spanish-American War, right in the middle of the Old West.

    Athena the Gladiator 

Skills:

Misc:

    Wilhelm the Enforcer 

Skills:

  • Cyber Commando
  • His "Termination Protocols" perk turns him into the Terminator when in his "Fight for your Life!" status. He can slowly walk around and fire more accurately than other critical status PCs - and if he times out, his power core explodes. The flavour text is "I absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead." Furthermore, the Meteor Slam upgrade uses the Terminator post-timetravel crouch as its icon.
  • The last ability on Wolf's skill tree uses a modified Top Gun quote for its description.

Misc:

  • Wilhelm is actually religious, making references to the deity he worships throughout the game. His god is the Almighty Robotic Policeman.

    "Jack" the Doppelganger 

In the short form, every single thing that references the name "Jack" gets a nod in his heads and skins. Including nursery rhymes, slang and aphorisms.

Lines:

  • When the skill Inspire is active, the real Jack may say "Don't believe in yourself; believe in me, because I believe in you!" which sounds awfully familiar.

Heads:

Skins:

    Aurelia the Baroness 

Lines:

Skills:

Heads:

Skins:

Miscellaneous

    Achievements 

Miscellaneous

    Equipment 
  • The ZX-1 is essentially the ZF-1 from The Fifth Element, a gun that fires Roboteching lasers.
  • Your reward for completing the side mission "These Are The Bots" is called "Bright Spadroon", functions exactly like a lightsaber, and its Flavor Text is "The elegant way to be clumsy and random."
  • If you side with Janey instead of Torgue during her quest, she'll reward you with the "Firestarta", a laser weapon that looks like the American flag. A reference to "Firestarter" by The Prodigy.
  • The Flavor Text for Zarpedon's Cyber Eagle is "I feel like I'm gonna break this damn thing!"
  • The Ice Scream has the Flavor Text "Winter is Numbing..."
  • Ghostbusters: The E-Gun:
    • A continuous laser weapon that borrows its name from Egon. The flavor text tells you (twice) that it "Kills ghosts, apparently." It also has a No Symbol on it, like the Ghostbusters' logo.
    • The access code for the door in the mission in which you can get the gun is 1984, the same year the movie came out.
  • Spaceballs:
    • There's an Oz kit called the "Ack Ack". Its flavor text says "I said to shoot across their nose, not up it!"
    • The flavor text of the oxygen canisters is "Air? AIR!"
  • Starship Troopers: The flavor text for the Asteriod Belt shield is "Straight from the bug homeworld."
  • The Holodome DLC adds a weapon called the Cry Baby with red text referencing The Binding of Isaac. It shoots spherical bullets resembling Isaac's tears and every copy of the gun has a different tear effect from the game.
  • Then there's the not-really-a-rocket-launcher from the Claptastic Voyage DLC named Kaneda's Laser. Even the red text accompanying it is a direct quote from the movie adaption.
  • One of the legendary OZ kits is the Moonlight Saga. When equipped it makes the character using it sparkle.
  • The legendary Four Seasons grenade mod and its description, "Four seasons in one 'nade," reference a song by Australian/New Zealand band Crowded House.
  • The Claptastic Voyage DLC has a Legendary Railgun with 100% accuracy called "Longest Yard", with the flavor text "Impressive".

    Other 
  • One of the Stingray's skins is called "Goblin." It turns the stingray vibrant green.
  • In the preview video that has Mr. Torgue and Sir Hammerlock giving a very detailed breakdown of all the characters, enemies, environments, new features, new weapons, and story has Torgue straight up point out the various internet memes found around the game. BECAUSE REASONS! Then he says he's just kidding. They blew the F$@& out of the meme references in BL2 because of how lame they are. The video then references Doge.
    WOW. SUCH MEMES. VERY REGRET.
  • In the magazine racks in Concordia, there's a pamphlet to visit the Echonet Meme Graveyard.
    WOW. SUCH SCARES. VERY HORROR.
  • In the preview video, Mr. Torgue mentions that certain versions of the laser weapons shoot a continuous stream of energy like in that one movie... but he gets them confused and says it's from Ghost Dad.
  • The Launch Trailer has a twofer, saying the game has "Zero Moon Wizards" before quickly recanting when Claptrap appears in a wizard outfit.
    Call me Gundalf!
  • In the Handsome Jack Trailer, Jack recites a version of "Ozymandias", tailored for him.
  • Lost Legionaries may say "Rosebud" as a death quote, as a reference to Citizen Kane.
  • A line from Jack in the beginning, referencing the Eridians:
    "Uh, no idea, but I get the feeling it could kill us with its brain, so, y'know, keep running!"
  • In Concordia, there's two midgets running the DJ booth wearing space-age helmets.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: One of the Booze-Based Buff drinks you can order is the Gargle Blaster.
  • In Stanton's Liver, there's an Eridian Monolith you can step into. It teleports you to strange areas, including a small enclosed room with nothing but two of Marcus' ancestors and a loot crate. When you step through the 3rd time, you see a midget scav in fetal position, contained within a bubble, orbiting Elpis.
  • The boss RedBelly:
    • Based on Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome, with a huge guy serving as the body and a dwarf serving as the head.
    • A reference to infamous and legendary Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. One ECHO log for the pair has Belly mentioning that he forgot the leg portions of their armour (Ned Kelly's famous armour lacked any protection for his legs. The police disabled him by shooting there when they successfully captured him). This is even the best place to hit him during the boss fight!
  • There is an entire mission in Vorago Solitude called "These are the Bots", dedicated to escorting C-3P0 and R2-D2 expies (named RT-FC (Read The Fucking Code) and ICU-P] (I see you pee) to deliver safely deliver a message to Toby Van Adobe.:
    • The name of the recipient could also have been a reference to current Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbot.
  • Sterwin's quests:
    • He's a parody of Steve Irwin, who talks and looks almost exactly like him. In this case, he's an indoors office worker who's been mysterious sent outdoors to capture Eridians, and can be used to unlock a further quest where you capture them to be put on a preserve, because all they want to do is "play around, not hurt people."
    • During his quests you have to capture Eridians using a grenade mod that functions like a Poké Ball (and looks like a Quick Ball.) You have to lower their health first and everything. The descriptions for the filled balls are also full of references to Pokémon. The mission completion text points out how you were the best, like no one ever was.
      "Congratulations, OPHA was caught! Want to give it a nickname or something?"
  • Nakayama missions:
  • A mission in Helios's Research and Development area involves receiving a weapon from Claptrap expies:
    • Of HAL-9000 and SHODAN: CLAP-9000 and DAN-TRAP The first is friendly and has a soothing voice. The second constantly boasts about the perfection and beauty of destruction and has a stutter.
    • The robot you choose to disable will quote the same dying lines as the AI they are an expy of, and the surviving bot will give you a weapon which references the AI they are based on. For example, DAN-trap's reward is called the Mining Laser, which is a reference to the mining laser SHODAN took control of in System Shock.
    • The CLAP-9000 says Hal's famous line "I'm afraid I can't do that," and replies to a line from DAN-TRAP with "Nah," referencing the ending to System Shock 2.
  • Janey's nursery rhymes, "Springs' Stories for Not-Yet-People":
    • A reference to the Dick and Jane series of beginner reader books, especially how the characters have D (male) and J (female) names.
      "This is Deadlift. See Deadlift lift. See Deadlift who lifts become dead. See how happy this makes Janey. Verrrry happy."
    • One of them is a word-for-word parody of Avatar: The Last Airbender's opening:
      "Long ago, the Scav nations lived together in disharmony. Then everything changed when Zarpedon attacked. Only the Vault Hunter, master of guns, could stop her. I believe the Vault Hunter can save the moon... Cue intro music. Spoilers !! It happened pretty much like that, actually."
  • The Darksiders:
    • Their emblem is a transparent prism splitting a beam of light. Elpis is a moon. Right?
    • Two members of the gang are Magma Rivers (based on former lead Roger Waters) and Wally Wrong (keyboardist Richard Wright) with the last (Fair Dinkum) being the name of an Australian cover band. Wally Wrong even threatens making the player more than numb.
  • Space Jam references:
    • There's a sidequest called Space Slam.
    • Dr. Spara mentions "that basketball movie with the song about flying" when you are gathering parts to assemble her rockets.
    • Lilith describes Moxxi as having "layers, like an onion of boobs".
    • When under the influence of the space herps, one of the names that replace the enemies' is "Slimy yet Satisfying."
    • In the Mission "Eradicate!", President Tassiter has you assemble a new Claptrap that strongly resembles a Dalek to fight an infected soldier. It's called a CL4P-LEK, and sounds just like how Claptrap version of a Dalek would.
      "ERADICATE! ERADICATE!"
    • One of the taunts used by the RK5 is "Stop bellyaching and learn to love the bomb!"
    • You may occasionally hear a Scav yell *You no take candle!".
    • A hidden room in Tycho's Ribs has a retro 8-bit appearance straight out of Super Mario Bros., although it's tinted yellow. It even gives you the ability to jump up on top of the level and run past the first warp pipe into a secret loot room with 3 warp pipes.
    • Upon meeting Skipper's true AI form, she says 'Yank me', much like Cortana does in Halo.
  • Felicity:
    • After killing some Scavs in the prototype powersuit, will remark "everything lost, like tears in a puddle..."
    • Her Marathon and Halo references, with her boss form, "Felicity Rampant" and the Boss Subtitles are "If Only Elpis Had More Time.":
      • Huh. A mad AI that goes mad due to a time limit? Sounds familiar...
      • The use of "rampant" is itself a shout out to both games. The process of "rampancy" originating in Marathon, specifically dealing with an AI processing not being human and wanting to have an actual life outside of what it was built for. Which is exactly what’s happening to Felicity.
  • The quest "Hot Head" has Dean introduced by shouting "HATE! HATE! HATE!"
  • Tassiter's brain-dead nephew's favorite show is the The Big Explosion Hypothesis.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog references with the Kraggon, "Phonic", in Serenity's Waste:
  • After doing Cosmo Wishbone's sidequest, Niel Parsec will try to jump off the balcony only to fall after several feet of flight.
  • When the player opens the secret entrance to Moxxi's garage, Moxxi is singing the "Bubbles and Birds" song from an episode of the Claptrap Web Series.
  • There are a host of messages on a screen written by The Bosun, one of which includes a message about small creatures that got in the hold that are eating the food and repopulating wildly.
  • Upon entering Concordia, you are promptly fined a dollar for swearing. This happens twice in a row.
  • Sometimes when you grind out an item with a luneshine buff on it, the Dahl grinder will say, "You got the cool... you got the cool luneshine!"
  • One of the Concordia NPCs may sometimes mutter "Serenity now..."
  • There's a silver Hyperion loader in the Hyperion Hall of Heroism named R-0513. It is wearing a light blue maid outfit.
  • Pickle being a ten-year-old boy helping Jack with his plans may be a reference to the Evil Overlord's List.
  • You can complete a chain of quests from representatives of organizations called "The Concordia People's Liberation Front", "The Concordia's People Front" and "The People's Front", referencing the well known We ARE Struggling Together gag from Monty Python's Life of Brian.
  • Captain Chef is a reference to James Cook, more commonly known as Captain Cook, who first established a colony on and mapped large parts of Australia (and ultimately met his end after angering a crowd of Hawaiians). Much like Cook, Chef is oblivious to the outrage of existing inhabitants (in Cook's case, the people indigenous to the continent) and apparently unaware the place has already been discovered (in Cook's case, multiple landings were made on the Australian continent by other countries, they just either sank or didn't bother staying there). His quests might also be a reference to the Flagstaff War.
  • Davis Pickle's name is a reference to Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver.
  • One challenge with multiple levels to it is called Battle Star.
  • The challenge "One for every occasion" may be a reference to the Yogsquest 2 series, in which Sips says he likes to have a gun for every occasion.
  • Sereena the Geisha-bot sounds exactly like Tali'Zorah in the recording used to infuriate CU5TM-TP, with electronic voice and the same accent.
  • The mission log for the mission "A New Direction" reads "What a twist!"
  • Female citizens on Condordia can ask "Aren't you a little short for a Vault Hunter?"
  • During the "Rough Love" mission, where you round up suitors for Nurse Nina, she'll echo you after the second candidate falling through, saying that she "is disappoint"◊.
  • The Eye of Helios is pretty much one big reference to the Death Star's laser.
  • Snick-it, a game played using a bat, a red ball, three wickets and in white uniforms, and with rules that sound like abject nonsense to those unfamiliar with it, is a stand-in for Cricket. The man playing it ("the Don") is named for Sir Donald Bradman, an exceptionally skilled batsman who broke dozens of records, had an absurd 99.94 batting average and became something of an Australian icon and folk legend.
  • The moonshot cannon and the fact that you can go inside the bullet seems to reference From the Earth to the Moon.
  • 5H4D0W-TP's Eclipse Form heavily resembles a light gray, futuristic version of Sauron.
  • The first citizen you meet in Concordia: "I am not, and never will be, your friend."
  • When you first see him, 5H4D0W-TP is wearing a mask highly reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter's. He has a chance to drop a matching head customization when fought.
  • The sidequest "The Empty Billabong" is one long reference to the Australian song "Waltzing Matilda", including the Jolly Swagman, Billabong, Jumbuck (which gets shoved in a tucker bag), reference to the Swagman "boiling his billy", coolibah tree, and that fact that you find Swagman's recording after he's dead, meaning you are effectively hearing his ghost.
  • The bonus objective from "Space Slam" which requires you to be on fire is a direct reference to NBA Jam, where outstanding performance would light you and the hoop on fire. To complete the reference, Tog even says "He/She's on fire!" in the exact same cadence as the Jam announcer.
  • Lost Legion Sergeants are a twofer for Warhammer 40,000, as their loadout of a pistol and sword is very commonly used by squad leaders in the grim, dark future. Additionally, their hats and body armor make them dead ringers for Knight-Commander Pask and Cadian captains in general.
  • The Laser Disker is one big reference to Tribes, since its flavor text is the popular "Shazbot!" text taunt, and the weapon behaves exactly like the iconic Spinfusor, being a gun that fires explosive energy discs.
  • Lawrence De Quidt, co-founder of Hyperion, is a reference to Steve Jobs, right down to his death occurring while he was still developing products for his company.
  • The mission where Mr. Torgue is first encountered is called Torgue-o! Torgue-o!
  • The "Fabled Tortoise" Legendary Shield, which is a reference to the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare slows the wearer down and speeds them up if the shield is depleted. Flavor Text with a pun:
    "Win by a hare."

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