Borderlands 3 has only been out for a short time, yet the internet is already ablaze with tales of hidden Easter eggs and references to other pieces of media.
Like most video games, Borderlands 3 is filled to the brim with touching, cute, and often hilarious Easter eggs and references. Of course, some are easier to find than others, and some may not be worth the intensive exploration, but they are there all the same. We’re simply here to tell you what they are and how to find them. Whether you want to go exploring is up to you. These are 10 Easter eggs only true fans caught in Borderlands 3.
10 Destiny
Borderlands and Destiny are often compared, as both are loot-based shooters. It makes sense, then, that Borderlands 3 would include a Destiny reference within the game. It can be found in Skywell-27 on Promethea. In one of the corners, you will find a bot called Dinklebot, an obvious nod to Destiny’s Ghost and its infamous voice actor, Peter Dinklage. Once he and his minions are disposed of, he will drop a “Loot-O-Gram.”
If you bring this to Crazy Earl, he will give you a white weapon, an obvious wink to Destiny’s Cryptarch and his garbage weapons.
9 Doom’s Super Shotgun
Destiny isn’t the only video game that Borderlands 3 borrows from. But unlike the Dinklebot and Loot-O-Gram, this Easter egg isn’t poking fun. One of the legendary weapons you can obtain is called the Speedloadn’ Hellwalker, which is an obvious reference to the Super Shotgun from Doom.
It’s “highly effective vs. Flesh” and features the text, “So, my demons. Your time has come.” It also looks very similar to the Super Shotgun, and a brief piece of heavy metal music plays upon picking it up. And now we just want to play Doom Eternal…
8 Wick And Warty
Let’s get away from gaming for a bit and venture into the world of television. There exists a side mission called Kill Wick and Warty that can randomly be found on the notice board in Sanctuary. To find the Easter egg, you need to travel to Lectra City.
Once you reach the specific area, you will be attacked by Wick and Warty, an obvious nod to Rick and Morty. Like their TV counterparts, Warty is very small, and Wick has Rick’s signature blue, spiky hair. If you manage to defeat them, you can also earn a legendary weapon. Now you have even more reason to check it out!
7 Mother Of Grogans
The ending of Game of Thrones is still a sore spot for many of us, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t appreciate a good Easter egg! To find this, you’ll need to be on Eden-6. Go to The Anvil and enter the sewer system called West of Gross. Sound familiar?
Once you reach and open the chest, the Mother of Grogans will appear with her three dragons. This is an obvious reference to Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, and her three dragons - Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. How would you feel if the show ended with Daenerys leaving Westeros and becoming Queen of a random sewer system?
6 The Mines Of Moria
Game of Thrones isn’t the only fantasy story that Borderlands 3 has nodded towards. Late in the game, you can visit a location called Konrad’s Hold, and it’s here that you will find a side quest titled The Demon in the Dark. Fans of Lord of the Rings may conjure images of the Balrog and the Mines of Moria, and they wouldn’t be far off.
The quest takes you through a labyrinth of abandoned mines, and it is a near recreation of the Mines of Moria sequence from the novel and movie, including a boss battle with the Borderlands equivalent of a Balrog. You’re awarded with The Burning Chomper, a shotgun that unleashes fiery whips much like the Balrog itself.
5 One Punch
The developers of Borderlands 3 really like sneaking in shotgun-related Easter eggs. Like the Wick and Warty boss fight, this unique Easter egg can be found in Lectra City. In the southwest corner of the area, in an underground section accessible via a spiral staircase, you can find a boss called One Punch, an obvious reference to the popular anime One Punch Man.
To make the connection even more obvious, One Punch has a massive arm and fist. If you defeat him, you may manage to snag the One Pump Chump, the description of which reads, “I swear, that has never happened before.”
4 The “Crawly” Family
And here we have an Easter egg just in time for the Downton Abbey movie! Unlike many of the prior Easter eggs, this one can be accessed quite early in the game. In the Droughts, you can find a creature named Lavender Crawly. As you defeat this creature, it will continuously spawn new enemies through its eggs.
These enemies have names like Matthew and Cybil. Not only that, each enemy is wearing a cute little top hat. These enemies are obvious winks to Downton Abbey and the Crawley family, who are known to wear top hats and share the names of their respective monsters in the game.
3 Zane’s Captain America Shield
Marvel is basically the biggest name in entertainment at the moment, and their unstoppable streak continues in Borderlands 3 in the vein of a Captain America Easter egg. This Easter egg can be found in Zane’s Skill Tree. If you highlight the “Quick Breather” skill, you’ll see that “his shield immediately begins recharging.” You will also spot the flavor text, which reads, “I can do this all day.”
Fans of superhero films will notice this as one of Captain America’s catchphrases, a character that obviously utilizes a virtually unstoppable shield to his advantage.
2 Pain And Terror
It seems like Penn and Teller are everywhere these days. Including Borderlands 3! In the mission Blood Drive, you enter an arena where a show put on by Pain and Terror is taking place. Pain and Terror are obvious stand-ins for Penn and Teller. The names sound similar, their physical appearances are a near-exact match (one large, one small), and both are crowd-pleasing performers.
If that’s not all, Pain is voiced by none other than Penn himself in a brilliant bit of cameo work. So, is that the equivalent of a Las Vegas stage, then? Because that is terrifying.
1 Dr Disrespect
If you don’t think Twitch streaming has entered the mainstream, think again. In the Devil’s Razor area of Pandora you can find a quest called ECHOnet Neutrality. It will be given by a character named Edgren, who looks suspiciously like famous Twitch streamer Dr Disrespect, including the iconic long hair and glasses. His dialogue hilariously mirrors Disrespect’s personality, and his quest will grant you The Two Time, an epic sniper rifle.
The flavor text of this gun also reads “Back-to-back consecutive champion,” a reference to Disrespect’s back-to-back wins at the Blockbuster video game championships.
NEXT: 10 Easter Eggs Only Hardcore Fans Found In Breath Of The Wild
