Pop Culture References - Take Two

Battleborn Battleborn General Discussion
#1

So… I’ve been thinking about pop culture references in BB ever since I heard Kelvin use a line I’d never heard from him before.

I had successfully chomped-off an opposing Beatrix during a Meltdown match, only moments after she had taken out our Alani with a bad case of space AIDS.

I was moseying back towards our side of the lane, when I heard Kelvin sadly mumble; “They look like big, good strong hands. Don’t they?”

…at which point, I was like WHAT!? Kelvin has a NeverEnding Story reference??

This got me thinking about other references in BB.

  • “You’re gonna need a bigger… I… IMA SHARK!”

  • Benedick’s Arrested Development chicken dances

  • etc, etc

So, I searched and I searched.

I came across this, and this… and this, and also that.

But I just can’t seem to find a compilation of all references, or attempts thereof.

So, can we get one started? So they’re, more or less, all in one place as opposed to four or five different places.

You post, I’ll add to OP.

Like this;


**Pop Culture Reference List for Battleborn**

[details=Kelvin] 
* _"They look like big, good strong hands. Don't they?"_
~ Rockbiter | NeverEnding Story

* _"In an interstellar burst, I am back to save the universe"_
~ Airbag | Radiohead

* _"In the depths of space, something... has survived"_
~ Jurassic Park + Alien crossover? (need confirmation)
[/details]

[details=Alani]
* _"You're gonna need a bigger... I.. IMA SHARK"_
~ Police Chief Officer Martin Brody | Jaws

* _"Liquid Snake!"_
~ Solid Snake's brother | Metal Gear Solid

* Dab (Taunt)
~ Hip Hop Dance Move
[/details]

[details=Galilea]
* Blight Town (Helix)
~ Area | Dark Souls

* Mirror Knight (Helix)
~ Boss | Dark Souls II

* It's Dangerous To Go Alone (Helix)
~ Dialog | The Legend of Zelda (NES)

* Dark Age (Helix)
~ Lore | Dark Souls
[/details]

[details=Ambra]
* Soothing Sunlight (Helix)
~ Miracle (spell) | Dark Souls franchise

* _"The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand!"_ (dialog)
Dr. Octopus | Spider Man (movie) 
[/details]

[details=Thorn]
* Vaulting Hunter (Helix)
~ Series protagonists | Borderlands franchise
[/details]

[details=Benedict]
* The Dance I, The Dance II, The Dance III (Taunt)
~ The Bluth Family | Arrested Development
[/details]

[details=Ghalt]
* _"I'm some sorta berserker, but with guns... oh, I got it! Begunzer!"_
~ Salvador | Borderlands 2

* _humming Hall of the Mountain King_ (Dialog)
~ Edvard Grieg | Peer Gynt (play)

* _"Aah... Accuracy's overrated anyway"_
~ Gaige | Borderlands 2
[/details]

[details=Beatrix]
* _"Ring around the rosie"_ (Dialog)
~ The Black Plague | according to urban legend

* _"Circle Circle, Dot Dot"_ (Dialog)
~ Blowin' Up | Jamie Kennedy & Stu Stone

* _"I'm not quarantined in here with you, you're all quarantined in here with me!"_ (Dialog)
~ Rorschach | Watchmen (movie)

* _Need name of lore challenge: also, need confirmation_ (Lore)
~ Claudia | Interview with a Vampire (movie)

* Patient Zero (Skill)
~ Terminology | Medical Science

* White Pawn (Skin)
~ Alice | Through the Looking-Glass
[/details]

[details=Rath]
* Spin 2 Win (Helix)
~ Moveset | League of Legends or Diablo 2 (need confirmation)

* Crimson Fastness (Helix)
~ Area | Borderlands

* _"It's after 9:30!!"_ (Dialog)
~ Vegeta | Dragonball Z
[/details]

[details=ISIC]
* Domo Arigato (Taunt)
~ Mr Roboto | Styx

* _"More skulls for the Skull Throne"_ (Dialog)
~ Khorne followers | Warhammer 40K franchise

* _"Oh no, I died. Oh well, activating 'Spirit of Vengeance' protocol!"_ (Teleport Dialog)
~ Ghost Rider | Marvel Comics
[/details]

[details=El Dragon]
* Blazer Azul (Skin)
~ Wrestler | The Blue Blazer

* Cheap Pop (Skin)
~ Terminology | Wrestling

* Crimson Mask (Skin)
~ Terminology | Wrestling

* Kayfabe (Skin)
~ Terminology | Wrestling

* El Rudo (Skin)
~ Terminology | Wrestling

* Parts Unknown (Skin)
~ Bubbles | Trailer Park Boys

* Attitude Adjustment (Helix)
~ Finishing Move | John Cena
[/details]

[details=Pendles]
* _"Oh boy, here I go killin' again"_ (Dialog)
~ Alien Bounty Hunter | Rick & Morty

* _"Boring conversation anyway"_ (Dialog)
~ Han Solo | Star Wars: A New Hope

* _"Chick-a-plao!"_ (Dialog)
~ Hamilton | Musical

* Ninjineering (Helix)
~ Ninja Smoke Bombs | TMNT
[/details]

[details=Mellka]
* _"Ding!"_ (Dialog)
~ Level Up sound effect | Common in MMOs
[/details]

[details=Miko]
* Fungus Among Us (Skill)
~ Album | Incubus

* Character design
~ Pokémon | [Foonugus](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Foongus_(Pok%C3%A9mon)) or possibly [Shiinotic](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Shiinotic_(Pok%C3%A9mon))?
[/details]

[details=Deande]
* _"Now watch closely, everyone"_ (Dialog)
~ Lady Eboshi | Princess Mononoke

* Blink Storm (skill)
~ Storm Blink | World of Warcraft

* Tessurim War Fans (weapon)
~ Tessen War Fans | traditional Japanese weaponry
[/details]

[details=Ernest]
* _"What's the matter boys and girls, you wanna live forever? No way, that'd be weird!"_ (Dialog)
~ Famous Quote | Daniel "Dan" Daly

* _"Watch out! It's Evil Ernest!"_ (Dialog)
~ Evil Ernest | Earnest goes to Jail (movie)

* The 'Ol Razzle Dazzle (Taunt)
~ Song Title | Razzle Dazzle (Chicago musical)
[/details]

[details=Toby]
* _"Now, I am become death. The destroyer of worlds."_ (Dialog)
~ J. Robert Oppenheimer | Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scripture)
[/details]

[details=Caldarius]
* Visions of Solitude (Lore)
~ Patricia Tannis | Borderlands 2
[/details]

[details=Kleese]
* My Imaginary Companion (Taunt)
~ Ernst Stavro Blofeld | 007

* Don't Tase Me, Bro (Helix)
~ Andrew Meyer | Florida University Incident
[/details]

[details=Orendi]
* The Last Laugh (Skin)
~ Harley Quinn | Ep. 05 - The Joker's Last Laugh
[/details]

[details=Marquis]
* WALLHAX.EXE (Helix)
~ Well-known cheat script | CS:GO
[/details]

[details=Whiskey Foxtrot]
* Cavalier (Taunt)
~ Tracer | Overwatch (from a controversial pose)
[/details]

[details=Oscar Mike]
where do I even start with this guy...

* Character Design
~ Cylon | Spartan | CoD model | Star Wars clones | probably others... good lord
[/details]

[details=Shayne & Aurox]
* Teleport Animation
~ Jeannie's blink | I Dream of Jeannie

* Hulk Out With Your Djinn Out (Helix)
~ Hulk out with your bulk out | meme
[/details]

[details=Boldur]
* Salt the Wound (helix)
~ Krieg | Borderlands 2

* _"Boldur summons.... ANCIENT POWER!"_ (dialog)
~ Summoning the Ancient Power of the Runes | Adalruna (metal band)
[/details]

[details=NPC]
* Huntsman/Heikigan
~ Mastermind | Doom (boss)

* ISIC (boss form)
~ Quadraxis | Metroid Prime 2

* H3NCHM4N
~ Henchman 21 | The Venture Bros

* Geoff
~ Jeff the Spider | The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
[/details]

[details=Misc/Other]
* The Right to Arm Bears (Title)
~ US Constitution | 2nd Amendment

* The Last Bear Ender (Title)
~ The Last Air Bender | Avatar
[/details]
4 Likes
#2

On the topic of Galilea, she also has a Legend of Zelda reference at level 3 (It’s dangerous to go alone).

I’ll dig through some of Rath’s stuff again and see if I can’t find anything.

1 Like
#3

  • Not really pop culture but Beatrix sings ring around the Rosie Nursery rhyme which has been many times linked to the black plague and it’s symptoms .

  • Ghalt activating his ultimate: I must be some type of Gunzerker.

3 Likes
#4

Folklorists apparently dispute this, but the reference definitely stands in this case!

#5

Beatrix’s “White Pawn” skin is a reference to the second Alice in Wonderland book.

#6

Some things:

Rath’s level 3 helix “Spin to Win” (and really his entire kit) could potentially be a reference to Garen from League of Legends, which is where the Spin2Win meme originated (as far as I’m aware).

Rath’s level 4 helix “Crimson Fastness” is a reference to a location in Borderlands 1 near the end of the game by the same name.

I also looked up what his level 10 helix “Dreadheart” could be a reference to but I got a bunch of varied responses. I lot of WoW and Everquest stuff apparently.

Anyways, back to stuff.

Oh, he has a skin called “Pale Rider” that could either be a reference to the Gundam franchise or a 1985 Cowboy movie. If I had to guess it would be the former.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but typing the name of Rath’s level 2 helix “Anger’s Echo” lead me to an Everquest spell called “Echo of Anger”.

2 Likes
#7

The pale rider could also be a reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the pale rider is death

2 Likes
#8

One of Beatrix’s lines (and sadly I keep forgetting what she says) looks to be a direct reference to the Mechro. The line is very similar to hers down to the tone.

#9

Oh right, missed that one.

1 Like
#10

Beatrix has an obscure reference when casting Patient Zero. She says Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot.

Edit: In retrospect I’m not actually sure I’m happy I was the first person to bring this up or that I even know this. :disappointed_relieved:

Secondary Edit: I could be wrong about this being the reference but given the line that comes directly after (“I got my cootie shot”) I feel like I probably got it right.

2 Likes
#11

An ISIC kill quote is the second half of the battle cry of the followers of Khorne in the Warhammer Fantasy/Warhammer 40k settings: “Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!” ISIC instead says “More skulls for the Skull Throne!”

Upon respawn Beatrix sometimes quotes a famous line by Rorschach from The Watchmen as, “I’m not quarantined in here with you, you’re all quarantined in here with me!”, the original quote being “locked up” instead of “quarantined”.

While we’re on the subject of Kelvin, one of his respawn quotes has always nagged at me. It goes something along the lines of, “In the depths of space… something… has survived.” which I swear was a tag line for a movie poster or trailer but I can’t remember what.

1 Like
#12

Actually, this is from the original Legend of Zelda, NES era (first of the line.) The first text you see, before you receive your first sword, right after you start the game, is:

“It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this.”

2 Likes
#13

Many of El Dragõn’s skins are actually references to luchadors. Example: Santo de Plata

2 Likes
#14

I’ll go through El Dragon when I have some time and pull out all the wrestling references I can find. Isn’t Ghalt’s line more jokey than just “I’m a gunzerker?”

Once again there are some of these I would put more to just being common turns of phrase than straight up pop culture references. These threads always bug me a bit for that reason.

#15

One of the characters (I’m thinking El Dragon since it fits with the wrestling / LUCHADOR theme) has a green skin called “The Green Bastard from Parts Unknown” which is a reference to the green spandex and Cape wrestling costume and the wrestling character that Bubbles from The Trailer Park Boys becomes when he puts it on.

1 Like
#16

That’s El dragon alright, is that the while name, because some skins names are longer than what is shown

1 Like
#17

Beatrix’s “Patient Zero” skill could be a reference to the old school but classic Dustin Hoffman film “Outbreak”, in which a virus ridden monkey was “Patient Zero”.

3 Likes
#18

@cadecampbell

I don’t remember exactly how the text is laid out, but yes, it definitely says both “Green Bastard” and “from parts unknown” somewhere on the skin select screen.

1 Like
#19

Thought that would he it

OK it’s a fairly known fact, but pendles says a line directly taken from an alien bounty hunter, quote being “ere I go killing again”

1 Like
#20

If it makes you feel any better, “Circle circle dot dot, now you’ve got your cootie shot” has been around since at least the earliest nineties.

5 Likes