Dragon Age: Origins/Shout Out

"The Warden: Well, that wasn't what I expected to hear. Sten: Get used to disappointment."
 * A bit of a Tear Jerker, the Rolled-Up Note you find is a clear shout-out to V for Vendetta's Valerie Page.
 * Lake and King Calenhad are named after the Calenhad, the sixth of Gondor's beacons.
 * If you start as a Magi, the codex says "There has been no way found to travel except putting one foot after another."
 * Among the names of fallen Grey Wardens recorded on a poster in the Warden's Keep is "Jason sans les Argonauts", literally "Jason without the Argonauts". This is in an area right after you fight skeletal warriors, just like in the film.
 * A codex entry states the Orlesians think Fereldans are one bad day from barbarism.
 * It's either incredibly subtle or an accident, but when you're in the Fade rescuing Connor from his terrible dreams, a constant landmark is a stack of chairs all piled up one atop another in little towers. This is the mark of a dreamer for House Dagoth...
 * It could also be a reference to |Poltergeist, a movie about evil spirits with an unhealthy interest in a young child.
 * After fighting the soldiers in the tavern in Lothering, talking to the barkeep allows you to begin the conversation with "Sorry about the mess..."
 * In the Awakening expansion, the Darkspawn Disciples use an ability called "Cimmerian Shield".
 * The Kolcari Wilds are identified on the world map as "Uncharted Territories." Naturally, this is where you meet Morrigan.
 * A certain First in the Dalish camp sounds awfully like a Gunnery Chief you might know from the future. She even quotes poetry at you.
 * There's a random encounter where you happen across an elderly couple next to a crater talking about how they're planning to raise the child they just found in it as their own. The woman's name is Marta.
 * You can pick up a meteorite from the crater. The item description implies it could be the last piece of an alien world. Sadly, the sword you can have the ore smithed into is blue, not green.
 * Haven has a graveyard with lots and lots of readable gravestones. Among them:
 * "The LHC did it."
 * "To Great-Great grandfather Gygax"
 * One that references Neverwinter Nights
 * When you rescue, she's dressed in a guard outfit to help escape capture. One of the dialogue options is "Aren't you a little short to be a guard?"
 * During the Human Noble origin, the PC can say "I've got a bad feeling about this."
 * After beating Loghain's men in the Lothering tavern, you can stroll over to the bartender and tell him that you're "sorry about the mess."
 * If you've added Shale to your party, right before the final battle with the archdemon, she tells you to "have fun storming the castle!"
 * Sten is a walking, (rarely) talking Princess Bride shout out.

"Sten: Yes? The Warden: Nothing, let's just move on. Sten: As you wish."


 * Alnother with Sten, when questioning a scavenger who took Sten's sword, one of your dialogue options is "Sten, tear his arms off." Does it bear mentioning that Sten is the tallest and most muscular member of your party?
 * Another The Princess Bride reference occurs during your first confrontation with Ser Cauthrien where the dialogue option to fight her is "Death first!"
 * And during the Landsmeet,, the latter says: "I think the odds might be slightly in his favor in a test of strength."
 * These shout outs are all the work of Bioware writer Mary Kirby.


 * In the Brecilian Forest, you meet a crazy old man who wants to play a game, trading questions for questions and answers for answers. His very first one is "What...is your name?" Said in the exact way as in Holy Grail.
 * The The Lord of the Rings movies obviously had a great influence on the visual design of the orcs darkspawn and the cinematics. Just look at The Battle of Helm's Deep The Battle of Ostagar. Listen to the music, especially when fighting darkspawn in the Wilds, it sounds almost exactly like the orc theme from the movie.
 * Also, the hurlock commander in charge does the neck-cricking thing that the Uruk-Hai commander does in the movie.
 * No one has mentioned that it seems an awful lot like Helm's Deep? The spawn of evil are charging forward with a forest behind them towards a guarded fortress on a rainy night? All we needed was Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas to show up.
 * The Deep Roads have obvious Moria parallels—a destroyed dwarven kingdom overrun by darkspawn/orcs, rife with the valuable mineral lyrium/mithril.
 * Indirectly, Flemeth's unseen rescue from the Tower of Ishaal is highly reminiscent of the way Gandalf and the eagles save Frodo and Sam from Mount Doom, if Morrigan's story is true. A note the PC can find also mentions that a band of unfortunate explorers "should have taken the damn giant eagles."
 * A possible reply to one of Wynne's conversations about being a Grey Warden is: "I do not want power. I have never wanted it." Hello, there, Aragorn.
 * Wynne is the second in seniority amongst a group of mages, who acts as mentor and wise guide to a large travelling group of young'uns, and who loses her life in a desperate defeat of a powerful Eldritch Abomination in order to save a younger and less able companion. But she was saved by a mystical, arcane force and sent back to complete her task. Now if that doesn't have Gandalf written all over it...
 * In the Dalish origin, it is possible to find evidence of a failed attempt at establishing trade between elves and dwarves, stating "Some dwarves dug too high and too frugally and struck elves."
 * The Wheel of Time. Warden sounds like Warder, Par Vallon sounds like Tar Valon, Loghain sounds like Logain, Shadowspawn and Blight are not even changed, the description of the Iron Ring (a serpent devouring its own tail) has it looking exactly like the Aes Sedai ring, Leliana is a bard with a gift for using knives and spying just like a certain Thom Merrilin, and Leliana also makes several references to the high-blood of the Seanchan, the game of houses, and refers to secret networks as "eyes and ears".
 * One of the options for "what a lark can carry, but an ox may not" is "a coconut". Particularly funny, since you actually are looking for the equivalent of the Holy Grail.
 * Oren, the young boy in the Human Noble prologue, fantasizes about vanquishing his foes with a "Sword of Truthiness".
 * A note found in the Deep Roads says, "'Mass will have an effect.... How's a dwarf get to be named Shepard?'" The note consists mostly of the dwarf complaining about the extremely slow lift he is standing on.
 * "Shepard" here also axes his conversation partner and kills himself by walking out of the lift.
 * The Gauntlet could easily be a shout out to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as it constitutes several tests of character and ability (with appropriate discussion as to whether the flowery language of legend actually refers to something divine or merely a set of elaborate deathtraps) that must be conquered if one is to reach an artifact which might as well be the Holy Grail.
 * Not to mention the Guardian, An ancient knight who guards a holy relic from the unworthy and is kept alive far longer than a normal human by the very power which he guards.
 * "Warden senses tingling!!!", sometimes said by the PC just before a fight.
 * Even during the origin story, when the PC is not a Grey Warden yet.
 * And even if the enemies that are being fought are not darkspawn.
 * Considering the fairly snarky nature of the Warden, it might just be a joke.
 * One of Alistair's "enemies nearby" lines is "Yep... beasties. Beasties are comin'."
 * A sequence in the trailer for the Expansion Pack is highly reminiscent of the intro sequence to Baldur's Gate.
 * Bonus Boss Gaxkang is a clear shout out to Baldur's Gate II's Kangax.
 * In Baldur's Gate, using an area transition while some characters were lagging too far behind resulted in the narrator informing you that "You must gather your party before venturing forth". Since this happens a lot due to iffy pathfinding, the line gained some infamy in the BG fandom. In Dragon Age, the 'confirm action' popup for leaving an area asks if you want to "Gather your party and venture forth"
 * The Summer Sword is defintely a reference to the Infinity+1 Sword Sommerswerd.
 * In Denerim Chantry one may meet Sister Theohild who is messing the holy text up with hilarious errors. Exactly like minister Gerald in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
 * The Awakening NPC Mistress Woolsey, an accountant/bureaucrat sent by Weisshaupt to "oversee" things at Vigil's Keep, seems to be a pretty straight-up shout out to Richard Woolsey from Stargate Atlantis. Right down to the name.
 * Word of God says that Ser Gilmore, an NPC in the human noble origin, has the first name Roland... Rory for short.
 * A random encounter has a group of people surrounding an axe in a stump, and whomever pulls it out is said to be the true ruler of all Thedas. It seems like a King Arthur reference ... until a NPC starts complaining that lifting a drunken logger's axe out of a stump is no basis for a system of government. Another onlooker will state that the Warden has a regal manner, as evidenced by the fact that they haven't got dung all over them.
 * If you have your Mabari hound go searching for items, he may return with some cake. One of your possible responses is "I'm not eating any found cake."
 * During the Leliana's Song DLC, the eponymous French Spy Orlesian bard will enter a room full of guards and announce her presence with a loud exclamation of "Gentlemen!"
 * She also does this in Origins proper if you're playing a male Warden. She'll interrupt you and the captain in the pub with it.
 * Sergeant Kylon, and his watchmen might be a small reference to the Ankh-Morpork city watch from the Discworld series of novels, not only is his name very similar to one of the characters, he also complains of the complete ineptness of the guard in capturing criminals and preventing crime.
 * It's probably safe to say that at some point in the sequel, your party will be referred to as the "Band of Hawke."
 * Take a close look at the "Berserker" specialization icon in Origins - notice anything familiar?
 * If you talk with Sten twice in the epilogue he'll say: "I was told there would be cake. There is no cake. The cake is a lie."
 * In the Darkspawn Chronicles it's revealed that Alistair named his dog Barkspawn.
 * In Awakening, the flavor text for the Kal'Hirol Lava Burst mentions that it tastes like burning.
 * If Zevran is in your group, you can at one point give him a pair of fine Antivan leather gloves (like the ones his mother used to own). He will be surprised and ask what the occasion is, to which the player character may respond: "If you don't want them, give them back."
 * In the Witch Hunt DLC, the joinable mage NPC Finn has a magic staff called Vera. The item description even says, "He's named it 'Vera' for some reason".
 * He's even got a 'Ghastly Hat' which his mother made for him. Unlike Jayne he doesn't seem to be all that keen on wearing it.
 * While more of a stretch than the other examples listed, to the point of possibly being coincidental, two NPCs are named "Lloyd" and "Irving". The former NPC can even be found in a tavern along with a character, Berwick voiced by Cam Clarke
 * Qunari, on close examination, is a clever anagram of Quarian.
 * Well it's missing the second "A" but still clever.
 * This may be a complete coincidence, but the Qunari appear to be alternate-universe Tau. Absurdly-structured caste-based society? Check. Allow outsiders (even those of different species) to join up? Check. More technologically advanced than the rest of the world? Check. Currently at peace with the prime human civilization(s) after a significant war of expansion? Check.
 * In camp, a drunk Oghren propositions you, even if you are a male. When you reject him because "I'm a man!" He simply replies that "Nobody's perfect."
 * With high approval, Sigrun will sometimes say "O Commander! My Commander!" Similar to a certain poetry-spouting Gunnery Chief.
 * That, or somebody at BioWare really likes Walt Whitman.
 * A Chantry Priestess in Denerim who identifies relics talks about people bringing in fake "finger bones" and "holy sandals" of Andraste. Blackadder and Life of Brian'' respectively.
 * Many, many shout outs to A Song of Ice and Fire, considering that series' influence on Dragon Age. Several familiar names pop up, and a few people and organizations are very similar (the Legion of the Dead is almost a Captain Ersatz of the Night's Watch, for example).
 * The Characters are shout-outs, especially to previous BioWare games:
 * The elf who hates all humans, is cranky all the time, has real sibling issues, and is one of the best spellcasters in the game? Oh hello Viconia! She even sounds the same.
 * Edwina, the barmaid of the Gnawed Noble Tavern, sounds like she's just lost a duel with Elminster of the Dales...
 * Red Haired thief with a sunny attitude, dark past (and enjoys it), and all round adorableness? Give her a Mage Origin and she's Imoen!
 * Sten, of the Red-Tiger clan.
 * In the Witch Hunt DLC, you can overhear two mages talking, one saying he wished they could keep pets like dogs, cats, rats, and owls in the tower. The other questions what kind of a mage keeps an owl as a pet.
 * When the Warden first meets Nathaniel in Awakening, Nathanial asks "Aren't you supposed to be ten feet tall? With lightning bolts coming out of your eyes?"
 * The two sisters standing in front of the chantry in Denerim tell the story of one Brother Caedmon who used to be in charge of the lyrium storage...and very good at singing hymns.
 * The little boy in sitting on the bridge in Lothering will open conversation with "Have you seen my mother?" with the exact same inflection as the boy asking for his "mummy" from the Doctor Who two-parter "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". The voice is also identical. All the kid needs is a gas mask.
 * When the warden and Zevran have the conversation about Antivian boots, one dialogue option is, "No boots for you!" Soup Nazi anyone?
 * Possibly a coincidence, but the city of Amaranthine in Awakening shares its name with a minor planet in Mass Effect 1.

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