14 Pop Culture References in World of Warcraft

OK, between Guitar Hero and this, I'm totally outing myself as a geek. But I don't care. Here it is: I play World of Warcraft. (It's not a problem; I can quit any time I want.) Ever since I started playing, I've started noticing little references to WoW everywhere. South Park and The Simpsons have both had episodes featuring the game (or in the case of The Simpsons, a suspiciously similar game).

And the more I advance in the game, the more pop culture references I notice in the game itself. I just love sly little mentions that not everyone would catch. I started doing a little research and there are way, way too many to mention, but I'm going to list a few of my favorites. I haven't actually discovered all of these myself, so it gives me something to watch out for while I'm playing. Besides murlocs and ghouls, I mean.

2. My friend Josh says he has never seen this one mentioned on any other Easter egg site, so this may very well be an exclusive (thanks, Josh). This one's also in the town of Stormwind - there's a traveling salesman who goes by the name Antonio Pirelli. In both the theater and recent movie versions of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (which I adored), there's a traveling hair tonic salesman named Adolfo Pirelli. Coincidence?? Not in my book.

4. If you head to a town called Lakeshire and train with the fisherman there, you might be getting more of a lesson than you bargained for: the trainer's name is Matthew Hooper. Richard Dreyfuss played shark expert Matt Hooper in Jaws.

5. More naming fun. In the Eastern Plaguelands, there's a priest named Father Inigo Montoy, which is just one letter away from Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride ("Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.")

6. The creators must be fans of The Princess Bride, because the stable master in the town of Southshore is named Wesley. That's not quite the same as the stable boy Westley in The Princess Bride, but it's close enough that it had to be intentional. Right?

7. Another movie that gets multiple references is Silence of the Lambs. One quest requires players to get an ogre tannin out of a basket. (No, I don't know what a "˜tannin' is.) The second the tannin is removed, an ogre runs after the player yelling, "It puts the tannin in the basket or else it gets the club again!" This is a combination of Buffalo Bill's "It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again," and "It places the lotion in the basket."

8. There's a blacksmith in the town of Darkshire who sometimes mumbles about hearing the lambs scream. Her name just happens to be Clarise.

9. Visit the city of Orgrimmar and you'll have the chance to check out a shop called "Boomstick Imports". Bruce Campbell would be proud.

10. My favorite category of movies "“ the horror genre "“ does not go unnoticed in the World of Warcraft (which is only appropriate since it's crawling with the undead, ghouls, zombies and banshees). The innkeeper in Undercity is named Innkeeper Norman and the innkeeper of Sepulcher is named Innkeeper Bates"¦ see, Norman Bates, our favorite Psychopath hotel manager.

11. The trick in the bullet above "“ giving two people of the same profession names that relate to one another "“ is a favorite trick of the WoW game designers. Next time you visit Undercity, take notice of the auctioneer there. His name is Yarly. Not something you'd think much of, right? But if you travel to Stranglethorn Vale and check out the auctioneer there, you'll see that his name is O'Reely. O'Reely and Yarly is a reference to the "O RLY? YA RLY!" owls of Internet fame.

12. There's a kitty at the start of the Naxxramas instance whose name is Mr. Bigglesworth"¦ AKA Dr. Evil's cat in the Austin Powers movies.

13. It isn't just movies that are referenced. The punk movement also gets a little love from the good people of Blizzard Entertainment. In the Alterac Mountains, there's a non-playable character named Nancy Vishas. This is likely a nod to Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, whom he stabbed to death in 1978.

Those are a few of my favorites. So tell me, Warcraft people, what have you come across that made you giggle to yourself?