In Khrysalis there is a quest called 'Cry Havoc'. Havoc was a signal given by English military commanders in the Middle Ages to direct the soldiery (Shakespeare referred to them as 'the dogs of war') to pillage and plunder. Shakespeare uses the term 'Cry Havoc' several times in his works, most notably in Julius Caesar when Marc Antony regrets the course he has taken, predicting impending war. Antony states that a commander shall 'cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.' Cry Havoc is also the name of a Metal/Rock band, I believe out of Arkansas.
Have you seen The Professor in Marleybone? He is next to a red police box. Okay so in Doctor Who, there is a guy named The Doctor, and his Tardis is a blue police box. This is crazy, shouldn't King's Isle get sued for that? Oh, and also, a lot of the worlds copy real life countries. Mistyride already said what some places are like, but I will continue. Zafaria is like Africa or somewhere with elephants, Aquila is Greece, Avalon is like the middle ages in England, and instead of King Arthur they have King Artorius, and Azteca is like the earth when it was newly formed, with Dinosaurs and all that.
actually Azteca is like the civilization of the Aztecs thus the name "Aztec"a
In Khrysalis we are tasked to collect 'kieselguhr powder'. Kieselguhr is another term for diatomaceous earth, a naturally occurring sediment composed mainly of fossilized diatoms. It is used in filtration processes (swimming pools e.g.) mild abrasives, pesticides, and many other chemical processes. We are also tasked to collect 'Kermes Fire'. Kermes are a genus of scale insect that feed on the sap of Evergreen oaks. The females produce a red pigment (oddly enough also called kermes) that is a natural source of crimson dyes and pigments.
In the Zafaria B.O.X.E.S. event we face a creature named Buster Crab. The real life Buster Crabbe was an Olympic Gold Medalist (swimming, 400 m freestyle in the 1932 Summer Games) who parlayed his Olympic fame and good looks into a very nice acting career. He made movies but was most famous for his portrayal of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in the 1930's serialized adventures. He also played Tarzan in a few movies, making him the only actor to appear as Tarzan, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, who were the top 3 syndicated comic strips of the 1930's.
Back to Khrysalis, our dear friend Alwyn Woodward states 'I love the smell of Kermes fire in the morning', which is a reference to Robert Duvall's character in the movie Apocalypse Now who says 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning, it reminds me of victory'. Alwyn also states later in the convo, 'Once again into the breach dear friend, once more' which is a line from Shakespeare's Henry V. Well not exactly, but close enough. I'm a big fan of the Bard and love the Shakespeare references throughout our journey through the Spiral.
I don't know if this has been said, but the final dungeon in Avalon is the Keep of Ganelon and the quest to go there is called The Guns of Avalon. There is a book that is also called The Guns of Avalon where towards the beginning (I think) the main character finds a man and takes him to the Keep of Ganelon! Also there is a king who has ruled a kingdom in the book named Uther Pendragon, and in the quest you must defeat the Pendragon!
Sorry if some if this is a bit off, Im not really familiar with the book, look it up if you wish.
There are probably some more references to the book but I'm too lazy to find them all.
In process of searching all of Zeke's "critters", you suddenly realize they're all named after music groups ... Blue Oyster Cult, Troggs, Black Crows, Stray Cats, Beatles, Stone Roses, Smiths, Yardbirds, Monkees, Iron Butterflies, Wallflowers, Lounge Lizards, Khryckets ...
Okay, I read through all the pages to make sure no one posted this one, and I am pretty surprised no one did. (And no, it's not another Dr. Who reference)
In the Crustacean Empire, in Celestia, one of the first quests you get is "Plunkett, I Presume?" which is an obvious reference to "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?" when in 1871, Henry Stanley found Dr. Livingstone in Africa, who had disappeared. Thank you APWH!
The B.O.X.E.S thing is a easter egg to doctor who. What the heck!?!?!?! That's so weird... and i agree with mini beaster...................................................................... some of the worlds DEFINITLEY have references to other worlds......
if any of you have had cought a todd pole i believe its a refence to a guy todd poler or something who use to work on wizard101 it might be a big easter egg but it still is one
Nobody said the teachers were like Harry Potter People Ambrose - Dombledore Cyrus Drake - Syverius Snape (Haha that rhymes) ........................................................................................ Death Teacher - Frankenstein's helper - The guy missing a eye in harry potter lol I don't remember ........................................................................................ and yeah lol
So I was just playing today, (currently in Avalon) and I came across a boss battle. That bosses name was The Dark Knight. That is a reference to Batman. I started to look for other references and on the walls were banners with drawings of bats on them. Also I remembered the dungeon name, the dark knights lair, reference to the bat cave. its pretty cool how kingsisle can drop these easter eggs into the game so awesomely.
I am surprised that, unless I'm impaired (quite possible), no one has mentioned the extent of Doctor Who references are in the B.O.X.E.S.
Yes, it's been mentioned taht the Professor is the Doctor; yes, Rose Piper is a play on Rose Tyler and the actress who played her; yes, the B.O.X. is basically a TARDIS; yes, the music is definitely very much like the theme of the show.
There are several references, however, that I have not seen mentioned anywhere on the forum (and I did search, so I'm pretty sure I'm not repeating here). Many of them are references to the classic series.
(1) The Maestro is the Wiz101 version of The Master, who is essentially the Doctor's arch-enemy. (He first appeared in 1971 and was created to be the Doctor's "Moriarty".)
(2) In the Mooshu B.O.X., Ostrame is obviously the Maestro in disguise. This is a play on the fact that, in the classic series, the Master would frequently show up in disguise, and in those cases would frequently use an acronym (or otherwise easily-foiled pseudonym) to hide his identity. In The King's Demons, he appears as "Sir Giles Estram"; in The Time Monster, he appears as "Professor Thascales" (that's Greek for "Master"); in The Daemons, he's the Magister (Latin); and in Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords, he reveals himself as Mister Saxon, which anagrams to "Master no. Six", indicating that he is the sixth actor to play the Master.
(3) Every quest named in the B.O.X.E.S. events is a direct reference to the name of a story or episode in Doctor Who:
Wizard City: "The Firemaker" is the name of the fourth episode of the very first story aired in 1963 - The Unearthly Child. "The Ordeal" is the sixth episode of the very next story - The Daleks.
Marleybone: "The Dominator" - a story from a second Doctor story from 1969 called The Dominators. "The Ojai Terror" - actually this could be a play on any of a number of stories that include the word "Terror".
Mooshu: "Carnival of Monsters" - a Third Doctor story from 1973 (one of my favorites, actually). "The Three Deaths" - a play on The Three Doctors, the first ever multi-Doctor story and the one that immediately precedes "Carnival of Monsters".
Zafaria: "The Android Invasion" - a Fourth Doctor story from 1975. "The Pirate Planet" - a Fourth Doctor story from 1978 (co-written by the one and only Douglas Adams, actually)
Avalon: "Arc of Infinity" and "Time-Flight" - both of which are names of sequential adventures of the Fifth Doctor (the latter of which features the Master - in disguise, of course!)
You will notice an obvious pattern here, of course. If there is a plan to expand the B.O.X.E.S. events into third-arc worlds, I expect them to feature quest names that match with Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctor adventures. (Eighth will be tough, since his only TV appearance was a TV Movie, but he has plenty of audio adventures and novels from which to cop quest names.)
Therefore, I expect the next B.O.X.E.S. event to be called something like "Trial of a Wizard", "The Twin Dilemma" or "The Ultimate Foe".
For my Attack On Titan geeks out there, in the level 25 hollow mountain quest the final boss is named master tonkatsu, which is one of the chinese words in the main theme, Guren no Yumiya, (The Crimson Bow and Arrow) It says Tonkatsu. Just thought it was important for all my fellow anime geeks out there.
I noticed the Boss Hog fish is based off of the old show Dukes of Hazzard... It says, "The crooked commissioner of all fish. Find them roaming the "Hazzards" of GH"
Adding onto The Professor (which is a Doctor Who reference), in classic Doctor Who, one of the Doctor's companions, Ace, calls him "The Professor." This just adds to that reference.
I'm not sure if anyone has caught this, seeing as I haven't read the whole thing yet.