Where did that come from? (League of Legends)
By Jason (Hhean) Harper, OnRPG Journalist
Some games include easter eggs, where a developer, likely out of boredom, includes a little pop culture reference, community in-joke or internet meme into a game. Normally these are out of the way, fun little things that add a little spice to the game world.
League of Legends isn’t those games.
League of Legends is so full of references, winks, nods and shenanigans that break the fourth wall so hard and so fast that it might as well have been built in front of a rampaging kool-aid man. This article barely touches on these various shout outs, covering only about a tenth or less of the veritable mountain of these wall breakers. The ones that have made the cut are a few that everyone who plays the game regularly knows, a few that are a bit obscure, and a couple that are in just because they’re interesting.
Cho’Gath’s Gentleman skin features many references in his changed voice set.
“Let us fight like gentlemen!” is what the gentlemanly Dudley says before a spot of fisticuffs in Street Fighter.
“What what…what?!” was a common utterance of the Tenth Doctor of the long-running series Doctor Who, who would quite often emit such a turn of phrase.
“I’ll bite your legs off!” is a rather ungentlemanly phrase spouted by a hooligan wearing black armour after being defeated and dismembered by King Arthur in Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail. Gutter Trash!
“It’s funny isn’t it? How your best friend can just blow up like that” is a direct quote from the sketch “Mrs. Niggerbaiter Explodes” from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. One believes that Cho’Gath must be quite the avid viewer of televised comedy groups.
“I like a man who grins when he fights!” are words spoken by Winston Churchill that this gentleman seems to be most fond of.
“One can survive everything, nowadays, except death,” is another quote, this one from 19th century author and poet, Oscar Wilde. Good sir is a most learned individual.
Corki is one foul mouthed little Yordle, constantly spewing out vulgarities under the guise of aviation slang.
Blackshoe: A derogatory term for non-flying personnel, as World War II aviators traditionally wore brown shoes.
Bogey: An unidentified, potentially hostile aircraft.
Charlie Foxtrot: Phonetic for ‘CF’, meaning Cluster F-… Gently Caress, a term used to describe a situation which has turned into a complete disaster.
Delta Sierra: Phonetic for ‘DS’, meaning Dumb S-… Poo Poo , an insult towards someone who completely screws up.
Lima Oscar Lima: Phonetic for ‘LOL,’ an abbreviation for”Laugh Out Loud” or “League of Legends”.
Nugget: An aviator on his first tour, a rookie or newbie.
Sortie: A military mission or attack by a single plane.
Speed of Heat: Very, very fast.
Spooled Up: Excited. Spooling up is also the act of bringing an aircraft’s engines to idling RPMs to prepare for takeoff.
Up To Snuff: To be up to an acceptable level of quality.
Whiskey Delta: Phonetic for ‘WD’, meaning Weak Dick, an insult aimed at an aviator who caves under pressure.
Manfred von Richthofen, otherwise known as the Red Baron was a famous German World War I pilot. Corki is clearly a fan of his, as he keeps a replica of his plane for use on the fields of justice.
The daring bombardier is also evidently a fan of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, as he references ‘ground control to Major Tom’ in one of his movement quotes.
Mr. Mundoverse win prize in Mr. Universe body building competition. Mundo too strong for you!
Hulk Mundo is Toxic Mundo!
Corporate Mundo popular. Many people want corporate Mundo on forums. Idea come from Krunk from Justice Friends wearing business outfit.
Corporate Mundo like to quote many office shows, like asking for TPS reports from movie Office Space.
Mundo smash like a boss! Mundo learn this from song “Like A Boss” by The Lonely Island.
Garen sometimes likes to dress as the Immortal Emperor’s loyal servants, the Blood Angels Space Marines from Warhammer 40K. While doing so, he calls himself ‘Sanguine Garen’. In the grim darkness of the far future there is onl- DEMACIA!
Garen’s Desert Trooper skin is a reference to Duncan Idaho, the bladesmaster of House Atreides in the Dune franchise.
Heimerdinger’s name is a combination of the names of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physicist known for being the “father” of the atomic bomb, and Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger who was one of the fathers of quantum physics. Remember that Heimerdinger is in a state of being possibly dead or not dead until you choose to summon him.
Alien Invader Heimerdinger has been spending his time amongst the Martians from the movie Mars Attacks!
The art for Lux’s ‘Sorceress’ skin is a reference to the cartoon intro for the TV series ‘Bewitched‘.
“I love it when a plan comes together” is a direst quote the signiture catch phase of the A Team’s Colonel Hannibal Smith.
“Shhh! I’m charging my laser…” is a more grammatically correct way of saying “Imma chargin’ mah Lazer“, an internet meme using an image of Imperfect Cell from Dragon Ball Z.
Lux’s joke “Double Rainbow? What does it mean?…” and its follow up “Well, a ‘double rainbow’ is a phenomenon of optics that displays a spectrum of light due to the sun shining on droplets of moisture in the atmosphere. Does that explain it?” is a reference to the ‘Double Rainbow’ YouTube video.
Mordekaiser’s Pentakill skill is pretty metal, but even the default Mordekaiser cannot stop the metal. Every one of Mordekaiser’s abilities are a reference to a heavy metal song:
Both Iron Man and Children of the Grave are songs by Black Sabbath.
A ghost under the control of Mordekaiser has a buff applied to them called “The Prisoner“, an Iron Maiden song.
Mace of Spades refers to the song Ace of Spades, by Motörhead.
Siphon of Destruction refers to the song Symphony of Destruction, by Megadeth.
Creeping Death is a song by Metallica.
The pose in Olaf’s art and his /dance is a direct reference to the Technoviking.
The Glacial skin stems from the description of jötunn from Norse mythology.
Olaf’s quote “urge to kill rising” is a reference to one of Homer Simpson’s more famous
lines, from the Treehouse of Horror V episode of the Simpsons TV series.
Brolaf’s weapons are inspired by those wielded by the Beerbarian. His quotes all relate to a sub-type of american frat boys known as ‘bros‘. This is another skin that got added due to frequent request from the community.
Pantheon is 300. nearly all of his voice work references the comic/film in some way or another, his backstory is heavily inspired by the Spartans of ancient Greece. His original backstory page simply read “THIS IS SPARTA!!!!”.
Pantheon’s Ruthless skin gives him the power to look very similar to He-Man from the cartoon series and toy line of the same name.
Pantheon’s Perseus skin is a reference to Perseus from Greek mythology, who slew Medusa as part of his many adventures. Most depictions of him wear significantly less armour than the skin.
Shen’s Yellow Jacket skin resembles Scorpion and Frozen skin resembles Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat franchise. Some marketing on the European forums used “Get over here!” as part of a notice to let people know the skins had come on sale.
“If light travels so fast, how come it’s never caught a ninja?” is a direct reference to the Ask A Ninja web series.
“You’re already dead, you just haven’t caught up yet” is an extended version of Kenshiro’s catchphrase from the Fist of the North Star.
Taric’s truly, truly, truly outrageous joke is a reference to the intro of the 80’s cartoon, “Jem“.
Taric’s Armour of the Fifth Age is a reference to the World of Warcraft Tier 5 Paladin Armour. Someone photoshopped the pink-tinged suit, including such things as the leg warmers, a furry purse, and pink sun-glasses.
Urgot’s Butcher skin is a reference to Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and Pudge, the Butcher from DotA-Allstars.
His Giant Enemy Crabgot skin is a reference to the Giant Enemy Crab meme that stems from a ‘Genji: Days of the Blade’ presentation.
Professor Stanwick Pididly’s quote at the end of Urgot’s background information is a quote from The Six Million Dollar Man.
These are just a few of the many things crammed around the game. From the running gags relating to Urf the Manatee, to various things being named by members of the community (and one little reference to Something Awful’s community), there is plenty to find if you’re looking hard enough. These are but a taste of what’s out there.
If you think there are better references in the game, find out something that you think no-one else has found or want to expand some of the stuff in this article, feel free to take it to the League of Legends section of the forums.
