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Borderlands pop culture references

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There are a number of pop culture references (memes, movie references, etc.) in Borderlands and its Downloadable Content:

Books and Comics

A Brief History of Time

Graffiti found on walls: "Turtles all the way down"

The phrase "Turtles all the way down" comes from a tale most popularly related in Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time:


Additionally, this could refer to the children's book Yurtle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss. In the book, the king of the turtles, Yurtle, rules all he sees. But because he's a turtle, he can't see very far. He then has the idea to have all of his subjects, other turtles, climb up onto each other's backs. When Yurtle is finally on top, he can see much further. Yet because all these turtles are piled on top of each other, they get very tired and hungry and start to complain, and eventually one plain little turtle named "Mack" burps, and all the turtles come tumbling down. This has often been noted as a metaphor for any sort of dictatorship and its eventual collapse.

The phrase turtles all the way down goes back to debates Socrates had on what created God and what supported the world (Tortoise in Chinese mythology), where it was said that there were an infinite number of Gods that made the previous God and that there were Turtles all the way down.

The Canterbury Tales

Weapon: Lady Finger

The Canterbury Tales is collection of stories by Chaucer, about a group on pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. This serves as a frame for shorter stories about the individual characters. "The Prioress's Tale" tells the story of Madam Eglantine, who wears a ring with the inscription "Amor vincit omnia", which translates into "love conquers all". The flavor text of the Lady Finger, Omnia Vincit Amor, means the same. The name Lady Finger may refer to the fingers of the prioress, where the ring was worn.

The Dark Tower

Character: Roland

Roland shares his first name with Roland Deschain, the protagonist from the series of books "The Dark Tower", written by Stephen King. Many other themes and terms are shared, such as the Hunter's fighting bird (David in The Waste Lands). Coincidentally, Mordecai's Gunslinger COM improves the use of Revolvers, which not only are Roland Deschain's preferred weapon, but also affixes the title of Gunslinger, by which Deschain is formally addressed.

Alternately, Roland may be a direct reference to the poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by English author Robert Browning, the inspiration for the name and protagonist of King's series, and much of the tone and content. "Childe" is a term from the Middle Ages that refers to a young nobleman who has not yet won his spurs.

Dragon Ball

Character: Crazy Earl

Crazy Earl is referred to as a "turtle hermit," and Tannis claimed to have given him her underwear. This is a direct reference to Master Roshi in the Dragon Ball manga. Master Roshi sometimes wore a turtle shell, and he collected women's underwear.

Xbox Live / PSN profile information

If a player gets more than 9000 kills online, his profile will read "Kills: Over 9000". This is a reference to the famous Dragon Ball Z meme, where Nappa asks Vegeta "What does the scouter say about his power level?" Vegeta's reply to that is: "It's over NINE THOUSAND!" See here.

Fight Club

Character: Chuck Durden

Chuck Durden refers to Fight Club. Chuck Palahniuk wrote the book, and its main character is Tyler Durden.


Enemy: Tankenstein

The name Tankenstein is a reference to Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. Its appearance matches the widely accepted description of the creature, introduced by the original film. Tankensteins are healed by shock damage. In the movie Dr. Frankenstein uses power harnessed from lightning to reanimate a corpse, thus creating the iconic monster.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise

Claptrap (Old Haven): "I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed."

A phrase often said by Marvin, the depressed robot in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The entire speech of this Claptrap is very similar to how Marvin feels in the book and the rest of the series.1

Taylor Kobb's Hacked Claptrap: "... OR... I could stick an electrode up my back panel and call it paradise."

Refers to a ploy by Ford Prefect, one of the main characters, in which he disables a security bot by short circuiting its decision making processes located in a back panel, causing it to find everything impossibly pleasurable.

For Tannis's mission, Fight For Your Right To Part-E, she wants to collect Claptrap parts for her infinite improbability drive. This refers to the Infinite Improbability Drive, which was used for teleportation to anywhere in the galaxy. Tannis also refers to needing 42 parts. The number 42 was the answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe and everything.

The Lord of the Rings

Mission: Spa Vs. Spa

The Pipp Inn is a reference to Pippin, a nickname for Peregrin Took.

Enemy: Helob

The spiderant Helob references the giant spider Shelob from the novel The Two Towers. In the movie trilogy she appeared in The Return of the King.

Zombie T.K. Baha: "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew"

A reference to the film version of The Two Towers, where Sam is preparing dinner and trying to explain to Gollum what 'taters' are.

Mission: Purple Juice!

The first mission that Thirsty the Midget offers references the names of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings:

Restore Brandybuck, Took, Gamgee, and Underhill (the alias of Baggins) pumps.

Mad Magazine

Mission: Spa Vs. Spa

This side mission in Claptrap's New Robot Revolution is a reference to Spy vs. Spy, a wordless black and white comic strip published in Mad Magazine.

Merchant of Venice

Psycho: "Now it's time for my pound of flesh!"

Refers to Shylock's line in the play Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. In the play, a "pound of flesh" is to be the payment to Shylock from his client for defaulting on a loan.

In Claptrap's New Robot Revolution, an announcement referencing a speech made by Shylock can be heard. it goes 'A message from our glorious leader! Hath a Claptrap not an eye? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you poison us, do we not die? Of course we don't! Because we're better than you stinking fleshbags! But if you blow us up, shall we not... REVENGE!?! Viva la robolution!' The speech from the play involves Shylock defending Jews in a similar way, who were heavily persecuted in Shakespeare's time.

Moby Dick

Mission: T.K.'s Life And Limb

Baha is Ahab backwards, and in the book, Ahab was driven mad to find and kill the White Whale after his leg was taken from him. Scar, like Moby Dick, also has many battle scars and several weapons embedded into his head.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Mission: Big Crimson Brother is Watching This mission involves destroying 5 Crimson Lance Security Cameras found throughout the T-Bone Junction. This a reference to the science fiction novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, where a despotic authority named Big Brother maintains constant surveillance on all citizens. The citizens are reminded of this by numerous posters bearing the phrase "Big Brother is Watching You" posted all over the city.

Star Trek

The "How Much for the Planet?" challenge may refer to How Much for Just the Planet?, a humorous Star Trek tie-in novel by the late John Ford.



Guardian Angel: "Would you kindly give him a hand?"

This quote is the trigger to the first Claptrap Rescue mission. The phrase "Would You Kindly" was also the trigger phrase used by the main antagonist of BioShock, another game published by 2K Games, to force the player's character to perform actions. As with Bioshock, the storyline will not advance until the orders given have been completed.

In Claptrap's New Robot Revolution there is a quote, paraphrazing Rapture's visionary designer Andrew Ryan's words: "Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No!' says the man in Washington, 'It belongs to the poor.' 'No!' says the man in the Vatican, 'It belongs to God.' 'No!' says the man in Moscow, 'It belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible.". A Claptrap plays with this quote over a PA system, changing it to: "Is a Claptrap not entitled to the oil of his brow? 'No!' says the man at Hyperion, 'It belongs to his owner'. 'No', says the treasure hunter, 'It belongs splattered on the floor'. But we choose something different. We choose the Robolution!"

Blaster Master

Blaster Master Outrunner color

The name for this color is a reference to an NES game with the same name, featuring a buggy-like tank with a red color scheme.

Brothers in Arms

Area: Road's End

Upon nearing the armory, a sign reads "Road to Hill 30." Another proclaims "Hell's Highway." Which are two games in the Brothers in Arms saga made by Gearbox Software

Call of Duty

The Circle of Duty in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is titled after Call of Duty. The final Circle of Duty mission is called Circle of Duty: Medal of Duty which is a combination of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, two famous FPS series.


Weapon: Hyperion Butcher

Special weapon effect: "Ahhh.... Fresh meat!"

The name and red text is a reference to Blizzard Entertainment's recurrent Diablo character, The Butcher, a bloated monstrosity with the opening announcement, "Ahhh... Fresh meat!".

Enemy: Rakkinishu

A reference to the Diablo 2 mini-boss, Rakanishu, at the entrance to Tristram. Rakkinishu drops a shield called Cracked Sash, a common item from Diablo 2.

Paint Scheme: Lancer - Diablo

The red colour of Diablo's titular end boss is repeated in the "Diablo" colour scheme of the Lancer.


Mission: Earl Needs Food... Badly

In the old coin-operated arcade game Gauntlet, each of the four characters would receive a unique spoken warning when running low on life. The Elf's warning message was "Elf needs food, badly!".


Mission: House of the Ned

Towards the end of a mission, the player has to wait for a slow elevator while fighting off zombies, something that happens fairly often in the Half-Life titles. Dr. Ned pokes fun at the situation by implying this isn't the first time you'd likely have waited for a hand-cranked elevator (specifically, referencing Father Grigori's elevator in Ravenholm) during a zombie outbreak. The scenario also appears in the original Left 4 Dead campaign, "No Mercy."

House of the Dead

Mission: House of the Ned

House of the Dead is an arcade game developed by Sega. Players take on the role of agents trying to kill the monsters created by Dr. Curien, a scientist who tried to discover the nature of life and death, but his experiments resulted in dangerous monsters.

Left 4 Dead

Challenges: I hate dogs; I hate bugs

The challenge titles may be references to Francis from Left 4 Dead. The biker is famous for his "I hate ___" quotes.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Paint Scheme: Racer - Blue Blur

Sonic the Hedgehog is, as his name would suggest, a blue hedgehog. Sonic is capable of phenomenal speed, provided he doesn't stop or collide with anything. One of Sonic the Hedgehog's nicknames is 'The Blue Blur', and the Racer's Blue Paint-Scheme is thus named after him.

Super Mario Bros.

Achievement: My Brother is an Italian Plumber The eponymous "Mario Bros," Mario and Luigi are Italian heroes known for their roles in classic games. Mario and Luigi often vanquished enemies by jumping and landing on their foes' heads.

Gaming Jargon & Memes


Achievement - Ding! Newbie

In many RPGs, CORPGs and MMORPGs, players develop characters through a series of increasingly difficult levels. Thresholds in character development are marked by character levels and increases in level are often marked with a bell or electronic chime sound, a trend that began with EverQuest, the first commercially successful MMORPG. Players commonly mimic such sounds by verbalising, or typing, the word "Ding!" to announce their character's level increase to their teammates.

Group LF Healer

Achievement - Group Lf Healer

Some games, particularly MMORPGs, have support archetypal characters. These 'healers' are often highly valuable parts of a party's composition, resulting in many groups waiting for healers and advertising with lines such as, "Group LF Healer!" (Abbrev: Group looking for healer)

Zero Wing

Mission: Dumpster Diving For Great Justice

Based on part of a popular internet [[wikipedia:All_your_base_are_belong_to_us|AYB meme] stemming from poorly translated phrases in the game Zero Wing. The Japanese to English translation resulted in such sentences as, "All your base are belong to us". The phrase "For Great Justice" was supposed to be "Our hopes for the future..."

Mission: Athena Set Up Us The Bomb

The title of this mission likewise mimics the Zero Wing mistranslation, "Someone set up us the bomb."

Internet Culture

Homestar Runner

The Zer0 skin named "The Yellow Dart" is a reference to the Strong Bad Email "English Paper".


Baby Got Back

Dahl Anaconda Description: Long and Strong

Reference to a line in the song, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Fight For Your Right

Mission: Fight For Your Right To Part-E

A reference to the song, "Fight For Your Right" by the Beastie Boys.

I'm on a Boat

Achievement: You're on a boat!

A reference to the song I'm on a Boat by The Lonely Island.

I Want it All

Challenge: I want it all!

A reference to the song, "I Want it All" by Queen.

Master Exploder

Achievement: Master Exploder

Is a reference to the song Master Exploder by Tenacious D.


Mission: Schemin' That Sabotage

A reference to the song Sabotage by The Beastie Boys, more specifically the line "You're Scheming On A Thing That's Sabotage".

Smoke on the Water

Eridian Weapon Description: Smoke on the water...

A reference to the song Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple.

Psycho Killer

Dahl Penetrator Description: Sniper Killer, Qu'est que c'est?

Reference to the song Psycho Killer by Talking Heads, using lyrics from the song's chorus.

Getting Better

Roland: "Getting better all the time!" (On level-up)

Reference to "Getting Better" by the Beatles.

The Roof is on Fire

Hellfire SMG weapon description: We don't need no water

Reference to the chorus of The Roof is on Fire by Rock Master Scott. The full chorus is "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. We don't need no water, let the motherfucker burn."


Motorhead and The Chopper

Another one bites the dust

A quote of Roland's that he randomly says after scoring a kill on a badass or boss enemy.

A reference to the Queen song,"Another one bites the dust".


Arthur Treacher's Restaurant

Location: Treacher's Landing

Being a seafaring town, this may be a reference to Arthur Treacher's fast seafood restaurants.

Grassy Knoll

Location: Trashy Knoll

The Grassy Knoll is a small, sloping hill inside the plaza that became famous following the John F. Kennedy assassination. The knoll was above President Kennedy and to his right (west and north) during the assassination. Several witnesses reported hearing shots from its direction. In Borderlands, the Trashy Knoll is a garbage heap located in the north-eastern part of the Rust Commons East. The Vault Hunters face Slither on the Trashy Knoll.

Road's End (Fort Knoxx road sign)

On Road's End, fighting the Crimson Lance on foot, there is a road sign:

"Fort Knoxx 20km"

Fort Knox is a United States Army post, famous for its proximity to the United States Bullion Depository. This so-called "impenetrable" vault in Kentucky holds a reported 8,133.5 tonnes of refined gold, worth nearly half a trillion US dollars.

TV and Film

2001: A Space Odyssey

Mission: It's a Trap... Clap

The "injured" Claptrap's rambling speech about knowing a little song, then singing "Daisy Bell," is a reference to the scene in "2001: A Space Odyssey" where Dave Bowman shuts down HAL the computer. This is itself a reference by director Stanley Kubrick to the first song sung by a computer in the late 50s or early 60s.

The beginning of this same scene is referenced by the Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap's speech during the final moments of Operation Trap Claptrap Trap, Phase Four: Reboot.

The phrase "It's A Trap" is also a meme, referencing Admiral Ackbar, from Star Wars.

A Christmas Story

Location: Hidden Basement

A secret room can be found in New Haven. Inside this room is a leg lamp. In the movie, The Old Man gets a lamp shaped like a leg. Furthermore, only in this basement can the Rider be found, another reference to this movie. In the movie, Ralph continuously asks for a Red Ryder BB Gun, to which everyone responds: "You'll shoot your eye out." The flavor text on this weapon (Careful... you might put someone's eye out. ) further adds to the reference.


Underdome wave 18: "Game over, man. Game over."

This is a quote from the character Hudson.

Back to the Future

Achievement: 1.21 Gigawatts

1.21 Gigawatts is the power requirement of a flux capacitor. Although in the Back to the Future movie series, from which the reference originated, it is pronounced as 1.21 Jiggawatts, leading some to believe it to be a much larger, fictional amount. However, the English dictionary pronunciation is as such.

Also, in Claptrap's New Robot Revolution Patricia Tannis says, "I'm going to need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21-... Oh hey! Welcome to my secret lab." She doesn't say the word gigawatts but it is another 1.21 gigawatts reference to those paying enough attention.


Brick's last skill, Blood Sport in the Brawler skill line, Bloodsport, is a reference to the martial arts/action movie.

Canvas News

Challenge: Boom goes the dynamite

19-year old Brian Collins has to replace the regular sports guy, but he fails horribly. One phrase from this broadcast turned into a meme, namely the phrase "Boom goes the dynamite."

Die Hard

Character: Bruce McClane

The name Bruce McClane is a combination of the name of the protagonist from Die Hard, Officer John McClane, and the actor who played him, Bruce Willis.

Doctor Who

In Claptrap's New Robot Revolution, the Claptrap Partisans occasionally shout "Exterminate" as a battle cry. This is the same battle cry as the similarly-themed Dalek race.

Dukes of Hazzard

Runner colour

The General Flee colour on the runners is a reference to the iconic dodge charger The General Lee. The main colour of the body is the same and both feature numbers painted on the side (runners feature a 00 and the Lee features 01).

Evil Dead

Weapon: Boom Stick

In the third movie of this series Bruce's character Ash wields a sawn-off shotgun he calls his "Boomstick". Also, the flavor text of this weapon is Beyond Groovy. "Groovy" is Ash's signature phrase.

Fabregé Organic Shampoo

Achievement: "And They'll Tell Two Friends..."

Fabregé Cosmetics ran a television ad for their line of organic shampoo in the 1980s. The famous line from the commercial went: "You'll tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on..." This quote has also become the slogan for the 'social marketing' advertising philosophy.


Character: Jaynis Kobb

Reference to the character Jayne Cobb from the TV show Firefly. In the seventh episode, "Jaynestown", the characters enter a mining town where the locals hail Jayne (who is a violent, amoral gunman who'd tried to steal money from the local magistrate years before) as a hero.

Reaver serves as a reference to the brutal race known as the Reavers in the series, one of his quotes, "It's time to paint this body with blood!" being a direct reference and accurate descriptor of the victim's fate after an encounter with the Reavers.

Lilith has a class mod called "Firefly" in reference to the show itself.

A particular brand of revolver in the game has the prefix "Mal" in its title, a reference to "Malcom Reynolds" (routinely called Mal) the ship's captain. He is also well known for favoring a revolver as his gun of choice.

The town of New Haven could be a nod to the Town of Haven where Shepard Book had been living, and later died, in the movie Serenity which takes place after the end of the Firefly TV series.

Forrest Gump

Character: Zombie TK Baha

Dead T.K. talks about all the ways to cook brains, similar to when Benjamin Buford 'Bubba' Blue lists different ways to prepare shrimp.

Full Metal Jacket

Character: General Knoxx-Trap

One of the (sadly) reanimated General's quotes during his (happily) final battle is, "This is your rifle. That's your gun. My guess is you're shooting blanks from both." This refers to a chant used in the Marine Corps as a reminder that a rifle must never be called a gun. It's recited while holding a rifle with one hand and the groin area with the other; the Marine version ends, "This is for fighting. This is for fun." Although references occur in many pop culture venues, one of the most graphic is in the movie Full Metal Jacket, where recruits follow along during a demonstration by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.


Character Dialogue: Claptrap (Enemy) - "Hey baby, wanna kill all humans?"

During Claptrap's New Robot Revolution, some of the Claptrap enemies can be heard asking "Hey baby, wanna kill all humans?" amongst themselves. This is a reference to an episode of Futurama where Bender repeats this phrase while dreaming.

Galaxy Quest

Character Dialogue: Patricia Tannis - "...the Omega 13 Device..."

During Claptrap's New Robot Revolution, once the mission Are You From These Parts? has been completed Patricia Tannis in her office will say "Fantastic! These parts should let me reroute the Omega 13 Device to the Snooze Button without sacrificing the nuclear payload! If you find any more, send them my way." The Omega 13 Device plays a key role in the brilliant sci-fi Star Trek spoof Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Sam Rockwell, Alan Rickman, Missy Pyle, Tony Shalhoub, Justin Long and more.


Character Dialogue: Mad Moxxi - "You... you've earned it."

Occasionally, during the Intermission while Moxxi drops party favors, she'll remark "You... you've earned it." In the movie Ghostbusters, Bill Murray's character (Dr. Peter Venkman) says exactly the same line while rewarding Egon Spengler with a Baby Ruth candy-bar.

The Mission brief for Parts Is Parts during Claptrap's New Robot Revolution states that 'Tannis needs more parts to ensure the protection grid holds on her device's ecto-containment unit, safeguarding against total protonic-reversal, which would be extraordinarily bad.'


Character Dialogue: Crazy Earl - "Gave me an offer I couldn't refuse"

When first meeting Crazy Earl explains is the reason for all the current defenses: "Krom heard about it and stopped by about a year ago. Gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. Why do you think I barricaded myself in here?", Just like Don Vito in Godfather Part I and in subsequent sequels


Enemies: Skagzilla and Mothrakk

The names of these enemies refer to Godzilla, a giant monster, and Mothra, a giant moth, respectively.

Head and Shoulders

Quote - Sledge: "The burning lets you know its working!", upon being attacked with an incendiary weapon.

"The tingle lets you know its working!" is a quote from a well-known Head and Shoulders shampoo advertising campaign.


Claptrap repair kit

A claptrap repair kit can have the description "It's got what claptraps crave". This refers to the drink "Brawndo" that completely replaces water in the movie Idiocracy. The slogan for "Brawndo" is "It's got what X craves", where X could be replaced by anything.

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

Achievement: "You call this archaeology?"

In the movie, while fighting a Nazi officer, Indy's father (Henry Jones Sr., played by Sean Connery) spouts this line in protest of the uncharacteristically violent nature of his son's occupation.


Achievement: Truly Outrageous

The achievement Truly Outrageous, for Lilith, is a catch phrase; in the opening theme Jerrica states that Jem is "Truly Outrageous."

Lethal Weapon

Character: Mad Mel

Before the fight with Mad Mel, coming the warning that he is a 'lethal weapon in any vehicle'. Mel Gibson plays Sgt. Martin Riggs in the movie Lethal Weapon.

Weapon: Torgue Friendly Fire

In Lethal Weapon, Martin Riggs upstages his veteran partner at the shooting range by firing a smiley-face pattern into a paper target at nearly twice the range before remarking "Have a nice day..."

Looney Tunes

Achievement: "Rootinest, Tootinest, Shootinest"

In Warner Brothers' 'Looney Tunes' franchise, the character of Yosemite Sam introduced himself thusly: "Ah'm the rootinest, tootinest, shootinest bob-tailed wildcat in the west!"

Mad Max

Character: Mad Mel

The name Mad Mel is an amalgamation of the names Mad Max, the titular character from the Mad Max series, series, and Mel Gibson, his actor. The look of Borderlands is also inspired in part by the dystopian setting of the Mad Max series.

Skill: Master Blaster

In the third Mad Max movie, two characters named The Master and The Blaster, who can combine into Master Blaster.

DLC: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot

The title of the third Mad Max movie is Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, in which the protagonist is conscripted to fight in deathmatches in an arena called the Thunderdome.

Achievement: Can't We Get BEYOND Thunderdome?

This achievement is a direct reference to the third Mad Max movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

(See also the Mystery Science Theater Three Thousand reference, below, which cites a MST3K joke that itself references Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.)

The Madness of King George

Weapon: Atlas Cyclops

The flavor text "I have you in my eye, sir." is a quote from this movie.

Merrie Melodies

Weapon: Whitting's Elephant Gun

The flavor text for this gun, "Why don't you go shoot yourself an Elephant?" is a line spoken by Bugs Bunny to Elmer Fudd during the 1951 Merrie Melody short "Rabbit Fire".

Monty Python

Achievement: There are some who call me... Tim

Upon being asked for his name by King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Tim the Enchanter answers with: "There are some who call me... Tim."

Weapon: Maliwan Crux

The flavor text for this gun, Bring out your Dead, is a quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where a body cleaner is saying this phrase throughout the street.

Roland's Medic Phrase: "It's just a flesh wound!"

Roland states this phrase (among others) when he revives a team mate. This loosely refers to the Black Knight when he says "Just a flesh wound", despite having both his arms lopped off.

Mortal Kombat

Said by Master McCloud or one of his cronies

Toasty - Get 250 kills with incendiary attacks An allusion to a well known sound clip from the game Mortal Kombat. This sound clip happens occasionally when you uppercut your opponent, but is also the name of one of the fatalities of the fire ninja Scorpion.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

Achievement: Can't We Get BEYOND Thunderdome?

Refers to a joke referencing the movie Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, told by the robots Crow and Tom Servo in episode 706: Tom: "You see, if you live long enough, eventually, someone's going to say the word Thunderdome in your presence." Crow: "That's right, and I'm guessing most of you aren't equipped with a snappy comeback." Tom: "Well..." Crow: "We're gonna give you one." Tom: "We'll act it out for you. Ahem... Boy, I still think we really screwed up on that whole Thunderdome-fiasco." Crow: "Oh, come on, can't we get BEYOND Thunderdome?" This scene can be seen here.

Night of the Living Dead

Mission: Night of the Living Ned

The mission "Night of the Living Ned" is based on the title of George Romero's famous zombie cult classic "Night of the Living Dead".

Not Without My Daughter

Mission: Not Without My Claptrap

This mission is a reference to the 1991 Sally Field movie, Not Without My Daughter.

Old Spice

Mission: Old Spicy

This mission, in which you gather skag musk glands and rakk hive ambergris so Marcus can "brew up a truly potent cologne," is a reference to a brand of "Man Fresheners" which includes cologne.

Pulp Fiction

Mission: I've Got A Sinking Feeling...

The names of the ships you have to sink (Righteous Man, Great Vengeance and Furious Anger) refer to the fictionalized version of Ezekiel 25:17 Samuel L. Jackson's character recites. This scene can be found here.

Mission: Ned's undead, baby, Ned's undead

Reference to the line "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead." This scene can be seen here.

The Rock

Quote: I'll take pleasure in gutting you, boy A random enemy may shout this phrase, referring to the movie, "The Rock" where the same phrase was shouted (not to be mistaken for the professional wrestler portrayed by Dwayne Johnson).

The Royal Tenenbaums

Character: Mordecai

In the movie, Richie has a pet falcon called Mordecai. This is also reflected in Mordecai having a pet Bloodwing, a bird not too different from a falcon.

The Running Man

Quote: "Who loves you and who do you love?"

Character: Mad Moxxi

In the movie The Running Man, Richard Dawson's character, Damon Killian, uses this phrase as his catch phrase during the movie. Mad Moxxi uses this phrase at different times during any round.

Saturday Night Live

Enemies: Hanz and Franz

Hanz and Franz are based on Hans and Franz, two characters from "Pumping Up with Hans and Franz". They spoofed Arnold Schwarzenegger by using padding for fake muscles, drab gray sweatsuits, weight belts, and Austrian accents. They are known for saying "We are here to, pump you up".

Scooby Doo

Mission: Earl's Best Friend

Quote: "Those bandits wouldn't know how to clean up his little Skrappy-doos."

Character: Crazy Earl

Skrappy's name is a reference to Scrappy Doo from the Scooby Doo television series.

Mission: Here We Go Again

The mission is a sly nod to the famous children's television series "Scooby-Doo" In which it seems Harry is "Shaggy" from the series and Skaggy is "Scooby-Doo".

Sesame Street

Menu Screen: Claptrap

Claptrap hums, "Nooney-nooney-noon..." as he rolls by in the background of the Menu Screen. This is a possible reference to the Typerwriter Cartoon from classic 1970's era Sesame Street.

Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement: Pandora-dog Millionaire

In the movie, a boy from the slums, who manages to make a lot of money from a television quiz show. To get this achievement, you'll have to collect $1,000,000, similar to how the slumdog from the movie earns a lot of money from the show.

South Park

One of the tips that appear on the loading screen is a reminder that if you use a fire weapon against a fire skag, you're "going to have a bad time." This is a reference to the South Park episode "Asspen," where the main characters are told by a ski instructor that if they do any number of incorrect things, they're "going to have a bad time."


Location: Ludicrous Speedway

In the movie, there is a speed "Ludicrous speed", which is faster than both Light speed and "Ridiculous speed". A reference to Spaceballs

Challenge: Hot! Too Hot!!

Reference to the scene where Dark Helmet is drinking coffee and exclaims "HOT! TOO HOT!"

Challenges: Who made that man a gunner? and Keep firing

In this scene Dark Helmet first comments on the gunner, telling him "shoot across her nose, not up it." Upon finding out the gunner is crossed eyed, he asks: "Who made that man a gunner?" Later in the same scene, after finding out everyone (but one man) on the bridge has the surname "Asshole", Dark Helmet directs them to "keep firing, Assholes!"

Star Trek

Dr. Ned-Trap: "Dammit, Claptrap. I'm a doctor, not a mechanic."

In the mission "Operation Trap Claptrap Trap, Phase Two: Industrial Revolution", Dr Ned-Trap says this line referring to Dr. Leonard McCoy from Star Trek who often said lines like "Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor not a (magician/mind reader/mechanic/accountant)."

Star Wars

Taylor Kobb: "a hive of scum and villainy"

Obi-Wan Kenobi calls the Mos Eisley space port "a wretched hive of scum and villainy" in the original Star Wars movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

The opening scene, where Clap Trap hits his head on the opening gate of Fyrestone is similar to the Storm Trooper hitting his head on the door of the Death Star as they enter the room with C3P0 and R2-D2 (though it could just simply be an unrelated bit of slapstick comedy).

Mission: It's a Trap... Clap

The mission title references Admiral Akbar's famous line "It's a trap!" in Return of the Jedi, which became a popular meme.

Super Market Sweep

The mission Super-Marcus Sweep has a similar name to the title of the game show "super Market sweep"

This Is Spinal Tap

The dials on Marshall amplifiers typically have a number range from zero to ten. In the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap Guitarist Nigel Tufnel boasts that the dials on his amps all go to eleven. This forms the inspiration for the level cap increase by 11 in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.

Trading Places

Challenge: How Much For The Gun?

In the scene where Louis is in the pawn shop trading in his expensive watch, he notices a revolver and asks the pawn broker, "How much for the gun?"


Challenge: Human Tsunami

A two-fold reference to Trigun. The main character was famed (albeit falsely) for being the first humanoid localized natural disaster, resulting in him being nicknamed "The Humanoid Typhoon" due to the unnatural aura of destruction that seemed to follow him. In addition, he also had an advanced prosthetic left arm with a SMG hidden in it that he could use. This challenge has players kill 2,500 enemies with SMG's. [citation needed]


Kevin Mitnick

Challenge: "My kung fu is best!"

Kevin Mitnick is a computer security consultant and author, and during the late 20th century, was convicted of various computer and communications technology-related crimes. Prior to his arrest, Kevin left the voice-mail message "My kung-fu is best!" to taunt the investigators attempting to apprehend him.

Nikola Tesla

Challenge: Nikola is a friend of mine

Nikola Tesla was a famed inventor in the 19th and 20th centuries, perhaps best known for his advancements in commercial electricity, and, by extension, the Tesla coil. Tesla coils are now used primarily for entertainment, as they can send out huge bolts of electricity into the air when turned on.

Muhammad Ali

Brick's skill, "Sting like a Bee" is a reference to one of Muhammad Ali's most famous quotes, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Adolf Hitler

Crazy Earl has a moustache identical to Adolf Hitler's. Despite also being worn by comedy icon Charlie Chaplin, the social stigma now associated with the tiny, little moustache means only the most maladjusted would ever wear one again.

Fidel Castro

The image of Claptrap's New Robot Revolution has a claptrap that looks like Fidel Castro.

Barack Obama

Some images can be found in DLC 4 with a picture of Claptrap that say "CH4NGE", a reference to Obama's 2008 campaign poster.

Lynn Abbey

"Old Lynne Abbey" from Altar Ego: The New Religion may be a reference to fantasy author Lynn Abbey.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Challenge: I am Become Death

"Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds," is a famous quote from J. Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the Manhattan Project, the project by the United States government that created the first atomic bomb. The quote itself originates from the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita, but in Western culture it is known much more for its association with nuclear weapons.

General George S. Patton

Weapon: Atlas Patton

General Patton was known for saying, 'May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.' This is the flavor text for The Patton.

General Patton was also known for owning a pair of flashy, nickel-plated revolvers with ivory handgrips: one a .45 Cap-and-Ball Colt Peacemaker, and the other a .357 Smith and Wesson Model 27 In Borderlands, The Patton always spawns with a silver-colored body and an ivory-white grip.

Governments and Nations

In God We Trust

Graffiti: "IN GUN WE TRUST"

Some graffiti throughout Borderlands says "IN GUN WE TRUST". The phrase is also visible printed on the lids of green ammunition chests next to the gun logo if you look closely.

Fairchild Republic A-10 "Thunderbolt II"

Paint Scheme: Runner - Mean Green

The red maw and jagged, shark-like teeth on the driver's pod of a Runner with a 'Mean Green' paint-scheme is similar to the pattern on the A-10 attack plane currently used by the United States Air Force.

This paint job is also similar to the WW2 P40 Warhawk of Flying Tigers fame.



The planet Pandora was named possibly after one of Saturn's moons. There are 61 moons around Saturn, which is the same number as the level cap in General Knoxx.

Several names within the game seem inspired by some of Saturn's moons. The corporations Atlas, and Hyperion and the planets Prometheus and Pandora all share a name with a satellite of Saturn.


Pandora could also be named after the first woman, Pandora, from Greek myth. Much like the woman Pandora and the box she opens to released all the evils upon the world, the planet Pandora has the Vault which is revealed to also house unspeakable evil inside of it. Pandora has a human colony that corrupts and is corrupted by a new world.
Atlas, Hyperion, Prometheus are all titans in Greek Mythology.

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