The Witcher 3 Easter eggs

This article catalogues the Easter eggs in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in many western nations.

This practice is analogous to hidden signature motifs such as Diego Rivera including himself in his murals or Alfred Hitchcock's legendary cameo appearances. (Wikipedia)

Spoiler warning: Significant plot details follow.

References to other media

• One of the characters in the game is called Djenge Frett and he is a famous bounty hunter. It's an obvious reference to Jango Fett from the Star Wars who is a renown bounty hunter as well.
• Ghilbert Blith, a hapless suitor in love with Rosa var Attre. His name seems to be a reference to Gilbert Blythe, a character in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables.
• Larenc Welec, a cheesemaker. His name seems to be a reference to Lawrence Welk, American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario.
• The Old Sage, from the questThe Truth is in the Stars, says “My mother took me to the village witch once. I fells into her cauldron full of some magic brew.” A reference to Obelix, a main character in the Asterix comic book series by Goscinny and Uderzo.
• Dolores Reardon, a widow. Her name seems to be a reference to Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of the Irish band "The Cranberries".
• A notice on the board in Downwarren is clearly a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
• A book in Marcus T.K. Hodgson's shop in Novigrad is obviously poking fun at the Twilight series.
• Geralt can find the Necronomicon, a reference to H.P. Lovecraft's famous fictional grimoire.
• The map description of the village of Lurtch suggests it was named after its first ealdorman "Lurtch", a former butler. This appears to be a reference to Lurch, the butler in The Addams Family.
• The quest "The Fall of the House of Reardon" contains at least two references to Edgar Allen Poe. The name of the quest is clearly a reference to The Fall of the House of Usher, and the corpse walled up in the basement could certainly be a reference to Fortunato in The Cask of Amontillado.
• The book Tristianna and Isador most likely is a reference to Tristan and Iseult.
• The book Travel Between Worlds refers to "Orphelius, who ventured into the nether realms to save his beloved, Theodor, who, fleeing a hurricane, found himself in the drab and monotonous world of Zo, or Ecila, who tumbled down a ferret hole into a land that had never heard of wonder" which respectively are references to Orpheus, Dorothy Gale and the Land of Oz, and Alice and her adventures in Wonderland.
• Geralt can find a body of a halfling in a "sky cell" on Kaer Almhult looking very much like Tyrion Lannister from the Game of Thrones who happened to be in a similar situation.
• Also on Kaer Almhult, a letter can be found which reads “Keep an eye out for castaways. Lone travelers. Drunk warriors. Bring them to me, to the cellar. The Ancient one craves blood. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’tagh fhtagn.” This is another clear reference to Lovecraft’s work.
• The book A Few Remarks on Basilisks and Cockatrices pokes fun at the traditional fairy tale of "Little Red Riding Hood".
• A letter to Gaetan mentions another witcher of the Cat School named Schrödinger and says "As for Schrödinger, well, I can't say for sure – might be alive, might be dead." A clear reference to the thought experiment.
• The title of the book The Chronicles of Redania is almost certainly a nod to C. S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia".
• During the quest "The King is Dead – Long Live the King", when Geralt and Yennefer are attempting to sneak into Ermion's laboratory, they must hide behind a tapestry to avoid two of the keep's guards. These guards are engaged in a discussion very reminiscent of the song "The Fox" by Ylvis.
• In the Hearts of Stone expansion, one of the paintings at the auction is "Starry Night Over the Pontar" by "van Rogh", clearly a reference to "Starry Night Over the Rhone" by van Gogh.
• In the Hearts of Stone expansion, one of the quests is named Tinker, Hunter, Soldier, Spy which is a reference to the spy novel by John le Carré. A film and a miniseries were also based on the same book.
• In the Hearts of Stone expansion, one of the quests is named The Secret Life of Count Romilly, which is quite reminiscent of the title of the James Thurber short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".
• Brunwich is a clear reference to the location of the Polish drama Wesele (The Wedding) by Stanisław Wyspiański. See the relevant notes on the page.
• There is a quest named after Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic novel Crime and Punishment.
• In the Blood and Wine expansion, Liber Ivonis is a work mentioned in several works by H. P. Lovecraft and the journal entry for it contains several other Lovecraftian references.
• There are a number of light-hearted allusions to various forms of Christianity, including:
  • Lebioda's Witnesses, a jab at Jehovah's Witnesses:
    I was at home the other day, just sitting, when suddenly – knock, knock! I opened the door and who was there if not Lebioda's witnesses…
    I've heard of them. What did they want?
    Oh, they left me a stack of manuscripts about the Prophet. I've not had time yet to look through them.
  • Eighth Day Flagellants, a thinly-veiled allusion to Seventh-day Adventists.
• The quest The Last Exploits of Selina's Gang contains references to characters from DC Comics' Batman series: Members of the gang include "Selina" (Catwoman), "Bruce" (Batman) and "Robin", though in this case Robin seems to be in charge. In the Orders from Robin, his trademark alliteration is evident.
• In the Letter to Yennefer, Fringilla Vigo writes: "Forgive me for not answering your earlier attempt to reach me via megascope. I am trying to limit my magic communication to the absolute minimum. One never knows who's listening..." which could be paraphrasing Gandalf's remark to Saruman in The Lord of The Rings film, regarding the same danger of using a palantir (also a magical communication device). Keira Metz also makes a similar remark to Geralt, about avoiding contacting other sorceresses from the lodge: "I wanted [to contact them] many times. But I've no way of knowing who would answer - or who might be listening."
• In the Blood and Wine expansion, north of Francollarts there is a lake, a small pier with a boat and two fishermen living in a red brick hut. If you talk to them at night when they are on the pier, one of them says "And I say hey, hey, hey, what's going on?", which is a reference to the song "What's Going On" by the 4 Non Blondes.
• After completing the Witcher Wannabe quest, two statues of angels that were on either side of the entrance to the crypt there, will now be looking at Geralt and will turn to face him every time the camera moves them out of sight. It's a reference to the weeping angels from Doctor Who. They only appear during the quest and disappear after you leave the area.
• One of the Halflings in Farcorners fields tells Geralt: "Don't dare call me Bagginson!", which is clearly a reference to Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit (Hobbits are also called Halflings).
• During The King is Dead – Long Live the King quest, in Ermion's hidden room, Geralt can place a skull in the hand of a statue while attempting to activate a hidden mechanism. When nothing happens, Geralt comments: "Guess you're no indecisive prince", which is a reference to prince Hamlet (Yorick's skull and the nunnery scene,"To be, or not to be").
• Cyclops bestiary entry, quotes Odess Thaka: How about this... we take a big stake, sharpen its tip, jam it in the cyclops' eye — then sneak out of the cave disguised as sheep. How's that not a good idea?. It's a reference to Odysseus of Ithaca and the story from Odyssey.
• During Open Sesame! quest, Geralt can browse through various items in the Borsodis' Auction House in Oxenfurt. He comments on one of them: "Goblet of Fire, I wonder what it is". It's a reference to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
• One of the drunks in The Silver Salamander Inn answers if prompted: "Foux du fafa?" which is a reference to the same named song from Flight of the Conchords.
• Ddiddiwedht Desert had a form of intelligent ocean eons before Geralt visited it. It could be a reference to a science fiction novel Solaris by Stanisław Lem.

In-jokes

• During The Tower Outta Nowheres, Geralt must deactivate the "Defensive Regulatory Magicon" (or DRM) with the aid of Gottfried's Omni-opening Grimoire, or GOG.

Cameos

• The farting trolls on Ard Skellig are voiced by "Angry Joe" Vargas, Jesse Cox and Dodger, all YouTube personalities.

Significant plot details end here.