Borderlands pop culture references

There are a number of pop culture references (memes, movie references, etc) in the game, including:

• In the "Claptrap Rescue Mission", the Guardian Angel asks, "Would you kindly help him out?" The phrase "Would You Kindly" was 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 you have completed this quest.
• Bruce McClane refers to Bruce Willis, aka Sgt. Det. John McLane from the Die Hard series.
• Mad Mel, is of course, Mel Gibson, aka Mad Max, from the Mad Max movie series.
• The name of the dog-like enemies, 'Skags', is possibly a reference to the low-life wanderers and bandits in the Mad Max films. "See you on the road, skag. See you like we saw your friend, The Nightrider."
• The side quest "Schemin' That Sabotage" seems to be a reference to the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage."
• Chuck Durden refers to Fight Club. Chuck Palahniuk wrote the book, and his main character is Tyler Durden.
• The hidden "You're on a boat!" achievement refers to the Lonely Island hit ft. T-Pain I'm On A Boat (YouTube).
• The Righteous Man, Great Vengeance and Furious Anger. The boats you destroy to complete the mission "I've got a sinking feeling" are references to the movie Pulp Fiction where Samuel L. Jackson's character recites a fictionalized version of Ezekiel 25:17.
• A room depicting "A Christmas Story" is found in New Haven.
• The racetrack, Ludicrous Speedway, in Dahl Headlands is a reference to the movie "Space Balls" where, at one point, Lord Dark Helmet jumps to ludicrous speed.
• A quest called "Dumpster Diving For Great Justice" refers to the infamous meme from Zero Wing.
• The Rakk unique enemy named "Rakkinishu" is a reference to the Diablo 2 mini-boss Rakanishu, that you face before entering Tristram. Rakkinishu also drops an orb shield called a Cracked Sash, a common item from Diablo 2.
• Godzilla is referenced several times, with unique skag "Skagzilla" and unique Rakk "Mothrakk" (a reference to the titular monster in the movie Godzilla vs. Mothra).
• Lucky Zaford. His last name is a reference to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" characters, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Ford Prefect.
  • One of the Claptraps end speeches talks about how "you ought to know I am feeling very depressed" which is spoken very often by Marvin, the depressed robot in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. The entire speech is very similar to how Marvin feels in the book and the rest of the series.
• In the opening cinematic, Marcus explains that Pandora is not a planet of 'Peace and Love', a reference to the catch phrase 'love and peace' of the character Vash the Stampede in the anime/manga series Trigun. In addition, the world/planet that Trigun is set in and the planet of Pandora are similar; with both planets being mostly a desert wasteland where bandits roam the wastes and various small settlements are scattered throughout the planet.
  • The player challenge named "Human Tsunami" that you get for 2,500 SMG kills is another 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.
• Jaynis Kobb is a reference to Adam Baldwin's character Jayne Cobb from the TV series Firefly. The town of Jaynistown is a also a reference to an episode where there is a town named Jaynestown after Jayne.
• During the mission "Missing Persons" you encounter the corpse of Shawn Stokely with the word "Reaver" carved into his forehead. This references the very raider-like antagonists in the TV series Firefly (and accompanying movie, Serenity) who are known as "Reavers," among whom facial mutilation of this type is commonplace.
• The "My Brother is an Italian Plumber" achievement is clearly a reference to the Super Mario Bros. franchise. To get the achievement, you must kill an enemy by stomping on its head, something Mario commonly does to kill enemies.
• The challenge "Hot! Too Hot!", is a reference to the "Spaceballs" scene where Dark Helmet is drinking coffee and exclaims "HOT! TOO HOT!"
• The challenge "Who Made That Man A Gunner?", is a reference to the "Spaceballs" scene where a gunner should fire "across her nose, not up it!" (YouTube) Later in this scene in Spaceballs, Dark Helmet discovers that everyone on the bridge has the surname "Asshole" and directs them to "Keep firing, Assholes!" This quote is referenced by the Borderlands challenge "Keep firing".
• The title of the achievement "Can't We Get BEYOND Thunderdome?" is a reference to a joke told by the robot Tom Servo in Mystery Science Theater 3000, episode 706 with the punchline: "Come on, can't we just get beyond Thunderdome?"
• The "Blaster Master" color scheme for the Outrunner refers not just to the movie "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" but also to the NES game "Blaster Master" which features a buggy-like tank with a red color scheme. It is possible that it is also named after the character "Master Blaster" from the said movie. More directly, Gearbox referenced the design of many of the vehicles from "Beyond Thunderdome" in creating the Outrunner.
• The quest "Well There's Your Problem Right There" references a common phrase used as a joke when regarding something which has been totally rendered inoperable in an obvious manner; though possibly used in Borderlands as a reference to the TV series Mythbusters, in which the hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman regularly use this joke.
• The soldier character, Roland references Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
• A random enemy shouts the phrase: "I'll take pleasure in gutting you, boy". A reference to the 1996 Michael Bay movie The Rock.
• The achievement "Pandora-dog Millionaire" references the movie title "Slumdog Millionaire".
• The achievement "1.21 Gigawatts" references the DeLorean's power requirements for time travel in the "Back to the Future" movie trilogy.
• The unique spiderant Helob is a reference to the giant spider Shelob from J.R.R Tolkien's novel "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers".
• The achievement "Master Exploder" is a reference to the Tenacious D song of the same name.
• The weapon effect text "I have you in my eye, sir." on the Atlas Cyclops is from the movie The Madness of King George
• One of Roland's quotes is "Another one bites the dust", which is the title and lyric from the band Queen hit song of the same name.
• The achievement, "There are some who call me... Tim" references the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where Tim the Enchanter says the aforementioned quote when asked his name by King Arthur.
• Mordecai's name is a reference to the movie The Royal Tenenbaums. In the film, one of the characters has a pet falcon named Mordecai.
• The Challenge "Boom goes the dynamite" refers to the viral video of the same name.
• The gun 'lady finger' bears the inscription 'Omnia Vincit Amor' (Latin for "Love Conquers All"), which is a reference to Chaucer's General Prologue in which the Prioress wears a ring bearing the same inscription.
• At some points, various psychos scream "Now it's time for my pound of flesh!", which is no doubt a reference to Shylock's line in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.
• The location "Trashy Knoll" in Rust Commons East is an obvious reference to the "grassy knoll" of JFK assassination conspiracy theory infamy.
• The hulking enemies 'Hanz' and 'Franz' are based on characters from "Saturday Night Live" by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon.
• The Mission "House of the Ned" is a reference to Sega's famous "House of the Dead" rail-shooter Series.
• The "Tankenstein" Monster is clearly a reference to Frankenstein's Monster in Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein.

It may also be a reference to the "Tank" zombie in the Left 4 Dead games, which is similarly massive and can throw objects at you.

• The achievement "Ned's Undead, Baby" is a reference to Pulp Fiction, after the character Zed is killed; a character asks where he is. The reply is "Zed's dead, Baby".
• After the mission "Claptrap Rescue: Old Haven", the text dialogue with the claptrap is a reference to the depressed robot "Marvin" from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Novels, TV Series, and film), quoting him with the phrase "I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed" among other variations on Marvin's utterances and viewpoints.
• The mission "Not Without My Claptrap" is clearly a reference, most likely to the film Not Without My Daughter, though it could also reference Jack Sparrow's (Johnny Depp's) quote from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, that being "Not without my effects.", the episode of the series South Park (referencing Not Without My Daughter) titled "Not Without my Anus" or a number of other variations all equally relevant to the mission.
• The weapon "Boomstick" is a reference to the movie Army of Darkness, in which Ash (Bruce Campbell) wields a sawn-off shotgun he identifies at one point as his "Boomstick." The weapon's special ability "Beyond Groovy" also references the film, a deadpan utterance of "Groovy" being Campbell's signature phrase in the Evil Dead series.
• Inside many shacks you will see a bit of graffiti written in white; "TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN". This is the punchline from a classical philosophical joke, variously attributed to Bertrand Russell and to William James. The joke is meant to illustrate the idea of infinite regression. It is perhaps a reference to to the fact that the object of the game is to kill bandits...in order to kill monsters...in order to get to the vault...in order to....

Alternatively, it may be a reference to Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, set upon a world in the shape of a flat disk which rests upon the backs of four huge elephants that in turn stand upon the shell of the enormous turtle A'Tuin - in one book it is revealed that beneath A'Tuin is an endless column of turtle upon turtle upon turtle upon....

• One of the descriptions for a Claptrap repair kit is "It's got what claptraps crave," which is a reference to the Mike Judge film Idiocracy. In the movie, an energy drink called "Brawndo" has completely replaced water, and the ad campaign goes along the lines of "It's got what <X> craves." Cows, plants, babies, you name it.
• A possible reference to V for Vendetta appears in The Salt Flats. The title of Valerie's only movie, on the set of which she met her lover, is also The Salt Flats. A screenshot of this can be seen here.
• Taylor Kobb says that his brother has turned Janistown into "a wreched town of scum and villianry", which is a reference to Star Wars.
• The quest to kill Scar the Skag and retrieve Baha's Leg is a direct reference to Moby Dick. 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 also has several weapons embedded into his head, and is extremely tough. Moby Dick was described as having several harpoons in his head, and numerous scars from where many sailors tried, and failed, to kill him.
• If a player reaches more than 9000 kills, anyone viewing their Xbox Live profile will read "Kills Over 9000". This could be a reference to the animé, Dragon Ball Z, and the popular Internet meme. In which Nappa asks Vegeta "What does the scouter say about his power level?" Vegeta replies "IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND" and crushes the scouter in his hand.
• The mission "Earl needs food...badly" is a play off of Gauntlet Legends, in which a voice would announce that "<color><playerclass> needs food badly" when their health got low.
• In Mad Moxxi's DLC, the tagline for round 18 is "Game over man, game over". This is a quote from the the character Hudson in the 1986 film, Aliens.
• Some bandits say "Are you scared? You should be!" during a fight. This is a reference to a TV show Scare Tactics.

References

The Achievement "Truly Outrageous" is achieved when you kill an enemy with Sirens Phasewalk skill. This is a clear reference to a catch phrase from the 80s TV series Jem. In her opening theme it states that Jem is "Truly Outrageous". (Youtube Jem and you can find the opening theme(s) easily). Also Siren shares a few other links to Jem. Comparing their looks they both wear heavy make up and have bright coloured hair. Also Jem was actually the alter ego of Jerrica Benton, she used a technology that turned her into Jem via hollograms. This is similer to the change that occurs when Siren uses her Phasewalk. And last of all the Controller section of the skill tree seems to also relate to Jem based on her personality and her being a dancer/singer. (Diva, Striking, Inner Glow, Dramatic Entrance, Hard to get, Girl Power and Mind games).