Mythology Gag / Quake Champions

As a celebration of id Software's 30-year run-in with shooting bad guys, monsters and aliens alike, it should come to no surprise that this twitchy deathmatch crossover shooter has a lot of references to Id's past.

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Wolfenstein series

• The game's iteration of B.J. Blazkowicz has his ability and passive being game mechanics from MachineGames's iterations of the franchise.
  • His default outfit is the "Bomber Jacket" outfit he wears in The New Order. He has also costumes for his Wolfenstein 3-D appearance ("Liberator" - his default outfit in that game - and "The Legend" - his appearance on the boxart for the classic Wolf3D and Spear of Destiny, also known as his appearance at the beginning of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood), and his Return to Castle Wolfenstein self ("Combat Fatigues", also the soldier outfit he wore in the 1946 bit of The New Order).
  • He gets plenty of knife accessories across his costumes (and one of them, the RtCW one, is a Vanity accessory), referencing the MachineGames's Wolfenstein games and B.J. having plenty of them to get rid of the Nazis in creative ways.
  • One of his Vanity accessories is the chainsaw he used to kill Keller within The New Order.
  • A later update gives him the "Terror-Billy" skin, which references his beheading and Super Soldier-based new body in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
    • Another "call-forward" to TNC can be found in a Dual Wield activation voice line which references the scene where he shoves his hatchet into Frau Engel's head.
  "You among wolves now."
  • Also a reference to a phrase B.J. quotes a lot in The New Order and The New Colossus after being fragged:
  "Death at the gates, again."
  • And a scene of The New Order where B.J. has to explore the Nazi-conquered moon:
  "Been to the moon, but this place is stranger, still."
  • His awards for killing two enemies in a row with the dual-wielded Railgun and killing an opponent using his Dual Wield ability are called "Mein Leben" and "Get Psyched", the former being a common death scream of the Nazi soldiers back in Wolfenstein 3D and the latter being the loading screen of that game.

Doom series

• The Doom Slayer's ability mixes the Berserk item from his home series with the Glory Kill mechanic.
  • His final lore entry depicts an artifact resembling a rabbit's foot, referencing Doomguy's pet rabbit Daisy as seen in the endings of Episodes 3 and 4 of the original game.
  • He gets the Metroid Prime-esque Double Jump from the 2016 game as a passive ability.
  • His intro mirrors the beginning of the 2016 game, with him getting his fist ready to punch the camera as if Samuel Hayden was talking to him behind it.
  • He gets his "Praetor Suit" from the 2016 game as his default costume, and also has his Doom³ ("Doom Marine"), Quake III: Arena ("Arena") and classic ("Doom Guy") attires as alternates. The Doom 3 and Doom Guy attires even have a helmetless variation!
  • Of note is his "Doom Marine" attire, filled with references to its source game. For starters, the description of the skin mentions the recent arrival of the marine and Dr. Betruger's betrayal, the helmetless variation is either a nod to Resurrection of Evil or The Lost Missions, the "Flashlight" armor attachment mentions its impossibility to illuminate and fire at the same time (akin to the more Survival Horror-esque Doom 3 versions before Doom 3 BFG) and the "Spare Mags" are shaped like the Machinegun ammunition for that game (though clearly only for show) and the PDA and Air Tanks are there as boot accessories.
  • Meanwhile, the classic armour set has two helmetless variations inspired by the HUD status icon of the original Doom games.
  • Finally, his Vanity accessories are the Doomguy doll (like the one he picked up in the 2016 game) and a Cacodemon head mask.
  • His award for shotgunning an enemy in the second jump is called "Daisy" after his pet rabbit who died at the end of the original Doom campaign.

Quake series

• The game's weaponry is composed of most of Quake's arsenal^note Shotgun, Super Shotgun, Nailgun, Super Nailgun, Rocket Launcher and Lightning Gun/Thunderbolt with Quake II's Machinegun^note As a selectable spawning ranged weapon, alongside the single Shotgun and the Nailgun and Railgun, Quake III: Arena's Gauntlet,^note The lesser brother of Doom's Chainsaw. and Quake Live's Heavy Machinegun.
• Ranger's ability allows him to teleport to any area at any time. The ability is called "Dire Orb". This references the final battle against Shub-Niggurath, where he obtained the orb.
  • His "Raider" costume harkens back to the Quake II multiplayer skins, especially Grunt. It also gets "Fiend bones" as an armour accessory for this costume.
  • His "Gladiator" costume, available by purchasing the Champions Pack, is his Quake appearance, complete with plenty of references. His "Damaged" head accessory gives him the face the status icon has after picking the Quad Damage. According to the description, his "Bracer" armour accessory was forged in the House of Chthon, the first boss map of the game. Also, the description for his "Nail Bandolier" says that the eponymous nails are "Nine inches of cold steel used to crucify the vile"^note NIN's leader Trent Reznor created the soundtrack of the original game and the Nailgun ammo boxes in that game include the band's logo.. The Battle Axe is also included as an armour accessory, "ready and waiting, but full of nightmares he'd rather not revisit"^note Possible reference to the "Nightmare world" set of levels?. The "Ammo Box" leg accessory also references the Nailgun (and has runes closely resembling the NIИ logo as well.). Finally, the "Archaic Keys" leg accessory is the Earth rune itself, and its description is a full-on shout-out to the Dimension of the Doomed ending.
  "You grip the rune of Earth Magic tightly. Now that you have conquered the Dimension of the Doomed, realm of Earth Magic, go forth, seek the totality of the four Runes!"
  • His Vanity accessories are a Shambler Head, and "Spoils of War" which gives him the sword and helmet of a Death Knight as hip accessories. Furthermore, one of his voice lines references the Shambler:
  "When you're twenty feet tall and throwing lightning, then you can face me."
  • The Season 10 update gave him Vanity accessories that reference Scourge of Armagon (the Mjolnir and the Horn of Conjuring) as well as head accessories referencing the Enforcer ("Enforcer Helmet") and Fiend ("Fiendish Hood") enemies.
  • The Summer 2021 update gave him the "Quakeguy" skin to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary; Ranger in all his blocky glory as he appeared back in Quake, named after the Ranger's community nickname before him being named proper in Quake III: Arena.
• Anarki's stimpack ability mirrors the Adrenaline item from Quake II.
• "The Camping Grounds" is back under the name "Blood Covenant".
  • "Blood Run", a third-party map that found its popularity across the entire series and eventually made it into Quake Live as the first third-party map, is also back.
  • Now add "The Longest Yard" as well.
  • There's a Capture the Flag version of "The Longest Yard" introduced in the Fall 2020 update which combines aspects of the namesake map, "The Very End of You" and "Space CTF".
  • The Summer 2021 update added a "Retro" version of Quake's "The Dark Zone" (dm6) to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary.
• Slash's passive allows her to do crouch-sliding akin to Quake IV.
  • Her default costume ("Dragon Blade") is an updated look from her Quake III: Arena appearance.
• Visor's "Eternal" costume is an update of his Quake III: Arena appearance. It even has the Quake III logo!
  • His default design is lifted from the Tactical Strogg enemy mook from Quake IV.
• Galena's appearance is inspired in the Crusader team of Quake III: Team Arena.
• Nyx's design brings up to mind Callisto and Janet from Quake III: Team Arena, as well as Mynx from Quake III: Arena.
  • Her "Wings" Vanity accessory is based on the Strogg insignia from Quake II.
• Sorlag's "Brood Keeper" costume is a recreation of her Quake III: Arena self.
• Keel's default costume, "Revenant", is an updated look from his appearance in III.
  • His "Light Flare Filtering Shades" for his "Revenant" (default) costume reference Klesk, another foe from III.
  • The "K-9000" costume is the bright Keel from Live, which also refers to his own team skins from III.
• Strogg & Peeker's default skin, "Infiltrator", is based on the Strogg Infiltrator class from Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The ability where Peeker is summoned is also one of the abilities of the Infiltrator class in that game. His passive also references a mechanic from ETQW where Stroyent packs are generated from enemies. This particular skin also has a "Hacking Tool" accessory based on the tool the Infiltrator class used in ETQW.
  • There's also an "Oppressor" skin based on the eponymous class from ETQW as well.
  • The "Gladiator" skin is based on the mook as it appears in Quake IV. The skin includes a head accessory called "Rebreather", referencing the eponymous item from Quake II. Meanwhile, the "Wrist Locks" hand accessory references the lightweight Quake II Machinegun and its tendency to aim upwards.
  • The "Cerberon" skin for Peeker as a Vanity accessory references the capital city of the Stroggs, Cerberon, and the events of Quake II.
  • The "Tyrant" costume references Quake II song "March of the Tyrant" and the Enforcer mooks from Quake II.
  • Several of the armour shaders' colour schemes reference the Quake II multiplayer skins.
  • His award for highlighting a kill for an ally while using Peeker is called "Psi Radar", named after one of the Infiltrator's devices back in ETQW.
  • The entries of his Lore Codex are a retelling of the events of Quake II. The first entry mentions that they are sent into Gekk-clearing duties. The Gekk are creatures that first appeared in Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning which can be summed as a weaker version of the Mutant with a ranged blaster attack.
  • The Season 14 update gave him a Vanity accessory called Icarus Gravpack, which is a (non-functional) Icarus module that references both the Icarus enemy from II as well as the Icarus jetpack from ETQW.
• Death Knight's Lore Codex mentions a "Speaker Under the Soil", most likely referring to Shub-Niggurath, the Final Boss of Quake.
• Athena's grappling hook ability is lifted from the Threewave CTF official mods for Quake, Quake II and Quake III Arena.
  • Her passive ability, which allows her to do a double jump on top of certain elements, is lifted from the same movement back in II.
  • Her default costume has the GDF insignia. This insignia first appeared in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
  • Her Coalitions costume is a shoutout to her initial appearance in Quake II.
  • The Season 14 Update gave her a Vanity accessory called "Commandeered Icarus", a green-colored (non-functional) Icarus jetpack that references the Daedalus enemy from Quake II: Ground Zero.
• Speaking of Threewave CTF, the flags of the Capture the Flag mode are based on the flags as they appeared in the Quake and Quake II versions of the Threewave mod.
• The Fall 2021 update added a game type for Arcade Mode called "Impulse 9", named after the Quake cheat code, which grants players infinite ammo, all weapons and no abilities.

Weapon skins

• Gauntlet:
  • The Quake III: Arena Gauntlet ("Pummel").
  • The Quake IV Gauntlet ("Redeemer").
• Machinegun:
  • The Quake II Machinegun ("Stepchild")^note Named after Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero's protagonist.
  • The Quake IV Blaster ("Citizen Kane")^note Additionally references Matthew Kane, IV's protagonist.
• Nailgun:
  • The Quake Nailgun ("Oscillator").
• Shotgun:
  • The Quake Shotgun ("Boomer").
  • The Quake II Shotgun ("Bitterman")^note Named after Quake II's protagonist.
  • The Quake III: Arena Shotgun ("Terminator").
• Heavy Machinegun:
  • The Quake II Chaingun ("Old Painless") (introduced in the Fall 2020 Update).
  • The Quake III: Arena Heavy Machinegun ("Cess Rifle").
  • The Quake IV Machinegun ("Annihilator").
  • The Enemy Territory: Quake Wars GDF Assault Rifle ("N80 Assault Rifle")
• Super Shotgun:
  • The Doom II Super Shotgun ("Boomstick").
  • The Quake Double-Barreled Shotgun ("Double Barreled").
  • The Quake II Super Shotgun ("Trespasser")^note  Named after the Quake II Berserker's "alerted" voiceline.
  • The Quake III: Arena Double-Barreled Shotgun ("Terminator").
  • The Quake IV Shotgun ("Painkiller").
  • The Enemy Territory: Quake Wars GDF Shotgun ("N22 Shotgun").
  • The Doom Eternal Super Shotgun ("Marauder")^note  Based on the eponymous demon's shotgun.
• Super Nailgun:
  • The Quake Super Nailgun ("Perforator").
  • The Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon Laser Cannon ("Last-Ritual").
  • The Quake II Hyperblaster ("Executioner") (Introduced in the Fall 2020 update).
  • The Quake III: Arena Plasma Gun ("Disruptor")^note  Named after a cut item from Quake II: Ground Zero.
  • The Quake IV Nailgun ("Constructor").
  • The Quake IV Hyperblaster ("Ravager").
• Tri-Bolt:
  • The Quake Grenade Launcher ("Trailblazer").
  • The Quake II Grenade Launcher ("Joker")^note Named after Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning's protagonist.
  • The Quake III: Arena Grenade Launcher ("Warthog 3000").
  • The Quake IV Grenade Launcher ("Galang")^note Named after the eponymous Quake IV duel map.
• Rocket Launcher:
  • The Quake Rocket Launcher ("The Original")^note The name is carried over from Valve Software's Team Fortress 2, where the officially licensed by Id Quake I weapon for the Soldier (itself a reskin of the default Rocket Launcher, barring the centred weapon alignment) shared the same name.
  • The Quake II Rocket Launcher ("Peacemaker").
  • The Quake III: Arena Rocket Launcher ("Last Judgement").^note  Previously named "QR3-LL", a reference to an Easter Egg in Wolfenstein: The New Order
  • The Quake IV Rocket Launcher ("Monsoon")^note Named after the eponymous Quake IV duel map.
  • The Enemy Territory: Quake Wars GDF Rocket Launcher ("N72 LAW MK II")
• Lightning Gun:
  • The Quake Thunderbolt ("Thunderbolt").
  • There's a Shambler arm from Quake I as a skin for the weapon, which came with the Winter Season 2020 update.
  • The Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero Plasma Beam ("Incinerator").
  • The Quake III: Arena Lightning Gun ("Shaft").
  • The Quake IV Lightning Gun ("Conductor")^note  Previously named "Strogg Lightning Gun".
• Railgun:
  • The Quake third-person weapon model wielded by the player ("Reaper").
  • The Quake II Railgun ("Malediction").
  • The Quake III: Arena Railgun ("Eraser")^note Named after the eponymous Arnold Schwarzenegger film, whose EM-1 Railgun served as the inspiration for the Railguns featured in Shadow Warrior (1997) and the Quake series as a whole.
  • The Quake IV Railgun ("Violator").
  • The Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Strogg Railgun ("Eradicator")^note Previously named "Strogg Railgun".

General/Other

• The announcement trailer at E3 2016 has a DOS-esque screen with the release dates of Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom, Doom II, Doom³, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and Doom (2016), as well as the name of the then-unnanounced Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
• Ranger's "Quarterback" costume may as well be a reference to Commander Keen. The Season 10 Update gave him a Vanity Accessory called "Camper Gone Fishing"; it's a fishing set that gives him a Dopefish.
• Galena is the closest thing we have to a Hexen/Heretic character. Especially with her Chest Insignia being the Serpent Riders' symbol and her hood and Raven beak Vanity accessory referencing Corvus, Heretic's Player Character - and of course Raven Software, the company responsible for the Heretic and Hexen series.
• Eisen is the closest thing we have for a Team Fortress Classic character, more specifically the Engineer class.

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