Champions Online pretty much runs on these to an incredibly large degree. Name a work of media and there will probably be a reference.
- Team Fortress 2, twice. There're hidden NPCs resembling Heavy, Spy, Pyro, and Soldier, and in Vibora Bay, in the arcades you can see Team Buttress 2 and Left 4 Lunch
- Warhammer40000: In reference to Ork using their teeth as money and referring to it as "Teef".
- Qwyjibo is named after a word Bart Simpson invented in order to win at Scrabble, what's even better is that he pretty much fits the definition Bart gives.
- Hulk-expy Grond: "You as uninteresting as rival MMO! Grond leave now."
- Animal Crossing: In Monster Island, look for an NPC named Tim Nook who sells loan installments on a suspicious land (reminds you of a certain raccoon who forces players to buy a lot in a certain land?). Oh, and buying one loan (which is cheap) results in a perk/achievement aptly named "Manimal Crossing".
- The Archetype "The Unleashed" is one massive shoutout to Star Wars, Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Force Unleashed.
- If you take a closer look at some of the buildings in Millennium City, you'll find some familiar names:
- Noah's Arcade
- Lackluster Video
- One of the bad guys in the Sapphire stalker arc in Vibora is a sparkling vampire by the name of Edmund Cully. No points for guessing what this references.
- Two DEMON officials in the late game are called Aleisteria Crovay and Antonia Crovay - a Shout-Out to famous Satanists Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey.
- There's a bank teller named Jon E.Cash
- In the Vibora Bay labyrinth – er – maze, a dancing NPC appears in the middle circle at times and says "I'm Bowii the Goblin King, dance with me." Guess who he looks like.
- One of the earned character titles is "Winter of Discontent"
- There have been no confirmed in-game sightings of it, but a former dev has gone on record stating that there is a coded event in the Southwest Desert for a flying fridge to randomly hit the player.
- The entire WCOC Newsroom is a large-scale shout-out to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
- At Force Station Steelhead, there are two Lieutenants named Robert and Douglas Mackenzie, who are a reference to the main characters of the movie Strange Brew
- The Second Issue of the comic series Whiteout has a list of references to The Thing (1982)
- The Roinesh are based on the title alien, except they can also shapeshift into inanimate objects.
- Some of the survivors you have to rescue are based on characters that appear in the movie.
- Jane Clark is based on Clark, the dog handler.
- Peter Bennings is probably the brother of George Bennings the first person to be infected by the Thing.
- Keith Childs is a combination of Childs and Keith David, the actor who portrayed him.
- McReady makes an appearance at the end of the issue, an obvious reference to Kurt Russell's character
- The Steelhead Flamethrower you get for defeating the Roinesh Commander is the best weapon to use against the Thing .
- Snake Gulch, a Wild West Theme Park populated by cowboy robots who have rebelled against humanity is most likely a reference to Westworld.
- In a dock at the south of Monster Island you can find three Viper soldiers named Vinz Clortho, Zuul and Gozer.
- There's a quest in Millennium City called "Chew Bubble Gum and" which has you fighting a guy named Reckless Roger Piker and taking his special glasses which allow the wearer to see through the holographic disguises of Gadroon invaders.
- There's a quest called "The Glasses Menagerie."
- Finding all of Sammie Croix's lost dollies awards the perk "Voodoo Child."
- The " Unusual Dance" emote is the Carlton Dance.
- One of the quests on Monster Island is called "Where the Wild Things Are."
