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Real-World References

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Stances and other sources of trivia

WARFRAME contains many references to the world outside of the in-game universe. This page serves to document these allusions as noted on many articles' Trivia sections.

Mythology and Religion[]

Chinese[]

Egyptian[]

European[]

  • Wyrm is based on a mythological dragon from European folklore with leathery, bat-like wings, and a long, muscular tail. The sentinel bears a similar resemblance.

Finnish[]

  • The name KullervoIcon272 Kullervo (kulːerʋo) is likely based on the same fictional character from the Finnish national epic, Kalevala, which follows the tale of an ill-fated man who experiences tragedies throughout his life.

Greek/Roman[]

  • AtlasIcon272 Atlas' namesake comes from the Titan Atlas who held up the sky, typically portrayed carrying a large celestial sphere upon his shoulders. Other aspects of Atlas' design are similarly inspired by Greek myth:
    • Atlas' Petrify130xWhite Petrify ability is a tribute to the Gorgon Medusa through which the Titan met his demise. The hero Perseus, who slew Medusa, would use her severed head to turn many of his adversaries to stone, including Atlas who was transformed into a range of mountains.
    • Atlas' passive immunity to knockdowns while grounded is inspired by the giant Antaeus who would challenge opponents to wrestling matches and was invincible as long as he was in contact with the ground.
  • The Eros Arrow Skin is named after Eros the Greek god of physical love, who able to make people fall in love using his bow and arrow.
    • The actual heart shape of the arrows is likely based on his Roman counterpart, Cupid, who is sometimes depicted as having heart tipped arrows.
  • IvaraIcon272 Ivara's Artemis Bow, both the weapon and the ability, are named off of the Greek Goddess of the Hunt and Archery, Artemis. One of her primary symbols are a Bow and Arrows.
  • The inspiration for KhoraIcon272 Khora's name may come from the Greek goddess Kore (also known as Persephone), queen of the underworld and wife to Hades, god of the dead and king of the underworld.
  • NyxIcon272 Nyx's namesake comes from the Greek goddess of the night.
  • ZephyrIcon272 Zephyr's name is derived from Zephyrus, one of the four most important Anemoi in Greek legend. Zephyrus holds domain over the west wind and flowers, and he also serves as a messenger for Aphrodite and Eros.
  • Neptune is named after the Roman God of the sea. Its missions are named after Neptune's moons.
    • The moons in turn are named after water gods, deities, and creatures in Greek mythology.
  • Helios' namesake comes from the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology.
  • Oxylus's refers to multiple people in Greek mythology:
    • Son of Ares and Protogeneia, daughter of Calydon.
    • A one-eyed man from Aetolia who was exiled due to unintentional homicide.
    • Son of Orius.
  • Gorgon Gorgon's namesake comes from Gorgons in Greek mythology.
  • The name of StyanaxIcon272 Styanax likely draws inspiration from the Greek mythological character Astyanax, a nickname given by the people of Troy to Scamandrius, son of Hector the crown prince of Troy and princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe. The name itself means "Ruler of the City" from Άστυ, city and Άναξ, ruler or king.

Hindu[]

  • KuvaBramma Kuva Bramma's name is derived from the Brahmastra, powerful weapons in Hindu mythology said to have been forged by the deity Brahma. The Brahmastra are commonly depicted as arrows and are capable of utterly destroying whatever they hit.
  • Lanka Lanka is the name of an island fortress in Hindu mythology. This fortress is said to surpass even modern-day structures. This, in turn, is also a reference to the modern-day country of Sri Lanka.
  • GarudaIcon272 Garuda is named after a legendary bird-like creature in Hindu mythology who serves as Vishnu's mount. Garuda also has ties to Buddhist and Jain mythology.
    • Nagantaka Nagantaka (नागांतक), Hindi for "The Ender of Snakes", "Naga" = Snake, and "antak"= Ender, was one of Garuda's alternate names. This name was given to Garuda as he, according to the mythology, preferred eating the meat of snakes.
  • Nova Asuri Skin is derived from the Asuras, powerful beings in Hindu mythology who would compete for power with the benevolent Devas. Artistic depictions of both Asuras and Devas usually gave them multiple arms and/or heads as a way of emphasizing their immense power.
  • In the Focus/Naramon, Madurai is mentioned, which is a direct reference to a city in India.

Slavic[]

  • Two Sedna missions are named after slavic water spirits:
    • Rusalka is a female entity, often malicious towards mankind.
    • Vodyanoy is a male water spirit.

Hungarian[]

Irish[]

  • The name BansheeIcon272 Banshee comes from the Irish mythological creature which wails loudly if someone is about to die. This corresponds to the Warframe's powers as she is based on sound.
  • The name "Fomorian" is taken from the Irish mythology, an Anglicized version of "Formoire", referring to a mythical semi-divine race that supposedly once ruled Ireland. Many of the Fomorians encountered during Operation Sling-Stone have names shared by their mythological counterparts.
    • The Formorian stationed at Neptune is named Lugh, a deity from Irish Mythology who sided against the Fomorians during The Battle of Magh Tuireadh. In that battle, Lugh kills Balor by shooting a sling-stone into his eye, causing it to erupt from the back of Balor's head and wreaking havoc at the Fomorians behind him, ultimately providing the name of the event.
    • Balor (modern spelling: "Balar") himself was a leader of the Fomorians in Irish mythology. He is often described as a giant with a large eye in his forehead that wreaks destruction when opened, and has been interpreted as a god or personification of drought and blight. He no doubt serve as the basis for the Balor Fomorian's name and Relay-destroying cannon.
  • Tusk Firbolg dropships take their name from the mythical Fir Bolg people of Ireland.
  • Ogma (also spelled as "Oghma") is the name of an ancient Irish god of strength and skill. Ironically, he was one of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, the greatest foes of the Fomorian giants.
  • Sonicor Cliona Skin is named after Clíodhna, the Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a supernatural race in Irish mythology.

Lithuanian[]

The name VorunaIcon272 Voruna is a variation of Žvorūna, a name synonymous to Medeina, the Lithuanian goddess of forests, trees, and animals. In Lithuanian mythology, she is described as a lone voluptuous and beautiful huntress often escorted by a pack of wolves, with her form exuding both divine and demonic traits.

Norse[]

Other[]

  • Djinn's namesake comes from mystical creatures of ancient Arabian mythology believed to live on the same physical plane as humans but in another unseen dimension.
  • Shade may be named after spirits or ghosts that reside in the underworld.

Literature[]

  • Nora Night's radio scanner dialogue:
    • "If nothing saves us from death, [...]" is a quote by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.
    • "For ten years I have been polishing this sword. [...]" is a quote by the Chinese poet Jia Dao.
    • "The Red King is at the dance" while possibly an allusion to Hunhow, it's also a reference to Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" saga as an alias to the main antagonist, The Crimson King.
    • "It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be." is an attribution by English philosopher Francis Bacon to the Roman poet Virgil.
  • Some meditation quotes from Cephalon Cy are adapted from literature:
    • "That which can be destroyed by the truth should be." - P. C. Hodgell, Seeker's Mask
    • "It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet" - Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy
    • "In battle, if you make your opponent flinch, you have already won." - Miyamoto Musashi
  • Ticker's line "We are all the Universe in drag." appears to be paraphrased from a quote by the American spiritualist Ram Dass: “Treat everyone you meet like God in drag.”
  • ExcaliburIcon272 Excalibur is named after the legendary sword of King Arthur in Arthurian legend. In some stories it is said that Excalibur shined so brightly that Arthur's enemies were blinded by its radience when he drew it; the ability Radial Blind is likely inspired by this.
  • OberonIcon272 Oberon and TitaniaIcon272 Titania are names of fairies in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
    • OberonIcon272 Oberon is also the name the king of fairies in medieval literature.
  • CalibanIcon Caliban is the name of a half-man, half-monster creature in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
  • GrendelIcon272 Grendel is named for the villainous giant in the epic poem Beowulf. Among Grendel's epithets is "the destroyer and devourer of our human kind," and he is described as eating the flesh from the humans he kills.
  • During the Ambulas fight Frohd Bek calls the Tenno "stainless steel rats", possibly a reference to the character of the same name created by science-fiction author Harry Harrison.
  • The Nightwave challenge "Walk Without Rhythm" is a reference to the science fiction novel Dune (1965).

Movies[]

Sciences[]

Nature[]

  • The design of the Diriga resembles a Portuguese man o' war, a jellyfish-like organism with a distinctive "sail" on its body.
  • Panthera Panthera's namesake comes from the genus Panthera within the Felidae family that includes the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. They are characterized by morphological structures in their throats that allow them to roar.
  • All of the MOA companion models are named after certain genera of Hadrosaurid dinosaurs: Oloro is named after the Olorotitan, Lambeo is named after Lambeosaurus, and Para is named after Parasaurolophus.
    • The Nychus model introduced in Update 28.0 (2020-06-11) is named after a theropod, Deinonychus.
    • Besides Lambeo, all of the MOA models share similar (albeit stylized) head shapes with the dinosaurs they are named for.
  • RhinoIcon272 Rhino is the abbreviation of rhinoceros.

Historical[]

  • GaussIcon272 Gauss is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, the German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and sciences. Most notably in electromagnetism, differential geometry, algebra, and statistics.
  • InarosIcon272 Inaros has two possible namesakes, both of which are figures in ancient Egyptian history and are often confused with each other:
    • Inaros II, an ancient Egyptian ruler who rebelled against the Persians in 460 BC.
    • Inaros I, an ancient Egyptian prince who rebelled against the Assyrians in 665 BC, 200 years prior to the reign of Inaros II.
  • VaubanIcon272 Vauban was named after the French military engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
  • Zhuge Zhuge is named after the Chinese word for the repeating crossbow, Zhūgé nǔ (諸葛弩), literally meaning "the Zhuge [Liang] crossbow", in turn named after its purported inventor Zhuge Liang.
  • Narmer is named after an Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period, known for being the first king of a unified Egypt.
  • According to [DE]Pablo, the name LavosIcon272 Lavos took inspiration from Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist

Video Games[]

Pop-Culture[]

  • Upon Nihil's defeat, Nora Night will message the player mentioning that he is "bottled up like some rich lady's bath water" a reference to when popular internet influencer Belle Delphine sold her bottled bath water.
  • During Nightwave Series 3, there is an Corpus datapad that says "Transmit wave reading shows (3.6/6.3/36) Picos, not great, not terrible", mimicking a meme from the Chernobyl miniseries "3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible".
  • "Press F to Thank" after receiving a True Master's Font is likely a reference to the internet meme "Press F to Pay Respects" that originated from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Easter Eggs[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Devstream #124 9:42
  2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/tfo14v/noras_mix_volume_1_update_3120/i0x0ll1/ (Archived)
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