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

•  Wukong and  Nezha are based on Chinese deities of the same name.
  • Nezha Jinza Helmet may refer to a character in Chinese mythology named Jinzha, the eldest brother of Nezha.
  • Wukong Dasheng Helmet is derived from Qítiān Dàshèng (齊天大聖), or "Great Sage, Equal of Heaven", one of the many titles granted upon Sun Wukong.

Egyptian

• Inaros Anubis Helmet and Anpu Staff Skin are named after Anubis (or Anpu), the god of death, mummification, and the afterlife in Egyptian religion.
• Inaros Osiris Helmet is named after Osiris, the god of fertility, agriculture, and the afterlife in Egyptian religion.
• Valkyr Bastet Helmet is named after Bastet, the goddess of cats, protection, fertility, pregnancy, and warfare.
•  Sobek is named after the ancient Egyptian God of the Nile River, likely reflecting how the overall shape of the gun resembles a crocodile's head.
• Konzu may be named after Khonsu, an ancient Egyptian god said to watch over those who travel at night.
• Amalgam Heqet is named after Heqet, a goddess of fertility.

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.

Greek/Roman

•  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'  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 inspiration for  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.
•  Nyx's namesake comes from the Greek goddess of the night.
•  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's namesake comes from Gorgons in Greek mythology.

Hindu

•  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 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 wikipedia:Sri Lanka.
•  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 (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.

Norse

•  Hildryn,  Ivara,  Loki, and  Valkyr have their names tied to Norse mythology.
  • Hildryn being named after the valkyrie Hildr.
  • Ivara is a name derived from the Old Norse word Ívarr, which means "tree warrior".
    • In Norse legend, the similarly named Ivar the Boneless was a legendary warrior heralded as a deadly archer.
    • The Ivara Skathi Skin's name is rooted in Norse mythology.
      • Skathi is an anglicization of the Norse goddess Skaði who is associated with bowhunting.
      • Additionally, the Thiazi Syandana that comes with the Ivara Skathi Collection is named after Skaði's deceased father Þjazi.
  • Loki being named after the god of trickery.
    • Dual Swords Nari & Vali Skin is named after Nari and Váli, the two sons of Loki.
  • Valkyr being named after valkyries.
    • Valkyr Kara Helmet and Valkyr Gersemi Skin are also named after figures in Norse mythology.
• The  Gram was named after the sword of Sigurd (sometimes known as Siegfried) from Norse mythology.
• Gemini Nikana Sheath has two swords named after Ymir, a frost giant, and Surt (or Surtr), a fire giant.
• Fragor Brokk Skin is derived from Brokkr, a dwarf in Norse mythology who forged the hammer Mjöllnir as part of a bet between him and Loki.
• Frost Jotun Helmet is derived from Jötunn in Norse mythology.

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 recide 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
•  Excalibur is named after the legendary sword of King Arthur in Arthurian legend.
•  Oberon and  Titania are names of fairies in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
  •  Oberon is also the name the king of fairies in medieval literature.
•  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.

Movies

• As confirmed on Devstream 124, Nora Night's character was inspired by D.J. (Lynne Thigpen) from the cult-classic crime film The Warriors (1979).
• The Nightwave challenge "Walk Without Rhythm" is a reference to the film Tremors (1990).

Sciences

• The Star Chart contains many of the celestial bodies in the Solar System.
• shares its name with the element Argon (symbol: Ar), the 18th element in the periodic table.
• is a term for a compound of carbon and a metal in chemistry.
• 's name may be based off 2-hexanone, a neurotoxic ketone of hexane, which can appear as a bright yellow liquid.
• shares its name with the element Tellurium (symbol: Te), the 52nd element in the periodic table.
• shares its name with the element Titanium (symbol: Ti), the 22nd element in the periodic table.
• is a scientific name for alpha-iron or pure iron. It is used in carbon-iron alloys.
•  Kohm's and  Kohmak's namesake is likely derived from ohm (Ω), a unit for measuring electrical resistance.
•  Amprex's namesake is a portmanteau of the words ampere (the base unit of the International System of Units used to quantify electric current) and the word rex, which is the Latin word for king.

Nature

• The design of the Diriga resembles a Portuguese man o' war, a jellyfish-like organism with a distinctive "sail" on its body.
•  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.

Historical

•  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.
•  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.
•  Vauban was named after the French military engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
•  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.

Video Games

• Dark Sector
  • Throughout the game players can complete missions known as "Dark Sectors".
    • These missions feature Infested enemies, converted by Technocytes. Dark Sector's plot revolved around a similar technocyte virus.
  • The Excalibur Proto-Armor Skin and Glaive Proto Skin are visually identical to the signature armor and weapon of Dark Sector's protagonist, Hayden Tenno.
    • The Nyx Nemesis Skin is also identical to Nemesis, a boss in Dark Sector.
    • Hayden Tenno shares his name with the Tenno.
  • Cyber-suit troopers, Maulers, Jackals and Stingers bear a striking resemblance to Nox, Shield Lancers, Jackals and Zealoid Bastions/Zealoid Prelates respectively.
  • Stalker and Chroma share their names with enemies from Dark Sector.
  • The  Lex and its variants all share the firing sound of the Hammer 1895 revolver.
    •  Lex and  Aklex are also visually similar to the Tekna 9mm.
  • The Duviri Paradox trailer in TennoCon 2019 revealed a character who bared a striking resemblance to Hayden Tenno. However, Devstream 129 claimed the resemblance was coincidental.
• Frame Fighter's logo is a parody of the logo of Street Fighter V, which was released in February 2016 and is part of the long-running Street Fighter series of Fighting games developed by Capcom.
• During the Heart of Deimos quest, the player pilots a Voidrig Necramech, dubbed Snake. Father will call out "Snake? SNAAAAAAKE!!!!" if the player dies while controlling it, mirroring how the mission control characters from the Metal Gear Solid series would react when the player character, also named Snake, died.
• Happy Zephyr was added in Update 12.1 (2014-02-13) as a tribute to the then-popular mobile game Flappy Bird, which was removed from official app stores by its developer around the period said update was released.
• Wyrmius is a portmanteau of Wyrm and Gradius, the latter of which is a long-running series of scrolling shooters developed by Konami.

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", mimicing a meme from the Chernobyl miniseries "3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible".
• "Press F to Thank" after recieving 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

• In Cetus, Fortuna, and the Necralisk an intractable Digital Extremes logo can be found. Interacting with it will cause the names of DE's employees to scroll down in the classic end-credit style.
  • Hayden Tenno is also credited among the list.
• In the Corpus Gas City tileset, there is a room where two Domestik Drones named Daphinis and Chloe are hidden beneath an elevator. Their names are referencing the ancient Greek novel Daphnis and Chloe.