Wild Wasteland

"Wild Wasteland unleashes the most bizarre and silly elements of post-apocalyptic America. Not for the faint of heart or the serious of temperament."

- In-game description

 is a trait in Fallout: New Vegas. It adds (and in some cases, changes) random encounters and locations with a humorous, though not necessarily canonical, twist.

In an interview with Chris Avellone, he notes that the Wild Wasteland trait adds more references to older content in Fallout and Fallout 2, in regards to special encounters. Players without Wild Wasteland will find less humorous analogues in places where Wild Wasteland modifies things. According to J.E. Sawyer, the trait was added as a compromise because different members of the team often suggested 'wacky' content that others thought would be out of place.

Events that are modified/triggered by Wild Wasteland are indicated by an "Alien-esque" music that will play for a moment. A message saying "...", and an icon of the Vault Boy with spirals for eyes will appear, identical to the Wild Wasteland icon.

Wild Wasteland encounters
There are 15 major Wild Wasteland encounters throughout New Vegas. Besides encounters, Wild Wasteland also has a few effects on things that also occur in the base game. Although these changes or events are specific to taking the Wild Wasteland trait, their occurrence is not accompanied by the "..." message.

That Fridge Was a Death Trap!
Occurrence: Slightly southeast of Goodsprings, along the road out of town, you will find a refrigerator lying on the desert floor, wherein you will find a curled up skeleton... and a Suave gambler hat.

This is a reference to the fourth Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which Indy survives a nuclear blast by climbing into a lead-lined refrigerator and being catapulted miles away. Many consider this to be possibly one of the silliest stunts in the history of the Indiana Jones franchise, and "Indy's" appearance here seems to suggest the likelier outcome of trying to survive Armageddon inside a fridge.

Crashed Alien Ship
Occurrence: As you close in on the area just north of Horowitz Farmstead, what looked like a mercenary camp from a distance turns into an extra-terrestrial landing, complete with broken spacecraft, and three stranded aliens. If you look closely at the UFO you can see cables and tubes hanging out a hatch (obviously broken). The alien captain has the unique Alien Blaster (though he cannot use it) along with over 100 alien power cells. Two other aliens carry tri-beam laser rifles along with some energy cells and drained energy cells.

What Is It, Boy?
Occurrence: This encounter will only appear with Rex as your companion. At some point, Rex will speak to you with an "aroo!" You then divine that Little Jimmy may have fallen into a well, the location of which is unlocked on your Pip-Boy's world map (northeast of New Vegas, right outside the wall). The well contains an Abilene Kid LE BB gun, 200 BBs, and a straw hat.

A reference to a joke about the 1954 Lassie TV series, where Timmy was frequently rescued after Lassie warned somebody. On the TV show Timmy never fell into a well, though he did get in a lot of similar predicaments.

Maud's Muggers
Occurrence: When you exit Cerulean Robotics, a group of three elderly women (know as Maud's Muggers) named Irate Ida, Rancorous Ruth and Malefic Maud wearing pre-war spring outfits and armed with rolling pins and switchblades will attack you. They often have a small amount of caps a piece showing the 'success' of previous muggings.

This is possibly a reference to a Monty Python sketch named Hell's Grannies. The drunks in Freeside and James Garrett of the Atomic Wrangler may occasionally mention them.

Getting Too Close
Occurrence: During the quest I Put a Spell on You, if you unwittingly divulge to Captain Curtis that you know a mole is using the Control Tower during the night and then stake it out, he ambushes you there. Right before the ambush occurs, Curtis says "You're getting too close, seamus!".

A reference to Carmen Sandiego.

R.O.U.S.
Occurrence: You may not think they exist, but in certain underground locations, such as the New Vegas Sewers, the Broc Flower Cave, or Vaults with peeling election posters, are rats one-and-a-half to two-times bigger than normal. These are Rodents of Unusual Size.

This is a reference to The Princess Bride and the R.O.U.S.s that inhabit the Fire Swamp.

Owen and Beru
Occurrence: Located just in front of a ruined Nipton house, to the right of the town hall, there are two corpses. One looks to be a male human, while the other is female, lying next to each other. They look like they've been charred. Looking at the burned corpses will reveal the male to be named "Owen" and the female "Beru".

This is a reference to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where Luke Skywalker's uncle Owen Lars and aunt Beru Lars are burned to death and their charred corpses are shown.

Romanes Eunt Domus
Occurrence: Scrawled on a concrete building in Cottonwood Cove, some upstart has scrawled the graffiti Romanes Eunt Domus.

This is a reference to Monty Python's The Life of Brian where Brian is writing graffiti on the palace wall and uses the same incorrect conjugation, trying to write "Romans go home" but instead writes 'People called Romanes they go the house'.

Crusoe Sucks as an Investigator
Occurrence: During the side quest Beyond the Beef, a dead investigator is discovered inside an Ultra-Luxe hotel room. Further investigation of this crime-scene reveals his name to be "Crusoe," with a shock of red hair, sunglasses and a business suit.

This could be a reference to Horatio Caine from CSI: Miami, who is portrayed by David Caruso (red hair, sunglasses).

The Future of Law Enforcement
Occurrence: If you frame Heck Gunderson during the Beyond the Beef side quest you may hear the arresting Securitron say: "Dead or alive, you're coming with me" and "Your move creep". Players may also over hear the Securitons saying this instead of their usual banter on the Strip.

This is a reference to the 1987 film RoboCop, when he confronts a criminal.

The One


Occurrence: Slightly north-west of the Devil's Throat is a large, unexploded bomb known as The One. Amid the crackle of your Geiger counter, you can open up the bomb, and scavenge some energy weapon ammunition, if you can stand the Glowing One and super mutant master attacks.

Johnny Five-Aces
Occurrence: During Barton Thorn's quest, you're instructed to investigate an overlook south of Goodsprings. There's a dead Prospector up here named Johnny, wearing glasses, with a glass pitcher next to him, and five aces on the table. On the cliff are four balls in a line.

This is a reference to the failed game project Zybourne Clock, more specifically to its protagonist, "Johnny Five-Aces", as well as a metaphorical explanation of time-travel involving four balls placed on the edge of a cliff. Initially announced on the Something Awful forums, the project featured questionable artwork and a somewhat convoluted plot material, and eventually became a forum meme.

Game Over Man, Game Over!
Occurrence: If you're listening to the NCR Emergency Radio during the final battle for Hoover Dam, among the chatter about positioning snipers and reinforcing positions you may hear lines "They're coming out of the walls man! They're coming outta the damn walls." and "[Panic] Game Over Man! GAME OVER!".

This is a reference to Bill Paxton's character Private First Class William Hudson from Aliens.

Dammit, I'm an ambassador
Occurrence: During the quest Kings' Gambit, there is a dialogue option for the trait when discussing dealing with Pacer with Ambassador Crocker. You tell him that Pacer has a heart condition and is addicted to Jet and insinuate that Crocker ought to be able to figure out what to do with that information. He responds with "Damn it, I'm an ambassador, not a doctor!", a permutation of the phrase "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not an {Insert Profession Here}" often attributed to Leonard "Bones" McCoy on Star Trek.

Holy Hand Grenades
Occurrence: In the south church of Camp Searchlight, there are 3 Holy Frag Grenades on a table. The writing on a box beside these grenades reads "Pull the pin and count to 5 3 "

Reference to the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

Donnie and Marie
If the player warns Motor-Runner that they are there to kill him, Motor-Runner will refer to his dogs (BoneGnash and GhashBone) as "Donnie and Marie" before engaging the player in combat. There is also a script that would cause BoneGnash and GhashBone to be renamed to Donnie and Marie, though it is unused.

Pimp-Boy 3 Billion
After you acquire the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion from Mick in Mick & Ralph's, some disco music will play every time the Pimp-Boy is equipped.

Mr. New Vegas
Mr. New Vegas has a number of special intro lines that only play with Wild Wasteland:


 * "Stay classy, New Vegas." - a reference to the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy


 * "I once tried to measure my Charisma on a Vit-o-Matic Vigor Tester once. The machine burst into flames."


 * "Mojave, mo' problems, am I right?" - a reference to The Notorious B.I.G's song, Mo' Money, Mo' Problems.

EXTERMINATE!
While in combat, the Freeside Securitrons guarding The Strip North Gate will repeatedly shout, "Exterminate!" This is a declaration frequently made by the Daleks, a genocidal race of cyborgs and recurring villains in the science fiction television series Doctor Who.

They got better
If your reputation with Freeside has reached Vilified, some Freeside residents may harass you by saying, "Witch! Witch! You should be burned for all the people you've turned into newts!" This is a reference to a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where a villager accuses a woman of witchcraft for turning him into a newt, despite the fact that he is still human.

Hound dog
While in Freeside, Cass may be whistled at or otherwise hit on by members of the Kings, to which she will respond dismissively, "ain't nothing but a hound dog". Without the trait, Cass will mutter "somebody's asking for a boot in their fusebox". This is a reference to the song of the same name by "Big Momma" Thornton, covered years later by Elvis Presley.

Credits
The credits are significantly changed with Wild Wasteland. Most names will now carry a rather silly nickname, and other nonsense messages from the developers are interjected semi-randomly. This is a holdover from the developer comment credits from the first two Fallout games.

G is for Ghost People
In the add-on Dead Money, the companion Dog and God will say "OM NOM NOM" when eating Ghost People. This is a reference to the internet meme, where OM NOM NOM represents eating something. The meme originates from the sound Cookie Monster makes while eating cookies in the Sesame Street TV series.

Get an axe!
When Dean Domino kills his first Ghost Person he will say, "He's not dead... it's a trick. Get an axe." This is a reference to a scene near the beginning of Army of Darkness, wherin the series' hero: Ashley "Ash" Williams cautions a knight against touching a seemingly deceased Deadite who, true to his warning, proves to be merely faking.

Two-Bears-High-Fiving
A Dead Horses tribal named Two-Bears-High-Fiving will rush out of the Angel Cave. This refers to a mod from New Vegas Nexus that makes it optional to select the dialogue "Two bears high fiving" during the beginning of Fallout: New Vegas, while being tested by Doc Mitchell.

Winners don't use drugs
When speaking to White Bird with the trait active, during the Rite of Passage quest, he will shout, "TAKE DRUGS, KILL A BEAR!" when giving the Courier the quest objective. This is probably a reference to the "Advice Dog" internet meme.

Old World Blues

 * When entering the Magnetohydraulics Complex, directly to the left of the courier is an object called a Walking Eye this could possibly (judging by the appearance of the "Walking Eye") be a reference to one of the personality spheres from the game Portal. (confirmation needed)It could also be reference to the Venture Bros episode Fallen arches where Dr. Venture builds a walking eye.
 * When looking for Gabe in Higg's Village, a miniature deathclaw will attack the player doing as much damage as the legendary deathclaw.
 * Inside X-7a "Left Field" Artillery Launch you'll encounter a Wild Wasteland Encounter (confirmation needed)
 * Upon entering the second test in the X-8 facility, immediately turn left and go to the window. You will see 5 cyberdogs sitting around a table playing poker. This is a reference to the paintings by C. M. Coolidge (1903) 'Dogs Playing Poker'. Most likely the painting 'Waterloo Dogs Playing Poker' (1906).
 * On the walls of the Think Tank you will see something that says "Kilroy was here". This is a reference to World War II where United States servicemen, who would draw the doodle and the text "Kilroy was here" on the walls and other places they were stationed, encamped, or visited.
 * When X-8 Research Center, during the simulation you'll encounter a high school wall that has a Red Dawn "Wolverines" reference.
 * At the construction site there are 7 intact garden gnomes mining the red diamonds, likely referencing Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
 * At the X-12 Research Center(possibly other locations please confirm) it is possible to hear the Y-12 Master Trauma Harness say "Hey who turned out the lights?!" which is yet another Dr. Who reference from the Episode Silence in the library.
 * Just slightly northeast of the Big MT West Tunnel there will be an abandoned truck stuck in a rock. Upon nearing the truck, 2 Sentry Bot MK3's will appear and attack the player. The truck's cab is separated from the rest of the truck and appears on the other side of the hill. The back of the truck is irradiated and bears a New Jersey license plate that reads "Rokit 88"

Bugs

 * BoneGnash and GhashBone are not renamed if the player takes the Wild Wasteland trait, despite Motor-Runner referring to them as "Donnie and Marie". Resources which would allow for them to be renamed exist, but are not implemented.
 * The special dialogue on the NCR Emergency Radio channel may be processed while there are no radios tuned in to the station, causing the "..." message to appear for seemingly no reason.
 * Sometimes even without the trait, Two-Bears-High-Fiving will still appear to the Courier.

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