Cultural reference

Numerous Easter eggs are one of the staples of the Fallout series. These are instances where something or someone from pop culture or the real world is referenced in the game itself, e.g. Fallout 2 has an encounter with King Arthur.

Doctor Who
One of the random encounters in the desert involves the player finding a blue telephone box; as the player approaches it, a light on top begins to spin and it dematerializes. This is the TARDIS, a time-traveling ship from the UK TV series Doctor Who.

South Park
If you kill Officer Kenny in the Hub, a character will exclaim "Oh my god, you killed Kenny!"

The Simpsons
The intro movie shows a TV with the brand name Radiation King, which is the name of the TV Homer had as a young boy.

Fallout 2
See also Fallout 2 special encounters

Fallout 1
(beyond the issue of a related storyline, etc.) On level three of the Vault in Vault City, you come across a guy who doesn't get out much and has very poor people skills. He passes his time by singing to himself. What does he sing? Well, he sings the song "Maybe" by The Inkspots. Fallout players will recognize this as the song in the opening and ending credits of the original.

The Goonies
Reference to the movie "The Goonies" When you go down into the well in the center of town in Modoc, you'll see several bags of coins lying around. If you pick one up, then your character will say a line almost identical to the line spoken by "Mouth" (played by Corey Feldman) in The Goonies when he and his friends find themselves at the bottom of a wishing well.

Funny Farm
(It starred Chevy Chase) - In the town of Modoc when you go to Rose's Bed & Breakfast, you can enter into the Brahmin Fry Eating Contest. Right as you break the record, you learn the the Brahmin Fries are actually Brahmin testicles. In the movie "Funny Farm", Chevy Chase enters a Lamb Fry Eating Contest and his reaction (when he learns that they are sheep testicles) to it is identical to your character's in the game.

The Wizard of Oz
In the Northern California Republic, you'll come across a girl and her robot standing outside of a building. The girl's name is Dorothy, and her trusty robot who follows her everywhere is Toto.

In the Special encounter The Tin Man, the player encounters someone standing, rigid and unmoving, in power armor, saying repeatedly, "Oil can". When the player uses a nearby Oil Can on the figure's armor, the Tin Man walks away, after gifting the player with a Micro Fusion Cell.

Silence Of the Lambs
In Sierra Army Base, you can find the medical holodisc of Dr. H. Lector, who sends some liver, from a cadaver, and fava beans to some soldiers who played a joke on him by setting the Organ Extractor to extract only brains.

The Chosen One makes the "with some fava beans and a light chianti" reference when attempting to get Chip's spleen back from Dr Wong in Chinatown.

NIN: Head like a hole
Tanker vagrant: "In fact, I would rather die than give you control" The mild delivery of this line is a contrast to the real thing.

The Princess Bride
Trapper town is the home of way too many rats, and a man who will tell you of Rodents of Unusual Size, a reference to the beasties from the swamp in The Princess Bride, combined with a timely warning about Pig Rats and Mole rats below the town.

Magic the Gathering
In Gecko location, go to the bar and talk to the bartender, Wooz. He will try to get you to buy a card game called 'Tragic: The Garnering'. Known cards are Vox Muby, and Black Dahlia. Games take many hours. "I won! F..k you! You are dumb. I have crushed you." - Wooz

They Live
When you go to Redding and talk the sheriff, somewhere along the line your character will say "I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum" - Duke's famous words also included the final phrase "..and I'm all out of gum".

Star Wars
In Klamath, if you ask Whiskey Bob about the Den, he says "You will not find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Now where did I hear that?" Obi-Wan spoke the first sentence in Star Wars, describing the Mos Eisley spaceport.

In New Reno, the Golden Globe porn actress says "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?". This is Princess Leia's line from Star Wars - A New Hope.

Terminator
The computer intelligence that uploads itself into the Sierra Army Depot Brainbot is called Skynet. Skynet can join the player's party. The computer intelligence that became self aware and created a robotic revolution against humans in Terminator was identically named.

George Lucas and James Cameron
In Arroyo Lucas, by the giant sculpted stone head, trains the player in Unarmed skill if that skill is 55% or less. Also in Arroyo, at the top of the map, Cameron will train the player in both Unarmed and Melee weapons if the player has 6 or less Agility and has no combat skills tagged. Both Lucas and Cameron are famous as directors/producers of action-science fiction films, Lucas most famously, for Star Wars, and Cameron for Terminator, both of which are also referenced in Fallout 2.

Fallout Team
In Arroyo, the Chosen One's nephew standing by the well is named Feargus. As in Feargus Urquhart, founder of Black Isle, the developer of Fallout and Fallout 2. Another Feargus is the subordinate of President of NCR Tandi, whose report to the Raiders in Vault 15, when found by the Chosen One, exposes him as a traitor. Per Jorner: "Ever wondered why there is at least one Feargus or similarly named character in each of Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale? It might have something to do with Black Isle director Feargus MacRae Urquhart; there are close to a dozen names in these games derived from his (including Cassidy's original name, which shows up if you sell him to Metzger). Names of other developers abound, but none of them sticks out as much. "Smitty" is another ubiquitous cognomen - there are four of those in the two Fallout games, and there might well have been a fifth..."The Nearly Ultimate Fallout 2 Guide by Per Jorner. Many tombstones, notably in Golgotha, mention names of people in the Fallout 2 team.

When you are in New Reno, watch the graffiti for names like T. Ray and other developer names. T-Ray is the head mechanic in the Chop Shop, see below. If you refrain from taking mortal revenge on him for stealing your car, he can improve its fuel consumption and carrying capacity.

Chrysler Automotive
Chrysalis Motors is the make of the drivable Car, and mentioned numerous times, notably in nearly a dozen overhead npc lines in the Chop Shop, where the Car ends up after it is stolen in New Reno.

KFC
Talk to the Dunton Brothers. Ask them about their jerky, and they will say: "It's made with eleven herbs and spices, and it's finger-lickin' good".

South Park
You can find boxes of Cheese Poofs at various points in the game.

Robert Service
(Poet) The two head miners, Dangerous Dan McGrew and Marge, from Lake LeBarge, from The Ballad of Dan McGrew, and the Ballad of Sam McGee. Both of them died very grisly deaths.

Dangerous Dan McGrew was later the chosen name of Red Dwarf's hologrammatic character when entering into a deadly 19th Century Western hologram simulation.

Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land
Josh: "Why, I hear that tribals eat their damn dead." ... Chosen One: "How else would we Grok their essence?"

Short Circuit and 2001: A Space Odyssey
A robot in the canyon near Klamath says "number five is alive" while attacking. That was robot's "Number Five" favorite words. He also says "Dave, I wouldn't do that", and "I'm sorry Dave". That's what Hal says from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Wallstreet
(Movie) In Gecko, when you talk to the mutant outside the old (at least non functioning) reactor up North he starts saying the speech from the movie Wallstreet. "Greed, for lack of a better term, is good". Also, his name is Gordon, Gordon of Gecko. Michael Douglas' character in the movie was Gordon Gekko.

Punch-Out!!
(Nintendo game) - In the boxing place in New Reno, when your agent asks you what you want your nickname to be there was stuff like: Glass Joe, Bald Bull, etc.

As Good as it Gets
In Vault City, when you talk to the religious guy, you can end the conversation by saying "Go sell crazy somewhere else - we're all stocked up here." This is a Reference to Jack Nicholson's character in 'As Good as it Gets'.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
In the raiders cave there are three sets of dog tags that match the three main characters from the movie. Angel Eyes, Tuco and Blondie.

Acting on Boss Salvatore's orders to get money from Lloyd, if the player (unwisely) agrees to follow Lloyd's directions to the location of the loot in Golgotha, Lloyd directs the player to find a grave marked "Arch Stanton". There is no such grave. The exact name, its presence on a supposed grave marker, and the difficulty/impossibility of finding it, are all references to the site of the reputed buried treasure in TG,TB&TU.

Monty Python's Holy Grail
You can encounter the Bridge Keeper during your journeys. He'll ask you three questions, and if you survive, you get his Robes.

Another Special encounter Monty Python reference is King Arthur's knights, four 'knights' in regular power armor, who inquire as to the whereabouts of the Holy Grail.

A deleted Special encounter, which exists intact in the pre-patch files, although it is not accessible in a regular game, had these same King Arthur's knights fighting a Vorpal Rat with a Holy Hand Grenade. The Nearly Ultimate Fallout Guide by Per Jorner: Addenda

In Mom's kitchen she says she has rat-pie rat loaf rat... another Monty Python reference: "Can I have something without so much rat in it?" the skit is called "the church police".

In Living Color
In NCR the guy next to the car tent is a blues player. He says, "I wrote a song about, like to hear it, here it goes.".

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Borg
When you drop in on the Slags at the ghost farm, there is a veiled reference to the Borg when they ask, "...Are you resisting?" and one of your responses is "No, I know resistance is futile..."

Star Trek
The special encounter Crashed Shuttle. Dead crew members. Red shirts, naturally. A Hypo.

The special encounter Guardian Portal. The stone ring portal is a reference to the Star Trek episode "City on the Edge of Forever", and the only way out of the encounter is to create and fulfill a predestination paradox

Star Trek - The motion Picture
The leader of the Slags at the ghost farm is named 'Vegeir'. In Star Trek there is an alien intelligence that found an earth space explorer 'Voyager' that they referred to as V'ger (pronounced vegeir) because the letters 'oya' on it were covered over with dirt.

Mike Tyson
In the basement of Desperado in New Reno, there's a boxer who says his name is Mike and he likes ears.

Back to the Future
If you become a slaver sometimes the victims yell "run for it, Marty".

Final Fantasy VII
In combat, Cassidy will say, "I wish I had a limit break."

Wing Commander Prophecy
Random enemies will sometimes say: "You want a piece of me? YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!" It's one of Lt. Casey's taunts in the game. The phrase also comes from the movie "Army of Darkness" where the lead character, "Ash" says that (among other things) to various miscreants and ghouls.

Big Trouble in Little China
Sometimes while attacking, Sulik refers to his seven demon bag. This is a Reference to Egg Shen's bag of magic.

Pinky and the Brain
In Gecko there is a large intelligent Mole Rat called "The Brain". You can get to him through the man hole in the Junkyard.

Interstate 76
Skeeter, the guy in Gecko, Junkyard is the character from this game.

From Dusk Till Dawn
The man outside of the Cat's Paw in New Reno constantly shouts advertisements about the "booty" sold within the establishment in a manner identical to a similar character seen in the movie.

Red Dawn
If you have Cassidy in your team, sometimes he says this: "I wonder if Texas survived the war". Line from the Red Dawn movie.

Scarface
Some addicts in New Reno say "Say hello to my little friend", a quote from the movie.

Little Shop of Horrors
In Broken Hills, there's a talking Spore Plant Named Seymour. The talking plant in Little Shop of Horrors isn´t called Seymour but Audrey II, Seymour is the guy feeding Audrey II.

Bill Clinton
When you reach the Enclave Oil Rig, go to president's chambers. You'll find his secretary that speaks as Monica. About the dress and... well, you know what.

Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners
In Broken Hill residential area, the human woman in the hotel(?) will say "Come on .. Aileen".

Playboy et al
Bringing 10 Cat's Paw magazines (Chosen One: "I only read them for the articles") to Miss Kitty in the um, Cat's Paw in New Reno and mentioning the sticky pages (Chosen One: "I don't know how that got like that"), gets the Chosen a reward.

Arroyo
Arroyo is the name of the town in Tennessee Williams post-apocalyptic one act "The Chalky White Substance".

Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness
In Klamath, the robot that guards the crashed vertibird among other things, he says "Klaatu Verata Nictu", the phrase that Ash must read, from the Necronomicon. This is in turn also a homage to the robotic character in the classic science fiction movie. See "The Day the Earth Stood Still", below.

The Day The Earth Stood Still
The aforementioned phrase in Army of Darkness is itself a reference to the 1951 science fiction movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still" starring Michael Rennie, in which the phrase was originally, "Klaatu Barada Nicto". The 2008 remake will include, at the insistence of Keannu Reaves, who will play Klaatu, the same phrase as the black and white original film, although in an "inverted" context, which would be...Nicto Barada Klaatu?

Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
You can come across the dead carcass of a sperm whale, and a broken houseplant - obvious references to hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, where the ship's improbability drive turns 2 nuclear missiles into a sperm whale and a houseplant - and one chapter details the thoughts of the two entities, as they plummet towards their death.

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
See: Fallout Tactics special encounters for the other 27 special encounters, most of which are cultural references.

Historical Reenactment Societies
Invasion Re-creationists This special encounter features nervous, excited 'Americans' taking a few steps over the Canadian 'border', upon which they wildly celebrate victory, claiming that Canada has been overrun, and return back across the border.

The Matrix
This special encounter features humans as essentially, batteries fueling a robot empire, as the movie. 'Human Battery's are running on treadmills while a task-master robot oversees the entire operation.

Planescape: Torment
'Morte' The sarcastic, abrasive, floating, cowardly, witty, glowing skull with a New York accent. Well, so he isn't a Talking Head, ironically enough, but he had a New York accent in Torment.

Apocalypse Now
Mr. Gutsy can be heard saying, "There is nothing I like better than the smell of plasma in the morning", a possible reference to Apocalypse Now, mentioning plasma instead of napalm.

Armitage
The security robot for Dr. Zimmer in the Replicated Man quest is named Armitage, which is also the name of the main character in Armitage III: Polymatrix/Dualmatrix. In this movie, Armitage was a human-like robot who was struggling with who she is.

This could also be a reference to William Gibsons work. I.e. "Neuromancer" 1984. Formerly a Green Beret named Colonel Willis Corto, who took part in a secret operation named Screaming Fist. He was heavily injured both physically and psychologically, and the "Armitage" personality was constructed as part of experimental "computer-mediated psychotherapy" by Wintermute, one of the artificial intelligences seen in the story (the other one being the eponymous Neuromancer) which is actually controlling the mission.

Full metal Jacket
The Mr. Gutsy robot will sometimes say when you kill one "Pin my medals upon my chest" or "Tell my mom I did my best" which are small parts of a cadence used to regulate breathing when performing daily exercise in the military, also sung in full metal jacket.

Back to the Future
Butch DeLoria seems to be a clone of the past version of Biff Tannen. DeLoria is probably a reference to the De Lorean, the car used as a basis for the time machine.

Bethesda
There are ruins of Bethesda's office buildings overrun by Raiders. Bethesda Softworks is the company that made Fallout 3. However, this is easily explained, as the company is located in Rockville, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC. It is highly possible that the Bethesda Ruins are in fact Bethesda Softwork's building, as there is a bobblehead found inside. However, it is also possible that the ruins are a reference to Bethesda, MD, another DC suburb south of Rockville, MD, which borders Washington, DC.

'Sweet rolls'
The "sweetroll question" has been a staple of Elder Scrolls character generation quizzes since Arena In the "tutorial" part of the game, as you turn 10, Old Lady Palmer will give you a sweet roll. After the the cake is cut, Butch (and supposedly Wally Mack and Freddie) will accost you for your sweet roll while you are left with a few decisions on what to do. This is a reference to Bethesda's recurring "Sweet roll" Character Generation Quiz scenario. In the scenario from Morrowind, a baker gives the protagonist a sweet roll, who is then accosted by 3 thugs; the player's choices in this and other questions determines their character makeup.

Uncle Leo
Uncle Leo the non-hostile Super Mutant shares name with non-hostile zombie that lives in a woman's home in New Sheoth in the The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (Also made by Bethesda).

Uncle Leo's dialogue when you try to rob him, where he tells you the clothes are a gift and he wishes he could give you the "wonderful moon" comes from the following Zen Buddhist koan: ''Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal. Ryokan returned and caught him. “You have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon.”

Uncle Leo is also the name of Jerry's uncle in the TV show "Seinfeld."

Bethesda / Oblivion
The image of Grognak on the Grognak the Barbarian skill book is identical to the image used for the Barbarian class in Oblivion. As might be expected, it also bears an extremely close resemblance to depictions of the famous Robert E. Howard character of film, books, comics, etc "Conan the Barbarian".

Oblivion
One of the settlements is Farragut West, which references a station on Washington DC's metro system. It is also the name of NPC Lucien Lachance's hideout in Oblivion (Fort Farragut).

If you grab the knife lying in the bathtub in the basement of “Lock and Load” (Paradise Falls) you may hear the voice of a male wood elf yelling “Stop thief!”

There is a real sword located in museum of Dave in the Republic of Dave

Blade Runner
Chief Harkness in Rivet city is a reference to the movie Blade Runner. The title of his quest is "The Replicated Man" and could be a reference to the movie "The Prestige" where a magicians trick called "The Transported Man" was done with Clones. Fans of the Blade Runner movie can see obvious parallels within the quest.

Harkness can also be a reference to Captain Jack Harkness from the BBC TV show Torchwood, as both characters cannot be killed.

Bradbury reference
A bit of a dual-natured reference in this one. In Georgetown, one of the few accessible buildings (Bradley Place) has a powered-down Mr. Handy. You can activate the robot, and one of the things you can tell it to do is to give a bedtime story to the children (or, given the war, the skeletal remains of the children) of the house. The poem spoken, There Will Come Soft Rains, speaks about how, if mankind would go extinct because of a war, nature would care very little. Ray Bradbury wrote a story of the same name (and directly used the poem) in a story of a robotic house continuing the actions of the family that lived there, before a nuclear war killed them. So, in essence, the player can reenact the main plot of Ray Bradbury's short story (have the robot do things for its obviously-dead owners), by having it speak the poem that inspired the short story in the first place.

Mr. Burke
William Burke references a serial killer who killed at least 15 people in Scotland in the 1820's.

Clue
The butler in your home in Megaton is a Mr. Handy robot named "Wadsworth". Wadsworth the Butler is Tim Curry's character in the movie Clue.

Dogmeat
A homage to Fallout 1 & 2, Dogmeat is named after a similar NPC canine character in both games. You can choose to rescue him or not. Dogmeat can be sent to scavenge for food or items, but you must be cautious, as he cannot be revived if killed.

Fallout 2
This is an Easter Egg referencing Fallout 2 where you must find a Red, Blue and Yellow Key Card to have full access to the reactor in Gecko which is inhabited only by Ghouls.

Dracula
Lucy West, the woman who kicks off the Blood Ties quest is probably a reference to Lucy Westenra, Mina Murray's friend in Bram Stoker's Dracula who is turned into a vampire and then staked by Van Helsing. The vampires choose to stay out of the sun much like movie versions of Dracula do.

Fallout 1 Reference
A possible reference to Fallout 1 is located on the diner bulletin board in Vault 101. A notice states: "Wednesday is Bingo Night in the Diner. First prize: A week's supply of water rations!" The ball in the center has the number 13 on it. In Fallout 1, the Vault Dweller had to leave the vault in the hopes of repairing Vault 13's water supply.

There also is a reference to Shady Sands in the GNR show about Herbert "Daring" Dashwood when his manservant Argyle puts in an enemy's pocket and refers to it as "The old Shady Sands shuffle".

During the quest, Trouble at the Homefront, if you finish the quest Amata's way, at the end she will say "I'm sorry, you're a hero.... and you have to leave", this is also said by the Overseer of Vault 13 in the end of Fallout 1.

Junktown (location from F1) is mentioned by name in the book Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor.

Harold
The character Harold first seen in Fallout 1 and most recently seen in 2 is back once again, but Bob, the name for the tree on his head, has grown very rapidly and taken root in the Oasis of Capital Wasteland. He wishes for death now and it's up to the player to fulfill his wish.

Ex-President Richardson
William Brandice's terminal states that he and his family had left Navarro, and talks about the Enclave's broadcasts featuring the same music as when President Richardson would have his radio address.

Fear Factory Lyrics
In the main quest mission "Galaxy News Radio", you must go to the Museum of Technology. When you access the terminal in the northwest corner near the entrance, the first log entry dated 20770103 ends with "After a complete cleanup on the mainframe's core, I am happy to announce that the infection has been removed... the soul of this machine has improved. - B. Bell, Research Lead" This is a reference to the Fear Factory song, "Archetype", in which vocalist Burton C. Bell repeats the refrain "The infection has been removed, the soul of this machine has improved." This is evidenced by the fact that the mainframe is called the "Archetype Model FF06", Archetype being the album name, FF being Fear Factory, and 06 being the album number. Vocalist Burton C. Bell's name can also be abbreviated to B. Bell, to match the researcher's name in the terminal.

Harry Potter
In Lamplight you will find a generic little lamplighter bearing strong resembelance to Harry Potter.

Hot Fuzz
If you visit the town of Andale, the residents repeatedly mention how they are the best town in the world every year, and one of the kids mentions how he never gets to talk to the new people because their parents take care of them. If you visit the shed that is locked behind one of the houses you'll find a bunch of bodies that the adults have killed, retaining their title of best town by eliminating the competition, literally.

The Incredible Hulk
You can overhear a Mr. Gutsy say, "I'm starting to get angry. You would not like me when I'm angry". This is very similar to the warning Dr. Banner would give before his transformation. (Mr. Gutsys also happens to be painted in 1950s Army Green)

Jericho
Jericho the mercenary in Megaton is probably a reference to the post apocalyptic television series of the same name. The TV Series is supported by Bethesda as seen on their blog site on the attempted second revival of the show.

John Carpenter's The Thing
In Little Lamplight there is an NPC named RJ MacReady. This is the name of the protagonist from John Carpenter's "The Thing".

Lost
In Megaton, if you talk to Maggie with the Child at Heart perk, you can get a code to a safe. The code is 15, 16, 23, 42, which is also part of a reoccurring chain of numbers in the television show, Lost. 23 is a significant number in the earlier Illuminati series, while 42 is the numerical answer to "Life, the Universe, and Everything" in the even earlier Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

H.P.Lovecraft's Dunwich Horror
In the extreme southwest of the world map you can find "the Dunwich Building,, which once housed the offices of a pretty innocuous company (Dunwich Drilling, a manufacturer of industrial mining and drilling machines). This is possibly the single "creepiest" or "spookiest" location in the game, as the ruins now form a very dark, chaotic three dimensional maze absolutely chock-full of feral ghouls.  The personal logs you find here and an object you find at the very end of the maze form a definite reference to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos/setting.  The name of the location itself is a direct reference to Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror. (The company based in the building being titled Dunwich Borers.)

Land of the Dead
Tenpenny Tower's story is very similar to Fiddler's Green where a fortress-tower is owned by a wealthy elitist. The tower gets attacked by intelligent zombies (aka: ghouls. Everyone in the tower also refers to them as 'zombies') who eventually take over and reside in the tower just like what happens if you let the ghouls in.

Lucy
In the town "Little Lamplight" the doctor, Lucy, is a reference to the character "Lucy" in the Charlie Brown comic strips and cartoons. Inside of the clinic where she is located, a sign reading "The Doctor is in" can be found, which was often seen on Lucy's stand in the series.

Lunchboxes
These Lunchboxes are actually available from the Collector's and Survival editions of the game, and can be made into an explosive. It isn't recommended that you turn your Lunchbox into an explosive in reality - that would be illegal in most countries and a waste of a perfectly good Collector's item.

Monty Python
In the Museum of Technology there are several terminals that have notes from the lead researcher, named Professor R. J. Gumbie. This is a reference to the Monty Python character of the same name only spelled Gumby.

Munchkin
In the Munchkin card game there is a weapon called the Board of Education, a 2 by 4 with a nail in it. This weapons appears in Fallout 3 as the unique nail board. Munchkin is made by Steve Jackson Games, who also makes GURPS. Fallout 1 was originally supposed to use the GURPS system.

Ymir
The slaver that kills the bartender in Paradise Falls, Ymir, is a reference to a Norse Giant and possibly the game "Too Human".

Occam's Razor
One of the melee weapons called Occam's Razor is reference to the theory of William Ockham. His theory called Occam's Razor, boils down to "All other things being equal, the solution that makes the fewest assumptions is the best." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood. Or, "all things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually right."

Aleister Crowley
In the 'Underworld' ghoul city, there is a ghoul named Mister Crowley a possible reference to the reported English Magician and occultist Aleister Crowley, the subject of the songs "Mr. Crowley" by Ozzy Osbourne and "Mr. Occult" by David Bowie. Aleister Crowley gained much notoriety during his lifetime, and was dubbed "The Wickedest Man In the World." Aleister Crowley is most noted for being the only man ever tried as the Anti-Christ.

Aleister Crowley is reported as having invited a local clergyman to his house, inviting him to take a stroll about the gardens. The latter gentleman is said to have profusely complimented Crowley on the quality and arrangement of the gardens, whereupon Crowley invited him to view them from the top of the house. The clergyman was much dismayed to find the view of the entire garden, from a height, revealed it to be landscaped in the shape of a naked woman.

Crowley's redesign of the Tarot is one of the two primary designs used by Tarot readers today, the other being the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, designed by fellow members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Thomas Jefferson/Admiral Tolwyn/Malcom McDowell
During one of President Eden's radio broadcasts, he utters the phrase "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." While the quote originally comes from Thomas Jefferson, it was also prominently said by Admiral Tolwyn in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom. Malcolm McDowell plays the part of both characters (Eden and Tolwyn, that is, not Thomas Jefferson). President Eden's radio broadcasts also reference the Fireside Chats of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Princess Bride
While patching you up during the Wasteland Survival Guide personal injury sub-quest, Moira Brown asks you to describe the pain - "And remember, this is for posterity!" This echoes a line used by Count Rugin in The Princess Bride when asking Wesley to describe the torture in the Pit of Despair. A protectron may also be heard refering to "rodents of unusual size" when directed to execute an infestation control routine.

Quantum Leap
In one of the offices in the Nuka Cola Plant you'll find a Marketing Terminal. When you browse the entries you will find a slogan to be used in a new Nuka Cola Quantum commercial: "Take the leap, enjoy a Quantum".

Raven Rock
Raven Rock is also a mining village back in The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, the Bloodmoon expansion. Both were published by Bethesda Softworks. However, both are probably referring to the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a real-world government complex.

Reboot
In Canterbury Commons you can eat at Dot's Diner, a building that resembles the diner of the same name in the Reboot series. Dot's Diner locations can also be found in other places including Grayditch and Jury Street Metro Station.

Relic Hunter
During the quest to acquire the Declaration of Independence you com across an NPC named Sydney who greets you as a fellow "relic hunter", this is a dirrect reference to the television series of the same name where actress Tia Carrere stared as Sydney Fox.

Rick Rubin
In Vault 92, the vault used for music preservation, the name of the overseer is Richard Rubin. This can be found while looking into the computer files. Rick Rubin is a real life music producer who in 2007 was listed by Time Magazine among the 100 Most Influential People in The World.

Serenity
After the Dweller completes the Galaxy News Radio quest, Three Dog says "Can't Stop The Signal". This is a reference to the movie 'Serenity'. In the movie Mr. Universe says this a few times.

Sifl and Olly
One of the 911 Dispatch terminals in the Germantown Police department references the MTV show "Sifl and Olly." The rantings captured on the terminal reference the song "Llama School."

Not only that, but you can find a note with a password for a computer terminal in the same building. The password is "Vicious Coy", the same name of the Precious Roy knockoff on the X-and-O show.

Snatcher
In L'Enfant Plaza, there is a newspaper office. In the basement is a man named Gibson who has been decapitated in the same manner as Jean-Jack Gibson in Snatcher. Looting his body gets the player "Gibson's key" and "Gibson's Scrap of Paper" which are also found on his body in Snatcher. The scrap of paper says "Search the house!" which is indeed what it said in Snatcher as well. Gibson's house can be found in Minefield, along with two other buildings named after Snatcher characters: Gillian house (named for the protagonist, Gillian Seed) and Benson house (named for Benson Cunningham, Gillian and Gibson's boss). If the player checks Gibson's house, there is a small model house on a table in the living room, which can be unlocked for some fairly lame loot, and a computer upstairs, which is unfortunately broken. Both of these objects were in Gibson's house in Snatcher as well.

Star Trek
In the beginning of the game when your character is being born, and your mother begins to die, it fades out with the phrase "James I need a doctor not a dentist" a slight reference to lines in the original Star Trek where Dr. McCoy says to James "Jim" Kirk... "Damnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a [enter anything]."

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The password for the shipping computer in the Nuka-Cola bottling plant is NC-C1864. The call letters of the USS Reliant, the ship hijacked by Khan, were NCC-1864.

Star Trek: Voyager
Sawbones, the medical robot in the B Ring of The Citadel greets you with the phrase "Please state the nature of the medical emergency"; a phrase used by popular character The Doctor of Star Trek: Voyager.

This line is also used by medics in the classic RTS game "Starcraft" (again, as a homage to the Doctor)

Them!
One of the side quests is titled "Those!". It's a nice reference/homage to the excellent oscar-nominated sci-fi/horror movie "Them!" from 1954, in which a small town is invaded by, you guessed it, giant ants.

THX 1138
The code of the safe in the Republic of Dave is 1138. a reference to THX-1138, the first movie made by George Lucas. The letters THX and numbers 1138 appear in numerous other Lucasfilm productions.

Transformers
When following Liberty Prime to the Memorial in the first part of the quest Take it Back!, the robot Liberty Prime can be heard shouting "Freedom is the sovereign right of all Americans", a direct reference to Optimus Primes' famous quote, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings".

U.F.O
North-west of the Greener Pastures Disposal Site is an area where your Pip boy will get a new radio transmission called the "Recon Craft Theta Beacon", exploring the area will result in the discovery of a crashed alien space ship. The alien body can be found near the ship along with the extremely powerful Alien Blaster which can be used as a weapon as well as (limited) ammo for the weapon. The alien as well as his blaster look an awful lot like Cryptosporidium from the Destroy All Humans series.

V For Vendetta/Guy Fawkes
In Vault 87, a character named Fawkes is trapped in cell 5. When you ask him about his name, he says that he got it from researching history texts and that Fawkes was the name of a man who died for what he believed in, and as such, Mutie-Fawkes felt a kinship to him. Catholic Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up England's Houses of Parliament on November 5th, 1605, in protest of the treatment of the Catholic religion in England, and was executed in January of 1606. The Puritan religion was similarly restricted in England during that period in history. In the graphic novel and movie adaptation V For Vendetta, the character V was imprisoned in a secret experimental facility, its purpose to test a potent airborne pathogen that was later released on an unsuspecting populace, (similar to the FEV virus, and plot to release it, from the Fallout series) the ensuing fear of terrorism leading to martial law and the establishment of a fascist state. His cell was number 5, marked with the Roman numeral V, for 5. Making his escape in a fiery explosion on November 5th, he was burned to the point where most of his facial features were no longer recognizable. His subsequent plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament was carried out by his protege and apprentice in the finale of the story.

Die Hard
Bryan Wilks can be heard to say -- while in the preservation pod during the Those! quest -- that he now "knows what a TV dinner feels like", which is a line from the movie Die Hard.

Jackass
While not an easter egg per se, there is an amusing skeleton found in the sewers connecting Penn. Ave to the White House ruins. There is a ruined car down there, with a light over it and ramps on either side of it. A skeleton is hanging by its neck to that lamp. one can assume that some wannabe-Xtreme-Sports Wastelander was attempting to bike over the car, got stuck on the light, and stayed there until he died.

The Simpsons
The few actual TVs left in the wasteland, if you look carefully, are called Radiation Kings, which is the name of the TV Homer had as a young boy. This easter egg was originally present in the opening movie of Fallout 1; this is a continuation of that reference.

The Omega Man
"The Family" is the name of the nocturnal humans that stalk Robert Neville in the classic Post-Apocolyptic Film, The Omega Man (1971).

Mad Max
There are many items and incidents that appear to refer to the Mad Max movies, which starred Mel Gibson as a post-apocalyptic warrior. For instance, one of the Little Lamplight children uses the word humongous incorrectly, saying 'humungus.' Though it appears incorrect, it is actually a reference to Lord Humungus, the leader of the antagonizing gang in The Road Warrior. The "Scoped .44 Magnum" weapon in-game may also be a reference to Humungus's scoped revolver. The design of the Leather Armor in Fallout 3 is strikingly similar to Mel Gibson's armor as Mad Max.

Additionally, a picture of the main character walking beside Dogmeat that is featured in the game booklet an on the back of the packaging is an homage to the image of Mad Max walking beside his dog from The Road Warrior.

Fallout 3's Dogmeat is also very clearly a Queensland Heeler, an Australian cattle dog that was used for Mad Max's dog in the movie.

There is also a random encounter with a character named Mel wearing a leather jacket and sporting a Sawed-Off Shotgun.

Finally, the Raiders style is very similar to that of the various raider and biker gangs in the Mad Max films.

Stop right there or ill blow your fucking head off is said by a child on mad max that looks exactly like the child in lamplight

Mystery Science Theater 3000
A computer in the National Archives contains a memo from the man in charge of robot maintenance is signed, P. Brantseg. Patrick Brantseg was one of the prop guys from MST3K, and was even listed in the credits of the MST3K movie as puppet wrangler.

In addition, there is a portion of the game where you can chose to settle an argument between two clueless superheroes, one being a robot mechanic. When you gain entrance to his stronghold, the door has several different layers that unlock one after another, all in different fashions, much like the beginning of the MST3K television program.

Samurai Lincoln ATHF
In the Museum of Natural History, among the many Abraham Lincoln related items that can be obtained is an action figure of Lincoln holding a samurai sword. This is possibly a reference to Aqua Teen Hunger Force's character Meatwad who occasionally transforms into "Samurai Lincoln".

Black Adder
Sometimes in radio you can hear music theme from series Black Adder with Rowan Atkinson.

Dian Fossey's Gorillas in the Mist

 * Isabella Proud's story is a blatant reference to Dian Fossey's research on Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda.