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."

 is a trait which only appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

In an interview with Chris Avellone, he notes that the Wild Wasteland trait may add more references to older content in Fallout and Fallout 2, in regards to special encounters. Players without Wild Wasteland will find less silly 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. Alien-esque music will play for a moment. A message saying "..." will appear, and its icon will be Vault Boy with spirals for eyes, identical to the Wild Wasteland icon.

Wild Wasteland Encounters
Officially, there are 17 Wild Wasteland encounters throughout New Vegas.

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 somehow 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.

This will likely be the first Wild Wasteland oddity a player will encounter, but certainly not the last...

Hovering Anomaly
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 spacecraft, and three aliens. The alien captain has the unique Alien Blaster along with over 100 APCs. Two other aliens carry laser pistols along with some energy cells and drained energy cells.

What Is It, Boy?
Occurrence: Speak to Rex while you're out in the Mojave Wasteland. At some point, Rex will answer 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).

A reference to the 1954 Lassie TV series, where "Timmy fell into a well" was a staple of the show.

Granny's Grannies
Occurrence: When you exit Cerulean Robotics, three elderly women named Irate Ida, Rancorous Ruth and Malefic Maud wearing pre-War spring outfits and armed with rolling pins will attack you.

This is a reference to a Monty Python sketch named Hell's Grannies (when talking or overhearing one of the drunks in Freeside they will mention them. James Garrett of the Atomic Wrangler may occasionally mention them).

Getting Too Close
Occurrence: During Side 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, Shamus!".

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 movie "The Princess Bride" and the R.O.U.S.s that inhabit the Fire Swamp.

These are also less frequently seen without the trait.

Owen and Beru
Located in Nipton two houses (one Nipton house and one severely damaged house) to the right of the town hall 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 IV: A New Hope, where Luke Skywalker's uncle Owen and aunt Beru are burned to death and their charred corpses' can be seen.

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 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 Side Quest: Beyond the Beef, a dead investigator is discovered inside an Ulta-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 is a reference to either David Caruso from CSI: Miami (red hair, sunglasses) or Jacques Clouseau from The Pink Panther series (similar suit).

The Future of Law Enforcement
Occurrence: While listening to the Securitrons interact with the visitors to The Strip, you swore you heard one state "Dead or alive, you're coming with me" and "your move creep", should you frame Heck Gunderson during Side Quest: Beyond the Beef, the arresting Securitron may have no preference over Heck's life; he's still going with him.

Both statements are a reference to the 1980s film RoboCop, when he confronts a criminal.

The Big One
Occurrence: Slightly north-west of the Devil's Throat is a large, unexploded bomb known as The Big 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 attacks.

This is a reference to Sid's firework that is used to "blast off" Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. It is also a reference to Stephen King's "The Stand", when near the end, Trashcan Man brought an atomic bomb to Vegas, which Trashcan Man called "The Big One". It may also be a reference to the movie "Joe Dirt" where the protagonist finds a septic tank and mistakes it for a bomb, then uses watches his friend use it and disintegrate into a skeleton.

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 a failed game project, Zybourne Clock, which started on the Something Awful forums. It was ridiculed and became kind of a meme on the forums.

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 such as "They're coming out of the damn walls!" or "Game over, man!".

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

Dammit, I'm an ambassador
Occurrence: During the mission King's 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 X" often attributed to Leonard "Bones" McCoy on Star Trek.

Holy Hand Grenades
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, count to 5 3."

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

Pimp-Boy 3 Billion
Occurrence: After you acquire the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion from Mick in Mick and Ralph's, some disco music will play upon equipping the Pimp-boy for the first time.

Bugs

 * Sometimes the corpse of Indiana Jones won't appear inside, or anywhere near, the fridge.
 * Sometimes the Alien blaster will not spawn on the Alien Leader.
 * The body of Johnny Five-Aces will sometimes fail to appear, although the cards and balls are still present.