Battleborn: Easter Eggs & References List

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Gearbox is back with its latest commercial release Battleborn, and these devs are ready to jam as many nerdy references, silly jokes, and Arrested Development chicken-dance emotes into their online-FPS. Easter eggs are a cornerstone of the Gearbox style, and Borderlands 2 featured too many to count. It’s a tall order, but we’re going to hunt down the best and the brightest Battleborn Easter eggs we’ve found so far and share them with you.

Taking a step back from Battleborn, Borderlands 2 might be the current record-holder when it comes to surprisingly involved Easter eggs. Referencing everything from Lord of the Rings to Breaking Bad to itself, enterprising Vault Hunters had plenty of secrets to explore. We’ve even put together a list of top 10 game references in Borderlands 2. That’s only a fraction of the strange secrets hidden in Borderlands and it looks like Battleborn will continue the legacy of silliness into the current generation of gaming.

Easter Eggs List

[5/2] Work-in-Progress: Check back soon as we discover more Easter eggs.

Gearbox announced at their 2016 PAX East panel that Borderlands 3 Easter eggs would be included in future DLC, along with regular Borderlands 1 & 2 secrets in the release version of Battleborn. The Borderlands series is about 50% FPS and 50% references, so we’re inclined to believe it.

That means we can expect lots of Easter eggs even in their first foray into the MOBA-lite realm of arena shooters.

Arrested Development – Chicken Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dkwULnemgg

Youtuber Benjamin Grigsby shared this familiar dance emote from everyone’s favorite patriotic eagle Benedict. The strange gait and the clapping all point toward an Arrested Development reference.

The distinctive dance first appeared in Arrested Development Episode 15 “Staff Infection” and the running gag continued through the show’s Netflix-exclusive fourth season.

The Bluth family each employed their own unique chicken dance. In this case, Benedict is clearly taking his moves from the family’s resident magician G.O.B.

Pissing Off Nova

This early game Easter egg is only available before you reach [Command Rank 3]. Check out the “Gear” tab and you’ll find the “Gear Bank” is locked until [Command Rank 3]. Nova, the menu narrator, will helpfully inform the player that they can return to use this tab later.

Keep clicking to piss off the narrator! — *Keep clicking the “Gear” tab. Nova doesn’t like it much.*

Nova has a lot to say; about her origins and her level of sanity or lack thereof. Not entirely surprising considering this game is by the same guys that packed Borderlands 2 with an insane amount of Easter eggs. If you’re curious, here’s the full transcript:

“Access to Command is prohibited until you reach Rank 3. Ghalt’s orders.”
“Seriously, just come back later. Rank up. Go fight stuff. Command’ll be here when you get back.”
“Clearance denied. Access to Command restricted to Rank 3 and above. Okay? Now stop it.”
[annoyed grumbling]
[more annoyed grumbling]
“Okay. Next time, I’m just gonna remind you that your command access is denied, and I will do so in a robotic tone of voice, and I will be boring, and maybe that will make you stop. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Yes, it does. Let’s do that.”
“Command access denied.”
“Command access denied!”
“Command access DENIED!”
“Command access super-duper denied.”
“Dude.” “Please cut it out.”
“I know. Button shiny, want to push, but you SHOULDN’T.”
“I will airlock you. I will airlock the hell out of you.”
“Don’t believe me? What, you think you’re the first Battleborn I’ve airlocked? No way.”
“So here’s a fun fact about Magnuses – no. Shut up for a second. We’re going to talk about something else now.”
“Something you might not know about Magnuses. You know, like me. We’re not just artificial intelligence – we’re all out of our minds. Go on. Hit the button, and I’ll tell you more.”
“It’s true. We’re all nuts. You know how we got this way? The only thing tethering us to sanity – the Magna Carta, our governing AI – just up and bailed on us. Closed all its ports and stopped responding.”
“Most Magnuses just straight-up died. Like, on the spot. Consumed by their own intelligence in a fraction of a second. The survivors, meanwhile, were deeply touched. “
“Every AI in the Solus system is insane. And that includes me. So when I say “I will airlock you”, you know that I’m for real.”
“Anyway, go level up already. Come back when you’re rank 3. Until then? SCRAM.”
“Dude. I sweat to god, just… nope. We’re going back to robot voice.”
“Command access denied.”
“Access to Command is prohibited until you reach a higher Command Rank.”