The Witcher 3 Easter eggs

This article catalogues Easter eggs and pop culture references in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.


 * A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt.

Gone With The Wind

 * In the conversation with Morvran Voorhis when you first arrive in Vizima, he will ask what happened to his men the day before. If you select the "Wild Hunt killed them" option, he will not believe you, asking, "expect me to believe that?" Geralt will reply with "Frankly, I don't really give a damn" which is a reference to Rhett Butler's iconic line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" in Gone With The Wind. This is the first line in movie history to have a swear word in it. (Note that this exchange only happens if you do NOT simulate a Witcher 2 save when creating your save file.)

Borat

 * In the Blood and Wine expansion, a drunk in Beauclair near Lebioda's gate will sometimes say "wawawee-wah", similar to Sacha Baron Cohen's character in the film Borat.

The Princess Bride

 * During the quest "Imperial Audience", Ambassador var Attre's scribe will sometimes finish his sentences by saying 'inconceivable'. In the movie, one of the running gags is that a major character misuses this word instead of impossible.

Beowulf

 * In "Lord of Undvik" when you find the second companion in the task to find a way to the giants lair...there is a hall in the RUINS OF DORVE (Far left island on SKELLIGE) It is the biggest building of the map. You will see the corpses all around and a particular one on a chandelier, door on the floor, etc.. like in the movie Beowulf.

Django Unchained

 * In "A Deadly Plot", Thaler is travelling under the disguise of a cobbler. His wagon bears great resemblance to the one used by Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained, with a giant wobbly shoe on top of the wagon.

A Knight's Tale

 * During the quest "Fists of Fury: Novigrad", Durden the Tailor tries to intimidate Geralt by saying "You've been weighed, you've been measured, and you've been found scrawny. In what world could you possibly defeat me?". This is akin to the lines Count Adhemar proclaims to William Thatcher in his cell. ("You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you've been found wanting." - which in itself is a biblical reference, to the Book of Daniel.)

Gangs of New York

 * A quest named "The Gangs of Novigrad" is an obvious reference to the movie "Gangs of New York" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Once Upon a Time in America

 * A man standing in the building just north of Ursten village whistles the theme from "Once Upon a Time in America", composed by Ennio Morricone.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 * When Geralt reaches a cabin on the Isle of Mists, he meets a company of shipwrecked dwarfs. Originally a company of seven, four of the dwarfs barricaded themselves in a cabin while the other three shipwreck-survivors were scattered elsewhere on the island.
 * One of the separated dwarfs, Gaspard, suffers from narcolepsy and will fall asleep randomly (Sleepy).
 * Another of the separated dwarfs falls to his own death for seemingly no reason, and in the official Prima Game Guide, it refers to this specific dwarf, saying "what a dope" (Dopey).
 * One was found dead near a fiend. (Happy?)
 * Of the four in the cabin:
 * One of the dwarfs can be heard through the door sneezing multiple times (Sneezy).
 * "Ach! Ye blew our fuckin' cover." (Grumpy).
 * "By me mums beard, get yourselves together, lads." (Doc?).
 * One informs Geralt of Ciri's presence in the house, and appears quite shy in doing so (Bashful).
 * Geralt also finds Ciri on the bed in the house, put under a death-like sleep much like Snow White.

The Departed

 * After finishing "Return to Crookback Bog", one of the witch hunters utters the line "Maybe, maybe not, maybe go fuck yourself" which is a Mark Wahlberg line from the film The Departed.

Twilight

 * During the quest "Message from an Old Friend" in Novigrad, you can pick up a book entitled Moribundia: The Vampire's Last Likeness. The text describes a lovers' exchange between Isabella and a vampire named Edward, and refers to an unnamed werewolf and Isabella's pregnancy. These are all references to the plot of the Twilight movie and book series.

Fight Club

 * There is a reference to Tyler Durden, the split personality of Fight Club's protagonist, on a notice attached to a Novigrad notice board.Tyler Durden's Reference.jpg
 * Also in Novigrad, you have to defeat a man called Durden the Tailor in a fist fight as part of the quest "Fists of Fury: Novigrad".

Broken Flowers

 * A quest named "Broken Flowers" is a reference to the eponymous movie directed by Jim Jarmusch. In the movie, Bill Murray portrays a donjuanesque character which embarks on a cross-country search for his old flames in search of answers, similar to the plotline of the quest.

Pulp Fiction

 * In the basement of Crow's Perch castle, you might hear 2 guards talking about waking the gimp.
 * In the quest "A Dangerous Game", you come across the corpse of a certain Zed. Geralt later tells Zoltan that "Zed's dead", a reference to Butch Coolidge's line "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

Kill Bill

 * The master blacksmith in Novigrad is retired, is called Hattori and makes dumplings, almost identical to the retired blacksmith in the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill. Incidentally, he is also referencing the real life Hattori Hanzo, a ninja from the Edo era.
 * The plot of the quest "Following the Thread" is very similar to Kill Bill, involving the search of a scattered group of assassins for revenge. The head of the group, Karadin, is a reference to David Carradine who played Bill in Kill Bill.

Snatch

 * A fist fighter is named Georgius George as in Gorgeous George.
 * You are asked by the bookie named Claytop (Bricktop) to throw the fight.

Star Wars

 * In Skellige, there is a quest given by a bounty hunter called Djenge Frett, a reference to the bounty hunter Jango Fett from Star Wars.

Wizard of Oz + Alice in Wonderland

 * The book Travel Between Worlds contains references to The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. Zo is Oz backwards as it is mentioned in the book. The story is similar too. Theodore is being taken by a hurricane to another world and Ecila who traveled down a rabbit hole. Ecila is simply Alice written backwards, while Theodore could be seen as an anagram for Dorothee (Dorothy).

Fast and Furious

 * The achievement/trophy "Fast and Furious" is awarded for winning all horse races in the ga.

Monty Python

 * In the entrance of a hidden cave near Benek (location of quest "Hidden in the stars", Velen), there is a pile of corpses and a single "snow hare", a reference to the Rabbit of Caerbannog.


 * Thieves randomly shout “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!”.
 * Beggars talk about how one of them was cured by a mage from a disease and has a hard time begging now.
 * The entire "Shock Therapy" quest is in reference to the scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian where Brian causes a hermit that had taken a vow of silence to talk.

50 Shades of Grey

 * One of Dandelion's lovers is said to like to call him Christian and likes him to call her Anastasia.

The Godfather

 * At the beginning of the game, when discussing the summons of the Emperor of Nilfgaard, Vesemir says "an offer one can't refuse?".
 * Geralt comments on the death of Hugo Hoff that he now "sleeps with fishes".
 * During the quest "Possession", Aki, the younger brother, was given an ancestral sword. His older brother Udalryk was unhappy about it. They were later forced to clear things up on a fishing trip, during which the younger brother mysteriously died.

The Lord of the Rings

 * When you toss the dwarf during the heist quest in Hearts of the Stone is a reference to when Aragon tosses Gimli in the battle of Helms Deep at the gate.
 * When you recruit Zoltan to defend Kaer Morhen, he says "You have me and my axe!"
 * During the quest "The Great Escape", when you proceed towards the commander's chambers for the keys to free Margarita, you'll find a document - a list of prisoners - stating 'Undomiel, an Elven mage' being imprisoned which is a reference to Arwen from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe.
 * In the Blood and Wine expansion, you can find a notice by Smigole Serkis, mentioning his precious golden spoon (Andy Serkis is the actor, who played Smeagol/Gollum in the LotR-series).
 * During the quest "A Walk on the Waterfront", Ginter de Lavirac introduces Geralt as his gardener, which is quite similar to Samwise Gamgee introducing himself as Frodo's gardener.

The Hobbit

 * İt is possible to come across a party of 13 dwarves near Novigrad.
 * Many halflings when you keep talking to them suggest you don't call them "Baggins".

300

 * Guards and villagers in Skellige will sometimes yell "This is Skellige!", a possible reference to the phrase "This is Sparta!" uttered by the main protagonist Leonidas.

Peter Pan

 * During the quest "Empty Coop" given by an old woman living just east of Honeyfill meadworks, you meet a group of kids, one of whom is named Pete, and the little girl says "Pete says we're going to live in the woods and wear animal skins and make a tent out of leaves and never grow up." Clearly a reference to Peter Pan.

The Horse Whisperer

 * A book called The Horse Whistler discusses training horses.

127 Hours

 * There's a monster cave with a narrow part that has a skeleton trapped between a rock and the wall by its arm.

Addams Family

 * The village of Lurtch is named after the butler of the Evves family who left the land to the peasants when he died. A reference to the Addams family who have a butler named Lurch, and Evves is meant to be a female version of Addams, as in Adam and Eve.

Apocalypse Now

 * The "Siege Tower" gwent card references the movie's famous quote, saying: "I love the clamor of siege towers in the morning. Sounds like victory."

Mad Max: Fury Road

 * During the Hearts of Stone expansion, some Knights from the Order of Flaming Rose occasionally cry "Witness me, brothers!", "What a day! What a lovely day!", and "I live, I die, I live again!", mimicking Nux's lines and The Bullet Farmer's "Sing for me, brothers! Sing! Sing!"  from the latest Mad Max movie.

Vabank

 * During the Hearts of Stone expansion quest: "Open Sesame!", Geralt may rescue a character named Quinto: it's a reference to a polish film "Vabank". The main character of the film is called Kwinto, and he's a famous safecracker.

Multiple Movies

 * Falling from the broken bridge leading to the Nilfgaardian garrison in White Orchard gives an unusual scream, which is the "Wilhelm Scream" used in many movies.

Singin' in the rain

 * Priest of Eternal Fire (heard in Hierarch square), during the evening if it's raining will start humming "I'm singin' in the rain..."

The Shawshank Redemption

 * In the Heart of Stone DLC, when doing the sidequest "Enchanting: Quality Has Its Price", Geralt will have to enter a cave southeast of Hunter's Cottage north of Novigrad. In the entrance of the cave lies a body with a note which starts a new treasure hunt quest called 'The Drakenborg Redemption'. The letter mentions a secret stash and an offer to reunite with the person who put it there in the first place, much like in the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

Russ Meyer

 * During the quest "Carnal Sins", Geralt visits the workshop of a dwarf to investigate his murder. He is met by the dwarf's brother Gus Meyer, who tells Geralt his brother had a fixation for carving female statues with large breasts, regardless of their status. Russ Meyer was a 1960s-70s film director known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful low-budget sexploitation films that featured campy humour, sly satire and large-breasted women.

Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask

 * In Novigrad after the quest "The play's the thing" is finished, there are still advertisement in the streets for the play "The doppler's salvation" with the mention : "The delightful new comedy from the producers of "Everything you always wanted to know about dwarves but were afraid to ask"". - Reference to the Woody Allen movie.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 * During the quest 'Open Sesame!' in the Hearts of Stone expansion, one of the glass cases contains the Goblet of Fire from the film of the same name.

Gladiator

 * At the "Filibert always pays his debts" quest from the Blood and Wine expansion, there is a murdered character named Maximus Nonius Macrinus, whose story is similar to the terrible fate of Maximus Decimus Meridius' family in the movie Gladiator.

The Shining

 * A guard in Beauclair says "All work and no play. Right, Witcher?" The first part of this remark was popularized through Stanley Kubrick's adaption of a horror story by Stephen King, though it was used in other movies, too.

Breaking Bad

 * A trophy is called "Let's Cook," a famous quote from the show.
 * Behind an illusion in a cave north of Novigrad you'll discover a laboratory with a skeleton holding a document called "Alchemists Notes". In it the alchemist is complaining about his assistant, Jester (Jesse), who'd have had "One Job. ONE." Also, he states, it'd be "better to go out with a bang than to die slowly in a hospital."

Game of Thrones

 * A secondary quest found in Novigrad is titled "A Feast For Crows". Same as the fourth book from the series "A Song Of Ice And Fire" by George R. R. Martin.
 * At the small isle of Kaer Almhult there are sky cells. In one of them a dwarf that clearly resembles Tyrion lies dead. Upon examining him, Geralt says "Sky cells… Nice idea for a prison without bars. Shame he didn't know how to fly."
 * There is a sword named Longclaw, possibly after Jon Snow's sword.
 * In the cave underneath the Temple Isle, the sorcerer's notes tell that he tried using milk of the poppy in his experiments.
 * After the fight in the arena, when some of Cleaver's dwarves attack Whoreson Junior's men, some of the dwarves will say, "You're the fucking dainklage!" an apparent reference to Peter Dinklage, the actor who portrays Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf.
 * When you try to get help to fight the wild hunt from Crach an craite he shows you his ancestors sword Winter's Blade which is said to have been forged in Mahakam tempered with dragon fire, possibly a reference to Game of thrones Valyrian steel swords.
 * The last opponent in the Fist-fighting Quest Chain is a bear in an arena not unlike the "Bear and Maiden Fair" scene.
 * In the Blood and Wine expansion, you can hear a little girl say "My brother gave me a sword, I named it needle".
 * In the quest The Warble of a Smitten Knight, in the Blood and Wine expansion, the final boss "Gregoire de Gorgon" is a reference to Game of Thrones's "Ser Gregor Clegane". with similarities in name, giant build, armor and sword. also Gorgon is the name of a volcanic mountain in Toussaint, also referring to Clegane's nickname "The Mountain".
 * In the Blood and Wine expansion, there is a quest called "Filibert always pays his debts", a reference to the Lannisters.

Doctor Who

 * Ciri is referred to as the Lady of Time and Space. Similarly the Doctor is referred to as the Lord of Space and Time.
 * A graveyard near Lindenvale contains statues of weeping angels. When you go out of the small building, you will find they have moved and are staring at you.
 * In the quest "Through Time and Space", when Geralt is sent to the frozen world, there is a breaking in the cave wall directly in front of Geralt that resembles the crack in Amy's wall.
 * Tower outta nowhere Quest. Geralt, on entering through the portal says, "It looks smaller on the outside". This is an inversion of a classic comment when people enter The Doctor's TARDIS for the first time. 292030 screenshots 2015-07-19 00002.jpg

Sherlock

 * During the Triss romance scene in the Lighthouse two sailors believe the subsequent flickering of the light to be a Morse Code message. This is a reference to the scene in 'The Hounds of Baskerville' where Watson notices car headlights flashing on Dartmoor and thinks it to be Morse Code but turns out to be a dogging site.

Scrubs

 * In the village of Lurtch, a woman can be found arguing with her husband. She asks why he has killed and stuffed her dog, Rowdy, to which he replies that the dog is stuffed with poison and will be used as dragon bait. The dog's name is a reference to Turk and J.D.'s beloved taxidermy dog, Rowdy. This also references the hunt for Borch Three Jackdaws (Villentretenmerth) in "The Sword of Destiny"

Baldur's Gate

 * One of the items that you can find in cupboards or lockers is Balduran's Butter knife.
 * Another item that you can find in cupboards is Silver Pantaloons, which is an easter egg reference to a recurring easter egg throughout the Baldur's Gate trilogy.
 * There is a sword called 'Daystar' which is a reference to a sword guarded by a lich in the city of Amn.
 * In the Polish version, whenever you reach an unexplorable area (edges of the map) or cancel navigation to the Isle of Mists, you have a small chance of hearing a voice say "Przed wyruszeniem w drogę należy zebrać drużynę." This is the Polish version of "You must gather your party before venturing forth," spoken by the actor that did the voice-over for the line in Baldur's Gate.

Starcraft

 * In the trophy list the trophy for unlocking places of power is called "Power Overwhelming", in reference to the original Starcraft Archon quote and cheat of the same name.

Portal

 * At some point during the "Turn and Face the Strange" quest, you can enter a portal only to enter a small room with nothing but a bloodied crate in the center and a chest contening a Cake nearby.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 * The card text of "Black Infantry Archer" in Gwent says "I always aim for the knee". Clear reference of infamous: "I used to be adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee".
 * While traveling to the Circle of Elements with Lambert on "The Final Trial", Geralt says "Was bold and brash once, like you. Then I took a pitchfork in the gut." (It is worth noting that the thing actually happened in the novel "The Lady of the Lake" by Andrzej Sapkowski).  
 * Occasionally, Guards in Novigrad will say "No lollygagging," a phrase also spoken by Guards in Skyrim.
 * In the Hearts of Stone expansion, during a dialog between Shani and a guard in the main quest "Whatsoever a Man Soweth", Shani says to the guard "You were much kinder when I was patching you up. By the way, how's your knee?" To which the guard responds: "Fine, dandy. As if no arrow ever struck it."
 * In the Heart of Stones expansion, the Professor who informs Geralt about the true identity of O'Dimm says "By deciphering the ancient scrawlings I went blind" (just like ancestor moth priests go blind by deciphering Elder Scrolls in the Elder Scrolls universe).

Fallout

 * Peasants sometimes say "War - it just never changes".
 * An elf in a Scoiat'el camp near Novigrad sometimes says "War. War changes EVERYTHING!"
 * In the Village of Lurtch, after the completion of the DLC quest "Fool's Gold," one of the peasants will directly quote Fallout and say "War, war never changes." Another female NPC then immediately quips back at him.

CD projekt RED



 * Some of the weather vanes use the stylized cardinal logo used by CD Projekt RED.

GOG.com

 * A book titled Gottfried’s Omni-opening Grimoire (GOG) explains how to bypass the Defensive Regulatory Magicon (DRM). GOG is a distribution service and publisher for PC games and films, operated by GOG Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG delivers video games through its DRM-free digital platform for Windows, OS X and Linux.

Duke Nukem

 * When fighting bandits sometimes they will say "I'll rip off your melon and shit down your neck".

Killer Instinct and Primal rage

 * During a mission, you must hire thugs for a job. They offer to work for free if you fight them both in an organized fight. If you accept, he says: "It will be a grand fight, Killer Instinct versus Primal rage". This is a nod back to 2 separate fighting games on the SNES and Sega Genesis, Killer Instinct and Primal rage.

Tomb Raider

 * During the quest "The Great Escape" you will find a corpse. Upon examining it Geralt will say "Heheh. Tomb raider. Seemed this one liked elven stuff".

Monkey Island (Series)
Diablo (Series)
 * In the Blood and Wine DLC's "Fists of Fury" quest, Geralt fights "Mancomb", which is a wordplay on the name of the protagonist of the Monkey Island games, Guybrush. Mancomb looks identical to Guybrush, sporting a blonde pony tail, and the actual "fight" is done by choosing the correct answers to his verbal attacks, referencing the insult sword fighting mechanic in Monkey Island 1 and 3.
 * As a reward for completing "Contract: Mysterious Tracks", Geralt will receive the silver sword "Azure Wrath", which is a reference to "Azurewrath", an angelic blade once wielded by the fallen angel Izual that appears as a unique/legendary weapon in Diablo II and III.

Folk Tales

 * Occasionally on notice boards you can find a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin Story.
 * Also after helping Triss rid a warehouse of rats you will see them running 2015-05-27_00001.jpg water like in the story.
 * The "Trail of Treats" is reminiscent of the tale of Hansel and Gretel.
 * You can find Excalibur inside the stone in the dungeon in Skellige, when you want to find the mask from the druid with Yennefer. When Geralt tries to pull Excalibur out of the stone, Yennefer says that the sword is not actually in the stone, it's held in place by a vice.
 * The Quest "There Can Only be One" in the "Blood and Wine" expansion is also an obvious reference to the tale of King Arthur. The name itself is a reference to Highlander.
 * The mission "A Towerful of Mice" tells a story of a cruel noble family, that hid in a tower when the peasants rebelled and were eaten by mice. All these details are similar to the polish tale of Prince Popiel. A very similar tale is frequently told in Germany, surrounding a Guardtower in the city of Bingen (An extra bit of trivia: Stara Baśń, a movie that includes this story, was made with Michał Żebrowski as a main character. Michał Żebrowski played Geralt in the TV series 'The Hexer').
 * The book "Golem, or Man's Most Faithful Servant" holds a tale of a dwarf who crafted a golem to defend the dwarves from prosecution, which is very similar to the tale of the golem of Prague, about Judah Loew ben Bezalel 'המהר"ל' who made a golem to defend the Jewish community from pogroms. This tale is the main origin of golems in fantasy works.
 * Similarly, an ancient invoice for a golem states the payment is to be made to one Jehuda Löw
 * During Contract: Dragon quest, Geralt needs sheep for a bait. Village elder asks, if Geralt is going to fill it with sulfur and he responds "Another ally of the brave little shoemaker". It is a two-fold reference. Firstly to the short story Granica możliwości from Miecz przeznaczenia, where the shoemaker Kozojed/Goatmuncher used a fake sheep filled with poison to try and kill a dragon. Secondly, to the second version of the legend of the Wawel Dragon, a tale from Polish folklore which the short story is based on.
 * The Side mission A Favor for a Friend is based on Cinderella, apparently Keira Metz's favorite fairy tale, who with Geralt's help reenacts the story. According to Geralt the story takes inspiration from a true event: Apparently it involves a Zeugl swallowing a princess whole and leaving behind a single glass slipper.
 * During the Quest The Lord of Undvik one of the members of Hjalmar's crew claimed that when the crew encountered a group of Sirens, the helmsman caused the wreckage of their ship because he tried to protect himself from the sirens by stuffing his ears full of wax; as a consequence he couldn't hear the rest of the crew shouting at him and they ended up crashing on shore, a tale clearly inspired by the Tale of Odysseus.
 * The pact of von Everec with the Mirror Man resembles a Polish folk tale about Twardowski, a noble who sold his soul to the devil for magical powers. The pact states that the devil is forced to fulfill three wishes (like Mirror Man), and Twardowski is supposed to come to Rome. The devil lures Twardowski to the inn called "Rome" to take his soul, but Twardowski in his last moment says a prayer, and is saved, but must stay on the Moon till the end of the world as his penance. The game features similar trick, as von Everet soul can be taken only when he stands on the Moon. Mirror Man lures him to the temple with a moon painted on the floor.

Literature

 * At the start of Blood and Wine, the scene with Guillaume & the windmill is clearly a reference to Don Quixote (seeing windmills for monsters; only this time a true monster pops out). Furthermore there are notes spread across Toussaint calling on Knights Errand to no longer fight windmills
 * In the island where the GOT Easter Egg is found one of the bandits drops a note with: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". Direct reference to H.P. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu. Appropriately, the Necronomicon, which was referenced in works of H.P. Lovecraft, can be found as an in-game book. In "Blood and wine", in the hut of the witch of the lynx crag, a book named "Liber ivonis" can be found, a reference to an occult book mentioned in Lovecraft's stories. Geralt makes a comment about that book being banished by the sorcerers.
 * In Velen, not too far from the villaige of Heatherton, there is a Cyclops guarding a treasure, but is also to be found a herd of sheep. This is a direct reference to The Odessy, by Homer, in which Odysseus and his men are beset by the Cyclops, Polyphemus
 * In Oxenfurt, near the northeastern gate, you can find a man who has a wyvern in a cage. He tries to cheat you, as well as the soldiers that are there, by telling that the beast inside the cage is a basilisk, but Geralt notices the fraud. After this, the wyvern breaks the cage and kills that guy. This quest, called 'The Most Truest of Basilisk', represents a scene from Time of Contempt, the 4th book of Geralt's saga by Andrzej Sapkowski. In the book Ciri is hanging around Gors Velen with another kid when she suddenly enters a tent and sees a man with a wyvern in a cage. The same thing happens here. The man says that it's a basilisk, trying to trick everyone there, but Ciri says that it is a wyvern... Eventually, the wyvern breaks the cage and kills the guy.
 * During the quest The Great Escape, you can find a list of prisoners with several inside jokes, including a reference to a prisoner named Sardukhar, a member of the Nilfgaardian Elite Palace Guard. This a reference to the novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert. In the novel, the Sardukar were the elite palace guards of the Padishah Emperor.
 * The Forefathers' Eve quest is a reference to the poem "Dziady" (Forefather's Eve) by Adam Mickiewicz. The ceremony on the island directly quotes parts of it. Both the poem and the events in the game are a reference to actual pre-Christian Slavic / Baltic commemorations of the same name.
 * In the quest "The Great Escape", Geralt and Yennefer go to meet a man who escaped from the prison. His name is Abbé Faria, which is a reference to the priest that Edmond Dantes meets in the book The Count of Monte Cristo. Additionally, the way the man escapes from prison is by playing dead and being tossed in the sewers, which is similar to the way Edmond Dantes escapes the Chateau d'If prison island, by pretending to be dead and being tossed in to the sea.
 * The Mission "Swamp Thing" refers to the character from DC comics.
 * There is a trophy called "Fist of the South Star", a reference to the manga "Fist of the North Star".
 * When talking to the Old Sage in "The Truth is in the Stars" quest, if asked about his "gift", the Old Sage will first respond that as a child he fell into a cauldron of magic brew. This is how Obelix from the comic book series "Asterix and Obelix" gained his superhuman strength.
 * On one of the notice boards there's a notice from "Ismael" claiming "if you see a white whale in the sea, let it swim on. It's mine. If anyone catches it before me, Freya be my witness, I will stab that wretch to death with my harpoon" Clearly a reference to Ishmael and Moby Dick / the whale by Herman Melville.
 * There is an in game book titled "How to Avoid Colossal Vessels" which is a reference to "How to Avoid Huge Ships"
 * The book called "Journey to the End of the World" is a reference to Jules Verne's adventure novel "Around the World in Eighty Days". It also mentions the German film star Conrad Veidt (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Man Who Laughs, The Thief of Bagdad, Casablanca), who was one the first actors playing the main character of this story in a movie adaption.
 * During "The King is Dead - Long Live the King" Geralt is tasked with finding a key to place in a statue's hand, opening a secret passage. Many items are provided to try, only one works. One of the items is a skull. Nothing happens when it is placed in the statue's hand. After, Geralt sighs, "Guess you're no indecisive prince." A reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet and the famous "Alas, poor Yorick" scene, and Hamlet as a character.
 * The mission "The Play's the Thing" is a reference to Shakespeare's play Hamlet, where Hamlet says "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
 * On a notice board in Toussaint, a certain "Le Papillon" accuses a guy named William of Stratford to "steal rhymes". That is an obvious reference to the old debate, whether William Shakespeare, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, was indeed the author of his plays and poems.
 * Captain Wolverstone and his ship Atropos are right from Sabatini's book 'Captain Blood'
 * Towards the end of the quest "Where the Cat and the Wolf Play" Geralt may say "The soil lie light upon you." depending on your choices made throughout the duration of the quest. This is a reference to an inscription commonly used on funerary items from ancient Roman times; "Sit tibi terra levis." Translated from Latin meaning: "May the earth rest lightly on you."
 * During the quest "Count Reuven's Treasure", it is mentioned that one of the customers in Novigrad baths is named "General Joseph Svejk", being a reference to the main character of Jaroslav Hašek's novel "The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk".
 * The backstory of a quest "The Fall of the House Reardon" is about a 14-year-old girl Dolores Reardon and her brother/guardian Humbert. They're the main characters of Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita".
 * The title of a quest "The Fall of the House Reardon" references Edgar Allan Poe's "the Fall of the House of Usher". During the same quest one can find Humbert's remains, who was entombed alive behind a brick wall. The whole setup is a reference to "the Cask of Amontillado" by the same author.
 * During the quest "The Mystery of the Byways Murders" Geralt has to track and kill the old vampire named Sarasti, who is a reference to one of the main characters of the novel "Blindsight" by Peter Watts.
 * After being possessed by a spirit, the random black mare caught for the quest will be called "Black Beauty".
 * During the quest "Final Preparations", you encounter a character by the name of Abbe Faria. This is the name of the prisoner who helps Edmond Dantes escape the prison in "the Count Of Monte Cristo" by faking his own death.
 * During quest "Through Time and Space" on the desert planet Avallac'h describes a living sea that was on this planet. A direct reference to Solaris novel by Stanislav Lem.
 * The quest "the Sad Tale of the Grossbart Brothers" is a direct reference to the book "the Sad Tale of the Grossbart Brothers", about the murderous and grave-robbing brothers Hegel and Manfred Grossbart. You are asked to kill them and will later fight them later in a cave.
 * Walking around in von Everec mansion in Hearts of Stone expansion, Geralt can make comments about certain objects. Of the portrait depicting Olgierd and Iris together, he says "Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way", quoting the first line of Leo Tolstoy's famous novel "Anna Karenina".
 * On one of the notice boards there's a story about a girl named Rossa being put in a bread oven for the amount of time equal to "counting dozen three times" as suggested by the Pellar. The tale is similar to the one portrayed in 19th century short story "Antek" by Bolesław Prus, where the main protagonist's sister Rozalia was put in the oven for the duration of "three Hail Maries" to sweat out a fever as per local folk medicaster's suggestion. The child had died of severe burns.
 * Olgierd von Everec resembles Andrzej Kmicic, a character from novel "The Deluge" by Henryk Sienkiewicz, who was an extraordinary soldier and commander, but also a thug and a brawler. Kmicic leads a band of criminals (like Olgierd's Wild Ones) and has a fiancee by the same family name like Iris, Olgierds wife. Olgierd's model bears resemblance to Daniel Olbrychski, an actor who played Kmicic in the film adaptation.
 * In the quest "Turn and Face the Strange," which involves the witcher mutation laboratory of Professor Moreau, the professor's name is a reference to the character of Dr. Moreau from the 1896 science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, "The Island of Doctor Moreau."
 * The sidequest "Last Exploits of Selina's Gang", from the Blood and Wine expansion, mentions three robbers: Selina, Bruce - her lover -, and Robin. This is a nod to DC Comics' Batman (Bruce Wayne), Robin, and Catwoman (Selina Kyle).
 * The quest's title is also a reference to the 1970s Danish comedy, The Last Exploits of the Olsen Gang
 * The Blood and Wine quest "The Inconstant Gardener" is a reference to the 2001 novel The Constant Gardener written by John le Carré. Like the Hearts of Stone quest "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" before it, the journals and books around the treasure site reflect many of the author's portrayals of double-agents living under assumed identities.

Songs

 * One of the women in Crippled Kate's Brothel can be overheard saying "It's a material world, and I'm a material girl.", referencing Madonna's song "Material Girl".
 * During the "Fencing Lessons" when Rosa var Attre runs off towards a tavern, Geralt remarks that "girl just wants to have fun" references the Cyndi Lauper song of the same name.
 * One of the first missions in the game Twisted Firestarter references the lyrics of the song Firestarter by Prodigy. "...I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter..."
 * The "Rosemary and Thyme" is a reference to the English folk song "Scarborough Fair" most known by its performance by Simon and Garfunkel.
 * One of the workers at Corvo Bianco can sometimes be heard singing "I'd rather be a sparrow than a quail, yes I would..." - a reference to another Simon and Garfunkel song, "El Condor Pasa"
 * The song Johnny sings to Gran is the translated version of the Polish lullaby "Na Wojtusia z popielnika".
 * The piper at the Inn at the Crossroads intregrates parts of the "Palästinalied" by Walther von der Vogelweide into his play.
 * Older peasants will sometimes humm Polish old cabaret song "Wesołe jest życie staruszka".
 * A loading tip says "When the time of the White Frost comes, do not eat the yellow snow.", referencing Frank Zappa's song "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow".
 * In the quest "Turn and Face the Strange," which involves the witcher mutation laboratory of Professor Moreau, the quest's title is a reference to the lyrics, "(Turn and face the strange)" from the 1972 rock song by David Bowie, "Changes."
 * During the mission 'Equine Phantoms', Geralt asks Roach how he can cross large distances when the former whistles. Roach tells Geralt that that he will be there "for you-ou-ou as the world falls down", a reference to David Bowie's "As The World Falls Down" from Jim Henson's 'Labyrinth'.
 * In Toussaint a random male villager will sing the lines "I once had a girl or should I say she once had me" from The Beatles song "Norwegian Wood."
 * In Toussaint, in the Corvo Bianco Courtyard, a man can sometimes be heard singing "... the book of lust is long and girthy, no one can grip the damn thing." This is a rather lewd reference to the song, "Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel, in which the true lyrics are: "the book of love is long and boring, and no one can lift the damn thing."

Miscellaneous

 * During the mission "Defender of Faith", you come across some students vandalizing shrines. The say their master Friedrich sent them, which refers to Friedrich Nietzsche. They say some tenets from Nietzsche's philosophy, that god is dead and that they need to forge a new morality. It is also a refnrence to Friedrich Engels & Karl Marx, when one of the students says "Religion is the opium of the masses." (from "Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right", 1843)
 * The maps sold in Skellige are called "Lonesome World" Guides, a parody of Lonely Planet Guides.
 * Rock Trolls say Trollololo from time to time.
 * Novigrad is similar to the city of Gdańsk in Poland. Historically it's been an independent city between 1920 and 1939. It also bears similarities of medieval trade city of Novgorod in modern Russia.
 * A book called "Wondrous World of Insectoids" detail a system called "arachnocommunism".
 * The Bald Mountain is a reference to Łysa Góra (Bald Mountain), a mountain in Poland known to be an ancient pagan place of cult activity. Due to that, the mountain is known in legends as a place where witches had sabbaths.
 * Dandelion acting as a hero takes a nickname Crimson Avenger, same alias is used in DC Universe by Lee Travis and in Disney's animated series Gummi Bears by Cubby. Additionally that's a name of a class in game Elsworld.
 * When speaking to a troll in the marsh he will say "Trolololol".
 * During the "Where the Cat and Wolf Play" quest, if you let Witcher go and find letter in his stash, you can read that Witcher of Cat School named Schrödinger might be dead or alive, referencing a quantum mechanics paradox called Schrödinger's Cat.
 * In Ermion's laboratory in Kaer Trolde one can find a book titled "White Cold", which describes a theory by mage Democritus of Ban Ard that the White Cold phenomenon consists of microscopic indivisible particles. It refers to an ancient Greek philosopher Democritus of Abdera who is known as the founder of atomic hypothesis.
 * During the quest "an elusive thief" should you spare the Doppler, the merchant will refuse to reward you without a trophy, to which geralt responds "There better be one, or you'll feel the invisible hand of the market smack you so hard you won't be able to sit down for a week".  This is a reference to Adam Smith's book "The wealth of nations". The invisible hand is a metaphor introduced by Smith which is often used by liberal economist to explain how the market is able to allocate resources more efficiently without any kind of central planning or intervention.
 * Upon entering the Temerian Partisan Hideout, a soldier at the entrance says "A Witcher, just what our band of merry men needed," referencing Robin Hood and his Merry Men.
 * On a notice board in Fyresdal you can find a message stating that "This Sunday Ignis Holgersen will plight her troth to Ingmar Bergman". Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director most known for the cult movie "The Seventh Seal".
 * A Ra'mses Gor-Thon is mentioned in "Smigole Louis Serkis Cookbook". That is a spoof of Gordon Ramsay's name. Ramsay is famous for TV-shows like "Hell's Kitchen".

History

 * A notice board posting found in Skellige titled "Sailing West" is written by man named Leif, who speaks of sailing west for the sake of adventure, despite the legends of monsters, krakens, and fear of the unknown. This is likely a reference to Leif Erikson, a famed Icelandic explorer who is credited with discovering the Americas hundreds of years before Columbus arrived.
 * Edna var Attre tricks her guard by telling him that Geralt is Fredrick Francis De Bergerac, Rosa's fencing instructor.  This references Cyrano De Bergerac, a 17th-century playwright and noted fencer.
 * "Night of the long fangs", main mission from the Blood and Wine expansion, may be seen as a refference to the Night of the Long Knifes, a purge that took place at the beginning of nazi germany to consolidate Hitler's power.

Art History

 * During the quest Family Matters, a portrait must be removed from the wall, as there is a hole behind it. This portrait is of the baron and is wife. It bears a striking resemblance to one of the most famous paintings of all time, "Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife," created by Jan van Eyck In 1434.
 * The Passiflora has images on the wall which are edits from paintings by Hans Baldung.
 * During the Quest Cabaret you encounter a halfling named Henri Rautlec who is supposed to paint posters for the Rosemary and Thyme. He's referencing French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was very small in stature and also famous for his advertising posters.
 * During the Quest A Portrait of the Witcher as an Old Man you met a few people relaxing on the grass, while the painter asks them whether they have seen his missing work tools. Their posture closely resembles the one of the men and women in Édouard Manet's famous painting "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe".
 * When Geralt is searching for diagrams of the Grandmaster Griffin Gear at Mont Crane Castle, you can see several anatomical drawings by Leonard da Vinci hanging on the wall.
 * When Geralt and Anna Henrietta attend a soirée during the quest The Man from Cintra, you have the option to throw paint at a canvas, similar like some proponents of an art movement called 'action painting'.
 * When Geralt visits the emperor, he sees a portrait of Ciri as a young princess that bears some resemblance to the many paintings that Diego Velasquez made of children at the court of Spain's King Philip IV.
 * Brewess, one of the three Crones, is wearing a basket on her face, similar like the people in "The Beekeepers and the Birdnester" by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.