References, winks and nods in Heroes VI

Here is a complete list of all references and private jokes that found their way into Heroes VI.

Legacy Heroes:

• Lord Kilburn appeared in Might & Magic 1, Heroes 1 & 2, and was mentioned in M&M 6
• Lord Haart appeared in Might & Magic 2 and Heroes 1, 2 & 3.
• Maximus appeared in Might & Magic 3 and 7, and Heroes 1 & 2.
• Adelaide appeared in Heroes 3 & 4.
• Moander appeared in Heroes 3 & 4.
• Luna appeared in Heroes 1, 2, 3 & 4.
• Ludmilla appeared in Clash of Heroes.
• Kaspar appeared in Heroes 5.
• Nymus appeared in Heroes 3, and in the M&M novel “The Sea of Mist”. Her bio lampshade the existence of another (male) hero called Nymus in H5.
• Lorhish appeared in Clash of Heroes and might turn into Grawl from H5. He is named after Capybara's composer Sean Lorhish.
• Jeddite appeared in Heroes 3 & 4. His bio mentions he saw under Kha-Beleth's helmet, which mirrors his original bio which mentioned he saw the demon king Xenofex' true face.
• Xana appeared in Dark Messiah.
• Atlas appeared in Might & Magic 5 and Heroes 1 & 2.
• Kalindra appeared in Might & Magic 5 and Heroes 2.
• Ciele appeared in Heroes 3 (Armageddon’s Blade).
• Tazar appeared in Heroes 3 & 4.
• Shiva appeared in Heroes 3 & 4. Her bio mentions the Dragon Utopia (classic Heroes location), the Sunken Temple (from H5), the Tomb of a Thousand Terrors (final dungeon of Might & Magic 4 and 9) and the Thunderbird (Stronghold unit in Heroes 3 & 4).

Heroes:

• The hero Mokka is named after a restaurant in Budapest where Ubi and BH teams had dinner a few times.
• The hero Umberto is named after Umberto Eco. His character is similar to Eco's William de Baskerville from The Name of the Rose.
• The heroes Igor and Gritchka (seen in Haven 2) are named after Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff.
• The hero Erika is named after the late Erika Walters (a.k.a Flamestryke), who hosted one of the most complete websites dedicated to the M&M RPGs before she tragically passed away a few years ago.
• The hero Harald is named after M&M fan Znork.
• The hero Eduardo is named after M&M fan Vitirr.
• Sir Jaywoods the vampire is a pun on James Woods (who appeared in the movie Vampires) and also the name of a place near Kurt McClung's hometown in Indiana.
• Cordelia is named after the character Cordelia Chase from TV series Buffy and Angel.
• Montbard the Red Templar is named after André de Montbard, one of the founders of the real-world Templars.
• Ishtvan Griffin is named after Istvan Zsuffa, Black Hole's Creative Director.
• Acamas is named after the Cyclops of the same name that appear in Greek mythology.
• Zhaoyu is named after M&M fan EvilP (aka Moyue).

Other characters:

• Azkaal is named after Askaal, an alias used by Loic Portnoe, a game designer who worked on various M&M projects. Early in development that demon was actually called Nar-Olosshtu...

Towns:

• A necropolis town in the map Stronghold 3 is named Abin-Sur in reference to a comic-book character (one of the Green Lanterns).
• A Haven town in Necropolis 1 is named Skarena. Skarena is the Breton name of Scrignac, the small village Julien Pirou's family comes from
• Castle Portmeyron in Inferno 4 is named after Portmeyrion, the village of the TV series The Prisoner.
• The town of Seahaven in Inferno 4 is named after the city of The Truman Show.
• The town of Sorpigal-by-Sea bears a classic town name from the Might & Magic series (Sorpigal was the starting town of Might & Magic 1, and New Sorpigal was the starting town of Might & Magic 6)
• Several towns are named after towns that appeared in previous Might & Magic games.
• Most of Stronghold town names are real Maori words.
• Many Inferno town names are based on demon names from the Ars Goetia (Lesser Key of Salomon).

Abilities:

• The icon for the Taunt ability looks a lot like the "Rude Frenchman" from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Artifacts:

• Angelic Alliance was an artifact in Heroes III the Shadow of Death.
• Sword of Whistlebone was an artifact in Might & Magic VIII.
• Iron Feather was an artifact in Might & Magic VII.
• Souldrinker is based on an unused concept art from Dark Messiah. A different Souldrinker sword appears in Dark Messiah as well, hence the reference to several cursed blades bearing the name.
• The Staff of Sandro is obviously named after fan-favourite hero Sandro.
• Many artifacts are based on classic artifacts from the Heroes series.
• The Guardian Set is similar to the Battle Garb of Anduran, the very first artifact set that appeared in Heroes 2.
• Crag Hack's helmet is a reference to fan-favourite barbarian hero Crag Hack.

Quests:

• In Stronghold 4, there's a quest to find the wreck of the "Jolly Raven", a pirate ship sunken "25 years ago". Finding the wreck of the Jolly Raven was one of the quests of the original Might & Magic RPG 25 years ago.
• In Inferno 2, a Quest is titled "Secret of the Inner Sanctum", the subtitle of the first Might & Magic game.
• In Inferno 4, a Quest is named "Be Seeing You", another reference to The Prisoner...

Achievements:

• Mandate of Heaven is a reference to Might & Magic 6: The Mandate of Heaven.
• Solmyr's Student is a reference to fan-favourite hero Solmyr ibn wali Barad.
• The Gathering Storm is a reference to the first add-on to Heroes 4.
• Festival of Life is the name of a campaign in Heroes 3 Armageddon's Blade.
• Follow Me If You Want to Live is a reference to a line from the Terminator movies.
• Foolhardy Waywardness is the name of a campaign in Heroes 3 Armageddon's Blade.
• For Blood and Honor is a reference to Might & Magic 7.
• Day of the Destroyer is a reference to Might & Magic 8.
• Disciple of Sheltem is a reference to Sheltem, the first Big Bad of the Might & Magic games who destroyed whole planets.
• Ironfist is a reference to the Ironfist dynasty of Varn and Enroth.
• Dwarven Treasury I, II & III are a reference to an adventure map location seen in Heroes 3.
• Dragon Utopia is a classic adventure map location of the Heroes series.
• Clunkfest is a reference to a comment made by M&M fan Dreamwright on the forums (about some units having such over-the-top armors it was becoming a "clunkfest").
• In Yog's Footsteps is a reference to fan-favourite hero Yog, a former Wizard who rejected magic to become a barbarian.
• Gryphonheart is a reference to the Gryphonheart dynasty of Erathia.
• Back in Black is a reference to a song by AC/DC.
• Terminator is NOT a reference to the movie of the same name but to an enemy seen in the old Might & Magic RPGs which could exterminate party characters.
• Nobody is Left Behind is a reference to Disney's Lilo & Stitch. Really.
• The Untouchables is a pun in reference to Eliott Ness and his crew.
• Demolition Man is a reference to the Stallone/Snipes movie of the same name.
• Requiem for a Dream is a reference to the movie of the same name.
• The Pusher is a reference to a song by Steppenwolf, featured prominently is the movie Easy Rider.
• Quick and Furious is a reference to the movie franchise The Fast and the Furious.

Misc:

• Several classic items can be seen on the Hall of Raiders and Artifact Merchant buildings: Armageddon's Blade, the Lion Shield of Heroes II and Lord Kilburn's shield seen in Might & Magic VI.
• In Necropolis 4, a signpost mentions a "Temple of Meow" dedicated to the worship of Rakshasas. It's an old joke in the M&M series where each Might & Magic world had its own "Temple of (animal sound)" (Temple of Bark, Temple of Baa, Temple of Honk, Temple of Moo, etc.)
• In Necropolis 4, a signpost mentions Lord Kilburn's maps of the desert being the most accurate. In Might & Magic 1, the player needed to find Kilburn to obtain a map of the desert.
• The underground city of Sarkomand and its "winged lions" (Lamasu) is a reference to a place seen in HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands (especially The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath).
• In Haven 3 a signpost is dedicated to Zedd, an M&M fan who passed away during the production of H6.
• In Inferno 1, some signposts contain references to the movie Princess Bride.
• Several references to fan-favourite Barbarian hero Crag Hack in signposts, and mentions of his feud with Baron Rufus. Rufus is the name of Varkas' dog in Clash of Heroes, so Varkas might be a descendant of Baron Rufus himself and named his dog after his famous ancestor.
• Various references and (very probably bad) puns in Quest names.