This is a list of references to other media in Dead Island. These references are generally pop culture references and other fun topics the developers placed into the game for the players to find, and which don't have any impact on the game's progression.

GeneralEdit

• License plates read "D34D 1574ND," which translates from leet speak to Dead Island.
• On various bookshelves throughout the game, the player can find a book titled Dead Island: A True Story which is a reference to the real-world book Dead Island: The Book.
• The challenge "YA RLY" is a reference to the popular internet meme "O RLY?".
• There is a long and arduous Easter egg which includes the collection, and specific placement of several colored skulls. Successfully completing this Easter egg results in Developer's Mods.
• In the beginning, when the player leaves their room and enters the one down the hall left of them, they will find there the couple from the trailer — dead.
• Beer machines all over the Banoi Island (many are found in bars in the Resort area) have the "Heineken" logo on them, but instead read "Dead Islander".
• The Alcohol bottles in the game resemble Jack Daniels, but read "Carcass Amber Ale".
• The player can find packets of tobacco scattered around the floor (many can be located where they have to find flares in Act I) that are clearly modeled after Golden Virginia brand rolling tobacco.
• The Snacks and Extra Snacks have the name "Deimos" on their wrappers. This is a reference to the "Mars" bars, as Deimos is one of Mars' moons (the other being Phobos).
• In the supermarket, there are freezer boxes that read "Spirit". These are clearly modeled after the soda Sprite.
• A copy of "Fakt", the largest Polish tabloid, can be found in Act I. The headline on the front page says: "Ile ofiar zbierze zaraza?" ("How many victims will gather the plague?"). "Fakt" is known for publishing absurd articles, e.g. "I do not sleep because I'm holding the cabinet" ("Nie śpię, bo trzymam kredens") or "Quilt wanted to strangle me" ("Kołdra chciała mnie udusić").
• A poster with the face of Adrian Ciszewski, producer of Dead Island, and sign "VOTE!" can be found in many places throughout the island, e.g. in Mohakin's cabin in Act III. (The poster in Mohakin's place has two diving knives sticks in both eyes on the poster, both of which can be taken.)
• Nenja Samejon is tied to the bed in Act I in front of the cameras. If the player transposes the first "n" and "j" in her first name, and the "s" and "j" in her last name, it's Jenna Jameson.
• A man named Ted B. is kneeling in a blood-stained pool next to Sinamoi's bungalow. He is a reference to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.
• At all the gas stations that can be accessed, all the gas prices are 6.66, a reference to the Number of the Beast, 666.
• The quest "Chasing the White Rabbit" is a reference to Lewis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderland, wherein the protagonist Alice chases the White Rabbit into a rabbit hole and ends up in Wonderland.
• The Achievement/Trophy "There and back again", where the entire island needs to be explored, is a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Hobbit.
• The quest Titus Andronikus is a reference to the tragedy Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare.
• There's a hidden button on the map "Tomb of Natives" that was believed to have something to do with an upcoming DLC (however, it turned out it's just a hidden button); see more here.
• One of the movie posters in the Henderson Cinema is an image of what appears to be Cthulhu perched on top of a skyscraper.
• In the Rending Claws Mod, it states the designer got the thought from a certain superhero. That hero is Wolverine of the X-Men.

Video GamesEdit

• The Achievement/Trophy "Right 4 Life" is a direct reference to the VALVe's video game series Left 4 Dead ("right" being the opposite of "left" and "life" being the opposite of "dead" ("death")).
• Likewise, the Achievement/Trophy "Together in the Light" is a direct reference to the series Alone in the Dark ("together" is the opposite of "alone" and "light" is the opposite of "dark").
• The Achievement/Trophy "Ah! Spoiled Meat!" is a reference to the Blizzard's video game Diablo. The Butcher was a boss early in the first game of the series who said "Ah! Fresh Meat!" when the door to his chamber was opened, and dropped a unique item called "The Butcher's Cleaver".
• There is a Legendary Weapon called Assassin's Greed, an obvious reference to the Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise.
• The Portal icon on the map/radar resembles the Aperture Science logo from VALVe's Portal series.
• The Achievement/Trophy "No raccoons in here" is a reference to Raccoon City from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 as it too was overrun by zombies and was eventually destroyed by a nuclear explosion.
• The Achievement/Trophy "Somebody set up us the bomb" is a reference to Zero Wing, a poorly translated video game that spawned the popular internet meme "All your base are belong to us".
• The quest "Big Daddy, Where Are You?" is a reference to 2K Boston's Bioshock game series.
• Calling herself "Annie" and having a teddy bear named Teddy, Anne Snider possibly could be a reference to the game League of Legend.
• In the Prison, there is a prisoner who wants medicine for a strong man and in the conversation he says, "He could rip your head off and shit down your neck". This is a reference to Duke Nukem.
• For the Gordon's Revenge Mod, Gordon refers to the Half Life series main Hero Gordon Freeman.
• The "Weeds" quest might be a reference to Resident Evil as you use herbs to heal yourself.

MusicEdit

• The quest "Born to Be Wild" is a reference to the song of the same name by the rock band Steppenwolf.
• The quest "Back in Black" is a reference to the song and album of the same name by the Australian rock band AC/DC.
• The Legendary Weapon M.C. is likely a reference to the rapper MC Hammer.
  • The Achievement/Trophy "Can't touch this" refers to MC Hammer's song, U Can't Touch This.
• The quest "One Last Breath" is a reference to the song of the same name by Creed.
• The quest "Ram on Heaven's Door" is a reference to the song Knocking on Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan.
• The quest "Radio Ga Ga" is a reference to a song of the same name by Queen.
• The quest "Wheels of Steel" is a reference to the song of the same name by the band Saxon.
• The quest "Welcome to the Jungle" is a reference to a song of the same name by Guns N' Roses.
• The Challenge "Let the zombies hit the floor" is a reference to the song "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by Drowning Pool.

FilmsEdit

• The Achievement/Trophy "Tis but a flesh wound!" is a reference to the famous "Black Knight" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which King Arthur is fighting the Black Knight and is able to cut off both of his arms. When King Arthur declares victory, the Black Knight argues that the loss of his limbs is "just a flesh wound".
• The Achievement/Trophy "Cardio" is a possible reference to the 2009 American zombie comedy film Zombieland, as Columbus's first rule is "Cardio".
• While in the Jungle during Act III, a man named Jason can be seen fighting the undead with a machete while wearing a hockey mask. Jason is a reference to Jason Voorhees, the fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. Of further note, Jason's cabin references several other slasher films: the Chainsaw from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Boiler Room from A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the stick puppet shrines from Blair Witch Project. The altar inside of the cabin is a reference to Jason Voorhees' shrine to his mother.
• The quest "Black Hawk Down" is a reference to the book by Mark Bowden and the film of the same name.
• The Achievement/Trophy "How many days exactly?" is a reference to the movie "28 Days Later".
• During the final quest "Chasing the White Rabbit", after a period of fighting, Ryder White will contact someone via radio, telling them to "execute protocol 66". This is likely a reference to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
• During Act IV, the player gets out of the sewer in a shower room full of dead bodies. This is a reference to the 1996 Michael Bay movie The Rock. However, they were actually killed by Colonel Ryder White (see Ryder White's Campaign).
• The Legendary Weapon Zed's Demise is a reference to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 classic Pulp Fiction.
• The quest "Full Metal Jacket" is a reference to Stanley Kubrick's 1987 war film of the same name.
• The phrase what Logan Carter says after causing an explosion "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" is a reference to Apocalypse Now in which Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore says the same thing.
• The achievement/trophy "Banoi Redemption" is a possible reference to the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption (and the book of the same name by Stephen King).
• The quest "The Green Mile" is a reference to the 1996 novel of the same name written by Stephen King and the film adaptation thereof.
• The side quest "Toy Story" might be a reference to the media franchise created by Disney and Pixar.
• The challenge "Undead Presidents", where the player has to loot a certain amount of money, is a reference to the 1995 crime film Dead Presidents.
• In the "Fallen Angel" quest the reward is the Pick of Destiny which is a reference to the 2006 movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.
• In the first act, in the resort, in one of the Bungalows, there is a man with a knife that will attack you as you enter the room. His last name is Lecter, possibly a reference to the movie The Silence of the Lambs and "Hannibial Lector".
• In act two, in Moresby city, during the first mission given by mother Helen, one of the character's name is Antonio Margarete. That was also the cover name of a character in Quentin Tarantino's movie Inglorious Basterds. 
• In Dead Island: Riptide, there is a desk and a radio with a corpse and a Golf Club leaning against it on the docks to Henderson, this is a reference to Robert Neville's desk on the dock in the film, I Am Legend.

TelevisionEdit

• Two survivors, Jack and Bob, both reference the "Star Trek" series, specifically the famous catch phrase of Leonard H. McCoy.
• The Oceanic Flight 1012 plane crash and the opening of the hatch in the Lifeguard Tower are references to the TV Series Lost, where Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on a tropical island. Other TV shows also use the Oceanic Airways name.
• The achievement/trophy "Everybody lies" is a reference to the catch phrase of Gregory House from the television show House.
• The challenge "It's WAY over 9000!" is a reference to the Japanese manga series Dragon Ball, specifically a meme spawned from Dragon Ball Z.
• In an abandoned house in Moresby, there is a door leading to a room full of undead. Next to the door the words "Don't Open, Dead Inside" are scrawled on the wall. This is referenced in the first episode of AMC's The Walking Dead, when Rick Grimes is in the hospital. Also, Walker is the common term used for zombies in that series.

GalleryEdit

Adrian Ciszewski's poster

Jason

Copy of Fakt

Assassin's Creed

Dead Island: The Book

The Walking Dead

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