A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, web page or video game. This is a list of Easter eggs scattered through out both Fable, Fable II, and Fable III.
Fable
Graveyard messages
Several of the gravestones in Lychfield graveyard have messages on them which are references to other books and games. some of these are
Brom: Lived as a Storyteller and Dragon rider. (Brom from the Eragon novels)
Gimli: Don't call him short. (the dwarf Gimli from The Lord of The Rings)
Captain J. Sparrow: The wind at your back forever, sir. (reference to Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean)
Cursing in Witchwood
In the Find the Archaeologist quest, you must guess the name of the Demon Door that he is in. There are four stones from which you must decipher his name. The letters on the stones are I-H-S-T. There are a few words that you can make. HITS,THIS,SITH,TISH and SHIT. If you spell SHIT, two Balverines will come and attack you, followed by the stones' voice uttering a low 'Shit'.
Star Wars
One of the words you can spell is SITH, a Sith is a user of The Force from the Star Wars movies.
Frying Pan
What you need is the Treasure Clues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6. You will find this in Orchard Garden where there's a barn with nothing in it. The barn has hay cubes near it. There are three hay cubes on top of one another (forming something like a pyramid), between that hay pyramid and the barn, you have to dig, you'll know it's the place if there's a small lock on the barn wall. Dig there. The Frying Pan doesn't have any description, has 100 damage, and is heavy, and has four augmentation slots.
Harry Potter Reference
When donating books to the Bowerstone school, and if the book selected is 'The Book of Spells' Mr. Gout will say "The book of spells? This isn't some potty school of wizards, you know!" an almost obvious reference to Harry Potter.
Hidden Message
When choosing your Hero's name, use "Krunk" to get a secret message stating, "You heard about the time I killed me a couple of Heroes?".
Reference To The Carter Brothers
In Oakvale's memorial garden, there are two gravestones which read "S. Carter, gave his life that Albion might live." and the other "D. Carter, ever unconvinced there is life before death..." This is a clear reference to Simon and Dene Carter from the Lionhead team.
Fable II
Sam & Max
The two characters, Sam and Max, who read out of the Normanomicon (also an Easter Egg, see below) are modelled on the art and tech directors of the game, brothers Simon and Dene Carter.
The Rammer
After killing all 50 gargoyles, you will be rewarded with a Crossbow, decorated with a Ram's head. The crossbow itself is a reference to Van Helsing.
Captain J. Sparrow
Once again this captain's gravestone appears, in Bloodstone behind the wagon right near the ramp when you first enter the town, there is a hidden grave that says "Captain J. Sparrow: Oh where did it all go wrong?" A similar tombstone is found in Bowerstone Cemetery by an Expression Statue and where you had to shoot the orb. Again, this may be another reference to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Harry Potter in Bloodstone
A store in Bloodstone and a house in Old Town both are called the "Dark Mark", a likely reference to the Harry Potter series.
The Normanomicon
An obvious reference to H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon (Book of dead names) that would be able to summon the Old Ones. It is also a reference to the Evil Dead series. In the game, two people read the Normanomicon and summon Hollow Men.
Rupert, Giles, and The Ripper
Farmer Giles may be a reference to the character of Rupert Giles from the television show Buffy The Vampire Slayer. There are several bits of evidence to support this: Farmer Giles's son's name is Rupert, the first name of the character from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The Bandit besetting Brightwood Farm is named Ripper, which is the moniker used by the character of Rupert Giles in his youth. The name of Farmer Giles's deceased wife is Jennifer. In Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Giles's first girlfriend was named Jenny, and she also met a premature end.
Another likely Buffy The Vampire Slayer reference is heard from playing children in towns. They say "from beneath you, it devours" This phrase is frequently mentioned in Season 7 of the show as part of the plotline.
Hammerthyst
This weapon is most likely a reference to the practice of ancient (and some modern) peoples fashioning clubs from semi-precious natural stones (obsidian (Aztecs), greenstone (Maori), etc).
Captain Dread’s Otherworldly Map
A map of Middle Earth from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings can be found above the desk in Captain Dread's room within the Sinkhole .
The Chronicles of Narnia
The description of the two-star rated Worn Closet bears a reference to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, “No, it’s not a secret portal to a wintry land. It’s just a shabby closet.”
Lion Head Isle
On the quest, Treasure Island of Doom!, you can visit Lion Head Isle, an obvious reference to Lionhead Studios, the maker of the game. In the middle of the island, the ground is shaped like the Lionhead on the logo.
Leo Head
Leo Head, seems to be yet another reference to Lionhead Studios; as Leo is the Latin word for lion.
Knights Abberant
The Demon Door in Wraithmarsh (Terry Cotter's Army) opens to a cottage containing several journal entries, telling of a boy named Terry Cotter and how his mother would always read to him. After she died, the boy went exploring in the garden where he found a cave full of rows upon rows of suits of armour, which slowly drove him insane. He can be found dead, lying on his bed with a blue flickering light surrounding his body. This is a reference to the Terracotta Army in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China.
Furthermore, the Knights Aberrant (the name of the suits of armour) reappear in the See the Future DLC quest, The Cursed Snowglobe, within the well. These suits of armour stand sentinel over another corpse with a diary called 'Archie Loggy's Diary'. A clear pun on the word 'archaeology'.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The last artifact of the quest The Archaeologist mentions the number "42", an obvious reference to The Answer in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Victor the Gravekeeper and the Shelley Crypt
The gravekeeper's name and the name of the crypt by the Graveyard Mansion are both references to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, while his desire to resurrect Lady Grey is a likely reference to The Bride of Frankenstein.
The Dingly Egg
In The Snowglobe quest, after you get The Grumpy Rabbit book in the Shadowcourt, its setting is in the Celestial Keep and you have to follow the exact instructions that are in the book that lead you to the Dingly Egg, an actual Easter egg which also lets you access the rabbit hole in the skull.
Alice in Wonderland
In the aforementioned Snowglobe quest, there seems to be a small number of references to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; the book 'The Grumpy Rabbit' and the woman named Alice who you must rescue, both of which are in the Shadow Court phase of the Snowglobe quest.
Love Potion No. 9
The Love Potion No. 9.042 is a reference to the movie and song Love Potion #9, about a potion that will cause anyone to fall in love with you. The description of the potion says "60 percent of the time, it works, every time", a line from the movie. Coincidentally, that line can also be heard in the popular comedy, Stepbrothers.
The Black Knight
Next to Jack Sparrow's grave in Bowerstone Cemetery is a grave that reads " 'You can't kill me! I'm invincible!' Last Words". This is a somewhat obvious reference to the Black Knight's line to King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail before his final limb is cut off.
On the Achievement "The Black Knight", once you have unlocked it, it states "You have turned hollow man-killing into an artform. Turns out it wasn't a flesh wound." this is another reference to one of the Black Knight's lines in Monty Python and the Holy Grail after he has had both his arms taken off.
Winnie the Pooh in Knothole Island
In a part of the 'Huge Heat' quest, you come across a room filled with Hobbes (the one after the room with the spiked floor). If you look around after you defeat the Hobbes, there is a shrine that is obviously built by the Hobbes, but if you look closely, you can see that the shrine is dedicated to a simple Teddy Bear. But with further inspection, there is a jar in front of the bear, which seems to be an obvious reference to Winnie the Pooh (teddy bear and a jar of honey).
Transformers Beer
The drink, Hoptimus Prime is a reference to the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. This in fact is also a real drink produced by the "New Albanian Brewing Company" from New Albany, Indiana in the USA. It is only available on tap at a brewery run pub called "Rich-O's".
References to the Original Fable
Gravestones in Wraithmarsh
There are a couple of gravestones in Wraithmarsh, near where you fight the troll, that make references to the original games, such as:
- Brom (Hero of Oakvale's Father)
- Rosie (The Teddy Bear)
- An Unknown Trader (The one who you had to pay 3 gold pieces to for some chocolates for Theresa)
Your Health is Low
When your health is low in Fable I, the Guildmaster will speak through the Guild Seal and say "Your health is low."
Your Health is Low is the name of the potion shop in Bloodstone. This makes reference to the Guildmaster's message.
During a loading screen, one of the hints will tell of the rumour that the Hero of Oakvale killed the Guildmaster, carving "Your health is low" into his forehead.
Occasionally, when they are taunting you, Gargoyles will say "Hey! Hero! Do you have any potions, or food?" followed by raucous laughter, in reference to the message the Guildmaster would give you along with "Your health is low". These references were all made because many players were extremely annoyed by this feature.
Re-enacting Fable
Throughout Fable II you will see many kids. If you listen in on them, they are sometimes re-enacting the events and battles of Fable. When playing you will hear them say things like: "I'm Whisper. Who wants to be Thunder?"
Labyrinth
Tommy is a "man in drag"(or women's clothing), which is somewhat like the Goblin king Jareth (who wears makeup, high-heeled boots and tights and has somewhat long hair). But the main story with Jareth is he’s a human(who posses some magical skills) who rules over and lives with Goblins. While Tommy is a human who lives among Hobbes (which are more or less the real-world Goblins). Hobbes in the Fable series are also known to take children and babies and turn them into other Hobbes and in the movie Labyrinth the goblins take away the baby, Toby, to turn him into a goblin.
Peter Douglas Molyneux
Next to Lady Grey's Tomb, there is a tombstone with the initials, PDM, or Peter Douglas Molyneux, that says, "This is possibly the best gravestone ever and will revolutionize the way we look at final resting places forever". This is a reference to the way Peter Molyneux over-hypes his games.
Harry Houdini
There is a reference to the famous magician, Harry Houdini, In Bowestone Old Town. The House of Might, 1 Cemetery Road, Bowerstone Old Town, was the home of Bonnet the Mighty, who would invite people to punch him in the stomach in order to show how tough he was. Houdini would do something similiar, and was killed by peritonitis, secondary to a burst appendix (caused by several repeated blows to his abdomen by a McGill University student before he could tighten up his stomach muscles). Bonnet was killed when one member of the public punched him in the stomach with a spiked glove with poisoned tips (a reference to the infection that can cause peritonitis).
Hal's Outfit, Sword, Rifle, and Master Chief Title
A blatantly obvious reference to Halo's Master Chief character, the items are all modelled after Master Chief's armour and weapons in the Halo series, and the title of Master Chief can be received from the Town Crier. The armour, sword, and title however are only available if one has bought the Limited Collector's Edition of Fable 2, and the rifle can be obtained through the Knothole Island DLC's Box of Secrets shop.
Fable III
Portal
There is an area in Bowerstone Market called the Hideout that you must enter as part of a quest after you become the ruler of Albion. Inside go to the first room with the tables, the left down some stairs to the kitchen, continue past this room to a prison area, in the second part of this area is a doorway on the right and some stairs down, go down them and head around the left side of the huge pile of crates. You will find a hobbe in a cell worshipping a wooden box with hearts on the sides and a cake on the bench next the cell.
Fable II Tribute
There is a basement in Bowerstone Old Quarter that can only be entered half-way through the quest The Pen is Mightier. Inside there are many items from Fable II including Barnum's Thesaurus, the complete collection of Fable II Hero Dolls and other items related to Fable II quests.
Halo series reference
Inside the basement in Bowerstone Old Quarter, there is also a table with multiple skulls on it. The description reads 'The skulls of brave soldiers from the 'Tough Luck' brigade'. A direct reference to the Tough Luck Skull and others found in the Halo video games
Lionhead Logo
As soon as you enter Driftwood, head left towards the Spire as far as you can and look below you in the ocean, the logo will be on the seabed.
The Terminator
Written on a tombstone in Mourningwood is written: "Here lies Arnold. He won't be back." Clearly having to do with Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous one liner "I'll be back." Either paying tribute to The Terminator or Arnold.
Legend of Zelda
Written on a tombstone in Mourningwood is "Andrzej Zamoyski 'It's dangerous to go alone. Take this.'" A clear reference to the NES game, Legend of Zelda. Furthermore there is a digspot over this grave which awards a toy sword.
Watchmen
A make up design called "Inkblot" can be purchased from a stylist. It's design resembles Rorschach from "The Watchmen" comic book series.
East Hare Egg
In the small cemetery located right below the cemetery the Spade family is buried in, there are the Coen graves: Walter Coen, who was stabbed in broad daylight, Jeffery Coen, who was burned at sunrise, and Theodore Coen, who was shot in the dead of night. There are also statues of the brothers around Millfields; if you attack each statue with the appropriate attack at the appropriate time, the East Hare Egg will appear in the pavilion in the middle of Bower Lake. It doesn't do anything, it's just there for fun.
Fable II Brightwood Demon Door
If you go into the Mistpeak Valley Demon Door, you'll find a "retirement home" for previously opened Demon Doors. Most of the doors just ramble, but one of them is the Brightwood Demon Door from Fable II. In the second game, he requested the Hero bring him cheese and dress up in an absurd outfit before he'd open. If you stop and listen, he admits to making up the whole cheese thing on the spot just to try and convince the Hero of Bowerstone to give up.
Fable Reference
After you've reached 100 Guild Seals for the Bowerstone Resistance, after Page tells everyone to leave, if you follow Ben Finn and Walter to the left, Ben asks if Walter wants to play a game of Feeble (not fable), saying that nobody can resist a game of Feeble.
Cinematic Chicken's Fate
When entering the kitchen to speak to the workers of the castle at the beginning of the game, a black chicken can be seen stumbling out. This is presumably the chicken from the opening cinematic, as the same cook from the cinematic is found inside of the kitchen speaking to the workers, making the opening scene end on a lighter note.
Fallout Reference
The town of Understone seems like a Fallout reference. The town's exit door which resembles the Vault doors from the Fallout series, the man who owns Understone is relatable to the Overseer, and supposedly the above world suffered some sort of world wide catastrophe which is why the people are down there in the first place.
Also Understone maby a refrance to where the vaults were built. They were built under stone.
Flags of the United Kingdom
At the docks in Bowerstone Old Quarter, where you first land during the Battle for Albion, there are two buoys hanging off the dock. The one on the left is divided into three sections and coloured in a green, white, and orange design, which matches the flag of the Republic of Ireland. On the right side, there is a blue and white buoy, signifying Scotland.
Bullfrog Productions Tribute
In Brian's back garden, there are three statues of frogs.This may be a tribute to the company made by Peter Molyneux, Bullfrog Productions.
FIFA World Cup Tribute
Written on a Tombstone in Mourningwood is: "Inny Esther, Reaches his Final Goal, Gave us a star, Will always be remembered" This is a reference to Barcelona and Spain's Andres Iniesta, who scored a goal in the FIFA World Cup Final 2010 to give Spain the Cup (Teams that win the FIFA World Cup receive a star above their logo).
Star Wars
During the side quest The Game, near the end the princess says "Help me hero, you're my only hope." This may be a reference to the film Star Wars IV: A New Hope.
Economics
The house "The Invisible Hand", located in Bowerstone Old Town which is described as the base of operations for a guild of thieves, is a reference to a term used to describe the self-regulating nature of an economy. The Fable version just takes a more "active involvement" approach to it; the thieves "regulated" peoples money without them even knowing.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
There is a man named Arthur who enjoys writing insulting letters to almost everyone in Albion (his letters can be found in many houses and locations), and on one occasion you have to deliver his last insulting letter to Zachary in Brightwall (last because Z is at the end of the alphabet). This is a reference to Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where he strives to insult every known sentient being in the universe in alphabetical order (also, his name is Arthur, the name of the 'protagonist' Arthur Dent in HG2G).
Sweeney Todd
In Understone, there is a house called, "The Sandgoose Museum." On the first floor, you will see a few pies on display, referencing a pie shop. On the second floor, there is a chair facing a window with straps and a trap door behind it. There is also a basement where you may find a chest and a Cook Hat.
Dead Parrot
When fighting the Hobbes in Reaver's manor, if the Hero kills a Hobbe with a stunning move, the announcer exclaims, "That Hobbe is DEAD! That Hobbe is passed on! He is no more! He's shuffled off his mortal coil!" This is an obvious reference to the famous Monty Python skit, Pet Shop, also known as Dead Parrot.