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List of Dwarf Fortress references
As the popularity of Dwarf Fortress has grown, many references to it have shown up in other video games. This is a list of the ones which have been discovered.
Confirmed DF references
These are confirmed to be references to Dwarf Fortress. Unless otherwise noted, they are considered to be confirmed because they reference Dwarf Fortress so directly that coincidence is inconceivable, rather than due to any official confirmation from developers.
A Valley Without Wind
In ocean levels, players will occasionally see an enemy called "Carp (non-skeletal)", which packs quite a punch in melee combat. In addition, the game has an achievement called "Losing is Fun!", achieved by dying 50 times. This achievement is an obvious reference to the DF motto; "Losing is Fun!"
Blue Planet
In the back story of the popular mod of FreeSpace 2 called "Blue Planet", there is a mention of Dwarf Fortress:
"In the mainstream, the colonies developed very advanced models to predict societal development and to maximize their productivity. There are rumours that these simulations were based on a 21st century program that simulated dwarves living in fortresses; however, these are only unsubstantiated rumours, no more. Regardless of their origins, these models were very accurate and effective, and some claim that they formed a significant backbone to the models used by Ubuntu to guide the development of the society and economy throughout the Sol system."
Borderlands 2
An expansion for the FPS entitled "Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep" features the main characters in a traditional fantasy setting where dwarves make an appearance as an enemy type. Killing dwarves will occasionally yield the death quote "Losing… is… fun!"
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
In Cataclysm, the description of the pickaxe is :
A large steel pickaxe, strike the earth!
Crusader Kings II
There is an achievement called "Dwarf Fortress" which requires the player to have seven dwarves in their court, a reference to embarking.
Crusader Kings III
A character with the dwarf trait can get an event in which they are killed by a carp in a pond. This is a reference to carps being fearsome creatures in older versions of Dwarf Fortress.
Diablo III
In Diablo 3, one of the unique weapons you can find is called "The Burning Axe of Sankis". This is a direct reference to the Dwarf Fortress succession game "Boatmurdered" where one of the rulers, Sankis, went mad and killed many of her dwarves, though she did not use an axe to do it.
The description is "An obsidian axe wielded by the mad Sankis as he turned on his own men inside their fortress. Even as he burned to death himself, he would not stop his attacks on those he had once ruled."
Doom, the Roguelike
In the roguelike Doom, the Roguelike, picking up a chainsaw results in the message "BLOOD! BLOOD FOR ARMOK, GOD OF BLOOD!" and puts the player in berserk state.
Dungeons of Dredmor
A roguelike game that contains many, many references to Dwarf Fortress.
- One trap is a shoddy dwarven IED:
"This is a sub-par Dwarven IED. All craftdwarfship is pretty lousy, actually."
- The hardest difficulty, Going Rogue, contains the motto of Dwarf Fortress: Losing is fun.
- A helmet can be found called a Plump Helmet: the description is
This is a a reference to goblinite."This helmet was crafted by dwarven smiths in ages long past from the weapons cast down by the dying goblins foolish enough to attack their undermountain fortress."
- The latest expansion introduced a frighteningly powerful mace called the Dwarven Atom-Smasher, whose description reads:
"Used by the Dwarves for one or another of their various projects that tend to result in unintended consequences. (Beware of stray transmutative thaumaturgons that may result from smashing atoms.)"
Neverwinter
In the free MMO Neverwinter, there is a zone called "Icespire Peak" with many dwarven non-player characters. One of them periodically stops his work, runs over to a stack of kegs, and says, "Finally rest and some beer. I don't care what these mewling babes say, I need alcohol to get through the working day!"
RuneScape
In the MMORPG RuneScape, there is a quest called From Tiny Acorns in which players must steal a Ruby Toy Dragon from a crafting stall tended by a Dwarf named Urist Loric. When it is stolen, Urist remarks that he "might tantrum". The examine text on a talisman that you steal to distract him reads "A gem in a gold setting. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality".
In one of the 'Fremennik Sagas' within the game, Thok Your Block Off, the character under the player's control enters a room and the game displays "Thok is taken by a fey mood".
Scribblenauts Remix
In the iOS (iPhone) title Scribblenauts Remix, typing in the word "Urist" produces a dwarf onscreen. In-game dwarves are afraid of carp. It is debatable, but the fact that dwarves are also afraid of elephants and try to fight demons and elves could also be a reference. "Strange mood Urist" also appears to be valid.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
A character named Swann looks like a dwarf and his workshop is in "Bay 12".
Stellaris
The achievement "Strange Mood" is awarded when a Master Crafter empire fully completes a megastructure while having a covenant with a Shroud entity.
Super Scribblenauts
In the DS title Super Scribblenauts, typing in the word "Urist" also produces a dwarf onscreen. In-game dwarves share the same fears and debatable fighting tendencies as Scribblenauts Remix.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
In the MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW) there is a quest called Dwarf Fortress added during the Cataclysm expansion in which the player must retrieve the schematics to the Dwarven Fortress Bael'Dun. Bael'Dun "is erected around a giant cannon," possibly a reference to a magma cannon. The description of the item says: "A depiction of the fortress using primitive icons to represent essential structures." There is also an NPC in the quest named Haggis Boatmurder guarding the plans. In the same area, but unrelated to the Dwarf Fortress quest, there are two Dwarves sitting on sandbags in a town:
Hargin Mundar says: Flood's not so bad. Not as bad as the ones we've had in Ironforge.
Junder Brokk says: Aye, you mean the one you caused?
Hargin Mundar says: You watch your tongue, ya blootered chuff! That was an honest mistake!
Junder Brokk says: You put a floodgate on a channel from the inside and trapped yerself!
Hargin Mundar says: An honest mistake!
Junder Brokk says: An' then you tunneled from the channel straight into a dining hall!
Junder Brokk says: We were findin' carp behind the furniture for weeks!
Hargin Mundar says: Well, at least the ale was safe.
Hargin Mundar will also throw up when he goes outside. It is likely a reference to cave adaptation.
Debated DF References
These are possible references, but have not been confirmed.
Tibia
In the MMORPG Tibia, there is a Dwarven city called Kazordoon. In an inaccessible area there is a giant fortress built in the shape of a giant Dwarf. There is a comment by some inhabitant NPCs that it may be able to defend itself better if it could walk and shoot magma.
Shovel Knight
A song of the OST is called 'Strike the Earth'.
Fallen London universe
On the Fifth City wiki, the Iron Republic page can show a group of elephants murdering a boat, and the Bestiary page describes humans as "medium-sized creatures prone to great ambition".