All franchises referenced in Minecraft as Easter eggs

Minecraft is one of the most famous video games in the world. While Mojang Studios sticks to improving and adding new features to the sandbox, it also indulges in entertaining fans by adding funny and unique Easter eggs. In the past, developers have added various Easter eggs that have referenced films and other video games.

Here is a list of all the franchises referenced by Mojang Studios.

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Every film, TV series, and game franchise reference in Minecraft as Easter eggs

1) Portal game

The lie achievement (Image via Mojang Studios)

Minecraft has a special achievement when players successfully craft a cake for the first time. The achievement reads The Lie, which is a popular reference from the Valve-created game, Portal, in which there is a phrase that goes:

"The cake is a lie."

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2) Super Mario

Elytra acted as wing cap from Super Mario (Image via Mojang Studios)

Super Mario is arguably one of the most popular game franchises in the world. Minecraft's famous gear, the elytra, essentially acts as the wing cap from Super Mario 64.

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3) The Shining

Johnny name tag on vindicator makes them hostile towards mobs (Image via Mojang Studios)

When players name a Vindicator "Johnny", that hostile mob becomes aggressive towards every other mob in the game except agents, ghasts, and other illagers. This is a clear reference to the "Here's Johnny" quote from the popular horror film The Shining.

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4) Star Fox

Riptide enchanted trident being used (Image via Mojang Studios)

Star Fox is another popular 3D rail shooter game franchise that has been referenced by Mojang Studios. In the sandbox title, when a player uses a trident with riptide enchantment to fly, an achievement is unlocked named "Do a Barrel Roll!" It is a reference to Star Fox titles, in which they tell the player to perform a barrel roll to avoid the enemy's attack.

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5) 2001: A Space Odyssey

Space Odyssey dialogues have been referenced (Image via Reddit/BlockyCameraGuy)

2001: A Space Odyssey is a popular novel that also spawned an iconic film franchise. Before Minecraft 1.13 version, when players typed /help in the chat, they were hit with a witty message:

"Oh my God, it's full of stats."

Mojang Studios has even added dialogues from the novel to the crash reports of the game like "I'm sorry, Dave" and "Quite honestly, I wouldn't worry myself about that."

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6) Age of Empires

Evoker converts blue sheep to red (Image via Minecraft Wiki)

Age of Empires is one of the most famous strategy game franchises and Minecraft has referenced it as well. Whenever an Evoker mob sees a blue sheep, it yells wololo and converts that sheep into red. This is a reference to the Priests in the Age of Empires that can convert enemy units by yelling in the same way.

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7) Terraria

Terraria directly referenced in splash text (Image via X/@rTerraria)

Terraria has a lot of similarities to Minecraft, the major one being that both are survival-based games. The summoning mechanism of the Wither, according to Mojang Studios' creative lead, Jeb, was inspired by Terraria's method of summoning boss mobs.

Terraria is directly referenced in the sandbox game in a splash text in the main menu: "Also try Terraria!"

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8) Counter-Strike 1.6

Aztec paintings (Image via Mojang Studios)

Counter-Strike is a famous first-person shooter franchise that has been referenced in Minecraft in the form of paintings. A game stage from Counter-Strike 1.6, Aztec, has been depicted as small paintings in the sandbox title.

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9) Grim Fandango

Mortal coil painting (Image via Mojang Studios)

Grim Fandango is an old adventure game that has been referenced in Minecraft by a painting. A character from the title called Bruno Martinez was the inspiration for the painting Mortal Coil in the game.

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10) Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid splash text (Image via Reddit/StoicVocation)

When it comes to more splash text, Minecraft references another video game called Project Zomboid. One of the main menu splash text reads:

"Also try Project Zomboid!"

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11) Pokemon

MissingNo reference from Pokemon (Image via Mojang Studios)

Pokemon is another extremely popular game franchise that Minecraft has referenced secretly. In Java Edition, if players obtain any item that can mine a non-existent block ID block through commands, the game sets a simple text that says "Can break: missingno." This is a clear reference to Pokemon Red and Blue games that have a famous glitched Pokemon named MissingNo.

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12) Quake

Quake reference in FOV settings (Image via Mojang Studios)

Quake is another old game that was referenced in Mojang Studios' sandbox juggernaut. Whenever players set the in-game FOV to the max, the setting reads Quake Pro, which references the high FOV in the Quake game. The "pro" in the setting indicated that professional players who speedrun the game typically utilize the highest FOV to see as much information at once as possible.