References to other media

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The purpose of this page is to put all the references and parodies to other types of media that can be found in Worms games in one place. The references below were all made by Team17, developers and contributors of the games (all can be found inside the games), but references from the Worms Community might receive a proper section or page in the future.

Worms games

Weapons

  1. Regarding Holy Hand Grenade:
    1. It is a reference to Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, where it was used to destroy the deadly "white rabbit with teeth". The 3 second timer was also mentioned in the film.[1]
    2. It has a sound-effect reminiscent of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah. [2]
  2. Salvation Army is the name of a charity organization.
  3. "MB" from MB Bomb stands for Martyn Brown (also known as "Spadge"), former head of development and production at Team17 Software. The bomb is a graphical representation of the man.
  4. The French Anthem (known as La Marseillaise) plays on the background while deploying the Nuke in Worms: The Director's Cut and Worms 2, and while firing the French Sheep Strike in Worms Armageddon and Worms World Party.
    1. The French Anthem played in WormsDC is sampled from the opening of The Beatles' song "All You Need is Love".
  5. Regarding Mike's Carpet Bomb:
    1. The weapon is a play on military carpet bombing, which is the dropping of a large quantity of small bombs over a wide area to create a "carpet" of destruction.
    2. It is named after Mike's Carpets, a longstanding carpet-retail business in Yorkshire.
  6. Mad Cows is the name of a disease.
  7. Concrete Donkey is based on a concrete donkey statue located at Andy Davidson's childhood home in Bournemouth, England.[3]
  8. Fire Punch is a homage to Street Fighter's Shoryuken (Dragon Punch). Some of the default soundbanks actually have worms saying "Shoryuken!" when using this weapon.[1]
  9. Dragonball is a homage to the Hadouken (Fireball). Some of the default soundbanks actually have worms saying "Hadouken!" when using this weapon.[1] The name of the weapon can also be a reference to Dragon Ball which also has an energy ball called Kamehameha.
  10. French Sheep Strike is a reference to an event in 1990 where French farmers protested against the British meat exports, of which one of the instances is setting a truckload of British sheep on fire.
  11. Indian Nuclear Test is a reference to any of the nuclear tests of India. Pokhran-II is the most recent of these nuclear tests, in 1998, very close to the release date of Worms Armageddon.

Sounds

  1. Many of the sounds present in Worms games are very similar, if not the same as the ones used in Spy vs. Spy, like in this video.
  2. The fanfare named "Tarzan" (present in WA and WWP) is based on the character of Tarzan created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912.

Soundbanks

  1. The "Kamikaze" audio file on the Soundbank Wideboy present in Worms 2 and on the soundbanks Scouser, Spanish, French, Polish present in WA says "Tora tora tora!", the title of an 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
  2. The soundbanks Wideboy and Geezer probably reference Del Boy, the lead character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses
  3. The soundbank Geezer has audio files tributing the following songs: Knees Up Mother Brown (Drop), Beer Barrel Polka (FireBall), Lambeth Walk (Grenade), Let's All Go Down the Strand (Kamikaze) and Don't Dilly Dally on the Way (Victory).
  4. The soundbank Cad has an audio file named DragonPunch that references the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, commonly used in boxing.
  5. The soundbank Danish-Pyrus audio file "FirstBlood" references Rambo and probably the film that the character was featured by the first time: First Blood. The audio file "Ow1" references the Europe's emergency phone number: 112. Pyrus (from the soundbank name) is a nisse (elf/gnome/pixie), apparently a fictional character from the Danish TV series Pyrus.
  6. The soundbank Double-Oh-Seven is voiced as a caricaturization of Sean Connery's James Bond (Agent 007), with a Scottish accent. Includes Sean Connery's pronunciation of "s" as "sh", even though in the earliest Bond movies, he was still pronouncing that phoneme as "s".
  7. As the name says, the soundbank Formula One is a reference to the highest class of international racing for racing cars: Formula One (F1). The audio file "Victory" says about the chequered flag. The soundbank is an imitation of the late great legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker.
  8. The audio file "FirstBlod" from the Hungarian soundbank has a play on words with the word "Hullahopp" meaning the toy hoop. If you separate: hulla, hopp! means: hulla= dead, hopp! = jump!
  9. The soundbank audio files "Fatality" and "Flawless" are probably references to Mortal Kombat.
  10. The audio file "FireBall" from soundbank Jock mentions Glasgow, the most populous city in Scotland. The audio file "Drop" mentions "giro", an unemployment benefit cheque.
  11. Regarding the Norwegian soundbank, it is speculated that the radio code heard in ORDERS.WAV, "L-A-8-P-V" (a radio license identifier), could be a potential reference to Fleksnes Fataliteter, a Scandinavian comedy show that popularized this specific radio code.
  12. The Rasta soundbank has 3 audio files ("Excellent","Flawless" and "WatchThis") referencing song Boombastic, by Shaggy: . The name of the soundbank is a reference to the Rastafari religion.
  13. The russian soundbank has an audio file named "FireBall" that says "Змей горыныч" or "Zmei gorynich", a famous russian character from many folk tales (see Slavic dragon). His name is derived from the verb "Burn".
  14. The soundbank Smooth Babe originally appeared in Worms 2 and was called "Smooth Operator", the name of a famous English song by Sade.
  15. The soundbank Soul Man tributes the Soul music, including 3 songs by James Brown: "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (in 5 audio files: "Brilliant", "DragonPunch", "Flawless", "Ouch" and "Uh-oh"), "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" (in 2 audio files: "FirstBlood" and "Jump2"), and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (in the audio file "Collect"). The soundbank also tributes Rufus Thomas due to the audio file "Amazing" that says "Funky chicken" referencing the 'chicken' dance, popularized by the song "Do the Funky Chicken". The audio file "Excellent" tributes the song "Wild Thing", written by Chip Taylor.
  16. The soundbank Stooges references the American comedy team The Three Stooges. The audio files "Laugh" and "Uh-oh" are Curly Howard catchphrases.
  17. The soundbank Team17 Test has an audio file named "RunAway" that mentions a Trevor and Simon famous sketch: "We don't do duvets.".
  18. The "Bungee" audiofile from The Raj soundbank says the name of an Indian dish, a deep fried dough of black gram bean flour, either fried or cooked with dry heat until crunchy: Padapam.
  19. The soundbank US Sports has 2 audio files ("Oops" and "WhatThe") that probably are referencing Al Michaels, one of the most well-known NFL commentators of all time.
  20. The "Fatality" audio file from soundbank Wacky is most likely the British slang Benny which comes from the name of a TV character.
  21. The "OiNutter" audio file from the soundbank Thespian says "Sirrah, know you the art of war?". It contains the name of an important ancient book by Sun Tzu: Art of War.

Schemes

  1. The name of the scheme Clockworm Orange (included in the console versions of Worms Armageddon and Worms World Party) is probably a reference to A Clockwork Orange, either the novel or the film.

Worms names

  1. The Deathmatch CPU worms names (WA and WWP) probably have references to:
    1. UK politicians: Margaret Thatcher (Maggie T or Thatcher) and Tony Blair (Tony Blair or Blair)

Playstyles

  1. The two main playstyles of overt "Lightsiding" and covert "Darksiding" likely reference Star Wars. However, the two styles seem inverted: in Star Wars, Light Side fighting is mainly defensive, while in Worms, Lightsiding is offensive; with the Dark Side seeming vice versa.
    1. What the two Dark Sides really have in common is that they engage in tactics that can be seen as sneaky/cowardly, taking easy ways out of situations instead of the skillful and proper ways. In Star Wars, acting too aggressively in either rage or carnage to overcome problems is considered the easy way out and puts you at risk of Dark Side "corruption." In Worms, staying hidden from enemy fire all the time (what would be labeled "camping" in other video game series) is considered an easy way out to survive battles instead of surviving the real fields of war with skill and proper strategy. The former is commonly frowned upon in Worms and other games where it's a viable strategy, being considered cheap, underhanded, and possibly villainous at points. In Star Wars, excessive use of Dark Side tactics is generally reserved for villainous characters such as Sith Lords, Darth Vader, and the Emperor. Thus the point of the reference may have been to label Lightsiders as "heroic" and Darksiders as "villainous" in their tactics.[1]

Terrains

Catch a fire, Camel!
  1. The Desert terrain has a Dromedary with a cigarette in its mouth as an object, which is a type of Camel, being very similar to the logo of the brand of cigarettes named with this animal.

Worms DC only

Weapons

  1. Regarding Nuclear Bomb, the French national anthem (La Marseillaise) is actually sampled from the opening of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", and plays before the water level raises. The actual "deployment" of the Nuke interrupts the piece.
  2. Regarding the weapon Sheep-on-a-Rope:
    1. The name "Sheep-on-a-Rope" may derive from an old joke about what elephants use as tampons.
    2. It physically changes in appearance if you use the Monkey Mode cheat, becoming Kenny-på-ett-Rep (lit. "Kenny-on-a-Rope"), named for Kenny Magnusson, one of the artists in the game. The icon for the weapon on the Weapons Panel becomes an image of Kenny, and the Sheep sprite is replaced with a small man in a green top.

Worms 2 only

Weapons

  1. Cloned Sheep is a reference to Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell.

Cutscenes

  1. The cutscenes of Worms 2 were potentially inspired by Spy vs. Spy, since they are short, humored, cartoony, with weapons and enemies.

Worms Armageddon only

Weapons and utilities

  1. The Worms Armageddon English description of Mortar, "Shrapnel City" is the name of a fictional city in the Duke Nukem universe, the first episode of the original Duke Nukem game and the third episode of Duke Nukem 3D. Note that the Ionizing radiation symbol is iconic to Worms Armageddon and Duke Nukem games.
  2. The English description of the Handgun "Come on, make my day." parodies a phrase said in the beginning of a scene of the film Sudden Impact: "Go ahead, make my day". It also transcripts precisely the phrase said in the end of the film.
  3. The English description of Napalm is "Apocalypse Now!" (the name of a film directed by Francis Ford Coppola).
  4. The English description of Mail Strike in Worms Armageddon alludes to the working class: "Mail Strike - Ultimate tool of the disgruntled postal worker."
  5. The English Super Banana Bomb description "Your produce alone was well worth the trip" is a reference to a phrase said in a scene of the movie K-PAX.
  6. The English description of Flame Thrower is a verse from the chorus of the single Light My Fire by the American rock band The Doors: "Come on baby, light my fire!".
  7. The English description of Armageddon is "And the meek shall inherit... nothing." which a reference to the Frank Zappa song: "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing".
  8. When editing the properties of the Magic Bullet (ammo, delay, etc.) the description at the bottom will read "Patsy's Magic Bullet - Not a conspiracy after all..." This is a possible nod to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
  9. The description of Damage x2 "Twice the -cide, double the moul." is a parody of a phrase said in a scene of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith: "Twice the pride, double the fall".

Missions

  1. 2nd mission, Operation Market Garden, is the name of a military operation during the Second World War.
  2. Agent Dennis from mission 18, Rescue Agent Dennis, is based on the head of the Team17 Design department, John Dennis. It was considered one of the more difficult missions in 'Worms: Armageddon' and the briefing ran along the lines that Agent Dennis was in a rather sticky situation and needed a helping hand. [4] [5]
  3. Mission 16, Trouble on Mount Wormore, is probably a reference to Mount Rushmore, located in the USA.

Flags

  1. The 42 flag is possibly based on a phrase from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
  2. The "Aphex" flag is a reference to Aphex Twin[6], a British musician, composer and DJ. This flag was removed from the Steam release.

Worms names

  1. The Deathmatch CPU worms names have references to:
    1. UK public figures:
      1. British royal family members: Elizabeth II (The Queen), Charles III (Prince Charles), Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (Queen Mum), Henry VIII (Henry 8th).
      2. British comedian: Bob Monkhouse
      3. Scottish football players/managers: George Graham and Alex Ferguson
      4. English singers: Vera Lynn and Melanie C (Spotty Spice)
    2. The video game franchises: The Legend of Zelda (or its princess) and Prince of Persia.

Worms World Party only

Missions

  1. The name of mission 5, It's Raining Mines, Hallelujah, is a reference to the song It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls
  2. The name of mission 13, Stairway to Armageddon, is a reference to the song Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

Worms names

  1. The Deathmatch CPU worms names have references to:
    1. UK ministers: Harold Macmillan (Macmillan), John Major (Major), James Callaghan (Callaghan), Harold Wilson (Wilson), Edward Heath (Heath) and Winston Churchill (Churchill).
    2. Popular breakfast foods in the UK: steak and cheese (Steak n Cheese), sausages and mushrooms (Saus n Mush), bacon (Bacon), chips and gravy (Chips n Gravy), toast (Toast), coffee (Coffee), cornflakes (Flakes), Weetabix (Bix)

Soundbanks

  1. In the WWP exclusive Polish soundbank, the Drop taunt "Manna z nieba!", translated to "Manna from the Heavens!" is a potential reference to the Bible, specifically Exodus 16:31, being an idiom for something that arrived/appeared at the right time, just when it was needed.

Source of the references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Worms on TVTropes
  2. ↑ IGN: Worms Retrospective
  3. ↑ Wormopaedia
  4. ↑ Worms Wiki
  5. ↑ Wormopedia
  6. ↑ Archive page of Team17 website

See also

External links


This article has a to-do list:
  • Add random CPU names possible references
  • Add all the missing references mentioned on the videos of the "External links" section
  • Consider splitting the references by Team17 and the Worms Community
  • Discover more references
  • Add images
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