This week marks the latest release in the Borderlands series: Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. If you’ve held off on getting into the series in the hopes that it would come to the current-gen consoles, your patience has paid off. Now that you’ve got the games, it’s time to go find all the Easter eggs the rest of us have been telling you about. If you’re looking for a few to start with, we humbly suggest these eight.
Don’t see your favorite? tell us what it is in the comments!
The Double Rainbow – Borderlands 2
Remember the “Double Rainbow” meme? Originally a video posted by an ex-MMA fighter named Paul Vasquez, the video showed a rare double rainbow in Yosemite Park along with Vasquez’s excited commentary. If you find a cliff in the Hyperion base in the Highlands, you can peek over to see a tent far below. Jump toward the tent, and you’ll hear either Handsome Jack or Claptrap repeating the lines from that famous video.
Kill Meg – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
The “Kill Meg” side mission only becomes available if you complete some other side missions first, specifically the “Paint Job” side mission. It’s also a multi-level pop culture reference. The mission sends you kill the thresher in the trash compactor in the Hyperion Hub of Heroism, which is (of course) a reference to the garbage smasher scene in Star Wars. The second level of the reference is to the first Family Guy Star Wars movie, which cast Meg as the monster in the garbage smasher. When you confront Meg in The Pre-Sequel, you’ll find the monster wearing Meg’s familiar hat from the show.
Tannis Rides Again – Borderlands 2
The first Borderlands had an Easter egg with Tannis riding a fish, so it should be no surprise that everyone’s favorite moderately insane scientist is up to her old tricks again in Borderlands 2. Simply make your way to the bay at the southern edge of the map in Sawtooth Cauldron. Once you’re there, you have to shoot the barrels around the area in a very specific order (blue, red, green, yellow, purple). Once you’ve done that, you can sit back and watch Tannis in a performance worthy of Sea World.
Iwajira – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Iwajira is a secret boss in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. He’s a dinosaur-like creature with spines sticking out of his back, radiation breath, and a bad attitude. If you’re thinking that he sounds a lot like another monster you might know (Gojira), you aren’t alone. To find him, you’ll have to do some climbing and get behind a lavafall. Once there, you can make your way to the level 30 kraggon. Pro tip: you don’t want to do this early in the game.
Big Daddy / Little Sister – Borderlands 2
If you want to see a bit of Bioshock in your Borderlands 2, that can be arranged. All you need is the Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty DLC, and you’ll be all set. Head ove to the Magnys Lighthouse. As you’re climbing the path, you may run into a familiar face: a Big Daddy-like creature named Mr. Bubbles. Of course, he’s accompanied by a small girl named “Lil’ Sis,” a reference to the Little Sisters of Bioshock. If you can manage to kill Mr. Bubbles without hurting Lil’ Sis too, you can speak to her to obtain a unique weapon: a pistol called Little Evie.
2001: A Space Odyssey – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, head over to Stanton’s Liver. Just as you enter the area, you can climb up a rocky cliff and leap to a platform with a jump pad. From there, you can make the long jump to a ledge with a cave. Enter the cave, make your way through, and you’ll find a monolith much like the one in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Walk into the monolith, and you’ll teleport yourself around the world to see more and more homages to the film. Once you’ve completed this Easter egg, the monolith will no longer teleport you.
Creepy Creepers – Borderlands 2
In the Caustic Caverns, there’s a secret area in the northwest corner of the map. Around the corner from a huge closed door you’ll find a wall made of some suspiciously cube-like blocks. Punch your way through, and you’ll find yourself in a very Minecraft-looking cavern. Defeat the creepers (and the Badass Creeper) to get some Minecraft skins and maybe even a Minecraft-themed weapon or two.
Super Mario Bros. Hidden Room – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Towards the end of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, you’ll find yourself in a room filled with elevators. Most of them go up and hit forcefields (which will crush you if you’re on there). Find the one elevator with no force field above it, and ride it up. When you emerge, you’ll find yourself in what looks like Super Mario land. There are enemies to kill, blocks to jump over, and even treasure chests to loot. But that’s not all. If you make your way to the top of the wall, you actually run along it to reach a secret room within the secret room, giving you access to even more treasure and some warp pipes as well!
