Easter Eggs

This article would be greatly improved with an image(s), don't you agree? If you have a suitable image that obeys the Image Policy, then please add it. I assure you, it would be of great assistance to our cause.

A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in many western nations.

Easter Eggs In Gears of War 1

Creepy Painting

During Act 1 ASHES WRATH your objective is to search for Alpha Squad, once you've flanked a Locust on a turret and killed some Wretches you're told to go down a stairs, at the bottom you can go left or right. If you go right there will be some ammunition and a statue with the word victory on it, if you look behind it there is a creepy painting.^{[citation needed]}

HOPE

In the first part of Act 4 Chapter 1 of Gears of War is a courtyard of East Barricade Academy. In the middle is the word HOPE with the HO on the top and PE on the bottom. The O in HOPE is a cog symbol. If you shoot the O in HOPE long enough, it will roll off the words and slam into the ground next to the PE. Be careful, as if you stand in the O's way as it is coming down, it can crush you and kill you.

Dead Guy on Toilet

On the map Rooftops, on the shaded spawn, there should be a broken window next to the Hammer of Dawn. Throw a smoke grenade inside of the broken window and once the smoke dissipates, you will see a dead guy sitting on a toilet.

Gears Crunch

Gears Crunch

On Act 5, Chapter 2-Train Wreck, when the Berserker attacks, she will break a pallet of boxes containing cereal boxes labeled "Gears Crunch", a cereal based on the Gears. The location of the boxes is on the back of Tyro Pillar.

Gear Beer

On Act 5, Chapter 1-Impasse you can find four silver barrels with the words "gear beer" engraved on them.

Easter Eggs In Gears of War 2

Dizzy's hat Easter Egg

In Act 1, Chapter 3, there will be three hidden hats outside around the rig you will be riding on. Shoot the three hats and everyone will suddenly be wearing Dizzy's cowboy hat. The Corpser that pops up from underground later in that act will be also be wearing a giant cowboy hat and will scream "Yee Haww!". You must be playing on Insane or the hidden hats will not be visible however if you memorize the location you can do this in any mode.

Down But Not Out Cafe

On Multiplayer, in Day One there is a restaurant with a sign reading "Lunch" sticking out at the spawn of where the small, shallow river is, there is a restaurant named Down But Not Out Cafe and there is a hand-drawn sketch drawing of a downed Gear handing a beer up to someone not seen in the poster, he also has the cartoon stars over his head swirling due to being incapacitated. This references to the element of "Down But Not Out", which is in both Campaign and Multiplayer, which means that you are not entirely dead yet, but just knocked out to the ground.

The toaster found in Act 4: Chapter 5 of GOW 2.

Locust Toaster

This can be found in Hive: The Best Laid Plans. After leaving the large room (the one where Delta Squad splits up), you will be in an outdoor area with pillars arranged in a half-circle. Use any weapon to shoot it, revealing a toaster bearing the Locust emblem. Pressing X will cause smoke to rise from it, Eventually two pieces of toast pop out (along with some humorous character dialogue). On higher difficulties more dialogue is said by Marcus and Dom. On Insane difficulty, the full dialogue is as follows:

Marcus: Hmm, Ohh I was looking for this... *coughs* Who wants toast?!

Dom: I like'em crispy!

Marcus: I like'em crispy on the outside!

Dom: Hell yeah!

Train Bayonet

On Multiplayer, the Tyro Station map, there is a 'Warning' sign that can be shot down which triggers a train and a point-of-interest. Pressing 'Y' the next time a train passes will show Marcus Fenix riding on top of the train, holding on for dear life. This is a reference to the webcomic CTRL+ALT+DEL, in which Cliffy B topped the chainsaw bayonet by attaching a moving train to the Lancer.

Easter Eggs in Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3 War Journal Appearance

The index of the War Journal

This Easter Egg is rather easy to find. On Act I, Chapter 2, as soon as Marcus wakes up and the cinematic ends, walk right over to his desk. You might see something familiar there: your War Journal from Gears of War 2, likely filled with all Marcus' entries and information. Although you can't interact with the War Journal, or pick it up, for it's not a collectable, it's still to likely bring a very nostalgic reminder.

Vending Machine

In Act 1, Chapter 2, after the cutscene where Dom tells Jace not to eat the mints, you can return to the vending machine and it will give you the option to press "X" and interact with it. After you press "X," Marcus will kick the vending machine knocking the mints out, and he will say "Mine now."

Dom's Sun

You need to play Horde mode on the map Clocktower. Once you spawn, go and buy the nearest Boltok Pistol. From there, run over to the statues and shoot them, the shots will be confirmed by Dom screaming as if he were on fire. Once you shoot the COG symbol on all of the books on the statues, you will hear Dom moan followed by what he says in Act 2, Chapter 1. The four statues and even the sun on the map will now have Dom's beard. After you complete a wave you will hear Dom talk instead of your character, saying, "Heads up guys, I think I see movement out there."

Dom's Beard

You need to play on Insane difficulty for this one. In the Prologue, in single player, head straight to the stairway on the left hand side and wait until Dom follows you. When he reaches you, just simply follow him wherever he goes until the chapter ends. When Dom says "What was that all about?", it confirms that you have gotten the easter egg. When the next chapter loads, EVERY character has got the same beard as Dom, even Anya.

Lambent Chicken

The Lambent Chicken Easter Egg in Gears of War 3

In Act One Chapter Two, after you raise the lift so the Raven can land, there should be four tubes, two on either wall. Walk up to each one and wait until your character calls "Hello?" down the tube. Once you have shouted into all of them, a chicken should pop out of one. If you shoot at it enough times, it will mutate into a ten foot tall Lambent chicken and attack you by shooting fire out its mouth. When you kill the chicken, it will explode into a dust of flowers.

Cluckshot #1

Later in Chapter One - after having the Gear raise the platform for you - if you look to the right, you will see graffiti saying "pray for death" and "where is victory?" Jump over the barriers in front of the graffiti and up the stairs, at the top there will be a dead Gear with some frags and a cluckshot (a unique boomshot that fires explosive chickens) next to him.

Cole Train Slide

The Cole Train Slide Easter Egg in Gears of War 3.

Early in Act 1 Chapter 3, you cross a playground on the way to the market. There is a small slide in the playground next to a collectable. Go to the top of the slide and interact with it to see a small scene of Cole taking a break from the action to enjoy a ride on the slide.

Cole Train's Hat

In Act 1 Chapter 3, there are four Cougar's hats that are wearable, with the choice of normal or backwards. The character who picked it up will continue to wear the hat, even during cutscenes, until he or she loses it at the beginning of Act 1 Chapter 6. The locations are:

• In the back of a truck with other Cougars memorabilia, just before the gates that can be kicked.
• Around halfway through the supermarket is a sporting goods section. In this area, you can find a Thrashies poster that you can interact with, in between two vending machines. Directly to the left of the poster is the hat.
• In the alley you come into after handing over the groceries to KR-07, there is another truck like the first, here is another hat.
• The last two hats are at the stadium. When you are able to choose which route to take into the stadium, choose the higher route. The hats are down the end of the hallway you start in.

Richard Prescott Song

When you arrive in the first camp in Act 1, Chapter 4 when you are about to enter the warehouse, you will hear a little tune in the background. Stay around and you should hear the lyrics: 'When things got bad, the chairman knew he had to make the call, he left us all to burn alive, he watched the Hammer fall. So much for his leadership, so much for the law, he's Chairmen Richard Prescott, the dick that charred us all'.

Cluckshot #2

Starting on Act 4 Chapter 1 on Insane, complete "Respect for the Dead" to gain access to Griffins Stash. Only on Insane, a chicken in a pirate hat will spawn in the stash to the right. Interact with it. Then play

y through to Act 4 Chapte,r 2 and to the left at the start there is a car with an ammo box on it. Walking to the car will cause it to fall off along with the ammo box. Then play on until you find a train track and at the end of it there will be another ammo box. Walking up to it will cause the tracks to be unsteady and fall off and the ammo along . Then at the beginning of Act 4 Chapte, 3 clear the first area of enemies and then run straight and you will find a tower of boxes with the third and final ammo box on top of them. Kick it and it will fall of the edge. Moments later the pirate chicken will fly up on a bird plane made of ammo boxes and drop 4 uniqas Clucksh.ts.

Fighting Tickers

In Act 2 Chapter 4, when you find all the tickers in cages, stay in the "pet shop" and kill all the Locust in the area. When they are all dead, head directly to the right of where you entered the area and find the big red ticker painted on the wall. Next to it there is a door. Interact with it and you will look in the window and see a ring surrounded by locust. Two Wild Tickers will then fight in the ring until one dies. The head locust of the ring will then insult the losing ticker by calling him "inferior".

The Fighting Tickers Easter Egg in Gears of War 3.

Doing the same process while playing in Co-op will produce a different scene. You will instead see a few Savage Grenadiers working on an assembly line, but one shouts "Fire!" and everything explodes.

Sawed-Off Chicken

In Act 4 Chapter 1, on Insane, after the encounter with the spinning gun turret, follow Ash Man around the corner, You should see a building directly in front of you, move closer it should have red words and a broken window. Through the window in another window off in the distance a little to the left, there will be a COG Helmet (It's barely noticeable). Shooting it will cause a confetti explosion on a building around the right hand corner, Go around the corner and find a door at the very end of the wall, Kick down the door and inside will be an ammo crate, a Hammer of Dawn, and a broken arcade game. Kick the arcade game a couple of times and it will start to work. You can then interact with the game and start to play Sawed-Off Chicken. You play as a chicken in a COG Helmet with 2 Sawed-off Shotguns fighting a horde of Polyps. Unfortunately the game will break within a couple of seconds of playing it.

The Sawed-off Chicken arcade machine Easter egg in Gears of War 3.

Warning: Shooting the arcade game will cause it to break, and if anyone other than Marcus kicks it is wont work either

Dancing Wretch

The "Dancing Wretch Easter Egg" is one of the games more complicated and detailed.

On the multiplayer map Checkout, there are three fire alarms. Hit the one in the Home Goods spawn, then run over to the Electronics center and shoot the box in the now open door and pick up the fire extinguisher. Then run over to the Pharmacy Spawn and extinguish the fire alarm that is on fire and wait for the shopping cart to roll into view outside the glass wall. Shoot the red top hat in the cart and then turn around and head to the checkout. In the window to the right of the checkout shoot the red top hat that will spawn. Once done move into the checkout and the car that is smashed into the wall will light on fire. Extinguish it and then head to the washrooms to the right of the electronics center and shoot the cane hanging out of the roof. Then go back to the electronics center and extinguish the television/microwave thing to the left of the door where you got the extinguisher. Then look in the door and when the smoke clears away you will see a dancing wretch wearing a red top hat and holding a cane. The Wretch is immune to damage but will eventually disappear in a puff of smoke, only leaving his hat and cane.

Secret Song "Mad World"

On the multiplayer map Gridlock, if all players can manage to complete a round without destroying any of the ash people, the non-vocal version of Mad World from the Gears of War trailer will play during the next round.

Picture Of Dom And Maria/Dom Crying

On the multiplayer map Mercy, wait inside the church behind the altar where the grenades usually spawn. After a set amount of time, the bells will ring and a picture of Dom and Maria will appear on the back altar. If you shoot it, you can hear Dom crying faintly.

Classy Lady

When playing as the Onyx Guard in multiplayer. Your character will sometimes yell out "Hey, your Mom's a Classy Lady!", Adam Fenix will also say this quote. This is a nodd to a Penny-Arcade Comic about the Content Filter on Gears of War 2.

Death Row Laugh Easter Egg

In the Fenix Rising DLC map, The Slab, there is a movable Thrashball in the Thrashball Court spawn. It can be moved by touching it or shooting it; if you move the ball all the way to the Death Row area and insert the ball far enough into the hole of the Death Row fence, a rat will exit the hole and you will hear a disturbing Locust laugh.

The Slab

Around the Fenix Rising DLC map, The Slab, there are numerous wretch footprints, for example, near the door on the top left of the map or near some stairs and near the laundry room; these may lead to up an even bigger Easter Egg. Once you perform the "Death Row Laugh" Easter Egg, if you go to the top left door on the map where the footprints are, if you shoot it, you will hear the sound of a man groaning. Also, in the showers, on the right hand side when looking down the stairs, there is a knife stabbed into the wall.

Anthony and Ben Memorial

On the Forces of Nature DLC map, Aftermath, on your overhead map you will see a place that says "Veterans' Memorial." Head to that area and first you will find a Hammer of Dawn Command Center. Walk to the back double doors and you will hear a choir. Look on the table to your left when facing towards the door and you will see two pairs of COG tags. One has one gear and the other one has two. This is a reference to Anthony dying in Gears of War and Ben dying in Gears of War 2. Also on the table to the right you will see a COG helmet that looks like Recruit Clayton's.

RAAM's Gift

On the Raam's Shadow map DLC Bullet Marsh in Horde mode on any difficulty, whenever you shoot the generator to shut off the lights on the two sniper weapon spawns and the Boomshot spawn, a sword may appear in one of those three locations in the kryll cloud. It may take numerous tries to get the swords to spawn. The one it appears in is random and it is most easily seen by using your Tac-Com. You can pick up the sword like a collectible and hear RAAM's voice in reaction. Typically it is best to get the two swords from the sniper spawn. After you get the sword once, destroy the generator again and the sword will appear in another of the three weapon spawns. On the western sniper spawn, it appears near the center of the kryll cloud. At the Boomshot, it appears slightly to the west of the center. At the eastern sniper spawn, it is in the wall at the edge of the kryll spawn at about head level. Once three swords have been collected, a fourth one appears at the western sniper spawn near the bridge. Collecting the fourth sword will down all players, but the kryll will cover their bodies like they do RAAM's and revive them, and all players will be equipped with a one-handed Vulcan that can be fired and reloaded without assistance from a second player. It contains 640 ammo. A Hammer of Dawn command center may also appear near the Boomshot spawn.

Duck Hunt

Easter Eggs in Gears of War: Judgment

Judgment Campaign 

Carmine Family Life Insurance

As soon as you start Sofia's Testament, look at the building on the left and there will be a sign hanging from it saying "Carmine Family Life Insurance. Protect the ones you love."

This is a reference to the parody video shown at Comic Con 2010 in which a Carmine family member tries to get a Life insurance policy, without success.^{[citation needed]}

Weapons Cache in Elliott's Mansion

When you come to defending the atrium of Professor Elliott's mansion, you will see rows of busts on the landings. On the right landing, there is a bust with blue, glowing eyes. If you interact with it, it will rotate and sink, causing the wall behind to retract and expose weapons and ammo.

Aftermath Campaign

Sera's Friendliest Reaver

"Huh. You don't see that every day."

—Damon Baird after the self-destruction of the friendly Reaver

Star Wars Reference

After getting to the top of the stairs in the beginning of "Straight To The Top", a Stranded appears and says "Who are you" to which Baird replies with the same question. The Stranded is then killed by a One-Shot wielding Savage Locust, prompting Baird to say, "That was a boring conversation anyway".

This could possibly be a reference to Han Solo's line in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope when he uses an Imperial communicator to engage in a short conversation with another Imperial soldier. When the Imperial soldier asked for his credentials and began being suspicious, Han shot the mic and says, "That was a boring conversation anyway". ^{[citation needed]}

Buckethead Locust

"Uh, what the hell's going on here?"
"Ugh, Easter eggs!"

—Clayton Carmine and Garron Paduk, after seeing the bucketheads

Latin Music from Gears of War 1

"Uh, uh. No more radio! Marcus would be proud."

—Augustus Cole after the destruction of the Latin radio.

In the kitchen of the building the UIR Ship is on top of, there is a radio playing the same Latin music that Baird was playing in Laverne back in the original Gears of War. To activate this, you need to press the button in the broken elevator in the room before the kitchen. Only do it once other wise the lift will crash and kill you. When you kill all the enemies, the music will start to play. If you destroy the radio, Cole will remark "Uh, uh. No more radio! Marcus would be proud."

Smaller Easter Eggs in Aftermath

Judgment Multiplayer

Library's Ghost

"Free me!"

—The Library Ghost after killing a would-be slayer

In the One-Shot room located above the Breechshot spawn, a player can throw a grenade up into the rafters to knock loose a painting which will fall on the wall opposite to the room entrance. Next to the portrait, there is a small scrap of paper that can only be destroyed via Snub Pistol. Once the paper is destroyed, a small orb will appear on the cog located on the painting wall.

Small papers identical to the first one will then appear near all the paintings on the map; destroying a paper will change the nearby portrait into something gruesome (a skeleton or a man shot in the head) and will desaturate the map of color. Once all eight of the papers are destroyed (one is located in the closed off area behind the Longshot spawn; another is on the alter next to the Incendiary spawn), you can return to the One-Shot room and find the cog fully-lit with all eight glowing orbs. Approaching the painting will cause a Reaper to phase out of it, scour through a book and return into the painting.

Shooting the painting will teleport you to a secret tomb, where you have to fight the Reaper on a one-on-one duel. The Reaper's health far exceeds any standard multiplayer character and spawns with two random weapons every time you enter the room. While killing the Reaper does not reward you with the unique medal or weapon skin set, it does count as one kill towards your score and can sometimes drop a Booshka, which is the only way of getting it on Library by standard means. If you fail to kill the Reaper, you will die and the Reaper will utter a creepy, map-wide echo saying "Free me!".

This easter egg can only be done in Free-For-All.

Rig's Gas Masks

In the multiplayer map named Rig there is a building. In that building there will be a box saying gas masks near one of the entrances. If you shoot off the hinges on the top of the box it will open revealing a gas mask. If you press x next to it, your character will equip it and it will stay equipped until you die. Even though there is only one mask in the box you will be able to equip it as many times as you want.

Easter Eggs In Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

This article is a Stub and needs your help. Please improve it by adding more information.

Easter Eggs in Gears of War 4

This article is a Stub and needs your help. Please improve it by adding more information.

Campaign

Despicable You

In the prologue of Act I, during the Aspho Fields scene, there is a freeze ray called 'Despicable You', a reference to the Despicable Me movie. To acquire this weapon, start the prologue on Insane and play till you reach the area after the machine gun nests. After entering the code and passing through both doors, there will be three UIR soldiers and an open door beyond them to the right. Kill the UIR soldiers as fast as possible and roadie run to the door. This might take a few attempts, but if you make it inside before it fully closes, you will be able to equip the freeze ray. It has a total of 12 shots and shoots an ice ball that turns into an ice cloud when it hits an enemy or surface. If an enemy is caught inside this cloud, they freeze and will explode and die after about 5 seconds. The weapon itself is a snow-clad Repair Tool, though it will take up one of your primary weapon slots, that fires and reloads similarly to the EMBAR.

Riding a Reaver

In the prologue of Act I, during the Emergence Day scene, you can ride a Reaver. To do this, play through the prologue till Minh goes inside with Anya and Hoffman. Hold off the Locust until Reavers join the fight. Shoot the rider off of the Reaver, then walk underneath it and press X. You'll now be in control of the Reaver and can fire missiles.

Dom's Toms

In the chapter Geared Up in Act II, there are grenades called 'Dom's Toms'. To acquire these grenades, play through the chapter till you reach the greenhouse and shoot every pot plant inside. Doing this will cause Marcus to go on a monologue rant about his tomatoes. After he's finished, the grenades will spawn in as a tomato plant. Picking them up will give you six explosive tomatoes that explode like normal, but detonate into tomato juice.

Raging Buccaneer

In the chapter Do Not Go Gentle in Act III, there is a Gnasher called 'Raging Buccaneer'. To acquire this weapon, play through the chapter till you reach a room with numerous pods and a gate at the end that the Swarm lock. Kill all the Swarm, and then pop all the pods. A skull will spawn at the back of the room on a shelf. Shooting at it will move it, and you will have to get it all the way to the gate at the other end of the room. This may take some time and ammunition, but when you get the skull to the gate, the Gnasher will spawn on the other side of it. Open the gate, and you can equip it. It has a total of 32 shots, and when fired, slows down time for a moment.

Multiplayer

Disco Easter Egg

On the multiplayer map Fuel Depot, you must be playing a Versus match with nine other players. Detonate the fuel pumps at the Gas Station with a Frag Grenade, and a screen at the back of the Hangar will now say 'REBOOT?'. Activating it will turn on the scales in the middle of the map, and once all ten players are standing on the scales, disco music will play, the scales will turn into an illuminated dance floor, and confetti will rain down on the players.

Hard Hat Easter Egg

On the multiplayer map Lift, players need to destroy three rock pieces with the Dropshot. This may take several attempts, but once complete, a hard hat will spawn in the Control Room. The hard hat can only be worn by one player, and will be lost and won't respawn if that player is killed.

Leviathan Easter Egg

On the multiplayer map Harbor, players need to shoot various Leviathan-like carvings (placed all over the map, typically in obscure locations that need the Longshot). Once all six have been shot in order, a seventh will appear in front of the lever. After shooting it, activate the lever, and a giant Leviathan will appear from the water in front of the Frag Grenade spawn before diving back down.

Mount Gearsmore Easter Egg

On the multiplayer map Glory, players need to shoot various books placed all over the map. Once all six have been shot in order, a seventh will appear in the 'Fountain' area, behind the turret. After shooting it, an alarm will sound and you'll have little time to activate a nearby button (located where the fourth book is). Doing this will cause the giant cannon to fire at the mountainside, creating a 'Mount Gearsmore' carving featuring Anthony Carmine, Anya Stroud, Dominic Santiago, and Minh Young Kim.

Easter Eggs in Gears 5

Campaign

Thanks For Playing Easter Egg

During the prologue, when the Pulse becomes available, if players have Dave use it while overlooking a lake in Azura players can see the message 'Thanks for playing. T.C'.

Fish on a Stick Easter Egg

Also in the prologue, if you shoot the four valves in the exhaust shaft you fall in a light will come from the hole J.D and Del fall through, along with a fish on a stick to appear. This will prompt J.D to then say 'Easter egg baby.' in a higher pitched voice. Walking to the fish on the stick will give it the same name as the Breaker Mace, but the same icon as the Pipe.

Dancing Reject Easter Egg

During Act I Chapter IV when players have to go through a restaurant to reach the theater, if no Rejects are alerted, they can approach one specific one. If players wait for a few seconds the Reject will dance.

Familiar looking Snowman Easter Egg

When players enter the dressing room in the theater in Act I Chapter V, a photo of a snowman with a pair of children can be seen. If players look closely at the snowman, they can see it looks like Marcus.

Embry = Hamilton Easter Egg

In the theater during Act I Chapter V, posters promoting a musical named Embry can be found. The appearance of the posters is similar to promotional posters for the real life musical Hamilton. In addition, the appearance of the stage players have to reach in the theater is an almost exact recreation of the set of Hamilton.

Tomato Gardener Easter Egg

In Act II Chapter I, when the Swarm start attacking Riftworm Village, you will pass by the same greenhouse from earlier. If you shoot the big tomato pots, the gardener will go on a monologue rant about how the tomatoes did nothing to Kait and Del. This easter egg is a call back to the Dom's Toms easter egg in Gears of War 4.

Memorial Wall Easter Egg

In Act IV Chapter II, when the players have to head through the House of Sovereigns to reach Paduk, there will be a memorial wall on the right. When interacted with after collecting all of the required collectibles, you will hear voice lines from characters who died in previous Gears of War games. After placing the final collectible, the interact button will appear on screen, prompting players to press it. If done, the character you're playing as will salute as Dom Santiago, Adam Fenix, Tai Kaliso, Mihn Young Kim, Michael Barrick, Alicia Valera, Anthony Carmine, Benjamin Carmine, and Richard Prescott appear as ghostly images on the screen.

Multiplayer

Cole Train on a Train Easter Egg

On the map Asylum, if a player shoots down the warning sign above the platform, the next train that comes through will have Cole on the front dancing. When the train goes by, players will hear Cole shout 'Whoo!', referencing his time as a Thrashball player nicknamed the Cole Train and his catchphrase. The easter egg itself is a call back to the aforementioned Marcus on a train easter egg on Tyro Station in Gears of War 2.