Starfield's Best Easter Eggs

As Bethesda's first new IP in a quarter of a century, Starfield has a lot of content. Much of it is brand-new and completely original, but like almost every massive RPG, it also contains some fun little secrets and references to previous games tucked away for players to find in various places throughout the game's universe of 1,000+ planets.

From Alien references and nods to previous Bethesda titles to heartfelt tributes to fallen fans, Starfield is stuffed to the gills with fun little secrets, making it a prime target for Easter egg hunting. Here are some of the best hidden gems we've found tucked away in Bethesda's massive new RPG.

A tribute to a fallen friend

An in-game item titled "Alex Hay's Note" is, perhaps, the most heartbreaking Easter egg in the game. It can be found when visiting The Eye in the Alpha Centauri system, and reads as follows:

"To all my friends and fellow explorers,

I'm always with you, out there in the starfield.

Love Always,

Alex Hay"

To the uninformed, the note simply seems like a sad bit of flavor text added to give the in-game world a bit more depth, but the reality is Alex Hay is not a fictional character. He was an iOS developer and a massive fan of Bethesda's RPGs, and had followed Starfield's development very closely, eager to play the game.

Sadly, the day Starfield's release date was announced, Alex made a post to the /r/Starfield subreddit revealing that he would not live long enough to play the game, as he had lung cancer, and doctors had told him he didn't have long to live.

Empathetic replies poured in, with multiple Reddit users commenting that they'd name their ships after Alex to honor his memory. His last two Reddit comments are responses to these players, and read "See you out there!" and "I'll be out there, thanks!" These comments seem to have inspired the text of the in-game note Bethesda created to memorialize him. Alex passed away in March 2023. He was 35.

The name game

Each and every planet in the game has a unique name, but some systems are made up solely of planets of the same name with a different number placed after the name to keep players from getting lost. But the Alpha Centauri system--home to New Atlantis and a great deal of the game's biggest plot points--is another story.

Each planet in Alpha Centauri has a unique name, and each name belongs to a real-life person who has visited space. The astronauts and cosmonauts whose names have been immortalized in Bethesda's version of Alpha Centauri are listed below:

• Bondar: Roberta Bondar - first female Canadian astronaut, first neurologist in space.
• Chawla: Kalpana Chawla - first woman of Indian descent to fly to space, passed away in 2003's Columbia disaster.
• Curebeam: Robert Lee Curebeam, Jr. - current holder of the record for most spacewalks completed in a single spaceflight (four).
• Gagarin: Yuri Gagarin - Soviet cosmonaut, first human to reach outer space.
• Grissom: Gus Grissom - one of the first American astronauts to reach space. Participated in several historic missions, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, and the Apollo program.
• Hawley: Steven Hawley - flew several space shuttle missions and served among the crew that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Jemison: Mae Carol Jemison - first African-American woman to reach space, served as mission specialist aboard the Endeavor.
• Kurtz: Dr. Michael J. Kurtz - a Harvard astrophysicist known for his work on Nasa's Astrophysics Data System, and for studying the distribution of different galaxies throughout space.
• Lovell: Jim Lovell - one of the first three astronauts to fly to and orbit Earth's moon.
• Olivas: John Daniel Olivas - flew aboard two space shuttle missions and performed multiple spacewalks, spending a combined 34 hours and 28 minutes in the vacuum of space.
• Voss: James S. Voss - conducted the longest single spacewalk (8 hours, 56 minutes) alongside Susan Helms. May also refer to Janice E. Voss, who was one of only six women in the world to complete five spaceflights, the current female record. Notably, she was joined by at least one other woman on each of her missions. She passed away in 2012.
• Zamka: George David Zamka - a former NASA astronaut and US Marine Corps pilot who flew more than 30 different aircraft and logged over 3,500 flight hours during his career. He served as pilot on the space shuttle Discovery's trip to the ISS in October 2007.

Skyrim sweets

One look at the rather odd food items included in Starfield is all it takes to deduce that, at least in Bethesda's fictional spacefaring future, human tastes have changed. But among the unappetizing Chunks-brand snacks and odd alien jerky is a familiar treat: Sweet Rolls, a common snack found in Skyrim. If the player-character has a child in Skyrim, they will sometimes ask the player if they've brought home a treat, and Sweet Rolls are always met with approval.

They're a bit harder to find in Starfield, but there are several places where players can get their hands on some, including a 200-year-old legacy spaceship full of colonists from Earth who seem to have retained their taste for homemade snacks throughout the generations.

Part of the Sweet Rolls' in-game description reads, "Sweet Rolls are considered the tastiest treat in any universe"--a nod to the snack's Elder Scrolls origins.

Fan service

As many players have now discovered, Oblivion's infamous Adoring Fan makes his return in Starfield, and he's even more hilarious in a space setting. The Adoring Fan will effectively worship the player, and while his incessant talking can get annoying, it's nice to have a companion who approves of everything you do in-game, regardless of how heinous your actions may be.

To obtain The Adoring Fan, simply select the "Hero Worshipped" trait during character creation.

An arrow in the knee

Yet another Skyrim reference can be found within Starfield's combat skill tree, where players can spend perk points to earn new or enhanced abilities. At the very bottom of the combat tree is an ability called "Crippling" which increases the odds of downing an enemy, forcing them to fall to their knees without actually killing them (unless the player decides to finish the job).

Interestingly, the icons for both Rank 3 and Rank 4 of the Crippling perk depict an X-ray vision view of a knee being viciously pierced by a well-placed arrow. Given the fact that there are no bows or arrows in Starfield's weapon collection, this interesting choice of icon art is a clear nod to Skyrim's infamous "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee" line.

Familiar faces

Starfield's character creator is incredibly detailed, allowing players to create beautifully detailed characters who--let's be honest, here--look far better than some of the studio's previous offerings. (Seriously, there's a reason there are entire YouTube channels dedicated to making Skyrim characters that don't look horrifying without resorting to mods.)

But for spacefarers who don't want to spend the first six hours of the game painstakingly adjusting the angle of their character's nose, Starfield also offers a collection of over 30 pre-made character faces for players to choose from. But some eagle-eyed fans of the popular sci-fi television show The Expanse have noticed that two of the premade face models look oddly familiar, strongly resembling the characters Amos Burton and Naomi Nagata. Given the popularity of the show and the fact that the final two episodes of The Expanse: A Telltale Series released just days after Starfield launched, fans seem to agree this was an intentional reference. Interestingly, it isn't the only one.

Sari not sorry

The clothing in Starfield is generally more focused on function than form, with most outfits looking rather boxy and uniform. But there's one item of clothing in particular that stands out from the rest. The Sari Dress is a beautiful red and gold item that players can purchase from various in-game vendors, and it has a rather curious perk. While wearing the Sari Dress, players gain a 5% boost to any persuasion attempts.

This is almost certainly another reference to a character from The Expanse: The fabulous, foul-mouthed Chrisjen Avasarala. Avasarala serves as the Secretary-General of the UN--which, in The Expanse, encompasses all of planet Earth and its moon, Luna. She is effectively the president of the planet, and frequently finds herself at odds with the government of Mars and the loosely organized leaders of those who reside in The [asteroid] Belt.

Avasarala is almost always seen wearing extremely ornate traditional Indian clothing (usually a sari, or some variation thereof), which makes her stand out from the crowd of suits and military uniforms that tend to surround her. But aside from her impeccable taste in fashion, Avasarala is popular among fans of the series for two things: knowing exactly what she wants, and knowing exactly how to verbally eviscerate her foes until she gets it.

Given how out-of-place the Sari Dress's appearance is from the rest of the clothes in the game (and its surprising persuasion boost), it's not hard to connect the dots, especially since an upcoming DLC episode of Telltale's Expanse game is set to release this fall, starring none other than Avasarala herself.

Fallout 4 baseball

Starfield may take place in the 2300s, but humanity hasn't forgotten its earthly roots. An in-game item called "Old Earth Baseball" can be found in the game's starter ship, the Frontier, where it sits on a shelf above the player's bed. There's a plaque on the baseball's display stand that can be a bit hard to make out, and if you zoom in with your scanner or the in-game camera, you can try to get a better look at it. But a much easier way to read the plaque is to visit one of the in-game museums displaying old Earth artifacts. The museum plaque reads as follows:

"Championship Baseball, Boston, Massachusetts. 1978."

Fallout 4 is set in Boston, and players will eventually discover a place called Diamond City, which earned its name due to the fact that it was built within the ruins of the Fenway Park Baseball stadium.

But it also references a real-life event: A 1978 baseball championship which saw the Boston Red Sox defeated by their rivals: The New York Yankees. The game, of course, was held in Boston's Fenway Park. The Red Sox' Babe Ruth "curse" would not actually be broken until 2004.

Lord Of The Taters

An amusing reference to Samwise Gamgee's love for potatoes can be found in Starfield. Potatoes can be found all over the place, and upon inspecting the item's description, players will be met with a reference to the infamous line from The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, in which Samwise explains to Gollum what potatoes can be used for. Though it's not a direct quote, inspecting a potato in Starfield reveals that they can be "boiled, mashed, used in a stew."

Breaking Bethesda

One of the best things about a massive RPG like Starfield is the freedom it allows the player. Want to become a space pirate and spend your days hijacking ships because you're too confused by the ship-builder to make your own? Have at it. Want to marry a space cowboy and fly off into the event horizon together? Knock yourself out. Want to become an interstellar drug kingpin? Well, first you'll need the correct attire.

Neon--one of the few large handcrafted settlements in Starfield--is a brightly colored den of dancing, debauchery, and drugs. It is the only place in the Settled Systems where you can legally manufacture, purchase, and use Aurora: a hyper-addictive psychedelic drug made out of space-fish and a number of other questionable ingredients. It's primarily produced by Xenofresh Fisheries, and if you speak to a fellow named Yannick (who can be found inside LeGrande's Liquors), you can get your own under-the-table Aurora operation going. You'll eventually gain access to the fishery's drug lab, where you'll be challenged to create the drug as quickly as possible in return for some extra credits.

Amusingly, you'll also gain access to a special hazmat suit for the quest--one that looks exactly like the suits donned by Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. There are several different types of hazmat suits in the game, but the only place we've managed to find the infamous yellow suit is via this drug-manufacturing quest. Similar to Breaking Bad, your pay will be docked if you goof up the recipe--or if you try to sneak extra Aurora ingredients out of the lab.

Wonders of the world

Earth has effectively bitten the dust in Starfield, abandoned by humans in search of greener pastures. But it's not entirely empty. In fact, some structures still stand--including the famous pyramids of Giza. But finding the pyramids isn't as simple as parking your ship somewhere in Egypt (not to mention the fact that Starfield's version of Earth is so unrecognizable, you'd be hard-pressed to identify any specific country via the view from your ship.

But visiting this landmark requires a little bit of research. To get there, you'll first need to head to Akila City, located on the planet Akila in the Cheyenne system. Once there, locate Sinclair's Books (which can be found on the west side of the city) and purchase the book titled "The Ancient Civilization Of Egypt." Read it to activate the quest, and follow the quest marker to Cairo, where you'll find the famous pyramids, along with a collectible surprise.

An open Opportunity

Back in 2003, NASA sent a little rover named Opportunity to Mars to search for signs of water. Unfortunately, a 2018 dust storm took the rover out of commission, and it's been stuck in place ever since.

Starfield players can pay a visit to the lonely little robot by visiting Mars in-game, but it can be a little difficult to find if you don't know where to look. If you'd like a quest marker to guide your way, check out the NASA Launch Tower on Earth. Unlike the quest to find the pyramids, finding this little rover is a bit of an ordeal. Before you can make your way to the NASA Launch Tower, however, you'll need to progress through the Unearthed quest.

Once you've progressed the quest enough to reach the NASA Launch Tower, check out the nearby museum, where you'll find several exhibits still intact. Interact with the plaque regarding expeditions to Mars, and you'll activate a quest with a waypoint that will lead you to the location of the Opportunity.

The Batman-tis

We've already discussed space piracy, interstellar pastries, and out-of-this-world drug manufacturing, but there's another interesting role players can take on should they so wish: The Mantis, a sort of vigilante space superhero with a booby-trapped lair players must first navigate to reach their prize. That prize is a powerful suit (Boost Pack and helmet included) and a free ship.

The now-deceased former Mantis had a complicated (and somewhat tragic) history that players will uncover as they progress through the depths of her very Bat Cave-esque subterranean lair, but once they reach the end, they can choose to take up her mantle (and her flying Mantismobile, the Razorleaf). After that, it's time for some vigilante justice. Or some vigilante injustice, depending on what kind of character you're playing. To obtain this quest, you'll need to get your hands the Secret Outpost datapad.

This is slightly easier said than done, however, as the datapad is an item that randomly appears when looting bodies of dead Spacers. It's easy to pick it up without even realizing it, and it's also possible to play for 40 hours without ever encountering it. Make sure to target outposts and enemy encampments specifically occupied by Spacers, as Ecliptics and other enemies won't spawn the datapad. You'll also need to access your inventory and may need to actually read the datapad (rather than simply pocketing it) before the quest will trigger.

Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and an astronaut dog.

On their travels through the Setteled Systems, players will encounter a small stuffed toy shaped like a dog wearing a space helmet, referred to as a "Parsecpooch." In addition to being cute, this spacefaring pup is three Easter eggs in one.

The name Parsecpooch is a likely reference to Han Solo's Millennium Falcon, which he famously (and incorrectly) claimed had completed the Kessel Run in "less than 12 parsecs." A parsec is a unit that measures distance, not time, and the line became rather infamous once it was clear the screenwriters had likely assumed "parsec" sounded like a much cooler way to say "millisecond" or "nanosecond," and tossed it into the script assuming no one would notice.

But the Parsecpooch is a reference to a real-life astro-pup as well. In 1957, shortly after the launch of the Sputnik satellite, the Soviet Union (Russian for "barker") launched Sputnik 2, and it carried some rather precious cargo: a female dog named Laika, wearing a custom-made spacesuit. Though Laika was far from the first dog the former Soviet Union had sent into space, she made quite a lot of headlines, especially in Western media. The Soviets saw this as an opportunity for some good PR, and headlines about Laika The Space Dog were read worldwide.

First, the public was assured Laika would be returned from orbit safely, though this was never the plan. As the public--again, particularly Westerners--grew more concerned about the pup's fate, the Moscow Institute of Astronomy walked back their previous statement, confirming that Laika would not be returning to Earth, but would instead be fed poisoned food after a week in orbit that would painlessly put her to sleep.

Unfortunately, this was also a lie. In 2002--45 years after Sputnik 2's launch--Russian scientists revealed that, due to the tension of the space race, they had rushed to get Sputnik 2 ready for launch as fast as possible, which resulted in an untested cooling system that eventually overheated. This meant Laika had "died, probably in agony, after only a few hours in orbit."

But Laika's spirit lives on. She serves as inspiration for Cosmo The Spacedog, a prominent side-character in the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise. Though the character has a new name, the Guardians Of The Galaxy films and comics make it clear that Cosmo is meant to be Laika, as she's wearing a custom-made spacesuit just like the ones Russia made for all of their cosmonaut-dogs, just like in real life) has a female voice, and speaks with a Russian accent. Now, it seems, she's also been memorialized in Starfield via the Parsecpooch.

Alien: Desperation

Starfield has several references to film franchises in the game, but one of the most engaging of these references is easily a frighteningly deadly creature called a Terrormorph--a name that's quite similar to that of the Xenomorph, the alien species that serves as the primary antagonist in Ridley Scott's famous 1979 film, Alien. There's an entire questline focused around these "perfect organisms," and later, players can stumble across another questline aboard the derelict ship Colander, which is another clear reference to the Alien franchise. The ship has quite a few similarities to the Nostromo, and what lurks within it is… well, we won't spoil the surprise.

Unfortunately, unlike in the Alien films, the Terrormorph cannot be nuked from orbit. Now, when it comes to fighting this thing, killing it certainly isn't impossible. Still, to be honest, we can't lie to you about your chances, but you have our sympathies.

Ode to the space cowboy

[SPOILER WARNING: The final Easter egg on this list contains a MAJOR spoiler for the main quest. If you don't wish to be spoiled, do not read any further.]

During a rather heart-wrenching part of the main quest, the player is forced to assign the game's four main companion characters to guard two different locations, with two companions at each location. The player must then choose which location their own in-game character will guard. As a result, one of the two companions placed at whichever location the player does not choose to guard will, unfortunately, die.

Regardless of which companion ends up biting the space-dust, the members of Constellation will mourn them in a heartbreaking funeral scene, and the player will be given an opportunity to say a few words to honor the memory of their fallen friend. If the gunslinging, cowboy hat aficionado Sam Coe is the one to fall, one of the player's dialogue options during the funeral scene will be "See you, space cowboy." Given the fact that Sam is a literal space cowboy, the dialogue line isn't particularly shocking, but there is an Easter egg hidden in it. See You, Space Cowboy is the name of a song from Cowboy Bebop, and is played during a scene where a character from the anime dies under very similar circumstances.

Starfield is a massive game, and, as a result, has a massive amount of Easter eggs. Players will likely continue to find new ones for years to come. Have you found any Easter eggs in Starfield? Sound off in the comments and let us know which of the many secrets tucked away in Bethesda's enormous new RPG is your favorite.