Annotations |
| These little references or trivia tidbits have been submitted by Wiz8 fans. If you spot any little trivia items in the game please submit them to me via email & I will post them here for everyone's enjoyment. Thanks all! |
| Nessie - In the old DOS game series "Commander
Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons", our hero Commander Keen traveled to a
far off planet in his Bean with Bacon Mega Rocket to engage the enemy.
On one of the planets he encountered a Friendly sea monster named Nessie.
She allowed Keen to ride on her back through the ocean to a "bonus" map
where one could accumulate many points. - Flamestryke
I figured Nessie to be referring to the famous monster of Loch Ness. - Sagorn Nessie made her first appearance in the series in Wizardry V. You can find her on level four, at East 9, South 9. - Neovalis |
| Humpahammer - The teleporter in Mt. Gigas bears a strong resemblance to the "Stargate" in Stargate the movie and the Stargate SG-1 scifi series. - Flamestryke |
| Razuka is of course the Japanese Mafia, the Yakuza although they talk like the Italians in the Godfather. - Sagorn |
| Book titles found in various bookshelves on Dominus look like Japanese letters that reads "Chris". I remember someone posting to say that one of the graphics staff has the name Chris. - Yosk |
| Names of some Wiz 8 staff members are inscribed on gravestones in Arnika-Trynton cemetery. - Yosk |
| Callisto - The Mook vessel could have gotten its name from several sources: Callisto was a Nymph loved by Zeus, changed into a bear by Hera and subsequently changed into the Great Bear Constellation. (Also) It is the fifth moon of Jupiter. (Also) An arch enemy of Xena in the Australian adventure series, Xena, The Warrior Princess, starring Luci Lawless. - Flamestryke |
| The "closet" where you suit up for the Umpani underwater mission looks like these towers in the Baywatch series. - Andreas |
| Most all Bard regalia was named for a character in various Shakespeare
plays. - Flamestryke
Ariel's Slippers: Ariel is an airy spirit
in The Tempest.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) |
| Nebdar is an anagram for Brenda, as in Brenda (Garno) Brathwaite, wizardry 8 designer and story author. The -5 senses on the amulet is a jest for several displays of clumsiness on her part. -- The Source: A post on vnboards in the early days when several SirTech crew were around - sinceTheBeginning |
| Gregor - I've stumbled on a Wiz8 FAQ, where the author points out, that the roach king's name Gregor (lower monastery) is a reference to Franz Kafka. In the (autobio-graphic) narration "die Verwandlung" - english title: "the metamorphosis" - Kafka describes how he woke up one morning, being transformed into a man-sized insect. - Farl (FAQ Author Guiler) |
| Zizka Star: Jan Zizka was a great Czech
warrior-leader. He wons a lot of battles between our (czech) peoples and
crussaders in 15 century. This flail was a typical weapon of Zizka's warriors.
- Jericha
I would add that the people he was leading called themselves Hussites and it was HIS typical weapon not a typical weapon of Hussites. They went more with pole arms of all kinds. He wasn't only a Czech leader because many Czech nobles fought against him and also many foreign fighters were in his ranks. Hussites were among the first protestant churches in Europe (Before M. Luter). And they indeed defeated about 4 or 5 crusades, although crusade is a bit too noble a word for a military campaign of couple German princes. Zizka's brilliant military mind however made a breakthrough in European battle tactics before heavy artillery was invented. He made a great use of pole arms and introduced field fortifications that he used to assemble from specially modified wagons. First primitive cannons, handguns and arbalests proved to cause a vast devastation among heavily armored knights. - o.s. |
| Milano Calzone: Milano is a city in Italia, and calzone is a type of pizza. It well fits to Razuka, as they are a reference to the Italian Mafia. - Maciej |
| Anselm and Carnap
(Panrack spelled backwards) are both philosophers.
Anselm came up with the infamous proof of the existence of God argument, arguing that there is no being that can best God in terms of greatness, therefore no other being could be thought of to be greater. And since a God that exists is better than one that doesn't, then God must exist. Carnap is famous for his insistence that only statements about life that can be true or false, not morally ambiguous or arguable like much of philosophy or metaphysics, are meaningful. Any statement that can be either true or false, therefore, should not be paid attention to, according to Carnap. The characters are also on two sides of the philosophical fence... one
praying and hoping for a miracle from the Cosmic Lords to save their beseiged
town, and the other using science, scouting and war as tools to protect
themselves and defeat their enemies. - Wallbridge
Footnote from Flame:For anyone interested you can learn more about Anselm of Canterbury, otherwise known as Saint Anselm and Rudolph Carnap at The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. |
| Other reference in w8 which just came to mine mind is Glumph's "Your mission, private, and u will accept it ...." which refers to Mission Impossible. - Ben |
| Here's a little of the history of the term bezerk in old Irish and Scottish folk tales: Viking and Pict - DraconFighter |
| I'm watching It's A Wonderful Life on TV - George Bailey's daughter Zuzu gives him a flower and he puts the petals in his pocket, and they disappear when he is seeing what life would be like without him - i.e. as he leanrs the purpose of his life (destiny?). I suppose this is the source of the name of this item in the game. - Propmaster1 |
| In Balbrak's office is a portrait of a woman with short blond hair on the wall. This is Sheila "Scope" Sterling, a mercenary from Sirtech's other top-game, "Jagged Alliance 2". - Martin |
| I ran across another Wizardry 8 item source. Zatoichi
is the hero of a series of Japanese samurai movies. The following
is a description on a website selling the movies:
"Zatoichi is the famous, fictional, blind masseur and roving gambler who, when innocent lives are threatened, becomes the ruthless swordsman who can cut down a dozen men -- yakuza and samurai alike -- before they know what hit them. He's as famous a film character in Japan as the Indiana Jones character is in the States. He wandered the Japanese countryside in the early 1800s during the waning years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, barely scraping a living by giving massages and gambling." Perhaps the idea of a sword-cane explains the high damage of the Zatoichi Bo. Also, blinding flash is oddly appropriate. - Propmaster1 |
| Bushido Blade - Bushido, literally translated
"Way of the Warrior," developed in Japan between the Heian and Tokugawa
Ages (9th-12th century). It was a code and way of life for Samurai, a class
of warriors similar to the medieval knights of Europe. It was influenced
by Zen and Confucianism, two different schools of thought of those periods.
Bushido is not unlike the chivalry and codes of the European knights. "It
puts emphasis on loyalty, self sacrifice, justice, sense of shame, refined
manners, purity, modesty, frugality, martial spirit, honor and affection.
- Flamestryke
Read more about Bushido at Bushido, Way of the Warrior and What is Bushido? |
| Muramasa Blade - In ancient Japan, one
of the most honored yet intensely competitive craftsmen were the makers
of Samurai Swords. A fine craftsman was not just technically skilled, but
also had a deep spiritual background, as the sword served as an extension
of the warrior's honor and spirit. History tells of a great competition
to determine who was the master swordmaker in the land. The competition
came down to two famous smiths, Muramasa and Masamune. Each maker's sword
was able to perform all the required tests of sharpness and cutting with
ease; so equal were these swords in raw cutting power a last test had to
be devised.
Swords made by Muramasa and Masamune were held upright in a running stream; every dead leaf floating down the stream that drifted against Muramasa's sword was cut in two. The leaves approaching the blade of Masamune passed by either side uncut. So who was deemed the better craftsman? Based on pure cutting ability one might think a sword able to cut leaves in two with just the slight power of the water's current. The true winner, however, was the sword that allowed the leaves to pass unharmed. It was said Masamunes's sword had spiritual discernment. - Flamestryke |
| Phrygian Cap - A soft cone-shaped cap fitting tightly on the head and falling to one side, worn as a symbol of freedom by French revolutionaries and in the United States before 1800. It was first worn in ancient Rome, where it was given to people who were set free from slavery. - Flamestryke |
| Brekek - seems to come from the call of the Frog Chorus in Aristophanes' play: "Brek -ek -ek- ek, Ko-ax Ko-ax". - DRKS |
| The test dummies on the first Umpani quest fight action is the Daniel's finishing move from the Karate Kid movie. - Brad |