A Strange Déjà Vu: How many times have you heard this tale before?

Charitastic - Esmera

A Strange Déjà Vu:

How many times have you heard this tale before? 

Image from Tibia’s official website Tibia.com
 

Since 2009, when the Isle of Evil was reached for the first time, many adventurers have ground this hunting lands and quest. Players spotted interesting details, for example, the main NPC of this quest is Rapanaio. Players have discovered his name is an anagram for the word “paranoia”. Other interesting finds have been made by players, regarding the possible references used for most of the bosses in this island, we will take a look at all of these references.

Is Alistair Cropwell an allusion to Aleister Crowley? Or is it a reference to Oliver Cromwell? Mr. Doubleday in Oramond City refers to Abner Doubleday? Or could it be an allusion to Henry Doubleday? Or perhaps it is based on Edward Doubleday?  This article aims to shed light on how references and allusions can work in Tibia. After revisiting The Isle of Evil bosses, we’ll explore more examples of complex references from these bosses and their rewards, diving deeper into Tibian lore.

When entering the tower first level we fight against ⭐Doctor Perhaps. A search for this boss’s name in any Tibia wiki suggests an allusion to Doctor No, from James Bond movies.

Image from Tibia Wiki: ⭐Doctor Perhaps
 

Do his dialogues remind you of another famous doctor? From another book or another movie? Can allusions be double-sided? Unlike Dr. No, Dr. Moreau indeed created hybrids but his purpose was to improve animals, and not world domination. While this boss’s name might be an allusion to Dr. No, his dialogues and behavior point to a second allusion to Dr. Moreau, this is indeed a double reference.

But wait… Don’t we have another reference to Dr. Moreau in the game? The answer is yes, Dr. Marrow (from The Cradle of Monsters Quest) is also a reference to the same character.

Image from Tibia Wiki: ⭐Dirtbeard
 

Upon walking up to the next floor we meet ⭐Dirtbeard, Tibia wikis point out an allusion to Blackbeard, which seems logical at a first glance to its name. By checking his dialogues we get no clues about him, most of his shouts don’t reveal much about his personality, other than the evident fact that he is a pirate. However, can one detail in his room tell us something else?

There’s only a handful of famous tales about pirates that include witches, the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006) features the character Tia Dalma, a strong woman with mystical powers. There’s a few more interesting details about this boss’s rewards regarding this reference that will be discussed later.

These first two boss corpses transform to a regular person's dead body and lose their corsair and summoner outfits, keep this in mind.

The boss on next floor, ⭐Mephiles, casts a strong haste spell, it’s much stronger and lasts longer than the haste of regular imps. An allusion to a famous villain from the movie “Sonic the Hedgehog” (2006) with similar name and powers might come to mind, but Tibia wikis accurately tell us about how the name “Mephiles”, short for “Mephistopheles”, is often used to represent the devil in different folk and classic tales. Once again, this boss seems to be possibly inspired in certain details from both references. His name and speed might refer to the villain from Sonic. While his name also points to the villain from Faust, along with more details revealed in his dialogues.

Image from Tibia Wiki: ⭐Mephiles
 

Indeed, ⭐Mephiles is an allusion to “Faust”, a classic drama by the German novelist Johann Goethe; we will dive into this later. If you know this story you might immediately relate this boss’s dialogues with the Faust drama.

Apparently this boss has a few more things to say besides his dialogues on Tibia Wiki.
 

After reaching the next floor, we fight another famous character from tales around the world, ⭐Boogey, in Spanish folklore “El Coco” or  “el viejo del costal”. Almost every country in the world has its very own original version of the Boogeyman, some other countries even have legends about a Boogeywomen. Take a look at ⭐Boogey's dialogues, this character is often used by parents to scare children and persuade them to obey. Additionally, there’s a famous Stephen King book inspired by this character, this author also inspired other things in the game like the name of Leeland, a trade baron from Venore, whose name comes from the book “Needful Things”, which also inspired his warehouse’s name “Useful Things”.

Once again, the dialogues from this boss reveal an evident reference to a classic character.

Image from Tibia Wiki: ⭐Boogey
 

Another unknown dialogue, not previously shown in any Tibia wiki. 

Last mini boss, ⭐Monstor, is indicated on some Tibia wikis to be a “strong reference” to The Hulk.

Image from Tibia Wiki: Allusions

Image from Tibia Wiki: ⭐Monstor
 

While his appearance might be an allusion to Godzilla, his desire to kidnap  women  is  something  we  would  expect  from a famous giant ape  and not from Dr. Bruce Banner. Indeed, ⭐Monstor is an allusion to both Godzilla, visually, and King Kong dialogue wise at the same time. In this case Tibia wikis are probably not too accurate, this boss is probably not a reference to The Hulk. When ⭐Monstor dies, his corpse doesn’t change and still looks like a juggernaut, this is the same for the last four bosses of this tower, including the final boss. Again, keep this in mind.

Image from Tibia Wiki: ⭐Evil Mastermind
 

The final boss on this tower, ⭐Evil Mastermind is King Tibianus’s greatest fan, confirmed by the King himself.

Text from Tibia Wiki NPC King Tibianus
 

Maybe a premium VIP membership card? A kind of gold membership card? Do you think this character could be an allusion to Dr. Evil and Austin Powers “The Goldmember” (2002) at the same time?

This boss claims to have distributed faked bonelord language dictionaries, this claim has driven some players into speculating about the existence of a real bonelord language dictionary, yet, such an item, regardless of fake or real, has never been found. So is this a plain and simple white lie? or is it a terror tactic to spread rumors? What type of “Evil Mastermind Boss” type of boss would benefit from this kind of tactics and rumors? This boss also calculates our destiny and claims his calculations tell him we’ll die; which is arguably true, surely almost every single logged in Tibian has a death in his log. Then he claims we can’t stop him, which again is a true statement, since we can’t prevent him from re-spawning. At last he warns us about his “evil monologue”. Once again, think, what type of evil boss likes to perform evil monologues?

Now, let’s take a look at this quest's possible rewards.

At this point we are able to draw lines between items and stories and try to figure out a narrative out of these items in relation to the original character they try to portray in a reference or either his story in some way.

Inspecting ⭐Dirtbeard rewards can lead to some other clues about possible references to Jack Sparrow. One of the most noticeable charms that make this character be what he is, is his sense of humor, Jack Sparrow is not himself without his jokes and his charming way of navigating through conversations and adventures. The Shield Nevermourn is an item with a very unique feature, it’s the only item in the whole game that displays jokes when “used”, this intended puns will show up exclusively to the bearer of the shield. It can be used once every five minutes. All of the jokes can be found in all wikis, in case you are curious, let me crack one for you. 

Further analysis on Captain Sparrow’s head fashion can be wider than we would think, since he often uses bandanas and hats, still, would you picture the original Capt. Blackbeard wearing a bouquet in a Helmet of Nature? What other captain than Jack Sparrow would dare to wear an Odd Hat? This type of exuberant head clothes are key to get the looks of this famous pirate.

Pointed Rabbitslayer is a very interesting item, in the first instance one would think in the Carrot of Doom, an item found in the Serpentine Tower treasure room, thus both being an allusion to Hugo, the Demonbunny, yet, he is not the only type of dangerous bunny roaming the Tibian realms, once again, a quick inspection to ⭐Dirtbeard’s floor on the tower might give us some answers.

You've heard about Thais rat plague, how cute, what about the Isle of Evil killer rabbit plague?

Now we know what’s the most common use for that Pointed Rabbitslayer.

Are  you still reluctant about some of these references? In case you still feel like this is farfetched, let’s check a very important piece of information to understand these first two bosses references.

Corpse on the left picture belongs to ⭐Dirtbeard, the right picture corpse belongs to ⭐Dr. Perhaps, since they are referring to real life actors they lose the disguise or characterization and go back to their “real person forms”. ⭐Dirtbeard is not a real pirate, ⭐Dr. Perhaps didn’t graduate from medicine school either, do not follow his medical advice. They are both actors. For the rest of the bosses of the tower they keep their forms while alive and when transforming into a corpse. This is because these three bosses are all references to fictional characters, except for ⭐Evil Mastermind which is a kind of not so clear or direct reference.

In the case of ⭐Boogey, the Scythe of the Reaper is a very straight forward reference to this boss appearance, while the Heavy Metal T-shirt seems to be the most accurate outfit for this boss. The lyre, a musical instrument represented in the musician’s bow, is not traditionally tied to the Grim Reaper or death concept itself, its use in myths and symbolic contexts can evoke topics related to mortality, particularly in stories like Orpheus and Eurydice among other fantasy tales and mythological stories. Most commonly lyres will show up among benevolent angelical figures, perhaps in a way to relate this character to a sort of “Angel of Death”? Maybe now we can even deduct what band shows in that Heavy Metal T-shirt (Slayer, for the non-metalhead). 

About the Club of the Fury, this is by far one of the most interesting references. Think about it, what’s the whole deal with Bozo? What is his joke about? If Bozo pranked us, then that means he didn’t die at all, but if he was really supposed to die and somehow did not die, then he should be an undead jester. Was Bozo’s idea of putting his fake grave in Rookgaard close to the “maze of fury” sign, just to lure us into his attention once in mainland? 

- On my very personal point of view - Finding this item in the hands of this boss creates some sort of implicit answer. Ask yourself: Why would the Boogeyman, Angel of Death, Grim Reaper have this item in his loot relating him to a Bozo’s random prank? To me, this is the moment when the Mona Lisa smiles. 

⭐Monstor’s rewards are also very straightforward references, although they don't fit with the Godzilla/King Kong allusion. The Helmet of Ultimate Terror looks exactly like a pumpkinhead,  the Farmer's Avenger seems to be the first option for killing monsters when hunting with infuriated crowds in old towns, the Shield of Care is a possible reference to the inner beauty and kind spirit of monsters from classic tales like Frankenstein. All these items seem to narrate topics usually related to Halloween but also referring to a bunch of classic monster tales at the same time. 

But what about the Incredible Mumpiz Slayer? This item has aged well and become a decent rare item. Not too old, not too expensive, still obtainable and beautiful to display on your trophy stands. However we have to dig into the word “mumpitz” to understand this item, the best contenders for a translation of this word are the concepts of “mumbo jumbo” or “shenanigans” which are impossible to translate to spanish without using slang or cursing words. So a simple attempt for a translation could be “The Incredible Silly Lies Slayer” or “The Incredible Dumb Nonsense Slayer”, if we dig further into the etymology of this word it gets even more interesting, different sources claim the word “mumpitz” comes from two words, “vermummern” which means “to disguise”, and “butzemann” which means “boogeyman”, where “butz” finally transformed centuries later to “pitz”. Some other sources also claim a possible root on the word “bitz”, as a supposed old germanic slang term for goblins. The word “mumpitz” was originally used to describe something that was horrible but not immediately recognizable. Today, it’s used to describe something as simply nonsense. In old Spanish we used the word “galimatias” as a direct translation for this term, but this word is not of common use in most of the modern day spanish speaking countries, except for Spain, where its use is still arguably rare.

So, what kind of nonsense do you think this sword is meant to slay? Could this mumbo jumbo slaying sword be a reference to the legendary Sword of Fury?

Now that we know the “Isle of Evil boss corpses theory”, we can consider one more thing. If ⭐Monstor was, in fact, a reference to The Hulk, do you think that after being slain, he would have transformed his corpse into that of a real person? 

A quick analysis of ⭐Mephiles’ rewards can connect the Stale Bread of Ancientness to Faust’s craving for knowledge. The Rain Coat symbolizes the trials he endured. The Shield of the White Knight represents his pursuit of goodness, and the Poet’s Fencing Quill reflects the decisiveness of an imposing sign and the sharp blade of a powerful story. Moreover, this item displays the following text when used: “The pen is mightier than the sword”, present in the play “Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy” written by the popular 19th century playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Can you identify any other interesting details from any of the rewards from all these bosses?

To draw lines and theorize about the rewards from ⭐Doctor Perhaps seems to be more complex to me. Due to my limited knowledge about James Bond and Dr. Moreau I can’t complete this puzzle. To this day i don’t know what is the narrative or conductive thread among this items and characters, whether is related to the characters like the rewards from ⭐Mephiles or ⭐Dirbeard, or not so direct references like the ones from ⭐Boogey, or even unrelated but following a clear path like the items from ⭐Monstor. Maybe you out there can see something i’m missing, perhaps you will be writing the next part of this article. Can you find the missing pieces?

“Club of the Fury” and “Pointed Rabbitslayer” are meta-references, as in an allusion to something that was already an existing reference in the game. The Club of the Fury is an allusion to one of Bozo’s pranks, acting as a third-grade reference to mace of fury, which already was a second-grade reference to the maze of fury and sword of fury legends from Rookgaard, thus all of them being allusions to the cult of the humbles with a certain level of independence among all concepts, where the sword of fury has its own original micro-universe of legends, from lore and players, meanwhile maze of fury (Rookgaard), mace of fury (joke) and club of the fury (item) have their own micro-universe of legends, relating them to Bozo and the afterlife. 

The Pointed Rabbitslayer is a reference to the Carrot of Doom, a legendary item that is smartly positioned among other legendary items that also boast their own meta-references inside the Serpentine Tower’s treasure room. Both the Carrot of Doom and Pointed Rabbitslayer, allude to the most dangerous creatures belonging to the Leporidae family which includes hares, rabbits and bunnies; In Tibia this might include regular rabbits, killer rabbits, pookas, twisted pookas, baleful bunnies and the demonbunny, all of this forming part of the micro-universe of references about the Killer Bunny, a classic clip from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. 

All mentioned items are great examples of a “referenception”, an allusion leading to another allusion, which in turn leads to yet another. 

Text from Tibia Wiki NPC Bozo
 

Another interesting item is The Rain Coat, when wearing it in the armor slot and clicking “use” we get a thunderstorm animation, this can be done every five minutes. In addition, you can still wear a used Rain Coat and click “use” or press hotkey on another Rain Coat from your backpack while still wearing a used item. This is how players perform “thunderstorm trails” animations, a classic trick used in test servers where you can get a bunch of rain coats from test assistant NPC. 

We mentioned earlier the complex roots of The Incredible Mumpiz Slayer reference which could be linked to the Sword of Fury legends as some random third-party strange reference/inside joke. This is common throughout Tibia’s history, whether in written lore, items, objects or dialogues. We can find other items that reference lore, or elements from elsewhere in the game.

So far, we have linked The Club of the Fury, the Pointed Rabbitslayer and The Incredible Mumpiz Slayer to either existing lore or items already present in the game. If we dig even more we could do some more relations. The Farmer’s Avenger could be an allusion/mock to The Avenger, the legendary sword from Pits of Inferno. The Helmet of Ultimate Terror could be linked to the ⭐Mutated Pumpkin boss from Halloween event. The Poet’s Fencing Quill could somewhat be an allusion to Kissing a Pig Quest, where we use an inkwell to write poetry. The Shield of the White Knight could be a reference to the boss ⭐Black Knight from Secret Service quest, yet, you don’t see people speculating about the existence of a secret boss called White Knight. There’s no much need to dig into that theory now that we know the original White Knight was probably Faust. Also we can think of ⭐Evil Mastermind as a reference to ⭐The Evil Eye, the boss from Hellgate. Under this point of view, The Isle of Evil is tipping toes into many Tibian legends.

Other examples of this kind of meta-references are the legendary items from Serpentine Tower we mentioned before. We learned about the references to the Carrot of Doom already, then we have the Frozen Starlight which is deeply linked to Svargrond’s lore, also there’s the Ring of Wishes that looks the same as the Ring of the Sky, probably making an allusion to ascensions on Tibian lore, and the also classic item Backpack of Holding from Pits of Inferno Quest. The Firewalker Boots might have been created in response to the speculation, desire and dreams of players who invented legends about the Boots of Waterwalking, spreading rumors and tales about them. Meanwhile, the Portable Hole has its very own new theory which points to a possible relation to the Prime Artefacts. A document found in Cobra Bastion called “Artefact Ledger of Greig, treasurer of the Order of the Cobra” has a key to a possible new mystery, the text is an official list that was somewhat used as a diary of random notes by Greig, on it we find an item listed as “Black Pocket Portal”. This has raised questions about a possible link with the Portable Hole from Serpentine Tower due to a conceptual similarity.
 

Dual references, like the ones we saw from most of The Isle of Evil bosses, also seem to be a very common narrative tool used by the content creators from Tibia. First let’s list a few simple examples to get a well rounded idea of the concept. The Magic Longsword has an interesting past that deserves its own article, the nickname players use to honorate this item is “The Excalibug”, which resembles its glitched origins while also making allusion to the legendary sword “The Excalibur” from Arthurian legends. This is a case of a very simple dual reference. Donald McRonald inspiration is clear, they got the name from switching positions of the “R” from Ronald and the “D” from McDonald, while his name and outfit seems to resemble the international fast-food restaurant chain, his modus vivendi, farm owner, seems to point a second allusion to the song “Old McDonald Had a Farm”. Also think of Abbott Costello, a monk secluded in the White Raven Monastery, whose name is an allusion to Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duet. We can also analyze our old friend Norma, from Rookgaard’s tavern, her name is an allusion to a German supermarket chain of the same name, while a conversation with her can reveal her desire for changing her name to Marilyn, being a possible reference to Norma Jane Baker, better known as Marilyn Monroe.

Aldo, a low key, very interesting NPC from Venore has the exact opposite of a dream job, he evidently hates selling shoes in that warehouse, many other interesting details are revealed when conversating with this shopkeeper, some regarding his sad job, while some others describe his turbulent relationship with his wife. One of the most notorious curiosities from this NPC is the fact that he might have been robbed by Leeland, owner of the “Useful Things” warehouse, as described in a conversation with another NPC from Venore, Allen Richardson, owner of the furniture store. Aldo is conveniently placed among other shopkeepers and traders that seem to have names that resemble real stores, thus, reinforcing the allusion to ALDO, the worldwide shoe seller, while his life and misadventures might resemble the character Al Bundy from “Married… With Children”. In this case, some Tibia wikis are aware about the possible duality of the references taken in count when designing this NPC.

As we can see, dual references can also have mysterious ways, where some can be simple and straight references, while others might have intricate sub-layers of mixed contexts and various references. To finish, we’ll dive into the most emblematic dual reference in Tibia.
 

Finale:

The most famous dual reference among all new and old lore from Tibia is Sir Alistair Cropwell (will be addressed as Sir only to distinguish him from the Real Life references), possibly one of the most complex dualities existing in the game. First we need to know Sir Cropwell’s life and deeds in order to later compare details with the original references. Sir Cropwell began his career as a loyal servant of the crown from Thais Kingdom, as a full time Grand Explorateur, he traveled beyond known territories with the task of expanding the glory of the Thaian monarchy. He spent years documenting strange encounters with mysterious realms, symbols and dark rituals. His experiences later led him to make dangerous claims, insisting that another, hidden empire existed, one that probably would have rivaled the sovereign rule of his own nation; This claim, viewed as heretical and mad, ultimately led to his downfall. Declared insane, he was executed in 943 p.g. according to the royal archives, though his past service earned him the rare honor of a burial in the Thais graveyard, where the remains of some Thaian citizens and friends of the loyalty rest. Despite his execution, his name and story linger on as a blend of both honor and disgrace. 

Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) was an English occultist, writer, and mystic, known for his controversial and influential role in modern occultism. Born into a strict religious family, he rebelled against conventional Christianity and became deeply involved in esoteric studies, eventually founding the religion of Thelema, which centered on the idea of "Do what thou wilt" as the highest law. Throughout his life, Crowley traveled extensively, performing occult rituals and writing numerous works on magic, mysticism, and spirituality. His often provocative behavior, including his self-proclaimed titles like "The Great Beast," led to his infamy, with many seeing him as a dangerous or even insane figure.

Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) is probably less known worldwide in comparison to Aleister Crowley, yet is still a major figure in England’s history. Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who played a key role in the English Civil War and the temporary abolition of the monarchy. After dedicating his life to military discipline, Cromwell rose through the ranks of Parliament's army, eventually becoming its leader. His forces defeated the Royalists, and Cromwell's influence led to the execution of King Charles I in 1649. Following the king’s death, Cromwell established the Commonwealth of England and later became its Lord Protector, essentially ruling as a de facto military dictator.

The most noticeable similarity is with Aleister Crowley. Both the real life Mr. Crowley and Sir Cropwell in Tibia, share an affinity for exploration and occultism, one could write a long three article series about the affinities on dark ritualism and symbology knowledge these both characters had. The trips and expeditions described by Sir Cropwell resemble the diaries from Mr. Crowley, while their obsession with amulets and talismans among other cultish paraphernalia also relates these two characters. Another interesting curiosity regarding this side of the allusion is a story from Aleister Crowley where he, for certain personal reasons, had to fake his own death. The town where he did this stunt still conserves a plaque commemorating this strange happening. Crowley’s act of faking his own death could have inspired the “Alistair Cropwell’s multiple tombstones” mystery.

For the other side of the allusion we can see Mr. Cromwell and Sir Cropwell were both high hierarchy military commanders. They both share a past of loyalty and honor, while later in their lives also share a conflict with the crown and both pass to be treated as traitors. For matters of Sir Cropwell (Tibia) he was executed but buried honorably, for Mr. Cromwell (RL), he died by disease but was later exhumed and posthumously executed, for Mr. Crowley's (RL) life and death were always tied to controversy and speculation. These three characters portray honorable lifes that ultimately stumbled upon a bittersweet ending. For some, these characters will be remembered as traitors, examples of corrupted lives, whereas many others might view them as true heroes, seekers of truth, knowledge and justice.

Next time you find an interesting character in Tibia, think twice…

On a final conclusion, we can confirm Tibia’s lore is a rich, multi-layered world full of allusions, external and internal references including mythology, history, literature, famous characters, epic tales and even many pop icons such as actors, musical bands, series and movies. The blending of real-world inspirations with in-game elements creates a dynamic narrative experience for the player, where every item or NPC may hold a hidden story or connection in many ways or levels. Tibia is a very unique cultural melting pot.

Maybe someone out there knows a tale we don't know, has seen a little-known movie we’ve never heard of, read a long-forgotten book, or even played a video game we didn’t know existed. Perhaps the next hint is sitting on your night table, waiting for eyes to be laid upon it.