What are the best Starfield secrets? As expected, Bethesda’s latest epic is filled with secrets and references, some obvious, some a little more obscure. This list of easter eggs is currently limited to what we’ve seen in pre-release material, but it will be constantly updated with all the in-game easter eggs and secrets we find post-launch.
There are over 1,000 Starfield planets, plenty of which have hand-crafted content full of powerful loot, such as Starfield guns and Starfield armor, along with undoubtedly funny and interesting Starfield easter eggs. These could be references to other Bethesda games or videogames in general or films, TV shows, and books. Here’s everything we’ve seen so far.
Adoring Fan
This is one of the more obvious easter eggs, but anyone who played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will immediately be familiar. The Adoring Fan returns in the Starfield cast, and he even has the same voice actor, Craig Sechler.
The Adoring Fan is one of the many Starfield companions that can join your crew, as long as you pick the Hero Worshipped Starfield trait at the start of the RPG game. He’ll even bring you gifts when he meets you for the first time in New Atlantis.
Alex Hay’s Note
From an Adoring Fan to a much-adored fan, those who reach ‘The Eye’ in Alpha Centauri will find a note if they walk down the right side of the main entrance. Sitting on a table is a note that reads, “To all my friends and fellow explorers. I’m always with you, out there in the starfield. Love always, Alex Hay.”
This is Bethesda’s tribute to one of its fans who passed away five months before the game’s release. According to the Reddit post announcing his death, Alex “was also the developer of a few successful iOS apps” and you can read about him here. He is also described as a Bethesda fan, putting in “tens of thousands of hours” into the worlds of Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and the Fallout series. Discovered by Reddit user HunterWorld, this note is a fitting tribute to a fan missed by many and is one you should seek out if you wish to pay your respects.
Arrow in the knee
Fans of Skyrim and the early days of its memes will fondly remember the people who “used to be a warrior like you” before they “took an arrow in the knee”. Upgrading Crippling, one of the best combat-focused Starfield skills, to its max level will give you a rather familiar-looking icon within its badge.
Curiosity Rover
Turns out some real-life space vehicles do show up in Starfield, the first of which being the Curiosity Rover. In reality, the Curiosity Rover was launched in 2011 by NASA, to explore the surface of Mars. In Starfield, it appears it’s in the possession of the Constellation, on display at their headquarters.
Spirit/Opportunity Rover
The other real space-faring contraption you may run into appears to be either the Spirit or Opportunity Rover. It’s tough to determine which one it is specifically, as both look very similar, but you can find it on the surface of Mars.
Chawla, Gagarin, Jemison, and Olivas
Chawla, Gagarin, Jemison, and Olivas are the names of four planets in the Alpha Centauri system in Starfield, but they are also the names of four real-life astronauts:
- Kalpana Chawla (NASA astronaut, 1997) – the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.
- Yuri Gagarin (Soviet cosmonaut, 1961) – the first man to go to space.
- Mae Jemison (NASA astronaut, 1992) – the first Black woman to go to space.
- John D. Olivas (NASA astronaut, 2007) – flew two space shuttle missions and performed extravehicular activities in both.
Scientist planets
Speaking of planets, more of them are named after famous scientists. We so far only know of Bohr, Feynman, Heisenberg, Linnaeus, and Schrödinger, but there could be more out there.
Nirnroot
If you didn’t get tired of collecting Nirnroot in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, then you’re in luck because it looks like the glowing green plant has returned in Starfield. Spotted at 29:29 of the Starfield Direct in June 2023, the plant can be seen in what looks like a hydroponics lab. Who knows if you’ll be able to find it elsewhere in outer space?
Apollo 11 moon landing site
While in the Lodge, you can read Sir Livingstone’s Second Journal to find an activity that lets you land close by to the Apollo 11 moon landing site. This includes the moon lander itself, which you can jump on top of to find the Apollo Snow Globe. Picking it up nets you 100 experience points. In case you didn’t already know, Apollo 11 was the first American manned spaceflight mission in 1969 that landed on the surface of Earth’s moon.
Face of Mars
In Starfield Cydonia city center, you can find a statue with a plaque that reads “Face on Mars”. If you interact with it, you’ll get a description that it isn’t real, but the Martian people built a statue of it anyway because of a reference to a photo taken by NASA’s Viking Orbiter in 1976. This photo showed a human face, but upon closer inspection, it was determined that this was simply an optical illusion with rocks aligning perfectly as the Viking floated by.
Meridia’s Beacon
Another one for Skyrim fans – do you remember Meridia’s Beacon? This was a quest item that’s essentially a gray ball with some indents on it that made it look somewhat like an asteroid. It gained an infamous reputation amongst Skyrim fans because Meridia would declare, “a new hand touches the beacon” whenever you picked it up.
Well, it seems like Meridia’s Beacon is back, but this time it’s known simply as “Space Rock”. It appears for less than a second at 42:45 of the Starfield Direct on display next to a leather couch. It can also be spotted in the background of a shot during the 2022 showcase, leading us to believe it could be some form of collectible or an asset they changed the location of between the two trailers.
Lord of the Rings Po-tay-toe
Nice and simple one this: if you pick up any potato and read its item description, it paraphrases a quote from Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It’s the bit where he describes the tuber and its various cooking methods as he’s cooking some rabbits for Frodo and a depressed Gollum who is lamenting that they’re not eating them raw.
The Clones of Charybdis III
Unless you’re a die-hard Trekkie, there’s a bonus reference that will likely go right over your head. You’ll likely find the first hint of something a bit weird happening on Charybdis III via a distress signal. Here, you’ll find Franklin D. Roosevelt, who informs you that although everyone on the planet is famous throughout human history, they’re also clones.
In completing the quest to end the civil war between him, Genghis Khan, and Amanirenas, you’ll recruit Amelia Earhart, one of the best Starfield crew members for piloting spaceships. Her appearance as a crew member is a bonus reference to Star Trek: Voyager, who was abducted by the Briori and left in stasis ever since, before being discovered by Captain Janeway’s crew.
John Williams reference
You may also find a poster in various parts of the game for the Sol Symphony Orchestra. Contained within this poster is a reference to its conductor, “William Johns”, which is an obvious reference to famed composer John Williams, famous for scores for film soundtracks such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, and many more.
The Elder Scrolls VI map
There has been plenty of speculation The Elder Scrolls VI will be set in and around Hammerfell, and eagle-eyed Reddit user Huhwtfbleh may have spotted a reference to this through a tiny etching in one of the early Starfield trailers back in June 2021.
Beneath a screw for the control panel on a ship is a tiny engraving that looks remarkably similar to the Hammerfell, High Rock, and Iliac Bay regions of The Elder Scrolls. Will this be visible in the full game? We doubt it, but it’s a nifty easter egg nonetheless – if it isn’t just a massive coincidence.
That’s everything we have so far for Starfield easter eggs, but we will continue to update this as we discover more during our time with the game. Now that the Starfield release date is almost here, don’t forget to check out our Starfield factions guide if you want to discover the groups you can join in the space game.
Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.