We hear about “Easter Eggs” being left in animated movies all the time, especially Disney movies. Belle’s cameo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Scar’s cameo in Hercules, and Rapunzel and Flynn’s cameos in Frozen are notable examples. These hidden details force people to pay attention, and can lead to ridiculous fan theories (like the theory that Jane from Tarzan is a descendent of Belle from Beauty and the Beast or the theory that Anna and Elsa’s parents died on their way to Rapunzel and Flynn Rider’s wedding at the beginning of Frozen… and let’s not even discuss the Pixar theory). Mostly, though, they’re just there for fun.
Many think Easter Eggs only exist in animated movies. However, Easter Eggs are left in several other forms of animated art, including video games. The Pokémon series is known to be particularly ridden with Easter Eggs ranging from seeing basic trainers later on in the game to running into a glitch Pokémon named Missingo that many have wasted their Master Balls on.
The new, highly anticipated video game Dragon Age: Inquisition features a most peculiar Easter Egg: the Wedge of Destiny. The Wedge of Destiny is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a wedge of cheese that acts as a shield. In the game, the wedge is described as such:
A good and colorful item for those who have hearty constitutions. This shield formed when a dragon shed her scales and fragments wafted onto the flavorful breeze into a dairy farm. Wielding it, Ser Jacques of Monterey was unstoppable until he fought par méchant, or dishonorably. His wistful last words as he lay full of holes: It was he who had failed, not the shield.
According to Game Front, there are hidden cheeses all over this game, “even where they do not belong.” The Wedge of Destiny just happens to be a very prominent example, mainly because it can be used to protect yourself from the dragons and other monsters you face in this game.
Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia
This is not the first time cheese has made a cameo appearance in a video game. In fact, cheesy Easter Eggs in video games go all the way back to the days of Pac Man. In 1981, the arcade game Mouse Trap was released, and it essentially was Pac Man if Pac Man was a mouse and the ghosts were cats. In this game, the dots that the Pac Man mouse was trying to eat were little wedges of cheese, thus creating the first time cheese ever appeared in a video game.
Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Nintendo
Fast forward to 1990, and we get Super Mario World, which featured an entire area dedicated to cheese bridges. This came up again in Super Mario 64 six years later, though not as explicitly stated.
Photo Credit: Image Courtesy of Imgur
That same year, the game Pajama Sam was released. Cheese appeared in Pajama Sam not just once, but twice. There was a whole mini game dedicated to it called “Cheese and Crackers.” This game was played in the park against the toaster character, and essentially was tic-tac-toe where the x’s and o’s were cheese and crackers. It came back when the IRS takes away all the money Pajama Sam makes from one of his potions, and tells him he “can keep this moldy piece of cheese,” which then proceeds to get up and walk away. That was a pretty cynical life lesson, but what better way to learn it than with cheese?
Even before the Wedge of Destiny, cheese has popped up in more modern video games here and there. There’s a cheese shop in World of WarCraft called Trias’ Cheese;
Photo Credit: World of Warcraft
a seemingly magical “Cheese Maker” in Harvest Moon;
Photo Credit: Image Courtesy of Marvelous Entertainment
and Sheogorath: a supernatural godlike entity in the Elder Scrolls II who just really likes cheese.
Photo Credit: Elder Scrolls II
So the next time you’re playing a video game, whether it be a classic or a new release, keep your eyes peeled for Easter Eggs. You may just find a moldy piece of cheese, or a hidden wedge of destiny.
Featured Image Courtesy of: Game Front
Amanda Doughty
Amanda Doughty considers cheese to be an essential part of her upbringing, as her family owns Anthony's Italian Kitchen, an Italian restaurant in Portland, Maine. She studied creative writing at Emerson, where she was considered an outcast for refusing to touch the disgusting pizza in the Dining Hall. She admits that is a bit of a food snob, especially when it comes to pizza and cheese.
