Secrets and Easter Eggs in GTA San Andreas

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The following is a list of Secrets and easter eggs in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.

For a list of myths, see GTA Myths Wiki.

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Easter Eggs

• 

  Bridge Facts easter egg photo.

  On top of the Gant Bridge, there is a sign that reads "There are no easter eggs up here. Go away."
• In the visitor center below Katie Zhan's House, there is a list of facts about the Gant Bridge, one of which reads "It takes up a staggering 1.25mb!"
• Shooting the moon with a Sniper Rifle causes it to change size.
• Near Catalina's cabin, there are three graves and a shovel.
• In the Los Santos cemetery, there is graffiti that only appears during 8:00 pm to 6:00 am the graffiti reads "Families 4 Life."
• Near Area 69 there is a hole that is filled with six body bags.
• The Palomino Creek graveyard, there is a grave reading R.I.P Steven Mulholland. This also features in Funeraria Romero in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
• Inside on one of the Guard booths (the one that is near the spawn location of Leviathan and Raindance) in the Easter Bay International Airport, there is a computer running a map editor, that could possibly be a beta location from the game.

Gaming References

A screenshot of the Computer in one of the Guard Booth in the San Fierro Airport

Rockstar

• At night if the player looks up in the sky there are stars that form the letter R in reference to Rockstar Games logo.
• Some of the clothes the player wears, the suitcase in the start of the game that CJ holds while in the airport and more items have the Rockstar Games logo on them.
• Northstar Rock is a reference to Rockstar North.
• Inside Big Smoke's Crack Palace there is a doormat that reads "Not Welcome Rockstar North" with the Rockstar North logo in the center.
• Inside Zero's RC Shop, there are figures of not just GTA Vice City characters, but also characters from Rockstar's 2003 game, Manhunt. The characters for it include James Earl Cash and Piggsy.
• The cheat code, Chaos Mode, could reference Rockstar and VIS Entertainment's 2001 game, State of Emergency. Chaos Mode was one of the playable game modes in this game.
• The Gasso Gas Station in Dillimore has a sign on its window reading "Max Pane- Bulletproof Glass." This is an obvious reference to Rockstar's Max Payne franchise.
• Carcer Gas cylinders is a clear reference to Carcer City from Manhunt.

Previous GTA Games

• The Kruton 9000 appears in Michelle's garage, in the mission Wear Flowers in Your Hair behind The Truth praying and other garages, in Joey Leone's Garage in Grand Theft Auto III and in Sunshine Autos from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
• The V-Rock Hotel that appears in Las Venturas is a named after a radio station in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
• In the mission Wear Flowers in Your Hair, The Truth says that his guys (Jethro and Dwaine) "used to work on marine engines, 'til the mob bought their business over in Vice." This may refer to Tommy Vercetti and his Vercetti Gang taking over the shipyard in the events of Vice City.
• In the Sex Shop XXX, on the counter, there is a stack which says "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" on them.
• Across the street from the Angel Pine Cluckin Bell and in several trash cans, there is a map of Vice City.
• On Ryder's house, there is a poster of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City near the TV.
• In Denise Robinson's House, there is a poster of GTA Vice City's box art on her bedroom wall.
• Carl's Wardrobe contains a surfboard with an image of Vice City.

Other Games

• In the cemetery in Hashbury, San Fierro, all of the tombstones read "RIP Opposition 1997-2004". This is a reference to Rockstar, which came out with its first game in 1997. The phrase "RIP Opposition" is referencing Rockstar's rivalry with other game companies, and how all of Rockstar's opposition has not been able to come out with a better video game. Opposition may also refer to the game Driver 3, which was a long-time rival of Rockstar and that came out in the same year and got negative votes from critics.
• There are multiple billboard signs around the map referencing a company named True Grime: Street Cleaners. This is a reference to the True Crime series, another open world game of similar gameplay to the GTA series.
• During the mission Madd Dogg's Rhymes, a guard remarks: "Tanner, you suck!" while he is playing a video game a reference to Tanner, the protagonist of the game Driver.
• In the mission Black Project, the player can spot a crowbar on a table in a lab. This is a reference to Valve's 1998 game Half-Life.
• Zombotech Corporation is most likely a reference of the Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil game series. Also based on a diagram on the wall, there appears to be a large underground facility reminiscent of the Hive from the Resident Evil Film.
• There's an announcement found in area 69 reads"running with scissors is dangerous and not permitted". It's a possible reference to the video game company Running with Scissors, best known for its Postal games, which are considered by some to be "GTA Clones".

A screenshot of Gordon Freeman's crowbar

Media references

• Zero's quote from the mission Supply Lines..., "The smell, you know that ozone smell, smells like...victory!" is a reference to the movie Apocalypse Now, specifically to Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore's well-known quote "The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory.".
• The Trip Skip icon features the side profile of the Deluxo, a car mostly inspired by the DeLorean DMC-12 that is otherwise absent from the game. This is a reference to the Back to the Future franchise, which features a DeLorean-based time machine.
• There is a female pedestrian in the game that resembles the character Catherine Trammel from Basic Instinct, as well as a male pedestrian who resembles Bishop from Juice.
• The scene in the mission Just Business featuring a Packer jumping off a surface road in slow motion into a storm drain channel, which Big Smoke and CJ are using to escape, is a nod to a similar scene in 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where a large tow-truck executes a similar stunt as it is pursuit of John Connor.
• Advertisements of the movie Reservoir Dregs can be seen at the movie theater in Commerce, Los Santos is a spoof of the real-life movie Reservoir Dogs, directed by Quentin Tarantino, which was released in 1992.
• At the end of the mission Air Raid, Zero says "Great kid don't get cocky" which is a reference to Han Solo's Line from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
• The Cobra Marital Arts gym is probably a reference to the Cobra Martial Arts gym in the movie Karate Kid.

Characters

• Claude, the protagonist from Grand Theft Auto III, appears in two missions.
• Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto Vice City, is mentioned by Ken Rosenberg during the mission The Meat Business where he mistakenly calls Carl Tommy. Also, in the Zero RC shop, there is a Tommy Vercetti action figure.
• Lance Vance appears as an action figure along with Tommy Vercetti in Zero RC shop.
• Several Artworks of Characters from GTA III and GTA Vice City appear as the pictures of queens, kings and jacks in the Video Poker arcade game in casinos such as the Four Dragons Casino. This includes Salvatore Leone, 8-Ball, Misty, Asuka Kasen, Donald Love, a Mafia member, Sonny Forelli, Ricardo Diaz, Lance Vance, Candy Suxxx, Steve Scott and one of The Twins.
• Ken Rosenberg looked a lot like Steve Jobs, the Apple CEO.

Adult Humor

• 

  TASTE THE COCK on the back of the uniform.

  After destroying the Sprunk billboard in the mission Reuniting the Families the slogan "A taste of things to come" will now read "A taste of come."
• Inside the Atrium, there are five statues - one of them seems to be masturbating while the other four look away.
• Inside Cluckin' Bell, "TASTE THE COCK" is written on the back of the employee's uniforms.
• There are multiple references to the 69 sex position.

Real World References

• The Los Santos Riots are an obvious reference to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
• If the player looks very carefully, in various shops around Eastern Los Santos, they will see shops which advertisements contain characters from the shows such as Pokémon and SpongeBob SquarePants, cartoons which did not exist in 1992. Take note that the textures for GTA: San Andreas were taken around 2003-04, and was likely an oversight by the developers.

Videos

GTA San Andreas - Easter Eggs and Secrets - Part 1

GTA San Andreas - Easter Eggs and Secrets - Part 2

GTA San Andreas - Easter Eggs and Secrets - Part 3

GTA San Andreas - Easter Eggs and Secrets - Part 4

GTA San Andreas - Easter Eggs and Secrets - Part 5

GTA San Andreas - Easter Eggs and Secrets - Part 6