Secrets and Easter Eggs in GTA IV

The following is a list of secrets, Easter eggs, and hidden trivia references in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Easter eggs



 * Within the Statue of Happiness is a giant beating heart, supposedly the "Heart of Liberty City." In GTA IV, access into the area is only achievable via an entrance marked by a "No Hidden Content This Way" sign at the upper level of the the statue's pedestal, which can only be reached by helicopter. Once inside the pedestal, the player must scale a ladder up to the midsection of the statue, where the heart is located. In Ballad of Gay Tony if you drink too much you will respawn at random locations, one of which may be the Heart of Liberty city.
 * On a mission with Packie, if you position the camera properly you can look inside his head - inside there is a box with a picture of a brain on it.
 * In North of Alderney, where you make the jump in the mission Out of Commission, there is a person doing tai-chi on top of a high rock which is impossible to get to without a helicopter or trainer.
 * If you look at the lake in Middle Park by map or helicopter, you'll notice it is in the shape of an alien.
 * While driving the Mr. Tasty, you can trigger songs to play by clicking the horn. One of these songs is the song from the opening credits of GTA4. While this song is playing, call ZiT and they will text you back with "ZiT! Spotted GTA IV Theme". This is a cheat that gives the player health, armor and ammo, but also disables some achievements.
 * If you take a helicopter ride from Brucie Kibbutz, or you go for a helitour, there's an unsettling warning message about the helicopter inside the cockpit that you can see if you look in first person mode that says "This helicopter might crash but we really don't care if it does, refer to flight manual for help."
 * At the Firefly Projects, there is a park with a swing set. If you drive backwards (or forwards with some vehicles; Voodoo) onto it, the swing set will catapult the vehicle you're in high in the air. This is likely a bug in the game's physics simulation. See Swing Glitch article for more details.
 * If you are driving a car or bike at an incredible speed, go to your cellphone and go to camera and when you select camera, no matter at what speed you are going your vehicle will come to an instant stop (does not work on PC version).
 * When you acquire your Second Safehouse in Bohan, when you exit the front door, over the road, you can see a random NPC talking about the end of the world and the apocalypse. Enter the building next to him and after you get up a few stairs, in a passage you can see blood and a pistol on a floor.
 * During one of Brucie's mission "Easy as Can Be", If you look on the lower part of his stomach, you will see a tattoo that says "Mommy" on his stomach. You will be able to see that when he has his shirt off.
 * At all TW@ internet cafes, behind the cashier's desk, and also inside various vehicle dealerships the screen of the Kakagawa Power Ultra 3000 Pro photocopier reads: ERROR Unleash ninja guru lol. This can only be seen through the scope of a Sniper Rifle.
 * In The Lost and the Damned, the dash of the Rhapsody has a sticker of Wayne and Garth from the movie Wayne's World.
 * While playing multiplayer, all TV's in safehouses show the game's pause menu without the map.

Secrets

 * Behind an old, rundown mansion in Westdyke, Alderney at the end of the dirt roads, there is the hidden, extremely rare Sultan RS parked in some bushes. This is practically the only way to find the car ingame. The only other way to obtain it is if the game has it stored in the temporary memory, and automatically spawns it parked and driving around the streets.
 * On the west side of Happiness Island there is a random spawn that can be a car. This is unusual as there is no way a vehicle can be brought on to the island unless unloaded by a ship.

References to previous games



 * On the staircases in most apartment blocks in the game, you may spot some graffiti referring to past protagonists set in GTA III canon (Claude, Tommy, Carl (CJ), Toni, and Vic), that suggests they have passed away, though it is likely metaphorical as GTA III canon is over so they won't be seen again. The graffiti is intended to serve as "a little joke for fans of the series", as a different design approach to GTA IV meant the games' timeline could only inherit various fictional brand names and certain radio personalities; it is, however, no indication as to whether or not GTA III canon has been retired.
 * There is a Sprunk manufacturing plant in Alderney. Sprunk was featured in GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, and Manhunt. It has returned to GTA IV with a brand new look. Also notice that "Sprunk" is a mix of the words "Sprite" and "Spunk". The sign outside the factory is very similar to a sign for Pepsi-Cola that appears in the film "The Great Gatsby."
 * One of the TV shows is a program called The Venturas Poker Challenge. It features a casino in Las Venturas from GTA San Andreas.
 * In Star Junction there is sign for Love Fist. Love Fist was featured in GTA Vice City, and was also on a sign in GTA San Andreas and GTA Liberty City Stories.
 * In the apartment in Bohan, next to the coffee table and in front of the bed, are a few CDs laying on the floor. Zoom in with a sniper to see that one of the CDs is by OG Loc from GTA San Andreas. There is also one by Madd Dogg.
 * There is a laundromat in Alderney called Mr. Wong's Laundromat; this is presumably a nod to that particular location.
 * When you kill Playboy X, go to his apartment and open the wardrobe to get a change of clothes that that look like the clothing of Claude, the protagonist of GTA III.
 * On the front of the Liberty Tree is Donald Love, who disappeared in GTA III.
 * The Securicars are owned by the Gruppe Sechs security firm (also seen in GTA III and Vice City), although in GTA IV the name is rendered as "Gruppe 6". "Sechs" is the German word for Six and "Gruppe" means group.
 * In the bars are postcards featuring Vice City. Vice City is also advertised in airfare billboards near the airport.
 * The "Pager" ringtone on Niko's cell phone is the pager sound from GTA III.
 * Niko can receive an email from Chiliad8888, which calls the recipient "Pilgrim", makes many spiritually- and philosophically-charged (and anti-government) comments, ends with "Feel the Truth, Live the Freedom", and links to whattheydonotwantyoutoknow.com. On this website there is a discussion topic titled, "Jump to a new level of Spirituality" posted by "Trooth". This discussion thread includes more philosophical thoughts, mentions peyote, and provides a map of the Unique Stunt Jumps in Liberty City. "Chiliad" was also the name of a location in San Andreas (the highest mountain, in the southwestern wilderness). These clues suggest that the author of the email and discussion topic is The Truth, a character from GTA San Andreas.
 * On Happiness Island, in front of the entrance to the statue, it is possible to find a street-artist's easel/display stand with several pictures. These pictures are all concept works of many previous GTA characters. The easel can also be seen in south-central Algonquin, very close to where Hossan's random encounter takes place.
 * Awhile after the mission Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, the news reports that a homeless man, Jerry Kapowitz, found the diamonds used in the exchange and planned to use the money to open a gun store in Vice City.
 * If you look closely at the chart behind Gerry on the prison, you can see the penis-shape drawing the students at GTA 3 had drew.

References to other games

 * In the amusement park in Broker there are blue/purple Hippo Statues, just like the ones from Manhunt.
 * On the TV channel WEAZEL, there is an animated tv show called Republican Space Rangers, which spoofs the Halo series, as it features southern homophobic rascist soldiers wearing green Spartan-type armor invading a foreign friendly planet. They fly in a spaceship shaped like a penis and fly through a ring like the HALO Rings, a reference to sex.

Real-world references

 * For GTA IV's renditions of New York City landmarks, see Liberty City in GTA IV/New York Landmarks.


 * The game references to the economic recession faced by the United States on a few occasions.
 * Rockstar Games has a habit of putting its logo in its games; the bowling pins at the bowling alley have the Rockstar logo on them.
 * In Cluckin' Bell restaurants, near the back of the store, there's an action figure of a man in a martial arts position wearing a chicken hat; printed on the glass is "Cluck Norris," a reference to film/television star and martial artist Chuck Norris.
 * When the police get shot and don't die they sometimes scream "I'm going to be OK. I'm going to be OK!" A reference to the movie Reservoir Dogs.
 * The mission Weekend at Florian's is a reference to the comedy movie Weekend at Bernie's (Florian insists that his new name is Bernie).
 * The mission called I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots and Your Motorcycle is a reference to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger says this famous line.
 * In an unknown location there are boxes that read "mcdonalds" and have the mcdonalds logo on them
 * Many street names in Bohan are named after prisons -- Leavenworth Ave, Alcatraz Ave, Sing Sing Ave, Guantanamo Ave, Attica Ave, San Quentin Ave, Folsom Way (best known from "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash), Rykers Ave (named after the Rikers Island prison on the East River of New York City), Joliet Street.
 * Avenues running north-south (vertically) in Algonquin are named alphabetically after American cities. "A" is at the eastern side of Algonquin; "G" at the western. The names, in order, are Albany, Bismarck, Columbus, Denver, Exeter, Frankfort, Galveston. Denver and Exeter run concurrently ("Denver-Exeter Ave.") south of Middle Park into Star Junction.
 * Streets running east-to-west (horizontally) in Algonquin are named alphabetically after different types of minerals. "A" is at the southern end of Algonquin; "X" at the northern end. The names in order are Amethyst, Barium, Calcium, Diamond, Emerald, Feldspar, Garnet, Hematite, Iron, Jade, Kunzite, Lorimar, Manganese, Nickel, Obsidian, Pyrite, Quartz, Ruby, Silicon, Topaz, Uranium, Vauxite, Wardite, Xenotime.
 * In the South of Alderney, the street names reflect (mostly antiquated) military terms -- Musketeer, Grenadier, Chariot, Phalanx etc.
 * In Broker, roads running North-South are named after Native American tribes -- Iroquois, Oneida, Mohawk, Onondaga etc.
 * In south Dukes and north Broker there are the street names "Cassidy" and "Sundance", a reference to the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
 * The Beatles: Broker contains the streets "Ringo St" and "Starr St", a reference to the Beatles member Ringo Starr. At the North Broker there's the Harrison st., probably a reference to George Harrison, and the northwest section of Liberty City contains the Long John Ave, name that John Lennon used at the beginning of his carrer. Paul McCartney references not found yet.
 * Rockstar uses cartoon characters names as street names such as, "Bart (Simpson), (Hubert) Farnsworth" and the direct link to South Park, "South Parkway".
 * In Alderney, some streets are named after cult leaders: Hubbard St., Applewhite St., Koresh Square
 * Some streets are named after tools -- Jackhammer, Plumbbob, Tinderbox.
 * Some streets are named after animals -- Caterpillar, Worm, Butterfly.
 * Some streets are named after foods -- Onion, Asparagus, Chive.
 * Some streets are named after colonial Settlements -- Yorktown, Delaware.
 * Some streets are named after famous surnames, -- Harrison, Hancock, Livingstone.
 * Some streets are named after nuclear tests -- Plumbbob, Emery, and Niblick.
 * At the beginning of Clean Getaway, Vlad is nearly hit by a taxi and shouts "Hey! I'm walking here!" in reference to the movie Midnight Cowboy.
 * On the stairway leading to the sea at Meadow Hills there is a 'Banksy-esque' style graffiti piece.
 * There is a Liberty Tree article that talks about urban myths in Liberty City. This could be referring to the myths that were created around San Andreas.
 * An online article on Liberty Tree's website, an Air Sol flight has 212 passengers on board, 212 a reference to the area code in New York City.
 * In Willis, there is a shop called Al's Furniture. This is a reference to Italian-American gangster Al Capone, who was officially the owner of a furniture shop.
 * The fact that a secretive government body operates out of a paper factory may be a reference to the TV show Heroes. A secretive organization in that show also uses a paper factory as a cover and much of the action takes place in New York.
 * The viral video, 2 Girls 1 Cup, is indirectly referenced to numerous times on the radio.

Adult humor

 * The outside sign for the Memory Lanes bowling alley depicts a bowling pin with two bowling balls on either side of it. Inside, however, the sign is only a neon outline, and resembles a crude drawing of male sex organs.
 * In many spots around Liberty City, there is rubble on the ground; in some of this rubble, you can see a purple dildo sticking out.
 * There are signs scattered throughout Liberty City that say "Hot Coffee Shop", clearly a reference to the Hot Coffee sexual content and controversy from GTA San Andreas.
 * Looking at the golf courses carefully from a height reveals that they are penis-shaped.
 * A brand of beer in the game is called "Dusche Gold". "Dusche" is German for "shower", so it translates into "shower gold", which may meant to be "Shower of Gold".
 * Another beer brand (presumably spoofing Budweiser) is named "Pißwasser", "wasser" being German for "water" and "ß" is a German letter for "ss".
 * The logo for Pißwasser shows a woman with the bottle in her mouth as if in an act of fellatio.
 * The logo for AutoErotica is a car resembling a penis.
 * In East Island City, there is a building called the National Union of Contemporary Arts. It is located directly across the street from a PilPharm and Badman encounter. If you walk into the courtyard, you will see a statue of what looks like a stick figure man with an erection.