Borderlands 4 Hidden Secrets and Easter Eggs, Every Reference We Found

Honestly Gearbox went absolutely nuts with the Easter eggs in Borderlands 4 and I mean that in the best way possible, like theres more hidden stuff packed into these maps than BL2 and BL3 combined and tbh half the fun of exploring is stumbling onto some random interactable that makes you laugh out loud or gives you a weapon you literally never knew existed, I've been digging through every corner of every map for like months now and I keep finding new stuff, pop culture references and old BL2 callbacks and those weird little objects you can interact with that the game never tells you about, you know the kind of thing Im talking about where you walk through a waterfall and suddenly theres a whole cutscene playing and youre just sitting there like wait what, anyway this guide has every Easter egg I've found so far with the exact GPS locations and what you gotta do to trigger them and what loot you get, hopefully all of it but who knows Gearbox said theres still unfound secrets in the current patch so maybe theres more out there.

Tannis on a Fish

So this one is in The Nexus, Vaulthalla and honestly it's the easiest Easter egg to find, the location is a hidden alcove behind the waterfall at the far east edge of the map and the GPS coordinates point to the waterfall right next to the Guardian obelisk, basically you just jump over the small railing and walk through the waterfall and boom there she is. And let me tell you what you find behind that waterfall, Dr. Patricia Tannis sitting on a giant fish reading a book titled "The Vaults Are Real: A Skeptic's Guide" wich is so perfectly Tannis I cant even, when you approach her she says one of several randomized voice lines like "Oh, it's you. I was just... researching the aquatic ecosystem." or "This fish and I have an understanding. He does not ask questions, I do not explain Eridium." or "The fish told me a secret. I am not allowed to share it." The fishs name is Fishy McFishFace confirmed via datamining and I love that Gearbox actually committed to that name tbh. This is a pure flavor Easter egg so dont expect any loot or quest rewards or whatever, but the voice acting alone makes the detour worth it imo. Why this matters, its a callback to the "Tannis on a fish" meme from BL3's development cycle where a concept artist leaked a sketch of Tannis riding a fish and the internet ran with it, and ngl Gearbox finally making it canon is one of my favorite things in this game.

The Shrek Easter Egg

I died so many times getting this one its not even funny. Location is Swamp of Despair on Eden-6 in the deep southeastern bog past the abandoned COV fort, and the activation is you gotta find and shoot three Swamp Flowers hidden in the area within 30 seconds wich sounds easy until youre actually there dealing with poison water and exploding spore pods and a bunch of enemies that keep spawning. Anyway once you shoot all three flowers a cutscene triggers where a small shack rises from the mud, the door opens and a green-skinned character with a Scottish accent yells "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP?!" before slamming the door. The character model is clearly Shrek and tbh its hilarious, the developers used a modified Ogre enemy model with a vest and a crude Shrek face texture, and the voice line is from Mike Myers' original recording wich Gearbox actually licensed for the gag wich is pretty insane if you think about it. So after the cutscene a chest appears next to the shack containing the Ogre's Onion legendary shotgun, a Dahl weapon that fires 5 projectiles in a spread pattern with each projectile dealing 12,000 corrosive damage and the red flavor text reads "Ogres have layers." The Onion is a solid weapon that becomes genuinely good on Amara with corrosive damage bonuses, Ive used it for a decent chunk of my playthrough and it holds up better than youd think for a meme gun, kinda slept on if you ask me.

Batman Claptrap

This one is on Promethea Rooftops and it took me like 45 minutes of falling to my death before I actually got it. The location is a ledge accessible only by jumping from the broken skybridge near the maps north end, look for the "Caution: Low Gravity" sign near the skybridge and jump accross three floating platforms to reach the hidden ledge, and Im not gonna lie that third jump has pixel-perfect timing requirements and falling means you respawn at the bottom of Promethea and have to climb back up wich is honestly soul-crushing. And when you finally get there Claptrap is standing in a Batman-style pose crouched on a gargoyle with a cape flowing in the wind, except the cape is a piece of ripped fabric tied around his chassis because of course it is, and his voice lines are parodies of Batman like "I am the night. I am vengeance. I am... CLAPTRAP." and "My parents are dead. They were a CL4P-TP and a CL4P-FS. It was a factory accident." and "Do you bleed? You will. My eye laser is fully charged." I literally laughed out loud at the factory accident line, the writing on this one is so good. Interacting with Claptrap gives you the Batsuit Claptrap head skin wich is a black-and-yellow cosmetic with bat ears on Claptraps dome and it also unlocks the "Night of the Hunter" achievement, definately worth the platforming pain imo.

Zane's Lost Vending Machine

I found this one completely by accident and honestly thats the best kind of Easter egg. Location is Glacier's Edge on Promethea in a frozen over section of the map behind a breakable ice wall, enter the cave at coordinates X: 1284 Y: 3742 on the Glacier's Edge map and shoot the cracked ice wall with any incendiary or explosive weapon. Inside the cave is a DAHL vending machine customized with Zane's face painted on the side and the machines display shows a looping animation of Zane doing his "Hold on to your butts!" emote from BL3 wich is just perfect. The vending machine sells only one item, the Flynt's Revenge legendary pistol, a Jakobs revolver that fires 6 shots with the last shot dealing 500% bonus damage and the flavor text says "That was Zane's gun. He left it here. He said 'I'll be back.' He was lying." The cost is $500,000 wich is expensive for early game but honestly a steal for a legendary with this performance, and the gun is excellent for any Vault Hunter but shines on C4SH where the card draw mechanic benefits from high single-shot damage weapons. I was farming Chilly Billy for cryo weapons when I spotted the ice wall and ngl I almost missed it, so keep your eyes open basically.

Moxxi's Tip Jar

I stumbled on this one accidentally while checking Moxxis dialogue options and tbh its probably the easiest Easter egg in the entire game. Location is Moxxi's Bar on Sanctuary III behind the bar counter and the activation is you just interact with the tip jar 10 times donating $1,000 each time. So after the 10th donation Moxxi says "Well, look at you, big spender! Here, have something special." and throws you the Moxxi's Bouncing Pair legendary grenade mod that splits into 2 child grenades and each child grenade splits into 2 more for a total of 4 explosions per throw, each explosion heals 8% of your maximum health. This is literally the best healing grenade in BL4 and essential for Moze Vampyr builds, I used it for the next 80 hours on my Moze and never took it off. Total cost is $10,000 wich is practically free and the tip jar resets after each playthrough so you can get multiple Bouncing Pairs on different characters. But heres the sneaky hidden detail, if you tip exactly $999 wich is one short of the threshold 9 times and then tip $1,000 on the 10th, Moxxi has an additional voice line that says "10, 9, 8, 7... wait, that was not 10, that was 9! Fine, you sneaky Vault Hunter, take it." Gearbox literally built that in to acknowledge the min-maxing community and I love everything about that.

Pokemon Easter Egg

This one is in Vaulthalla Wilds near the Fast Travel station and tbh the activation is a bit tedious, you walk through a patch of tall grass 10 times without encountering enemies and each time you enter the grass a random critter spawns. The critters are reskinned versions of BL4's native wildlife with bright unusual colors, youve got the Fire Skag in red and orange, a Pikachu-inspired Electric Rakk thats yellow with black-tipped wings, a Bulbasaur-inspired Venomous Spiderant thats blue-green with a flower on its back, and a Squirtle-inspired Shock Eridium Crystalisk in blue with a shell pattern, etc etc, you get the idea. Each critter drops the same loot as its normal counterpart but also gives you a unique cosmetic, a Pokeball grenade mod that when thrown creates a flash of light and has a 10% chance to capture a non-boss enemy removing them from combat for 30 seconds. And honestly the Pokeball grenade is mechanically disappointing, its a white-quality item that doesnt take up a grenade slot its a mission-item-style collectible, it cant be equipped normally but works automatically when youre in the tall grass, and the capture mechanic doesnt work on humanoid enemies only on creature-type enemies. The 10% capture chance is way too low to be practical, I mean its a fun novelty and all that but dont expect it to save your life in a fight or anything, its more of a cute reference than a useful tool.

Dave the Burrito

This Easter egg made me laugh out loud when I found it and then laugh even harder when I got the final boss dialogue, the commitment to this running gag is exactly why I love Gearboxs writing. Location is Atlas Headquarters on Promethea in the break room on the 3rd floor, take the elevator to floor 3 in the main building and the break room is the second door on the left. In the break room microwave youll find a burrito with a name tag that reads "Dave" and interacting with the microwave triggers a cutscene where a recorded message from an Atlas employee named Dave plays saying "Please do not eat my burrito. It is my lunch. Spent 45 minutes in the cafeteria line. And I will know if you eat it. I have labeled it." If you take the burrito anyway by pressing "Take" again the game adds a permanent item to your inventory called Dave's Burrito that cannot be removed sold or consumed, it stays in your inventory for the entire playthrough and you just have to live with your choices basically. And heres the Easter egg within the Easter egg, if you bring Dave's Burrito to the final boss arena a unique dialogue plays where an Atlas distress signal broadcasts "Dave from accounting wants his burrito back" and the final boss has a 5-second pause where it looks confused. I cant believe they wrote and voiced and animated all of that for a burrito joke, this is peak Borderlands honestly.

Marcus Bobbleheads, All 200 Locations

So the Marcus bobbleheads are basicly BL4's version of Riddler trophies and there are 200 of them scattered accross every map in the base game, each one a small statue of Marcus Kincaid with a bobbing head that makes a different quip when collected and tbh Ive been grinding these for weeks. Im at 147 out of 200 as of writing this and the grind is real but the rewards are absolutely worth it. Collecting 10 bobbleheads gets you Marcuss Discount Coupon wich is 20% off all purchases from Marcuss vending machines for one playthrough, pretty nice early on. Hitting 25 bobbleheads gives you Marcuss Lucky Gun a blue-rarity Vladof pistol with Marcuss face engraved on the grip, decent stats but mostly cosmetic. At 50 bobbleheads you get Marcuss Endorsement class mod wich increases gun damage by 25% but also increases vending machine prices by 20%, yes the prices go up thats the whole joke and its very on-brand for Marcus. At 100 bobbleheads you unlock Marcuss Body Double shield wich when your shield breaks spawns a holographic Marcus that taunts enemies for 10 seconds, the hologram has no health and distracts all non-boss enemies and Ive been using this shield constantly because the Marcus hologram taunt is surprisingly effective at pulling aggro off squishier characters in co-op. And when you finally get all 200 bobbleheads you unlock Marcuss Museum wich is a hidden room on Sanctuary III containing every bobblehead on display plus a "Marcus Kincaid: Salesman of the Year" plaque and the Collector's Edition legendary sniper rifle. The Collector's Edition is a Jakobs sniper that fires 1 bullet but that bullet ricochets to every enemy within 15 meters of the target and this is honestly one of the best snipers in the entire game, it can clear a whole room with one well-placed shot. Bobbleheads are marked with a subtle golden glow and they make a faint jingling sound when youre within 15 meters, so use headphones and keep the volume up while exploring, also bobblehead progress and cosmetic unlocks carry accross all characters in your account so you dont need to collect all 200 on a single character thank god.

Easter Egg Comparison

How the Secrets System Works

Some Easter eggs like Tannis on a Fish and Dave the Burrito are pure audio-only secrets with no loot reward just voice acting and world-building but honestly theyre worth finding for the comedy alone. Then youve got weapon-granting secrets like the Shrek and Zane vending machine eggs that reward unique legendary weapons you literally cannot get from any boss drop or world drop, theyre exclusive to the secret wich makes them feel special. There are cosmetic rewards too, Batman Claptrap and the Marcus bobbleheads unlock head skins and other cosmetics that are account-wide unlocks not character-specific wich is a nice touch. And then youve got the permanent inventory items like Dave's Burrito that stays in your inventory for the entire playthrough you cannot drop it sell it or consume it its just a permanent reminder of your crime and thats hilarious. The bobblehead progression is the biggest system with 200 collectibles and 5 reward tiers and the final reward the Collectors Edition sniper is one of the best weapons in the game making the completionist grind mechanically worthwhile wich is more than most games bother to do. Several Easter eggs like the Pokemon one and the 3-flower Shrek activation were discovered by the community through datamining and experimentation and Gearbox confirmed that more secrets remain unfound as of the current patch so who knows what else is out there. Kinda exciting honestly. Also marcus bobblehead progress and cosmetic unlocks carry accross all characters in your account so you dont need to collect all 200 on a single character, thank god honestly because I do not have that kind of patience.

My Experience Finding Every Secret

I started hunting Easter eggs systematically about 50 hours into my first playthrough and tbh I had no idea how deep this rabbit hole went, the easiest was Moxxis Tip Jar I stumbled on it accidentally while checking Moxxis dialogue options and the $10,000 cost is nothing and the Bouncing Pair grenade is genuinely excellent I used it for the next 80 hours on my Moze Vampyr build. The Shrek Easter egg took the longest to find through pure exploration I kept getting wrecked by the Swamp of Despairs environmental hazards with the poison water and exploding spore pods and all that before I mapped out the route, the three Swamp Flowers are hidden in plain sight they look like part of the terrain but have a subtle pink glow when you get close so keep an eye out for that. I spent roughly 45 minutes on the Batman Claptrap platforming section, the jumps require pixel-perfect timing on the third skybridge gap and falling means respawning at the bottom of Promethea and climbing back up, I died 8 times before making it and each death was more painful than the last. The Zane vending machine was pure luck, I was farming Chilly Billy for cryo weapons and the ice wall caught my attention, the Flynts Revenge pistol is a hidden gem with that 500% final-shot damage that lets it punch well above its weight class. The Pokemon egg was disappointing mechanically, the Pokeball grenade is a fun novelty but its capture chance is way too low at 10% to be practical in any real fight. Dave the Burrito made me laugh out loud when I got the final boss dialogue and that level of commitment to a running gag is exactly why I love this franchise. The Marcus bobbleheads are still ongoing as of writing, Ive collected 147 out of 200 and the Collectors Edition sniper rifle keeps me motivated, the 100-bobblehead shield is already in my permanent rotation and the Marcus hologram taunt is surprisingly effective at pulling aggro off squishier characters in co-op.

Best Use Cases

For early game power spike grab the Bouncing Pair from Moxxis Tip Jar and Flynts Revenge from Zane's Vending Machine within the first 10 hours of a new playthrough and honestly these two items will literally carry you through the campaign on any Vault Hunter and any difficulty up to Mayhem 4 I mean theyre that good, I used them on my second playthrough and breezed through everything, if youre doing a completionist run create a dedicated collector character and use an online guide to find all 200 bobbleheads the Collectors Edition sniper is worth the grind its the best mobbing sniper in the game capable of clearing an entire room with one well-placed shot and ngl it makes the whole 200 bobblehead hunt feel worth it, you get the idea. For co-op entertainment honestly the best thing you can do is guide your friends to the Shrek and Batman Claptrap eggs because the Shrek cutscene always gets a laugh out of everyone and the Batman Claptrap voice lines are best experienced with a group especially the factory accident line wich is pure gold, tbh Ive done the Shrek egg with three different groups and it never gets old

Tips for Finding Hidden Secrets

Explore every waterfall because multiple Easter eggs including Tannis on a Fish and at least 3 Marcus bobbleheads are hidden behind waterfalls and honestly waterfalls in BL4 always have about a 50/50 chance of hiding something, I mean at this point I just check every waterfall I see out of habit because you never know what Gearbox stuffed back there. Break every cracked wall too, cracked ice walls and stone walls and metal panels can all be destroyed with explosive or incendiary or melee damage, the Zane vending machine and several bobbleheads require wall-breaking and Ive found way more stuff by just shooting random walls than I ever expected, like seriously just shoot everything you see and you'll probably find something and stuff like that. Listen for jingling sounds, Marcus bobbleheads make a faint sound within 15 meters so turn the music volume down to like 50% and the SFX volume to 100% while hunting, the jingle is directional so use stereo headphones to triangulate and it makes finding them way easier. Check break rooms and bathrooms too, Gearbox loves hiding Easter eggs in mundane interior locations and every hub map has at least one break room or bathroom with an interactable object, Dave the Burrito was in the first break room I checked and there are at least 5 more break rooms with smaller references or whatever. Also revisit maps after story completion because several Easter eggs including the Pokemon tall grass and the Batman Claptrap only appear or become interactable after the main story is complete, I missed both of these on my first pass and tbh only found them when I went back later so definitely dont make my mistake