The existence of GTA 5 Easter eggs shouldn’t come as any surprise, as Rockstar love to hide nods to their other games and popular culture for players to find. With a world as expansive as GTA 5 there’s a lot of ground to cover and many places for secrets to be lurking, so unless you’re being particularly attentive and also have a stroke of luck on your side it’s unlikely you’re going to stumble across them on your own. That’s why we’re here to help, by providing a round up of the many locations you need to visit so you can experience the strangest and most interesting secrets for yourself.
Scattered around Los Santos, Blaine County, and beyond you’ll find pop culture references, mentions of previous GTAs and other games – both Rockstar ones and others. There’s plenty of film references, some cryptid hunting, UFOs, ghosts, and just plain weirdness. This list includes some the best GTA 5 Easter eggs, as well as details on where to find them, and what you’re actually looking for when you get there. So get ready for a tour of the weird and wonderful side of Grand Theft Auto 5.
1. Links to previous GTA games
Grand Theft Auto has referenced itself throughout its run, but GTA 5 is packed with characters and references to previous games. Marnie and The Lost biker gang appear from GTA 4. Niko is mentioned by Lester as “some Eastern European guy.” Then there’s the lovely sign you see above, welcoming players back to Los Santos. It’s a small world after all.
2. The Los Santos Sea Beast
If you’re a fan of mysterious sea creatures (and who isn’t?) swim to the eastern edge of the map to find something creepy under the water – a giant skeleton. Did Rockstar take a cue from Moby Dick? Did Shamu escape from Sea World? Either way, there’s something big in Los Santos’ deep waters.
3. The giant snowman
La Mesa is home to a cold storage facility where a certain chilly friend is hiding. You’ll have to fins a narrowly opened door and shoot away a few boxes to get a good look at him but he’s hard to miss, really.
4. James Bond’s Aston Martin
After completing the mission Deep Inside with Michael, a very special car will be available for available for purchase on the Legendary Motorsport website – the JB 700. It bears a shameless resemblance to the most famous Bond car. Unfortunately, the dealership has removed the attached machine guns.
5. Red Dead Redemption: the book
Everyone’s favorite Red Dead Redemption hero makes a very hard-to-spot cameo in GTA 5. Take a look at Franklin’s book shelf in the Vinewood Hills condo. A certain blue book is titled “Red Dead,” and it’s written by one J. Marston. His words live on.
6. Visit a Playboy Mansion party
A huge mansion lies in Richman, the district at the extreme northwest of Los Santos. Heading through the gate will reveal an unremarkable mansion, but head around back at night to find one heck of a party. Naked women, pool swimmers, and drinks galore prove that this is indeed GTA 5’s version of the Playboy Mansion.
7. Chonky Halo boys
You’ll find one more Easter egg along the Walk of Fame. About halfway down the path are two men dressed in a very distinct green armor. They look like masters. Or chiefs. Or some sort of combination of masters and chiefs.
8. 1.21 gigawatts!!
This one is so small it’s a wonder it was ever found. Head to the satellite tower in Sandy Shores and take a look at the circuit box. The power sticker reads 1.21 GW – Doc Brown’s famous electric measurement from Back to the Future.
9. Los Santos’ Serial Killer
Search Blaine County long enough, and you’ll find strange messages seemingly left by a madman… or a murder. It is, in fact, a murderer that left these creepy messages all around – we’ve got a complete GTA 5 Serial Killer Easter eggs guide to explain it all.
10. Face mountain
The Grand Theft Auto series has always paid homage to television series and movies, but this time around, GTA 5 may includes an actual likeness. A face widely believed to be Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman can be seen on the side of Mt. Chiliad. Maybe you’ve noticed that mysterious face on the mountain before – now you can put a name to it.
11.The Mount Chiliad mystery and UFOS
Take a cable car to the top of Mount Chiliad, and you’ll find this strange work of art inside the tram station. The Mount Chiliad mystery tormented players for yours and while there was never an entirely satisfactory resolution. There are UFO’s you can find in-game, and a way to summon a GTA Online UFO but that’s all. Everyone wanted a jetpack but at this point it’s really is unlikely to to turn up.
12. Mount Gordo’s ghost
This one is downright creepy. Head to the summit of Mount Gordo and wait around until 23:00. Between this time and 0:00, you’ll be able to see the creepy ghost hovering above a bloodstain message. What does the message say? “Jock.” As in Jack Cranely, whose wife’s ghost you just saw.
13. No Country for Old Men
Javier Bardem fans rejoice! Head to the Mount Chiliad State Wilderness just northeast of the highway bridge. Out here you just might find four crashed cars and several dead bodies (this is actually a random encounter). Those of you who have read or seen No Country for Old Men will recognize this as the opening scene of the story. The kicker? Just like the story, you can snatch a briefcase full of money from the scene. Head down the hill just past the vehicles to find a shiny case of $25,000.
14. Aliens in the ice
One of GTA 5’s weirdest Easter Eggs can be found just moments after starting the game. While driving toward the train tracks during the prologue, take a detour down the right side of the hill. Head across the frozen river until you’re under the bridge, then hop out. Take a look under the ice on which you’re standing to find a frozen alien. You’ll have to be quick, though – stay off the road too long, and the mission will fail out.
15. Underwater UFO
We’ve found that lonely frozen alien at the start of the game, but he’s not alone in this world. A crashed UFO rests at the bottom of the sea at the northern edge of the map. Take a submarine there to find our alien’s wet buddies.
16. An actual bigfoot (possibly)
Bigfoot and GTA go way back. Well, back to GTA: San Andreas at least and while Franklin can encounter a ‘bigfoot’ in the Strangers & Freaks mission The Last One, it’s clearly just a guy in a suit. However, during the mission Predator, you’ll take control of Michael while he snipes from out of a helicopter. When looking at the O’Neil brothers’ heat signatures in the woods, aim for the body at the lower right. He will disappear after a few seconds, but that heat signature belongs to none other than Bigfoot.
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