In the context of software (get that Cadbury Bunny out of your head!), an Easter Egg is a hidden feature or novelty that the programmers have put in their software. In general, it is any hidden, entertaining thing that a creator hides in their creation only for their own personal reasons. This can be anything from a hidden list of the developers, to hidden commands, to jokes, to funny animations. You'd be surprised just how many things contain Easter Eggs... just look at the list that has accumulated here!
A true Easter Egg must satisfy the following criteria:
- Undocumented, Hidden, and Non-Obvious
An Easter Egg can't be a legitimate feature of a product, or be an obvious part of a storyline. Easter Eggs will usually stand out either because they totally don't fit with their context (like a pinball game in a word processor), or because they have a deeper hidden personal meaning to the creators, so they threw it in for entertainment. - Reproducible
Every user with the same product or combination of products must be able to produce the same result given the instructions. If others can't reproduce an Egg, then it doesn't belong in this archive. - Put There by the Creators for Personal Reasons
The Egg must have been put there on purpose, and furthermore have a personal significance to the creators beyond just making a better product (movie, TV show, software program, etc). - Not Malicious
Easter Eggs are there for fun, not to do damage. - ENTERTAINING!
The most important element... if it's not there for entertainment, it's not an Egg.
Now that you have the idea of what an Egg is supposed to be, it might be easier to narrow things down by listing some types of hidden, entertaining things that would NOT be considered Easter Eggs.
- It isn't really hidden. In a movie, for example, obvious references to other movies aren't Easter Eggs, even if some people don't pick up on the references. This includes references that would be considered "obvious" to any fan of the series or genre, but not to others.
- It isn't something personal to the creator(s). Corporate logos and references to other famous people are in tons of things and aren't Eggs. Eggs have to have that "personal touch".
- It was accidental. Eggs are there on purpose. Accidents belong on www.slipups.com.
- It is symbolism, foreshadowing, or any other literary technique like this. Storytellers use these all the time to tell a good story, and they certainly don't count as Eggs.
- It fits in with the context of the work in question. For example, creative and obscure references to other shows and famous people is standard for shows like "The Simpsons" and "South Park", so these can't be considered Eggs given their context. Eggs stand out as being different from their surroundings.
- It is a plot inconsistency, or just some wierdness you can't explain. These may or may not be real Eggs, but without knowing good reasons for WHY they are there they can't be considered Eggs.
- It is interesting background information, but doesn't stand out in the work in question at all. For example, an ad-libbed scene and how it happened might be great trivia, but it isn't an Egg.
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