A virtual Easter egg is a hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, or computer program. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in Western nations and many parts of Europe. Its usage in contexts other than literal Easter eggs is believed to originate in the movie The Return of the Living Dead, where a military officer uses it as a code word for lost U.S. government containers of zombies created by a chemical spill.
Sometimes, an Easter egg can be an inconspicuous cameo, like the appearance of the Children of the Green Planet and the Millennium Falcon in the prequel trilogy. Some, like the former, are considered non-canon because they violate many aspects of Star Wars history. The numbers 1138 and 327, the phrase "I have a bad feeling about this," and name Tuckerizations can also be considered Easter eggs.
- The EVA Pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey in Watto's junkyard.
- E.T. (as Senator Grebleips, "Spielberg" spelled backwards) and the Asogians from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in The Phantom Menace.
- R5-D4 in the background in The Phantom Menace.
- Three TIE fighters chasing an X-wing in Attack of the Clones, in the background during the Coruscant speeder chase (16:57).
- The Millennium Falcon pulling in to a Coruscant docking bay in Revenge of the Sith.
- The Golden Idol in Dryden Vos's collection in Solo.
- The Ghost at the Yavin base in Rogue One.
- Chopper in the Yavin hangar in Rogue One.
- Chewbacca's cry as he is grabbing the vine in Return of the Jedi, resembling Tarzan's.
- Hip hop Yoda music video on the Revenge of the Sith DVD.
- DVD credits with bloopers on The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and the original trilogy Bonus Disc DVDs.
- The phrase "I have a bad feeling about this" is said several times in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the diner Power Sliders sold Ewok Jerky, a reference to the creatures from Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks.
- In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Ark of the Covenant is one of the treasures being hoarded by Wat Tambor.
- In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the crystal skull from the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a trophy in a Ubrikkian Floating Fortress.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars has a diner called Admiral Snackbar, a reference to AdmiralAckbar. Its slogan was "It's a frap!," a reference to Ackbar's famous line "It's a trap!"
- Across the street from Admiral Snackbar was Dr. Evazan Cosmetic Surgery, a reference to criminal body mutilator Cornelius Evazan. It was listed as being "Out of Business" for obvious reasons.
- There are posters for Kowakian Monkey Island, Day of Sarlacc, and Full Throttle on Abafar, but Kowakian Monkey Island never appears in the show. They are all based on classic LucasArts games.
- Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest has many easter eggs to the Star Wars universe and other franchises
Max's cameo in Star Wars: Dark Forces
- Max the rabbit, appearing in Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.
- The Buick, an unlockable ship present in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike and Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo video games.
- Santa Claus, a character resembling the holiday character. Santa appears in LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and his image is on the cover of Star Wars Adventure Journal 8. A member of Yoda's species dons his costume in Star Wars: X-Wing, and he is mentioned in Christmas in the Stars.
- In LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, the character Indiana Jones is unlockable. This Easter egg is accessed by going into the Bonus Room, entering the door labeled "Trailers," and watching the LEGO Indiana Jones trailer.
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds contains many Easter eggs throughout the campaigns. For the full list see the game article.
- In the demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the player can find the helmet of Boss on a ledge in the TIE Construction Yard level by stacking crates to access the ledge. In the final game, Starkiller could lift an X-Wing fighter out of a pool of muck on Raxus Prime (a reference to Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back).
- In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition on Echo Base, a pair of astromech droids can be seen fleeing from a Wampa as a reference to The Empire Strikes Back.
- In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II one of the skins you can unlock is Guybrush Threepwood from the LucasArts Monkey Island game series.
- In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, if you activate the cheat console for the PC version, you can enter the code "dancedancemalak," which temporarily turns Darth Malak into a dancing Twi'lek during the boss fight. Then it ends, and you escape the Star Forge. This can also be accomplished on the Xbox version by plugging a controller into the fourth slot before entering the room Malak is in and pressing the left and right triggers combined with the Y button on both controllers.
- In Star Wars: Dark Forces, a secret room on Fest has a secret door to a chained Ewok.
- In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season OneDVD set, go to the chapters section and for discs 1, 2, and 4 highlight the first episode's featurette and click to the left. On disc 3, go to the chapters section and highlight the episode "Trespass"'s featurette and click to the left.
- In Star Wars: Republic Commando, before the second barrier in the Prosecutor level, Rescue the Squad, turn right and crouch into a small tunnel. Destroy the scavenger droid and turn right. A lightsaber is lying there, and Boss comments on how it is an elegant weapon for a more civilized time, which Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope upon giving him his father's lightsaber.
- In Disney Infinity 3.0, many elements from Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire appear in the background on Takodana.
- The Star Wars Galactic Spy game has many items and characters from the Indiana Jones and Willow franchises, both by George Lucas, such as Jones himself and the golden idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, If you complete the last puzzle in the Tomb of Eilram and do a specific jump before you enter the elevator, you can climb to a spot where there are several early models of creatures in the game, and a model of Yoda.
- The short story "The Whills Strike Back" mentions Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from Star Trek.
- In Star Wars: Clone Wars, there is a Jedi named Sha'a Gi, who looks like and is named after Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. The director said he is inspired by Shaggy.
- The comic Tag & Bink: Revenge of Clone Menace has many obscure references. See the article for a list of them.