History GeniusBonus / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' also exhibits this and to an insane degree. Every playable main character barring Nero [[ShoutOutThemeNaming is named after a character from the work]] (your first hint is that the protagonist is named Dante), and even Nero was originally going to be named Rodin in honor of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin the man who sculpted]] ''[[HellGate The Gates of Hell]]'' after scenes from Dante's ''Inferno''. The various demons, key items, and even some of the locales come from a myriad of mythological sources and demonology. The BigBad of ''2'' was named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arius Arius,]] several enemy types in ''3'' found their namesakes in the SevenDeadlySins, and once ''4'' [[FauxSymbolism kicked the Christian symbolism into overdrive]], we even had prominent human characters named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_(music) the Ordinary of Mass.]] Creator/{{Capcom}} seems to like this in their more supernatural series. See also: ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'', ''VideoGame/ChaosLegion''...

** The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' metaseries, which includes the Persona games, is also generally chock full of very obscure mythology references. The tameable/fusable "demons" include Greek and Roman gods, Judeo-Christian angels, both Eastern and Western dragons, Japanese mythological creatures and even Aztec deities.
*** Splitting Satan and Lucifer into seperate figures is a particularly good example since Judaism and Christianity are very different traditions and even shared figures tend to be very differently characterized. Satan in Judaism is a divine Prosecutor working for God while Lucifer fills Christianity's Satan as temptor role created by combining the two. Confusing to people who are familar only with Christianity, but a neat bonus for people who are also familar with Jewish views on the supernatural.
** The entire Persona series is rooted in Jungian psychology, mainly the titular personae and the shadows the characters fight regularly. ''VideoGame/Persona4'' also utilizes some Nietzsche in it's underlying themes as well, both in the stereotypical NietzscheWannabe sense and Nietzsche's actual philosophy.

** Certain games in the series like to focus on a particular mythology or religion, offering little moments like these to people who know a lot about them. Persona 3 had Greek mythology, ''Persona 4'' had Japanese mythology, and the ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' duology focused on Hindu mythology and Buddhism.

** The equations featured during Sephiroth's Supernova attack cutscene in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' aren't just for show, and actually involve advanced physics based on the planetary attraction forces of the Sun, Earth, and the area of a circle, implying the asteroid in the cutscene is moving in only two dimensions. Also featured in the sequence is [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Ptolemaicsystem-small.png a diagram of the Ptolemaic model of the Solar System]], depicting the seven celestial spheres.[[note]]The Earth at the centre (as this is an example of a geocentric model, followed by the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.[[/note]]

** The equations featured during Sephiroth's Supernova attack cutscene in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' aren't just for show, and actually involve advanced physics based on the planetary attraction forces of the Sun, Earth, and the area of a circle, implying the asteroid in the cutscene is moving in only two dimensions. Also featured in the sequence is [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Ptolemaicsystem-small.png a diagram of the Ptolemaic model of the Solar System]], depicting the seven celestial spheres[[note]]The Earth at the centre (as this is an example of a geocentric model, followed by the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.[[/note]]

** In the first game, a Hammerite text quotes Peter Paul and Mary's song "If I Had a Hammer".
** ''Thief: Gold'' features a mission with several obscure nods to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera. First, the protagonist encounters a man named Raoul living in the [[ElaborateUndergroundBase caverns under the opera house]] (albeit in the musical, Raoul is not the one who resides there, but the Phantom's real name - Erik - is not mentioned in the musical). Further allusions include a ballet dancer named Christine being mocked for her lower-class upbringing (the protagonist of the musical, Christine, was orphaned and raised in the opera house) and a haughty soprano storming out of a rehearsal telling the manager to "find a new leading lady" (a central plot point in the musical).

* ''VideoGame/SilentHillHomecoming'' has an unusual one. The original series was developed in Japan, and would have lots of forgivable errors regarding American culture. Homecoming was developed in the United States, and the devs had ShownTheirWork regarding background details about the US Army. If you understood military culture at all, and you remembered that the devs were in the States and had done their homework, you had a good chance to guess TheReveal right about the time you finished the tutorial level. [[spoiler: There's no way Alex could be mistaken for anything except someone trying to impersonate a troop, even if it is because of psychiatric disease.]]

* The opening of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' is full of philosophy, including a whole paragraph of Descartes that gets flashed on screen [[UnreadablyFastText for a couple seconds]]. The PSP remake prefers Nietzsche, and it throws in some complex math too.

** The entire Persona series is rooted in Jungian psychology, mainly the titular personae and the shadows the characters fight regularly. ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' also utilizes some Nietzsche in it's underlying themes as well, both in the stereotypical NietzscheWannabe sense and Nietzsche's actual philosophy.

* ''[[{{VideoGame/Tribes}} Starsiege: Tribes]]'' and its sequel ''Tribes 2'' featured a number of maps with obscure names that would seem meaningless to most people, but brilliant to those who know something about archaeology (Skara Brae), meteorology (Katabatic), history (Masada), metallurgy (Recalescence), et cetera.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' had a few, but by far the most JustForFun/{{egregious}} example is the naming of the Magypsies (Ionia, Doria, Phrygia, Lydia, Mixolydia, Aeolia, and Locria) after the names of the modal scales.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'': The first game featured a type of high-level demonic enemy called the Balrog. That is, there were several {{palette swap}}ped variants, and the most powerful ones were called Balrogs, but the type they all belonged to was also called Balrogs. That's just an obvious Creator/JRRTolkien reference. But in the next game, while some enemies are still called Balrogs, the broader type they belong to is now "Megademon". Since "bal" in [[ConstructedLanguage Sindarin]] means something like "might" (Quenya: "vala", cf. the Valar, Tolkien's "gods"), and "rog" means demon, "Megademon" is a stylistically odd but direct translation of "Balrog".

* VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel: Doubling with MeaningfulName, the Noble alliance calling their airship ''The Pantagruel''. While Pantagruel could also refer to a musical ensemble, it is also the title of a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargantua_and_Pantagruel collection of extremely vulgar and obscene books]]. And Pantagruelism is pretty much synonymous to Hedonism- a fitting name then, in reference to the Noble Alliance’s attitude. Fittingly enough, [[spoiler:Class VII raids the second half of the pair, the Gargantua battleship in ''Cold Steel IV''.]]
* ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' has tonnes of little details on the shipgirls that make reference to the history of their namesakes.

** Her supports with Laurent are about studies on fire and reference the relationship between the heat of the flame and it's color, as well as various metallic powders burning with different colors. It also end up with Laurent putting all that in practice by making fireworks.

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':
** A lot of foreshadowing hints are given through characters' [[WeaponOfChoice signature firearms]], meaning lots of character details are hidden to players who aren't gun nuts. For instance, Meryl's use of a Desert Eagle and Ocelot's use of an SAA both riff off stereotypes in the Japanese gun {{Otaku}} community of fans of those guns (Meryl loves the image of being a soldier much more than she likes actually being a soldier, so goes for something AwesomeButImpractical; Ocelot uses a gun that nerds like and that you can do fun tricks with, as well as (as Liquid points out) it being a gun that tends to shoot bullets that stay in the body and kill slowly, which also reinforces his [[{{Sadist}} sadism]]). EVA in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' handles her Mauser using a Chinese technique, and hers is (as she says) a Chinese copy, hinting at her actual backstory long before there's any reason most players will suspect it. Solid Snake's signature weapon is the SOCOM Mk. 23, a gun that in real life is known for being heavy and impractical, which makes his ability to handle it effortlessly into a glint of something superhuman about him.

* ''VideoGame/TreasurePlanetBattleAtProcyon'': The Procyons are raccoon-like {{Humanoid Aliens}}. Procyon, as well as being the name of a star, is also the the name of the genus of three species, more commonly known as raccoons.
* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub''

* ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'': One of the items on the moral wall is the phrase "[[EpilepticTrees Some things don't]] [[DefiedTrope have a deeper meaning]]," the image this is paired with being [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a pig in rollerskates, goggles, and with the number 18 drawn on it's side]]. At first one might think this to be an [[InvokedTrope invoked]] BigLippedAlligatorMoment, but it might actually be a reference to a particular joke: "Step 1: grease four pigs. Step 2: write the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5 on their sides with a marker. Step 3: discreetly release them in a large public building at different locations. Step 5: Watch as they search for #4."

*** Just like Natsuki's, Monika's file was originally [[spoiler: a .png, but converting it into a png-file reveals a picture of a flaming ring with a block of black and white squares in the centre. Taking this block and turning it into ZerosAndOnes reveals a binary code, which, when translated, reveals another [=Base64=]-code. Translate that, and you end up with a transcript of a short, one-sided conversation, in which someone (persumably Monika) tells you that "everyone else is dead", and that it's "time to be a [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] hero", ending with "2018"]].

* VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel: Doubling with MeaningfulName, the Noble alliance calling their airship ''The Pantagruel''. While Pantagruel could also refer to a musical ensemble, it is also the title of a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargantua_and_Pantagruel collection of extremely vulgar and obscene books]]. And Pantagruelism is pretty much synonymous to Hedonism- a fitting name then, in reference to the Noble Alliance’s attitude. Fittingly enough, [[spoiler:Class VII raids the second half of the pair, the Gargantua battleship in ''Cold Steel IV''.]]

* TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel: Doubling with MeaningfulName, the Noble alliance calling their airship ''The Pantagruel''. While Pantagruel could also refer to a musical ensemble, it is also the title of a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargantua_and_Pantagruel collection of extremely vulgar and obscene books]]. And Pantagruelism is pretty much synonymous to Hedonism- a fitting name then, in reference to the Noble Alliance’s attitude. Fittingly enough, [[spoiler:Class VII raids the second half of the pair, the Gargantua battleship in ''Cold Steel IV''.]]

** The game world has an extensive fictional history that vaguely allegorises many real-world events, ranging from things most people will get (the father of Communism in the setting is a figure who combines the initials/overall appearance/theory of Karl Marx, with Lenin's role as an actual revolutionary leader, and a miserable suicide in a bunker similar to the extremely-not-a-Communist Adolf Hitler) to things that will only really make sense to people who read everything about various historical events that fascinate hard-left-wingers but do not tend to occupy a large cultural niche in right-of-centre cultures.

** Measurehead's use of the term 'al-gul' for alcohol is sometimes interpreted as a FunetikAccent, but he also refers to it as 'the Ghoul'. The English word ''alcohol'' comes from the Arabic ''al-khul'' or ''al-ghawl'', meaning "flesh-eating spirit" (it is also from where we get the English word "ghoul", and also why in English, distilled alcoholic drinks are called "spirits"). "Al-gul" isn't a common transliteration of the Arabic, but it's not one that would be impossible.

* ''[[VideoGame/PennyArcadeAdventures Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness: Episode One]]'' has the first robot you meet ask you "01100110 01110101 0110001101101011?" "01100110 01110101 0110001101101011!". 01100110 01110101 0110001101101011 is binary for "Fuck". [[BlackComedyRape The robots want to rape you]].

* Everywhere in ''Franchise/{{Touhou}}'', especially in the spellcards and music. By far the most famous is the title of [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic U.N. Owen Was Her?]], referencing the Creator/AgathaChristie story ''And Then There Were None'', in which the characters are invited by someone calling themselves U.N. Owen (i.e. Unknown).

* Franchise/{{Pokemon}}:

** The reasoning behind some of the weirder [[ElementalRockPaperScissors type match-ups]] are usually examples of this. The Fairy-type is the biggest example of this, as their match-ups only make sense if one is knowledgeable about their portrayal in not only medieval European mythologies, where iron is commonly citied as one of the few things that can kill them (hence their Steel-type weakness), but also the protrayal of their equivalents in ancient Eastern mythologies (where fairy magic is said to be one of a dragon's few weaknesses).

** The reasoning behind some of the weirder [[ElementalRockPaperScissors type match-ups]] are usually examples of this. The Fairy-type in particular has their match-ups derived from their portrayal in older European mythologies, where iron is commonly citied as one of the few things that can kill them (hence their Steel-type weakness) and some tales labeling fairy magic as a dragon's weakness.

** The reasoning behind some of the weirder [[ElementalRockPaperScissors type match-ups]] are actually examples of this. A few examples include European mythologies surrounding fairies having iron as one of the few things that could kill them (hence their Steel-type weakness), earthen and sandy features neutralize and mitigate the toxicity of poison (hence Ground-types resisting Poison-type moves), and a trainer fighter will usually win a fight against someone with no fighting experience (hence Fighting being strong against Normal).

** The English translator for ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' is also a writer for Website/SomethingAwful. So for fun, he subtly slipped in a few references that a meme-savvy gamer might catch, such as the line "[[http://www.amazon.com/My-Tank-Fight-Zack-Parsons/dp/0806527587 My Pokemon is fight!]]".

* ''VideoGame/BattleTech'' players who know their lore will be able to get why the ''Bull Shark'' Battlemech is such a big deal in its Flashpoint mission, as well as why Natasha Kerensky has such a vicious hate-on for it. If you check the math, you'll note that a ''Bull Shark'' with stripped-down equipment is oddly light. Too light, in fact, to match the weight values of a stock Battlemech from the vanilla game of equal size, such as a ''Banshee''. It also doesn't match the expected weight values of even the rare Star League-era Battlemechs that can be acquired or used. This is what will tip most players off that the ''Bull Shark'' isn't Star League tech, but the even more advanced ''Clan'' tech. Based on the timeline and location, the only Clan which could have possibly produced the ''Bull Shark'' would have been Clan Wolverine, reviled among their Clan peers after being driven out/annihilated for trying to break from the rest of the Clans. Those who know Natasha Kerensky would know that she is in fact a Clan Wolf trueborn, and as such the urge to crush all things Clan Wolverine--including the ''Bull Shark''--would have been drilled into her.