History MythologyGag / WesternAnimation

** When trying to rebuke claims that [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] and RedHulk are not one in the same, Maria Hill mentions that she heard rumor that the Hulk was gray at one point. While his green form is the most iconic and well known iteration, the Hulk was indeed colored gray in his earliest SilverAge appearances.

** The captive Roy Harper first seen in "Auld Acquaintance" is missing an arm. In the comics, Roy had one of his arms chopped off during the controversial ''{{Justice League: Cry For Justice}}'' mini-series.

** The captive Roy Harper first seen in "Auld Acquaintance" is missing an arm. In the comics, Roy had one of his arms chopped off during the controversial ''JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'' mini-series.
* The writers of ''{{The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes}}'' seem to love these:

* ''TheProblemSolverz'' references its AdultSwim pilot ''NeonKnome'' in some episodes. Kevin, the magic cup, can be seen in Horace's room, and the pictures on the wall are screenshots from the pilot. Roba also has a collection of Narrator dolls, and the giant Rollerblade appears in a few backgrounds. In "Hamburger Cavez", Roba unrolls his long sleeping bag the same way he did in ''NeonKnome''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has a few pertaining to its parent series, ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** One of the main characters is named {{Mako}}, a homage to Iroh's original voice actor, who died midway through the series' completion. Perhaps not so much of a gag and more of a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming...
** WordOfGod has it that the [[MemeticMutation Cabbage Merchant]] will have a legacy somehow.

*** Another suspect is "Robin's Long-Lost Brother". Robin has an older brother who died along with his parents in ''BatmanForever''.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLegendOfKorra'' has a few pertaining to its parent series, ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':

**** And catchphrase (the 'Frosty Chocolate Milkshakes' line).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'' episode "Phantoms", Brainiac 5 refers to historical data on Superman's origin being lost in "the great crisis". This could be a reference to any number of things in the comics, but most likely, ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

* In ''{{X-Men Evolution}}'', one episode features the theme song from the original ''WesternAnimation/{{X-Men}}'' animated show remixed as a sort of tropical poolside jazz piece.

* ''JusticeLeague'' ''loves'' doing these. Examples include, but are not limited to:

* In the ''Series/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'' episode "Phantoms", Brainiac 5 refers to historical data on Superman's origin being lost in "the great crisis". This could be a reference to any number of things in the comics, but most likely, ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

* ''SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''; where to begin...

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' (2003) likes to do this, particularly in regards to the older cartoon. Among the most prominent.

* The ''SouthPark'' movie actually has one for that very early pilot. The "[[WhatWouldXDo What Would Brian Boitano Do?]]" musical is a reference to "Jesus vs. Santa", the second short the series was based on, where the boys asks this of Jesus and can't think up an answer.

*** And now as of "Decepticon Air," Ramjet(Liarscream) and Sunstorm (Sycoscream) have shiny new helmets courtesy of Swindle -- helmets that just so happen to match the heads of their G1 predecessors.

* In ''CodeLyoko'' Season 4, the large room in Sector 5 that houses the ''Skidbladnir'' is called "Garage Skid" by Odd. This is a reference to ''Garage Kids'', a short film by the creators of the show that was a test pilot for the series.

* An episode of ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' features one huge mythology gag. It's a bunch of kids telling their RashomonStyle stories about the Batman, one being 60's campy, one being Miller's Dark Knight, and at the crowning moment of funny they stumble upon a very feminine boy stroking a feather boa saying, "I love Batman, that rubber costume, the car that can drive up walls," and another kid remarks something along the lines of, "oh please give me a break Joel," an [[TakeThat/WesternAnimation obvious reference]] to JoelSchumacher and his Batman movies.
* ''KimPossible'' alluded to how the show was going to end in the episode "Bad Boy", as Kim and Ron are watching their favorite prime-time soap, "Agony County", and complaining about the status of one couple. A few episodes later, "So The Drama" ended with [[OfficialCouple Kim and Ron]] getting together, and was supposed to be the GrandFinale, until the producers decided to [[PostScriptSeason bring the show back]].

* ''HeyArnold'' features a few nods to Craig Bartlett's original ''Arnold'' comics. For example, the ending of the episode "24 Hours to Live" is based on the strip "[[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090624121327/heyarnold/images/d/db/Arnold_Narrowly_Avoids_a_Thrashing.jpg Arnold Narrowly Avoids a Thrashing]]".
* The opening scene of one episode of ''PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' had a guest character lamenting how boring her place of residence was and how much she was hoping for something exciting to happen. The speech itself was almost a line-by-line re-creation from an episode of ''GalaxyRangers'' -- and [[HeyItsThatVoice Corrine Orr]] voiced the characters both times.
* In the ''BatmanBeyond'' episode "Out of the Past", Ra's Al Ghul attempts to use the [[FountainOfYouth Lazarus Pit]] to restore Bruce's youth before [[BodySurf putting his mind in his body.]] He mentions that he will take over Bruce' empire by claiming to be the long-lost son of Bruce and Talia, which is a reference to ''Batman: Son of the Demon'' where Bruce and Talia conceive a child (who, since the end of the series, was reintroduced to the comics as Damian Wayne).

* The first episode of ''Series/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'' {{inverted|Trope}} Raczak's "Do you wanna live forever?!" catchphrase from the film, having him instead solemnly order his men: "Live forever, Apes."

* ''TheLegendOfKorra'' has a few pertaining to its parent series, ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'':

*** Megatron goes "[[BeastWars Yessss.]]" twice in ''Revenge of the Fallen''.
** In ''BeastWars'' and ''Beast Machines'':

*** Swindle mentions in passing that he has had dealings with the Vok. The Vok were incredibly powerful aliens that were the secondary antagonists in ''BeastWars''. Later, in the Season Three episode 'Decepticon Air', he mentions having dealt with the Quintessons, from the original movie and later seasons of the G1 cartoon.

*** The ending of ''Predacons Rising'' has Blackarachnia encountering [[BeastWars a rat, a cheetah, a gorilla and a rhino]]. She responds to this with "gimme a break", which could be yet ''another'' reference: that exact phrase was used in ''TransformersEnergon''. Over. ''[[MostAnnoyingSound And over]].''

* ''TheBatman'' features a bunch of references to classic Batman comics.

* ''TheProblemSolverz'' references its AdultSwim pilot ''NeonKnome'' in some episodes. Kevin, the magic cup, can be seen in Horace's room, and the pictures on the wall are screenshots from the pilot. Roba also has a collection of Narrator dolls, and the giant Rollerblade appears in a few backgrounds. In "Hamburger Cavez", Roba unrolls his long sleeping bag the same way he did in ''NeonKnome''.

*** Also, Lex takes advantage of the situation to pull off Flash's cowl but is thwarted when he has "no idea who this is." In one SilverAge story, Heat Wave managed to unmask (Barry Allen) Flash and had much the same reaction.

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has various references to the first generation of ''MyLittlePony''. The series as a whole [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was supposed to be]] a reboot of the first generation, complete with G1 Ponies, but copyright issues with the names didn't allow it. Twilight Sparkle's mom [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OXQcDqb1joM/TaqCQUwBF8I/AAAAAAAAA1A/0qW8qfaqwyo/s1600/twilight+mom.jpg is the original Twilight]], who Twilight was actually supposed to be before they changed her coloring. In one episode Twilight is changed into stone, which [[http://ponibooru.413chan.net/_images/e970688eb0ba9035c31a76f1a7b2b509/34105%20-%20comparison%20g1%20G1_Pony%20references%20stoned%20twilight_sparkle.jpg parallels a scene]] where the original Twilight was turned into stone. There's also an episode where Pinkie's birthday comes up, which also happened in Generation 3 but had the opposite result. The two Spa Twins may be a reference to [[http://ponibooru.413chan.net/_images/072d847bc9fcf45649ed4a392fc10ed2/7606%20-%20Aloe%20g1%20Lotus%20Spa_Pony%20toy.jpg two G1 toys from Europe]], and the gang used a Rainbow attack in one episode that resembled something from the G1 pilot.

* On ''[=~SpongeBob SquarePants~=]'', Krabs refers to [=SpongeBob=] as, "Spongeboy, me Bob!" rather than "[=SpongeBob=], me boy!" in the episode "Squeaky Boots". On a later episode, "Frankendoodle", the titular doodle is first named Doodleboy, then later is called [=DoodleBob=]. These are references to [=SpongeBob's=] original name, Spongeboy, which was changed for legal reasons.

* ''TheSimpsons'' episode "Lisa's Sax". "Tracey Ullman was entertaining America with songs, sketches, and crudely drawn filler material." That filler, of course, being the early ''Simpsons'' episodes.

* In ''{{X-Men Evolution}}'', one episode features the theme song from the original ''Series/{{X-Men}}'' animated show remixed as a sort of tropical poolside jazz piece.

** In the first story arc, Superman suggests forming a team of heroes. Flash responds, "What, you mean like a bunch of...{{super friends}}?"
** In "The Great Brain Robbery", Flash (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) [[FreakyFridayFlip switch bodies]], but not voices -- allowing Michael to play his ''{{Smallville}}'' role as Lex.

*** Larry is of course an {{Expy}} of Bat-Mite, a similar Batman character now removed from comic book continuity...[[OrIsIt maybe]].