-->'''Leela''': Who are you people? Haven't I seen you in some copyrighted movie?\\
'''Glurmo''' (''singing''): We ''resemblebutarelegallydistinctfrom'' the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild...
-->--''{{Futurama}}'', "Anthology of Interest II"

-->'''Shari Bobbins''': I'm an original character, like Ricky Rouse or Monald Muck!
-->--''TheSimpsons'', "[=SimpsonCaliFragilisticExpiala(annoyed grunt)cious=]"

The {{doujinshi}} market in Japan lends itself to a slightly more lax interpretation of trademark issues in {{anime}} and {{manga}}. You are quite likely to find characters who are not merely [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed an imitation]] of a [[CaptainErsatz character]] from a popular show, film, or comic (be they Eastern or Western), but literally ''are'' that character. Somehow.

You can blur their face a bit or simply not name them. Still, this trope is known enough you can expect any manga that featured these frequently will get modified a bit if the anime counterpart's broadcast sponsors are worried about pissing anyone off.

On the other hand, if said cameo character is famous enough, you're liable to get away with a more overt reference (most noticeably, ''KamenRider'' and ''{{Ultraman}}''.)

Often used as part of a TakeThat, but just as often a [[AffectionateParody friendly]] ShoutOut. See also WritingAroundTrademarks.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* ''YakitateJapan'''s American character Kid is nearly identical to BradPitt, for no good reason. Conan from ''DetectiveConan'' also makes a thinly-veiled appearance.
* ''SakigakeCromartieKoukou'''s Freddie was so obviously Freddie Mercury that the character couldn't be used in another adaptation for fear of lawyers. This was lampshaded with obscure references nearly every time Freddie appeared, and lampshaded most overtly with the brief appearance of another character, Mr. Mercury, who was noted by the other characters as looking exactly like Freddie (except for his clothes- although both Freddie's and Mr. Mercury were wearing exact copies of outfits worn by Freddie Mercury on stage) and who made a very loud emphasis on a number of dissimilarities between himself and Freddie (and, as a result, contrasting Freddie Mercury as well) It should also be noted that a number of other Queen references, such as many of the chapter titles, and literally hundreds of inside jokes and subtle references were present, making the manga a constant source of knowing grins from Queen fans everywhere.
* In ''IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'', a chainsaw-wielding, hockey mask-wearing fellow named "Jason" is a member of the crew of the ''Soyokaze'' (mirroring the common Western misconception Jason ever used a chainsaw).
* In ''SchoolRumble'' Harima stays home and watches a movie that is pretty much a rip off of ''StarWars'' that at first covers the opening of episode 4 with Lego like star ships, and what some lines that seems to be taken from episode 6. Needless to say this is quite funny to watch.
* In ''ProjectAKo'', it's hinted a few times that Eiko's parents are Superman and Wonder Woman, though they've never appeared onscreen in costume. (Although they ''have'' appeared ''with'' costume -- Mrs. Magami is shown sewing or repairing a Superman outfit at one point.) Dad is also shown reading the ''Daily Planet''.
*Colonel Sanders shows up a lot as a figure of menace, thanks to the legend of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Colonel Curse of the Colonel]]. A few examples:
** At one point in ''ProjectAKo'', the main characters watch a horror movie - itself a parody of Rin Taro's scifi/horror anime ''Harmagedon'' - wherein a victim, panicking, yells "The Colonel! The Colonel!" His pursuer is... Colonel Sanders.
** One of the villains in the first series of ''TheSlayers'' dresses up as Colonel Sanders, complete with what appears to be a roast (not fried) chicken, in a particular episode.
** ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' starts saccharine-cute but quickly becomes the story of a town under a terrifying curse. The first sign that we're about to experience MoodWhiplash? A statue of the Colonel.
** Albireo in the later chapters of the ''MahouSenseiNegima'' manga insists on being called "Ku'nel Sanders" (originally just to cover up his identity, later because he liked it). At one point during his insistence, an image of Colonel Sanders appears behind him (eyes blacked out, of course, as though to protect his "anonymity"). (For those interested, "Ku'nel" turns out to be an involved Japanese pun about the purpose of living as well as a play on "Colonel".)
*** This becomes even more funny to those who've lived in Asia (ThisTroper noticed it most in Korea) and seen the various KFC's around. Take a close look at the Colonel outside these establishments, people. He has ASIAN eyes.
**** He looks Asian even in a lot of the American designs for him. I actually thought he WAS Asian until I saw the documentary about his life on A&E.
** In one of ''Doraemon'' movie about Nobita and friends making a toy land with animated dolls, toys, and statues, one of them is a Colonel Sanders statue.
** Directly referenced in a chapter of the ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' manga, where Hiruma uses a statue he "found in a ditch" as a stand in for Homer, the quarterback for the Nasa Aliens. Said statue has its face covered by a poorly-drawn copy of Homer's face, but it's obviously supposed to be a Colonel Sanders statue.
** The Colonel also appeared in ''Super Milk-Chan'' as an selfish, greedy, sexist man who hires assassins to kill a pair of pigs who escaped from one of his meat-packaging plants.
** In ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma1/2]]'', there is a plotline that involves a man's soul wandering around even though he's not dead yet. In the manga, this was called "the Colonel Sanders Effect".
** The Colonel also appears briefly in the Excel Saga manga at least once, where heavy rains flood most of Fukuoka, floating by as debris. Excel even comments on it in the English version.
** A ''lot'' of {{hentai}} features ''rape by Colonel.'' [[SoYeah So yeah]]....
*** [[OrSoIHeard Or So You Heard]]?
*In one chapter of the ''BoboboboBobobo'' manga, Yugi Mutoh from ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' pops out of Bo-bobo's afro and summons Sky Dragon Osiris (AKA Slifer the Sky Dragon) to help battle Halekulani. (This is even more lawyer-friendly, as the scene in which this happened was drawn by the original creator of ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}''.)
** This later becomes a combo attack for the two characters in Jump Superstars.
** [[http://www.onemanga.com/Bobobo-Bo_bo-bobo/2/10/ "This guy is a duelist!!!"]]
* ''DoctorSlump'' featured "Suppaman", essentially a short, pudgy version of Superman. He popped up during the Dr. Slump CrossOver in the original ''{{Dragonball}}'' series.
** However, ''DoctorSlump'' refers explicitly to ''AstroBoy'', ''Gamera'', ''Gozilla'' and ''Ultraman''.
* ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' episode 11 had a pixelated version of a {{Gundam}} launch, and referred to it as the "Gun3**".
** Also, in episode 1, Haruhi holds up magazines to Kyon and Mikuru, featuring other anime series, one of which is ''{{Shuffle}}'', with Kaede and Asa on the cover. Note that Yuko Goto voices [[ActorAllusion both Mikuru and Kaede]].
* As it usually tries to avoid censoring, ''LuckyStar'' references titles and locations only indirectly, ''SuzumiyaHaruhiNoYuutsu'' being the major exception. However, in one episode, Konata tells a 'ghost story' about a bus driver singing "[[AnimeThemeSong Danzen!]] [[FutariWaPrettyCure Futari wa ***cure]]", and in another a thinly-veiled conversation about {{Gundam}}s between Konata and her father seems to be an exercise in "how far can we go before we get sued?"
** They once made a reference to Pocky beyond obvious when they had Misao say the name twice, the first time having the last half blanked out (Po***) and the second time the first half blanked (**cky), alongside having chocolate milk or juice sucked up a straw to a certain point before being held in place to look like the snack.
** Konata's "fight" with [[StreetFighter Guile]] actually has ''two'' separate ''StreetFighter'' references. The first is the obvious Guile clone, but the second shows up in the form of the "VS screen". The background is taken right out of ''StreetFighter III: 3rd Strike''.
*** And the "stage" is Ryu's from ''StreetFighter II''. Finally, she knocks him out with the Tatsumaki Senpyukyaku (Hurricane Kick), one of RyuAndKen's signature moves.
** One episode has ''CodeGeass'' and Lelouch's name censored out. Ironically, Bandai Entertainment would later pick up the rights to localize both that and ''Lucky Star''.
** Tsukasa's ''KeroroGunsou'' keychain is worth noting here.
** During the InitialD parody, Kagami refers to Initial D as "chomei-chomei D", "chomei-chomei" being a placeholder name for something well-known.
***Kadokawa-Bandai dub: "Bleepy-D."
** Cousin Yui reading manga with [[FateStayNight Rider]] on the cover. Also, episode 10, when Tsukasa's gentle nature and Kagami's {{Tsundere}} nature become blatantly obvious to Soujirou.
---> '''Soujirou''': (hands in the air) Sakura! Tohsaka... Tohsaka's your sister!
** The Gundam discussion segment is meant to parody the ridiculousness of the censoring. Both Konata and Soujirou's eyes have a censor bar over them, and every third word is bleeped out with a different sound.
*** That said, the corresponding manga was published in an official Gundam magazine, so...
** The ImageSong "Yuuchou Sentai Dararenjaa" (A ''SuperSentai''-esque song) mentions, by cutting short instead of censoring, a certain "[[KamenRiderFaiz Lucky Clo---]]."
* In episode 21 of ''KeroroGunsou'', thinly-disguised versions of {{Lupin III}} and Jigen get run off the road by the Hinata family car in an obvious parody of a scene from ''The Castle Of Cagliostro''. In episode 48, there is an inexplicable appearance by a human-sized version of the giant floating ReiAyanami from ''End of {{Evangelion}}''.
**Lupin and Jigen also appear as characters in a video game in one episode of ''{{Super Dimension Fortress Macross}}'' parodying the car-chase scene from ''The Castle of Cagliostro''
*** It's also highly likely that there is a Jigen sighting in an episode of ''{{Animaniacs}}'' (specifically the "Sir Yakksalot" episode) as a wagon driver bearing a very distinctive slouched fedora and pointed beard drives by the screen. Tokyo Movie Shinsha provided animation work for both the ''Lupin III'' franchise and ''Animaniacs.''
*** Yet ''another'' one is an episode of ''SamuraiJack'' where a thief that's basically Jigen in a white suit with light-brown hair tries to steal a time traveling jewel.
*** Or, rather, he looked like Jigen but acted more like Lupin III.
* At one point in ''GreatTeacherOnizuka'', Onizuka challenges an entire gang to arm wrestling and winds up beating look-alikes of Jason Voorhees (from ''Friday The 13th''), Heihachi Mishima (from ''{{Tekken}}''), and ''GiantRobo''.
** Onizuka himself actually dresses as {{Doraemon}} and explicitly calls himself as such when forced to fight a gang with his hands stuck in bowling balls.
** At one point he ''shatters'' the bowling balls and draws a bunch of CrossPoppingVeins on himself, screaming about a woman named Yuria. Now, he calls himself [[FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]] and even draws Ken's seven scars. To top it all off, in the anime, he beats the gang with Ken's signature SpamAttack, the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken.
* An episode of ''FullMetalPanic: Fumoffu'' had a gangster referring to 'Ambassador Mama', a reference to Ambassador Magma from ''AstroBoy'', with an accompanying pixellated image of his spaceship.
* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' often has characters in the background, while not outright named, Vash the Stampede (''{{Trigun}}''), Ino, Shikamaru, Choji (''{{Naruto}}'') and Ryoma Echizen (''Prince of Tennis'') all have brief appearances (Vash is in the background of the characters walking down the street, the other four in the stands of a duel).
** The cards for the game are no better. In the card game plenty of cards are named/designed after other Konami products (Gradius games, a card explicitly named DDR, Goemon characters). However, in the anime they do one for another Shounen Jump series. The card Illegal Summon in GX features a character scene from ''{{Naruto}}'' of Naruto's Frog Summoning training.
* The ''PrinceOfTennis'' anime has Makunouchi Ippo of ''HajimeNoIppo'' fame appear briefly in the stands at a baseball game during a chibi episode. He is voiced by the same seiyuu as Prince of Tennis's [[{{Tsundere}} Kaidoh]], making this an ActorAllusion cameo.
* ''{{Gintama}}'' runs its entire series off of this.
* Ken Akamatsu, being a video game fan, has dropped numerous character cameos into both ''LoveHina'' and ''MahouSenseiNegima'': the "Mahora Budokai" arc in ''Negima!'' featured crowd cameos from M. Bison, Sakura Kusanago, Akuma, Hugo, and Adon from the ''StreetFighter'' games as well as Athena, Terry Bogard, Ryo Sakazaki, Chris, Yashiro Nanakase, and the ''Maximum Impact'' version of Kyo Kusanagi, all from ''TheKingOfFighters'' and related series, and several others.
** Later, when the robot army arrives, one of the characters makes an extraordinarily blatant Lawyer Friendly ShoutOut:
--> "Wow! Are those Gu_dams? They have to be Gun_ams!"
*** HilariousInHindsight--this troper's seen actual Gundam and Transformers knockoffs packaged as "Gudams".
** Love Hina also has references to ''StarWars'' quite often; in amongst Keitaro/Naru sniping Naru is stabbed with a lightsaber, Motoko wins Su a mini Death Star, and Seta's van has the license plate number R2-D2.
* In ''{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard's and Seras's main weapons are named ''Jackal'' and ''Harkonnen'' respectively. Though not explained in the anime, their namesakes show up in the manga as the characters' "spirit guides" during dream sequences: the [[MagnificentBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen]] from ''{{Dune}}'' in the case of Seras, and BruceWillis (who starred in the movie ''Jackal'') for Alucard. (The Baron does appear briefly in the anime's {{omake}}-style "next episode" teasers.)
* In the manga version of ''RozenMaiden'', Buu, the doll that attacks Jun early on, is quite clearly WinnieThePooh. In the anime, Pooh is replaced with a generic clown doll.
**In turn, Jun makes a brief cameo early in the first episode of ''UltimateGirls''.
* The anime version of ''HayateNoGotoku'' is full of lawyer-friendly mentions, although the ones in dialogue are always bleeped out. Being a fangirl, Nagi rattles them off quickly enough that it's common to have half of her monologue melodically beeped out.
** This happens in the manga as well, although it's so inconsistent (as with the ''Negima'' example above), anyone who can put two-and-two together can figure it out.
* ''SetoNoHanayome'' features the {{Terminator}} as an important character. With lines like [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_seto_no_hanayome_homage.jpg ''"I'll be back"'']] and ''"You must die, human! TERMINATOR!"'', and ''"Who's your daddy? TERMINATOR!"'', it's kinda hard to miss.
* Reversed in ''RayTheAnimation'': In the manga, Osamu Tezuka's Dr. Black Jack 'cameos', but his face is never shown and he is never referred to by his full name, due to copyright concerns. In the animation, Black Jack doesn't fall under these restrictions anymore, seeing as how it was produced by Tezuka's animation studio, which of course holds the copyright on the character.
* ''{{Amaenaideyo}}'' had the ShowWithinAShow ''[[KamenRider Kamen]] [[strike:[[KamenRider Rider]]]] Ranger'', and continued to reference it throughout the show's run. The featured Kamen Ranger, Hayabusa 20, could've easily passed for [[KamenRiderFaiz Faiz]].
* ''Miami Guns'' has several of these, such as Bruce [[strike:Willis]] Tsuji, the "''DieHard'' detective" from one episode. The most significant example in the series is the father of "[[HeroicSociopath heroine]]" Yao Sakurakoji -- who is a bleached-blonde doppleganger of Gendo Ikari, right down to the design of his office. (For some reason, he has a pet dog who's a parody of [[DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines Muttley]]. Hey, why not?)
* ''BlackHeaven'' features a scene where Mulder and Scully from ''{{X-Files}}'' are investigating a mysterious event at a cemetery in the U.S., where a grave has been dug up in an incredibly precise manner. [[spoiler: Former band member Watanabe's body had been stolen by the enemy in order to create a clone to defeat the remaining member of the band.]] The two agents are unceremoniously pushed into the hole by Layla's sidekicks.
** There's also a ripoff of the power rangers in it called the Flying 5.
* One chapter of the ''YamiNoMatsuei'' manga had the main charaters in a book world. In the background of the wedding scene you can see the figures of Cloud, Aerith, Sephiroth and Rufus Shinra from ''FinalFantasyVII''.
* In the North #2 arc of Naoki Urasawa's ''{{Pluto}}'', blind composer Paul Duncan recants a tale in his childhood where he was pulled from the brink of death by a Japanese black market doctor at the cost of his already weak eyesight. Said series is set in the ''AstroBoy'' universe. Said doctor was dressed in a black cloak and, according to North #2's investigations, charged his mother a ridiculously high fee for the procedure. [[WMG/{{Monster}} Wild Mass Guessing aside]], [[BlackJack this doctor's identity should be obvious to any Tezuka fan.]]
* Episode 27 of ''ZettaiKarenChildren'' has [[LuckyStar Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, Miyuki, Yutaka and Minami]] appearing in the background briefly; the first four had realistic hair colors and all of them have their backs turned to the camera except for Miyuki, whose face is obscured by a leg. In addition, because Gonzo helped produce the episode, it also has ''StrikeWitches'' cameos (but how could they get away with their lack of pants in that world?).
* ''SamuraiChamploo'' featured Ogami Ito and Daigoro from Lone Wolf and Cub at the end of the episode "Cosmic Collisions".
* Volume 7 of ''FaeriesLanding'' has a brief one panel cameo of Luffy D. Monkey from ''OnePiece''.
* The manga version of ''SorcererHunters'' includes a number of these, exemplified by the chapter "Seaside Days in the Springtime of Youth, one of the series' many {{BeachEpisode}}s. In it, a magical potion turns the protagonists into cosplaying cameos from other series such as ''SailorMoon'', ''UruseiYatsura'', and ''{{Darkstalkers}}''. Also, for a {{Fanservice}} laden {{shounen}} series, the frequent cameos from the decidedly {{shojo}} and chaste dating sim of ''{{Angelique}}'' were amusing, especially when the game's resident CuteShotaroBoy showed up as a slave boy belonging to one of the manga's villains.
* In episode 49 of ''ShamanKing'', the members Team LCT/Team Insane Asylum were based off [[ProfessionalWrestling Pro Wrestlers]] Mark LoMonaco (Bubba Ray Dudley/Brother Ray), one of the Hardys (Matt Hardy or Jeff Hardy) and Adam Coepland (Edge) who used tables, ladders and chairs respectively as their weapons in the {{WWE}}.
** And of course, earlier the heroes had to fight the corpse of a world famous Chinese martial artist from Hollywood movies, who developped his own fighting style and whose favorite weapons were a pair of nunchuks. So, totally not Bruce Lee, then.
* ''MyBalls'' has Angel*** Jolie in Chapter 28.
* ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' has innumerable instances. In speech, one syllable of the word/name in question is either bleeped over or pronounced "maru", in text one letter is replaced by a circle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* In the ''{{Asterix}}'' story ''Asterix in Belgium'', the two Belgians who announce Caesar's arrival are dead ringers for Thomson and Thompson, the twin detectives from the Belgian comic ''{{Tintin}}''.
** Right down to the ArtShift, the font in their SpeechBubbles, and the use of their CatchPhrase "To be precise..."
** And the [[YuppieCouple recurring]] pirates are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redbeard_(comics)#Asterix_parody based on the cast of the Belgian comic ''Barbe-Rouge'']], although [[WeirdAlEffect no one outside France would get that]].
** ''Asterix in Switzerland'' had a repairman who looked like the mascot of a French oil company. He was redrawn in the English edition to look like the Michelin man instead.
* In ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', in which every character is either a literary character or a literary character's ancestor, Fu Manchu is never mentioned by name, because he's still under copyright. In the movie version, Fu Manchu was replaced with the SherlockHolmes villain Prof. Moriarty (who also appears in the comic) disguised as the ''{{Phantom of the Opera}}''.
** No, just a generic scarred villain called ''Fantom'' - a name which has been used with various spellings by a large number of pulp villains and heroes. And incidentally, Moriarty appears in the comicbook, as well, as the (still-villainous) adversary of Fu Manchu. Then again, he's also described as "operatic" for no reason at all in the movie... And might be equally based on Fantomas, the French archvillain.
** And the ''Black Dossier'' includes British secret agents named "Jimmy", who is obviously JamesBond (He won't stop talking about "some business in Jamaica" and all that, and he's also the grandson of ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' original character Campion Bond), Miss Night, who is clearly [[TheAvengers Emma Peel]], and Uncle Hugo, who is BulldogDrummond.
** To say nothing of the new M, who dislikes being referred to as "Harry" because Harry died a long time ago, [[{{TheThirdMan}} in the sewers under Vienna]].
* AlanMoore's ''SwampThing'' had a story "Pog", whose title character was ''{{Pogo}}'' in a spacesuit. Amusingly, Pog had a brief cameo in a later issue by another writer who didn't seem to recognize the reference.
* A recent ''{{Invincible}}'' storyline had the title character being bounced around alternate universes. While he had a full issue experience with Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} in ''Marvel Team-Up'', he also encountered Comicbook/{{Batman}} (though only his arm is seen and his name is given thanks to a running joke from the MTU issue), a world similar to ''YTheLastMan'' and possibly the world of ''TheWalkingDead'', one of Robert Kirkman's other books.
* ''{{Wanted}}'' by MarkMillar features lawyer-friendly versions of every supervillain (and some heroes) ever. ''Ever''. In addition, it's implicit that the characters in the story are the real versions, and the comics are a [[MemeticMutation half-baked attempt by the world to tell their exploits]]. But [[YouSuck who reads comics anymore anyway]]?
* If you look closely in crowd scenes during DC and Marvel CrisisCrossovers, you can often make out characters that have been ExiledFromContinuity (the hand of Swamp Thing in ''InfiniteCrisis'', for example).
* Walt Simonson has done his share, with [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] cameoing in ''TheMightyThor'' after the later hero [[ClarkKenting uses glasses for a secret identity]], and {{Supergirl}} appears in a ''FantasticFour'' issues's group of discontinued universes.
** see Clark Kent of [[MarvelUniverse Earth-616]] (http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/kentclrk.htm)
* In one issue of ''ThePunisher'', the titular AntiHero guns down thinly-disguised counterparts of LupinTheThird and his gang.
* In ''Bowling King'', a nefarious physician bears an eerie resemblance to ''BlackJack''... and in a LampshadeHanging, claims to have strived to be like Black Jack his entire life.
* Throughout ''{{Preacher}}'', Jesse has a spirit advisor called The Duke, who is clearly meant to be John Wayne but never explicitly referred to as such and always drawn with face in shadow.
* Alien groups scenes in ''LegionOfSuperheroes'' like to slip in famous aliens or other odd looking characters. Recently, an alien resembling Dr. Zoidberg of ''{{Futurama}}'' was seen being arrested by the Science Police. Another comic had a pair that looks suspiciously like [[TheMuppetShow Kermit and Miss Piggy.]]
* In ''Action Comics'' #579, {{Superman}} is sent back in time to 253 AD, where he finds himself in a Gaulish village that has been fighting off the Romans thanks to a magic potion - so sucessfully, in fact, that they're unaware the Empire has fallen. Jimmy Olsen puts on the outfit of their unnamed "[[{{Asterix}} greatest warrior]]", while a mind-controlled Superman fights "Columnix", an overweight Gaul with a white dog, who fell in the potion as a baby.
**That's a beautiful DidNotDoTheResearch. The roman empire didn't fall for about 200 years more than that.
* An early ''UsagiYojimbo'' comic features a Lawyer Friendly Cameo from a young {{Godzilla}}, who ends up saving Miyamoto Usagi's life in return for rice cakes. Just in case you somehow missed it, Usagi actually asks "Are you a god, Zylla?" to which the creature responds "Godzylla?"
* In a [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} X-Man]] issue, there's cameos of [[StreetFighter Ken, Chun-Li and Guile]] on the background, watching X-Man's power demonstration. [[CapcomVsWhatever How appropriate.]]
* The ''Howard and Nester'' comic strip in issue #9 of ''NintendoPower'' has Howard accompanying a duck on an expedition to the moon (with Nester stowing away). The duck in question is never addressed by name and doesn't look like it, but the reader can probably guess, judging from the fact that this particular installment was based on the ''DuckTales'' {{NES}} game, that he is supposed to be Scrooge [=McDuck=].
* This troper can't find the reference, but he has once read a Marvel comics from the 80's involving many of the Marvel speedsters, who were getting some help from an amnesiac speedster from another dimension... [[TheFlash Wearing a torn red suit (with a few yellow elements), saying his name was "Buried Alien, or something like that", and who quickly disappeared in some Speed Dimension afterwards as all he could remember was that he had to keep running]]. Oh, and he was much, MUCH faster than all the other Marvel speedsters. As this story took place not so long after [[CrisisOnInfiniteEarths an important cross-over from the Distinguished Competition]], this can be seen as a [[ShoutOut homage]] to a certain character who died during this event.
** You mean [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/fastforw.htm this guy]]? Nah, never heard of him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]
* Aside from color and extra limbs, the dragon form of the emperor from the third film in ''TheMummyTrilogy'' is virtually identical to the {{Godzilla}} villain King Ghidorah.
* A reporter named Clark, who knows a reporter named Lois, and, uh, might be able to fly, shows up in AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes.
* A rather strange version occurs in ''{{Spiderman}} 2''; as Mary Jane [[RunawayBride runs away from her wedding]], she passes by a man in a long black trenchcoat. The audio commentary reveals that this man is Thomas Jane's stunt double from the ''{{Punisher}}'' movie, and that the character is in fact meant to be Frank Castle; however, as the rights to the two films are owned by different studios, they couldn't have Jane appear as the character.
* The film ''MurderByDeath'' was little more than a showcase for such cameos, referencing famed literary/movie detectives:
** Sidney Wang = Charlie Chan
** Sam Diamond = Sam Spade
** Dick and Dora Charleston = Nick and Nora Charles
** Miss Marbles = Miss Marples
** M'sieu Perrier = Hercule Poirot
*** There was also apparently, going to be a LawyerFriendlyCameo for AgathaChristie, in the form of "Dame Abigail Christian." The character was dropped when Katherine Hepburn pulled out (due to Myrna Loy refusing appear as Dora Charleston -- she had originated the character "Nora Charles" in the ''Thin Man'' movies)
*** The film originally ended with a cameo from two characters who looked and acted very much like Holmes and Watson. In fact, the resemblance was close enough that Arthur Conan Doyle's estate eventually got [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5oBeFUDllM this scene]] excised from all home video releases.
* TheTeaser of ''ForYourEyesOnly'' kills off a bald man in a wheelchair who looks a lot like Ernst Blofeld. Blofeld and SPECTRE had been ExiledFromContinuity when the film was made.
* [[AustinPowers Goldmember]] had this exchange after the protagonists crash into a parade float:
-->'''[[HeyItsThatGuy Man #2]]''': ''It looks like Godzilla, but due to international copyright laws, it's not!''
--> '''Man #1''': ''Still, we should run like it IS Godzilla!''
--> '''[[{{Heroes}} Man #2]]''': ''Although it isn't!''
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* Western example that is not a cameo and features a RealLife individual. Ben Elton's novel ''Chart Throb'' features Prince Charles as a major character but he is never named, just called "The Prince of Wales", "The Prince", "Wales", "Sir", and humourously, by himself, "Muggins" and "Buggerlugs". Camilla also appears, referred to solely as "His Wife".
** Similarly, Prince Harry appears (by name) in John Birmingham's ''Axis of Time'' cycle. His character is from TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and has become a BadAss military officer - Harry himself (who is pursuing a military career in RealLife) would probably approve of the portrayal.
* In the SolarPons story "The Adventure of the Orient Express", Pons encounters several characters who are thinly disguised (''very'' thinly) famous fictional spies and detectives, including Ashenden, Hercule Poirot, and TheSaint.
** Pons himself is something of a Lawyer Friendly Star based on SherlockHolmes.
*** He's one of ''many'' pastiches of Holmes. It's a popular mystery fiction sub-genre.
* A short story by KimNewman in the ''Unforgivable Stories'' collection features [[{{Tintin}} an unnamed teenaged journalist who has an uncontrollable cowlick and is accompanied by a small white dog]] who is a Nazi collaborator in occupied Paris.
** Another - ''[[CareBears Nice Mice]] Vs The [[{{Transformers}} Garganuabots]]'' - features two races of aliens selling toys of themselves on Earth. ItMakesSenseInContext.
** And talking of white dogs - the Red Baron has [[{{Peanuts}} an unexplained hatred for one]] in ''The Bloody Red Baron''. A later ''Anno Dracula'' story features a vampire killer named [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Barbie Dahl Winters]].
* The novel of ''The Sword in the Stone'' has the future KingArthur encounter an outlaw called "Robin Wood"
* {{Fanon}} has agreed that Fantastico and his group the Good Ol' Boyz (the G.O.B.) in the WhateleyUniverse are George W. Bush and his cabinet and staff, but with superpowers. It's pretty obvious, since Fantastico is a Texan named Bert Walker Jr. and he's even used some famous George Bush lines. The weird part is that the author writes Phase as a millionaire who is a serious Republican and fiscal conservative, and defends those positions.
** It's possible that the author is a serious Republican and fiscal conservative... who hates Bush. (Not unheard of: GWB was not a fiscal conservative, and was highly unpopular among certain kinds of Republicans by the end of his second term.)
%% Please, don't add anything further about Bush; this is skirting fairly close to the Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgment as it is. %%
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop RPG ]]
* The [[CanonDiscontinuity disowned]] joke module ''Castle Greyhawk'' for ''DungeonsAndDragons'' does this a LOT. Some levels in the dungeon are nothing but LawyerFriendlyCameos to '80s pop culture icons including DoctorWho, MichaelJackson, MarvelComics, TheBluesBrothers and even Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken!
* Gary Gygax's own seemingly aborted version of the castle (of which only the top levels have been published due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure his untimely death]]) were a LawyerFriendlyCameo storm of their own -- many names and locations had to be changed since they were WizardsOfTheCoast IP, even though Gygax tried to keep as much of the Greyhawk feel so that canny [=DM=]s could fill in the blanks if they wanted to. In one section, he takes a brief TakeThat against TSR, talking of the corrupt city of Dunfalcon...
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* ''[=~Pokémon~=] Platinum'' features a detective [[DoctorWho who talks weird, shows up in a lot of places, wears a long, brown coat and gives the player futuristic equipment]].
** Actually, Pokemon makes quite a few references. For starters, [[http://www.pokefarm.com/wp-content/rotom.jpg Rotom]] is based off of [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/Pulseman_box_art.jpg Pulseman]] and Volt Tackle is based off of Voltman's signature move. It helps that the creator of Pokemon also made Pulseman, however. Anything outside of that is rare
** Pokemon Red and Blue have a Nintendo 64 in the main characters room. Apparently, a man is wearing a bucket on his head in the game.
* In ''{{Romancing SaGa 3}}'', there is a Zorro-esque character called Robin, and in the credits, said character pulls off Zorro's infamous Z cut (Strongest Foil technique)
* The first print versions of ''[[{{Shinobi}} The Revenge of Shinobi]]'' for the SegaGenesis featured {{Spider-Man}}, {{Batman}}, and {{Godzilla}} as some of Joe Musashi's adversaries. To avoid any potential lawsuits, Sega released a revision of the game which replaces Godzilla with a metal skeletal dinosaur and Batman with a winged bat-like creature. Spider-Man was kept as an official cameo (with a new copyrights screen acknowledging Marvel Comics' ownership of the character), since Sega had the Spider-Man license for a couple of other games (namely the ''Spider-Man'' arcade game and the Genesis game ''Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin'').
* In the VGA remake of ''SpaceQuest I'', the Droids-B-Us shop (which itself features an android Geoffrey the Giraffe as its logo!) has a "Dalick" for sale, which bears a striking resemblance to a certain creature from ''DoctorWho''. There's also the robot from ''LostInSpace'', as well as another droid, HA-Y-AO, which clearly was inspired by HayaoMiyazaki's ''CastleInTheSky''. The Blues Brothers also have a cameo as bar singers.
** ZZ Top had a cameo in the original, but this wasn't so lawyer-friendly, as Sierra got slapped with a lawsuit and had to remove them in the remake. The robot shop was originally called Droids-R-Us, which also attracted a lawsuit; apparently changing the R to a B was enough to satisfy them.
** Space Quest 3 has Arnoid, a killer robot ({{Terminator}}).
*** And Monolith Burger, with its large yellow "M" logo.
** Space Quest V featured the rear end of the [[StarTrek USS Enterprise]] in the Starcon hangar bay. Captain Picard also appears in the conference room on the station. There's also [[Alien Spike]]. No lawsuits, somehow. Of course, the entire series is filled with this sort of stuff.
* ''ShinMegamiTensei 2'' featured lawyer-friendly cameos from Mr. Thriller, Audrey Jr. and Betelgeuse. Yes, '''''[[{{Beetlejuice}} that]]''''' [[{{Beetlejuice}} Betelgeuse]].
* {{Starcraft}} has a few hero units with oddly familiar names hidden away in the map editor. Examples include the flamethrower-weilding [[{{Fahrenheit 451}} Gui Montag]].
** And Mech pilot [[{{VisionOfEscaflowne}} Allen Shezar]].
* While ''{{Burnout}}'' normally uses [[BlandNameProduct Bland Name Cars]], one can download in ''Burnout Paradise'' what are called the Legendary Cars which in no particular order are the [[TheDukesOfHazzard Cavalry Bootlegger]] (complete with Dixie Horn), the [[KnightRider Carson GT Nighthawk]], the [[{{Ghostbusters}} Manhattan Spirit]], and the [[BackToTheFuture 88 Special]].
* ''FinalFantasy'' has the recurring characters Wedge and Biggs, named for the pair in StarWars.
** Who also cameo in ''ChronoTrigger''.
* An early conversation in ''TalesOfSymphonia: Dawn of the New World'' has Emil and Marta discussing whether the mask that Lloyd dropped reminded them of the one from "[[PhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Operetta]]", "[[VForVendetta F for Foe]]", or "[[TheManInTheIronMask The Man in the Aluminum Mask]]".
** Don't forget the [[SuperSentai Centurion]] [[PowerRangers Rangers]].
* Every ''QuestForGlory'' game features a cameo by at least one famous comedian. The list includes TheThreeStooges in the first game, the MarxBrothers in the second, Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford '''and''' Abbot and Costello in the third, and a sound-alike of Rodney Dangerfield in the fourth (ThisTroper doesn't know the fifth game's cameo).
** In ''QuestForGlory 4'', one of the farmers at the inn is a Lawyer-Friendly Archie Bunker.
* ''DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' does this quite obviously with the infamous ''Prism Rangers''.
** And how could you forget '''[[strike: [[FlashGordon Flash]]]] Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth!'''
** The second game also features a conversation with a member of monster-type demon race that's usually considered [[OneGenderRace female]] for pretty much the rest of the game. At the end of the conversation the monster reveals that it is, in fact, [[DroppedABridgetOnHim a boy]]. At this point, you realize/remember that the monster in question is named ''[[GuiltyGear Bridget]].''
* Classic H-game ''Season of the Sakura'' features characters from ''MagicKnightRayearth'', ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''TenchiMuyo'', ''SaintTail'', and ''PiaCarrot'', but given how blatant the references were, this may simply be a ShoutOut (or an excuse to let fanboys pursue anime girls popular in the mid-90s, when the game was made).
* In ''{{Prototype}}'', a fellow who looks suspiciously like Chinese superstar Andy Lau is one of the random civilians. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVK2YRqfah4 For reals]].
* ''MetalGearSolid 3: Snake Eater'' features a CIA director who is clearly meant to be a stand-in for John [=McCone=] (the real DCI at the time), but is never addressed by his name. This was likely to done to avoid defaming [=McCone's=] person postmortem (since it wouldn't have sat well with [=McCone=]'s family to depict him as a solicitor for murder), while at the same time maintaining the game's historical setting.
* The Masters in ''{{MadWorld}}'' are explicitly said to [[StarWars use the For]]---- Magnets! (With that exact wording.) And other reminiscent things.
* {{World of Warcraft}} isn't exempt from this either. In Un'Goro Crater, a gnome [[TheLegendOfZelda wearing a green tunic and cap, named Linken]], sets you on a long quest line that references everything from "Eastern peninsula is the secret", to tossing a sword into a spring and receiving it tempered, to receiving a magical boomerang that deals ranged damage and stuns or disarms. And not too far away you'll find Dadanga, and the hammer-wielding dwarves [[SuperMarioBros Larion and Muigin]]. The list goes on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* Sonoda Meimi from ''{{Megatokyo}}'' is suspected to be Haneoka Meimi from ''KaitouSaintTail''. At one point a character even starts to refer to her as "Myster..."(ious Thief Saint Tail), but gets cut off. (On two other occasions, he only gets as far as "Mys".)
* A supporting character in ''[[WalkyVerse It's Walky!]]'' was a short, quiet girl with coke-bottle glasses named [[{{Peanuts}} Marcie]]. No mention is made of what she was like as a child, but it's safe to take a guess. (For bonus reference points, she's [[LesYay openly bisexual]].)
* In ''OrderOfTheStick'' Rich drops an entire lamp, never mind the shade, on the subject with the Mind Flayer.
* In TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella: "[[http://nonadventures.com/2007/12/22/a-christmas-peril/ Mace Windu is a Lucasfilm character. I'm Samuel L. Jackson in a bathrobe.]]"
* Meet ''WeaponBrown''. The comic that is literally constructed wholesale out of this trope. Whether it be the main characters [[{{Peanuts}}Chuck 'Weapon' Brown and his dog Snoop]], the [[{{Dilbert}} pointy-heared CEO of 'The Syndicate']], or the currently unknown-in-name alliance of characters including [[{{Popeye}} Pops]], [[PrinceValiant Val]], and [[LittleOrphanAnnie the blind Annie]], you can be sure that you can easily recognise everybody, provided you're learned enough in your newspaper comics.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* Pretty much the entire premise of the first batch of episodes of ''Press Start''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* In ''KidsNextDoor'' a kid dressed exactly like Ash Ketchum from ''{{Pokemon}}'' can be seen often in the stands, though in one of the final chapters, the one who makes an appearance is Yugi, from ''{{Yu-gi-oh}}''.
* Done quite often on ''DrawnTogether''. In "Gay Bash", Elmer Fudd and Snagglepuss (their faces covered by {{Pixellation}}) show up at Xandir's "coming-out-of-the-closet" party. In "Requiem for a Reality Show", a masked Charlie Brown and Natasha Fatale (from ''RockyAndBullwinkle'') with a black bar over her eyes show up as the new BDSM partners for Foxxy Love and Captain Hero, respectively. In another episode, a down-and-out Wooldoor Sockbat is lying on the street when two characters, one fat wearing a white shirt and green pants, and one slender wearing a blue blouse and off-white pants (whose heads are cut off by the screen) walk by and give him some change. The skinny one, in a voice a little more than very reminiscent of Lois from ''FamilyGuy'' (because it was done by the very same actress as Lois), chastizes her pudgy counterpart for it.
* One episode of ''MegasXLR'' featured a villain who was a dead ringer for CaptainHarlock.
** May not exactly fit this trope, but a [[GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi-lookalike]] can be spotted in one episode
** There's a character in the Star Wars comics who wears a disguise that makes him look like Harlock, as well.
** In general, Megas is swimming in lawyer-friendly-cameos. Even the titular 'bot has one - before having it replaced, his head looks ''exactly'' like [[{{Transformers}} Soundwave]]'s.
** And then you have the fact that the second time you see Mag Nanimous, his robot has [[EvilDead a shotgun and a chainsaw for arms]]. (Of course, considering who VOICED that particular villain, it's not all that surprising.)
* An episode of ''{{Phantom 2040}}'' features a guest appearance by an "old family friend" who strikingly resembles, but is not named as, MandrakeTheMagician, the other famous character created by the writer who created ThePhantom.
* In the ''SouthPark'' episode "Cartoon Wars Part II", Cartman is joined in his quest to get Family Guy taken off the air by a kid who's obviously supposed to be Bart Simpson from ''TheSimpsons'', but is never referred to by name.
** And in a turnaround, an episode of ''The Simpsons'' has Bart and Milhouse watching an unnamed version of ''South Park''.
*** Which was in turn a reference to the ''South Park'' episode "Simpsons Did It".
* In the ''FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "Eddie Monster", the title characters of ''EdEddNEddy'' appear briefly in one scene near the end of the episode.
* One of the episodes of ''{{Ben 10}}'' has [[{{Naruto}} Konohamaru's team]] appear in the background. In another, an orange-haired girl dressed like Sakura is on screen briefly.
** Wasn't a girl that resembled Naruto's Sexy jutsu seen on the show?
*In an interesting case, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MzuHwlrELA one episode]] of ''{{Arthur}}'' had Arthur and friends writing pilot scripts for a contest. These were all obvious parodies of other popular cartoons. The thing is, most of these parodies were of shows aimed at a- to put it lightly- [[ParentalBonus more mature audience]], like ''SouthPark'', ''BeavisAndButthead'', and ''Dr. Katz Professional Therapist''.
* ''TheSimpsons'' episode where Lisa becomes the school president, which is a spoof of ''Evita'' and ends with a note from the directors that says, "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial based on the advice of our lawyers, we must say that we have never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Perón]]".
**In a Treehouse of Horror episode, Groundskeeper Willie refers to Bart's newfound psychic power as 'the Shinning' for fear of copyright infringement.
* Possibly due to its anime influence, ''KappaMikey'' has a few of these. A few of the guest appearances include a fat, middle-aged SpeedRacer, a palette-swapped version of Puchiko from ''DiGiCharat'', and [[{{Yu-Gi-Oh}} Yugi Muto]] with ridiculously exaggerated hair.
* In the TV animated version of Beetlejuice, an episode spoofing ''The Wizard of Oz'' has the Munchkins (here, giant beetles) greet Lydia (as Dorothy) with "Welcome to the Land of Public Domain!"
** Let's make this very clear: you do ''not'' have to write around any copyrights to use characters from the first book (and a few others, all the ones written before about 1923) of the ''Oz'' series...the movie, on the other hand, is copyrighted. No ruby slippers for you.
* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has a lawyer friendly version of [[StreetFighter Ryu]] seen losing to June at arm wrestling at a bar (he's still there the next time they visit and is part of BarBrawl).
* [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent The President]] on FairlyOddParents always appears [[HistoricalHilarity dressed up as George Washington or Abe Lincoln]] and has NoNameGiven, but once you hear his voice you can tell he's a parody of GeorgeWBush.
** A recent episode had Charlie Brown ([[{{writing around trademarks}} who had a tuft of brown hair in this cameo for some reason]]) falling for Lucy's football trick like he always does and Snoopy was sleeping on his dog house.
* In the "La Tigres" episode of ''ElTigre'', Remy from ''StreetFighter III'' can be seen by a locker.
* The [[JackieChanAdventures Shadowkhan]] show up in the antepenultimate episode of TeenTitans, fighting Bushido.
* The opening of one episode of ''JusticeLeague'' has a HumongousMecha that looks a hell of a lot like a turquoise [[NeonGenesisEvangelion EVA Unit 02]].
* In one episode of CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers, Shaggy and Velma from ScoobyDoo can be clearly seen in the backdrop of a school hallway.
* ''BountyHamster'' has a [[LooneyTunes carefully unnamed coyote]] show up and recommend that the eponymous hamster try a better catalogue than AcmeProducts.
* HiHiPuffyAmiYumi: One word. Stu-Pi-Doh.
[[/folder]]
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