To set itself apart from other fantasy works at the time, Bastard!! not only employs a grim and dark presentation but also oozes with Heavy Metal and Rock references within the names of the characters, spells, and locations. While many of the references were kept as is, some have been altered by Kazushi Hagiwara himself to make the reference less obvious. When being localized overseas, some of these names have their spellings be altered slightly.
The official website
even provided a list of spells that were used in the first 13 episodes of the 2022 ONA.
- Dark Schneider, our main protagonist. His name is a reference to Udo Dirkschneider, the founder and former lead vocalist of German metal band Accept. Accept is also the name of a kiss that can break him free from the body of Lucien Renlen. D.S. is primarily a Black Magic user, with fire and air (actually electrokinesis in practice) being his elemental affinity. Here are a list of his spells, many of which are named after various well-known heavy metal bands of the 80's:
- Black Magic:
- Venom: Summons a destructive enzyme from the gates of Hell that breaks down all organic matter.
- Sodom: The user sends out a series of invisible, blade-like objects towards the enemy.
- Megadeth: A spell that creates an explosion of magic, like a bomb.
- Accused: When the sorcerer casts this spell on someone, their fingernail becomes blue. From that point on, the victim must follow a specific command given by the sorcerer, or the nail will change color the more they disobey. Once it becomes a deep red, the spell will transform them into an ordinary toad. Named after the American thrash metal band The Accüsed.
- Helloween: The user opens the gates to Hell and releases a powerful blast of limitless energy from his/her palm. D.S. taught this spell to Arshes Nei.
- Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath traps the target in a spellbound with random matter then sent inside, undergoing nuclear fission and causing a massive amount of heat to generate as a result.
- Mace: Unlocks locked doors. Named after the crossover thrash metal band Mace.
- Fire Magic:
- Gunzun-Rowe: Creates a wall of fire.
- Exodus: Envelopes the user in flames, and hurls themselves at the target.
- Damned: Creates what is effectively a magic bomb in the caster's hand.
- Impellitteri: This spell creates a localized fire blast around the caster in all directions. Named after the American metal band and its founder Chris Impellitteri.
- Magnum: Create an eruption of magma from the soil. Named after the British rock band.
- Air Magic:
- Voivod: A spell that surrounds the user in an orb of electricity before exploding like a bomb.
- Riot: Several arcs of electricity attack the target. Named after the American metal band that's currently under the new name of Riot V.
- Anthem: Creates magic arrows of energy that will always hit their target unless a powerful barrier is up to shield the enemy. Named after the Japanese heavy metal band of the same name.
- Raven: A high mobility flight spell. Named after the British heavy metal band of the same name.
- Vengeance: A blast of lightning from a single hand, damaging with the force of a magic cannonball. Named after the Dutch heavy metal band.
- Black Magic:
- The Four Divine Kings of Dark Rebel Armies contains these:
- "Thunder Empress" Arshes Nei: Her name is a play on Earthshaker, specifically the Japanese metal band.
- "Frost Wizard" Kall-Su: His name is a reference to Kal Swan, founder and vocalist of the American metal band Bad Moon Rising
- "Ninja Master" Gara: Named after brothers John and Mark Gallagher, co-founders of the British Metal band Raven.
- “Prophet of the Underworld” Abigail: Aside from being named after the King Diamond album of the same name, his looks is stated by author Kazushi Hagiwara to be based off of actor Kyusaku Shimada. And speaking of King Diamond, one of the Sorcerer Generals working under Nei, the vampiric Di-Amon is a not-so-subtle shout-out to the musician.
- "Thunder Empress" Arshes Nei: Her name is a play on Earthshaker, specifically the Japanese metal band
- Two of Nei's trusted Sorcerer Generals; Sean Ari and Kai Harn are named after Sean Harris and Kai Hansen, respectively.
- At the beginning of the series, the kingdom of Meta-llicana is under attack by Osbourne and his army. Once news of his defeat by Dark Schneider's Venom spell reaches the Four Kings, they then sent the hydra tamer Kevidub to make sure if this Venom using wizard is indeed Dark Schneider. Kevidub ultimately met his demise by that very spell, confirming their suspicions.
- The titular Dark God of Destruction and the one Dark Rebel Army attempt to resurrect is Anthrasax.
- The denizens of the Kingdom of Meta-llicana has a few stand outs:
- The crown prince of Meta-llicana and Princess Sheila's brother, Lars Ul is named after Metallica's drummer and co-founder Lars Ulrich.
- Meta-llicana's own Captain of the Guards and resident Butt-Monkey is Bon Jovina.
- The kingdom's high priest and father to main heroine Yoko is Geo Noto Soto, his name being a reference to Jeff Scott Soto, former singer for Yngwie Malmsteen. He wields a defensive barrier spell known as Stryper.
- Of course we can't talk about Bastard!! without mentioning Dungeons & Dragons, undoubtedly the main inspiration for much of the series' worldbuilding, at least in the beginning. To wit:
- Many of the creatures, races, classes, and even character alignments are ripped straight from DnD. The manga even gave explanations in large caption boxes when they first show up, much like a guidebook.
- Arguably the most famous holdover from this iconic tabletop RPG is the Beholder, or as it is now known as Suzuki-Dogezaemon. The original name was kept in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but after the complaints from DnD's publisher in Japan over its usage, it was renamed for the tankobon and any future releases of the manga. Hagiwara (jokingly) claims the name was inspired by one of his editor "Suzuki"note performing a Dogeza (an act of apology in Japan) to said publisher for using the Beholder name without their consent.note
- The Magic Missile spell is flat out taken from D&D with no Writing Around Trademarks to it, down from the name to it's effects of being impossible to dodge or resist without the use of a magical barrier.
- A Vancian Magic-esque system is present in the series and referenced in ways that will remind veteran D&D players of their own woes involving sadistic game masters, such as how during Dark Schneider's assault on Gara's fortress the latter comments on his plans to exhaust DS's magic and after his fortress collapses Gara expresses surprise that D.S had one spell left that day to create a magical barrier around Lars and Yoko.
