Shout Out / Disgaea

There's a reason it's Reference Overdosed.

Disgaea: Hour/Afternoon of Darkness

• Kurtis's design is clearly based on Cyborg 002 from Cyborg 009, as is the item "Accelerator," a set of teeth that makes you move faster (009's ability to shift into Bullet Time was activated by a switch in his mouth).
• The Chinese comedy Shaolin Soccer with the Shaolin Belt. On the description of the belt it says "No, it will not make you good in soccer."
• The next episode "spoiler" for Chapter 11 is one huge shoutout to Legend of the Galactic Heroes. "Another page in the Netherworld's history..."
• The Stinger at the end of Episode 5 teasings Episode six makes reference to "Evolutionary Magical Girl Etna."
• E.T. gets a nod in things that appear in the Galactic Graveyard.
• The Prism Rangers are one huge spoof of Super Sentai.
• Flonnezilla.
• Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth is essentially Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
  • Captain Gordon's Robot Buddy has a self-sacrifice attack called Arigato Roboto. Let that one digest for a bit.
• The PSP and DS rereleases' Dark Record states that the male Martial Artists use techniques descended from a legendary human street fighter.
• One of the early areas in the game is called the Blair Forest. One of the maps in there is called, of all things, the Witch's Den.

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories/Dark Hero Days

• That plant girl who's actually a guy? His name is Bridget.
• Adell himself is a big King of Fighters shoutout. He has the garb and personality (honor before reason, massive love of battle, etc) of Adelheid Berstein, the color scheme of Iori, and some of Rock Howard's moves (Vulcan Blaze derived from Neo-Deadly Rave, King of Beasts derived from Rising Tackle, Crimson Flame similar to one of Rock's charging punches).
  • His appearance is also heavily based on Vanessa from the same game, a redhead boxer whose clothes also look a lot like Adell's.
  • He also does rider kicks.
• The caption for Axel's Love Dynamite attack that says "I voted for Pedro!"
• Zenon Rozalin's "Dark Liberation" looks exactly like the second impact.
  • The Gun skill "Totenkreuz" also brings to mind the strange, tall skinny crosses that always appear in Evangelion explosions...
  • The "Holy Flare" holy dragon skill also uses the Evangelion cross explosion, and some of their abilities also have a Triforce in their imagery.
• Tink's Sonic Roll is Sonic's spin dash. The original PS2 version makes it especially obvious with Sonic Roll having the Spin Dash's revving-up sound effect.
• Aqua Demon's "Electronic Gamer": No, it's not a new magazine.
• Sapphire's "S Splash" channels Noriaki Kakyoin.
• The Prism Ranger's Prism Justice and Prism Hurricane, but what else do you expect from a Super Sentai parody?
• Entei's Kienzan attack has it form a disc of fire, then sling it at its foes, not unlike Krillin's move of the same name.
• Charred Newt: It didn't get better.
• Sesshoumaru: Hurry up and find the damn jewel shards!
• The Accursed: What a horrible night to have a curse.
• Accelerator: ("Why teeth?") is a reference to Cyborg 009—the title cyborg entered "Acceleration Mode" by pressing a button on one of his back teeth.
• The item Wizard Robe has the following description: "I put on my Robe and Wizard Hat." Had to do a double take when I first saw that one.
  • This Ascended Meme makes a comeback as the Wizard Hat in Z.H.P.
• The version of the "Turbulence" Spear technique here looks very much like Nanoha's Starlight Breaker (specifically, the angle is the same as when the spell was used in the first season), which is reason enough to give Rozalin a spear, even if she's terrible (Rank C with Spears unless she has the Spear Technique Scroll) at using it.
• Cosmos Muscle: We are moved to tears by the size of it.
• Cosmo Gun: A gift from a faraway Cosmic King.
• Berserker: Its love for you is like a truck.
• Karate Chop: Not quite judo, but works nonetheless.
• Snapping Gloves: You brought this upon yourself. Dance fight!
• White Tiger: 2 men + tiger - common sense = disaster. A reference to Siegfried and Roy
• Bagh Nakh: Beware the eye of this tiger...
• Fist Of Anger: Water can flow or crash. Be like water.
• Macho Fist: ’Tis but a scratch. I’ve had worse.
• Elven Bow: A famous elf used it to return a lost ring.
• Assassin Bow: Best if shot from a grassy knoll.
• Exorcist Bow: Use this if someone’s head starts spinning.
• .44 Magnum: You gotta ask a question--do you feel lucky?
• Sledgehammer: Trust me, I know what I’m doing.
• Godfather: It’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.
• Primitive Axe: Inspired by a giant monolith.
• Cardinal Staff: Hit 70 home runs with this.^note A reference to Mark McGwire's at-the-time record of 70 home runs in a single season while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Rune Staff: Some crazy moon language is carved in it.
• Spikey Shell: Jumping on this one is a bad idea.
• Devil Matrix: You can’t be told what the Devil Matrix is.
• Greed: Don't stop till you get enough.
• The Unique: You are not a beautiful snowflake.
• Fortune: I am a leaf caught in the winds of fate.
• Pravda Pendant: You’re just paying for the name, really. - Reference to the Prada brand.
• Mint Gum: Recovers HP. Double the pleasure, double the fun. - The Doublemint bubblegum motto.
• Frog Sweat: Collected from pro Froggers.
• Chloroform: "Mama said knock you out!"
• Cha-Ching: Hit by a smooth criminal.
• Kung-Fu Muscle: Add a little muscle to your hustle.
• Oh, come on! The Rifle Demons aren't obvious? They have a cannon for a hand, never miss, and come from an alternate Earth where they have destroyed the planet and have used the technology to enhance themselves.
• Then, there's the Z-Pirates. Just one blonde guy with a glowing golden aura (A Violator, to be precise) who comes riding a yellow cloud. It's freaking obvious who he's a shout out to.
• The new Spear skill, Brunhilda, gloriously rips off Valkyrie Skirt. It appears again in Disgaea 4.
• Etna's new Chaos Impact animation references the Astranagant's Infinity Cylinder attack.
• Aside from the dog-like head, The Holy Dragon monster class bears a striking resemblance to the similarly fluffy dragon Flammie from Secret of Mana.
• Although it may be a rather redundant pun on the number being a homophone of death in Japanese, Etna refers to Tink, a frog, as 42nd on her death list. What series places importance on both the number 42 and frogs?
• One of the random names for females is Hermoine. Another randomized female name that pops up in the PSP remake is Euphemia. There is also Nanoha.

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice/Detention

• Cosmos Muscle: We are moved to tears by the size of it.
• Superalloy SEED Destiny, anyone?
• When he levels up, Almaz hums "Charge". In Japanese, he says Cha-la-la-la-cha-cha!
• Spartan Shield: Because...This. is. not. Sparta.
• Each tier's name of the Male Brawler class makes a reference to a Fighting Game, in order: Fury Fatalist, Fight Artist, Champ of Fighters, Viper Fighter, Lethal Combatant and Boulevard Fighter.
• Gold Knuckle's personality is a homage to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He even uses the same slang.
• Mr. Champloo's On the Next segment places Mao as the lead character of a cooking anime similar to Chūka Ichiban!. As an added bonus, the main character of Chūka Ichiban! is also named Mao.
• The first preview has one to Dragon Ball Z ala Nether Almaz Z and to futher prove it, the preview shows a picture of Almaz with a Battle Aura and spiked hair.
  • Also, Raspberyl mentions two good ways of powering up are 'being beaten nearly to death and watch you best friend get killed'^note the first being a trait of the Saiyan race and the second being how Goku reaches Super Saiyan for the first time, after Frieza murders Krillin.
• Members of the Diez Gentlemen include:
  • Bo Tie, an exercise instructor parodying Tae Bo.
  • Pauline, an orphan girl parodying Little Orphan Annie and Nello from A Dog Of Flanders.
  • Se-To-Oh, a cocky duelist who summons a bunch of monsters in one turn and sacrifices them for his Black-Eyes Blue Prinny. It's a normal Prinny. ...Do I really need to say it?
  • Beyond X is sometimes a school nurse and sometimes Miss Machiko but her true identity is...
• Several attacks, especially the magichange attacks, are clear shout outs to various anime and video game series:
  • The sixth sword skill, Mach+ Slash^note Essentially this game's version of the infamous Dimension Slash: Zankantou Hoshinagi no Tachi
  • Gun-type special, Mega Gun Launcher: The Hyaku Shiki's Mega Bazooka Launcher, with the red-blue positron beam.
  • Mao's Blast Finger: Domon's Shining/God Finger
  • Mao's Shine Beam: Leo Aiolia's, the Gold Saint, Lightning Plasma from Saint Seiya. He even wears a golden crown akin to Aiolia's during the Disgaea 4 iteration of the attack.
  • Almaz' Spinning Swordance is basically Zoro's Three Thousand Worlds attack with a Flash Step.
  • Aramis' Zombie Armor: Zombie Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!
  • Marjoly's Omega Drain: Spirit Bomb.
  • Cyborg Kurtis' Solidus Punch: Android 16's Hell's Flash
  • Mid-Boss' Spinning Attack: Combattler V's Choudenji Spin
  • Prinny Kurtis' Power of the Red Moon is reminiscent of Vegeta using the fake moon to transform into his Great Ape form
  • Thursday's Surprise Robo has him creating some miniature versions of him that descend from a ladder, attack the target and then explode in a skull-shaped mushroom cloud.
  • The Death Class' Nightmare Gate: Nanoha's Divine Buster
  • The Dragon Class' Dragon Flash: Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, complete with user holding the target ala Goku.
  • The Nekomata Class' Cat Paw: Domon and Rain's Sekiha Love-Love Tenkyoken
  • The Succubus' Magichange attack Summon Vampire: G.F. Diablos' Dark Messenger
    • Before that there's Love and Destroy which is Sailor Moon's Moon Spiral Heart Attack.
  • Sapphire's Shunpu Moondance. Wishing Star, anyone?
  • The Infinite Graves sword skill: Unlimited Blade Works.
  • The Valkyrie special attack in the remake Absence of Detention is SaGoZo Combo's SaGoZo Impact.
    • Her other special attack Axel Charge also borrows from OOO, this time being a recreation of the RaToraTa Combo's Gash Cross.
  • The female Mage's Elemental Burst special attack is The final combination attack used in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's.
  • The Mass Produced DESCOs in Absence of Detention each reference a Gundam Series(in order): Zeta, ZZ, Victory, Wing and After War X. Likewise, the final form of the line has the attack 'Final Boss Rondo' which emulates the scene in End of Evangelion where the mass production model EV As tear into Asuka and Unit 02.
    • The Magichange skill 'Desco Full Burst' is also the Meteor equipment unleashing a Hi-MAT Full Burst.
• In the remake, the Majin's skill "Land Decimator" is basically Majin Buu's Human Extinction Attack. It later shows up on the Gynoid in Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited and on Disgaea 5's Sage.
• In one of the next episode previews, Salvatore offers Almaz a number of ways he can deal with his dwindling time limit. One of these is to fly around the Netherworld fast enough to turn back time and another is to grab someone and flip them upside down to turn 99 into 66
• Sapphire mentions having read about using chainsaws on demons.
• When Almaz returns to life, there is a burst of feathers on the screen, which resembles the effect of a Phoenix Down.
• The console Mao's father broke, starting the whole thing, was a SlayStation Portable.
• One of the in-between chapter cutscenes was entitled Fist of the Nether Star.
• From Raspberyl Mode: "There, there, alien! Stick out your index finger and let's confirm our friendship!"
• Nightwing gun: Can I shoot? I won't wait for an answer.
• In the PS3 version of the game, finding Axel's Room in the Item World grants you the trophy "Axel's Rose".
• One of the randomized names for males is Error.
• In Absence of Detention, the Masked Hero gets the unique skill "Play Giant Hero", where he and his foes grow gigantic, and he defeats them with a light beam from his forearm. The skill even deals double damage against monster-class foes.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten/Revisited

• Many Weapons and Equipment are reference to outside Media, in name or description;
  • Silent Killer: Shhh... be vewy vewy quiet.
  • Wannabe Axe: Yo, I'll tell you what you want, what you really really want.
  • Spikey Shell: That's what you get for being first.
  • Green Onion: You can be an Idol, too!
    • To add, it can be stolen from the leader of Artist Pirates, who is a blue-haired twintailed Archer.
  • White Tiger: "Welcome to the World of Magic". A reference to performers Siegfried and Roy.
  • Exorcist: Makes you wanna spiderwalk...for exercise
  • Blood Shark: Duh duh, duh duh... Hear the music?
  • Ancient Hero: The hero's name was AAA (Referencing the High Score name entry in many games)
  • Spartan Shield: No! Hold it up higher! Ugh, no dining in hell for you!
  • Harpuia: The name references the leader of The Guardians. For bonus points, the weapon gives a wind resistance bonus.
  • Heavy Blade: Its sprite is a reference to a certain notorious bill hook.
  • Strong Bat: Hey Sdeve!^note Swap the "T" in "Bat" and the "D" in "Sdeve" to get "Strong Bad", one of Homestar Runner's main characters, and "Hey Steve!", which is a slightly-off version of the name of the minor character "Eh! Steve".
• Quite a few On the Next segments in the series contain thinly veiled references to the title of an actual anime or manga series. However, one of the segments decides to throw those shreds of subtlety out the window, and calls the show being previewed Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.
• The episode 4 On the Next shows one of the final scenes of the serialized version of Buso Renkin.
• In the opening, Flonne unleashes a barrage of meteors upon the Earth and when they crash, numerous familiar tall skinny crosses sprout in their wake. Made even funnier by the fact that they were caused by an angel.
• The Eryngi's Erynger Roll is the Dempsey Roll
• Emizel's Grim Specter is a reference to Ichigo's Hollow Form.
• There's a lot of Rider Kicks in this one:
  • Vulcanus' Mandatory Repo is a dead ringer for Kamen Rider OOO's Tatoba Kick. The target even drops medals after the attack hits.
  • The Valkyrie in A Promise Revisted retains her unique specials from Absence of Detention, which are two more OOO finishers.
  • Pink's Death Smack is Faiz's Crimson Smash.
  • Magichange Pink into a Fist and her Deadly Moon Blow special is Kiva's Darkness Moon Break.
• The Witch's second unique attack is named for Magic Burst and themed after the ending of Nanoha A's.
• The Masked Hero's second special is a series of Ultra Series homages.
• Everything about the Bio Suit, from its introduction to all of its specials, is based off Neon Genesis Evangelion.
• The Alraune's Thorny Blaster screams Giga Thorn Breaker.
  • Valvatorez' Space Battleship Iwashi is clearly referencing Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, right down to Valvatorez using a Giga Core Drill on the moon to activate it.
  • There's also the Black Drill pirate ship part, which has the description "Trust in me, to find trust in yourself!".
• Desco's Evil Sword Balmung magichange skill is Zengar's Zankantou.
  • Her Final Boss Arises and True Godly Weapon are Overlord Zenon's Dark Revenge and Super Hero Aurum's Demon Slayer. Appropriate since she's a final boss in-training using the attacks of previous final bosses.
• The Catsaber's Hairball Incident magichange skill has it steamroll the targets with a giant ball of yarn that grows bigger as more and more objects get stuck to it, Katamari Damacy style.
• The Ghost's Pac-ghost Chaser throws enemy into a maze filled with dots and is chased by the ghost who has now taken on the appearance of Pac-Man. The fact that it's done by a Ghost is even funnier.
  • I call dibs on Clyde!
• The Nekomata's Boxer Kitty is a dead ringer for the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken, complete with a similar battle cry, the name of the attack flashing onto the screen, and the target exploding. She also uses it when you create her on those voting for the Succubus. Hell, she even references Kenshiro's famous "You Are Already Dead" line!
  • Their Flaring Kitty Shot magichange skill is Gouenji Shuuya's Fire Tornado from Inazuma Eleven, complete with the shot scoring a goal.
• Upon creating a Slime, a cut scene will play in which the slime transforms into a hand with its pointer finger up and says "Yes, we can". The senators even acknowledge it as 'Slime Obama'!
• Upon creating a Mothman, it will deliver a speech when a Nekomata runs up and tries to toss a paw glove at him only for the Mothman to quickly duck under it and let the Bouncers take her away.
• Upon creating a Dragon, several characters will place one ballot in seven ballot boxes, each one marked with a certain number of stars. When all seven are filled, a dragon is summoned.
  • The Dragon's dialogue in the same scene takes the reference further, as it recites some lines that were spoken by Shen Long.
  • A few of the Dragon's special attacks also seem to be inspired by Dragon Ball. The "Final Dragoon" magichange ability, for example, has the wielder jump into space and launching an huge energy ball at earth, Kamehame Hadoken style.
• The Dragon gets a double reference with its Dragon Assassinator, first releasing a dragon of fire it uses to batter its enemy before absorbing it for a power boost like Hiei, then proceeds to punch a hole through the victim in a fashion very reminiscent of Goku's finishing strike against King Piccolo.
• When you create an Undead Dragon, it makes a literal Spirit Bomb with votes, and the senators say that he must be the legendary Super Dragon.
• In the new Omega Comet, an arrow is fired that travels through all the planets in the solar system, finishing with the sun, a direct rip on "Supernova" from Final Fantasy VII.
• One of the zombies' attacks? Thrill Steps.
  • Additional reference in the zombie intro sequence: People are walking along a zebra crossing during an otherwise normal day, when someone turns into a zombie and takes a nibble from a passerby, infecting him. Soon after, the whole world is infected and zombified.
• Both the Alarune's magichange skills, Flower Wave and Twin Heart Attack, finishing moves from HeartCatch Pretty Cure!.
• The Succubus's Pink Illusion is a reference to Darkstalkers's Morrigan and her Darkness Illusion and Shell Kick.
• The Prinny magichange Trick or Bomb is a reference to Pitagora Suichi, a Japanese show that always begins with Rube Goldberg machine.
• If the Great Flonzor X, Laharl Kaiser V, and Getter Mao are anything to go by, Flonne, Laharl, and Mao are apparently Go Nagai fans, though Laharl Kaiser V looks more like a Gundam.
• Pram's Ice Mirror is Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors.
• If you get the Fuka epilogue, you receive trophy. The title of the trophy? The Melancholy of Fuka Kazamatsuri.
  • Additionally, Fuka's Prinny Kaiser XX has an animated Super Move Portrait Attack in the fashion of recent Super Robot Wars games. Bonus points for Prinny Kaiser XX being a Humongous Mecha.
• The Succubus' Raging Dromi is clearly Andromeda Shun's Nebula Chain attack.
• Disgaea 4's iteration of the 'Rising Dragon' Fist Skill is a nod to Shiryu's Rozan Shoryu Ha, more exactly, the scene where Shiryu first masters the technique, complete with a Prinny wearing the Old Master's hat at the top of the waterfall.
• Who knew Genjuro Kazamatsuri was inspired by Jurassic Park into making demon clones?
• Prism Red's Rainbow Legend which gathers "former" Prism Rangers to face their enemy is a reference to the Legendary War.
• If you create a Witch and send her to the support group and then talk to her, she'll come up with a idea to freeze a sardine into a blunt weapon. Just like Joachim did, only he ''found'' it.
  • Even more. The Durundal is a high-mid rank sword, which is also the Infinity +1 Sword of Karin, with her ultimate skill, Sonnestark becoming the ultimate skill of the Cockatrice. Also, the true final chapter deals with a mythological area filled with Malice, being used by someone close to the cast. Much like the final part of From The New World.
• Another thing a Witch in the support group might say, seems to reference a particularly memorable instance of Throw It In! in The Simpsons:
  Witch: Lord Valvatorez, let's have a spelling contest! Okay, okay, I'll go first. Umm... Smart... S-M-R-T... Smart!
• Creating a Beastmaster produces a cutscene where the new character is playing Drill Sergeant Nasty to a squad of prinnies. The dialogue is bowdlerized, but you'll recognize it immediately.
• When Fuka talks about the work she was forced to do as a prinny, she mentions being forced to look for some kind of "Ultra Dessert"...
• The Space Detective Gun is a miniature version of Daitarn 3's Leg Cannon.
• Before you can create a Bouncer (whose innate evility increases the Defense of adjacent allies), you must pass a bill to "Make a Man who will Fight for your Honor".
• The scene you get when you create a Gunner is a reference to a scene at the end of The Castle of Cagliostro (which is also referenced in the Flash animation for Marisa Stole The Precious Thing).
• When choosing a hobby during Pirate Creation, there are quite a few;
  • Sorry, Rule 1 &2
  • Keeping a Death Notebook
  • Holding My Boombox High
  • Dancing for Safety
  • Diagnosing Murder
• The Fun Facts during Pirate creation as well;
  • Solved Da Linci's Code
  • Voted for Fubuki... Twice... (A reference to the DLC character contest)
• Tyrant Valvatorez Mode finally gives in to the obvious joke for Fuka's dramatic finger-pointing
  Fuka: Objection!
  • Emizel says this in unison with Fuka as well, but he doesn't give a dramatic finger-point like Fuka.
• Valvatorez' promise to stop fighting to a human is reminiscent to a certain light novel. And the artstyle of this artwork of Valvatores is suspiciosly similar with the artstyle of said light novel's manga adaptation.◊
• Valvatorez finally decides to put Fuka in the Prinny Rehabilitation Program after her continued failure to do anything Prinnylike. Fuka's response?
  Fuka: I don't need rehab! No! No! No!
• Somehow, despite the shirtless werewolf and Vegetarian Vampire, Disgaea 4 didn't make a single Twilight joke... until the Fuka & Desco Show chapter previews, wherein Fuka ends up in a melodramatic Vampire-Werewolf Love Triangle with a "beautiful" Vegetarian Vampire and a perpetually shirtless werewolf who lifts her out of her Heroic BSoD in said vampire's absence.
• In the closing cutscene for episode 3, (at around 12:25 in the video linked), one of the pictures is a reference to the ending fight scene of Buso Renkin... complete with Fuka and Valvatorez holding sardine swords and spearing a shark-esque guy.
• The consumable Pizza item is a double reference: Eaten by turtle and cat martial artists alike.
• Mao's Evil Transformation skill fuses several creatures together. The end result even states "Pleased to meet you" before suffering a failure.
• One of the cutscenes in the Fuka and Desco show has Fuka re-enacting a scene from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
• Many of the random names are references to other media. Kanaya West, Niptoonia, Nicolas Gage, Astrogirl, Tigerblood, Churrozard... and that's not even counting names that might be considered common enough to not be direct references, like Snake, Tifa and Epona.
• Creating an Android with "The Murdercator" personality has her speak in nothing but Terminator quotes in the Cam-Pain HQ. The "Hasta la vista, baby" is also one of her stock voice clips used when attacking, leveling, etc.
  Android: HASTA LA VISTA, BABY.
  Android: CHILL OUT, DICKWAD.
  Android: Come with Me If You Want to Live.

Disgaea Infinite

• Thursday before getting his power-up unit installed: "SAVING THE PLANET... IS THE THING TO DO. THIS IS AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH."
  • After the unit is installed, the unknown-to-Jennifer speech modification program makes him talk almost exactly like C3P0.
  • Also said right before was, "A TRUE TWIN DRIVE SYSTEM! ENOUGH ENERGY TO LEAD MANKIND!"
• Check the entry for "cabinet" in the database. Seeds, medals, and junk.
• Laharl, with sword and shield, finding a heart and some hexagonal gems in pots within a small top-view house...
• The scene of Laharl ceasing to think after putting up too many posters, complete with a shot of him frozen in space, is a reference to one villain's Fate Worse than Death in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
• In one scene, Laharl and Etna fight each other as though they were in a fighting game. The HUD? Straight out of BlazBlue.
  • Some of the moves from the pre-battle animation also look like ones of a certain pair of characters from Guilty Gear (specifically, Laharl being Ky-like & Etna being Sol-like).
• Flonne's apparently a fan of The Princess Bride.
  Flonne: I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Disgaea: Dimension 2 (A Brighter Darkness)

• Of some of the attacks are Homages:
  • One of the Armor Suit's specials, Black Death Circle, is Hakumen's Astral Heat.
  • One of the Prinny's mounted specials plays out like a Bomberman game.
  • One of the Gargoyle's specials is PK Thunder, specifically its Super Smash Bros. incarnation. Its other attacks are the Gokai Galleon Buster and Great Death Crush.
  • One of the Succubus's specials evokes Morrigan when she transforms into bats.
    • The description of her Judgment Rendezvous special: Let's go! To infinity and beyond!
  • One of the Rifle Demon's specials references Black★Rock Shooter. He summons a big cannon that resembles the one BRS uses and fires it while one of his eyes is on fire.
    • Another one of its specials is an extremely blatant reference to Seth's Tanden Stream, complete with the victim getting launched into the camera.
  • The Nekomata has two references. One of its specials is a direct reference to Fist of the North Star: Twin Blue Stars of Judgment, complete with the One-Hit Kill meter from that game. Its combination attack is the Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken.
  • One of the Ifrit's specials is one of Sailor Mars' attacks.
  • One of the axe Specials from the Item Sea's Skill Shop is a Limit Break from Final Fantasy VIII
    • The Non-Elemental Book skill form that shop is a Captain Ersatz of Puss in Boots and the area of effect and said ersatz's attack brings to mind Zorro
  • The Reaper's Circle of Death attack has this description: The only thing it's missing is a catchy song
  • Sicily's last move, Sicily Delivery, goes like this; First she stuffs her enemies in a box, then she flies the box to the Antarctic, then she smashes the box with a Hammer. There are a few differences but this attack is essentially Yzma's original evil plan
  • DLC Prier has an attack named Kimi ni Todoke
  • Space Galaxy Kick should be very familiar to Kamen Rider Fourze fans.
    • Speaking of Kamen Rider homages, post-game character Artina's "Mandatory Repo" attack should look familiar to fans of Kamen Rider OOO
• In the On the Next preview for Episode 4 Etna says "Listen to my song!" Then in the preview for Episode 5 she says "Next time on Neon Genesis Etnagalion."
  • The Episode 7 preview is about a murder mystery in which prinnies are dying in mysterious ways. Flonne wields a certain bill hook with a psychotic expression on her face. That and the castle is destroyed and the mystery is never solved.
• The scene in which the cast confronts Artina for kidnapping Porkmeister is played out like a typical cop story with Flonne yelling over the microphone for the suspect to turn herself in and Laharl barking orders like a commissioner.
• Flonne's Magical Girl Warrior cosplay is that of Pure Pink of the Pure Seven Morphing Angels. Naturally, this is a reference to Pretty Cure.
• Some the Trophies are shout outs:
  • A Main Character Is You: The desription says You're the Main Character Now, Dog.
  • Ordeal Or No Deal.
  • Emizel Almighty.
  • The Alternate Celestial Angel Descends
  • Phantom of the Island.
  • The Chroma Connection
  • Might be a coincidence but 2 Become 1 may qualify.
  • Raiders of the Lost Chest.
  • Artina, Get Your Gun
• One of the three people combination attacks is distinctly similar to the Triburst from the the first Digimon Tamers movie.
• Lives by the Fist Martial Artist: "This hand of mine is burning red! Oh, never mind. I guess I was just seeing things..."
  • He not the only one who says that, "This hand of mine is burning red!" is also one of the Hero Maniac Masked Hero's battle cries.
• As usual, many item descriptions are references:
  • Gladius: Sorry, the starfighter is spelled with an "r."
  • Skeleton Emblem: It looks like a skull with a straw hat.
    • Speaking of One Piece, one of the Golem's specials brings to mind Whitebeard's Goro Goro no mi.
  • War Hammer: The suggested retail price is 40K.
  • Shaman Axe: Satisfy the spirit that protects you.
  • Assassin Bow: They make you come up with a creed when you buy it.
  • Lollipop: Which guild gives these out again?
  • Ziegfried: You know what the tiger says... "they're grrreat!" Yeah.^note The Tiger is Tony the Tiger The Frosted Flakes mascot, in addition to the Siegfried and Roy reference in previous games.
  • Fangvergnugen: It's what makes a spear a Volkspeer ^note reference to the Volkswagen vehicles
  • Bec de Corbin: Pairs up nicely with a Bec de Leeloo
  • Green Onion: You too, can become an idol
  • Elbow Drop: The most electrifying move in people's entertainment
  • Hitman Bow: Could be the best there is, was, and ever will be.
  • Berserker: its love for you is ticking clock
  • Chi Hand: not the pottery that grows ^note as in they're not Chia pets
  • The Thornicator: Please have your thorns sprayed or neutered
  • Sedona Axe: Rumored to had been used to slash the Ocean Queen ^note may be reffering to Sedna
  • Five Finger Fistcount: Why buy the cow when you can steal it for free?
  • Alberich: A purple crystal sword. It's got a nice shine to it
  • Necronimicon: Remember the words "Klaatu barata nikto"
  • The Doodbringer: The Doodbringer abides
  • Space Magnum: space private investigator not included.
  • Machete: The sprite is a perfect replica of Rena Ryuguu's weapon.
  • Contract Staff: It won't steal your soul or anything, hehehe.
• Some of the random names are this.
  • Someone at NISA must like Hasbro as Starscream and Storm Shadow are among the names
  • Then there's Musical names such as Jeremy Spoke In, Rage Kage and Jables
  • And a lot of names from The King of Fighters games. As well as the Atelier Series
  • Haruhi, Kyon and Mikuru are also in the generator.
• Before you recruit Salvatore in her DLC, she orders Barbara to essentially use Volt Tackle
• One Palette Swap of Lanzarote's turns her hair turqoiuse and her outfit black. Combined with her long pigtails, flat chest, and status as an Idol Singer, she basically turns into Hatsune Miku.
• Before battling Ash in his DLC, Larharl exclaims Who'm I gonna call?
  • Marona's DLC has a recolor that gives her the Hades Shaded coloring of her own Alternate Universe self; Carona.
• Recruiting the DLC of Lilliel says that because she's an angel, she would never try to become Overlord. Sicily comments that there was that one guy.
• One of the phrases Onmyo Monks may sometimes say is "Mecca Lecca Hi-mecca Hiney Ho!"

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance

• The game as a whole verges on Whole-Plot Reference to Mobile Fighter G Gundam, with Killia as Domon, Bloodis as Master Asia and Void Dark as the Devil Gundam.
• Once again, Unlimited Blade Works is used as an attack. Even better, it's an Archery skill.
• The On the Next segments begin with the words "Preview Next Time" rendered in a similar fashion to the 20th Century Fox logo.
  • Two of the segments include the titles Magical Girl Usalia Magica and Legend of the Galactic Zeroken. A third title is "GTC", or Great Teacher Christo. Also, "Prin Can Cook" is derived from "Yan Can Cook".
• Usalia and her prinnies make multiple references to Naruto, ranging from exploding kunai carrots to shadow clones to summoning enlargement scrolls. Usalia's Berserk Stream special even references the bijuu-dama.
• Rena's billhook makes its third appearance in the series as the rank 5 sword "Versatile Billhook".
• One of the four character combo attacks is a common Monster Hunter assault complete with distracting the enemy, laying a trap, hiding behind the trap, and laying barrel bombs as the finisher.
• One of the three character combo attack animations is the famous Spirit Bomb from DBZ in all but name. The characters even raise their hands up to the sky and 'donate' their energy to the bomb just like in the source material.
• At one point, Void Dark destroys what appears to be a Netherworld. The protagonists aren't aware of this, but react to the shockwaves caused by this event. The reference pops up when Usalia says "...I have a bad feeling about this, plip."
• The main plot has strong Persona references about facing yourself right down to Killia gaining his true power by confronting the weakness in his heart directly and saying "You're me, and I'm you."
• There's a high-ranking gun called the "Gjallarhorn", which could either be a reference to Norse Mythology or a particularly popular rocket launcher from Destiny.
• Proto Darkdeath has a unique Evility that makes him immune to status effects and Deathblows. It's name? "Like a Boss".
• It's possible that Red Magnus was inspired by the Warhammer 40,000 character Magnus the Red, seeing that they're both size-shifting red-skinned people of mass destruction that nobody really likes. That being said, they have completely different personalities; Magnus the Red is a Genius Bruiser and a Warrior Poet, while Red Magnus is a musclehead through and through.
  • Like Gold Knuckle before him, Red Magnus' speech patterns in English is reminiscent of The Rock.
    • Likewise, Wrestler Overlord Logan is a reference to Hulk Hogan, complete with frequently referring to people as "Brother".
• Almaz's and Sapphire's combo attack has targeted enemy kidnapping Sapphire and Almaz then confronting the kidnapper on a bridge over lava, with an axe standing behind the opponent. Almaz even jumps on the enemy to make the reference clear.
  • Speaking of Almaz, one of his new attacks is the Weapon Master's first Awakening skill.
• Desco and Fuka's combination attack is named "Full Desco Burst" and clearly references Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
• The secret Rank 41 spear weapon is called Star Lord. Its' description: Not as cool as a talking raccoon, but it'll do.
  • Speaking of which, one of the random Pirates in the Item World more or less directly homages the guardians, right down to the names.
• The Rank 14 axe is called "Attaxe on Titan".
• The Rank 31 Sword is called Lion King's Edge. The description: "I just can't wait to be king. Circle of life. Et cetera."
• While the name "Lucifer" might be a general allusion, it gets more specific when you notice you only get the Lucifer Dyne weapon from defeating the Overlord of a Netherworld called Ice Hell Cocytus.
• The Horseman's "13 Knights" skill involves the Horseman summoning other horsemen, who then attack the opponent in a sequence that ends with the screen shattering. A reference to the Knights of the Round.
• The flavor text for the Pirate's "Nether Buccaneer" states "I will become King of the Pirates!"
• The skill Azathoth, Void Dark's third skill. The skill summons an Eldritch Abomination to drill into a moon and cause it to explode. The name and animation brings to mind the Cthulhu Mythos.
• One quest called "Love & Peace" requires a Rocket Punch to complete.
• One Archer Evility is called "Arrow to the Knee".
• The Rabbit's Carrot Funnel skill brings to mind the Gundam's Funnel weapons.
• The Bow of Miracles' description references the the "you get a car" meme from The Oprah Winfrey Show.
• The Sky Piercer's description quotes Wash's "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" line.
• The Internal Raven's description starts with "Quote the raven".
• The Sledgehammer's description claims that it is found in cheesy action movies.
• The Ogre Axe's description mentions a donkey.
• The Shell Shield's description tells the player to keep jumping on it until they get an extra life.
• The Titania bow's description comments that "it smells just like her".
• Nether News:
  • One report is on a Nine-Tails named Tamamo.
  • Two reports are on a Witch named Granger and a Magician named Draco.
• One of the names in the random name pool for generic units is "I Ate The Bones!", referencing a KFC commercial where someone accidentally eats the bones on some chicken.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny

• Majolene's magical girl outfit references the "Virgin Killer Sweater," a Japanese meme outfit, essentially a cross between an apron and a sweater, with the back being absurdly low cut.
• King Misedor's "King Cannon" attack parodies Gilgamesh's "Gate of Babylon" from Fate/stay night, replacing the high-speed weapons with clumsily tossed golden trinkets.
• Misedor's "Let There Be Light" skill recreates the Jericho missle test scene (though with a Kill Sat instead), complete with Misedor doing Tony Stark's T-pose.
• One of Piyori's alternate colors makes her resemble Rei Ayanami.
• One of Piyori's lines when sent out is, appropriately enough, "Go Go Prism Rangers!"
• The Cameo Zombie's quotes are chock full of ProZD references, which was entirely unintentional on the writer's part. They simply got SungWon into the booth and told him that he could basically say whatever he wanted.
• The Mecha Girl's "Neck Beam" has her fire the the geass sigil as an attack.
• In the intro to Rozalin's DLC episode, Zed's Super Reincarnation activates when he dies during a trip on the luxury battleship Truepanic, which crashed into a space iceberg.
• The intro to Valvatorez's DLC has Super Reincarnation activating due to Zed being killed by a [[Film/Sharknado Sardinado]].

Disgaea 7: Vow of the Virtueless

• From the On the Next segments:
  • After the gambling-themed Episode 5, it starts with Pirilika depicting herself as Kaiji, before she suddenly wins a shogi match by summoning Red Eyes Zesshosai, claiming that the series is now over and will be followed by Gambilika GX.
  • After Episode 6, Pirilika imagines moving up in the business world by selling a toy based on Fuji's head, which she has named Furji.
• Complete with Lampshade Hanging, Fight Mistresses can say "Sometimes I'm asked if I turn into a cat if someone throws water onto me. Is this a reference I'm not getting!?"
• If the bill for skipping to the end is passed at the Dark Assembly, it activates a Non-Standard Game Over in which Ao blows up Pirilika's ship with everyone onboard, with Pii-chan being the only survivor and starring in a movie based on the incident called "Tai-Panic".

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