Shout Out / Girls' Frontline

Story and cutscenes

• Halo:
  • The subtitle for Chapter 00-Seed in the English translation is "This is not your grave... but you are welcome in it."
  • The subtitle for Chapter 08-Spark is "Don't make a girl a promise...if you know you can't keep it."
  • Way later in the story, every faction in the game is shown either searching or fighting for something called "Pike Nodes". It's eventually revealed that they're containers for the eponymous Pikes, Eldritch Abominations that wipe the floor with everything and are the source of the highly radioactive and mutagenic Collapse Fluid. They play a role somewhat similar to the Flood in Halo, especially the fact that both were created by Ancient Astronauts (the GAVIRUL in GF and the Precursors in Halo) and they were discovered by militaries looking for weapons to use against their enemies (the Alternate Universe USSR mentioned in Codename Bakery Girl and the UNSC and Covenant in Halo). The differences between the two are that the Pikes don't have any sentience, are thankfully not Explosive Breeders (or capable of reproducing at all), and their Collapse Fluid isn't functionally the same as the Flood's Alien Kudzu.
• In chapter 7, the narration states that the detention center where the Anti-Rain Squad is being held is codenamed "Mario's Princess".
• Additionally, the subtitle for Chapter 10-Purgatory "There is no greater agony than reminiscing about happy times while suffering." is a fairly obscure excerpt from Dante Alighieri's Inferno^note This line is more commonly translated as "There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery.".
• The VA-11 HALL-A collaboration has Jill and AEK mention Christine Love… who is apparently still alive, producing games in 2070 and lives in Glitch City.
• The first act of Continuum Turbulence reenacts a scene from Metal Gear Solid V:
  Nyto: (to the Commander) Yes, I understand, you must want to know how long you have been unconscious. You have been comatose for... nine weeks.
• During the My Devil's Frontline event, Jashin is seen harrassing Yusa and Kouji's shaved ice business, as she often does in the source material. As she's going around stealing all of her customers' shaved ice via Flash Step, one of the confused customers exclaims "This must be the work of an enemy Stand! I'm sure of it!"

Characters

• M4A1's weapon resembles the version of the same assault rifle seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, particularly in its tan finish^* albeit M4A1's weapon is all-tan except for the pistol grip and has separate rails on the top; the MW2 model had a normal gray upper receiver with a tan grip and a full-length top rail and using the same aftermarket ironsights. Which is probably intentional, given how the later events of this game turn out similarly.
  • Armor Fairy's first line when constructed is "Remember, no Russian".
• Five-seveN's "Cruise Queen" outfit gives her weapon the "Monkey Business" skin from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
• WA2000's red tie is a homage to Agent 47 of the Hitman games, as the WA2000 rifle was heavily associated with him.
  • Similarly, her Ballroom Interlude costume features an instrument case used to carry her rifle.
• Winchester M1887's Badass Biker character design is a direct Shout-Out to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. As a nod to this, her attack animation features her flip-cocking her shotgun after every shot. To further drive the point home, her unique skill is Terminating Shot, which deals a flat 1000 damage at level 10 on top of blowing the victim back several paces.
• M60's attack animation has her firing her light machine gun while standing up, a reference to the ending scene of Rambo: First Blood Part II. She also ties up her bandana under her helmet in one of her victory animations.
• MG3's stance in her default costume resembles Kazuki Fuse's appearance in one of the promotional posters◊ for Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.
• One of RO635's skill activation lines^* "Let's count up your sins!" is lifted almost word-for-word from Kamen Rider Double.
• SPAS-12's default appearance has the name "Jerry Miculek" written on her outfit, referring the professional competition shooter known as "The Greatest Shooter Of All Time". Notably, SPAS-12 has items used by Jerry Miculek in speed-shooting shotguns, such as the unique shotgun speedloader mechanism and magazines that can be seen in action in this video. Ironically, however, the real SPAS-12 is not compatible with the speedloader featured, due to the shape of the trigger guard and incorporated safety lever.
  • A technical diagram by the artist also shows that among her gear she carries a red crowbar with the paint chipped away at the ends, which is likely meant to be a reference to Half-Life given its iconic use of both a red crowbar and the SPAS-12.
  • SPAS-12's Goblin Hunter costume is inspired by Darkest Dungeon. Her promotional artwork shows a flag with a fascimile of the stress symbol but with three spikes instead of five. Far more obvious now that the costume is drawn from the event named Dark Dungeon.
• The way how M1911's dual pistols have different finishes is a reference to Ebony and Ivory, Dante's signature weapons from Devil May Cry, which also happen to be a pair of modified M1911 pistols with different finishes. It's made more apparent with her digi-mind upgrade, where she switches hands with her two guns to use the nickel-plated one in her right hand and the blued one in her left, mirroring how Dante holds Ebony and Ivory.
• Good luck trying to convince anyone at all that it's not an ersatz Supreme Cash Cannon that the Golden Fairy is carrying◊.
• G11 is a fan of the zombie apocalypse series The Flying Dead, which spanned 26 seasons before the actual apocalypse. Borders on Take That!, as 416 called it cliche for overusing the Humans Are Bastards trope.
• StG 44's post Digi-Mind update gains a new victory animation that's a dead ringer to Rudol von Stroheim's err...infamous, pose. You know the one◊.
• G36C's Halloween 2019 outfit is titled G36C of the Blazing Eyes.
• Contender's Dark Dungeon costume has crystals coming out of her body, a reference to the shard-afflicted enemies found in Darkest Dungeon, part of the same event as SPAS-12's Goblin Huntress costume.
• LWMMG's Christmas costume is named "My Lie in December".
• VHS' damaged◊ artworks◊ looks an awful lot like Yoshikage Kira triggering Bites The Dust and Killer Queen's default pose.
• Makarov's wedding costume is named "A Certain Unscientific Sunflower".
• The icon for Howa Type 89's "EXAM Mode" skill is a reference to the EXAM System featured in the three RX-79 Blue Destiny units and the Efreet Kai in Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny.
• MCX's "Crimson Meteor" costume has several mecha or mecha-adjacent references: the name itself is a variation of the "Red Comet" nickname, the mech in the background of her default art has the Galm Team emblem on its shoulder, and the damaged art mirrors this piece of Gundam 0080 fanart.
• MG36's line for when you oath her has her say that the only response she could give to you telling her you love her is "I know".
• For the 2023 Halloween season, M327 gets the costume titled "It Follows", a clown themed outfit with balloons.

The rest of the game

• Certain furniture items in the dorms also sneak in references from time to time.
  Convenience Store - Cashier Counter: We take cash, Griffin prepaid cards, and various other payment methods. Take these bottle caps back. You've played too many videogames.
  Subway 2062 - Train Car: All you need now is a book, a seat and a talking black cat to remind you what you are doing.
• The "King's Tailor" furniture set lets the Commander set up an ersatz Kingsman HQ, complete with a Wall of Weapons hidden in cabinets. Additionally, the motto of the "Huntsgirl" tailor shop is "Tinker, Tailor, Tactical Doll, Spy".
• Apparently T-Dolls collect Nendoroids and other merchandised goods of themselves too, if the many items on the "Echelon Collection" shelves are any indication.
• The skill training animation for Fairies displays a floating piece of paper moving from the training dummy to the Fairy, doing a midair loop as it flies, much like the animation shown for copying or moving files in Windows versions released in the 90s.
• One of the furniture pieces in the VA-11 Hall-A-themed set "Jill's Apartment" is named the PC-9X, a Bland-Name Product version of the PC98.
• One of the furniture pieces that can be bought in the Forward Basecamp's Black Market is the "Dance Arcade Machine", a knockoff DanceDanceRevolution arcade cabinet with a model of an S.F. Manticore bolted onto the top of it.
• The currency obtained from city expeditions is quite obviously LEGO bricks.
• One of the notable event logs a city expedition team can get is the squad passing by a Companion Cube half-buried in the dirt.
  • Expeditions can also come across the wreckage of GLaDOS from the same game.
  • Another event during an expedition is come across a "familiar blue telephone booth".
  • Yet another one is bumping into a Moscow Metro entrance.
• One of the items that can be equipped for expeditions is a tray of coffee called "Baby, B-A-B-Y", whose flavour text discusses the importance of being a Getaway Driver.
• Several pieces of Halloween-themed furniture are direct shout-outs to popular horror franchises, such as the Tender Encounter with Sadako literally crawling out of a TV set, and two Nurses standing around a gurney in the Sweet Treatment Table.
• One of the achievements for adopting a certain number of pets is "Welcome to Griffin Park".
• The patched that kicked off the Isomer event also added another expensive piece of furniture in the Forward Basecamp's Black Market called "IIDW", a knockoff beatmania IIDX arcade cabinet. The furniture's description even has a rather flowery explanation about keysounded songs, a technique the series has been using since the 90s and eventually emulated by other rhythm games. Its banner and monitor show the words "DOLLS' VERSE", a parody of the series' then-latest installment, IIDX 27: HEROIC VERSE. Lastly, its general appearance is similar to the series's then-latest "Lightning" arcade cabinet model, only with the controller turned away from the monitor due to animation constraints.
• The "Assembled World" furniture set looks like a LEGO storefront, although its shop banner reads "Guns R Us", a parody of former American toy store chain Toys "R" Us.
• One cosmetic special effect players can buy in the Forward Basecamp's Black Market, named "Wayfinder", emits various advanced mathematics symbols, charts and diagrams from the T-Doll's head, like the Confused Math Lady meme.
• A Mini-Game called "Luftberry Chess" can be found in Springfield's cafe. Contrary to its name, it's basically MICA Team's take on 100% Orange Juice!, a 2009 indie board game where movement, attack and defense are all governmed by dice and the occasional Card Battle Game element.

Non-game media

• The Anime of the Game:
  • Episode 8 has SOPMOD II in a Transforming Mecha in her likeness tanking Jupiter Cannon shots. To drive the point home, she's also wearing a familiar pair of red Triangle Shades.
  • Episode 10 has HK416 reference "strange electronic signals" when talking about her Starry Cocoon dress, which is represented by Nico Nico Douga style scrolling comments flying across the screen. Considering the game's Chinese origins, it might instead be a reference to Bilibili. Also, one of the comments that appears reads "JAEGER WENT INTO DEBT FOR THIS" (one of his default weapons is the carbine variant of the same weapon, the 416-C).
  • Episode 6 of Madness Chapter has Destroyer going "useless useless useless" in reaction to Skorpion's ineffective cover fire.
  • Kryuger's statue in Episode 9 of the Madness Chapter somehow turned into All Might at one point.
• The official Twitter account's 2020 April Fools joke was an announcement for a fake Dating Sim called "Dokyun Dokyun Griffin Club".