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Shout Out / Henry Stickmin Series

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The Henry Stickmin Series as a whole is Reference Overdosed to the extreme. Clearly, PuffballsUnited loves his shout-outs. Note that many of the shout-outs below have been altered or removed in the remasters, most likely for copyright reasons.

    open/close all folders 

    In general 
  • Every game since Breaking the Bank has to include one "shoop da whoop" meme in. There's one if you click on the sun at the "Sneaky Escapist" ending of Escaping the Prison, choosing the Satellite option in Stealing the Diamond, clicking the sun again in the "Relentless Bounty Hunter" ending of Infiltrating the Airship, clicking on the moon in the "Presumed Dead" ending of Fleeing the Complex, clicking on the moon in the Shadozer sequence during the "Ghost Inmate" route of Fleeing the Complex, clicking on the item box during the Item Box sequence during the "Presumed Dead" route of Fleeing the Complex, choosing Summon during the Executive/Allies route in Completing the Mission, and clicking the sun in the ending of the Bounty/Allies route of Completing the Mission. It is subverted with Infiltrating the Airship as it has a coughing fit.
    • In The Henry Stickmin Collection, the black "shoop da whoop" faces were recolored to avoid racial complications, giving it a green camo appearance instead of a completely pitch-black appearance; this coloring may allude to Cell from Dragon Ball Z, whom the meme originated from.
  • Any and all vent sounds in the remaster are recycled from Among Us. The small opening for packages in Henry's cell door in Escaping the Prison uses one of these sound effects as well.

    Breaking the Bank 
  • The Shovel is pulled out with the classic Zelda Item Get! fanfare. The remaster also includes camera angles imitating those of the cel-shaded games, and the Fail text (the original Bank didn't have Fail screens) is a reference to a general rule Minecraft players advise.
    "Never dig straight down."
  • When Henry hides in a truck with a disguise, the truck passes by two security guards who are reminiscent of Simmons and Grif. They also had a similar conversation with each other in the remaster.
    Chad Hanson: "You ever... ...Wonder why there's a bank out here?"

    Escaping the Prison 

First Room Fails

  • During the NrG Drink sequence, Henry passes wanted posters for Brian (Newgrounds' mascot) and Dad from Tom Fulp's Dad 'n Me.

Sneaky / Sneaky Escapist route

  • The Belt of Grenades option could possibly be a reference to Worms, right down to the grenade bouncing back to Henry and him shouting "WHAT THE-?" before it explodes.

Lame / Lawyered Up route

Badass / Badass Bust Out route

  • When pulling out the drill, Henry holds it in the same manner as the characters in Mr. Driller.
  • If Henry elects to turn left when fleeing from the guards, he'll trip and fall on his ass, complete with sound effect. You even get a medal called "lol brawl reference".
  • The Bullet Time scene is, of course, straight out of The Matrix.

    Stealing the Diamond 

General

Aggressive/Intruder on a Scooter route

  • One of the guards outside is named Billy Barnes.
  • When Henry is going through the medieval section, he drives by the helmets of the Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Knights.
  • During the car chase, a Sniper is called in who blows Henry's head off if he does nothing. In the original version of the game, the quote below is the actual voice file from Team Fortress 2.note 
    "Wave g'bye to your head, wanka!"
  • Henry can either use a Bubble or a sticky grenade to try and get the Sniper off his tail.
  • During that whole scene, a star rating appears in the corner like in Grand Theft Auto.

Undetected/Unseen Burglar route

  • One of the ways Henry can make his way to the roof is a pair of Jumble Hoppers. Complete with Henry bouncing into a pond with "2 pts. deducted" flashing like how the game penalizes the score.
  • In the same route, one of the ways that Henry can try to get past a guard is with the Falcon PUNCH! It doesn't work, because Henry is not superhuman like Captain Falcon.
  • The fail screen for the Laser Cutter is a reference to the Y U NO meme. In addition, a caption below that is upside down reads, "A: The laser cauterized it," which is a joke within the Star Wars fanbase of whether the lightsaber is capable of cauterizing wounds.
  • Henry can try and get down to the diamond with the Portal Gun*.
  • At the last leg, if Henry tries to snap the guard's neck, he'll fall down the stairs. Doing this will get the "BUNP" medal and the FAIL screen saying that it told you about stairs.

Epic/Just Plain Epic route

  • When Henry uses the Shrink Ray, he gets eaten by a worm which roared "WRRYY" straight out of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future. In the remastered version, this roar was changed due to copyright reasons.
  • If Henry uses the pick to tunnel in through the wall, he won't make much progress… until a Creeper runs in and blasts the wall apart.
  • A couple of rooms later, Henry can either use a crowbar (which gets him attacked by headcrabs), a Metroid* (which eats his head instead of following his direction), a Poké Ball* (he summons Missingno and crashes the game), or a Mega Mushroom*.
    • The display holds an Item Box (which gets replaced with a Jiggy in the remaster) and a green spike piece (which also gets replaced by a Spiny Shell). The remaster also added a display of Ocarina of Time, the Wind Waker, and the Spirit Flute.
    • Speaking of Poké Ball, two of the guards from the previous scene is the challenger. One of them is named Joseph Jo, which could be shortened to JoJo, a shared nickname of the protagonists in the series.
  • When a newly-hatched pterodactyl attacked Alexander Garb, he screamed the "Wilhelm Scream" in the original, but it was replaced with a generic scream in the remaster.
  • In order to deal with the situation at the museum, the Centre for Chaos Containment can choose to launch a tactical nuke.
    "Don't feel too bad. He probably camped for the 25 kills he needed to get that nuke."
    • In the CCC headquarters, there's also this exchange:
      Corporal: I'm getting chaos readings at 10.6. It's coming from the museum.
      Chief: My god. It's over nine!
      [Beat]
      Corporal: Yeah.
      Chief: I'm leaving this decision up to you, corporal. Just hit one of those buttons to deal with this… [puts on sunglasses] pressing situation.
      [YEEEAAAHH!]
      Chief: Who's watching TV?! Get back to work!
      • The remastered version replaces the "YEEEAAAHH!" sample with canned laughter, presumably for copyright reasons.
      • The Chief's name is Corporal Bill Bullet.
    • In the background of the CCC Headquarters scene, a black monitor indicates that "Cam_626" is out. Considering that the 'Centre for Chaos Containment' sounds suspiciously like the SCP Foundation…
    • Possibly unintentional, but the button at the CCC that sends in a mech looks identical to the Robotomy tool.
  • One of the medals (for using the Jumble Hoppers three times) is called "Like a D6", a reference to the song "Like a G6" by Far East Movement, The Cataracs, and Dev, while d6 references the dice of the same name used in Dungeons & Dragons.

    Infiltrating the Airship 

Earpiece (Government Supported Private Investigator) route

  • Henry uses glue to cross the ceiling of a roomful of Toppats.
  • One of the ways to get across the gap is for Charles to send in a Robo-Helper. Which is basically a robotic Tails.
  • In the original Flash version, when standing just behind a guard trying to get through a door, Henry can ask Charles to use remote access to hack the door open. It results in Henry getting squished. The fail screen has this to say:
    "Come and and SLAM, and welcome to the JAM!"
  • Later, Henry can try and use the Falcon Kick to get rid of a Toppat bystander. It works, but only on himself.
  • Another option is to throw a Ninja Star. When Henry somehow misses the game states "You missed! How could you miss?! He was three feet in front of you!" You can even get a medal by clicking on the letters M, U, L, A and finally N.
  • After getting the files, Henry has to take a detour with an electric obstacle in his way. When choosing how to respond to Charles, the player is greeted with a dialogue wheel straight out of Mass Effect.
  • When escaping the Airship, Henry can call for a flashbang to be thrown into the cargo bay, the throwing of which is preceded by "Fire in the hole!"
  • Another option here is a Banana Bomb. The fail screen then provides another shout out with "Dun dun dun OHHHHH BANANA!"

Cannonball (Relentless Bounty Hunter/Rapidly Promoted Executive) route

Grapple Gun (Pure Blooded Thief) route

  • Henry can try to breach the airship with bombs. When he runs the wrong way to escape from the blast, the fail screen says that he should've used the Remote Bombs.
  • The Joy Buzzer fail screen says "[Allan please add details]", a meme from an item description oversight in Hitman: Blood Money. note 
  • In the next room, Henry can try to browse a computer that contains secret files… and a copy of Civilization V on it. It goes as well as you may expect.
    "…just one more turn?"
  • When Henry has to cross a gap, he can choose the Magic Pencil. Too bad he ends up drawing… something that nails him between the legs.
  • Then, when choosing something to open a door, Henry can choose the Power Glove… that doesn't actually do anything.
    "You look like an idiot."
  • Choosing the Teleporter would send Henry into an empty, white void. It may be a reference to SpongeBob SquarePants, where Squidward was sent into a void from time traveling in one episode.
  • The Romanian Ruby is identical in appearance to the Large Ruby item from Terraria.
  • The huge vault Henry finds a huge ruby in has a banana-shaped boat and a Gyroid in the background. The remaster removed the boat, but added a ton more, including a giant Super Mario Bros. coin, Scaramanga’s Golden Gun, three paintings in the style of Piet Mondrian and another parodying American Gothic, a fifth painting depicting the Melee version of Final Destination, two mannequins with a Stout Shako and a jacket from Player Unknowns Battlegrounds respectively, a sawed-off shotgun from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and an Energy Sword.
  • After this, Henry has to find a way to take the very large ruby with him. Two of his options are a Clawpack which looks and sounds a lot like Kazooie, and the Gravity Gun.
    "Take care of your bird! Err… Claw."
  • The missile that one of the Government helicopters fires at Henry and Geoffrey Plumb's position zig-zags several times before reaching its target, in much the same manner as the missiles from Battlezone (1980).
  • When the airship has to be escaped from when all hell breaks loose, Henry can either use a Koopa shell, a propane tank, an umbrella, or the Brotherhood of Steel's Power Armor.
  • When the Government begins fighting the Toppat Clan, one of its soldiers — named Nerto Kageh — is seen Ninja Running.
  • In the battle scene after Henry uses the Power Armor, not only can a Ken expy be seen delivering a Shoryuken to a Ryu lookalikenote , but a Spy can also be seen backstabbing a Sniper along with the domination SFXnote .
    • The above leads to the Centre of Chaos Containment having to deal with the situation. One of the discs is a mystery, though clicking on it will load "G.A.B.E.N.". Whatever it was meant to do is unknown, since it's supposed to load Half-Life 3, which will never come out.
    • Another option involves using laser cutters to rocket the land into the sky. The Fail quote?
      We'll take all of our problems, and push them somewhere else!
    • The D.E.B. (Dark Energy Blaster/Bomb). An expanding purple dome that atomizes anything in its path during expansion? That's how a Subspace Bomb functions in the Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
      • The sound effects of it disintegrating people and objects as well as the name and its firing noise are both from the Dark Energy Blast secondary fire of the Combine Rifle.

Sticky Hand (Lightning Quick Larcenist) route

  • One of the ways Henry can try and lift the safe out is with Zero-Point Energy. Like Syndrome, he ends up flinging it above him with an undesirable outcome.
  • The fail text after Henry thought he already completed the mission, but ended up with a teddy bear instead and one of the guards is about to shoot him.
    Fail Screen: A winner is you!

Other

  • Throughout the whole game, if you complete a certain number of steps, then Henry can enter a room and find the fabled Biggoron's Sword*. Opening the door to the room it's contained in even makes the famous "Puzzle Solved" sound.

    Fleeing the Complex 

General

  • For starters, the very fact that the Complex in question is called The Wall can't be a coincidence.

Boost Up (Ghost Inmate/Convict Allies) route

  • Choosing to leave Ellie behind will get an onscreen prompt saying "Ellie will remember that".
  • The conversation the guards in the storage room are having suggests that they're avid Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft players (and the guard telling the story is named Heath Stone). In addition, Heath mentions his opponent playing a card "The gates are open," which is the summon quote of Lord of the Arena. During the conversation, a Tetris piece can be seen in the background.note 
  • If by himself, Henry's options for getting rid of the storage room guards include the Command Melody (and to boot, its fail text says that it's too bad you don't know how to play an Ocarina or something) and pickpocketing one guard (which counts not just because the interface is clipped directly from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but also because one of the items he steals from said guard is Monstro's Tooth; the latter is compounded because the guard being pickpocketed is named Isaac Binderson).
    • At the same point with Ellie, one option is to use the Bounce Bros.
  • Outside Security (Solo), Henry's options include the Longshot, a Spring, and the Power Jump.
  • Before the Hallway Standoff segment, a stickman with facial hair wearing an ivy cap can be seen running towards the door. In addition, another stickman (who has four arms, by the way) named Gus Garno is a reference to the character Gasgano from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, with his bio stating that he used to be a big time racer.
    • Immediately before, one of the prisoners seen escaping from their cell is "Angry Mike", who has a mask that covers his mouth and is "a wanderer, traveling in the desert". In other words, he's an Expy of Mad Max.
  • After a fail where Henry accidentally shoots Ellie with a sniper rifle, clicking on the "Let's see that in an instant replay!" fail message will start an MLG compilation and many of its affiliated memes, including the Wombo Combo scream and "Oh baby, a triple", complete with the Illuminati meme in the end that used the The X-Files theme (or a copyright-friendly version of it in the Remaster). Heck, he shot Ellie because he tried to pull a "360 no scope", an "elite" trick shot used in many first-person shooter games like Call of Duty.
  • In the Bowels of the Complex, one of your choices is the Plunger Boots, which look the same as the ones from Banjo-Tooie, and it even plays an altered version of the "putting on shoes" sound from the same game. In addition, the FAIL screen for picking them says "aeiou". Clicking on the word repeatedly generates several voice clips of the line, and eventually a medal.
  • At the Docks, Henry can use a box to sneak past the guards or a raccoon leaf to fly over them. Deploying the leaf plays Super Mario World's item-box deploy sound.
  • At the Outer Docks, one of Henry's options is a rocket. If he tries it, he messes up the staging process in a manner that should look familiar to any Kerbal Space Program player; the rocket itself also appears to be made out of KSP parts. The other failing option is a large ship named S.S. Annie, an obvious reference to the S.S. Anne.
    • In the flash version, the ambush is represented with a snippet of Vassalation, the Jockey's theme from Left 4 Dead. In the remastered version, the ambush is instead represented with the imposter kill sound from Among Us.
    • If you pick the dinghy and get the Ghost Inmate ending, the music for it is a remix of Unreal Superhero 3, also known as the Sony Vegas Keygen song, turned memetic by classic YouTube Poop videos.
  • At the Two Elevators, if Henry and Ellie choose to Blend In, the guard sees through Ellie's lie with an "X: Doubt" prompt. The Henry Stickmin Collection reveals that said guard is named Colby Phelps — a play on Cole Phelps.
  • In the Remastered version, if Henry and Ellie choose Pass By, while the two are walking pass the guards, Darek Gorulik looks at them with a detection alert from the Hitman series.
  • One of the three criminals at the elevator is named Dan the Man. His bio saids that he wanted to be called "Dan of Steel," but the name was taken, referencing a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure character, Steely Dan, who has his name changed to Dan of Steel due to copyright reasons.
  • At The Yard (Captured), Henry can use either an adrenaline shot or the KNEE to save Ellie from Grigory. If the latter is picked, Henry dash-dances before kneeing both Ellie and Grigory out of the screen in a colorful explosion, and then a "YOU WIN" / "PERFECT" message shows up.
    "Whoa whoa whoa! You can't go mixing fighting game references like that!"
  • At The Yard (Escape Route), if Henry and Ellie choose to leave through a hole in the fence, they fall off the cliff. The FAIL screen says "Looks like you needed one of these", accompanied by a picture of Henry looking back and forth with his arms out.
    • At the same route, when you choose the truck to escape, a stickman that looks like Markiplier appears briefly when the convicts helps Henry and Ellie get in the truck.
    • On that note, the green-haired inmate who ushers them through said hole in the fence appears to resemble Jacksepticeye after the latter dyed his hair. This likeness is purely co-incidental, as confirmed by the creator of the game via a comment on Jack's video on the game. The actual Jacksepticeye look-alike was seen running during a riot with a hat and beard, right before armed guards has Henry and Ellie under cover. His bio describes him as "a crazy, loud Irishman."
    • The three are later named in the bio as Mark Emunote , Jack S'tickeye, and Sean S.E. Lemmingnote .
      • Speaking about Sean, he has green hair, he's barefoot, and his bio mentions that he was assigned a role — all characteristics that he shares with the titular Lemmings.
    • Peter Waylands, who was trying to stowaway with Mark Emu, is noted in his bio to have tried scaring people away from a house he wanted to buy dressed as a ghost, only to be thwarted by four kids and a dog.
    • One of the immates, alongside Mark Emu and Peter Waylands, is Misha Sashavo, whose description in his bio card reads "He used to be part of a crazy group of mercenaries." In addition, Misha is the Heavy's actual name and his last name includes Sasha, his minigun.

Charge Tackle (Presumed Dead) route

  • At Transfer Cells Hallway, one of Henry's options is to use the Speed Shoes.
  • When Henry performs acrobatics to dodge gunfire, his tricks are listed at the bottom of the screen, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater-style, complete with the Special Trick sound on the Front Flip.
  • Transfer Cells Blockade is even better: Henry can use the Tool Gun, an Item Box, or a Web Throw. The Web Throw's FAIL screen references the "How Do I Shot Web?" meme.
  • The Yard (Tactical) looks like something out of either Advance Wars or Fire Emblem. Henry's choice here can lead to referencing either of the above two games, with the man with the sword getting on the bad end of a Critical Hit from Henry, or the tank blowing Henry to kingdom come. Or Henry can choose a man with boxing gloves that looks an awful lot like Soda Popinski/Vodka Drunkenskinote . And if he enters a building, Henry is greeted by Freddy Fazbear, who proceeds to "jumpscare" the player over and over in the original, and once in the remastered version.
  • When Henry is Behind the Truck, one of the things he can use to get past the guards is a sandwich which turns Henry muscular. The ensuing FAIL screen references the "Doctors Hate Him" meme.
  • During the chase scene in the truck, if Henry picks Bail, the FAIL screen says "You should've followed up with a tether from your wrist strapped grappling hook." note  The correct choice, slamming the truck into the enemy vehicle, results in Wario's scream as they careen off the cliffside.
  • At the Cliffside Wreck, one of Henry's options is a Warp Star.
  • During the ending, we see a shot of Henry at a security station laid out exactly like the one in Papers, Please.

Wait for Transfer (International Rescue Operative/The Betrayed) route

Other

  • One of the medals requires the player to find Waldo*. He's in The Yard (Escape Route), behind a rock in the middle-right.
  • The medal for getting 101 Fails is titled "101 Failmations". No, seriously.
  • In 5 separate locations throughout the game, you can spot G-Man standing in the background with a briefcase. Clicking all 5 of him nets you the medal "Rise and Shine"note . His full name in the remaster is Gary Mann.

    Completing the Mission 

Multiple routes

  • The Toppat guarding the entrance of the base (visible in the Bounty/Rescue and Thief/Ghost routes) is called Kayn West, was in the music business and was accused of plagiarism.
  • The Bounty/Allies and Bounty/Dead routes share some shout-outs, as they have very similar plotsnote :
    • The money car on the train has a coin icon on it.
    • The Conductor of the train himself is an Expy of the Forever Train's conductor on Macbeth, having similar voice lines (including the famous "I can't STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIT!" as the train crashes in the Allies route), being called Mr. Macbeth, and his bio mentioning he's often been compared to an ape.
  • In the routes where the space station is already in orbit, the sensor workstation is shown a number of times with Burt Curtis manning it. A few comic strips can be seen in the background:
  • All the Dead routes start out in the same bar. One of the bar patrons has an eye patch and a black Rasta hat, and his Bio Card explicitly states that he's a former mercenary who quit when updates stopped coming. One of the soldiers is also named Jose Gonzales, and his Bio Card mentions he's been a free-to-play gamer since 2008, referencing a particular trend in Team Fortress 2 of new players seeming to come from Mexico who tend to put their real name alongside their birth year in their usernames.

Bounty/Allies (Capital Gains) route

Bounty/Dead (Little Nest Egg) route

  • Henry can attempt to join the train's caravan in his tank. Of course, it doesn't work.
    Fail Screen: All you had to do was follow the dang train, Henry!
  • The interface of the fight with the Conductor is identical to that of an Undertale battle. The song "Tickets Please", which plays during the fight, is also suspiciously similar to "Metal Crusher" from Undertale.
  • The fail screen quote for choosing the Act option in the Conductor fight is "Henry really bribes? No dignity."
  • One of the Toppat goons trying to breach the money train is a HECU grunt, complete with stilted dialogue.
  • Another Toppat who unsuccessfully tries to locate the money cart in the aftermath is named Don Miguel, after someone who pirated an English version of RPG Maker 2000 more than a decade before it received an official release.

Bounty/Ghost (Free Man) route

Bounty/Rescue (Master Bounty Hunter) route

  • The route in general is full of nods to Metal Gear Solid.
    • The opening sequence to the route is reminiscent of the opening sequence to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, right down to the credits appearing on the screen.
    • Upon landing in the outskirts of the Toppat Clan's launch site, he is greeted by John Pilksin (codename "Frog"), who wears a bandanna, has a low, raspy voice, and greets Henry with this line:
      John Pilksin: Really kept us waiting, huh?
    • There's even a codec conversation with General Galeforce, giving Henry the rundown on the mission.
    • Close-Quarters Combat (from MGS3 ownwards) is one of the first four options given to the player in the route. Using it results in a fail that has Henry get choked out and thrown by Kayn West and let out a Death Cry Echo similar to when the player character is killed in a Metal Gear Solid game.
      Fail Screen: Henry! Are you alright? Answer me! HENNNRRYYYYYYYY!!!
  • Several times, Henry is given the option to try a dance-off with his opponents. He can attempt to default dance at each choice, only to be immediately killed off if he does.
  • The stealth option has a UI that says Henry's sneak increased to 42.
    Fail Screen: This never would've happened at 100.
  • Henry can convert a Toppat guard to his side by chanting "Wololo". The converted guard will even speak simlish like the Age of Empires 1 units.
  • One of the fails is to stick a cluster charge through the door, only for it to ricochet back underneath the door and wipe everyone out. The text that appears onscreen after the charge blows is in the style of Rainbow Six Siege, while the word "Заложник" (Russian for "hostage") written on the device itself is a reference to Fuze's memetic tendency to accidentally kill hostages.
  • A background character in the warehouse scene is named Pinkman, and his bio states that "He's not affiliated with any chemistry teachers or drug cartels."
  • When fighting the Right Hand Man, Henry can use the Suicide Bomber attack from Worms Armageddon. He will even leave behind a tombstone.
    Fail Screen: Henry bit the dust.
  • Henry can use Terry Bogard's jab and power dunk against the Right Hand Man during the "Cheap Fighting Combo" sequence.
  • Henry uses an ocarina to summon Charles.
  • The Finish Him option's fail text references 300.
    Fail Screen: This! Is! Toppats!
    • On top of that, the guy who kicks Henry off the ramp is called Antonidas Sparta — a clear reference to Leonidas the Spartan.
    • The option's name and it revolving around killing the Right Hand Man may be a reference to Mortal Kombat.
  • The rapper-looking Toppat is called Ali Gene — a reference to Da Ali G Show.
  • After the Right Hand Man's capture, the first Toppat who tries to take the lead is Wayne "The Stone" Johnson; the second is "Rock Cool" Steve Dallas. Both names reference famous wrestlers.

Executive/Allies (Toppat King) route

Executive/Betrayed (Revenged) route

  • The Spirit Forme fail in this route involves a straight-up Stand battle. There's plenty of little details that any JoJo fan will find familiar:
    • The Japanese voices clearly say "stando" (as in Stand), but the subtitles refer to them as "spirits", parodying how the Japanese versions of the manga and anime don't worry about their copyright-infringing names, but the English versions clearly do, resulting in the clashing vocals and subtitles. Adding onto this is that Henry's and Right Hand Man's Stands are subbed as "Reference" and "Bottled Time", even though Right Hand Man clearly pronounces them "Tribute" and "Time in a Bottle", respectively.
    • Especially for those who understand Japanese, the laughably bad Gratuitous Japanese spoken by the Right Hand Man is a reference to the Gratuitous English in JoJo.
    • Popular themes from the series are basically recreated, such as Giorno's theme, DIO's theme, and even Roundabout, the ending for the first two parts' anime adaptations.
    • The appearance of "Reference", Henry's Sta-er, spirit, bears a great resemblance to Giorno's Stand, Gold Experience (with Enigma's color scheme).
    • At one point, the spirit uses a Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs move, akin to the "ORA! ORA! ORA!" punches, while shouting "Failure! Failure! Failure!", similar to DIO's "Muda! Muda! Muda!" (meaning Useless!).
    • The fact that Right Hand Man's spirit has control over time references how many JoJo villains have stands that control time in some way.
    • Even "Braka mono ga!" ("You utter fool!") is a reference to Stroheim's famous line from Battle Tendency.
    • The fail's ending text is the odd reference out, being a slightly tweaked quote from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ("That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about stars to dispute it").
  • The Gun Forme fail references the Coldsteel the Hedgeheg meme with Right Hand Man teleporting behind Henry and saying "nothing personnel[sic], kid." In addition, the fail quote references the Shaggy God meme.
    Fail Screen: "Not bad, kid… You made me use almost 10% of my power."
  • The Absorb fail screen claims that that was the play of the game. Clicking on it presents it again in the style of Overwatch.
  • The Right Hand Man's deflected energy ball in the Baseball Bat fail circling the planet before coming back around to hit Henry is very familiar to anyone who's seen the Buu Saga.
    • In that same sequence, the Hit Stop when the energy ball hits Henry's bat is very similar to that of Lethal League.
  • Henry ultimately defeats the Right Hand Man with a Y-type move. The music that plays when it's used is also very similar to the trainer battle theme from Pokémon X and Y.
  • After the "Airship" fail, all the fail screen can say is three PogChamp Twitch emotes.

Executive/Dead (Toppat 4 Life) route

Executive/Ghost (Toppat Civil Warfare) route

Government/Allies (Triple Threat) route

  • At the beginning of the mission:
    Ellie: Where we droppin', boys?
  • Henry and Ellie can fly to the rocket like the Birdman in Pilotwings 64. They crash and spin in the air before landing in the ground face first like in the game, complete with music.
  • Landing on the communication tower causes a Toppat to inform of the infiltration. Another kills them after quickly building a tower to reach their altitude.
    • The Toppat in the communications tower is based on the Byeahs from Jerma's GTA videos.
  • The Throw option has Ellie try to spin-throw Henry into the rocket like Mario throwing Bowser.
    Fail Screen: "So long-eh, Henry!"
  • Henry can attempt to build to the rocket with dirt blocks, and he dies in this fail by fall damage in the same manner as that game, right down to the "oof!" sound effect, even disintegrating into dropped items (leather boots, a stick, and a steak). A recreation of one of the game's music tracks plays during this scene.
    Fail Screen: You died!
  • To reach the rocket, Henry and Ellie use barrel cannons. The way Henry and Ellie swap is also similar to the way Donkey and Diddy swap.
  • The Fusion fail has Henry and Ellie fuse a la Dragon Ball. The battle afterwards is basically what you'd get from your basic Dragon Ball fare: Good guy challenges bad guys, bad guy calls them out, Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs, crater. They even wind up in pretty much the exact same position as Yamcha when a Saibaman blew him up.
    Fail Screen: Normally, this goes on for another 3 hours.
    • In addition, the challenger is named Kabbitz, after the first antagonist of Dragon Ball Z, Raditz, and Goku's Saiyan name of Kakarot.
  • The Diversion option is full of this. You get the Torture Dance, The Mario, Hat Kid's dance, the DK rap, Peter Parker's dance from his emo phase, Mr. Krabs' Robot Dance, Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" dance, and more!
    • Most, if not all of them, are even done by parodies of the character(s) that do the same dance in the source material.
    • The dance music, also the original Distraction Dance music, blended in with "Turn Down for What".
    • One of the characters in the background during that scene is a parody of Johnny Bravo, sporting a similar name (Jonathan), hairstyle, and sunglasses.
    • Before the impromptu dance party begins in earnest, Henry throws his fist into the air and strikes Freddie Mercury's iconic pose.
  • The last choice of the route is a visual reference to the thinking emoji.

Government/Dead (Valiant Hero) route

  • On "Hot Knife" failure, clicking on "Butterfingers?" again will repeat the same joke from Infiltrating the Airship until it gets interrupted in the middle with a "Pizza!"note  and a scream from Tobey Maguire; both sound clips are ripped from Spider-Man 2.
  • The song Charles sings in the vent parodies "Crawling".note 
    Charles: Craaaaaawling throooooough the veeeeeents…
  • After a Toppat Member rams Henry and Charles with their Reverse Thruster, the fail-screen makes a fun little reference to a certain lever pulling scene.
    Fail Screen: Why do they even have that lever???
  • The entire ending sequence, with Charles prevented from fleeing due to last-minute attacks from an enemy, Henry pounding on the window of his escape pod as the space station explodes, and the shot of the escape pods heading towards Earth, are a Whole-Plot Reference to the opening of Episode 5 of Tales from the Borderlands.
    • Alternately, it can be interpreted as one to the ending of Chris' route from Resident Evil 6.
  • The mook that attacked Henry and Charles that resulted in Charles' death is named Jacked Hughman.

Government/Ghost (Cleaned 'em Out) route

Government/Rescue (Special BROvert Ops) route

Thief/Allies (Pardoned Pals/Toppat Recruits) route

Thief/Dead (Stickmin Space Resort) route

Thief/Ghost (Jewel Baron) route

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