In Jade's introduction sequence, when testing out her Pictionary Modus for her Eclectic Bass, she accidentally creates a ghost image of Johnny 5. Later, during her Alchemize-o-rama, she creates a Johnnytop from her lunchtop and the image, and also attempts to make a massive weapon from a Transformer ghost image, a powerful gun and her own personal Iron Lass suit. She makes Johnny 5.
You make...
Johnny 5.
God damnit.
Motherfucker thinks he's alive.
HE IS A TIN CAN, ROBOTS DON'T HAVE FEELINGS.
John's dad has a picture of Bing Crosby in his room at the beginning of the game. It pops up in random places as the game progresses. Nobody ever recognizes him.
"TT: Why have you activated dear, sweet Huggy Bear?"
Dirk's Auto Responder might be one to Clu from TRON: Legacy: it/he uses a red/orange theme, is a copy of his owner at a younger age, seems to be evolving in a different direction than his creator (16 year-old Dirk is planning an (ironic?) epic anguished declaration of love to Jake while 13 year-old AR doesn't seem to care about romance) and he seems to be more aggressive than Dirk, at least while using the robots; plus they both have an affinity for cool headgear: Clu is introduced lounging around in a Cool Helmet while AR is actually a pair of Cool Shades.
John is a huge fan of Ghostbusters. Later this extends to almost everyone.
Terezi's interrogation scene is a massive shoutout to Twoface, with the coin that has a mutilated side (to reflect her blindness) and the fact she's playing a lawyer...
There are two references to Vladimir Nabokov in the first living room scene: John's dad has pictures and figurines of clowns (or HARLEQUINS, as he is quick to correct anyone who would venture such brazen assumptions) and one of John's commands is to "Admire harlequins," Nabokov has a novel called Look at the Harlequins!. Then when he looks at the fireplace, he recalls the quote, "The moon is an errant mistress, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun." The quote is from Shakespeare, not Mark Twain as he thinks it is, but Nabokov did, of course, take the title of Pale Fire from it.
Not to mention someone named Strider who wields a broken sword.
And the best broken sword in the game being the Royal De-ringer.
The way Jack uses said sword to slay the Black Queen is also in direct reference (exploding her by cutting off her ring finger).
Cthulhu Mythos references can be found in the form of Jade's island (matches one of Lovecraft's descriptions) and in the beasties from Rose's grimoire.
The word "dreamself" is a reference to Lovecraft's Dream Cycle.
John being killed by Bec Noir somewhat resembles Aslan's sacrifice by the White Witch.
The entire plot is a coming-of-age story about four young people who travel to a magical land and are drafted into a battle between the forces of good and evil. Sound familiar?
Vriska writingI 8n't dead is an intentional reference to Granny Weatherwax, as confirmed on Andrew's Formspring.
With that in mind, WV?'s actions are probably a shout out to Vimes's idea of the pawns establishing their own democracy in Night Watch.
And a troll who can't use a bow because he keeps breaking them. Someone should have told Equius that bows aren't troll weapons.
A character named John's best friend being named Dave is possibly a reference to John Dies at the End
For those who don't know, there are multiple Links and Zeldas, one for each century, and each one inherits the role from his/her ancestors, thus making them heirs.
In addition, one of the songs on the "Dave, Rose: Shut Up And Jam" (which is itself a reference) is called "Octoroon Rangoon". In Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden, one of the party members is Balthios, who is referred to as "the octoroon *
[S] Past Karkat: Wake Up and the resulting style it introduced is essentially a huge homage to EarthBound, but other specific ones within the aforementioned flash:
Gamzee's constantly dances, similar to shop keepers in the Secret of Mana.
Not to mention he's jokingly acting like an innkeeper and charging people to rest in his pile of horns.
Entering Trickster Mode plays (most) of Totaka's Song.
The Sims (with the house-building and item-placing) and Spore (with all the Space Compression planetary hijinks) are also cited inspirations. Particularly in naming "Sburb", by Word Of God a "deliberately ugly word reminiscent of the name of a Sim game".
The shop from Final Fantasy VI makes a cameo appearance in AlterniaBound's Trickster Mode screen, and ends up in the story itself later on, as part of Gamzee's trap for Terezi at the end of Year 2/Disc 1.
The entire series is more or less an extended shout out to the MOTHER trilogy, most especially EarthBound. Although there are some Shout Outs to MOTHER 3, they seem to be accidental more than anything else, as Andrew has never played it. As such, compared to other franchises there is a significantly higher density of shout outs to it than anything else
The title "Homestuck" can be construed as a synonym of EarthBound.
Fraymotifs in particular look to be at least thematically similar to the music combos of MOTHER 3.
Both Homestuck and MOTHER 3 ascribe significance to frogs
The dream selves might be inspired by Magiciant. John's ascension to God Tier is reminiscent of Ness's power-up after conquering his Nightmare.
John, Rose, and Dave each have the same hair color and physically resemble three of the EarthBound protagonists: John resembles Ness, Rose resembles Paula, and Dave resembles Jeff. Jade doesn't exactly resemble Poo, but they also share the same hair color.
Speaking of similarities, Rose can be thought of as a Darker and Edgier Paula Expy, while John is practically a straight Expy of Ness. Dave and Jade split the traits of Jeff and Poo: Jade lives isolated from the other characters like Poo does, but wields guns like Jeff. Meanwhile, Dave uses a sword, which was one of the only weapons Poo could equip.
The Alpha Kids end up being closer, though whether that was intentional or simply a result of reflecting the aspects of the Kids is unclear. Roxy and Dirk fit Paula and Poo almost to a T, while having elements of Jeff in that they're inventors.
John's chumhandle initials are EB - as in EarthBound.
If Acts 1-5 were inspired by EarthBound, Act 6 has a heavy MOTHER 3 vibe to it with a Crap Saccharine World, corruptive technology, and a Time Skip with dramatic changes. Crockercorp can be thought of as a rough analogue for the Pigmask Army, with subliminal messages instead of Happy Boxes. The Imperial Drones are like the Pigmasks, while The Condesce bears a few similarities to King Porky Minch in that she is an immortal time-traveler and sidekick to an Eldritch Abomination.
"Rambunctious Crow" is reminiscent of "Spiteful Crow", an early-game Goomba with a penchant for stealing players' items (or Sburb beta).
In Act 6 Act 2 we learn that underneath his hat, Dad is bald. Just like Flint.
This panel has an Instant Revitalizing Device in the corner; oddly, while it's clearly the EarthBound variant in that it's not stamped with a Pigmask logo, it otherwise has the colour scheme of their MOTHER 3 incarnation.
Dave is getting a cup of coffee before Rose launches into exposition, which is likely a reference to this scene.
Word Of God instance: Hussie has stated that of her extensive gaming repertoire, Roxy's favourites are EarthBound and Pikmin, two titles he himself particularly enjoyed.
Other
A dinosaur from the Dinosaur Comics website's background appears momentarily here. Ryan North thinks it signifies something more.*
"Believe you me: this is no mere shout-out to good, sensible web design elements. I believe this to be an acknowledgement of what Andrew and I have long known in our individual and respective heart of hearts: that Dinosaur Comics and MS Paint Adventures take place in the same universe
, that one will segue into the other after only a few million years have passed, and that just as Steve Urkel and Carl Winslow could in theory go for a walk and bump into Balki and cousin Larry, so too will this pterosaur from my site one day happen to fly over the events which set up the adventures now being chronicled on his site, these adventures that take us through time and space, these adventures that have let us take control of the bodies of at least three children so far, these - these MS Paint Adventures."]]
Karkat's freakout during his conversation with Doc Scratch is a shoutout to Tough Guys Don't Dance.
Vriska herself could be a shout out to Dungeons & Dragons. Besides being a FLARPer, her lusus was a giant spider, and she could easily be described as a self-serving, back-stabbing bitch. If that doesn't scream Drow, I don't know what does.
Probably unintentionally, she also strikingly resembles Lelouch, without a Morality Pet.
"Drow" and "Troll" were originally both names for little fairy-goblin things, derived from "Trow". Homestuck trolls also all have grey skin and dislike the sun and bright lights. I think there's some influence there in general.
The end of Act 6 animation's URL ends in the letters "DOTA" which presumably stand for Death of the Author, since, well, Hussie has just been killed by Lord English. Death of the Author is also a famous 1967 essay by Roland Barthe. In it, Barthe suggests that the author has no authority over the text, the true meaning of which is created uniquely in each reader's mind according to their own impressions as opposed to the intentions of the author. Kinda appropriate considereing MSPA's reliance on audience participation, fixation on cultural references and exploring the boundaries of fiction and reality. And of course, Hussie's self-inserted character's inability to control events at this point in the story.
A few Rainbow Dash pictures can be seen in Dirk Strider's room. While he purports to have a "strictly academic" interest in cartoon ponies, he soon admits that his affection for Rainbow Dash, at least, is totally unironic.
Music Shout Outs (Limited to songs not featured in comic)
"Heir Conditioning", found in the trickster mode of "[S] Kanaya: Return to the core", is vaguely reminiscent of "BelovedTomboyish Girl". A pun on air conditioning. Cirno's an ice fairy. Get it?
