Shout Out / MapleStory

Running for over 20 years, MapleStory has wasted no opportunity to reference other media in gameplay, characters, etc.

• Some ninja gear and attacks bring to mind Naruto. Cash Shop items have referenced anything from Korean mythology to movies to a certain anime about "befriending" others (Check the Cash Shop, and you will find Fate's Bardiche and Signum's Sword... somewhat.) Monsters have been anywhere from Shout Outs to affectionate parodies to "isn't this from another game?".
• The look of the game is very similar to the Wonder Boy series (especially the Monster World games).
• The Evan class is highly reminiscent of the Eragon series. Everything from the character starting out as a farmer, to the symbol appearing on the character's hand, to finding the egg in the woods which hatches a blue dragon basically screams ERAGON. (In the first Eragon book, the main character even uses the alias of "Evan" at one point.)
  • What's odd is that some Korean players theorized that the class was based on some Korean indie fantasy novel/comic book/whatever.
• In the Omega Sector, we have the Mesorangers and an NPC who is a Will Smith look-alike that oddly enough sports a black suit and sunglasses. Not to mention that you find these NPCs in a level where you fight aliens...
• The Mushroom Castle quest chain is a heavy example of this. Ghostie is Phantom. Mikhail uses Mihile’s KMS name and says butchered Knight Solaire quotes. Anne Nah is Anna from Frozen (2013), down to the point of singing hit song “Do you want to build a mushroom-man”. Bowser. HIMSELF is there! Oh, and it’s always at war with A tyrannical penguin.
  • Not to mention the area's story is the the same as Luigi's side story in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
• Someone in the Nautilus says "This message brought to you by the letter ARRRRR!"
• While it's not as tight of a fit as the Evan/Eragon connection, Aran awakening in the trailer is very reminiscent of Aang's awakening in ''Avatar: The Last Airbender".
• The character names in one area of The Afterlands (Beodog, Vulcanelli [1], Reubenhood, Arsan Lupen, and Edgar Tetch) each reference a historical warrior, magician, archer, thief and pirate, respectively, in Western culture.
• Starling and Crow, the two NPCs of the Silent Crusade, were name Sheryl and Crow in Tespia prior to the public release. No doubt this was changed to avoid some legal hassles with the singer.
• A robot NPC in New Leaf City is named T-1337.
• It may be a coincidence, but both adamantium ore and plates are orange. An episode of the old 1990s Fox X-Men cartoon showed off a solid bar of adamantium as a scientist was showing off to Wolverine prior to his infusion. It was orange. Though the inclusion of adamantium as a metal could also count as a Shout Out.
• Also, the concept art for Mercedes looks like every elf in The Lord of the Rings. And did I mention that she's an archer and the Elf Queen? Here and here. Definitely a Shout Out to Legolas.
• The various anime crossover projects between Nexon and Aniplex... Here's an example.
• Ignoring the fact that the homes are meant for humans, almost every house in Henesys looks like the homes of the Smurfs.
• The Silent Crusade storyline (2012 version) centers around portals opening across the land that the player must enter and fight monsters, a secretive group of heroes that recruits the player to fight an evil threatening the land, and an ancient wizard who has returned and plans to release an unstoppable villain onto the world, said villain being the wizard's close mentor and leader.
  • The final path in the Temple Of Time is called the "Road To Oblivion" and contains burning piles of lava rock everywhere. And a couple of final gates at the end of it look like lawyer-friendly copies of Oblivion gates, they're just missing the pointed corners.
  • The Dragon Tail Mage Robe, a level 140 armor for mage characters, looks like a black recolor of the robe worn by Uriel and Martin Septim. The "dragon" part of the name is significant as both men were "dragonborn".
  • At one point, Athena Pierce would warn people of taking an arrow to the knee in her training center.
  • When Dances With Balrog quizzes the player on what's being built in Twilight Perion, one of the possible choices is "a giant siege weapon", a reference to the weapon the Daedra used to destroy Kvatch and almost destroyed Bruma with.
  • The Nova race are half-human, half-dragon people. They were included not long after Skyrim was released and "Nova" is pretty close to "Dovah"
  • Eunwol/Shade suffers nearly the exact same curse that the Gray Fox was inflicted with.
  • The High Flora are the Thalmor with more advanced technology. "Dalmoor" is also rather close to Thalmor, no doubt urging the use of "Darmoor" in the US
  • The overall plot of the Black Mage event drew heavily from the Molag Bal storyline of The Elder Scrolls Online while the White Mage's final speech, where the player is informed that they will now become a god, feels lifted from Jyggalag's words after being beaten in the Shivering Isles quest.
• Mar the Fairy, in Red Leaf High, humming out "dooby dooby doo" in her random dialog.
• Jett's former partner is named Burke, referencing Carter Burke from the film Aliens.
• During the Kanna storyline multiple figures from the Sengoku period will show up as NPCs and give quests. Among them is a female Uesugi Kenshin. While there are theories that Kenshin was female, the design◊ bears some semblance to that of an infamous strategy games rendition◊ of a female Kenshin.
• Humanoid A, an android in the alchemist town of Magatia is probably based on Bicentennial Man as it visually resembles Robin Williams and the android from that film quite heavily.
• On occasion, a hairstyle resembling that of Rukia from Bleach is made available via the Cash Shop Hair Coupons.
  • Not to mention that a certain royal hairstyle (the peculiar hair, specifically) looks quite a bit familiar...
• Demon Slayer looks a bit like Alucard from Castlevania, mixed with a bit of the Elder Scrolls Dremora race. Demon Avenger only makes him look more like Alucard.
• The scene of the Crystal Garden meeting Black Heaven for the first time evokes a similar scene in Star Trek: The Next Generation when the Enterprise D met the Borg Cube. Topped off by the interior of Black Heaven having creepy tech patterns with green glowing lights amidst poorly-lit rooms everywhere.
• The Ludibrium airship music is titled "Flying In A Blue Dream".
• When you're infiltrating the Black Heaven your number is 24601.
• The general dialogue for Alvesh in the Riena Strait theme dungeon is "I am the watcher in the snow".
• One of the available cash shop weapon masks is a chainsaw rifle resembling the same weapon from Gears of War
• Upon reaching the time travel area of the Silent Crusade quest, your character will refer to the crack in time as "timey wimey." The male starter overall for a Resistance character is a long coat and scarf strongly resembling the 4th Doctor's attire, and of course a large afro is in the available hairstyles for that extra incentive.
• While female Aran does seem to go against Aran being a male name, she does have a ponytail, so...
• From the Star Squad 13 event we have mini games entitled "Beam Me Up'' and "Tower of Wobble", and the large phone-shaped chairs given out as prizes include clear references to 7 Of 9 and Doom demons.
• The fake Athena Pierce in Ruined Henesys makes a reference to "Wind of Change" by rock band Scorpions.
• Athena Pierce and Cassandra are clear nods to Greek mythology- Cassandra being a fortune teller and Athena Pierce being a warrior woman like the goddess she's named after.
• The warrior job instructor is named Dances With Balrog and his supposed son in the ruined future illusion is Wrestles With Wolves.
• During the Grand Athenaeum story "The Shadow Alchemist", Will eventually corners Fang, holding a red potion that will show him the truth behind his existence, and a blue one that will allow him to remain in ignorant bliss.
• One of the monsters in Esfera, the sixth area of Arcane River, is a turtle with sprouts on its back, named Ahtuin.
• During the Zero quest line, Alpha tries to sing. GMS uses the opening lyrics to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.
• After defeating the Master of Disguise as a Cygnus Knight, he reminds you that despite all your rage you are still just a rat in a cage.
• Black Heaven features several to Mega Man including vehicles similar to the ride armors from Mega Man X & a later section features disappearing blocks like those that show up in many games in the series. Gelimer himself also appears to have been somewhat inspired by Dr. Wily.
• There is an item in the Cash Shop called the Alchemist Overall. It consists of a red jacket, black pants and black shirt.
  • There is also an outfit that resembles Winry's work outfit, and headgear that looks like Alphonse's helmet.
  • Now there's the Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter's hat, with red wig and blue face shadow, from Tim Burton's remake of Alice in Wonderland.