Skylanders has many a reference to all sorts of stuff, whether it be games, film or internet culture. Here are the references we found.
- Those trolls with the Wolverine Claws? They are actually called "Trollverines".
- The achievement unlocked for purchasing all the upgrades for one character? "Gotta buy them all." Made all the more hilarious given Pokémon's similar Merchandise-Driven nature.
- Terrafin looks a little Jawesome.
- Wrecking Ball, in name, design, and abilities, shares similarities to the Nintendo 64 game Iggy's Reckin' Balls.
- The achievement "The Answer" in Cloud Patrol. You get it by dying on level 42.
- Also in Cloud Patrol, Shroomboom's special ability is "1-Up Shroom".
- One of Trigger Happy's upgrades, a Wave-Motion Gun Charged Attack, is called the Golden Yamato Blast.
- One of the tie-in books elaborates on what happened to Eon, explaining how he fell through one of his own portals and is now trapped between realms, only able to communicate as a spirit... which sounds kind of familiar, actually.
- In Giants, Fright Rider seems to be a walking reference to Joust.
- Also from Giants: Whirlwind's character-specific quest requires you to make 50 double rainbows. The title of the quest? "What Does it Mean?"
- From Giants again, one of Hot Head's upgrade paths is called "The Burninator".
- Hot Head's "Hot With a Chance of Meteors" Upgrade allows him to create a massive fire ball, and him holding it up bears more than a passing resemblance to the Spirit Bomb.
- Christmas must mean something for Noodles if it makes him dance all "Gangnam Style".
- Eye-Brawl's Soul Gem Upgrade is called "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out".
- Apparently, the singing/rapping Drill-X is named after Skrillex.
- One of Drill Sergeant's upgrades is called "A View To A Drill."
- Upon baiting the Skylander into Rumble Town's arena, Brock yells to the crowd "Are you not entertained?!"
- Roller Brawl's entire playstyle is based on the real life sport of roller derby, and her name references the considerably more brutal film which spawned it.
- The Tech Elemental Quest to kill a certain number of spellcasters is called "Magic Isn't Might".
- This is more likely a reference to the phrase "Magic is Might", used in Harry Potter
- Halfway through the Twisty Tunnels level of Swap Force, Flynn remarks that "Two outta three ain't bad."
- Magna Charge is mentioned to be a member of a race called the Ultrons.
- The Achievement/Trophy for successfully gaining entrance to Castle Kaos is named Kastle Krashed.
- The Defeat of Kaos's Mom in Swap Force is a reference to A Simple Wish.
- Part of the defenses of Kastle Kaos are Mecha-Mooks called K-Bots.
- Bumble Blast's personal quest is called "Not the bees!"
- Fryno's Soul Gem power is called Madness Maxed.
- Short Cut, being a rather diminutive undead Skylander armed with a giant pair of scissors, is a dead ringer for Scissorman.
- During the battle with Chef Pepper Jack, he will occasionally shout "Time to kick it up a notch!", which is the catchphrase of famous TV chef Emeril Lagasse.
- Alex DeLarge's bowler is available for purchase from Auric. It's called the "Rude Boy Hat".
- Wallop will occasionally yell out "Hammer slammer!" in the middle of a combo.
- In Monster Marsh, while scrambling to wake up the sleeping villagers so their dreams can't power Dreamcatcher, the Skylanders are very likely to run into a Mabu by the name of Kreuger.
- Rizzo wears a peaked cap during Operation: Troll Rocket Steal that is a dead ringer for those worn by Imperial Commissars, right down to the golden aquilla. Luckily, he doesn't adopt their infamous attitude.
- Drobot's disc attack and Persephone's odd way of speaking (particularly her use of "dancing") both reference the creators' own previous title Star Control.
- Astroblast expresses surprise that Buzz isn't familiar with his spaceship, the Sun Runner. After all, it's the ship that finished the Kettle Corn Run in under 12 minutes.
- Upon clearing all of his Supercharger Challenges, Buzz will bid Astroblast farewell with a classic starfarer's blessing: "See you around, Space Cowboy."
- The "Tech Adventurer" set from Imaginators is very heavily inspired by The Rocketeer.
- Tae Kwon Crow was once the leader of a fearsome gang of raiders and called The Great Hawkmungus.
- Ambush's divergent upgrade paths are named Master Splinterer and Go Go Forest Ranger.
- Starcast will, upon clearing a group of enemies, sometimes proclaim, "Darkness there... and nothing more." He also can purchase an upgrade that allows his doppelgangers to pull enemies towards them named "Get over here!"
- One of the unlockable power attacks for the Gunslinger class is called the Death Blossom.
- Kaos' One-Winged Angel form in Imaginators makes him resemble a Super Saiyan Blue.
- A tie-in comic for Trap Team featuring Bouncer as a character is titled Mr. Roboto and in The Secret Origin of Trigger Happy, the gremlin calls Bouncer Mr. Roboto.
- One area in Chapter 7 of Trap Team is called The Little House on the Misty Marshes.
- One alternative name for Krypt King's Soul Gem "Storm Swords" (a Critical Hit will cause swords to rain from the sky), given in a handbook is Unlimited Traptanium Works.
- One of Lightning Rod's unused idle lines is "Cloudy with a chance of greatness".
