Follow TV Tropes

Following

Shout Out / Teen Titans Go!

Go To

Teen Titans Go! was known for its DC Easter Eggs, and tons of different shout-outs are intact here.

  • The Dancing in the opening, which changes each season, have a shout out to different popular dances:
  • Pretty Pretty Pegasus is a Show Within a Show Affectionate Parody of My Little Pony.
  • The supermarket chase is one to The Benny Hill Show.
  • Starfire retrieving her ingredients in "Legendary Sandwich", is very similar to the Taste story in Five Short Graybles. Pretty funny considering it's the same voice actor playing both chracters.
  • The picture Beast Boy draws for Cyborg's birthday in "Pie Bros" depicts them flying in space with a colorful ribbon trail behind them, referencing Nyan Cat.
  • In "Driver's Ed", Beast Boy has a picture of Nite Owl on his wall, as well as a picture of Plastic Man.
  • In Beast Boy's flashback at the start of "Dog Hand", the warthog that kicks him away is orange with black hair, like Pumbaa from The Lion King (1994).
  • When Cyborg and Beast Boy are playing cavemen and dinosaurs in "Double Trouble", Cyborg is dressed as Fred Flintstone.
  • In "The Best Robin", there is a box of "Bane Bites" with the tagline "Back-Achingly Good!"
  • "The Date":
    • Robin has a Superman figurine hanging from his ceiling light.
    • Robin bribes Cyborg and Beast Boy with Scooby Snacks to make them look after Speedy. Beast Boy even morphs into Scooby.
    • Starfire has a The Dark Knight Rises Bane plushie on her bed.
    • The same version of Bane is also drawn on the punching bag in Robin's room.
    • Starfire's date with Speedy is a reference to their relationship in the New 52.
    • Starfire's dress is based on Jane Jetson's.
    • The voice in Robin's head sounds like either George Zimmer of the old Men's Warehouse commercials or Tom Shane of the Shane Company commercials.
  • "Dude Relax":
    • In Robin's flashback scene, the bear wearing a collar is a reference to Yogi Bear.
    • The circus flashback itself is a reference to Robin's backstory. This is in line with a previous reference to the circus in the original Teen Titans series when Raven entered Robin's mind. It should be noted that the episode baits viewers who know this into predicting that Robin stopped relaxing after his parents were killed just like in the comics, only to reveal that it's because the animals kept stealing his stuff.
  • "Laundry Day":
    • One of Cyborg's bodies is shaped like one of the Voltron lions in leg mode. Another one is DC Animated Universe's Brainiac ("too brainy").
    • When Beast Boy uses a vacuum to suck up Cyborg's soul, the music resembles the Ghostbusters theme.
    • Starfire's dress-making skills and the end result is a lot like what the character Giselle does for a hobby in Enchanted.
    • When the suits start attacking, Robin's and Raven's suits slack off and dance to the "Yeah! Woo!" loop.
  • At the start of "Ghost Boy", Beast Boy pops out of Robin's closet as a Velociraptor using the Jurassic Park T. Rex's roar.
  • "La Larva de Amor" has several during the milk mustache contest, such as Robin becoming Mario, Raven becoming Gandalf and Beast Boy becoming Chewbacca, complete with Bowcaster. Also, Cyborg resembles B.A. Baracus.
  • Of the many references to other DC characters in the series, perhaps the most potentially impactful on the story was Beast Boy finding a Green Lantern ring in the couch at the start of "La Larva de Amor". Of course, as he was looking for something else, he tossed it aside.
  • Apparently, the skeleton reaching for water under Starfire's bed was Deadman (Boston Brand).
  • "Hey Pizza!":
  • "Gorilla":
    • Beast Boy is under the impression that gorillas and crocodiles are natural enemies. Sounds like he's been playing a certain series of games too much.
    • In addition, some of his gorilla sounds when he's refusing to speak are directly ripped from Mario Kart 64's DK voice.
    • When Robin asks Cyborg why he's helping him regain his leadership, Cyborg responds "Because I hate bananas!"
  • "Girls Night Out":
  • In "You're Fired", Zan hides as water in a fishbowl while Beast Boy is a goldfish, referencing The Fairly OddParents!.
  • "Super Robin":
    • Raven gives Robin nearly all of Superman's superpowers. And with it comes Superman's signature spit curl.
    • The way Cyborg lands after beating Gizmo is basically the same as generally used by Iron Man.
    • Beast Boy looks like Yoda when he becomes an old man.
    • How have we gone this long without how Raven told him how "With great power, comes greater responsibility"?
  • "Tower Power":
    • During Cyborg's explanation on VHS, a still from Batman: The Animated Series is shown on a TV, and both Cats Don't Dance and The Iron Giant are shown on VHS tapes.
    • He later talks about Webster and The Pointer Sisters.
      • He mentions that the actor who played Webster "was like 40 in real life". Cyborg may have confused him with Gary Coleman, who starred in Diff'rent Strokes.
      • But he probably wasn't mixing them up, as Emmanuel Lewis is actually five inches shorter than Gary Coleman was. There were many comparisons between the two actors during the height of Webster's popularity.
    • When Cyborg is hooked up to the Titans Tower mainframe, he loses his humanity and starts acting more like HAL 9000. He even starts speaking in a Creepy Monotone, only shows his cybernetic eye, and utters the famous line "I'm sorry, but I cannot do that".
      • He also starts filling the Tower with a green gas that looks like the neurotoxin from Portal.
    • A reference to The Brave Little Toaster is made in the end, where Robin's Lampy, Starfire's Toaster, and Raven's Kirby. No wonder that scene was so disturbing.
  • "Starliar":
  • "Meatball Party":
    • When attempting to communicate to Cyborg via pictures, Raven draws Darth Vader's helmet to represent "force". For clarification, the message, in this particular case, is that Cyborg always force her to have a good time.
    • One of the ponies Raven plays with has a blue mane and pink fur, like Firefly from generation 1 of My Little Pony. Firefly happens to be the favorite pony of Lauren Faust, who created Friendship is Magic, where Raven's voice actress, Tara Strong, plays the lead pony.
    • The demon from Raven's cavity causes Raven's head to pop open in the style of Terrance and Phillip.
  • "Staff Meeting":
    • The Universe Tree looks a lot like the Deku Tree.
  • "Terra-ized":
    • The secret data room has a series of different doors opening à la Get Smart and Mystery Science Theater 3000. One of these doors is a vault door labeled "101." The number and way the door opens are clear references to Fallout 3.
    • A Darkseid doll can be found leaning against the couch.
  • "Artful Dodgers":
    • Starfire puts a dodgeball in her mouth like a jawbreaker.
    • During the victory dance, Cyborg does that dance from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
  • "Burger vs. Burrito":
    • Cyborg and Beast Boy command their giant foods like Pokémon.
    • Said giant foods intro is a clear shout out to Pacific Rim.
    • During the prank compilation between Beast Boy and Cyborg, a cover of "Crossfire" by Stevie Ray Vaughn can be heard in the background
  • The display on Cyborg's monitor in "Matched" is in the same style as the stage select in Mega Man 2, and just as he activates the machine, there's a pixel version of the heart shot from The Powerpuff Girls.
  • "Colors of Raven":
  • "The Left Leg":
  • In "Starfire the Terrible", Robin's hair shifts from his old original style, to Bart Simpson, Goku, and Sonic's styles.
  • "Books":
    • During their search of books, the Titans turn into their '80s counterparts.
    • They find a book with a face on it similar to Necronomicon Ex Mortis.
  • "Power Moves": in one of a few references to the 2003 Cartoon Network show, Robin and Cyborg's first Power Move is actually from the first episode.
  • "Staring at the Future": the time machine built by Cyborg and Beast Boy is powered by a device that resembles the Flux Capacitor.
  • "Nose Mouth":
    • After Starfire talks about his "Sleep Fighting", the words "Sleep Fighter II" appear in a certain font.
    • When Robin is cowering in front of the wall, there's a message saying No Sleep Til Brooklyn.
  • "Legs":
    • When Raven changes her outfit, it's a gold one. Which could be a subtle shout out to her bodyless good soul self. Or the nicknamed "Gold Raven".
    • Heck, Lady Legasus is an Expy of Chun-Li. Especially her "Lightning Leg" attack, which is similar to Chun-Li's "Lightning Kick."
    • When Cyborg stares at the gem on Raven's cloak, the "Song of Nephilim" plays.
    • Raven's flying kick is similar to Liu Kang's.
  • In "Opposites", Cyborg says "strategery".
  • In the episode "In and Out", when Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy pretend to be villains to infiltrate the H.I.V.E.'s base, Beast Boy is wearing his original red and white outfit.
  • "Missing":
  • In "Más y Menos," the titular duo takes the Titans' pizza and gives it to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
  • "Mr. Butt" spoofs Cape Fear in the scenes of Starfire working out in prison, complete with similar background music.
  • In several episodes, the first being "Pie Bros", Cyborg turns into a morph ball. He also uses a weapon select screen reminiscent of Super Metroid in "Dreams".
  • In "Man Person", Cyborg and Robin gather up all of Beast Boy's body parts. After collecting the last one, their high five is accompanied by the text "Caught 'em ALL" in Pokémon font.
  • In "Sidekick", the last post on Robin's DCU book page is from Space Ghost.
  • Starfire mentions the Lylat System in "Legendary Sandwich".
  • Robin's flashback in "Baby Hands" has all the Titans in their original outfits.
  • In "Caramel Apples", there are quite a few:
    • Robin's inspirational speech to Cyborg and Beast Boy when they're trapped in Hell is rounded off by saying, "...and most important, HEART!" It serves as an Actor Allusion for Scott Menville, his voice actor.
    • Mario and Luigi's skeletons can be seen a little later on in the episode.
    • Cyborg and Beast Boy's character designs from the original series make an appearance.
    • A coincidence due to them supposed to be thin expies of herself, Starfire and Trigon, but Raven's Butterbean and Sparkleface toys are in Rarity and Scootaloo's exact color scheme.
  • Raven's musical number in "Knowledge" is done in the style of Schoolhouse Rock!.
  • Two of the sandwich masters that appear in "Sandwich Thief" resemble Pai Mei and Afro, respectively.
  • "Friendship" has a ton of references to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (among other things), due to it being centered around an episode of its own Shout-Out, Pretty Pretty Pegasus:
  • "Serious Business":
    • When the Titans are debating Robin's rules concerning the bathroom, backdrops reminiscent of The Flintstones and The Jetsons pop up.
    • Also, when Robin flushes himself down the toilet and emerges into a 2D video game world, stock sounds from Super Mario Bros. can be heard, especially the "traveling through pipe" sound.
  • "Halloween":
    • In the Titans' flashback they're dressed as the ThunderCats with Raven as Mumm-Ra.
    • Their battle against the Spirit of Halloween is a clear homage to Ghostbusters, with the jack-o'-lanterns acting as proton packs and the uncarved pumpkin being a ghost trap.
    • The Spirit of Halloween's stock evil laughter is taken from the Disney version of the Headless Horseman.
  • In "The Mask" among Robin's boxes of masks, one of the boxes is labeled Mask of the Phantasm.
  • In "Salty Codgers", the gravestones during Death's Musical number include Boston Brand, Jason Todd, Martha & Thomas Wayne, and Zod.
  • In "Beast Man", you can see Dr. Manhattan on the magazine Raven reads to infuriate "The Man".
  • In "Thanksgiving", the Imagine Spot used to illustrate Beast Boy's explanation on why there are more rats resembles a scene from the 1954 Disney cartoon Pigs Is Pigs, replacing the Explosive Breeder Irish jigging guinea pigs with the rats.
  • In "Boys vs. Girls", Beast Boy briefly morphs into the mutant motorcycle rider on the cover of The Ramones' final live album We're Outta Here!
  • At about 0:33 in this clip of the episode "Tamaranian Vacation," it looks like the Rock Monster has fed on a certain Hutt crime lord...
  • In Mr. Butt, four of the inmates in the space prison are dead ringers for a Predator, a Xenomorph, Godzilla, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
  • "Video Game References" is one huge Lampshade Hanging with the title itself:
  • When fighting Cinderblock on a motorcycle, Robin bounces the end of his staff off the ground like the biker gang members in AKIRA do with lead pipes.
  • "And The Award For Sound Design Goes To Rob":
    • The box that the Whisperer uses to remove all sound from the world looks a lot like the box from the Hush episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
    • When the Titans create their own sounds to replace the missing ones, Starfire makes Silkie go "Hey, hey, hey!" like Fat Albert.
  • On "Leg Day", each Teen Titan (sans Beast Boy) has at least one transformation sequence taken out directly from Sailor Moon. Cyborg has Moon Prism Power, Starfire has Jupiter Power and Venus Power, and Robin has Moon Crystal Power, Moon Cosmic Power and Mercury Power.
  • In "Two Parter: Part One", one of the items in display at the Hall of Justice is an orange oven mitt. Possibly a reference to The Flaming C?
    • Two Parter: Part Two has Cyborg saving the Justice League by using time travel via making Apokolips rotate in the opposite direction, much like how Superman did the same thing on Earth in Superman: The Movie. They even mention that Superman did it.
  • Among numerous other shout-outs to other slapstick cartoons such as Looney Tunes, during the events of "Squash and Stretch" Cyborg turns on the TV, which shows green and purple Gumball and Darwin lookalikes engaging in Wile E. Coyote vs. Road Runner antics on the screen. Cartoon Network had a promotion where kids could record themselves and possibly end on TV. One girl sent a video that actually pointed this out, making for a rare meta-lampshading.
  • The episode "Beast Boy's St. Patrick's Day Luck And It's Bad" has a Dragon Ball Z-esque leprechaun fight.
  • Each of the five "Island Adventure" episodes spoofs a different "stuck on a Deserted Island" show or movie:
    • "Coconut Cream Pie" has the Titans turn into characters from Gilligan's Island. Beast Boy being Gilligan, Robin and Cyborg being the Professor and Skipper, and Raven and Starfire being Mary-Ann and Ginger.
    • "Pure Protein" spoofs Survivor, with Robin forcing the others to do challenges. When they won't play along, he calls an Expy of the Predator to hunt them down.
    • "Open Door Policy" references Jurassic Park when the Titans discover dinosaurs in the island. The suggestion of building a theme park is brought up, but rejected because of the possibility of it going wrong. Also, Robin talks about Velociraptors being able to open doors.
    • "Crazy Desire Island" is a parody of Fantasy Island, with Robin as Mr. Roarke.
    • "The Titans Show" spoofs The Truman Show, revealing that the island was a fake set build by Control Freak and that the Titans were being secretly filmed for his amusement and that of the show's other villains.
    • Both "Pure Protein" and "Crazy Desire Island" have scenes spoofing the Companion Cube Wilson from Cast Away.
  • In one scene of "The Titans Show", the gang argues about what Beast Boy's ass-freckle looks like with Beast Boy saying it looks like Mickey Mouse while Robin says it's obviously "two bears high-fiving".
  • The whole plot of "Booty Scooty" is a reference to The Goonies, and the opening of the titular dance song is awfully similar to "Turn Down For What" by DJ Snake
  • In "The Night Begins to Shine" four-parter, David Kaye voices a red dragon with designs on universal conquest.
    • The Titans humming to get Cyborg back in the game sounds less like "The Night Begins to Shine" than, distinctly, "Call Me".
  • Oregon Trail. Need I say more?
  • "A Farce": The resolution of the case, right down to Robin asking Raven to use a New York accent for her testimony, is a clear reference to My Cousin Vinny.
  • In "Jinxed", when attempting to communicate through dance, Robin dons an outfit and does a routine straight out of Flashdance, including the famous water-dousing scene, complete with Beat Box playing a Suspiciously Similar Song to "Maniac" (some lyrics of which are even referenced in the Titans' dialogue).
  • "Hot Salad Water": Robin's song about America references Full House, Ernest Goes to Camp, Samuel L. Jackson, and Top Gun. At the end of the episode he screams "America, heck yeah!" (a G-rated version of "America, fuck yeah!" from a Team America: World Police song).
  • Cyborg loves The Golden Girls and references it in several episodes.
  • "The Academy", as a satire on entertainment awards, references Back to the Future, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Forrest Gump in the Titans' chores montage. At the end, the Titans are dressed as different characters from The Lord of the Rings as they appear in the film—Robin is Frodo, Cyborg is Gimli, Raven is Gandalf, Beast Boy is Gollum, and Starfire is Legolas—in order to battle the Academy. Robin even foregoes his usual battle cry in favor of "Fly, you fools!"
  • The episode "Throne of Bones" has several such as the Heavy Metal Demon looking like a Bloodthirster of Khorne, of all things, complete with ax (a guitar-axe that is).
    • Beast Boy's outfit also bears a resemblance to Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead
  • The three team costume designs that Robin suggests in "Costume Contest" are the team as Mystery Inc., the heroes of The Wizard of Oz (and Raven as the Wicked Witch of the West), and the main members of the Suicide Squad.
  • "BL4Z3" is one big homage to The Matrix, specifically spoofing the red pill/blue pill scene and the franchise's general Hell-Bent for Leather tendencies.
  • The title of the episode "Lazy Sunday" is a shout-out to the song of the same name by The Lonely Island.
  • The title of "Hey You, Don't Forget About Me In Your Memory" references Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)", the theme song to The Breakfast Club, which makes sense as the episode is a Whole-Plot Reference to the film.
  • "How's This for a Special? Spaaaace" parodies both Star Trek and Star Wars, but contains a Whole-Plot Reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light", where they find an ancient alien probe that zaps Robin unconcious and makes him live a full life in the final days of a dying alien society, where he learns to play the trombone. When he wakes up, he finds the trombone inside the probe. When the other Titans see his ability to play, they also touch the probe to get musical talent.
  • "Nostalgia Is Not a Substitute for an Actual Story" has a lot of 80s references thrown into a blender!
  • "The Night Begins To Shine 2" shows someone in the writing staff must be a fan of Neptunia, what with Cyborg being reduced to a talking motorcycle.
  • "Teen Titans Vroom!" is a Whole-Plot Reference to Turbo Teen with some shout outs to Transformers: Generation 1.
  • The final part of "Where on Earth is Carl Sanpero" is a huge one to Game of Thrones. Cyborg even goes full Hodor during it.
  • In the episode "P.P.", Beast Boy mistakes the acronym used in the episode, meaning "pet peeve", to be the act of using the bathroom. This references a gag in another Warner Brothers cartoon: in the Animaniacs episode "No Pain, No Painting", the Warners mistook the same initials being on Picasso's smock for the same thing.
  • In "The Great Disaster", Robin cosplays Freakazoid!. This counts as Production Foreshadowing, as the show would have a crossover with Freakazoid one season later.
  • In "Justice League's Next Top Talent Idol Star: Dance Crew Edition", Robin and Beast Boy engage in a dynamic similar to Andrew Neiman and Terence Fletcher’s, culminating in a nearly shot-for-shot recreation of the climax of Whiplash.

Top