The franchise as a whole is one big Shout-Out to and Affectionate Parody of toku shows in general, with many more pop culture nods surfacing throughout its run.
- To other Capcom titles and properties:
- Some of the most noticeable references homage Devil May Cry, which was made by the same director. To go in-depth, there's Alastor. Not only does he possess the attacks (Stinger, Air Raid, Round Trip, Vortex, etc.) and purple lightning powers of his sword namesake, but when fought in Dante's story, Alastor reveals that he's the spirit of the sword and fumes that Dante didn't take him along during Devil May Cry 2 (not that anybody, let alone Dante, wants to remember that game). Alastor also possesses a version of Joe's Red Hot Kick called Ultraviolet Kick; this is a nod to the Leitmotif of Nelo Angelo in DMC1, "Ultraviolet." In 2, his Superpowered Evil Side (Underworld Emperor Alastor) physically resembles Dante's Alastor Devil Trigger and speaks the same line to Joe ("I am Alastor. The weak shall give their heart and swear their eternal loyalty to me") that he said to Dante before impaling him (Joe is much luckier, due to his VFX powers).
- The "HMD" on Joe's shirt is a reference to the Lead Programmer of Mega Man 2, who identified himself as such. It's given an in-universe explanation at the end of the first game, where it doubles as a reference to an iconic corporate trademark; it's an abbreviation for a Captain Blue movie titled His Master's Dance, referencing the old "His Master's Voice" paintingnote .
- Hulk Davidson's oft-quoted line to Joe before their battle: "So what's with that V-Watch on your arm, huh? You think you're some kind of Mega Man or something?" Joe himself also bears somewhat of a resemblance to Proto Man from the same series, such as Joe's helmet looking similar and having a color scheme of red.
- The music from the first game that plays while Captain Blue is explaining his past, called "Confession", is a remix of "Reminiscence ~ Classroom Trial" from the first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game. Here's a
comparison. - Silvia possesses a variant of Joe's Red Hot Kick named the Cool Blue Kick. While in the first game, it's exactly the same as Joe's technique, in 2, it gains electric properties, and her pose during the attack directly mirrors its source material: a lunging kick known as the Cold Blue Kick used by Remy from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
- Oh so many to Kamen Rider:
- The heroes transform by saying "Henshin!" to activate their V-Watches, which doubles as a Super Sentai shout-out (see below).
- Joe yells out "Toh!" when he jumps in a similar manner to the heroes in the Showa KR series.
- Joe's scarf is a homage to the earlier Showa-era Kamen Rider series.
- His pose when transforming is the same as the original Kamen Rider's.
- The Red Hot Kick is basically a Rider Kick. In Double Trouble, the Meta Rangers have the same move, only instead known as "Meta Kick."
- The evil organizations? Early Showa-era Kamen Rider all the way. Complete with boss titles.
- In "The Viewtiful Escape", Joe makes a bet with Another Joe that whoever wins the fight has to wear a yellow outfit. This is a reference to the original Kamen Rider: Kamen Rider 2's most obvious difference from his predecessor's appearance was his yellow scarf (as opposed to 1's red scarf).
- The Meta Rangers from Double Trouble are insectile transforming superheroes based off of a moth and a butterfly. Ranger Log, the green one, looks like Ichigo with a pair of wings and a proboscus added, will Ranger Digi looks like a Kamen Rider Black with bristly antennae and darker wings.
- The Meta Rangers' boss theme sounds remarkably similar to "Let's Go Rider Kick," the theme of the first two Kamen Riders.
- Also to sister series Super Sentai and its adaptation Power Rangers:
- Joe's V-Watch is similar to a number of different wrist devices used as Transformation Trinkets for some Ranger teams. In particular, it seems to call back to Bioman's Technobrace, which was an actual watch.
- King Blue, the boss form of Captain Blue, appears very similar to King Mondo/Emperor Bacchus Wrath from Power Rangers Zeo/Chouriki Sentai Ohranger.
- The name of the track that plays during the first part of the final stage of Viewtiful Joe 2 is titled "Cimmerian Planet Gedow", with Cimmerian Planet being the location of Dark Specter's meeting of the various prior villains of Power Rangers.
- The Dark Emperor Jet Black transforms using the word "Tenshin", meaning "Divine Transformation", the same as Kiba from Gosei Sentai Dairanger.
- The Meta Rangers get their name from Super Sentai's use of "ranger" or some derivative in the majority of its series, and despite their Kamen Rider-like appearance are more team-oriented than most Riders.
- To other Tokusatsu series:
- A standout (and somewhat obscure to U.S. players) example: Joe's visor going down and faceplate shutting during boss battles and the overall design of his costume are homages to the 1977 toku Kaiketsu Zubat.
- The way the bosses explode over and over may be a nod to Space Sheriff Shaider.
- Jasmine's transformation phrase ("Jushin") seems to be one for Jushin Liger.
- The powers are shout-outs to film techniques. Slow Mo is obvious, taken from slowing down parts for dramatic effect. Mach Speed is used in television mostly, used most of the time for clean-the-room montages in sitcoms. Zoom In is from the old school horror flicks, in which the camera would quickly zoom close to the face of some frightening person with a menacing gaze. Replay is based on the repeat cut, also known as the double/triple take.
- Each level has a movie (or game) poster for it, based off of several real-world posters, as well as the name being similar to a movie title.
- In order for the first game, they are: Dracula (Joe The Hero), King Kong (Some Like It Red Hot), Jaws (2,000,000 Under the Sea), The Hunt for Red October (The Viewtiful Escape), Devil May Cry (Midnight Thunderboy), Gladiator (The Magnificent Five), Star Wars (Joe & Silvia).
- For the second game, we get: Ten-Million Years B.C., Viewtiful Heroes and the Statue of Doom, Memoir of an Invincible Monster, Thunder Boy Lives Twice, Ice Edge, Do Androids Dream of Romantic Scene?, and Starship Viewties.
- If Joe's last name is indeed the same as Jet's, it might be a reference to the movie Meet Joe Black.
- Even weirder, his moniker might be a reference to, of all things, a pivotal American novel about the life of a poor, homely and earless, but beloved, old mongrel.
- Even weirder, his moniker might be a reference to, of all things, a pivotal American novel about the life of a poor, homely and earless, but beloved, old mongrel
- In the first game (but only in the Nintendo GameCube version), Joe will whistle a few notes from the famous Super Mario Bros. theme if you have him bounce a Shocking Pink for a few seconds before throwing it.
- The intro shown at the start of "36 Chambers of Viewtiful" from the second game is an homage to the logo of Golden Harvest (now Orange Sky Golden Harvest), a film production studio and distributor based in Hong Kong that dominated Hong Kong action cinema in the 1970s and 1980s. It also helped popularize that genre in overseas markets, especially films by or starring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung.
- MADOW is chock-full of 'em. Gadget-Cop is RoboCop; Killer Hands is Edward Scissorhands with less creepy/Johnny Depp; Alter Woman is a homage of the various size-changing characters in Comic Books, but is primarily a nod towards Ultraman (note the similar name); and the Meta Rangers are an Affectionate Parody of Sentai/Kamen Rider (as stated above).
- The second level in Double Trouble has one to Resident Evil 2, complete with the lobby music from the police department.
