History NoCelebritiesWereHarmed / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/BlackCat'' features a villainous Creator/BruceWillis lookalike (with a scar and stubble) in chapter 45 of the manga.

* ''Manga/ChoujinSensen'' have two characters based on real life political figures: Kabe Seizou (Abe Shinzo) and Hillary Easton [[UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton (Hillary Clinton)]].
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''
** Kenshiro has traits drawn from Creator/MelGibson, Creator/BruceLee, and Creator/SylvesterStallone.
** For the first half of the series, only a few characters had explicit celebrity resemblance (The Toki-impostor, Amiba, was very clearly [[Franchise/{{Highlander}} Christopher Lambert]], while Toki himself was equally obviously UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} except with face-melting martial arts skills), though there were more than a handful of characters who were spiritual composites of several famous figures, similar to Ken.
** In the second series, quite a few characters were overtly modeled after well-known pop-icons at the time, with characters resembling Creator/DolphLundgren (Falco), [[Music/{{Queen}} Freddie Mercury]] (Han), Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger (Solia), Road Warriors Hawk and Animal (the Harn Brothers), and many more.
* Mercenary Tao in ''Manga/DragonBall'' is a dead ringer for Sean Connery in ''Film/{{Zardoz}}''... sans the red panties.
** WordOfGod says that Tao was designed in the likeness of Creator/YuenWah.
* In ''Manga/HoneyAndClover'', the side character "Peter Lucas", who directs the film on which Morita and helps him steal back his father's company, is an obvious parody of director Creator/GeorgeLucas.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has several examples. Jango from the Captain Kuro arc is obviously the late Music/MichaelJackson. Brook (when he was alive) looks suspiciously like Slash.
** The Admirals Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu were based on Japanese actors (Yusaku Matsuda, Kunie Tanaka, and Bunta Sugawara respectively) and some prominent roles they played. Likewise, Admiral Fujitora is based on Shintaro Katsu, and his role as Zatoichi.
** Franky is based off Creator/JimCarrey as Film/AceVentura with ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'s arms and addiction to Coke (or whatever Coca-Cola equivalent they have in the ''OP'' world).
** PsychoElectro Eneru is allegedly based on Music/{{Eminem}}, of whom Oda is a fan.
** Not to mention Spandam, who bears a remarkable similarity to Wrestling/MickFoley during his "Mankind" days in the WWE.
** There's also Ivankov, who's basically Creator/TimCurry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter of ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''.
** Jango is actually two celebrities in one--his mannerisms are clearly based on Music/MichaelJackson, but if one looks closely, his face actually better resembles [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Steven Tyler]] than it does Jackson (minus, of course, the heart-shaped eyes, as revealed in a manga omake).
** [[EnsembleDarkhorse Trafalgar Law]] looks like ''The Pickup Artist'' of all people.
** Vice-Admiral Garp's right hand man is based off Creator/HumphreyBogart. He's even called Bogart.
** Sanji's appearance is based off of Creator/SteveBuscemi as he appears in Film/ReservoirDogs, according to WordOfGod.
* [[DubPersonalityChange Unlike the Japanese original]], the dub of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' mines celebrity impersonations for all they're worth, especially for Duel Spirits. Neo-Spacian Ground Mole is Art Carney; the Ojama Trio (Green, Yellow and Black) are an approximation of the Three Stooges, Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle is essentially a really poor Creator/WoodyAllen, and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth is possibly the worst Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger the world has ever heard.
** On the subject of Crystal Beasts, does anyone else think that the Topaz Tiger is a feeble Creator/SeanConnery?
*** Pretty much all of the Crystal Beasts were based on famous movie celebrities (Sapphire Pegasus seems to be channelling Series/MisterEd, Cobalt Eagle says at one point "[[Series/GetSmart Missed it by that much]]" and Amethyst Cat is [[Series/Batman1966 Julie Newmar]]).
** It's present in the original series, too. Pegasus' love of Toon monsters is easily explained when you consider that his favorite movie (in this case, "dub" or not) appears to be ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''? (Check out his email avatar sometime!)
*** It was a fictional cartoon called "Funny Bunny" (in the "dub") where the main character was supposed to be an {{Expy}} of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, but same idea. Indeed, the name given to "Funny Bunny"'s rival is referred to (again, by 4Kids) as "Ruff Gruff [=McDog=]", a name clearly based on [=McGruff=] the Crime Dog.
** Doctor "Stein", the incredibly boring teacher/villain in one episode of the series. "Jaden?[[note]]"Judai" in the Japanese original.[[/note]] Mueller? Mueller? [[Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff Mueller]]?"
** Duel Scientist Eisenstein, who even gets Einstein's classic tongue sticking out poster. Yes, Einstein has apparently devoted himself to card games in this universe. The funny part is that there was a famous mathematician named Eisenstein in real life.
* If you wanna see impressions mined for all they're worth, check out the English dubs of all the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' series. Many of the various non-main Digimon are meant to sound like celebrities from the heyday of the voice actors' childhoods. Just two examples: Digitamamon is Creator/PeterLorre (yes, Lorre again). Etemon is Music/{{Elvis|Presley}}. There're more.
** Two other noteworthy examples are Impmon, who sounds exactly like Joe Pesci, and Piedmon, who is made to sound like a higher-pitched Creator/TimCurry. Incidentally, both are voiced by Creator/DerekStephenPrince.
** One fan actually compiled a [[http://digipedia.db-destiny.net/misc/trivia.htm#2 LIST of all of them.]] About 24 total.
* Another dub (specifically, 4Kids) example: an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' featured Dr. Quackenpoker, who was such a blatant [[Creator/MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]] parody that the original animators were in on the joke too, because he even ''looked'' the part. Not to mention an early recurring character named Speilbunk, a very self-congratulatory film director.

* Kaito and Gackto of ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' are both drawn from famous male J-artists, their names being the biggest clue.

* One minor character in ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is a serial killer named Peter Jürgens with a severe FreudianExcuse, whom Johan manipulated into killing one set of his foster parents. Jürgens is a dead ringer for real-life serial killer Edmund Kemper, who also had rather grievous parental issues (his mother was one of his last victims).
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'':
** Japan periodically has scheduled blackouts to conserve electricity. One chapter has this, but has the Tokyo Electric Company portrayed as TheBridge, complete with BridgeBunnies and the director dressed up as TheCaptain, spouting stock lines from military anime. The disclaimer at the bottom reads:
--->''"This story is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons or organizations is purely coincidental. And I doubt the Chief of Electricity has such a fancy costume in reality."''
** Another manga chapter involves Keroro and Tamama spying on manga writers, and features a cameo by what can be assumed to be the spirit of the late, great Creator/OsamuTezuka (we don't see his face, but one can make out his trademark pipe and beret, and he kicks over a Hyoutan-Tsugi as he departs).
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''
** In a flashback, Will Zeppeli looked more than a bit like Creator/SylvesterStallone.
** And in ''Steel Ball Run'', Johnny bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Axl Rose, as seen [[http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7525/johnnyrosemu3.jpg here]].
** Yoshikage Kira looks and dresses like Music/DavidBowie. His first appearance particularly brings to mind Bowie's "Serious Moonlight" look.
* Several of the villains in ''Anime/NerimaDaikonBrothers'' are based on celebrities, including an alien based on a popular Japanese psychic, a thinly veiled parody of Music/MichaelJackson (including a nose that's always falling off, an outfit based on Literature/PeterPan, and a group of mummy villains that do a dance similar to the famous ''Thriller'' video), and Japan's prime minister at the time.

* ''Manga/AirGear'' had U.S. Presidential candidate "John Omaha", an ersatz UsefulNotes/BarackObama, appear in one story. Omaha has reappeared in a storyline as President-Elect, where he [[spoiler:somehow ended up [[FreakyFridayFlip switching minds with]] [[BetaCouple Emily]]. Did we mention that he's an expert skater?]]

* In episode 2 of the ''Anime/PrettySammy'' OAV, Standardsoft chairman Bif Standard is a parody of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
* The author of ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' admitted that Cobra's character design was largely based on French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, who specialized during the 70's in tough, charming and witty roles.
* In ''Anime/StreetFighterIIV'', Nash's appearance doesn't look like the games (the show was made before ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha''); instead, he holds a likeness with the French actor Creator/JeanReno.

* One of Sakuragi's friends - the one with the mustache - has the voice, {{Catch Phrase}}s and the look of deposed (and as of May 2010 running again for) President Joseph Estrada in the ''Manga/SlamDunk!'' Filipino dub.
** Another Filipino dub joke - this time in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' - has someone telling Takamura that he looks like an alcohol salesman while wearing a boxing referee's outfit. This is a reference to Carlos Padilla, Jr. - Takamura's retort is also a blatant nod to the alcohol commercial's tagline. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5CE8ZypAM This is the commercial]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8oBSaaqfM and this is the scene where the]] ShoutOut occurs. (Judging by the subtitles, this might also be a {{Woolseyism}}.)

* In the classic seventies shoujo manga ''Manga/FromEroicaWithLove'', main character Dorian Red Gloria and three of his henchmen are physically modeled after the members of Music/LedZeppelin. (In fact, the henchmen are all named after band members: James (Jimmy Page), Bonham (John Bonham) and John Paul (John Paul Jones.) Leaving, of course, Robert Plant as Dorian.)
* This happens all throughout ''Anime/CowboyBebop'':
** In "Heavy Metal Queen", the fugitive, [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], bears a suspicious resemblance to Creator/WoodyAllen
** "Radical Edward" has a reference to Uri Geller, the (in-)famous SpoonBending Hungarian-Israeli celebrity entertainer, with a character named "Uri Kellerman"
** Coffy is modeled after Creator/PamGrier and named after one of her films, ''Film/{{Coffy}}''.
** Shaft is modeled after Creator/RichardRoundtree's portrayal of [[Film/{{Shaft}} John Shaft]].
** Doohan is modeled after director [[Film/RebelWithoutACause Nicholas Ray]].
** Piccaro Calvino is modeled after Music/TheNotoriousBIG.
** Asimov is modeled after Creator/AntonioBanderas from ''Film/{{Desperado}}''.
** Katrina is modeled after Creator/SalmaHayek's character from the same film.
** Whitney Hagas Matsumoto is modeled after Creator/GeorgeClooney.
** The villains from "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui" are modeled after Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/JohnBelushi from ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.
** "Teddy Bomber" is modeled after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski]], the [=UNAbomber=].
** "Londes", the leader of the Scratch cult in "Brain Scratch", is based off "Heaven's Gate" cult leader Marshal Herff Applewhite.
* ''Okawari Boy Starzan S'', a 1984 comedy/action anime by Creator/TatsunokoProduction, is ''rife'' with this. Apart from the series itself's obvious nods to ''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'', the female lead, Jun Yagami, is named after Junko Yagami, an actual Japanese pop idol of the era. There's also a character named Evlis who is a fairly obvious Music/ElvisPresley takeoff. It was theorized by some that the plethora of celebrity homages was part of what kept the series off home video in Japan for years... until the series finally ''received'' a Blu-Ray release in 2017.
* ''Anime/ErgoProxy'': The Great Amy Lee Debacle. The secondary main-character of Ergo Proxy, Re-l Mayer, is the [[http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2508/ergoproxyamylee.jpg spitting image]] of Music/{{Evanescence}}'s vocalist, Amy Lee. It is unclear if it was actually intended or not, but many fans agree the startling similarity is just too much to be coincidental.
* Many of the characters in ''Manga/{{BECK}}'' are based on actual musicians. Chiba, the punk/rap vocalist for BECK, is based in attitude, style, and appearance on [[Music/RageAgainstTheMachine Zack de la Rocha]]. While Taira, the bassist, possesses much of the style and mannerisms of Flea from Music/RedHotChiliPeppers (who just happen to be [[WriteWhoYouKnow the creator's favorite band]].)
* In the dub of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Might Guy sounds only a little bit like Elvis sometimes, but it's just enough to make you wonder...
** Gai sounds like Elvis in the dub? I want you guys to see and hear Chikara. Even Word of God says it: His appearance is similar to many Elvis impersonators. Particularly those that impersonate Elvis's Las Vegas years, when he put on a great deal of weight. In the English dub, his voice is based on Elvis Presley.
** Killer Bee was supposedly inspired by the Music/WuTangClan.
* In the ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'', The Big Cheese's dub voice is obviously Creator/PaulLynde like Escargoon in Kirby, it's made funnier by Big Cheese's more than questionable lifestyle.
* ''Noritaka''. Its final arc, and arguably the worst one, features a streetfighting contest, and the main character will confront Sting, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and some more celebrities. They're called by their names, with little or no variations (e.g., Sting is a [[Music/ThePolice Police]] man...)

* ''Afganisu Tan'' is pretty much an exact replica of "Afghan Girl" from the famous National Geographic cover.
* ''Manga/DFrag'' has teacher Shawn Conecone, who's Creator/SeanConnery as Franchise/IndianaJones.
* In ''Manga/AnimalLand'', Llama Akiko is an obvious parody of Wada Akiko, a famous Japanese singer and actress.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki seems to resemble a deformed version of Dustin Hoffman, with his powers being a reference to Hoffman's role in ''The Perfume''.
* In the The Mexican Spanish dub of ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa Road to 2002'', the announcer, at least in the later episodes, sounds a lot like the famous Mexican sports announcer Enrique "El Pelon" Bermudez, complete with his famous [[LargeHam trademark way to describing the matches]].
** And about ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', several professional players in the series shown are pretty much [[{{Expy}} expies]] for famous real ones, only with their names slightly changed to avoid personal image copyright conflicts. For example, Rivaldo + Raul = Rivaul.
* Kind of a special case in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'', since there's no representations of famous boxers here (or at least [[{{Expy}} existent ones]]), but there're various real techniques that are represented in the series and it even mentioned real boxers who made them.
* In ''Manga/SlamDunk'', all uniforms are representations of real NBA teams, starting with Shohoku, a ShoutOut of Chicago Bulls. Also, because of this, some characters are compared to real players, like Hanamichi Sakuragi with Dennis Rodman (because of his [[DelinquentHair red hair]]).
* ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'': [[HotBlooded Baki]] [[DelinquentHair Hanma]], is based on Japanese MMA fighter Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba.

* In ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'', some of the characters are based on real-life UsefulNotes/FormulaOne drivers, most notably Knight Shoemach, who is based on Michael Schumacher. He even wears the yellow Benetton Formula outfit in the last 2 episodes of the TV series, the team Schumacher was in a few months after his F1 debut.
* One of the biggest problems of Geneon's dub of [[Anime/LupinIIIRedJacket the second Lupin III anime series]] is the fact that it's a GagDub that makes it look as though this series, which first aired in 1977, takes place in "the present day" (in this case, the 2000s), with references to then-recent pop culture and events. This comes to a head in the dub of [[Anime/TheSecretOfMamo the first movie]], where the U.S. president is turned into a George W. Bush soundalike.[[note]]Not only that, the dub also references to the war on terrorism.[[/note]].
* The manga ''Manga/SDGundamMushaBanchoFuunroku'' has a minor character, news reporter Crystal Tatsugawa. She's based off of real-life Japanese television announcer and news presenter Christel Takigawa.
* From ''Manga/BlackClover'', Gordon Agrippa's appearance is based off of Music/MarilynManson.
* In ''Manga/KaijuGirlCaramelise'', Kuroe Akaishi's mother Rinko is obsessed with a JPop singer named Mayumi Hamasaki, a fictionalized version of Music/AyumiHamasaki.
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': A flashback chapter has the Nakano quintuplets playing for a soccer female team, whose (unnamed) coach is a very blatant cartoonish version of Diego Armando Maradona during his player days.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'':
** Relena Darlian is modeled on Creator/AudreyHepburn, [[WholeCostumeReference right down to the Queen of the World dress]] being lifted directly from ''Film/RomanHoliday''.
** In interviews, the show's staff outright said that Heero Yuy is modeled on Japanese actress [[http://www.jap.co.jp/yuki/ Yuki Uchida]].

* [[{{Macekre}} Unlike the Japanese original]], the dub of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' mines celebrity impersonations for all they're worth, especially for Duel Spirits. Neo-Spacian Ground Mole is Art Carney; the Ojama Trio (Green, Yellow and Black) are an approximation of the Three Stooges, Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle is essentially a really poor Creator/WoodyAllen, and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth is possibly the worst Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger the world has ever heard.

** And about ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', several professional players in the series shown are pretty much expies for famous real ones, only with their names slightly changed to avoid personal image copyright conflicts. For example, Rivaldo + Raul = Rivaul.

* ''Manga/SgtFrog''Z:

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has several examples. Jango from the Captain Kuro arc is obviously the late Music/MichaelJackson. The Admirals Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu were based on Japanese actors (Yusaku Matsuda, Kunie Tanaka, and Bunta Sugawara respectively). Franky is Film/AceVentura with ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'s arms and addiction to Coke (or whatever Coca-Cola equivalent they have in the ''OP'' world). Brook (when he was alive) looks suspiciously like Slash. And many more.

** It goes on. WordOfGod says that Franky is based off Creator/JimCarrey as ''Film/AceVentura''. Each of the Three Admirals is based off a famous Japanese actor known for playing gangsters. [[EnsembleDarkhorse Trafalgar Law]] looks like ''The Pickup Artist'' of all people. It's practically a RunningGag at this point.

* TheProtagonist of ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'', [[HotBlooded Baki]] [[DelinquentHair Hanma]], is based on Japanese MMA fighter Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba.

* The manga ''Manga/SDGundamMushaBanchoFuunroku'' has a minor character, news reporter Crystal Tatsugawa. She's based off of real-life Japanese television announcer and news presenter Christel Takigawa.

** Yuri Plisetsky is a GenderFlip of Yulia Lipnitskaya, their most notable similarity being their intimidating looks.

* ''Anime/YuriOnIce'' bases many of its characters off real-life skaters:
** Yuri Katsuki's career history is a massive reference to Tastuki Machida. In terms of appearance, without his glasses on, he looks like Creator/YuzuruHanyu.

** Otabek Altin is a direct reference to Denis Ten. Both are from Kazakhstan.

** Emperor Gaiseric, the legendary founder of The Kingdom of Midland is based of Charlemange and the Gothic king Geiseric.

* ''Anime/ErgoProxy'': The Great Amy Lee Debacle. The secondary main-character of Ergo Proxy, Re-l Mayer, is the [[http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2508/ergoproxyamylee.jpg spitting image]] of Music/{{Evanescence}}'s vocalist, Creator/AmyLee. It is unclear if it was actually intended or not, but many fans agree the startling similarity is just too much to be coincidental.

* ''Manga/AfganisuTan'' is pretty much an exact replica of "Afghan Girl" from the famous National Geographic cover.

* Japan periodically has scheduled blackouts to conserve electricity. One chapter of ''Manga/SgtFrog'' has this, but has the Tokyo Electric Company portrayed as TheBridge, complete with BridgeBunnies and the director dressed up as TheCaptain, spouting stock lines from military anime. The disclaimer at the bottom reads:
-->''"This story is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons or organizations is purely coincidental. And I doubt the Chief of Electricity has such a fancy costume in reality."''
** Another manga chapter involves Keroro and Tamama spying on manga writers, and features a cameo by what can be assumed to be the spirit of the late, great Creator/OsamuTezuka (we don't see his face, but one can make out his trademark pipe and beret, and he kicks over a Gourd-Patch pig as he departs).

* TheProtagonist of ''Manga/GrapplerBaki'', [[HotBlooded Baki]] [[DelinquentHair Hanma]], is based on Japanese MMA fighter Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba.

** Yuri Katsuki's career history is a massive reference to Tastuki Machida. In terms of appearance, without his glasses on, he looks like Yuzuru Hanyu.

* ''[[Anime/KirbyOfTheStars Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]'' gives King Dedede (a fat blue penguin) a slightly off voice and mannerisms that obviously intends to evoke WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn, with occasional lines made to sound like things UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush might say. His minion Escargoon is basically Creator/PaulLynde, which is even funnier when you realize that Escargoon is in fact gay.

* The dub of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' mines the ever-loving hell out of celebrity impersonations, especially for Duel Spirits. Neo-Spacian Ground Mole is Art Carney; the Ojama Trio (Green, Yellow and Black) are an approximation of the Three Stooges, Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle is essentially a really poor Creator/WoodyAllen, and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth is possibly the worst Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger the world has ever heard.

** It's present in the original series, too. Pegasus' love of Toon monsters is easily explained when you consider that his favorite movie appears to be ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''? (Check out his email avatar sometime!)
*** It was a fictional cartoon called "Funny Bunny" where the main character was supposed to be an {{Expy}} of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, but same idea.
** Doctor Stein, the incredibly boring teacher/villain in one episode of the series. "Jaden? Mueller? Mueller? [[Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff Mueller]]?"

* If you wanna see the everloving hell mined out of impressions, check out the English dubs of all the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' series. Many of the various non-main Digimon are meant to sound like celebrities from the heyday of the voice actors' childhoods. Just two examples: Digitamamon is Creator/PeterLorre (yes, Lorre again). Etemon is Music/{{Elvis|Presley}}. There're more.

* Another dub example: an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' featured Dr. Quackenpoker, who was such a blatant [[Creator/MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]] parody that the original animators were in on the joke too, because he even ''looked'' the part. Not to mention an early recurring character named Speilbunk, a very self-congratulatory film director.

*** Pretty much all of the Crystal Beasts were based on famous movie celebrities (Sapphire Pegasus seems to be channelling Series/MisterEd, Cobalt Eagle says at one point "[[Series/GetSmart Missed it by that much]]" and Amethyst Cat is [[Series/{{Batman}} Julie Newmar]]).

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' has a number of characters who look suspiciously like known actors or other noteworthy individuals, some of whom have affiliations with superhero movies. Examples include Ben Jackson (Creator/ForestWhitaker), Karina's teacher (Creator/StevenSpielberg), Karina's manager (Creator/RobertDowneyJr), and the Mayor (UsefulNotes/BarackObama). Barnaby's father very intentionally looks like Film/{{Batman}} -era Creator/MichaelKeaton. Barnaby's nanny is Creator/RobinWilliams from ''Film/MrsDoubtfire''. Antonio is based on his namesake Creator/AntonioBanderas and Nathan on [[Series/RupaulsDragRace [=RuPaul=]]].

** Shaft is modeled after Richard Roundtree's portrayal of [[Film/{{Shaft}} John Shaft]].

** Emperor Kanishka of the Kushan Empire is based on... [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanishka Emperor Kanishka of the Kushan Empire!]]

* TheProtagonist of ''Manga/GrapplerBaki'', [[HotBlooded Baki]] [[DelinquentHair Hanma]], is based on Japanese MMA fighter Creator/KazushiSakuraba.

* ''Noritaka''. Its final arc, and arguably the worst one, features a streetfighting contest, and the main character will confront Sting, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and some more celebrities. They're called by their names, with little or no variations (e.g., Sting is a Police man...)
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' has a number of characters who look suspiciously like known actors or other noteworthy individuals, some of whom have affiliations with superhero movies. Examples include Ben Jackson (Forest Whitaker), Karina's teacher (Creator/StevenSpielberg), Karina's manager (Creator/RobertDowneyJr), and the Mayor (UsefulNotes/BarackObama). Barnaby's father very intentionally looks like Film/{{Batman}} -era Creator/MichaelKeaton. Barnaby's nanny is Creator/RobinWilliams from ''Film/MrsDoubtfire''. Antonio is based on his namesake Creator/AntonioBanderas and Nathan on [[Series/RupaulsDragRace [=RuPaul=]]].

* This happens occasionally in ''Anime/CowboyBebop''--for instance, in "Heavy Metal Queen", the fugitive, [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]], bears a suspicious resemblance to Creator/WoodyAllen, or nearly explicit reference to Uri Geller, the (in-)famous SpoonBending Hungarian-Israeli celebrity entertainer (In the anime, the character is called "Uri Gellersan", most likely alluding the [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics Japanese honorific "-san"]], depicted as a slightly crazed expert on paranormal phenomena, aliens and stuff like that).
** Happens quite a bit, actually:
*** Coffy is modeled after Creator/PamGrier and named after one of her films, ''Film/{{Coffy}}''.
*** Shaft is modeled after Richard Roundtree's portrayal of [[Film/{{Shaft}} John Shaft]].
*** Doohan is modeled after director [[Film/RebelWithoutACause Nicholas Ray]].
*** Piccaro Calvino is modeled after Music/TheNotoriousBIG.
*** Asimov is modeled after Creator/AntonioBanderas from ''Film/{{Desperado}}''.
*** Katrina is modeled after Creator/SalmaHayek's character from the same film.
*** Whitney Hagas Matsumoto is modeled after Creator/GeorgeClooney.
*** The villains from "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui" are modeled after Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/JohnBelushi from ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.
*** "Teddy Bomber" is modeled after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski]], the [=UNAbomber=].

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' has a number of minor characters who, for one reason or another, look suspiciously like known actors or other noteworthy individuals. Examples include Ben Jackson (Forest Whitaker), Karina's teacher (Creator/StevenSpielberg), Karina's manager (Creator/RobertDowneyJr), and the Mayor (UsefulNotes/BarackObama).
** Not just ''minor'' characters. [[http://daeva-neesan.dreamwidth.org/464424.html According to some people]] Antonio is based on his namesake Creator/AntonioBanderas and Nathan on [[Series/RupaulsDragRace [=RuPaul=]]].