History ShoutOut / PacificRim

* The whole plot point of mechas that need to be piloted in pairs to fight creatures coming from beyond the Earth, with the male main character partnering with a female directly related to the high command, evokes the plot of the ''VideoGame/{{Devadasy}}'' video game and {{OVA}} series. The sequel would expand the similarities with a cadet pilot school.

** a character gets [[spoiler:EatenAlive from behind in a completely unexpected manner]] while having a conversation with another character. Up until this point there has been little indication, apart from a throwaway comedy line, that the Kaiju [[spoiler: find people tasty]].

** The leader of the good guys is a dark-skinned guy (Indian in ''Alternative'', Black Brtish in ''Rim'') who gives a rousing speech while the robots are launching on the final mission.

* Two references to Anime/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind:

* So obscure it might be a coincidence: Newton has a lot in common with ''Manga/{{Dorohedoro}}'''s Dr. Kasukabe: both are smaller-than-average [[MadScientist over-enthusiastic scientists]] with short hair, glasses, elaborate tattoos and [[AlienAutopsy a really hands-on approach]] to studying beings that can easily kill them, to the point of [[spoiler: mind-melding with / ''marrying'' the enemy, respectively]] and their research does a lot of good [[spoiler: seeing into the mind of the kaiju / knowing how evil magic-users work]] but also causes a lot of damage [[spoiler: the kaiju can read ''his'' mind / unwittingly helping the Big Bad become powerful]]. There's also [[http://www.mangainn.com/manga/chapter/61688_dorohedoro-chapter-69 this parody ]] of [[http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/11/01/science-of-godzilla-2010/ kaiju anatomy]] for Kasukabe's [[spoiler: wife, a magic-user who became a devil and can get of her "skin" for a little while]].

* Blink and you'll miss it, but the list of previous Kaiju Hermann consults when trying to decipher Mako's last message includes many classic Japanese movie monsters.

* The film is essentially an [[SpiritualLicensee adaptation]] of ''Anime/{{Godannar}}'' , which also features a twin-pilot robot controlled by an older man who lost his partner in battle and young Japanese woman who was saved from a giant terraforming beast that rose from the ocean by a giant robot and then dedicated her life to becoming a pilot despite her guardian's disapproval. Said robot is also powered by a giant spinning turbine in the middle of its chest and uses detachable air transport to reach its deployment zone. Finally, the fact that there is an international team of robot pilots, with two of the teams being of the same origin as the ones from ''Godannar'' (One from Russia and another from China, Gipsy Danger's pilots are a composite of the Japanese and American teams, and the Australian pilots can be construed as [[ExPy expies]] of the UK Team).

* The film is essentially an [[SpiritualLicensee adaptation]] of ''Anime/ShinkonGattaiGodannar'' , which also features a twin-pilot robot controlled by an older man who lost his partner in battle and young Japanese woman who was saved from a giant terraforming beast that rose from the ocean by a giant robot and then dedicated her life to becoming a pilot despite her guardian's disapproval. Said robot is also powered by a giant spinning turbine in the middle of its chest and uses detachable air transport to reach its deployment zone. Finally, the fact that there is an international team of robot pilots, with two of the teams being of the same origin as the ones from ''Godannar'' (One from Russia and another from China, Gipsy Danger's pilots are a composite of the Japanese and American teams, and the Australian pilots can be construed as [[ExPy expies]] of the UK Team).

* The Mega-Kaiju in the sequel bears a noticable resemblance to the Bewilderbeast from ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' especially viewed from the front.

!Kaiju movies

!Anime and manga

!Other references

!!Films - Animated

!!Films - Live Action

!!Literature

!!Live Action TV

!!Music

!!Tabletop Games

!!Video Games

!!Other

* Striker Eureka's name is a reference to Australia's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion Eureka Rebellion]].

* The ''Uprising'' arc of new, unmanned mechas built by a corporation that threaten to leave obsolete the current program ([[spoiler:and that eventually go rogue due to sabotage by a member of the good guys's group who is secretly working for faction that seeks the end of humanity as we know it]]) comes directly from the Jet Alone.

* The Kaiju blood had poisionous effects, just like Adam's blood contaminated seas and turned them red in ''Eva''.

** The Jaegers are piloted in the same manner in ''Film/RobotJox'', except they require two pilots.
** The shot of Gypsy Danger slamming his fist into his palm is taken [[http://i.imgur.com/oHKAO.gif almost shot for shot]] from ''Film/RobotJox''.

* When the category 5 kaiju emerges from the rift, the musical motif is very reminiscent of the motif that plays when Godzilla rises from the ocean.

* Mako being rescued by Stacker in the flashback is reminiscent of Setsuna's first scene in ''{{Anime/Gundam00}}''. "I must become Jaeger!", anyone?

** The shot of Gypsy Danger smacking it's fist into it's palm is taken [[http://i.imgur.com/oHKAO.gif almost shot for shot]] from ''Film/RobotJox''.

* ''Uprising'' reveals Tokyo has been remodeled as "Neo-Tokyo", fortunately not as Tokyo-3.

* Leatherback is essentially ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'''s Sammael with a flatter face and bigger arms. He's even got a tentacle mane.

* The Knifehead kaiju looks an awful lot like Guiron from the ''Franchise/{{Gamera}}'' films.

* The Kaiju-Jeager drones bear some resemblance a mix of Elites and Hunters of {{Franchise/Halo}}.

** They also bear some resemblance to the Elites of [[Franchise/Halo Halo]], particularly the mandibles for mouths.

* The Mega-Kaiju in the sequel bears a noticable resemblance to the Bewilderbeast from [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2]] especially viewed from the front.

* The Mega-Kaiju in ''Uprising'' bears some resemblance to Dehaka from [[VideoGame/StarcraftII]] and [[VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm]] .

!!!General

!!!''{{Franchise/Godzilla}}''

!!!General

!!!''Franchise/{{Gundam}}''

!!!''Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion''

* It's a bit of a stretch, but there's one crowd scene where there are two helmeted UN troopers standing to the right of Stacker Pentecost's shoulder while he delivers Important Plot. These are the only two helmeted guys clearly visible in the scene - one white guy and one black guy - and they look suspiciously like the two UN troopers guarding the base in the opening scenes of ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative''. There are several other distinct parallels, including:
** the Kaiju are [[spoiler: bioweapons created by a race of silicon-based life forms]],
** the "blue and glowy scanning-microscope image" aesthetic of the aliens,
** the leading couple pilot a twin-seat weapon,
** like Sumika, Mako has gone through extreme trauma which causes [[spoiler: a berserker outburst at an inopportune moment]],
** a character gets [[spoiler:EatenAlive from behind in a completely unexpected manner]] while having a conversation with another character. Up until this point there has been little indication, apart from a throwaway comedy line, that the Kaiju [[spoiler: find people tasty]],
** the good guys are part of a project which is going to be cancelled by the suits in favour of a different, and less salutary, alternative,
** the leader of the good guys is a dark-skinned guy (Indian in ''Alternative'', Black Brtish in ''Rim'') who gives a rousing speech while the robots are launching on the final mission.

* Del Toro himself admitted, in a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5va1sepKKo Japanese TV program]], that Coyote Tango and Cherno Alpha are inspired, respectively, by the Guncannon and a Zaku from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', specially the former one. Specifically, it appears to be based on the RX-77-01 version from ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin'', with its 3-clawed hands, larger cannons and blue visor.

* There's also a creature from Wayne Barlowe's ''Expedition'' called a Keeled Slider that has an uncanny resemblance.

* The Jaeger AI is voiced by Creator/EllenMcLain, with Creator/{{Valve|Software}}'s blessing; The [[NeverTrustATrailer trailers]] also feature her rendition of SelfDemonstrating/GLaDOS from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.
** Gipsy's Gravity Sling is basically [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 Gordon Freeman]]'s Gravity Gun writ large.
* Scrapper looks a lot like [[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran's armor]], and can ball-up and roll around too.
* The shoulder pauldrons on the drift suits are reminiscent of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' [[ShouldersOfDoom space marine pauldrons]].

* The helmets worn by the Australian and American teams have a clearly [[Music/DaftPunk French]] design to them.
* The pilot's ''suits'' both follow a similar design and are even suited up in similar fashion to the suits used by the characters of the ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' series.
** The suits bear an even greater resemblance to the armor found in ''Franchise/MassEffect''.

* Newton and Gottlieb's names are an obvious reference to another very famous pair of occasionally-feuding scientists, Newton and Leibniz.
* [[spoiler: In Mako's flashback, Pentecost's]] suit looks a lot like either [[{{Franchise/Halo}} UNSC MJOLNIR armour]], or [[{{VideoGame/Crysis}} a helmetless Nanosuit]].
** Gipsy Danger's golden visor also resembles that of Master Chief. Note that Del Toro was considered to direct the canceled ''Halo'' movie.
* Newton [[spoiler: being found by the kaiju in the underground bunker]] is similar to a scene in ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife''; incidentally, both Newton and Flick the ant are inventors with good ideas that have bad consequences (see Flick's [[NoodleIncident "tunnel-within-a-tunnel project"]] and Newton [[spoiler: drifting into the kaiju's mind and accidentally tipping off the rest of the kaiju "fleet"]]).

* [[MissionControl Tendo Choi]] has a VERY similar outfit to [[Series/DoctorWho the 11th Doctor]].
* When we first see one of Gipsy Danger's stat monitors, [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the left half is green and the right half is purple.]] Which is also about two people linking their minds to punch monsters.

* One of the Jaegers mentioned in the supplementary material is called [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Eden Assassin.]]

** Alternatively, [[Franchise/MassEffect the geth.]]
* When Raleigh activates Gipsy Danger's nuclear reactor to [[spoiler:overload and destroy the Anteverse,]] the switch he uses to do so looks a lot like the power switches shown in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.
** Also, Gipsy Danger's arrival is heralded by a very loud horn, much like the Reapers, though less terrifying. Apparently, Raleigh plays it to intimidate the Kaiju, much like how the Reapers do the exact same thing. It's noted that supposedly all the Jaegers have a foghorn to intimidate the kaiju or warn nearby civilians, such as the boat.
** In fact, Gipsy Danger's design can evoke the image of an armoured Human Reaper (or a Human Reaper donning N7 armour--[[NightmareFuel think about it]]), what with the red reactor core resembling a Reaper "eye". It would roughly be around the same size as well.

* Striker Eureka's guns are somewhat reminiscent of the [[VideoGame/StarcraftII Odin/Thor's]] barrage.
* In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot during the opening montage, two Jaeger pilots are shown as guest stars on a talk show called "The Cullen Show." Possible reference to Creator/PeterCullen, perhaps?
** The pilots might be (or at least look a lot like) the Bryant twins, a doubles tennis team who are [[TwinTelepathy practically mind-melded]] (they became slightly less [[SingleMindedTwins single-minded]] when one got married).
* [[FreezeFrameBonus A street sign in]] the Hong Kong Bone Slums reads "Tull Street", the name taken from producer Thomas Tull.
* "Chasing The Rabit" brings ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' to mind.

!!!''Film/IndependenceDay''

* The aliens in both films are PlanetLooters who have wiped out the inhabitants of countless other planets in order to harvest their resources, and now have their sights set on Earth. Only here, instead of using city-sized destroyer ships, they attack from beneath the ocean via manufactured monsters. Hell, they even look similar to the ''Independence Day'' aliens.
* The BigGood's RousingSpeech near the end. "Today, we are canceling the apocalypse!" / "Today, we celebrate our [[TitleDrop Independence Day!]]"
* In both films, a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} scientist telepathically communicates with the aliens and discovers their plan.
* In both films, the good guys use a Trojan horse strategy to bypass the alien defenses and nuke them from within their base.

* Mankind is assaulted by giant monsters that were created by a precursor race, so it created their own mecha-monsters to battle them. Said mechas are controlled by a neural interface whose workings are related to the pilot's emotional experiences. ''Pacific Rim'' or ''Evangelion''?
* Mankind's mecha program is directed by a stern man who is the father figure to a young Japanese woman with (at least some) blue hair who becomes one of the pilots and develops an emotional bond with a male protagonist with a traumatic past. Gendo and Rei vs. Pentecost and Mako.
* Said stern man has a estranged son who lived in his shadow and is called to pilot in desperate times. Shinji or Jake?
* Cocky, egotistical pilot with a chip on their shoulder and family issues, a dead mother, and constantly trying to show off to their parents. Are we talking about the second Striker Eureka pilot, or Asuka Langley Soryuu?
* Before the first drift see the helmets of the suits fill with an orange/yellow fluid, a reference to LCL.

* The ''Uprising'' arc of new mechas without pilot built by a corporation that threaten to leave obsolete the current program ([[spoiler:and that eventually go rogue due to sabotage]]) comes directly from Jet Alone.
* Jake and Amara's partnership in the cabin of a single mecha against a gigantic antagonist bears similarities to Shinji and Asuka vs. Gaghiel.
* A rogue mecha with stunning agility and aggression with a black armor who causes the death of a character with all its subsequent traume to their loved ones. Obsidian Fury or the Bardiel-controlled EVA-03?
* Whoever designed the Shao Drone Jaegers must've taken some cues from the Mass Produced Eva Units, with rounded features, a shiny white finish, and being mass produced and identical machines compared to the unique mainline piloted models. Their remote pilots even wear white suits with hoods and black lines that make them resemble even more the mechas. [[spoiler:They're also turned into OrganicTechnology [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] due to the remote control technology used in their design and were explicitly meant to cause an extinction level ApocalypseHow, but thankfully they were stopped before it could be fully implemented.]]
* The Drone Jaegers take a lot from Bardiel as well, especifically his artistic portrayal in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'', as [[spoiler:they are overriden by an organic substance that makes them glow in an intense blue light and act in a more animal-like manner.]]
* Saber Athena, a reddish mecha with a female pilot (two in this case) that fights with two short swords stored in its armor, resembles Evangelion Unit 02 from ''Rebuild''.

* The revelation that the Kaijus have the goal to [[spoiler:reach a point in the center of Japan and make contact with it to cause the end of mankind]] makes them even more similar to the Angels.

* Said stern man has a stranged son who lived in his shadow and is called to pilot in desperate times. Shinji or Jake?

!Mecha anime series

* Gipsy Danger seems to be one to classic SuperRobot, specially to ''Anime/MazingerZ'' given it has not just RocketPunch but also [[ChestBlaster Breast Fire]]. In addition to functional nods to classic SuperRobot, and despite Del Toro's claims that he avoided visual references to established mecha, Gipsy Danger has clear influences from ''Anime/{{Gigantor}}'', the 1980 anime version specifically. Del Toro explicitly says ''Tetsujin 28-Go'' was an influence in one of the pre-release featurettes.
** Also, it has a Pilder, though we never see it operate on its own. Although it does have the classic "Pilder, on!"

* Del Toro himself admitted, in a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5va1sepKKo Japanese TV program]], that Coyote Tango and Cherno Alpha are inspired, respectively, by the Guncannon and a Zaku from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', specially the former one.
** Specifically, it appears to be based on the RX-77-01 version from ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin'', with its 3-clawed hands, larger cannons and blue visor.
* Related to the above, Striker Eureka has "GN 000" printed on its left chestplate. This is the model number of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 0 Gundam]], which becomes more appropriate once Stacker is in the driver's seat.

* Mako being rescued by Stacker in the flashback is reminiscent of Setsuna's first scene in ''{{Anime/Gundam00}}''. "I must become Jaeger!", anyone?

* When Knifehead tore off Gipsy Danger's arm, the pain was felt by the pilot, similar to the Mobile Trace System in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''.

* Before the first drift see the helmets of the suits fill with an orange/yellow fluid, a reference to LCL from ''Eva''.

* The fight against Otachi, particularly in the novelization, has elements from the fight against Sileene in ''Manga/{{Devilman}}''.

* Newton and Gottlieb's names are an obvious reference to another very famous pair of occasionally-feuding scientists.
* So obscure it might be a coincidence: Newton has a lot in common with ''Manga/{{Dorohedoro}}'''s Dr. Kasukabe: both are smaller-than-average [[MadScientist over-enthusiastic scientists]] with short hair, glasses, elaborate tattoos and [[AlienAutopsy a really hands-on approach]] to studying beings that can easily kill them, to the point of [[spoiler: mind-melding with / ''marrying'' the enemy, respectively]] and their research does a lot of good [[spoiler: seeing into the mind of the kaiju / knowing how evil magic-users work]] but also causes a lot of damage [[spoiler: the kaiju can read ''his'' mind / unwittingly helping the Big Bad become powerful]]. There's also [[http://www.mangainn.com/manga/chapter/61688_dorohedoro-chapter-69 this parody ]] of [[http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/11/01/science-of-godzilla-2010/ kaiju anatomy]] for Kasukabe's [[spoiler: wife, a magic-user who became a devil and can get of her "skin" for a little while]].

** A combination of Master Chief's visor and (best seen when viewed from an angle) [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina's glasses]].

* The explosion really comes from all over Gipsy but the camera focuses on her chest reactor. [[{{Manga/Guyver}} What other series has not just a chest blaster but a chest blaster that is way bigger than the person that fired it and is a wall of pure instant death?]]

* Drifting may-or-may-not-be an acceptable version of New Type bonding, as shown in Mobile Suit Gundam and Zeta Gundam [[StrangledByTheRedString or not.]]
* Tendo Choi's dress and mannerism make him seem like a ''Go Nagai'' character and Hannibal Chau would fit right in one of Ken Ishikawa's mangas.

* The scene where Raiju [[spoiler: bites off Gipsy's arm]] is somewhat similar to what [[Anime/PrincessMononoke Moro did to Eboshi]].
* Two references to Anime/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind:
** Otachi's tongue kinda looks like the Ohmu tentacles
** The Skin Mites bear more than a passing resemblance to the Ohmu themselves.