As an anniversary series heavily referencing Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga has a bunch of nods to many installments in the Ultra Series.
General
- Humanity in this series' universe have begun colonizing planets beyond Earth, starting with Mars, just like humanity did in Ultraman Dyna, the direct sequel to Ultraman Tiga.
- Like Tiga's universe, this one is menaced by a trio of evil Ultramen known as the Dark Giants composed of alternate selves to the original ones and who Trigger is heavily implied to have once been part of, if not the leader outright.
- GUTS Select's base, the Nursedessei, is a merge between the original GUTS' Ardessei and the Ultraseven mecha kaiju, Nurse.
- The number seven on Alien Metron Marluru's coat resembles an Eye Slugger in addition to its already notable reference to Ultraseven.
- Darramb was good friends with Tiga and had a habit of calling Tiga "My Friend" even when they had to fight, here Darrgon regards Trigger as a Worthy Opponent and unlike his partners doesn't seem interested in killing him outright. Furthermore, when Trigger Dark was around he and Darrgon were sparing partners.
- Deban's catchphrase is also the title of his debut episode, "Deban's Turn!" in the original 1996 series.
- The Dark Giants Camearra, Darramb and Hudra, last seen in the franchise 21 years earlier in Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey get new versions for this series named Carmeara, Darrgon and Hyudram who are also said to be a trio of evil Ultras who were turned into stone statues by the hero of the series.
- The last time Daigo was seen in Ultraman Dyna, he had retired from his service as a GUTS officer into the life of a Martian botanist. Ultraman Trigger, on the other hand, has Kengo Manaka start as a Martian botanist before he joins GUTS-Select.
- The name of Kengo's plant is called R'lyeh. It shares the same name of the sunken city that Tiga's Big Bad Gatanothoa came from.
- Unlike Darrgon or Carmeara, Hudram shows no real respect or hints of liking Trigger, even when he was Trigger Dark, which calls back to how Hudra utterly hated Tiga even before the latter's Heel–Face Turn and was the most eager of all the giants to kill him.
"Connection of Light"
- The episode's title, "Connection of Light" is similar to the title of Ultraman Tiga's first episode, "Inheritance of Light".
- Trigger is first found as a stone statue inside of an ancient pyramid not unlike Tiga, to boot his statue also comes under attack by past foes (Golza and Melba for Tiga, Carmeara for Trigger).
- Golba, the series' first Monster of the Week is a fusion of Golza and Melba, who were Tiga's first Monsters of the Week themselves and fought him as a team.
- There are also two homages for Ultraman Dyna in the first episode: both of the episodes take place in a human colony in Mars and the Kaiju involved in it are explicit creations/minions of the Big Bad (Sphires for Dyna who create Neo-Darambia from the pre-existing Darambia and Carmeara for Trigger who creates Golba from Golza and Melba).
"Leap to the Future"
- Akito is a resentful chosen wannabe who hates Kengo for inheriting Trigger's power instead of him just like Ultraman Tiga's Keigo Masaki who was a rich entepeneur that came to resent Daigo for inheriting Tiga's power and initially acted as an antagonist for it, though Akito comes around quicker than Masaki did for the time being.
- Trigger's Power Type debuts fighting Darrgon, in Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey it was revealed that Ultraman Tiga (Trigger's Neo Frontier counterpart) got his Power Type form by defeating Darramb (Darrgon's Neo Frontier counterpart).
- Trigger and Darrgon fight underwater, which is also where Tiga fought Darramb in The Final Odyssey.
- Trigger briefly turns completely red like Ultraman Tiga before his body finishes changing to Power Type
"Ultra-Ancient Light and Darkness"
- Gazort speaks in a child-like voice and at one points calls the heroes "friends" just like the original one did with Horii and other humans. Just like before that word does not mean the same for it as it does for humans.
- This series' version of Gazort debuts in the third episode, the original Gazort debuted in Tiga's sixth episode.
- Trigger's Sky Type debuts in this episode when the Ultra uses it against Hudram, in The Final Odyssey, it was revealed that Tiga got his Sky Type form from Hudra.
- Trigger confronts Hudram in the skies, just like Tiga did against Hudra in The Final Odyssey.
- Trigger briefly turns bluish like Ultraman Tiga before he changes completely to Sky Type's color.
"For Smiles"
- The episode's plot involves a Land Shark burrowing Kaiju (Geozark for Tiga and Oka-Gubila for Trigger) going after an ancient Ultraman artifact and causing destruction along the way.
- Geozark was an homeage of Gubila, here it comes around all the way back with Oka-Gubila being an expy itself of Geozark in terms of role.
"The Power to Protect Peace"
- The host, Deban expresses happiness at knowing that newer attack teams are willing to accept alien among their ranks and treat them as friends and equals, a reference to the circus troupe that adopted the original one in Tiga and were angry at GUTS initially treating Deban as a tool rather than as a person.
"Inter Universe"
- Aside from being a Call-Back to his first transformation in his home series, when Haruki fails to transform into Z Original using the GUTS Sparklence, his second attempt causes the gun to fire a ricocheting beam that hit Z's foot, similar to how Ultraman Zearth caused a similar ricocheting beam while practicing his Speciushula Ray.
"The Propagating Invasion"
- While Powered Dada is a pre-existing kaiju not from Tiga and its episode homeages his original outing, it plays a similar role to Mimos/CRISIS Ghost as it infects the attack team's base and forces the heroes to repel it with analog systems. Adding to the similarity, at one point the protagonists use a Shoot 'Em Up game to fight it.
"The Wings of that Day"
- Gargorgon is beaten by Yuzare in the past in the same way she was defeated in its debut series Ultraman X: By having its petrifying beam reflected back at her. Here it doesn't follows with a lethal result however.
- Mr. Shizuma was taken to Trigger's Earth by a wormhole and was left stranded away from his home dimension seemingly unable to return, not unlike how Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna ended up at the end of his series after his sacrifice against Gransphire.
"Wavering Heart"
- Zaragas holds an electric tower as a makeshift weapon at one point during its rampage, as a homage to how its appearance in the original series also used one.
"The 30-Million-Year Miracle"
- At one point during their fight, Trigger and Trigger Dark engage in a Single-Stroke Battle, recreating a scene during Tiga and Evil Tiga's duel; the difference is that here, the scene happens near the beginning of the fight, as opposed to the end.
"The Marked Captain: Detective Marluru's Case File"
- As this episode focuses on Marluru, there are numerous throwbacks to previous Alien Metron-centric episodes in Ultraseven and Ultraman Max:
- The title of the episode is a reference to "The Targeted Town" in Ultraseven and "The Untargeted Town" in Ultraman Max.
- The odder camera angles and heavy use of Chiaroscuro evokes Akio Jissoji's camerawork for the aforementioned episodes.
- Marluru's cluttered, dimly-lit room is designed similarly to Alien Metron's room in Max, down to the red lighting evoking Metron's signature sunset. He also recreates the iconic coffee-table scene from Seven and offers the members Metron Tea.
- In addition, vinyl dolls of Alien Zamu, Skull Gomora and Grigio Bone can be seen displayed on a shelf.
- There's a plate of red crystals on Marluru's table, which he discourages Kengo from eating; they're the Hate Plague-causing crystals that the original Metron planted in cigarettes as his invasion plan, and a Freeze-Frame Bonus focusing on the newspaper shows that a similar incident involving drinkers may have happened in Trigger's world.
- The reason Marluru joined GUTS Select was because he felt he could trust the captain, who watched the same show as he did; previous Alien Metrons tried to invade Earth by destroying the mutual trust between humans.
"Sneering Destruction"
- When Hudram and Trigger Dark clash after the latter transforms, they "rise up" in a strikingly similar sequence
to the start of the battle between Ultraman and Beast the One in Ultraman: The Next. - Trigger raising Metsu-Orga over his head for the Maxima Nurse Cannon to obliterate it is exactly the same way Geronimon was defeated. The only difference is that here, it isn't enough to kill Metsu-Orga.
"What Makes a Savior"
- Kyrieloid in this episode plays a similar role to the one in its debut episode, with it taking a religiously self-righteous behavior of superiority involving humanity's flaws and employing mind-altering powers to further its goals. Likewise when it battles Trigger and Tiga it changes into its own equivalent of Sky Type like Kyrieloid II.
- Ultraman Tiga's appearance in this episode mirrors that of the original Ultraman back in Ultraman Tiga, both heroes appear summoned by the wishes and hopes of an old man to confront a seemingly unstoppable foe, don't appear with their human hosts and leave by the end, their purpose done.
"The Blue One Comes With the Lightning"
- Hudram uses Comet Buns from Planet Kisaragi to bribe Barriguiler into helping him.
- Trigger continues the Ultra Series tradition of Ultras and kaiju having sumo matches, echoing past fights like Ace vs. King Crab, Taro vs. Mochiron and 80 vs. Jihibikiran.
- Trigger Power Type laughs at Barriguiler when he wins their sumo match in a way similar to Ultraman laughing at Jirass.
"Demons Rampage Again"
- Much like in their debut, Aboras and Banila were stated to have come from 350 million years ago and were reawakened by electricity. Their reappearance is also a reference to Alien Standel Abolbus and Redle, who were themselves references to Aboras and Banila.
- Aboras gets his head set on fire by Banila, similar to how Birdon set Zoffy's head on fire.
- Trigger and Trigger Dark teaming up against Aboras and Banila is a similar setup to Gaia and Agul teaming up against Super COV and Super Pazuzu.
"Last Game"
- Mecha Musashin bears a few similarities to past monsters from Ultraman Tiga; its status as a samurai brings to mind Sakunaoni, whilst the Kabuki Theatre aspects make it similar to Alien Manon.
- Parts of Trigger Dark and Hudram's sword duel are shot with the camera rapidly cutting between the two, similar to Ultraseven's fight against Alien Perolynga.
- Carmeara killing Hudram and absorbing his essence is basically the exact same thing Tiga Dark did to Darramb and Hudra to gain Tiga Tornado and Tiga Blast.
"My Friend"
- At the beginning of the episode, GUTS Select takes a group photo in front of the Nursedessei, similar to how the original GUTS did the same in the very last episode of Ultraman Tiga.
- As his last words, Darrgon finally says the Catchphrase of his counterpart.
- Darrgon's fate is very similar to Mizorogi/Dark Mephisto, where he also redeemed himself in his last moments only to receive a Heel–Face Door-Slam.
"To The One Who Believes In Smiles/Pull the Trigger"
- The episode's title is phrased similarly to episode titles in Ultraman Nexus.
- The Trigger Truth Hyper Key is created by Ignis giving Kengo Trigger Dark's power, similar to Gaia powering up into V2 by receiving Agul's light.
- The final battle between Trigger and Megalozoa is fought in the sea, similar to Ultraman Tiga's fight against Gatanothoa.
"Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga: The Movie: Episode Z"
- When Celebro possessed him, Z's left eye turned red, much like how Ultraman Zearth's left eye turned red when Ultraman Shadow punched him in the face.
- Zabil's motivation of wanting humans to become Ultras to defend Earth by themselves is a very dark take on Kiriyama's declaration that humankind must defend Earth with its own hands in the finale of Ultraseven.
- GUTS Select defending Trigger on foot after the Nursedessei was downed is a reference to Super GUTS firing at Queen Monera on foot in Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light.
