Boy Scouts ½, being a work created by fans, has many shout outs. Sometimes, these are to the original work. But more often then that, they are just to other bits of genre entertainment or pop culture that the authors of the series are fans of. Below are some examples.
Shout outs from dream sequences:
A semi-reoccurring thing in Boy Scouts ½ is for there to be a sequence of scenes in which each character is having a bizarre dream that is a shout out to something. These dreams have included:
- Bill Gelinas once dreamed he was Pac-Man. Another time he was Q*bert. Yet another time, he was in a Justy Yung corrupted version of Zork.
- Aaron once dreamed he was in the film Highlander. Another time, he dreamed he was a secret agent named Aaron Bond. (Both times, he dreamed he was in a role played by Sean Connery.)
- Mike frequently has dreams, bordering on the erotic, about Dana Scully. He has had more chaste dreams involving members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
- Matthew Atanian once had a guilt based dream where a strange cross between a penguin and a Cardassian was torturing him. Another time he dreamed that he and other people he knew were taking on roles from the anime series Urusei Yatsura. (Again, there was a penguin involved.)
- Hughes once dreamed himself in Wonderland.
- Multiple characters once dreamed, all at the same time, that they were in scenarios that ended with one of the Oompa Loompa songs. (One of the dreams also has an allusion to the Tim Burton version.)
Shout outs from Anime Deathmatch stories:
The four Anime Deathmatch stories (crossover stories with a sadly defunct series created by Jason Bertovich of Perspectives fame, which was like Celebrity Deathmatch but with anime characters) by their nature featured appearances by characters from other properties.
- The first had Washu appear before the first match, and then matches featuring Shayla-Shayla, Kuno, Jinnai, and the Sailor Scouts. Mike Quadrozzi's unique rendition of the Deathmatch rules also included some tacked on references to The X-Files.
- The second had Ifurita (specifically the version from The Wanderers), Shampoo, Tenchi, and in the final battle — Matthew Atanian vs. Jason Bertovich — weaponized Minmei.
- In the third one, prior to his match Derek Provost is interviewed by the female cast of GoldenBoy, the standard ADM interviewer (John "Fanboy" Hoelscher) frequently cosplays as characters from other shows, and the cursed members of Troop 192 finally face off against the cursed characters from the original work.
- Finally, in the fourth Deathmatch story, Derek Provost is planned to combat Yuuki Rito (but is killed by Golden Darkness before the match occurs), Kenny has a match against Princess Bubblegum, and finally the cursed characters of Troop 192 face off against the SOS Brigade (although their match is never resolved, as it becomes stuck in a time loop... presented to readers eight times!)
Shout outs from the story Of Possible Alternatives:
The story Of Possible Alternatives features Kenny and Becker exploring alternate dimensions of reality. Many of these realities feature the characters of Boy Scouts ½, but instead of living in realities shared with Ranma ½ they now live in realities shared with or inspired by other properties.
- One features Matthew Atanian as The Scout, who after resigning is kidnapped and sent to The Reservation.
- In the next, after discovering his secret, Nicole Porter wants to Kill Bill Hughes.
- Kenny saves Becker from the Earth and asks his help researching a new edition of The Encyclopedia Galactica
- Proctor is extremely enthusiastic in helping Lord Justy.
- An eccentric alien time traveler known as The Professor, along with his human companion, Becker, set out to save the earth from an alien menace.
- Matthew Atanian must defeat Sarah Porter's seven evil ex's.
- Matthew Atanian leads the Massachusetts branch of NERV, and does his best to protect those under his command (especially the young pilots) from the plans others may have for them. (This is the longest segment of Of Possible Alternatives, and is a reference to the fan fiction series that Matthew created in-universe instead of creating Boy Scouts ½. The author's notes make a point of saying that care was taken to try to make this story fit within the continuity of the original Evangelion TV series without contradicting anything.)
- One of the joke Alternate Endings is a reference to the Evangelion fandub Evangelion: ReDeath. Another has Jason being fond of Rick Astley. The final alternate ending makes reference to Life of Brian.
- Although these alternate realities are not explored within the context of the story, other examples Kenny is seen to be filing away include, The Adventures of Aaron Munchausen, Bill Hur, A Clockwork Kiwi-Mocha, Dominion Mall Police, Johnnie Darko, and Kimagure Kenny Road.
Other shout outs to the original work:
- In the opening scene of Boy Scouts ½, part 4, Matt is having a nightmare about Kuntz's infatuation with his female cursed form. This scene is very similar to a nightmare that Ranma had about Kuno in an early episode of the Ranma ½ anime.
Other shout outs to other works:
- Does Proctor have an uncle who works for the N.Y.P.D.? Also, his first name seems a fitting one for a manservant.
- In one storyline when Justy needed to replace Proctor, the replacement was a kid named Eric Gamble. Other then his last name, Eric was virtually a carbon copy of Cartman.
- Another possible relative in law enforcement, does Kenny have a relative who works for the F.B.I.? (Assuming, that is, that Kenny even has relatives.)
- The Canadian terrorists who take over Camp Moses are led by a pair of brothers, Bob & Doug McKenzie.
- Many of the non-Porter girls in Troop 42 share names with characters from the Resident Evil videogame franchise.
- Troop 42's designation is a shout out to the Ultimate Answer.
- The Rousing Speech Matthew is expected to give before they go into battle against the aforementioned Canadian terrorists is a hastily strung together bunch of clichés drawing upon similar speeches in works like the films ¡Three Amigos! and Independence Day. Even though this is rather obvious, it still works.
- While making a pilgrimage to Akihabara, Matt visits a store called Grand Prix, which has an employee named Fukuhara.
