So, does it surprise anyone that a group of prolific and nerdy voice actors playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons roll out media references as frequently as their dice?
- Crit Role Stats keeps track of the media references on an episode by episode basis here
. - Accidental one to Pillars of Eternity: In Campaign 1 and the first game, the first main base is a castle. In Campaign 2 and the second game, the first real "base" is a ship on the ocean.
Vox Machina (Campaign 1)
- Part of Percy's full name references the main character of Legend of Galactic Heroes.
- Speaking of names, the second part of the name Vax'ildan might be a reference to one of Liam's other roles, Illidan Stormrage.
- Most of Scanlan's songs are takes of known songs modified to fit the situation.
- The first homebase for Vox Machina is named Grayskull Keep.
- That's fucking teamwork!
- Keyleth has to impersonate a male dwarf, with the help of form-masking magic - but her attempt at the typical dwarf accent sounds more like Mrs. Doubtfire.
- "You had two pairs of gloves?!"
- In Campaign 1 Episode 2, Travis mentions that Grog's rage form is plagued with nightmares of Sebastian. Liam starts humming "Under the Sea," prompting Travis to sing his version of "Les Poissons."
- "This was a triumph..." "...I'm making a note here: huge success."
- In episode 11 Travis discuses an attack plan involving Grog coming in on the flying carpet like Randy Quaid's character from Independence Day. "Hello boys, I'm baaaack!"
- Trinket might have some distant, cross-universe family in a certain book series' entire species of armored bears.
- Keyleth as an Earth Elemental walks down the stairs, takes the elevator, and rows a boat, much to Grog's amusement.
- Keyleth's goal seems to be a shout out to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is pretty much confirmed in episode 16.
- Sam mispronounces the duergar queen's name as Durarara!!
- The Water Sphere explosion in episode 7 is described as done "AKIRA-style".
- Pike's spiritual spear in episode 15 is produced from her chest.
- At one point in episode 16, Travis describes rolling a Natural 1 as "Wheatoning".
- After the first few of Thorbir's many failed rolls in episode 20, Wil hoped he would just step in a bucket (a bit of a Running Gag in Titansgrave).
- Orion and Sam slip in a reference to a certain duo of Ace Attorneys they voice while inspecting the Draconic script in episode 16.Tiberius: See that, Scanlan? This says something like 'Apollo Justice' something...Scanlan: Nah, it's 'Phoenix' something.
- Another one in episode 23 — when Scanlan refers to himself as an Ace Attorney, Orion breaks character to slam the table and yell "HOLD IT!" as Apollo.
- Episode 18 has a couple of subtle Acquisitions Incorporated references. Some think that this may lead up to Wil Wheaton's up-coming guest character, but it could have been coincidental.
- "N-n-n-nineteen!"note is done twice the next episode. Episodes 20 and 21 had the aforementioned guest spot from Wil himself, so several of those there as well.
- Episode 20 features blow dart traps and a giant rolling bolder trap, and Kashaw disappearing "Goonies style" down a slide trap.
- "You look like someone from The Guild."
- Scanlan refers to the Two Frost Giants as Ace and Gary.
- Scanlan upon getting Pike out of a tight spot: "Come with me if you want to live!"
- Tiberius, during the group's escape from K'varn's temple, after casting the "Flight" spell on several party members: "Fly, you fools!"
- The group can't help but throw in a few references to Metal Gear Solid during the stealth inside the duergar fortress.
- Unintentional, but the chat essentially sent Lion-O to kill Tygra.
- Also probably unintentional, but Mercer refers to Wheaton/Thorbir as the "Nega-Percy".
- Episode 21, Vax'ildan refers to his motions to crawl around looking for traps as "Golluming" and makes a "Naruto run" during the Rakshasa battle.Tiberius: Good job Gaara—I mean, Vax!
- Also in this episode, there is a huge room with nothing but acid (and Thorbir refers to a friend that was a victim of an acid pit). Matt later admitted that was fan-requested.
- Not long after, a mention of Subway is made, but considering what's happening... ehhhhhhh....
- And Keyleth also invites everyone to Be Our Guest.
- After some confusion over who had the Slayer's Take contract in episode 21, Liam quips "I'm fine, we're all fine, how are you?"
- In episode 22, Matt and Travis talk about how the oddity salesman is basically that guy from the start of Aladdin, shadiness included.
- Scanlan, jumping on a table, shouting to a crowded bar: "Listen, you motherfuckers, my friend just asked you a fucking question, now fucking answer him, or I'll kill every last motherfucking one of you!" note
- Discussion about the Hydra attack on Vasselheim in Episode 17:Bastion/Matt: I think it's testing the wall.Laura: (to Travis) Like a raptor.Grog: They remember.Vex: Clever girl!
- Upon spotting a trap and repeating to the group what the DM just told them, Laura and Mary quote "I have one job on this ship, I know it's stupid, but I'm gonna do it!"
- "Hey you GUUUUUUYYYYYYS!"
- Tiberius names the little pseudodragon he adopts Lockheed.
- "KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERN! KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERN!" Fittingly, this was shortly after Matt told Laura she was becoming the new Anti-Wheaton.
- The group's level up tune is the stage clear music from Super Mario Bros..
- It's also likely that this is actually the level up jingle from Final Fantasy, which sounds very similar to the previously mentioned music.
- When Percy kills the Broker in Episode 25, he's legitimately confused as to whether he fired five times or six. Under his breath, Sam Riegel asks if he's feeling lucky.
- "There is no spoon."
- Vax quoting Hamlet, of all things, to Emperor Uriel. "We're cultured," indeed.Vax: One may smile and smile and still be a villain.
- He also briefly quotes part of the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V as the group prepares to go charging into the duergar throne room.
- Scanlan, upon creating the plan to turn Vox Machina into cows to attract a giant bird, requests more cowbell.
- "Hold still, Casper!"
- After Tiberius has blades attached to the ends of his staff, he starts referring to it first as his Swallow, then as his Sergeblade.
- After "Ermahgerd"ing Premature Stealth when Vex learns it, Liam adds, "Ruror Juror"
- Scanlan "does a David Caruso" and makes a bad pun in Episode 29 and Matt's response is "In the distance, you hear YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHH."
- The de Rolo family motto is from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
- The Jurassic Park theme song just before Scanlan fights as a triceratops.
- During Scanlan's one-man takedown of one of the Whitestone mansions, Matt ends up improvising maps for a room Scanlan was not meant to go into. Taliesin and Marisha exclaim in unison "He's taking him off the grid! He doesn't have a Social Security Number!
- Taliesin has a gold colored D20 (with which he tends to roll natural 20s) which the players sometimes refer to as the Golden Snitch.
- After his Pepperbox breaks mid-combat, Percy refers to it as a piece of gosa.
- Cassandra de Rolo is reintroduced immediately before Professor Anders slashes her throat. Taliesin says, "This went really Hannibal really quickly," referencing the recurring injury suffered by Abigail Hobbs.
- Scanlan makes the obvious Ripliad reference by referring to 'the talented Dr. Ripley'.
- Percy, while possessed by a ghost: "I'll swallow your soul!"
- Those familiar with German Romanticism (or maybe those just familiar with Hellsing Ultimate, which Taliesin Jaffe produced the English dub for) will note certain similarities between Percy's bargain with the smoky entity and the opera Der Freischütz, the folktale it was based on, and the rock opera it inspired. Especially The List/pepperbox and its one blank barrel.
- A folk hero in Scanlan's town is named Fabio.
- When Keyleth rolls low on an Insight check and Matt rules that she was too distracted to notice anything useful, Sam says "Squirrel!"
- Part of the Ducktales theme song was sung.
- Gnome bard Kaylie, a member of Scanlan's former troupe, studied at the College of the White Duke (confirmed by Matt to be named in remembrance); it's compounded by Laura accidentally referring to Jarett as Jareth.)
- It also turns out that one of the Vestiges of Divergence is a longsword, Mythcarver, last wielded by the White Duke.
- An ancient and powerful dragon, trapped in an elemental realm after a battle, suddenly bursts through onto the material plane after decades of waiting, and proceeds to lay waste to everything in its path, shattering the palace of one of the largest cities on the main continent and claiming it for its dominion. Are we talking about Thordak the Cinder King or Deathwing?
- When Keyleth fields the idea of bringing down the building they're in to destroy a dangerous magical object (which may or may not be a doorway between planes), Travis/Grog says "Bury it? Like the Pharaohs of old?"
- Liam and Laura share a fist bump in episode 1, after which Laura makes the same "Balalalala" sound as Baymax.
- In Episode 47 Laura sings "Something has changed within me" upon activating a flying broom.
- In episode 58 Sam brings it further: to repay the favor Vex owes him, Scanlan decides that she must always wear a pointy hat while she rides the broom.
- Finally, in episode 114, while she's wearing the hat and riding the broom, Scanlan casts Minor Illusion to turn her skin green, completing the reference.
- The presence of Garthok in Episode 41 prompts a "Party on, Garthok!" "Party on, Waynethok!"
- In the Goblins one-shot, the five goblins disguise themselves with a Totem Pole Trench, becoming "Goblon!".Matt: This is the best goblin Voltron ever!
- Episode 51: Apparently Crow!Keyleth is Lassie.Crow!Keyleth: Caw!Percy: Scanlan fell down a well?
- Episode 67: After the party finds Mistress Asharru's dead body riddled with bullet holes and conclude that Dr. Ripley was the murderer, they decide to inform her employers that "it wasn't me, it was a one-armed woman".
- Episode 85:
- The cast is in hysterics over Keyleth's seething hatred of Tary Darington, Sam's new character. Matt throws into the mix, "F--it--f--flam--flames. Flames, on the side of my face."
- After Scanlan's departure, Keyleth staggers out of her room the next morning with one of Vex's blue feathers in her hair, wailing about this being the darkest timeline.
- Taryon Darrington, an egocentric, ridiculously wealthy young man with flashy, decked out armor has parents named Howard and Maria.
- Additionally, he referred to himself and Percy as "science bros" in episode 95, a Fan Nickname for Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Both Bruce and Percy are bespectacled scientists with a tragic past and a Superpowered Evil Side (Percy's by way of Demonic Possession and Deal with the Devil).
- "Doty is, by the way, the fifth Doty. Doty Four had a glitch. He tried to kill us all." In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark has to deal with his fourth sentient creation (after the AI JARVIS and the robots Dum-E and U) deciding Earth is better off without humanity. Jarvis was based on the Starks' butler, who Tony was fond of. Doty was created to be Taryon's friend and companion.
- Scanlan's clutch Counterspell against Vecna in Episode 102 ("Race To The Tower") is capped off by Sam parodying James Blunt:Scanlan: I'm beautiful! I'm beautiful, it's true! You saw my face, in a crowded place, and you didn't know what to do ... 'cause I just took a shit on you!Matt: The last thing you hear, as the spell begins to take effect, is the whispered voice of Vecna as he says ...Vecna: ... What?
- Episode 105: Sprig attempts to come up with a mnemonic device: "Goliath grab".
- Adventures of the Darrington Brigade:
- Right off the bat, Buddy and Mac are the classic George and Lenny pairing.
- Our heroes' first enemy is a bunch of dire wolves suffering from Body Horror, after being mutated by something that fell from the sky.
Mighty Nein (Campaign 2)
- Fjord of all people asking if the horse is a Mustang (a lovely double-headed one - not only is there a Running Gag of references to Ford cars like the Mustang haunting Fjord, but Travis Willingham played Col. Roy Mustang).
- The troll of Labenda Swamp turns out to be a twofer - after hearing about how its past victims just managed to hurt it, Calliana (Special Guest Mark Hulmes) is the first to say "if it bleeds, we can kill it." Then they catch up to it and it turns out it bleeds acid (after it abducts a Red Shirt NPC in a very Alien-like manner).
- Speaking of Calianna, Mark Hulmes depicts her as dorky (but secretly creepy), which with his accent ends up sounding like MCU Korg.
- New for 2020, Narrative Telephone is an online chain-of-whispers affair where a story set within Mighty Nein continuity is passed through the email from one person to another, with degrading levels of accuracy.Liam: When we get to Ashley it's gonna start with "Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a gangster..."
- Episode 4 has this fleeting one:
Liam: (seeing Ashley in a hoodie) You gotta lose yourself in the moment! - When our heroes are going to visit the halfling Brenatto family, Beau claims they will "smash down their door, eat all the food, break all their dishes", which is a subtle reference to the "what Bilbo Baggins hates" song from The Hobbit.
- Episode 69: In reference to Caleb whacking himself in the face and breaking his nose with a natural 20, Taliesin quips, "Ooh, self-crit. Those are rare."
- The Gentleman is a blue parental figure to a slightly goofy hero, and he has a complicated criminal backstory involving human trafficking... kinda like MCU Yondu
Out-of-Canon and One-Shot adventures
- In a Q&A session, Matt mentions that he'd like to play a bard who behaves like a conductor. The way he describes the fighting style sounds similar to Ilbert the Conductor - which might not be a coincidence, considering Matt voiced another character, Alvin, in that same game.
- Perhaps inevitably, we get an Overwatch Actor Allusion during the Deadlands charity one-shot.Liam: Hey, uh, Matt, just so you know — in the last five minutes, the chat has said "high noon" about seventy-two thousand times.
- In Liam's Quest: Full Circle, Matt (as a player for once) says of the plot, "We're just straight up the kids from It right now." Not long after, Travis's theory on what's going on: "We're in the the Upside-Down."
- When Taliesin figures out that he is playing his seven year old self, specifically because it was how old he was when he starred in Mr. Mom, his immediate reaction is to quote himself from that film. The specific quote, "Can I have a moment to myself, please?", was also talked about in a Q&A panel he did in 2016; he apparently improvised that line because he forgot his original line, and it is said to be a fairly accurate portrayal of how he talked as a child.
- The Crash Pandas one-shot, based on street racing culture, starts with the chapter "A Dry River Runs Through It".
- Thanks to Matt using his Joisey accent and Travis going Cockney, we have two raccoons using both the accents given to Rocket Raccoon over the years.
- In The Night before Critmas, the Rich Idiot With No Day Job is named Arthur.
- In a joke that becomes Hilarious in Hindsight, Cranberry thinks that their first monsters came from Halloweentown. Said monsters, as well as the Hollow King and the Worm King are all Lawyer-Friendly Cameo s of Lock, Shock, and Barrel, Jack Skellington, and Oogie-Boogie.
- The Red Nose Day 2019 event involved fan voting for the player character's (Stephen Colbert) class and animal companion, and the fans gave him a bee. Stephen named it Eric.
- The Hearthstone one-shot, based on Warcraft canon, naturally brings up Leeroy Jenkins several times, culminating in Liam's character meeting Uncertain Doom as a direct result.
- The kobold that gets taken hostage and put through Cold-Blooded Torture is named Reeksus, mutated from the name Reek.
- The My Little Pony one-shot is revealed to be an escort mission for an Upper-Class Twit with a very distinct voice.
- Whirlypoo: Thurston Howell?!
- Apparently said NPC's family has a mining conglomerate that Dug Too Deep, and awakened... the Baldog. Which is first seen peering over a city wall with one paw on it.
- Feast of Legends is somehow Denser and Wackier that much of their usual fare, and it shows.
- Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace is set in the 1920s thereabouts, so the exhibition with the world's first electrical devices leads to this:
- Amusingly, Travis plays a Captain here but his usual role in Marvel works is Thor.
- One of the artifacts they pick up is a literal black mirror.
- At the end of the game, Taliesin reveals that there was several Artifacts Of Doom that the players could have inadvertently triggered as well.
- The Doom Eternal one-shot has Anjali Bhimani as a necromancer summoning the souls of the dead - which are all known celebrities, because they're all presumed dead due to the Apocalypse How situation.Sam: You've got Hall & Oates!
- Liam quotes Hamlet again - "Dead for a ducat, dead!" - after Sam kills a mosquito with a rolled-up paper.
