Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder You Know That Show... Trope Launch Pad Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Shout Out / Fan Works

Go To

Many Fan Works use Shout-Out — to things within fandom, and to other works, because it's all Just for Fun after all.

    Works with their own subpages 

Other Fan Works:

    open/close all folders 

    Ace Attorney 

    Animorphs 
  • Animorphs Redux;
    • When the Animorphs first meet future!Cassie after a confrontation with David, Marco observes that this crisis has become so confusing that he hasn't "questioned [his] sense of reality so much since the moment Buffy suddenly had a sister".
    • Demonstrating her sci-fi fan status, Melissa compares the Ellimist to Q from Star Trek and David to Sauron as a whiny, emo teenager.
  • Dæmorphing:
    • Loren's daemon, Jaxom, is named after a character from Dragonriders of Pern.
    • The Mielan spawning are named after Jake's Yeerk from Voluntary.
    • Essa 283, the Yeerk who gets put into Dan, is named after Essa 412, which is what Tom's second Yeerk was called in Eleutherophobia.
  • Eleutherophobia:
    • In These Are the Damned, Tom discusses the concept of "thoughtcrime" from Nineteen Eighty-Four.
    • In Total Recall, Tom reads a book about 80 people fleeing a doomed Earth, which is clearly meant to be Remnants, another K. A. Applegate series.
    • In Escape from L.A., the password to enter the Yeerk Pool under the YMCA is "We're here on behalf of the Village People", the band who made the "YMCA" song.
  • Sporadic Phantoms:
    • The tiger at The Gardens is called Hobbes, as in Calvin and Hobbes.
    • Crazy Helen's advertisement in episode 9 includes a soundbyte of a Dalek saying "EXTERMINATE!"
  • The author of What if the Yeerks Were the Good Guys? admits in an author's note that Mrs. Chapman's first name, Allison, was lifted out of the aforementioned Eleutherophobia series.

    Assassination Classroom 

    Bleach 

    The Butterfly Effect 

    CSI 
  • Fanfiction.net has a humorous CSI fanfic in which Ray takes 'Morpheus' as an online username, a shout out to his The Matrix role.

    Death Note 

    Deltarune 

    Diary of a Wimpy Kid 

    Digimon 

    Doctor Who 
  • The Bugger Anthology:
    • When the Daleks rewind some video footage with the Tenth Doctor and try to identify him in "The Bitch Fight of Canary Wharf", the subtitles suggest he's Killgrave, another character portrayed by David Tennant.
    • "The Stink of Humanity":
      • The first time Jack Harkness speaks, the captions refer to him as "Captain Jack Sparrow".
      • The name of one of the Daleks quotes the superlatives associated with Iron Fist, though the character's name is rendered as "Iron Plunger" due to Daleks lacking hands.
      • The Title Drop of the video is accompanied in the subtitles by the phrase "roll credits".
    • The Dalek that accidentally shoots the Doctor in "It's me, Davros" is named Barley Chucket.
    • "The Clash at Dalekdome":
      • The name of the video is a nod to fictional band The Clash at Demonhead.
      • When the New Paradigm Daleks leave for their next gig, the Supreme Dalek says "Chewie! Punch it!". A Wookie roar is heard in response.
    • As a nod to the episode's time loop premise, "Groundhogmanay of the Daleks" has the Daleks announce "Dormammu, I've come to bargain!" whenever they teleport in.
    • "Bitch Fight II"
  • In Keep On Running, the author named planet Zetakid after a planet in one of her files of Spore

    Ed, Edd n Eddy 

    Encanto 

    Fire Emblem 
  • An Eagle Among Lions:
    • Several chapter titles bear allusions to poems and song titles, among other things:
      • Chapter 14, "The Fire in Which We Burn", comes from a poem by Delmore Schwartz entitled "Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day".
      • Chapters 41 ("I'm on the Lam But I Ain't No Sheep") and 57 ("I Am the One You Warned Me Of") are Blue Öyster Cult songs.
      • Chapter 70, "Some Destinies Should Not Be Delivered", comes from the BOC song "In Thee".
      • Chapter 71, "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", is the name of a Season 3 episode of Star Trek: The Original Series.
      • Chapters 78 and 79 ("Time May Change Me..." and "...But I Can't Trace Time") are lines from the chorus of David Bowie's "Changes".
    • The line "Come with me if you want to live" is uttered in two different instances: from Ingrid to Edelgard in Chapter 58, and then from Edelgard to Marquis Vestra in Chapter 78.

    Fullmetal Alchemist 
  • The Elemental Chess Trilogy has a few, both in-universe and otherwise.
    • In the first story, the three main characters sneak into besieged Central City using a hot air balloon, which is a Call-Back of sorts to the 2003 anime adaptation.
    • Edward Elric's son is named Lucas, after Luke Triton from the Professor Layton games.
    • The Brotherhood anime showed a photograph of Roy Mustang after the end of the series in which he has a mustache, for reasons unexplained. Many members of the fandom prefer to believe that, as the picture in question belonged to Ed, he had drawn the mustache onto it; this Epileptic Tree is firmly planted in the fanfic.

    Friday Night Funkin' 

    Glee 

    Gravity Falls 
  • At one point in Faking It when Bill is suggesting to Dipper different things they could conquer, he suggests taking over a "Tri-state area."

    Harry Potter 

    His Dark Materials 

    Homestar Runner 
  • Several times in Cheat Codename.
    • The first chapter has a shout out to the infamous My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfiction "Fanfic/Cupcakes". It shows an expy of Pinkie Pie named Rosy Cake killing an expy of Rainbow Dash named Color Rush to bake her blood into a pie.
    • A shout-out to the infamous Sonic Sez short where Coconuts runs away from the abusive Dr. Robotnik and is told to return by Sonic.
    • "Realizing is part of the fight." Is a parody of "And knowing is half the battle!"
    • Reynold's line “Ahh, that was the best one yet, I feel bad for who has to go in there next.” is a parody of a line from Phelous's Beauty and the Beast review.

    How to Train Your Dragon 

    Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 

    Kingdom Hearts 

    The Legend of Korra 

    The Legend of Zelda 

    Life is Strange 

    The Lord of the Rings 

    The Loud House 

    Marvel Cinematic Universe 
  • Because I Knew You; Reference to Wicked is a key point in both fics;
    • In “Because I Knew You”, Peter and Wanda first admit their knowledge of each other's secrets after watching the play when Wanda and Peter are each struck by the similarities between them and Elphaba, Wanda obviously drawing analogies to how Elphaba was condemned as the villain and Peter comparing his current secret to how Elphaba never told Glinda the truth about her survival.
    • In “Clea Cut” after Wanda is manipulated into dreamwalking into her counterpart in another world, the already-displaced Peter of her world confirms her identity by singing lines from Wicked; he had already established that show doesn't exist in Earth-717, so the "local" Wanda wouldn't understand the reference.
    • Aside from Wicked, it’s stated that several 80s horror movies were inspired by contact with the Dark Dimension, such as dreamwalking inspiring Freddy Krueger; Clea mentions that the Dark Dimension is still earning royalties from a writer who created a series about “a Darkhold ripoff and a guy with a chainsaw hand”.
    • Also, "Clea Cut" features more than one Star Wars reference when Peter and Wanda learn that their counterparts on Earth-717 are married, the two comparing their reaction to that idea to the thought of how Luke and Leia must have felt about their kiss on Hoth after learning about their real relationship.
  • In The Other Side (memoriaeterna), after the Snap killed the other half of the universe, when Yelena Belova makes contact with Peter Parker she concludes her introduction by saying “I think you are missing a Black Widow on your team so I volunteer as tribute, Peter Parker.”
  • Sixes and Sevens:
    • After telling Emily about an encounter with Fighting Jack Churchill, Emily exclaims "You should go into battle with a sword, Carter!" Generation Kill, of which the author is also a fan of, has a similar line.
      • The above chapter's title came from the book One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick, who was an officer featured in Generation Kill.
    • The final chapter gets its title from a famous exchange in Lawrence of Arabia, along with a quote from Lawrence's book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
    • Emily tells Michael that if he gets out of line after getting the serum she'll shoot him like Colonel Kurtz.
    • A subtle reference is made to Band of Brothers when Emily tells Mark Anthony Todd that there's "dust on your jump wings, cowboy."
    • The codename of the team's contact in Shadow of the Eagle is Nausicaä - and while the anime character is named for an actual greek figure, the umlaut is only included for the former.
    • When Michael tells Robbie not to try anything untoward with Emily, Robbie responds "I would never steal a friend's beau, you whore."
    • Chapter 5 of Shadow of the Eagle is described as an homage to Old Gods of Appalachia; specifically, Mark's tale about meeting a mysterious women in Barlo, Kentucky who appears to be Daughter Dooley.
    • Mark also mentions encountering Barrow and Locke Mining and Railroad Combine back home in chapter 7, and the footnote claims that the company would "is a fine addition to Marvel's many corporations of dubious repute".
    • The Haunting of Villa Layla is a reference to the Doctor Who episode "The Haunting of Villa Diodati". Much like the historical inspiration for the episode, the story also features a group of characters being trapped in a home due to grim weather and telling spooky stories to pass the time.
    • The third chapter has two to the infamously memetic Amazons Attack!. First is when Robby casually snarks "my God" after determining Fritz von Meyer's plans. After concluding his story and being met with middling reviews, he mopes that they "should all be thanking [him] for stopping a deadly bee weapon".
    • Emily's chapter in The Haunting of Villa Layla mentions the Crimson Abbess and Bonewhite Jacques from Jemjammer.
    • Chapter 5 of Phantom Pain Emily tells Dottie that sometimes "dreams are messeges from the deep", directly quoting Dune.
    • Chapter 11 of Phantom Pain is titled "Do You Think Love Can Bloom, Even on the Battlefield?", a quote from Metal Gear Solid.
      • The same chapter opens with Howard telling a phone operator to connect him to the University of Los Angeles and, after a moment, he reiterates that "it's in Los Angeles".
  • Spider-Man: Finding Home;
    • When Peter, Kate and Yelena take part in a LARPing session, Yelena’s attire resembles Astrid of How to Train Your Dragon, with Peter and Kate vowing to watch the film with Yelena once she reveals she hasn’t seen it.

    Merlin 

    Miraculous Ladybug 
  • Maris Stella:
    • When attempting to hit Avalon's energy attacks back at her, Maris refers to the technique as the Dead Man's Volley.
    • A sleeping supervillain is named Princess Nemo.
    • When wielding the Horse Miraculous, Owen adopts the name Artax, after the horse from The NeverEnding Story.
    • Hallie as the Tiger Hero goes by the name Tigris Cantus after a character from The World Ends with You.
    • Mouse themed supervillain Mouseacre makes a reference to Population Bomb, signature move of mouse-themed Pokémon Maushold.
    • When Naota's Aunt Rinoa is Akumatized, she's given a dog to fight beside her. The character she is named after, Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy VIII, fights with a dog for a partner.
    • Momster is a supervillain who fights with various children's toys and playthings. While wielding a kendama, she threatens to tear the heroes apart with her indignant judgment. Indignation Judgment is a special attack in Tales of Symphonia, used by the kendama wielding character Genis.

    Monsters Vs Aliens 

    My Hero Academia 

    My Little Pony 
  • Actually, I'm Dead:
    • Trixie quotes Dr. Facillier.
    • Wave Blaster makes several shout outs to Mortal Kombat throughout the story, most notably, one of Trixie's mentors, "Kunai Tail" is obviously a ponified Scorpion.
    • Trixie and her mother Hope's mentors, including the aforementioned Kunai Tail, are basically the pony equivalent to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but with a different roster.
    • The Canterlot Court House, bears a strong resemblance to a certain other hall of justice.
    • According to the author, Trixie's dark green Alien Blood, after her tranformation, is one to the Xenomorphs of Alien fame.
    • Trixie not being able to get drunk, is also kinda sort of inspired by a certain scene in Captain America: The First Avenger.
    • One of the artifacts Trixie listed to Twilight, is the name of another Fan Fic: Hurricane’s Champron.
    • A grumpy, smoking stallion who is knowledgeable in Dark Magic and is named Hell Blazer. For everyone knowing the similar named comic book series, those character traits should sound familiar.
    • After Lightning Dust comes surprisingly close to taking out the Dark Force, said dark force quotes the Linkin Park song, "In the End", while taunting her.
      Dark Force: You tried so hard. You got so far. But in the end, it doesn't even matter.
  • All-American Girl (Shinzakura):
    • Applejack's first werewolf transformation is largely based on the famous sequence in An American Werewolf in London with some changes due to her being a pony.
    • The latest book in the Daring Do novel series is Daring Do and the Philosopher's Legacy
    • The three main characters of The Golden Armor make a brief appearance in a restaurant setting, and later end up saving Applejack from making a bad situation worse where one of the trio is thanked by name.
    • "Wrote lots of books and spells, head of the mage guild, Princess Celestia's protor... protoss... personal apprentice!"
    • One of the worlds' most popular movie series is Arddun Lleuad.
    • "Well, my parents were both military, and my mom has a small armory she keeps around the house for weapons reference for her artwork, so yeah, I know how to shoot. Learned on Dad’s Seburo M5 9mm."
    • The title of the sidestory anthology — Be Human — is a reference to one of the Scott Matthew songs from SAC, and in universe it's DJ's favorite song, for obvious reasons.
    • When a young Mike asks his sister for advice in dating DJ — an alien — his sister questions whether or not he'll wake up one day with DJ talking about 'yellow perpendicular with making blue bisector'.
      • Funnily enough, years later one of DJ's favorite games is shown to be a future version of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
    • When Cadance asks Lyra on advice for childrearing, Lyra makes light of how things have changed between former foalsitter and foalsat:
      Lyra: Just don't expect me to do the whole Darth Vader thing.
      Cadance: Darth... Vader?
      Lyra: Star Wars reference — hubby's a big fan of those old movies. "When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master."
    • During a Halloween party, Erica dresses up as the assassin Ambika from Claude & Monet.
    • In chapter 11 the Changelings get "educated" on the difference between tacics meant for terror and tactics meant for war by the Belgian special forces.
      • The start of chapter 6 shows several characters travelling through a portal from Earth to Equestria, and it's described as very similar to a Stargate.
    • Derpy's otherdimensional-sensing device is known as the Stereolab.
      • For that matter, she boards an airship called the Serene Velocity, also the name of a Stereolab album.
    • Somebody claims that mystery girl Subaru may be a student at Furinkan High School in Nerima.
      • For that matter, Tsubasa and her fellow students attend Tamagawa Mikami High School note .
    • One original character is named Tiny Dynamine and her unusual magic aura resembles butterflies.
    • Combined with a lovely Take That! in the following line:
      Discord: Would you care for a cupcake? Never cared for them myself. Too bloody.
  • Anchor Foal:
  • Anthropology:
  • A Chance Meeting of Two Moons:
  • Ascend (xTSGx): To TV Tropes directly, in the title and contents of an in-universe book from Chapter One:
    A Troper's Guide To: Clichés
  • Book Of Days: Part 3: Translator's Hoofnotes [2] makes one to Red Sonja, but calling her "Red Ponya" instead:
    The common popular image of Commander Hurricane as a long-maned amazon off the cover of a Red Ponya comic book is quite different from the image of the actual historical mare who appears in glimpses through Lady Clover's journal.
  • Chrysalis Visits The Hague:
  • Contraptionology!:
    • Rainbow Dash tries to use the Voigt-Clopff test to check whether Applejack is a robot.
    • Frankenstein (1931): When Twilight finishes her robot, she lets all of Ponyville know with a jubilant scream of "It's alive! ALIIIVE!"
  • Death is forced to take a vacation: As with any work that Anon e Mouse Jr. participates in, these happen.
    • Chapter 1:
      • Helheim, the Lady of Death in this dimension, is named for the region where the dishonorable dead (meaning those who didn't die in battle) go in Norse mythology. Related to this, one of her other Reapers is named Nidhogg, after the creature that gnaws on the world tree Yggdrasil.
    • Chapter 2:
      • Fall Harvest reveals his knowledge of Earth pony magic applied to farming; his information, including the consequences of letting things grow too fast, are based in part on Applejack's own knowledge in Project Sunflower.
      • Fall Harvest's bit about grinding up someone and putting them through the finest sieve references a similar line in Hogfather; this was Evilhumour's idea.
      • Fall Harvest remembers, to himself, a story from another adjunct of Death from another dimension who was waiting for a soul to realize they were dead; their story is the events of the The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "The Hitch-Hiker".
    • Chapter 4:
      • Fall Harvest is an Adjunct of Death, currently hiding his identity, who says that "I'm just a guy on vacation." A mortal who's mistakenly believed to be Death, or at least the inspiration for him, says the exact same thing on a regular basis in Make a Wish.
      • Fall Harvest paraphrases the last lines of the last strip from Calvin and Hobbes. Helheim promptly lampshades it.
    • Chapter 5:
      • It is mentioned how a speedster ran to the end of the universe, pursued by their Death (or at least one of the Deaths of that universe); having literally reached the end of their universe, that Death ceased to be. These events take place in The Flash Vol 2 #141, when Wally West ran to the end of the universe and back to escape the Black Flash. (This reference was also Evilhumour's idea.)
    • Chapter 6:
      • Two of the ponies named in this chapter are Redbird and Blackwing. Redbird’s name comes from the car used by Robin; Blackwing is the name of a starfighter squadron that plays a minor role in Star Wars - X-Wing #5: Wraith Squadron. In the same chapter, the character of Green Lake is named for Camp Green Lake in Holes, and the character of Light Peanut is inspired by the character of Rube from Dead Like Me (these last two were Evilhumour's idea).
      • At least some of the scenes set in the afterlife are inspired by scenes from the Rod Allbright Alien Adventures series and the Camp Haunted Hills series.
  • The Differentverse:
    • Moondancer's lashing out and calling Twilight "snooty and stuck-up" in class one day was inspired by a similar scene in Juliet Dove, Queen of Love.Explanation 
    • Velvet's line of "Come to Grandmare" is a direct quote of one of her only lines in canon as of the fic's publication (specifically from The Crystalling, part 2).
    • Nightmare Moon's declaration of "Now, oh fools, you shall deal with me and all the powers of Erebus, the everlasting Darkness!" was inspired by Maleficent's Badass Boast in the 1959 film.
    • Word Of God is that Scootaloo's real parentage is one to another fic, and will be identified in the first sequel.
    • The final author's note, announcing the next story in the series, is purposely styled after the announcements at the end of most of the James Bond films of the 1960s-1980s.
    • The sequel's title (but only the title), A Case of Family, was inspired by that of the Michael Crichton novel A Case of Need.
  • The Elements of Friendship:
    • Crescent Rose is a reference to the scythe weapon of Ruby Rose. Strengthening the connection is her apparent penchant for cookies.
    • NightMare Moon's chant as she casts a forest of thorns around Canterlot is spoken to the same cadence as Maleficent's as she does the same to King Stefan's castle in Sleeping Beauty. Fitting, since NightMare Moon was effectively an Expy of Maleficent in the pilot.
    • The scene where Selena finds Tiberius and makes him her familiar is an almost word-for-word remake of a similar scene in The Nuptialverse.
    • Discord turns a canary inside-out, undoubtedly a reference to Magic Man.
  • Equestria: A History Revealed:
    • The fic is full of these, even from the main character's name, Loose Change, calling out a prominent 9/11 truther film to fit in with her crazed conspiracy beliefs.
    • The Lemony Narrator uses the phrase "hot topic" in passing, which is then followed with a tiny "Buy MLP shirts today!"
    • One of the cited sources in the bibliography on Starswirl the Bearded is written by "Fedora the Neckbearded".
    • Princess Luna, during her transition into Nightmare Moon, was quoted to be Darker and Edgier. This is then followed by Linkin' Park lyrics.
    • The Lemony Narrator mentions many snack food brands, like Doritos and Skittles, even going so far to call for compensation in the Bibliography for the free advertising.
  • The First Steps Of The Rest Of Your Life: Hydro Pump.
  • Friendship Is Magic: The Adventures of Spike:
  • Friendship is Magic: Discord Did It:
  • Friendship Is Optimal: The Law Offices of Artemis, Stella & Beat: To Phoebe and Her Unicorn, which inspired Vibrant's Major General Song.
  • The Games We Play: To various memes in the MLP fandom, including cameos from Derpy Hooves, wingboners as plot points, "I emptied your fridge", and etc.
    "We gotta be sneaky, Dashie! Sneaky!"
  • Getting Back on Your Hooves:
    • During an argument with Rarity, Applejack comments that "Ah ain't got no accent!" In fact, the entire subplot going on there appears to be based on that fic.
    • Checker Monarch appears to be based on Azula, a perfectionist Manipulative Bitch Chessmaster who is jealous of a younger sibling whom she bullies and has an overbearing father. Moreover, both characters are deeply insecure beneath all their arrogance.
    • Trixie is apparently a big fan of the Harry Trotter novels.
    • Several Shout Outs to the Pony POV Series were included due to the author being friends with Alexwarlorn.
    • The charity play Trixie puts on with help from her friends and Princess Luna is "Rescue at Midnight Castle", the original G1 My Little Pony TV special.
      • She later tells the story of Grogar to the Cake Twins. Both of those stories are used by Trixie to defeat Checker in her final dream attack.
    • Ditzy, when talking about how she accidentally wrecked city hall with her flank, says that isn't the only time it's happened, and starts to recount another time it's happened until she remembers the Doctor told her not to tell anyone about it.
    • While travelling through the Everfree Forest, the Cutie Mark Crusaders realize their path will go past Zecora's hut. Scootaloo suggests a path leading off the one to Zecora's hut, but Apple Bloom quickly shuts down that idea after remembering where it goes.
    • Pinkie Pie doesn't make cupcakes where audiences can see anymore, and angrily mutters about wanting to sue someone for defamation of character.
    • In chapter 11, Applejack mentions a time Twilight messed up a spell and sent the six of them to a gender-flipped alternate universe.
    • Chapter 12 takes some references to Persona 4 including Checker's One-Winged Angel transformation into an Ursa Major referencing the Shadows' transformations.
    • Pinkie's dream (confrontation with Checker) in chapter 12 contains references to both Scooby-Doo and Wile E. Coyote.
  • The God Squad: To the various properties that the squad comes across in its travels.
  • A Hairy Problem: A new pony in town, Sandalwood, is a deliberate Alternate Universe version of DJ Martinez from
  • Hands: All the time, though no-one ever gets Andrew's references.
    • The two people onboard the Enterprise whose iPhone Andrew and Twilight discover are named after the main characters from Dead Space.
  • The Immortal Game: To Sherlock Holmes (2009). For a while, the duel between Twilight and Esteem plays out just like the one between Holmes and Moriarty in A Game of Shadows.
    His advantage: Experience. Our advantages: Power. Mobility.
    • During that same fight with Esteem, Twilight makes one to the famous tank chase from [PROTOTYPE]:
    Twilight Sparkle: Where have you run to now? Nothing can save you from me, Esteem! Not ponies! Not puppets! Not gods!
    Twilight Sparkle: How do you feel?
    Princess Luna, newly infused with Terra's magic: Taller.
    • Titan is ASSUMING CONTROL OF THIS FORM.
      • Twilight's Godslayer spell is more or less a magical version of the Thanix cannon. Later versions even use the same combination of elements as the Normandy's main gun.
    • Rarity and Esteem have a conversation taken almost word for word from The Empire Strikes Back:
    Esteem: “It is useless to resist! Don’t let yourself be destroyed as your mother did!”
  • Inner Demons:
    • Queen!Twilight's mind control spell is very similar to a Geass. In fact, her statement when shutting down Cadence's magic — "Never use magic again!" — is very similar to Lelouch's "Never speak again!" moment with Mao. Lezard even refers to this ability as "the Power of the Queen", and his explanation of how it works sounds very similar to the mechanics of Lelouch's Geass.
    • When Applejack finally gets a chance to confront Queen!Twilight, the latter states "Element of Honesty... Come to die."
    • When Apple Bloom meets with Trixie in the afterlife, it plays out similar to a scene between Harry and Dumbledore in The Deathly Hallows.
    • When Lezard brings up reincarnation and its implied Eternal Recurrence, the phrase "All this has has happened before, and all this may happen again" comes up.
  • It's A Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door, and its sequel Besides the Will of Evil:
    • There are quite a lot to The Lord of the Rings, being the story heavily inspired by Tolkien’s works.
      • The title of the first story itself is a reference to a quote from The Fellowship of the Ring.
        Bilbo: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.
      • The same applies to Besides the Will of Evil:
        Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
        Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
      • Balrogs are mentioned as one of the possible threats outside of Equestria, and as one possible identity for the creature lurking in the cave in the Drackenridge Mountains.
      • Gildedale and the Daleponies stand in for Rohan and the Rohirrim.
      • The deer of Shimmerwood are fairly clearly meant to be Tolkien’s Elves, and Lady Falalauria is specifically an expy of Galadriel.
      • In A Day for Spike and Twilight, it's revealed that the current emperor of the dragons is named Ancalagon, and his predecessor was Glaurâg.
      • Many of the prominent deer characters are based on those found in The Silmarillion. Lady Falalauria is based on Galadriel, and besides her most elk are named after prominent elves, such as the elk king Gil-Galad, or Feanor and Glorfindel. Reiziger shares traits with both Sauron and Morgoth, including one of his old names, Annatar, which was one of Sauron's many aliases.
      • The monsters Reiziger has created for his armies include fell beasts and ungoliants.
    • One of the titles the author was originally considering for Besides the Will of Evil was The Crawling Caribou.
    • When Rainbow Dash first uses the lightning powers she learns from the pronghorns, she says "I am a leaf on the wind". Even better, her mentor who had also been taught by the pronghorns was called Firefly. Though this may just be a coincidence, given that her mentor is an expy of a past-gen pony by that name.
    • Dragons are apparently from Carcosa.
  • Knights Of Equestria: There's quite a few Doctor Who references spread throughout both stories... which is a given since the Doctor is a character in both.
  • Letters From A Disgruntled Friendship Student:
  • The Life and Times of a Winning Pony:
  • The Light in the Darkness: Pinkie Pie is a fan of the Marx Brothers.
  • Magnetism: To The Legend of Zelda, after Rainbow successfully makes cereal. The line before is a shout out to an episode of The Simpsons where Homer makes cereal and it catches fire.
  • Major League Pony:
    • The fight between the Mane Six and the manticore, takes the form of a Pokémon style battle.
    • During Nightmare Moon's flashback to her days on the moon, you can see the Space Sphere from Portal 2 flying by her.
    • From the same flashback, Nightmare Moon claims her only friend was a small meteorite named waffles, who's face was just a bloody hand print, much like Wilson the volleyball from Cast Away.
  • The Many Secret Origins of Scootaloo: The entire premise of the story is to insert Scootaloo into different origin stories.
    • Two of the latest chapters have seen Friendship is Witchcraft and On a Cross and Arrow referenced.
    • Spike's story is a mash-up of elements from James Bond, Burn Notice, and The Emperor's New Groove.
    • The author apparently loves Animaniacs, as Cadence's chapter featured 'mini mares' who find Princess Scootaloo, three of whom are named Yakko, Wakko and Dot. Later, in Discord's chapter, the chaos god opens with his version of The Muppet Show theme.
    • According to Snips and Snails, Scootaloo is a vampire slayer, with Twilight as her Watcher, the rest of the CMC as her team, and Angel Bunny as her vampire lover. Spike, who is the audience while Twilight is getting much-needed reprieve from the madness, is less than enthused to be cast as the villain.
    • Rainbow Dash combines The Six Million Dollar Man with The Incredible Hulk (1977).
    • Zecora borrows material from Dr. Seuss.
    • In the intro, brfore the origin stories start, there is a reference to the CMC summoning a "winged squid creature" while trying to be witches. The context seems to imply it was Cthulhu.
    • A nasty rumor involving Pinkie Pie's cupcakes is mentioned, then subverted when Twilight reveals it's not what we think... The rumor was actually that Pinkie used artificial sweeteners.
  • Memories of Days Long Past: Pinkie provides most of these; in the prologue, upon hearing the setup, she directly references Inception, then asks if their ancestors were assassins.
  • Mendacity: One of the... things... that Bon Bon sees when she almost passes into Faerie appears to be a ponyfied Slender Man.
    • The faerie homeland of Tir na Nog?
      • Nope, that's a reference to real-world mythology.
  • Midnight Green: During Midnight's Dynamic Entry into Ponyville, he screams "LEEEEROOOOOOOOOY JEEEENKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!!!"
  • A Minor Variation:
    • Rarity's introduction to Discord.
      Rarity: Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony? Good evening, my name is Rarity Bell. As a member of the country and world of Equestria, I ask you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin, or to the next convenient parallel dimension.
    • When Rarity mentions how Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon, Jackie wants he to clarify whether she was imprisoned IN the moon, or having adventures on the surface in the form of an adorable filly.
    • One of Fluttershy's Omega Flight classmates is named Dorothy Gale, who ends up carried off by a tornado to a faraway land.
  • Miscellaneous:
    • The beginning of chapter 4 appears to be a reference to The Hangover. Quill wakes up with no memory of what happened the night before, wonders where Filter is, and proceeds to find him on the roof of Sugarcube Corner.
    • When Filter reveals that he has two hearts, he wonders if that has been used before.
    • Dual Image might as well be renamed "The Doctor Who Shout-Out Chapter". Not only do Quill and Filter quote the Doctor various times, the scene where Filter, powered up by King Sombra, completely overpowers Trixie and forces her to surrender before forgiving her is taken straight from "Last of the Time Lords".
  • The Monster Mash:
  • Frequent in My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic, to the point of plagiarism.
  • My Little Mages: The Nightmare's Return:
  • Nine Days Down:
  • Of Mares and Magic: Sprinkled throughout, including;
    • Sea Pony Lyra makes an appearance.
    • At one point, Trixie ends up heading into the Everfree Forest to find the CMC, and stumbles upon a certain village.
  • On a Cross and Arrow: Pinkie Pie suggests space as the Mane 6 hiding spot. For a moment, she turns into the Space Core whilst doing so.
  • On A Whisper Of Wind: A magician named Presto? Seems familiar...
  • Our First Steps: Apart from shout outs to movies like The Right Stuff and Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, there are numerous allusions to various works on the subject and to the American and Soviet space programs.
  • Oversaturated World: There's a lot. Here's some:
    • Oversaturation:
      • When talking about Mr. Discord's "Not A Human Testing Facility". Not: a reference to Portal:
        Pinkie beamed. "Is there a homicidal AI made by a company that originally made shower curtains?"
        "He looked for one, but they were outside of his price range." Fluttershy dipped her head. "He was so disappointed."
        Pinkie backed away a step. "I was joking."
        "So was he." After a moment, Fluttershy added, "At least, I'm fairly certain he was."
      • Bland-Name Product such that Street Fighter = Alley Brawler and "M. Bison" = "F. Buncher", leads to a reference with Bison's memetic "OF COURSE!" from the movie for a text notification tone:
    "OF COURSE!"
    Everyone jumped at the sudden outburst. Rainbow Dash then laughed. "Really? F. Buncher from the Alley Brawler movie?"
  • Pages Of Harmony:
    • During Rainbow Dash's Mind Rape torture, the story slightly mentions both Rainbow Factory and Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles), two other well-known gorefics. While Cupcakes is only slightly alluded to with Pinkie in one of Rainbow's Mind Rape visions threatening to hack her wings off, the Rainbow Factory mention is quite blatant... and it makes everything much worse.
    • Pinkie's gesture language and Rainbow Dash's interpretation of it are a reference to Haroun and the Sea Of Stories, when Mudra the Shadow Warrior communicates to the Storyteller Rashid in this manner.
  • The Palaververse:
  • The Party Never Ended:
    • Star Catcher is the name of a G3 pegasus pony.
    • Rainbow Dash mentions the "Swayback Mountains" at one point. This is a nod to a previous Applejack/Rarity fan fic Butterscotch Sundae wrote.
    • Chapter 11 opens up with what can only be described as a Take That! parody of Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles), and later, Rocket to Insanity. Made awesome by the fact that it's Nightmare's Mind Rape... which Pinkie subverts by lucid dreaming.
  • Party of None: A reference to Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles) is made when Rainbow Dash is hesitant to accept a cake from Pinkie Pie, fearing it may have been drugged or poisoned. It’s safe, but Pinkie thinks it’s her worst batch ever.
  • Past Sins:
  • Pattycakes:
    • The beginning of Part One is one of Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles), which also began with Dash having a good day.
    • Dash falls under the effects of Instant Sedation and wakes up tied to a table.
    • Fluttershy calls for Pinkie to bring cupcakes in one ending of Part Two.
    • The song Fluttershy sings is based directly off Want You Gone.
    • The foalmula is described as odorless, colorless, and tasteless.
  • Pink Personal Hell And Altering Fate:
  • The Powers of Harmony:
    • When Blair enters Luna's room at the beginning of the story, he sees she has an abacus.
    • Rarity's morning activities in Chapter 7 include a reference to Lyra's endeavors in Background Pony.
      Rarity worked all throughout the morning, only stopping briefly to enchant a soundstone for a mint-green unicorn wearing a gray hoodie. After finishing that, she continued to work on the necklace.
    • Celestia's response to whether she'd taught Twilight any offensive magic in Chapter 17 is a nod to The Immortal Game. Also a bit of a Take That! to the plot.
      "If she does, she didn’t learn it from me." Celestia adjusted one last feather and looked up at Luna. "We covered a few theories on why certain spells have been declared forbidden, but it's not like I was prepping her for war. The next thing I'm going to hear you say is that I was secretly turning her into a brilliant military strategist so that she'd rise up and become the ultimate weapon."
      Luna rolled her eyes. "Now that's just absurd."
    • "Rarity" asks Grovi about an artifact from The Flight of the Alicorn while they're walking into Canterlot Castle in Chapter 21, and an airship by the name of 'Fancy Free' is seen from a distance in Chapter 27.
      "Is it true that Princess Celestia keeps the Heavenstone from the Pre-Discordian Era in the Royal Vaults?"
    • Blair responds to Piro's needling about Libra's actions in Chapter 25 with a line similar to one uttered by Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises:
      "Celestia forbid you actually have to make a hard decision by yourself, Piro. Be grateful you've somepony to plunge their hooves into the filth for you."
    • Norric grew up in Gildesdale.
    • Zemblani and Elo's pre-duel banter in Chapter 19 references the famous exchange between Peter Pan and Captain Hook:
      "I suppose we can do this your way, little clone," Zemblani said. "Prepare to meet 'thy' doom!"
      "Dark and sinister mare," Elo answered. "Have at thee."
    • Speaking of Elo, he was the result of an affair between members of rival families Mont'hequ and Gallopulet.
    • Applejack's group visits the town of Gallopfrey, whose ecology causes red grass and silver-leafed trees.
    • That same chapter has a cameo by the title character of the MLP fic "Echo the Diamond Dog".
    • Pilgrim/Pupa's story is based on the MLP fic "The Three Sisters", with some minor modifications. (And permission from the author.)
  • Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead:
    • When Sunset is home sick with the flu, she's mentioned as watching a cartoon that Celestia doesn't recognize but describes as being "Something about fusions, and Crystal Gems?"
    • While confronting Iron Will during the attack on Canterlot High, Chinch repeats Dracula's "What is a man?" speech from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, throws her drinking chalice to the ground, and rips off her suit to reveal a high-collared cape, white shirt and burgundy pants based on the other vampire's.
    • The epilogue lifts a brief conversation between Sunset and Celestia regarding where the swords are kept from Hiimdaisy's comics on Persona 4.
  • School Daze: Dozens of lines of dialogue are lines from 80's songs, especially Men at Work and Talking Heads.
  • Scootamom:
    • Scootaloo's introduction to her auntie involves her walking across the ceiling with suction cups, à la a certain Ask a Pony blog.
    • "She seems to be more caffeine than mare now. Twisted and jittering."
    • Celestia also mentions that Luna once got her face covered with alfalfa sauce.
    • Word of God hasn't confirmed this one yet, but the fact that Luna has a magma-powered forge and warns Scootaloo against exploring the castle cellars on her own has led SpaceBattles to conclude that she set the Hidden Fun Stuff loose in her big sister's basement. Whether or not Canterlot also has a Fuck The World lever is also unknown as yet.
    • The old shopkeeper introduced in the second half of Celestia vs. Knitting is known simply by his nickname 'Uncle', has a collection of animal talismans, and Dope Slaps ponies to keep them in line.
    • Pinkie Pie's siblings and father are named Inkie, Blinkie and Clyde.
  • Sophistication and Betrayal:
    • The protagonist's favorite drink is Sparkle Cola.
    • Pinkie Pie takes on the name of Tenacious P for one of her songs. This is immediately lampshaded by the protagonist.
    • To Star Wars, when the protagonist compares unicorn magic to The Force.
    • To The Dark Knight when the protagonist responds to her comment with "We kill the Batman?". Rarity naturally doesn't get the reference.
    • "Time is money, friend"
    • To Pink Floyd numerous times, including Chapter 14's title, "Wearing The Inside Out" and Chapter 17's title, "High Hopes".
    • Eric Clapton during Chapter 3, when the Protagonist starts singing "Wonderful Tonight" to himself while waiting for Rarity to get dressed.
    • Bob Seger as well, in passing.
    • Airplane! gets in with the usual Shirley reference. As above, naturally Rarity doesn't get it.
  • The Story Shuffle series of anthologies: In their Tables of Contents:
    • That of the first series, Story Shuffle: To some summaries of Warhammer 40,000, that go like, "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."
      26. Marine Biology (EoH compatible)
      [...]
      In the grim wetness of the ocean depths of Ungula, there is mostly war.
    • That of Story Shuffle 2: Double Masters: To BioShock's line, "A man chooses, a slave obeys."
      16. Intrusive Thoughts
      [...]
      A pony chooses. A slave obeys.
  • Stroll:
    • Wallaby Way is mentioned multiple times.
    • One of the snacks the burglars stole is called Dixie Biscuits.
    • Octavia eats snacks from the brand Host and hopes they go out of business.
    • Octavia narrowly avoids comparing a sheriff's hat to Calamity Mane's.
    • The deputy who helps Octavia is Deputy Beagle.
    • The fake name Octavia gives to the two police officers is Chell.
    • Cigare Brûlé (Burnt Cigar in French) is a subtle reference to Bon Iver.
    • In Devastation, the griffons mention Trainspying.
    • The captain of the pirate ship (who appears in Intelligence, Stupidity, and Disappointment) is Andy Trout. His ship is called the Scuttlebug and he calls to the main group with "Avast, ye scuttlebutts!"
    • Three successive chapter names are Town, Barter, and Run.
  • Strykes Random Elements: “There's the Discordians, the Cultists for the Second Coming of the Mag'ne, the Sect of the Horned Rat just to name a few and far to (sic) many others." Including the meat-eating White Sock Society.
  • Triptych Continuum: Many. Here's a few:
    • From Triptych:
      • To Flash Fog: Chapter 3 reports that Fluttershy's income includes a small stipend with associated tax break from the Weather Bureau which she's never quite explained. Word Of Fanfic Author says that in this continuity, the cottage is serving as a first-alert station, with Fluttershy sounding the alarm if she spots a major uncontrolled weather system emerging from her neighboring wild zone.
      • To Gone with the Wind In her desperation to make dresses (plus one tuxedo) for everypony in time for the party, Rarity winds up cannibalizing a set of Quiet's curtains.
      • To On a Cross and Arrow: Chapter 14 has Twilight being asked/made to attend and bless the birth of two foals. Both are then named in tribute to her: the pegasus filly Dawn Sky and a unicorn colt named Dusk. A few chapters later, we meet the latter's father — and find out the last name is Shine.
      • To Edvard Munch's painting, The Scream: In Chapter 15, a ponified version is described:
        "Y'see that paintin' on the wall?" Applejack inclined her head towards the ornate frame. "The one with what Ah think is s'posed t' be a stallion on some kind of bridge, with the sky all red an' somethin' wrong with the water an' two strangers approachin'? An' he's jus' screamin' at the air?"
      • To Dungeons & Dragons: In Chapter 13, Rarity reveals that the Diamond Dogs call her the Tyrant of the Underdark. She thinks it's meant with respect.
      • When Gentle Arrival discusses his list of "infusion" experiments, he mentions an earth pony with an incredible instinct for unicorn workings, and an instinctive ability to dispel most magics, which he uses to pursue a career as a wandering tutor for young unicorns — this is a reference to Green Grass, the male protagonist of the The Traveling Tutor and the Librarian series.
    • From A Total Eclipse Of The Fun:
  • Ultra Fast Pony:
    • Pinkie's references to The Lord of the Rings imply that Wacarb is a fan as well. One does not simply reference Bill the pony via pop cultural osmosis.
    • A few to Homestar Runner. Marzipan's "Oh Yeah Yeah" song is used for two separate montages. Photo Finish sounds like (a slightly less Cloud Cuckoolander-ish) Senor Cardgage. The background "music" in "Stay Tuned" is very similar to the music from the Dangeresque films.
    • Wacarb is a fan of PurpleEyesWFT's abridgements. Diamond Tiara's voice sounds a lot like Nina's voice from Code MENT. And the joke where DT complains about Scootaloo being incomprehensible is very similar to the joke where Nina makes fun of Suzaku for having a stupid voice.
    • As young Rarity gets dragged towards her new destiny, the Wallace & Gromit theme music plays. A caption appears, reading "I love this song".
    • When Rarity reaches her destiny, she's disappointed that it's not Pride Rock, just an ordinary rock.
    • "There's no such thing as too much David Bowie!"
    • Some of the many incorrect names Pinkie Pie gives to Cranky include Diddy, Dixie, Lanky, Funky, and Chunky.
  • The Wedding is Off! features some lines that are reworked quotes from The Little Mermaid (1989), The Lion King (1994), iCarly and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
  • The Witch of the Everfree:
    • At one point Sunset quotes Jaya Ballard, task mage.
      Sunset: Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire.
    • One of the books Sunset finds in the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters is "The Book of Megan".
    • During their fight with Nightmare Moon, Sunset tells Twilight to cross the streams.
    • During the same fight, she pulls a Vaarsuvius: "I prepared explosive runes this mor-"
    • When Pinkie is listing the Noodle Implements she'll need to test the possibility of creating a pinata full of pinatas, she closes with "an old priest and a young priest."
  • The Writing on the Wall:
    • The story contains a shoutout to the curse of King Tutankhamen's tomb and to the poem Ozymandias in Daring Do's speculation about what the eponymous, then untranslated writing on the wall of the Ancient Tomb meant:
      "'This is the tomb of the great and terrible So-and-So! Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair! Whosoever steals the treasure will face the gods' curse, and the sky will fall on their heads, et cetera'."
    • The entire story is a shout-out to a proposal for an as yet unbuilt nuclear waste storage facility. The Reveal turns the story into a Horror story, as the reader realizes that the ponies who got sick are suffering from radiation sickness.
      This is not a place of honor. No great deed is commemorated here. Nothing of value is here.

    Naruto 
  • Chiaroscuro:
  • Naru-Hina Chronicles:
    • The main logo is inspired by the official logo for Final Fantasy VIII. Fittingly, they both focus on each work's respective Official Couple.
    • Naruto calls Hinata "Sleeping Beauty" after she wakes up a few times. The second time it happens, she blushes and asks if Sleeping Beauty isn't supposed to get a kiss from her prince, with Naruto taking this opportunity to give her multiple kisses.
    • During the Chunin Exam, Sakura sees Sasuke using the Sexy Jutsu to quickly end his fight against Lee and she does an angry rant over it, only for Sasuke to kiss her in the hopes that it will shut her up. mattwilson83 (the creator of NHC) stated that this was inspired by "Jaws Wired Shut", an episode of The Simpsons. Said episode features a scene where Homer decides to hug an upset Lisa, hoping it will "cork her cry hole."
      • Another Simpsons reference happens in Chapter 78. After Hanajima says that she likes the idea of her and Shino having a double date with Lee and Arekusu at a movie theater, Lee says that it's settled and adds "Let's all go to the lobby and get ourselves some snacks!" This is something Mr. Burns said in the episode titled "Burns' Heir", which was also a reference to the Let's All Go to the Lobby animated advertisement (whereas that line ended with "...to get ourselves a treat.").
    • Kakashi greets Hinata in some park by saying "Hi-de-ho" to her. This is similar to Wilson from Home Improvement, another character known for having half of his face being hidden all the time.
    • After learning that Tenten is pregnant and also engaged to Neji, Lee suggests they should go celebrate. This is followed by an Imagine Spot of Lee dancing and Gai singing "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees.
      • Three chapters later, Gai ends up singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.
    • Kiba is giving Mina her contacts case, which has the symbol of an eye printed on it. mattwilson83 left a note underneath the panel showing the case that says "No... it's not a Millenium Item! LOL!"
    • Naru-Hina Chronicles Mini-sodes:

    One Piece 

    The Owl House 
  • A Hero Forged:
    • One of the first dilemmas Luz has when working on her inventions in the Boiling Isles is finding an alternative to palladium because of its toxicity, a dilemma that Tony Stark had with his miniature arc-reactor in Iron Man 2.
    • Luz calls Gus "Mini-Loki" because of his superfluous use of illusion magic.

    Persona 

    Pokemon 
  • Guys Being Dudes:
    • Arlo makes plenty of references to his music tastes throughout. Bands namedropped include My Chemical Romance, Bring Me the Horizon, Escape the Fate, and Falling in Reverse.
    • Arlo alludes to the Team Rocket motto from the Pokémon anime when Sierra claims their motto is "Team GO Rocket doesn't give a shit about your personal life."
    • After Candela called Arlo Tsundere back when they were dating, he went on a Wiki Walk after looking it up on a site that's strongly implied to be This Very Wiki.
    • Not only does Arlo play Ingress, XM is also apparently literally real and what provides the power boost to Shadow Pokémon and raid bosses.
    • One of Blanche's car magnets reads "Honk IFF you love formal logic", a reference to xkcd.
    • While Spark and Arlo are discussing the linguistics of song lyrics, they come to the conclusion in reference to "Tik Tok" that if Kesha entered and then left a party, it would produce a universe-destroying singularity.
    • A song about horses that was a meme several years prior and which both Sierra and Arlo hate, but Sierra hates more, is mentioned. Based on the fic being set in 2022, it's a reference to "Old Town Road" and its Memetic Mutation status.
    • Arlo plans to call the Shadow Pokémon schematic he's working on at the beginning of the fic Pokémon XD.
  • Too Many Ashes: Clemont and an Ash clone working as his assistant recreate the "Pull the lever" sequence from The Emperor's New Groove.

    Pretty Cure 
  • Glitter Force: Into the Glitterverse:
  • Pretty Cure Perfume Preppy:
    • Chiara's hairstyle as Cure Vanilla was meant to resemble Bubbles.
    • There is one to the Brazillian edition of American Idol in episodes 31 and 34, particularly to a contestant known as Marcos Paulo. He ended up being eliminated during the Top 6 (such thing did happen to his fanfic counterpart Hyosuke Holic during his second appearance) and never popped up at media again since then, but the author still swoons over him.
    • Ayameko nicknaming her guitar "Blue Moon" in episode 45, which also mentions "Second Spin" (Night and Sunday's finishing move) and includes a Ship Tease moment reminiscent of Asa falling onto Yoko in episode 10.

    Professional Wrestling 

    Psych 

    Real Person Fics 

    RWBY 

     Sgt. Frog 
  • Yin and Yang Series: Oh so much.
    • Doraemon, in the first lines of the first story
    • Lupapa's design is based on Naruto's Kankurou, and her whole family are references to Naruto characters. Her name and thievery are based on Lupin III.
    • The character of Fujuju pays heavy homage to Doctor Who. He's British, wears a scarf, lives in an old telephone box that's Bigger on the Inside, and astonishes his human friends with alien technology.
      • Lampshaded once by Oliver.
      Fujuju: We're going to make [the telephone box] fly.
      Oliver: …Next thing I know you’ll be fighting trash cans and offering everyone jelly babies.
    • So does Botan, the Time Lord...er, Time Bender.
    • The designs of twins Maggie and Oliver are loosely based on Rin and Len, while their sister Frannie's design is based on Miku.

    Skylanders 

    The Smurfs 

    A Song of Ice and Fire 
  • Chasing Dragons:
    • A "black-masked pirate named Roberts" is offhandedly mentioned at one point.
    • One of Stannis's most loyal lords during the early years of his reign is Lord Abram, of House Gaunt.
    • Many of the Stepstone pirates are named after various real life figures from The Golden Age of Piracy.
    • Much of the information concerning the events in Westeros and Essos comes from the in-universe testimonies of a knight named Ser Harry Flash. He is nowhere near as scummy as the real deal.
    • Aside from the Flash Papers, the special anniversary posts show future in-universe media centered around the events of the fic. These include:
      • A play called King Robert written centuries afterwards by Willem Stackspear.
      • A cartoon called Sphinxes, based on Gargoyles, where Robert and Daario are both reincarnated warriors awoken by a detective.
      • A live action historical comedy, based around the misadventures of a fictional courtier to King Stannis named Edmund Blackviper.
      • A Total War esque video game called Total War: Liberator. It even has a trailer based on this one for Napoleon: Total War.
  • Robb Returns has four Maesters who are named Archmaester Tudyk and Maesters Fillion, Baldwin and Maher (Firefly, anyone?).

    Sonic the Hedgehog 

    Star Trek 
  • Bait and Switch:
    • During Captain Kanril Eleya's Flashback Nightmare that takes up the first half of chapter one, one-shot character Crewman Davos drops the line "Bloody pirates" (referring to an Orion Syndicate Boarding Party).
    • Eleya notes in her narration that there's a theory that replicated food tastes a little artificial because it's exactly the same every time, whereas cooked food has variations (slight variances in ingredient proportions, cooking time, cooking temperature, etc.). This is borrowed from the nonfiction book Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek (the biology equivalent of Lawrence Krauss' The Physics of Star Trek).
    • At the start of chapter two Eleya is playing Commander Marissa Allyn in a holonovel adaptation of Star Carrier: Earth Strike by William H. Keith, Jr..
    • In chapter six, Tess's and JG Park's "Conn, you gotta give me an Ivan." "Always wanted to try one!" exchange is borrowed from the pilot of Firefly.
    • In chapter seven, Eleya takes a page out of Jack O'Neill (from the Stargate SG-1 episode "The First Commandment"), demanding of an admin petty officer who's being an Obstructive Bureaucrat if it says "Captain" anywhere on her uniform.
    • Among the ships that make up the Marduk Carrier Battle Group is the USS Ivanova.
  • "Frostbite":
  • The Headhunt:
    • There's a reference to a Noodle Incident where some rogue Starfleet officers with a Section 31 obsession broke into Facility 4028 to extract an ally. This is a reference to the Foundry series Star Trek: Allegiance.
    • The C.O. of the USS Brisbane is named Sumati Chennapragada, the viewpoint character of a Star Trek lemon titled "A Bad Day for Shore Leave" (which we won't link due to it being massively NSFW).
  • "Last Rights":
    • The first line is Fallout's customary "War. War never changes." opener, albeit applied more literally than Fallout usually does (the following Opening Monologue talks about the necessity of surface armies even in an era of starships that can glass planets, rather than exploring human nature and fictional history).
    • The same monologue borrows a line from TV Tropes, specifically How to Invade an Alien Planet.
      "You can bomb it, you can strafe it, you can cover it with poison, you can turn it into glass, but you don't own it unless your army's on it and the other guy's isn't."
    • The author apparently couldn't resist throwing in a Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference when Senior Chief Athezra is hit by Vaadwaur shrapnel.
      Athezra: Cap. How bad is it?
      Eleya: Just a flesh wound! Where's that damned medic!
  • "Past Continuous": Eleya's quotation that "spring wine is the Prophets' way of showing us they love us" is a slight modification of something Benjamin Franklin said about beer.
  • Peace Forged in Fire:
  • Reality Is Fluid:
    • The author's notes state that Professor Atani Dukat was inspired by Emperor Turhan from the Babylon 5 episode "The Coming of Shadows", inasmuch as they're both high-ranking members of an enemy culture who want to mend fences by apologizing for their fathers. Dukat has better luck than Turhan did, though.
    • One of the alternate timelines detected by the Schrodinger's Butterfly sensor array is the Star Trek Novel Verse, as evidenced by Deep Space 9 having been replaced by a Federation-built station on the same site.
    • Dul'krah, the Bajor's security chief, is said to have made the saboteur confess by glaring at him until he gave it up, in reference to Teal'c's favored method of interrogation in Stargate SG-1.
  • Reimagined Enterprise: Besides the internal ones to Star Trek itself, there are others.
  • Red Fire, Red Planet:
    • There's a mention of a freighter called the SS Ayanami, skippered by a Captain Ikari.
    • "Case Zulu" as an "enemies inbound, This Is Not a Drill" message is a reference to the Honor Harrington books.
    • When Norigom mouths off to General K'Bor, Brokosh borrows a line from the pilot of Firefly:
      Brokosh: Norigom, you will keep a civil tongue in that mouth when speaking to a superior officer or I will sew it shut. Do we have an understanding between us?
      Norigom: You don’t pay me to talk pretty. Just because—
      Brokosh: NORIGOM!
      Norigom: (meekly) Yes, Captain.
    • There's a MACO petty officer in chapter four named Gordon Freeman. The liner notes say that it was either that or "Django Freeman" and the author thought "Gordon" was funnier.
  • "Shakedown Shenanigans":
    • When Bynam test-fires one of the impulse engines it lets off a high-pitched squeal that he calls the "baby's cry", saying it'll go away by the end of the shakedown cruise. This is borrowed from The Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm.
    • At the end of the fic, pleased with the Bajor's performance, Eleya strokes the wall and whispers, "That's my girl. That's my good girl." Borrowed from the end of the Firefly pilot, where Kaylee did that after the dramatic escape from the Reavers.
  • The Wrong Reflection:
    • Eleya has posters on her bedroom wall for The Fifth Element and Mass Effect, and she ropes Gaarra into watching the former with her.
    • Riker tells Eleya he has "good news, bad news, and ... indifferent news", in reference to Rowan Atkinson's sketch "Pink Tights and Plenty of Props".
    • In keeping with Star Trek tradition of naming Starfleet shuttles after space scientists, Eleya's shuttle Shoemaker is named for astronomers Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker.
    • At the tail end of chapter 2 the fleet goes into a string of "X ship, standing by" messages, including Gray Leader and Gold Leader (the Peregrine fighter wings). Lampshaded when Eleya, who likes Earth sci-fi, comments:
      “Please nobody say ‘lock s-foils in attack position’.”
    • The comm chatter during the fleet battle in chapter three contains lines borrowed from A New Hope, Transformers, and Top Gun.
    • A double one to Stargate SG-1. Mirror Gul Antos remarks to Eleya regarding Dal Kanril, her mirror universe counterpart, that "I’ve been telling Morag for years he has a very insubordinate subordinate." Eleya openly admits that she's even worse.* 
    • To the Mass Effect fanfic The Translation in Blood, when Eleya manages to get Dal Kanril to snap to attention by acting like a drill instructor, and Dal Kanril responds, "Hey, that's cheating."
  • "To Absent Friends": To Jayne and Book's conversation in the Firefly episode "Objects in Space", when Biri has trouble believing that T'Var's a virgin.
    Biri: What, never?
    T'Var: No.
    Biri: "Not ever", never?

    Star Wars 
  • By the Sea: Before the war, Obi-Wan was a literature teacher, and he passes the time during Cody's convalescence telling him human stories about merfolk, in particular The Little Mermaid, and The Iliad and The Odyssey. These feature heavily in the story's symbolism as Obi-Wan and Cody liken several aspects of themselves and their experiences to parts of those stories. Obi-Wan in particular hopes that nursing Cody back to health might help absolve his sin of loving Cody, allowing him to escape either the blandness of Heaven or the torment of Hell and dissolve with the sea foam, like the Little Mermaid. Cody interprets Achilles and Patroclus as lovers, like he and Obi-Wan, and much is made near the end of Cody's recovery, when it becomes evident that Cody absolutely must leave, of Penelope patiently waiting for Odysseus's return from the war, tearing out her weaving every night and restarting it every morning to keep the suitors at bay.
  • The Gray Jedi Series: In The Gray Jedi: Merciless Indifference, Zari's starfighter, the Night Witch, is named after the real life Russian female night bomber crews from WWII.
  • Limpet AU: In "Argos", Artoo quotes Gandalf's line about wizards never coming late, replacing "wizard" with "droid".
  • Star Wars: Galactic Folklore and Mythology:
    • The Besalisk artist Othobludge, who was forced to live in a cave after pissing off the local emperor, is named after a Stone Age sculptor who appears in Dr. Dolittle in the Moon.
    • The Frozian equivilant to cats are called jonzies.
    • When describing how most galactic cultures abhor cannibalism, the narration notes that there have been some exceptions to this trend, such as the Gugs of Tsalal Prime.

    Steven Universe 

    Supernatural 
  • The Corrupted Innocent;
    • Deanna and Bela run into Sarah Blake while investigating a case that they speculate was the inspiration for The Picture of Dorian Gray.
    • Talking with Sam about the limitations of how angels can get permission from potential vessels reminds Sarah of a storyline from X-Men she was told about by an ex-boyfriend.
    • The epilogue shows Dean and Bela's daughter playing with toy Transformers, Dean musing that he's always grateful that his daughter isn't a 'Barbie girl'.
  • It's All in the Details;
    • At one point Chuck compares his habit of leaving the ‘true’ gospels (what’s actually happening as opposed to what happened before Cas’s time-travel) in a safety deposit box in a bank to the ‘tin dispatch box’ that Watson mentions in some of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
    • Learning that there can only be one Prophet active at a time prompts Dean to compare them to Slayers, although Castiel naturally doesn’t get the reference.
    • When Dean mentions time travel in police boxes as a possibility, Sam is surprised that his brother watches Doctor Who.

    Super Mario Bros 
  • In Clash of the Elements there is one to Super Mario Bros. Z in Chapter 45 of Part 1 More specifically, the act of having the Star Spirits appear and using their energy to power-up Mario and the other heroes, a concept which, while it didn't get to appear in the actual series, was shown in the intro.
  • The Sea Shadow:
    • The Yoshi partner is named Rocky, for Rocky Balboa.
    • At one point, Vivian calls Lord Crump Alien X.

    Teen Titans 

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) 

    Thomas and Friends 
  • In A Cracked Ruby, Victor and James's first conversation when the latter regains consciousness is a near word-for-word re-enactment of Palpatine and Anakin's first conversation after Anakin has been put into the iconic Vader suit.
  • In Goodbye to Yesterday, Henry remarks that the lovestruck Thomas and Emily are "twitterpated". In addition, the Fat Controller's confrontation with Gordon is an almost word-for-word remake of Tritan's conversation with Sebastian about Ariel being in love.
  • The Demon Awakens contains several conversations that are nearly word-for-word remakes of lines from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The title itself is a reference to The Force Awakens.
  • The Black Caesar is basically a complete adaptation of the L.A. Noire case of the same name, set on Sodor. Richard Adrian also compares Detectives Phelps and Gallagher to Abbott and Costello.
  • The title of Murder on the Express is based on Murder on the Orient Express. Emily also quotes a variant on Captain Amelia's eulogy for Mr. Arrow:
    Emily: Lawrence Rider was a...wonderful driver. The kindest and most relatable driver...that any engine could have...but he knew the risks, as we all do.
  • In Sailor John: A Pirate's Vendetta, Sailor John shouts a variation of one of Tom Riddle's lines while chasing Ryan:
    Sailor John: Sir Topham's rules won't save you now, Ryan! This diesel only obeys me!
    • Both Henry and the Mayor quote variants of three lines from Mulan:
    Henry: If I may, Mr. Mayor, you would do well to teach the General to hold his tongue when our engines' lives are on the line!
    Mayor: General Malcolm, you dishonor me.
    Mayor: I KNOW MY PLACE! It is time you learned yours!
    Sailor John: DO say hello to Mr. Rider.
    Henry's driver: Tell him YOURSELF!
  • In The Wizard and the Witch, Merlin quotes Obi-Wan Kenobi when he reveals his identity to Percy.
  • In Old Habits Die Hard, David Rider quotes Captain Hook's rant about "good form" almost word-for-word when the Fat Controller accuses him of not showing such form, while the end of James's rant and the Fat Controller's word while punishing him are variants of a confrontation between Wart and Sir Ector:
    James: And YOU, FAT CONTROLLER! You make all the rules on this railway, and no one else on the island can say ANYTHING about it!
    Fat Controller: YOU'VE said a-plenty, you very naughty engine! Holding up four trains was very bad of you indeed. You'll be busy with these rubbish trucks for that! But now, all that pop-off just cooked your goose! Rebecca, go to Wellsworth. Tell Edward he can take James' coaches for the next three weeks. Do you hear that, James? EDWARD shall be taking YOUR passengers. Hmm?
    James: Yes, sir!
    Fat Controller: THAT will teach you not to pop off anymore!
  • In Cruel to be Kind, Emily's realisation of just why she was punished the way she was is a reworking of the Grinch's realisation of what Christmas truly means.
  • In O Mother, Where Art Thou?, David's last conversations he had with his mother before leaving for the Navy are reworkings of the last conversations Mulan and Jim Hawkins have with their respective parents before leaving home.
    • In Chapter 2, David, his crew and Emily's driver have a conversation that's a variant of Eric and Grimby's conversation with the crew of their ship about merpeople.
    • In Chapter 4, David's last conversation with his father Lawrence is a near word-for-word remake of the last conversation Han Solo has with his son, Ben (Kylo Ren), while Diesel 10 thanks the dieselworks worker who helped him (unaware of who he is) with nearly the same words Captain Hook uses to thank Tinkerbell for showing him Peter's hideout before locking her in a lantern.
    • In Chapter 5, David's first words upon finding the picture of himself as a baby being held by his parents are exactly the same as Tarzan's when he finds the photo of himself as a baby with his birth parents. Both characters even have to rub dust off of their photos. In addition, David's last conversation with Emily is very similar to Tarzan's last words to Kala before he leaves to be with Jane.
    • Chapter 7 is titled "The Rise of Rider", and the final battle with Diesel 10 plays out similarly to the final battle from the movie. In addition, David's last words with the ghost of his father Lawrence are a near word-for-word reworking of Vader's last words to Luke. In the same chapter, David quotes Dumbledore during his confrontation with Diesel 10:
    David: It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Diesel 10. The Mainland Railway Board is surely on their way.
  • In My Big G, both David and Thomas use the word "twitterpated" to describe Gordon and Rebecca's feelings for each other. David also quotes Friend Owl's speech about being "twitterpated" almost word-for-word.
  • In Chapter 4 of Crushed Spirit, Emily and David's drunken antics resemble those of Dumbo and Timothy Mouse before the "Pink Elephants" sequence (although no such sequence occurs in the fic). They also sing the Habanera sequence from Carmen and the drinking song from Otello. Also, the lines that the crowd that has assembled to look at the sleeping Emily and David speak are near word-for-word remakes of the crow conversation, while David quotes Timothy almost word-for-word while telling Emily what happened to them, and the Fat Controller quotes Thomas O'Malley when describing what happened to David and Emily:
    Fat Controller: Basted? They've been marinated in it!
  • In Until Death Do Us Part, during Thomas's nightmare, his last words to Sailor John include Harry's last words to Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:
    Thomas: YOU'RE the weak one...you will never know love or friendship...and I feel sorry for you.
    • Later in the story, David quotes Gandalf when explaining his views of the afterlife:
    David: The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back, then all turns to silver glass...and then you see it. White shores...And beyond...a far green country...under a swift sunrise.
    • He then quotes a near word-for-word remake of Gandalf's closing message to Bilbo in The Hobbit.
  • In Imitation Steamrollers, George the steamroller quotes a variant on one of Captain Hook's lines:
    George: So...you want a splash...Ms. Carriage Wheels? I'LL GIVE YOU A SPLASH!
    David: I'm here because I don't want any more of your nonsense spewing to my beloved engine, end of story, goodbye, the END! Any questions?
    David: Say you're an outcast.
    George: I'm an outcast.
    David: LOUDER!!
    George: I'M AN OUTCAST!
    Engines: HOORAY! George is an Outcast! An Outcast! An Outcast! An Outcast! An Outcast!
    David: Alright, George. You're free to go! And in the Mainland's eyes...you're free to stay there, and NEVER return!
  • In High Stress Express, Gordon quotes a near word-for-word remake of one of Gandalf's lines from The Lord of the Rings:
    Gordon: The express is never late! Nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it is meant to arrive.
    Gordon: If that be the case, since the Fat Controller has put us in charge of so many passengers, and seeing how you've decided not to think of our future rewards until the day is out, I might be steaming up some resistance of my own so as not to pander to you and get us delayed. Until the day is out, we are NOT pandering to each other's infatuations for even a single moment. We won't so much as rest, kiss or let off steam together without our timetable saying so!
    Rebecca: Well, you'd best hold to that intention, Gordon. For as long as our passengers need us!
    Gordon: Oh, you can be sure of THAT, my Golden Queen. You can be sure of that.
    —>Gordon: If I could manage an express schedule at that magnitude when I first-ever came here, all the passengers...they'd be bowing in the streets when I huffed along today!
  • In Thomas' Fuzzy Friend, David mentions Lassie and Old Yeller when discussing famous dogs, while the Fat Controller mentions 101 Dalmatians.
  • In How Else It Could Have Been, during David's fantasy about how the events of Sailor John: A Pirate's Vendetta could have played out if he'd been present, the words exchanged by himself and Sailor John during the final battle are word-for-word remakes of Mulan's confrontation with Shan Yu. The ensuing fight also plays out similarly to the final fight.
  • In Chapter 3 of The Brother's Grimm, David's attempts at comforting Bernard and giving him a pep talk (as well as Bernard's angry rant) are near word-for-word remakes of one of Silver and Jim's conversations, while Bernard's conversation with the ghost of Lawrence is lifted from Yoda and Luke's conversation in The Last Jedi.
    • 'Arry and Bert whispering to each other then calling Bernard a weirdo while demanding to know what he's looking at in Chapter 4 is lifted from an earlier scene in Treasure Planet, where some of the pirates do the same to Jim, while the confrontation between Bernard and the Grumpy Passenger, and David coming to Bernard's aid, comes from Jim's confrontation with Scroop and Silver's intervention - the characters even quote lines that are nearly word-for-word reworkings of the lines spoken in that scene. The lines spoken by the Arlesburgh policeman, and those spoken by David while punishing the Grumpy Passenger, come from the scene directly after that, as does the passenger being forced to mop the deck of David's ship the Sea Emperor. David also quotes Captain Hook on two occasions while threatening the Grumpy Passenger:
    David: Well, Mr. Holder...I can't help but wonder if my ship's plank needs repairing. It's rather worn and brittle...and if you're not going to cooperate and leave Bernard alone for the rest of today, I might need you to be a good fellow and fix the plank...so I can make you WALK IT!
    —>David: And what do you think...YOU are doing?
    Grumpy Passenger: Hmph! To tell more passengers that this navy-blue Stirling is a danger to the island! He still doesn't see the danger no more than you do!
    David: You will go back to your business, complain about your own gripes...and leave Emily's dear brother in the peace he deserves....UNDERSTA-A-A-AND?!
    • After chasing off the Grumpy Passenger, Thomas, the Fat Controller and David quote variants on lines from Sebastian and Triton's conversation about whether the latter was too hard on Ariel. David later quotes Ursula while ranting about the Grumpy Passenger:
    David: THAT was a close one! TOO close! That little tramp! At this rate, if we don't stop that filthy man, he's bound to start caning other engines too! Well, just as I did with George's villainy upon you, AND just as I promised the Admiral to protect Sodor from any more atrocities, perhaps it's again time I briefly take matters into my OWN hands!
    David: I consider myself a reasonable captain. I enforce certain rules onboard my ship, as well as personal standards for my engine's well-being, and by my military stature, it is my nautical right to see those rules and standards being obeyed at all times!
    The Fat Controller: Indeed, David. And I consider myself a reasonable controller. I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed...Seamus the Grumpy Passenger Holder! Is it true you caned Emily's brother for nothing?! AND is it true you tried to cane Emily the No. 12 Safety Engine?! Thomas' emerald angel and David's rightful engine?!
    Grumpy Passenger: Hmph! She had the nerve to try defending that dangerous brother of hers! How many times have I told you all he's such a danger to us all?! I HAD to cane him!
    David: Committing any form of rebellion upon the Emerald Law is strictly forbidden! Seamus, you KNOW that! Everyone knows that!
    Grumpy Passenger: Bernard here would have escaped if I didn't do it fast enough!
    David: Of course he would have! One less round of trivial and stupid complaints to worry about! You never take the time to know Emily's brother, surely thinking you don't have to know him! Maybe perhaps I don't have to know YOU entirely either! I'm willing to bet everyone else in your family might have been the same! Spineless, savage, deceptive engine framers! Incapable of any gratitude and-
    Grumpy Passenger: BOTH THESE STIRLINGS ARE CHEATS, AND SO ARE YOU, RIDER! YOU AND YOUR MEDDLESOME WENCH OF A MOTHER!
    David: ...No-o-o! Have you lost your senses completely?! My mother is NOT a wench! Blistered by thy tongue for such words! Emily is our SAFETY ENGINE! Bernard is a GOOD BROTHER! He's RESPONSIBLE, he's RELIABLE!, he's REALLY USEFUL! YOU...see, YOU'RE just an ugly, horrible, grouchy old MAN!
    Grumpy Passenger: I don't care!
    David: So help me, Holder. As once I conquered Diesel 10 and rid Sodor of George's tarmacking tyranny, I am going to rid Sodor of your plaguing grumpiness and caning cruelty! And if what I'm about to do is the only way...so be it!
    • The Grumpy Passenger quotes Clayton's last words to Tarzan while daring David to run him through, and David's response is the same as Tarzan's. The Fat Controller quotes the matchmaker's last words to Mulan at the end of his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the Grumpy Passenger, while David's words regarding what just happened (as well as the conversation he and Beatrice have about the passenger in the last chapter) are from a variant on Meg's conversation with Brian before she goes back to being a "lightning rod" for her family's abuse.
    • The fight in Emily and Bernard's dream resembles the last fight between Peter Pan and Captain Hook, while David compares the Grumpy Passenger to Ebeneezer Scrooge in his dream.
    • The Grumpy Passenger quotes Mr. Toad while bemoaning becoming homeless and penniless, while David quotes Silver while congratulating Bernard on the heroic rescue he performed.
    • The Grumpy Passenger quotes Scrooge while begging Beatrice to help him out of the horrible situation he's gotten himself into, while Bernard's goodbye uses several quotes from Silver's farewell, and the ending scene where he and Emily see each other's faces in the clouds comes from the very end of the movie.
  • In Bubbling Boilers, David quotes Gimli:
    David: Well, THIS is a thing unheard of! An engine getting cleaned from the outside is elementary to all railways...but on the inside, in a way such as that?! Especially with my engine and best friend?! Oh...ohh, I'd never hear the end of it!
  • In A Close Slide, Thomas and Emily quote lines from Bambi while escaping the landslide:
    Thomas: Faster! Faster, Emily! Don't look back! Keep running! KEEP RUNNING!
    Emily: We made it! We made it, Thomas! We...Thomas!
  • In Pumping Engine, Thomas and the Fat Controller quote Peter Pan and Captain Hook:
    Thomas: Come on, then! Who wants another wheeshing?! Form an orderly line, I'll wheesh you all one by one! COME ON, WHO'S NEXT?!
    Fat Controller: YOU'RE next, Thomas! This time, you've gone too far! I will NOT, for all the glory on this island, have rudeness like this to passengers!
    Fat Controller: I do NOT tolerate insults such as his, but fighting about it isn't helping anything! I will deal with this passenger and what he said! But what you did is wrong too!
    Emily: There was no lie in this man's eyes. A fool for such comments...but honest and apologetic nonetheless.
    • The passenger quotes Boromir when he tries to apologise to Emily after hearing that almost all of her siblings were scrapped.
  • This is Halloween is named after The Nightmare Before Christmas song of the same name.
    • At the Ironworks, Thomas says that he laughs in the face of danger.
    • While talking about soda pop, Emily quotes a variant of Snape's lines about Gillyweed not being something found in a regular potions store cupboard.
    • David dresses as Captain Hook, and quotes Hook's description of how Pan cut off his hand and fed it to the crocodile.
  • Ask the Famous 8!: The children’s care home Thomas and Percy are placed in is called “Shining Time”.

    Total Drama 

    Transformers 

    Undertale 
  • Inverted Fate has its own page.
  • Storyshift:
    • Since he never got a robot body and changed his name to Mettaton here, Mettaton is known in this AU as Mettacrit, referencing the game review website Metacritic the same way Napstablook's name references Napster.
    • Preboot Undyne's One-Winged Angel form in the Core brings Sailor Moon to mind.
    • Also from the preboot, the Rising and falling comics feature Shifty getting the key to Chara's secret room, where they find a picture of a younger Chara sitting "between two almost identical twins" and doodles of "A lizard and... something that used to be human?" Dorked (creator of Inverted Fate and friends with Voltrathelively, Storyshift's creator) confirmed in the comments of the Reddit post for Rising and falling that these were both references to Mother 3, with the implication that Storyshift takes place in the same universe as Mother 3 and that Chara was acquainted with Lucas and Claus.
  • TS!Underswap:
    • Team Switched borrows the name Mettacrit for Mettaton's name as a ghost monster from Storyshift, mentioned above. Since Voltrathelively gets credited for it in the demo's credits and even listed as a playtester for the demo (as Voltra), it would seem they had the creator's blessing.
    • Mettacrit's design◊ shares certain similarities with the Ghost type Pokémon Misdreavus◊.
    • The Mad Dummy's first appearance is heralded with the word "DUMMY!!" appearing across the screen as an Unsound Effect, a nod to the ゴゴゴ text in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
    • The Game Over screen is a homage to EarthBound (1994), with the protagonist lying in a beam of light and the game calling their death "a bad dream".
    • Norman's name and true nature might be a reference to the first episode of Gravity Falls.
    • The welcome mat at the office in the City of Old has the Sburb logo on it.
    • "Fuzzy Friend", Temmie's Leitmotif, contains references to "Temmie Room" and "Lonely Girl's Room", two songs from the real Temmie Chang's short game, Escaped Chasm (which Toby Fox also made the music for).

    Warhammer 40,000 
  • Nobledark Imperium:
    • The opening cantos of the hymn of Ahriman's Daemon Breakers is simply the Ghostbusters theme with more elaborate versions of its lyrics.
      Be thine world benighted by esoteric phenomena?
      And whose aid would you ask?
      Be you confronted by the unknown, and deem it horrific to look upon?
      And whose aid would you ask?

      Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!
      Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!
      Be you stricken with ghastly, coursing visions?
      And whose aid would you ask?
      Be your boudoir inhabited by wicked phantoms?
      Aye, and whose aid would you ask?
      Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!
      Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!
    • The Tau are referred to in side notes as having the same character arc that humanity did in Mass Effect — that of a growing power who wants to be part of the big table making the big decisions, but is only now just starting to see the true scope of the galaxy at large.
  • Tales of the Emperasque: The Emperor makes a few:

    Other 

Alternative Title(s): Fanfiction

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder You Know That Show... Trope Launch Pad Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top