JoJo's Bizarre Adventure / Shout Out

Araki has a big thing for non-Japanese music, particuarly classic rock and prog rock. The sheer number of references in his work is baffling. This was a nightmare regarding translation, since most of the names were copyrighted, so they had to rename a lot.^note And as it went on, a little pop group here, a little rapper there, in addition to more contemporary bands.

Dio Brando
Wang Chan → Wang Chung, a pop group of The '80s.
Robert E.O. Speedwagon
Poco, named after the 70's band of the same name.
Will A. Zeppeli
Tarkus and Bruford
The Sage Tonpetty and his disciples Dire and Straizo
The zombie that attacks Jonathan and his friends before meeting the monks is named Mr. Adams.
Four of Dio's zombies are named Page, Plant, Jones and Bornnam.
One of Dio's minor zombie henchmen is named Doobie after the soft rock band The Doobie Brothers.
Father Styx
When Jonathan meets Dio at his castle, he boasts to have come from Hell to fight him, much like Kenshiro shouted to Shin before their duel. In another parallel, after Dio is defeated and falls off the tower, a boy asks why Jonathan couldn't truly hate Dio.
Jonathan himself shares a name with another protagonist of a 19th century vampire novel, the one that started it all.
When meeting Speedwagon for the first time, Jonathan is wearing the stereotypical Sherlock Holmes outfit, an inverness cape and deerstalker hat.
Speedwagon in his first appearance is revealed to have a deadly bowler hat with a sharpened steel rim.
The anime shows Dio drinking from a wine bottle labeled Cronenberg.

Battle Tendency

Smokey Brown, named after the R&B singer Smokey Robinson.
Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli
Lisa Lisa and her servants Loggins and Messina, the latter named after an ex-member of the band Poco.
Wired Beck. The first name is a reference to one of Jeff Beck's albums, and the other, well...
The Pillar Men are named Santana, Esidisi, Wamuu and Kars, all of them after bands of similar names.
Suzi Q.
- Suzie Q's name may also be a reference to Suzie Quatro.
Lisa Lisa kills Wired Beck in classic Fist of the North Star fashion - complete with Joseph assuring Beck that "You Are Already Dead."
- Along with keeping the one from above, the dub adds another one. In episode 23, before Kars kills three of his underlings, he says "As you can clearly see, they are already dead."
During the flashback when Speedwagon's plane was hijacked, Joseph is reading Superman. In the anime, it is replaced by Baoh, an earlier work of Araki's.
The Pillar Men seek the Red Stone of Aja.
The island where Joseph's training with Lisa Lisa and Caesar takes place, Air Supplena Island, is named after the band Air Supply.
The song "Propaganda" from the anime quotes Friedrich Nietzsche, more specifically Also sprach Zarathustra.
- Speaking of the OST, "Welcome to the World" opens with a guitar riff too similar to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for it to be unintentional. Cemented by the fact that "Owner" and "Roundabout", the show's ending theme, are both songs by the band Yes.

Stardust Crusaders

In the beginning, Holly was singing Little Eva's hit (rerecorded by many other artists from Grand Funk Railroad to Kylie Minogue), "The Loco-Motion".
When Joseph demonstrates the powers of Hermit Purple, a series of images appears, one of them being the cover of Tom Petty's debut solo album Full Moon Fever.
All of the initial Stands are named after the Major Arcana Tarot cards. Later, Egyptian God names are used, and when they ended, band names were the source.
Jotaro Kujo's last name is a nod to the Stephen King novel Cujo.
- When the crew registers in the hotel run by Enya, Jotaro registers under the alias "Qtaro Kujo", a reference to the children manga Little Ghost Q-Taro by Fujiko Fujio.
Muhammad Avdol
- One of his attacks with Magician's Red is called Crossfire Hurricane, after the first line from The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" ("I was born in a crossfire hurricane...")
Jean-Pierre Polnareff.
- Polnareff repeatedly saying "Non!" during his fight against Avdol might be a reference to the singer's first hit song "La Poupée Qui Fait Non" (The doll who says no).
- The character's sister is named Sherry, after the singer's song "Tout, Tout Pour Ma Chérie" (everything for my darling). The song isn't particularly popular in his home country of France, but charted really high in Japan which explains a lot.
- Silver Chariot's helmet resembles Fist of the North Star's Jagi.
- He does a Shout-Out to The Princess Bride, more exactly towards Inigo Montoya. Although they look and act nothing alike, Polnareff and Montoya have oddly similar backstories, both being European fencers who lost a family member after they were killed by a man with a deformed hand. It's outright Lampshaded when he and Kakyoin are finally facing J. Geil and losing (badly). J.P. calmly explains to a desperate Kakyoin that, when the moment of revenge arrives, you don't just shout random insults. There's a certain code you have to follow, and there are some precise phrases that have to be spoken. You know how it ends.
Gray Fly is named after The Eagles member, Glenn Frey.
- His Stand, Tower of Gray, which represents coming disaster, matches Glenn's M.O. of assassination by causing fatal transportation accidents.
- The stand's extra mouth is inspired by that of the title creature in Alien.
The false Captain Tenille.
- Dark Blue Moon is a Shout-Out to Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Forever is named after the album Wu-Tang Forever. He uses a Stand called Strength.^noteStardust Crusaders predates both the formation of the Wu-Tang Clan and the release of Wu-Tang Forever. However, Araki didn't give Forever his name in the initial serialization of Stardust Crusaders but instead in an art book released in 2000.
- Strength was inspired by the famous ghost ship Mary Celeste, while parts of its appearance (especially in the OVA) were influenced by the 1980 horror movie Death Ship.
Devo The Cursed. In the Viz translation, he's called Soul Sacrifice.
- The cursed murderous doll possessed by his Stand Ebony Devil is a Shout-Out to Child's Play.
Rubber Soul.
Hol Horse either references hip-hop group Full Force's name or rock duo Hall & Oates.
J. Geil, renamed Centerfold in the Viz translation.
Nena
ZZ
- Wheel of Fortune was inspired by the films Christine and Duel.
Enya the Hag
- The English translations get around any legal issues by renaming her Enyaba
Steely Dan, the Viz translation changed his name to Dan of Steel
Arabia Fats Domino
Mannish Boy is named after a song by Muddy Waters, a blues musician
- Death Thirteen attacks people in dreams, reminiscent of Freddy Krueger.
- It also shouts "Lali-ho!" a few times, which is borrowed from Dragon Quest.
Cameo
Midler, a character who's better known as a playable character in the Fighting Game
Iggy
N'Doul
Oingo & Boingo, whose names are changed in the Viz translation for Zenyatta and Mondatta
Mariah
Alessi
Anubis's victims Chaka and Khan. His original user was Caravan Serai, named for one of Santana's albums.
Pet Shop
Kenny G; gets renamed "Billie Jean" for the English releases.
Brothers Daniel J. and Telence T. D'Arby
Vanilla Ice, whose Stand is called Cream. Doubles as a pun.
US Senator Wilson Phillips, DIO's unwitting chauffeur
Dio's name in Part III is shortened to just "DIO" and written in all caps as well and writing it consistently in English letters even in Japanese printings, changing the shoutout to Ronnie James Dio's band, also named "DIO." His gained Stand is named The World, after the namesake tarot card.
- Dio hiding in Egypt is a reference to the DIO song Egypt (The Chains are On)
In the manga version of the scene where Joseph uses Hermit Purple on a TV to get a message from randomized channels, Doraemon and The Godfather are among the shows displayed. The anime removes the references, but still shows a character asking where "Michael" is and adds a reference to Gorgeous Irene, one of Araki's previous works. Also shown on the TV is an all-female talk show called The Vision, complete with a host who looks like Whoopi Goldberg.
When Joseph is revived via the blood from DIO's corpse after having his own blood drained, he tries to prank Jotaro by pretending to be possessed by DIO. He's spared from a vicious beating when he proves it's really him by remembering the name of the lead actress from Tarzan the Ape Man (Bo Derek) and the singer of the parody song "Eat It" ("Weird Al" Yankovic - Yankovic himself even posted an excerpt of the scene on his Instagram account!)
Episode 8 of the anime has cameos of Lupin and Jigen when the party enters the hotel.
Joseph claims he knows how to ride a camel because he's seen Lawrence of Arabia three times.
When Kakyoin wakes up from his nightmare in Episode 19, Polnareff tells him he thrashing around and shaking the bed like that creepy girl from The Exorcist.
During the gambling with the elder D'Arby, Joseph taunts him by intentionally mispronouncing his name. This is probably a reference to The Sting, in which a trickster character keeps saying a mafioso's name wrong during a poker match to make him lose his cool.
The English Dub of Episode 20 has Mannish Boy yell "crap baskets!", which according to Word of God was an intentional reference to Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
In the dub of the Empress episode, Joseph scolds Polnareff for being tricked by Nena, or as he so kindly puts it, being "played like a damn fiddle."
In the dub of the final episode, Jotaro's comparison to the Wild West is modified into saying "It's high noon." A phrase popularized in Overwatch by a Wild West-inspired character Jesse McCree, voiced by Jotaro's dub actor.
In the dub of Episode 33, when Alessi sticks his head out from the door he says "Oh Polnareff! Here comes Alessi!"
In episode 14, Polnareff compares the holes in a corpse's body to the cheese in Tom and Jerry.

Diamond is Unbreakable

Josuke Higashikata's stand: Crazy Diamond. All Star Battle's English release changes it to "Shining Diamond" which retains the reference, though on a more subtle level.
- He also physically resembles Elvis, what with his hair and all.
- When Crazy Diamond retreats, the sound resembles the sound of a door closing in Doom.
Anjuro "Angelo" Katajiri's name is inspired by D'Angelo.
- "Angelo" uses a stand named Aqua Necklace.
Koichi Hirose's stand: Echoes.
- Koichi also looks like Gohan (Super Saiyan 2 version) from Dragon Ball, while Echoes Act 1 and 2 bears similarities to the villain Cell, in that both take three forms, with the first two forms having a long tail and the second and third having progressively more humanoid shapes. Act 3 may also be likened to the villain Frieza.
Okuyasu Nijimura's stand: The Hand.
Keicho Nijimura's stand: Bad Company.
Toshikazu Hazamada's stand: Surface.
- Surface is also a reference to Perman's (a work of Fujiko Fujio) eponymous copy-robots. In the series, the copy-robot transforms into an identical clone to help the main character keep his secret identity during missions.
Yukako Yamagishi's stand: Love Deluxe.
Akira Otoishi's stand: Red Hot Chili Pepper.
Shizuka Joestar's stand: Achtung Baby.
Both rats' stand: Ratt.
Rohan Kishibe's stand: Heaven's Door.
Tonio Trussardi's Stand: Pearl Jam.
Reimi Sugimoto has no stand, but has two references to Pink Floyd: her name is a play on "See Emily Play" and she has a dog called "Arnold".
- Her backstory seems to be a direct reference to the urban legend 'Humans Can Lick Too'.
Yoshikage Kira's Stand: Killer Queen, with bonus points for the chorus of the song itself being a very apt description of the stand's power set.^noteShe's a Killer Queen; gunpowder, gelatin; dynamite with a laser beam; guaranteed to blow your mind; anytime.
- Killer Queen's Second Bomb Sheer Heart Attack and final form Killer Queen Bites The Dust.
Shigekiyo Yanguu's Stand: Harvest.
Yoshikage's father, Yoshihiro Kira' Stand: Atom Heart Father.
Ken Ooyanagi's stand: Boy II Man, a play on Boyz II Men.
Mikitaka Hazekura's stand(?): Earth, Wind & Fire.
Yuya Fungami's stand is named Highway Star.
Toyohiro's Stand: Super Fly (obviously more the soundtrack than the film).
Terunosuke Miyamoto's Stand: Enigma.
Masazo Kinoto's Stand (with a mind of its own): Cheap Trick.
Gatta's stand: Stray Cat.
- Gatta is a blue British Shorthair who dies, is buried, then comes back to life supernaturally, meaner than before, similar to Church from Pet Sematary (1989).
Aya Tsuji's stand: Cinderella refers to both the fairytale and also the band from the 80's.
Koichi's family has an old dog named "Police."
In one of Yukako's earliest appearances, she mentions Prince and asks what the term "funky music" means. For bonus points, the anime episode that adapted the scene aired about a month after Prince passed away.
When Okuyasu, at Tonio's restaurant, eat the mozzarella and tomato appetizer he finds delicious, he compares the dish to a Simon & Garfunkel duet, a sketch of Ucchan and Nanchan (a japanese comedy duo) and to Ashita no Joe.
The ship Joseph Joestar arrives on is called the S.S. Traffic
When Joseph first meets Okuyasu, he mishears Okuyasu's name and calls him "Osomatsu".
While Jotaro and Josuke are searching for a rat, they come across a large clump of rats in a cube made of the rat's own meat. Jotaro pokes it with a stick, to see what it is. Josuke claims that he poked it in the same way Arale pokes a piece of poop with a stick.
- When Jotaro first announced they were looking for a rat stand user, Josuke immediately thinks of Mickey Mouse.
When Rohan meets Kinoto and is curious about why he doesn't want people to look at his back, Rohan's reminded of Duke Togo from Golgo 13.
In the Sheer Heart Attack chapter, an excerpt about Morioh from a book about Japanese vacation spots is mentioned, with the publisher being Minmei Shobou.
The name of the oneshot Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe references the English name of Also sprach Zarathustra.
In episode 32 of the dub, Yuya suspects that Terunosuke Miyamoto's Stand is "timey-wimey bullshit".
Josuke is seen playing a video game on a Nintendo 64 at one point.
In the dub, after Okuyasu explains The Hand's abilities to Josuke, he says "So go ahead, punk, make my day."

Giorno Giovanna's stand: Gold Experience and Gold Experience Requiem
- One of Giorno's poses◊ resembles this picture of Nena◊.
Bruno Bucciarati's stand: Sticky Fingers
Polpo's stand: Black Sabbath
Leone Abbacchio's stand: Moody Blues
Guido Mista's stand: Sex Pistols
Narancia Ghirga's stand: Aerosmith. The character's design is a reference to the song "Dude Looks Like a Lady", by Aerosmith themselves
Pannacotta Fugo's stand: Purple Haze
Trish Una's stand: Spice Girl
Coco Jumbo has two references to the same band: his stand is called Mr. President and his name is also the name of one of their songs.
Mario Zucchero's stand: Soft Machine
Sale's stand: Kraft Work
Formaggio's stand: Little Feet
Illuso's stand: Man in the Mirror
Pesci's Stand Beach Boy
Prosciutto's stand: Grateful Dead
Melone's stand: Baby Face
Ghiaccio's stand: White Album and its air-freezing ability, White Album Gently Weeps
Tizziano's stand: Talking Head
Squalo's stand: Clash
Carne's stand: Notorious B.I.G.
Risotto Nero's Stand: Metallica
Cioccolata's stand: Green Day
Secco's stand: Oasis
Diavolo's stand: King Crimson. He also has a sub-Stand named after a King Crimson song, Epitaph, and he himself is a literal 21st Century Schizoid Man.
Scolippi's stand: Rolling Stones
The janitor at Giorno's boarding school resembles Mario.

Stone Ocean

Jolyne Cujoh's stand: Stone Free
Ermes Costello, and her stand, KISS.
Green Dolphin Street Prison is a reference to the film Green Dolphin Street, as well as the jazz standard "On Green Dolphin Street".
Guess: Goo Goo Dolls
Emporio Alnino's stand: Burning Down The House. Emporio himself is named for Giorgio Armani's sub-label Emporio Armani.
Jongalli A. and his stand, Manhatten Transfer
F.F.
Enrico Pucci's stands: Whitesnake, C-Moon and Stairway To Heaven/Made in Heaven. Enrico is named for Enrico Cover and Emilio Pucci.
- While striking Anasui, Pucci screams at him "Domine quo vadis!" in reference to the the painting of the same name by Annibale Carracci.
Weather Report and Heavy Weather
Narciso Anasui's stand: Diver Down
Rocco Barocco, named after a well-known fashion designer.
Xander McQueen: Highway to Hell
Mirashon: Marilyn Manson
Lang Wrangler: Jumpin' Jack Flash
The pigeon sent to retrieve Jotaro's disc, Savage Garden.
Sports Max: Limp Bizkit.
Viviano Westwood: Planet Waves.
Kenzo: Dragon's Dream
D&G: Yo-Yo-Ma
Guccio: Survivor
The Green Baby's Stand is Green, Green Grass of Home.
Miu Miu/Miuccia Miuller: Jail House Lock
Ungalo's stand: Bohemian Rhapsody. Not the mention the fact that the very basis of his power is Reference Overdosed.
Rikiel's stand: Sky High
Donatello Versus^note: Underworld.
The epilogue is titled What a Wonderful World.
The snails, with their associated body horror and polymorphing could be a reference to Uzumaki.
The rain of frogs in the prison caused by Weather Report could be a reference to Magnolia.

Steel Ball Run

Gyro's stand Scan can become Ballbreaker.
Johnny's stand: Tusk. His horse, Slow Dancer, is named after "Slow Dancer" by Boz Scaggs.
Lucy Steel is named after The Beatles song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'.
Stephen Steel
Diego's stand: Scary Monsters. His horse is Silver Bullet, after Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.
- Diego's backstory with his mother feeding him soup from her hands is a reference to Osamu Tezuka's Dororo, where the titular character's mother does the exact same thing.
Hot Pants' stand: Cream Starter. Her horse is Get Up.
Funny Valentine's stand: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Later on he gets an ability named Love Train.
A flashback to Valentine's childhood involves him receiving a handkerchief that belonged to his late father, who hid it on his person while being tortured as a prisoner of war. With the exception of where the handkerchief was hidden, it's practically a shot-for-shot remake of the famous watch scene in Pulp Fiction.
Mountain Tim's stand: Oh! Lonesome Me. His horse, Ghost Rider in the Sky, is named after widely-recorded country classic "Ghost Riders in the Sky".
Mrs. Robinson, riding El Condor Pasa.
Sugar Mountain
- Sugar Mountain's ability is a clear reference to the myth of the honest woodcutter.
Wekapipo is named after the single "Wake Up People" by SOUL'd OUT, who at the time performed the theme song for the Phantom Blood movie. His custom made Steel Ball is named Wrecking Ball
Magent Magent is also named after a SOUL'd OUT single (though the song is spelled "Magenta Magenta"), but his Stand is named after the song 20th Century Boy.
Pork Pie Hat Kid's stand: Wired
Gaucho is named after the album of the same name by Steely Dan. His horse, Peg, is named after one of their songs.
Ringo Roadagain. His stand Mandom is a possible translation of the Japanese name ("True Man's World") for "Lovers of the World" by Jerry Wallace, as well as the name of a Japanese cosmetics company.
Blackmore's stand, Catch the Rainbow, is named after a song by Rainbow.
The Eleven Nameless Men's Stand, Tatoo You!.
Mike O.'s stand: Tubular Bells.
Pocoloco's name could be a reference the band Poco, or the song Un Poco Loco. Both his stand and horse are named Hey Ya!.
The Boom Boom family has Andre Boom Boom, L.A. Boom Boom, and Benjamin Boom Boom, all of whom take their name from Andre Lauren Benjamin, better known as Andre 3000 from Outkast. Their shared Stand, Tomb of the Boom, is named after an Outkast song.
Sandman's (a.k.a. Soundman) stand: In A Silent Way
Dr. Ferdinand's stand: Scary Monsters
Oyecomova. His stand's name Boku no Rhythm wo Kiitekure is a Japanese translation of the opening lyric of the song.^noteOye como va, mi ritmo.
Axl R.O's stand, Civil War
D-I-S-C-O and his stand Chocolate Disco
The chapters "Both Sides Now" are named after a Judy Collins song.

Jo Jolion

Jousuke Higashikata's (and Josefumi Kujo's) stand: Soft & Wet
Yasuho Hirose's stand: Paisely Park
Joushuu Higashikata's stand: Nut King Call.
- Nut King Call's design having bug like eyes and a large v over it's forehead bears resemblence to Kamen Rider and other tokusatsu heroes.
Oujirou Sasame's stand: Fun Fun Fun
Daiya Higashikata's stand: California King Bed. Her first dialogue has her asking Josuke if he knows of Yes, she has a copy of the band's Fragile in her bedroom, and later in her story arc she starts to sing Bicycle Race.
Speaking of Yes, the Wall Eyes bear a resemblance to the... structures... on the cover of their album Relayer◊.
- Speaking of those structures, you say those Wall Eyes came after a major earthquake? Scientists around the world don't know their cause or purpose? Where have we heard that one before?
Kyou Nijimura's stand: Born This Way (Formerly Going Underground).
One of the places in Morioh is known as "Shakedown Road", which could also be called "Shakedown Street". The reason it's like this is the Stand of the ginkgo trees there: Les Feuilles.^noteAutumn Leaves
Tsurugi Higashikata's stand: Paper Moon King, as well as being a reference to It's Only A Paper Moon
Norisuke Higashikata's stand: King Nothing
Yotsuyu Yagiyama's stand: I Am A Rock
Jobin Higashikata's Stand: Speed King.
- After returning from vacation, he, among other things, offers a Tetsujin 28-go Sofvi figure as a gift to Josuke.
Aishou Dainenjiyama's stand: Doobie Wah!
The A. Phex Brothers' Stands: Schottkey No. 1 and Schottkey No. 2.
Tamaki Damo with a stand name of Vitamin C is undoubtably a Can reference what with the name being reference to Damo Suzuki of Can and their song Vitamin C.
Dual layered with the "Milagro Man" - as Milagro is Spanish for "Miracle" it's a reference to "Miracle Man" by Ozzy Osbourne, but Milagro is also the name for a Japanese leather goods company which produces (among other things) wallets. Thus tying back into the whole money aspect.
Dolomite's stand: Blue Hawaii
Rai Mamezuku's stand: Doggy Style
Urban Guerilla, his stand Brain Storm, and his companion Rock Animal Doremifasolati Do are all references to Hawkwind.
Poor Tom and his stand Ozone Baby both refer to songs by Led Zeppelin.
Wu Tomoki's stand Doctor Wu

Other

The non-canon light novel Jorge Joestar swaps the Stands' Musical Theme Naming for movie references:
- One version of DIO has a Stand named The Passion; fittingly, it takes the form of a crown of thorns. Jonathan also gains it once he comes Back from the Dead thanks to the Saint's Corpse's bones - in this continuity, they're actually Dio's.
- Aya Tsuji's Stand Cinderalla (which allows her to replace others' body parts) is renamed Face/Off.
- Koji Hirose's Stand (a propeller): Blue Thunder.
- Muryotaisu Nijimura's Stand (three dolphins): Grand Bleu.
- Fukashigi Nijimura's Stand (a 30-year-old New York cop): NYPD Blue.
- Shigetaka Yangu's Stand (which controls stray dogs): Stray Dog.
- An alternate universe Bruno Bucciarati has a female, needle and thread-based version of Sticky Fingers called Stepmom.
- An alternate universe Leone Abbacchio has a Moody Blues-like Stand that uses videotapes named Videodrome.
- An alternate universe Guido Mista's Stand: The Iron Ladies.
- An alternate universe Narancia Ghirga's Stand: U-Boat.
- An alternate universe Funny Valentine's Stand: Singin' in the Rain.
- Funnier Valentine's Stand: Rear Window.
- An alternate universe Dolcio Ciocclata's Stand: Blob.
- An alternate universe Secco Rottario's Stand: Evil Dead.
- An alternate universe Prosciutto Geppano has a version of The Grateful Dead with spiral theming on its body; its name is Twister.
- An alternate universe Pocoloco's Stand: Right Stuff.
- An alternate universe Goyathlay Soundman's Bound^notenot a Stand: Dune.
In the official English localization of All-Star Battle, if Lisa Lisa defeats young Joseph, he says "Why did it have to come to this?! You are tearing me APART, Lisa Lisa!"