Please add examples in (roughly) chronological order, with series-wide references going at the top.
- These tend to crop up a lot in catchphrases.
- Vinesauce's catchphrase is "smeg".
- Witch's "yohoho my pretty" is evocative of The Wicked Witch of the West. The "yohoho" was probably supposed to be like a cackle, but instead it's more like "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum".
- Clown and Clown Lady's catchphrases are both derived from the same quote from Goodfellas:"You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?"
- Practically all of David Bowie and Snoop Dogg's catchphrases are lyrics from their songs. (For example, the former's happy phrase is "Funk to funky"
.) Before being removed out of respect for the real David Bowie, Vinny had a tendency to add even more Bowie references whenever he had the chance. - Walrus's default catchphrase is a reference to the chorus of "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles, a song that famously consists of mostly Word Salad Lyrics.
- Groose's catchphrase references Microsoft Sam's memetic faux-French pronunciation of "soi" and "soy", repeated instances of which have been dubbed the ROFLCopter.
- Donkey Kong's catchphrase is "Oooh, banana" (a reference to a sound bite from Donkey Kong 64, which plays whenever Golden Banana appears).
- Both Satan's catchphrase and worried phrase are minor variations on "Cthulu Ftaghn". Episode 49's Quirky Questions also include several references to the Mythos.
- CD-i Link says "Well excuuuse me" when he's angry, quoting an unrelated incarnation of Link.
- Wario's primary catchphrase ("aeiou aeiou"), while appearing to merely be English vowels repeated twice, is a reference to a YouTube video featuring players of Moonbase Alpha messing with its text-to-speech engine. An audio clip from that video appears in The Fantastic Game, which Vinny had previously streamed, and Vinny showed a fan-made video featuring an astronaut from that game, along with BonziBUDDY and Microsoft Sam, visiting Vineland Island to give a lonely Vinesauce some company.note However, Moonbase Alpha pronounces "aeiou aeiou" as "eye-ooh eye-ooh" while Tomodachi Life simply spells it out.
- Vinny seems to have a thing for the Talking Heads:
- As a Running Gag, Vinny shouts "LOOOVE HAS COME TO TOWN!" every time he spots an islander in love.
- When Vinny finds an islander in love in Episode 46, he instead breaks into the opening of "Found a Job".
- Vinny often plays music from other games when showing art at the end of the streams. Older Square RPGs, such as Secret of Mana and Chrono Cross, are a common source of music.
- Gaben's presence on the island tends to lead to references to Valve Software, the company the real Gabe Newell helped found. For example, his catchphrase is "Worth the weight", Half-Life and its rumored third installment has been referenced often, while the song from The Crowbars (Gaben's techno duo with Ben) references Ricochet.
- A while after Tingle gets his baseball uniform, Vinny says "Tingle real deal" in a stereotypical Japanese accent. This is a reference to Rusty's Real Deal Baseball.
- Vinny also seems to like Flight of the Conchords; he has a minor habit of breaking into "I'm Not Crying" when he thinks about Walrus and Two Faced's relationship. Episode 8 (when this first happens) is even named after the song.
- Two Faced's only song, created in Episode 1, is an opera-themed remix of "All-Star".
- In Episode 3, Vinny pokes fun at Yoshi's New Island by playing part of the opening theme on a kazoo (the same instrument used in the actual game).
- Episode 6's SB Edit (wherein Vinny solves his 100th problem) is titled "99 + 1 Problems".
- At one point in Episode 8, Vinny remarks "Lucky for you, I'm a dog lover!"
- In Episode 9, after Alpaca is rejected twice, Vinny shouts "TURN DOWN FOR WHAT". It's also used for the condensed episode's title.
- As Gabe walks on the beach in Episode 10, Vinny voices his thoughts — he's apparently thinking about Half-Life 3, considering setting it in an underwater city where everyone went crazy before deciding that It's Been Done.
- The condensed version of Episode 12 (the shortest episode of the series, clocking in at two minutes* ) adds in a montage set to "When I'm Bored".
- Episode 14 begins with Vinny saying 'Fuck it, we'll do it live.' Since every episode is recorded live, this didn't amount to much other than being humorous (though Vinny did turn out to have the wrong game in the system, leading to a joke that the stream was over).
- Southbird's response to Vinny's joke that the stream was over in Episode 14 was to display a fake list of recommended videos; the videos displayed are real, even if that isn't the case for the list itself.
- After getting a close look at the steampunk interior in Episode 18, Vinny wondered if that's what Code Name: S.T.E.A.M would end up looking like (though he mistakenly referred to the game as "Project S.T.E.A.M."). The game in question (which was released the following year) did end up being steampunk-themed, so he wasn't too far off.
- In Episode 21, Vinny compares the islanders' café chats to Seinfeld (or "Vinefeld"). He later compares Pretzel's apartment to the series.
- Vinny referenced "I Am the Walrus" a second time (specifically, the "Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye" line), adding a reference to The Angry Video Game Nerd, by opening Episode 22 by saying, "It's like diarrhea dump coming from a dead dog's eye," even commenting that it was "a cross between John Lennon and the Angry Video Game Nerd."
- A mention of sashimi prompts Vinny to sing an altered version of a line of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1".
- Vinny tried to sing a witch song in Episode 24, but it ended up turning into "that pirate song".
- Vinny references "Crawling" by Linkin Park in Episode 24, mainly to poke fun at it (not unlike what was done with "All-Star" earlier in the series).
- In Episode 23, Vinny comments on how Donkey Kong lives next to a giant, sentient banana, commenting that he'll plot ways to eat her. He compares the concept to an episode of Pinky and the Brain. Vinny later says he will devise ways to break up his Mii and Balegdah after they get together in Episode 29, comparing it to an episode of the same show.
- Vinny compares Vlinny's Eskimo outfit to the Ice Climbers.
- Vinny commented that Lamb Chop's face has "Porky's butthole" in the middle of it. Someone described as a barely intelligible Motor Mouth complained to Mike Judge about Beavis and Butt-Head and seemed to think the show in question was called "Porky's Butthole" (this person would later inspire the voice of Boomhauer from King of the Hill).
- One of Vinny's "I'm Going to Hell for This" jokes that come from interacting with Jesus comes in the form of singing part of "Highway to Hell" in Episode 32.
- Episode 34's news report is about the discovery of a "legendary" fish. Vinny's immediate response is "7.8 — too much water?"
- When Vinny stares at Dolan in Episode 34, he plays part of "Beans" by Nirvana.
- Unintentionally, Helmet Jahn, a name Vinny used for Jahn #1 when he first put his helmet on, resembles a misspelling of Helmut Jahn, the name of a German-American architect. In Episode 50, Vinny showed pictures of signs for buildings in Chicago that were named after the architect in question (though this was cut from the SB Edit).
- The Jahns' song is titled "Jahn Of The Jahngle". However, the connection the song has to what it's named after is nonexistent.
- Vinny compares the music that plays during the montage in Episode 38 to the end of Gladiator.
- At one point, Vinny comments on Jack & Jill's cop 'stache and attempts to do an impression of a stereotypical police officer that ends up sounding like Peter Griffin. ("...That wasn't my intent.")
- Southbird's condensation of Episode 38 adds in an edited bit from the end of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (more specifically, the "Love Lost" ending) after Hailey's scrapbook montage ends.
- There are several Star Trek: The Next Generation references:
- Episode 40 sees Vinny launching into a Picard impression when he checks on Captain Jahn.
- Vinny compares Lumber Jahn to Data in Episode 54, because both are non-humans attempting to be as human as possible.
- Later in that same episode, he discusses the end of the series (where the islanders live Happily Ever After on his game card) and compares it to Moriarty from "Ship in a Bottle".
- As Jaxon's scrapbook (that is, the credits) is shown, Vinny attempts to improvise a song in the style of Phil Collins' "Do You Remember?" (Key word: Attempts.)
- An unintentional reference to the vomiting scene in The Exorcist is made when Satan cooks split-pea soup in Episode 41.
- In an early corruption in the Tomodachi Collection episode, Vinny compares the limb-flailing Miis to the recurring animation style in Garry's Mod machinimas.
- During the "headless Miis" corruption in the Collection episode (of the two condensed versions, it only appears in Vinny's), Vinny notes a chat comment from fellow Vinesauce streamer Hootey that compared the headless Jabba's body to Glover.
- During the Tomodachi Collection corruptions, Vinny plays a distorted sample of "Take on Me" (which had previously become a meme on Tumblr) at two points. It was included in the corruptions' ZIP file and Steve said to blame Ego (who's listed as the creator of the stream's Vinny Mii) for it. Note that while Vinny's condensation contains a shortened version of one of these parts, the SB Edit cuts them completely.
- Vinny's response to the clothing shop's graphics in one part of the corruption stream was "No sir, I don't like it," the catchphrase of Mr. Horse from The Ren & Stimpy Show.
- Vinny's response to finding a trenchcoat for sale is that "It's either Matrix or Columbine, take your pick."
- As Vinny tells the audience about Bub Skebulba's murderous nature, he remarks that he kills people "Mike Myers-style". (He meant to say Michael Myers, and only realizes his mistake when a piece of fanart makes the inevitable Shrek reference.)
- As Vinny hadn't yet given Tucker a last name when his Mii was made and there wasn't an option to leave it blank, he was given the last name Blankface, which is a reference to the person who drew the art his Mii is based on (as well as the first person to upload art of him to the Booru), Blankfaece, though it is spelled differently here.
- In Episode 47, Vinny asks if any of his islanders are afraid of Americans, referencing the David Bowie song "I'm Afraid of Americans".
- Episode 47 closes with Alpaca dancing on the save screen. Southbird's edit adds in the beginning of Wario's Super Mario Land 2 boss theme. Southbird is a fan of that game, as seen by the inclusion of several elements from it (such as music) in Super Mario Bros. 3Mix.
- Episode 48 has a brief part where Snoop declares "It's burger time!" Vinny's response is "Oh, I hope it's not like that Pizza Time* video..."
- "Pizza Time" is the name of the song Ralph and Vinesauce perform when they form a band. Also, said band is called the "Buvvins Brothers".
- The condensed version of Episode 49 adds the radio static from Silent Hill 2 whenever Vinny gets controlled by the Jahns.
- During Episode 49's Quirky Questions, Vinny notices the chat asking Reg to save him and responds "Oh, my sweet summer child, if you only knew..."
- After Jahn #2 becomes Lumber Jahn, Vinny sings the opening of "The Lumberjack Song".
- Survivor Edition, obviously, takes its basic premise from Survivor.
- The thumbnails of the Full Sauce versions of Survivor Edition use a logo modeled after the one for The Apprentice.
- In Episode 51, Vinny does an impression of Rick while giving Tingle new clothes. In the following episode, he also posits that Vineschnoz came to the regular island through one of Rick's portals. This continues in Episode 54, as he compares a possible ending for the series as being similar to Rick's car battery, and celebrates Vlinny going to space by playing "Goodbye Moonmen".
- Vinny reacts to Small Face in the David Bowie special by playing the audio from the "Little Bits" commercial.
- Southbird's condensation of Episode 51 uses the Final Fantasy VII battle transition when Alpaca makes her angry face.
- Chinigan gave a shout out to TV Tropes in this art (contains spoilers) of Dheerse (a Mii he created), which references her eviction and contains the specific quote used in Dheerse's character page section (which is one of many).
- In Episode 52, when Tucker wonders where he'll be in ten years, Vinny displays a picture of a garbage dump and breaks out into a Frank Reynolds impression as he tells him he'll be "in the trash!"
- In Episode 53, while attempting to help Groose repair his friendship with Karl, Vinny remarks "You're tearing me apart, Karl!" (complete with accent).
- Also in Episode 53: Southbird's condensation changes a bit where Groose suddenly collapses into a facsimile of Grand Theft Auto's "Wasted" screen.
- Vinny sings a bit of "Monkey Man" when he visits the monkey-hat-wearing Vinesauce in Episode 53.
- When Vineschnoz states that he likes making lists in Episode 53, Vinny responds with "So did Schindler."
- When Wario (hosting a pixel item quiz) asks Vinny what he thinks one item is, his response is "IT'S PIKACHU!"
- After giving Satan a bee costume, Vinny compares it to the bee girl from the video for "No Rain" (albeit not by name).
- When Jesus mentions a "new hope", Vinny wonders if it's either a reference to the second universal split earlier that stream, or simply a Star Wars reference.
- At one point in Episode 54, Vinny launches into an Alan Rickman impression and recites the "Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon" bit from Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
- Vinny compares Sponge (with an eyepatch on) to Punished "Venom" Snake.
- Early in Episode 55, Vinny tries to help a quarreling Vinesauce and Princess Peach "resonate with joy". When he says this in the SB Edit, Peach's face is covered over by the face of a Grandchild from Albino Lullaby, an obscure 2015 horror game that Vinny streamed. Explanation
- The credits at the end of Episode 55's SB Edit use Chrono Trigger's credits music.
- Vinny compares the home video at the end of Jocelyn's family album to Cloverfield.
- In Episode 56 Vinny sings about Cling On's vocal inflection to the tune of "Starman" by David Bowie, the musician the episode in question was made in honor of.
- Episode 56's SB Edit features the the quote "Too bad, Waluigi time" from Brawl in the Family... being said by Charles Martinet, Waluigi's official voice actor.
- The Rap Battles on Southbird's Totally Normal Island are turned into a "Fan Fiction Spitball Corner", where the rap lines are exchanged with the drinking conditions listed on TV Tropes' fan fiction drinking game. This leads to a few direct references to trope names.
