Guilty Gear/Shout Out

Guilty Gear not only has awesome music, it also has lots and lots of Heavy Metal and Rock references (and even influences) to count. Almost anything worth a name in this game is a reference to a rock band. And when it's not, it's very likely to be a reference to something from popular (or traditional japanese) culture. Take a look:


 * Sol Badguy: His real name, (Frederick) last name, (a reference to "Mr. Badguy") and even his theme song ("Keep Yourself Alive") are some of all the references to Freddie Mercury and Queen in general (to hammer the point home, his head-plate has the words "ROCK YOU" engraved on it). It helps that his VA (Daisuke Ishiwatari, also the man behind the game) is a huge fan of Queen, something you'll see in this entire page.
 * A relatively subtle one--his sword technique is clearly inspired by Mercury's theatrics with the top half of a mic stand.
 * His Instant Kill is also called Napalm Death.
 * One of his servants in Overture name is Queen.
 * Not a musical one, but you can switch his voice and Order Sol's one in Accent Core +, like in Overture.
 * Ky Kiske: His name is composed by Kai Hansen + Michael Kiske.
 * Also "Ride The Lightning", his Overdrive.
 * His theme song ("Holy Orders (Be Just Or Be Dead)") is a reference to Iron Maiden's "Be Quick Or Be Dead"
 * And his Instant Kill is named "Rising Force".
 * Axl Low: His name comes first.
 * The sign in his Guilty Gear X stage is spelt "Napalm Death"
 * His theme song in the first Guilty Gear is called "The March of the Wicked King", a reference to "The March Of The Black Queen".
 * And "Make Oneself", his theme song from X onwards, may be a reference to "Make Yourself".
 * His stage in the first game features pixel-sized background cameos of Geese Howard, Athena Asamiya, Kyo Kusanagi, Joe Higashi, Mai Shiranui, Andy Bogard and Terry Bogard.
 * Justice: One of her Overdrives is called "Gamma Ray".
 * She also possesses two moves: "Michael Sword" and its Overdrive variant, "Michael Blade", a shout out Saint Michael, an archangel who was usually depicted as being armed to the teeth and a dangerous fellow to get on the wrong side of.
 * Testament's name is a reference to the band of the same name...
 * ...with an attack called "Master Of Puppets"...
 * ...and another attack called "Grave Digger"...
 * ...and another attack called "Warrant"...
 * ...and finally, with an Instant Kill called "Seventh Sign".
 * Venom's name is a reference to the band of the same name.
 * One of his attacks is called "Dark Angel", by The Eighties Thrash Metal band of the same name.
 * Slayer's name is a reference to the band of the same name.
 * FIVE of his attacks are called "Dead On Time", "Under Pressure", "All Dead Are Dead", "Spread Your Wings" and "It's Late".
 * Slayer in and of himself seems to be a nod toward Ozzy Osbourne, being the series most powerful and influential character. It also helps that his wife is also named Sharon.
 * He's also a massive homage to two characters from Giant Robo, Chief Chujo and Shocking Alberto.
 * And, appearance-wise, shares a lot in common with Alberto the Shockwave.
 * May may be a reference to Queen's Brian May, which, as mentioned in Sol's examples, wouldn't be strange.
 * You'd have to be blind not to get the musical reference in Zappa's name.
 * One of his attacks is called "The Last Edguy".
 * For a non-rock reference, Zappa's Instant Kill is a Shout-Out to The Ring. Blatantly so.
 * Resident Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl S-ko is a Captain Ersatz of Sadako from The Ring, a fact referenced by Zappa's Instant Kill.
 * Jam's full name (Jam Kuradoberi) is a subtle Cloudberry Jam reference, due to her surname being a Japan-romanized writing of "cloudberry".
 * Potemkin has some moves that constitute references to anime, like his Gigantic Pressure move being like Hell and Heaven or shouting "Yonjuuhachi no Hissatsuwaza!" as he performs the Potemkin Buster.
 * Also, several of his stuff is inspired by Led Zeppelin, such as his theme song ("Burly Heart") sounding very "Kashmir"-like the name of his nation being Zepp.
 * His fist attack is called "Hammerfall", both a reference to the Queen's song "Hammer To Fall" and the Power Metal band of the same name.
 * He also shares his own name with that of the eponymous battleship that underwent a mutiny. (Or at least, the movie of it) Ironically, his GG 1 ending shows him and Gabriel as preparing to instigate a rebellion against Zepp's corrupt leaders.
 * Millia Rage was named after the metal band Meliah Rage.
 * Very deep inside, her surname may be a reference to the metal band Rage as well.
 * Her Instant Kill is called Iron Maiden.
 * One of her attacks is also called Iron Savior.
 * Another one is called "Winger", a reference to a Hard Rock band from The Eighties.
 * And her theme song "Writhe In Pain" may be a reference to Impel's song of the same name.
 * The magic technique that lets her control her hair is named "Angra", for a Brazilian metal band.
 * Bridget's "Shoot The Moon" attack is a reference to the Mr Big song of the same name. Cleverly enough, it's also an actual yo-yo trick.
 * And his "Kickstart My Heart" attack is a reference to a Motley Crue song of the same name.
 * His bear is named Roger.
 * Zato-ONE, has an attack called "Break The Law".
 * Also, an attack called "Black In Mind", another reference to Rage.
 * There's also "Shadow Gallery", another of his attacks, named for the Progressive Rock band of the same name.
 * And his name is a reference to Zatoichi, (ichi = one) the blind samurai.
 * After the death of his VA, he was Killed Off for Real, and his shadow Eddie took his body. Guess what's the reason of his name.
 * Eddie itself is a lot like the Venom symbiote which bonded with Eddie Brock in the Marvel Comics.
 * Kliff Undersn's attack "Soul Survivor" can also be called "Sole Survivor".
 * Chipp Zanuff's name comes from the band Enuff Znuff.
 * his teleportation move also appears to be a direct reference to Dragon Ball Z specifically Goku's Instant Transmission technique.
 * And the announcer? Heaven or Hell? Let's ROCK!
 * Dizzy and Johnny are shared references to The Goo Goo Dolls.
 * In Dizzy's case, one of her Overdrives, freshly taken from her mother Justice, is called "Gamma Ray".
 * Her name can be another allusion to Guns N' Roses, by way of Dizzy Reed, their keyboardist.
 * Johnny, according to That Other Wiki, not only by his name, but in his outfit and long hair, may be a reference to Johnny Winter.
 * There's also a chance that Johnny, in all of his black-clothed glory, is a reference to the original Man In Black himself, Johnny Cash.
 * Also a Shout-Out to John Deacon.
 * Coincidentally he has blonde hair, wears sunglasses and is quite a flirt much like Johnny Bravo
 * Johnny also has some clear parallels with Zorro. The black clothes, the bandit style, the swordsmanship - it's all there. Heck, one of his Overdrives even inflicts a Zorro Mark on his opponent!
 * A.B.A., a Canon Immigrant from Isuka. Her name is clearly a reference to the swedish pop group ABBA, as well as to ternary form in music.
 * Kind of a long shot, but A.B.A.'s key companion, Paracelsus, could have some inspiration from the band Laibach's side-project album Paracelsus.
 * Also, she uses a key with blade-like properties.
 * Baiken is a female Kenshin Himura.
 * I-No's character design is based off of Japanese rock singer Shiina Ringo, complete with her trademark mole {which she had removed}, guitar, and her bobbed haircut from her early days.
 * Her name could be a reference to Brian Eno, and her guitaring win pose shouts out to Eddie Van Halen.
 * And the solo she plays in that win pose sounds exactly like the beginning of the guitar solo in Mr. Crowley.
 * Faust, a.k.a Dr. Baldhead, is named for Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's famous play, although he shares the name with the drummer of Emperor and the German band Faust. "Going My Way?" could possibly be referencing "Are You Gonna Go My Way?".
 * Leopaldon is the name of an electronica/house band.
 * Fanny, from the portable Guilty Gear Petit titles, shares her name with the alias of Fraser Runciman, a proponent of the breakcore genre.
 * Robo-Ky... DAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEDAMEEE!!!
 * The Team Zako of Isuka can be an Expy of Team Rocket.
 * Finally, Overdrive, basically GG-ese for "super move", can be seen as a reference to the guitar amplifier effect of the same name.
 * Gig, the boss of Guilty Gear Dust Strikers is classified as a Megadeth-class Gear.