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* Agatha is a [http://www.behindthename.com/name/agatha Latin name], coming from a Greek word meaning "good". However, the famous ''St.'' Agatha of Sicily was a third-century martyr, and her many patronages include... er... the bosom. Very apt, even if unintentional.
* [http://www.masterpaynemagic.com/ Master Payne] is a real person, who has several personas and performs amusing magic tricks.
* Dolokov's name may or may not be a reference to the [[Manipulative Bastard]] and [[Karma Houdini]] of ''[[War and Peace]]''.
* Between the whole story is ''full'' of [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy|modified]] [[Historical Domain Character|historical domain characters]] and [[Allohistorical Allusion]], others include:
** Van Rijn, master Spark, artisan, the creator of the Muses. The full name of the famous painter Rembrandt was "Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn".
** The circus cook, when his calming pie works - magnificently - on Agatha, exclaims, "Take ''that'', Brillat-Savarin!" Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) was a famous French expert on high-quality eating.
<!--Everything above this line should be properly troped and, in the event it is not a proper trivia entry, moved to the appropiate page.-->
 
* [[Bleached Underpants]]: A variant, in that. priorPrior to ''Girl Genius'', Phil Foglio was the author and artist of the ''[[XXXenophile]]'' series of pornographic comics, and unlike many artists with a similar background, [[Averted Trope|he makes no attempt to hide it.]] However, before ''[[XXXenophile]]'', he was already well known for ''[[What's New with Phil and Dixie]]'' (done for ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' magazine,) and ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]'', and did book covers and illustrations (- the most memorably,memorable ones were for Robert Asprin's ''[[Myth Adventures]]'' series), as well as the classic ''Con Reports'', and a trio of excellent, funny updates of old '60s humor comics for [[The DCU|DC Comics]] - all at about the same time as ''[[XXXenophile]]''.<br />A lot of ''Girl Genius'' is made up of brilliant little ideas that Foglio didn't use in his pornographic work. The Jägers' speech pattern and dental work? From ''[[XXXenophile]]'': "A Beautiful Tail" and "My Favorite Oitling". Zeetha's jewelry, with the little faces that mimic whatever her current facial expression is? From ''[[XXXenophile]]'': "Blue Opal".
** Much of ''Girl Genius'' is made up of brilliant little ideas that Foglio didn't use in his pornographic work. The Jägers' speech pattern and dental work? From ''XXXenophile'': "A Beautiful Tail" and "My Favorite Oitling". Zeetha's jewelry, with the little faces that mimic whatever her current facial expression is? From ''XXXenophile'': "Blue Opal".<!--Perhaps this info could be split off/duplicated elsewhere if it hasn't already?-->
* [[Fan Nickname]]: "The Sneaky Gate," loading a comic page by its date-determined URL, often several updates before its official release. Despite most webcartoonists' less-than-positive attitude toward this trick, often openly referenced on fan communities - although this is invariable from the copy on studiofoglio.net, not the main page.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Loads of them, listed on [[Girl Genius/Shout-Out|its sub-page.]]
** The wiki has a [https://girlgenius.fandom.com/wiki/Shoutouts_to_other_webcomics whole list] of the ones to other [[Web Comics]]. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070319 In Mechanicsburg, there are signs] advertising for [[Wapsi Square|"exotic Wapsi Square"]], [[Gunnerkrigg Court|an inn called Gunnerkrigg Court]], [[Something*Positive|Professor Milholland's "Something Positive" tonic]], [[Dominic Deegan|a certain Dominic Deegan ("Sees all, tells all")]] and [[The Devil's Panties|"The Devil's Panties" lingerie]], among others...
** And [https://girlgenius.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Shoutouts_at_Grandmother%27s_Costume_Party another page] just to list shoot-outs in Princess Terebithia's masquerade marty.
*** [[Freefall/Characters|Sam Starfall]], or at least someone costumed as Sam, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20161216 is at that party]. Clinking glasses with [[Hellboy]]. And we seem to have found [[Carmen Sandiego]]. Also attending the party are [[Teen Titans|Cyborg]] and [[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|the Pharoah]].
** ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]'' - The very first page contains The Winslow. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20131211 The plushie Winslow]. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141205 Another] encounter with The Winslow. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070228 Poiled Slurgs]. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081031 Buck Godot T-shirt].
** Baba Yaga and "[[Annie Hall|we need the eggs]]".
** Moxana is a shout out to both [[wikipedia:Moxon's Master|Moxon's Master]] and [[wikipedia:The Turk|The Turk]].
** Castle Heterodyne is equipped with [[Saturday Night Live|Happy Fun Balls.]]
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070112 This strip] has several soldiers are attacked by a toothed trunk on legs with the words [[Discworld|"The Amazing Pratchett"]] written on it.
** Another ''[[Discworld]]'' shout out is in the commentary: "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091207 ...kicking and screaming into the Century of the Fruitbat]", hmm?
** [[Blackadder|"Don't drink the wine!"]]
** A fairly unsubtle reference to Gil rescuing Zola from [[The Phantom of the Opera|"some overly dramatic maniac who lived in the Paris Opera House."]]
** A skeleton of a giant spiky beast inside Castle Heterodyne was apparently a pet named [[Count Duckula|Towser.]]
** The Unstoppable Higgs' [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070330 cap indicates] he's a crewman on the ship ''[[Rozen Maiden]]''.
** When posing as Agatha's parents, [[Punch and Judy]] went under the names [[The Bible|Adam and Lilith Clay]].
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090410 Turning] a dread castle into... a ''[[Eric and the Dread Gazebo|Dread Gazebo]]''?
** [[The War of the Worlds (novel)|Martian]] [[Tripod Terror|Tripods]] in the [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040804 Baron's flashback] and one of Heterodynes' "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091014 My Vacation]" picture.
** One strip mentions an [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090102 electric game] [[Donkey Kong|with the little man and the gorilla]]. It also mentions a boat ride with singing dolls. [[Disney Theme Parks|What a small world it is.]]
** One scene shows a sign for both an X-ray and a [[Wonder Woman|Purple Ray]].
** Crazy A.I. with [[System Shock|SHODAN]]-like [[Dramatic Stutter]].
** [[Looney Tunes|"You don't expect a knife to sing opera, y'know?"]]
** When Zola first shows up claiming to be the new Heterodyne daughter, Agatha complains about her being a terrible, cheesey actor. Zola's very next line? "Yonder lies the castle of my father!", allegedly a quote from ''The Black Shield of Falworth'', which is generally considered one of the worst-delivered lines ever as the original actor had a very strong Bronx accent.<ref>Wikipedia says [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Shield_of_Falworth there's no such line in that movie, but the same actor said something similar in another film].</ref>
** In [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060726 this strip], [[Author Avatar|Phil Foglio]] is shown singing [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]' "Ob-la-di, ob-la-da" with modified lyrics talking about oubliettes. Then, when the Jäger comes up through the floor, he asks [[Daniel Pinkwater|"Nov shmoz ka-pop?"]]
** [[Animal Crossing|"Ahoy there! Major Resetti, first subterranean mecha mole brigade!]]
** One of Gil's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080509 paper doll outfits] has a [[The Legend of Zelda|triforce]] symbol on the gauntlet.
** Gil's valet shares a last name with the employer of [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|the most famous gentleman's gentleman in fiction.]]
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110228 If one looks closely], it appears that [[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja|Doctor McNinja]] has an office in the hospital at Mechanicsburg. Which... explains a lot.
*** [[Doc Rat|Benjamin Rat]] appears in that same panel - and "Dr. Rothfuss" obviously goes by [[The Kingkiller Chronicle|Patrick]]. (The Wise Man's Fear was published three days after that comic.)
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070611 Is that] [[Stargate SG-1|Teal'c?]]
** A poster at the Science Fair [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081210 here]: "Planet Earth: A [[Scary Go Round]] we live on."
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110502 Klaus] [[Firefly|can kill you with the power of his mind.]]
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111017 Sir] [[MediEvil (1998 video game)|Dan]]?
** [[Nodwick|Nod]], the big-nosed [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20051019 caretaker].
** A [[Genius Bonus|very obscure]] one: "''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070119 I'm a genius!]'' Ha! Take ''that,'' [[wikipedia:Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin|Brillat-Savarin!]]"
** Inversion of "[[Soylent Green]] is made of people" - bug people promise to "Not eat manflesh" and report that Dr. Thimiz is "actually made from reconstituted soy products".[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120416]
** When Zeetha and Agatha [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120425 check out armors], some of them look [[Warhammer 40,000|kind of]] [[Galactus|familiar]]...
{{quote|'''Zeetha:''' [[Metroid|What about this?]]
'''Agatha:''' No way - [[Samus Is a Girl|can't even tell you're a girl.]] }}
** In the novelization, when Rivet shows Agatha her collection of tools, Agatha finds a [[Doctor Who|sonic screwdriver]].
** "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060712 The Unseen Empire]" - ''[[The Phantom Empire]]''?
** The Corbettite train "Wyrm of Limerick" is "[[Star Wars|the engine that made the Konigsberg Run in '''less''' than '''twelve kilometers'''!"]]
** A briefly appearing character is Lady [[Discworld/Characters|Margolotta]] Selnikov. If the name isn't enough, her rather pale skin may make one think of a vampire....
** Zeetha comes from the Lost City of Skifander. Remove one letter and shift another two spaces and you have "Iskander." One of [[Robert E. Howard]]'s stories was first published under the title (not Howard's) "The Lost Valley of Iskander."
** T'Otheron, Dragon King of Mars may be [[Cosmic Horror|the Void Dragon]] (on Mars) from ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''.
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071217 X the destroyer] - possibly to [http://www.superdickery.com/the-teen-titans-arent-very-bright/ this]? After all, ''[[Teen Titans]]'' seem to visit a large bullseye on the ground without any obvious reason to do so.
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20131014 The buck stopped here].
** "{{smallcaps|[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Who dares disturb]] the destiny of the Heterodynes?!}}" [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150810]
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181119 This bear] (first panel, on the right) reads ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]''.
** "[[Third-Person Person|This bear]]" may be from ''[[Fur Fighters]]''.
 
* [[Throw It In]]
** When Phil was drawing the scene which first introduced the Baron, he filled an "empty" spot with a rather scruffy-looking soldier. As soon as anybodyreaders saw him, they liked him and wanted to see more. Thus was born the Jägers.
** Maxim of the Jägers was originally a silly little drawing for Kaja, who promptly informed him that he WOULD appear in the comic.
* [[The Wiki Rule]]: [https://girlgenius.fandom.com/wiki/Girl_Genius_Wiki On Fandom].
 
== The Secret Blueprints ==
<!--Would it be possible to sub-page this? Compressing the info presented or else just linking to the relevant sections of the wiki are also feasible, but sub-paging seems most preferable.-->
 
[[All There in the Manual|The Foglios have thoughtfully provided quite a lot of background and detail for fans of the series. theseThese details were lovingly collected in a document entitled "the Secret Blueprints."]] Fans do not need to worry about spoilers, as much of these details are merely background stories, lending depth to the characters. You can buy a PDF format of the blueprints, complete with new illustrations and other extra stuff [http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=58490 here].
 
Here is the basic information (also available on the Girl Genius Wiki):
Line 280 ⟶ 232:
** '''The Spark'''—whatever it is that makes Mad Scientists what they are. A poorly understood concept that identifies and incorporates a batch of personality traits shared by those who have it. Also referred to as the Gift, the Touch, the Curse, the Madness, the Doom, &c. Also referred to as his or her Spark, in this case a personal quality. Also used as another term for a Mad Scientist—you would say that someone is a Spark if they have the Spark.
 
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[[Category:Trivia]]
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