Multiple Reference Pun: Difference between revisions

[[Anime]] and other Japanese media often has this in the form of a [[Bilingual Bonus]]. For instances which occur in titles, see [[Pun -Based Title]] and [[Double Meaning Title]]. Subtrope to [[Double Meaning]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

* The Thompson Sisters in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' could be a reference to the Thompson machine gun or, given the amount of musical references in the show, the Thompson Twins (who, ironically, weren't twins which also fits, since the sisters are opposites of each other).

** ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'': Writing names on a notebook (full of '''paper''') given to you by a '''god''' of death; the main character wants to become "God of the New World". You can make more puns from there.

** ''[[Tsukihime]]'': (Visual Novel)|Tohno Akiha's]]'' ability, [[Power Dyes Your Hair|"Caging Hair"]], is called "Origami" in Japanese.

* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei-sensei]]'' has this for several characters. The best example is Chiri: her name can mean perfect, clairvoyance, to bury, or frizzy (hair).

* In ''[[Bakusou Kyoudai Let's and& Go (Manga)!!|Bakusou Kyoudai Let's and Go]]'', the title characters' names, Retsu and Gou, are a pun on "Let's go!" Combined with their friend Jun, the three are named for Jun Retsugou, the stage name of [[Boke and Tsukkomi Routine|manzai]] comedian Yoshiji Watanabe.

* All over the place in ''[[Watchmen (Comic Bookcomics)|Watchmen]]'':

** The title itself. It's based on the Latin phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", which can be translated as "who watches the watchmen?" This phrase appears as a piece of graffiti throughout the book. The original phrase was about the dilemma of how to ensure that those who enforce the law are themselves answerable to the law, a dilemma that applies especially to vigilantes such as the main characters. Late in the story, Ozymandias provides an alternate explanation by referencing a line from the speech Kennedy planned to give in Dallas, about "watchmen on the walls of democracy", which Ozymandias considers himself. Doctor Manhattan's character arc provides two more interpretations: he used to be a watchmaker, and he sees himself and all other humans as machines that are no more in control of their actions than a watch is in control of its moving hands.

** Rorschach is named after a famous personality test. His mask resembles the popular image of the test (though not [[Reality Is Unrealistic|the test itself]]), which is also a series of black and white images, appropriate for Rorschach's worldview. Also, being named after a psychological test is perhaps appropriate for a character with the deep-seated mental problems Rorschach has.

** Adrian Veidt's codename Ozymandias is the name Greek sources give to the pharaoh Ramesses II, fitting to his obsession with both ancient Greek and Egyptian culture. It's also a reference to a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the main theme of with is {{spoiler|futility}}, implying that {{spoiler|Veidt's grand plan will not ensure world peace after all}}.

** The title of the chapter "Fearful Symmetry" is from the poem "Tyger, Tyger" by William Blake, and is a good description of Rorschach's mask, and the epigraph from the same poem, "What immortal hand or eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry" could refer to the fact that Rorschach has just been {{spoiler|framed for the murder of Moloch}} or, in the actual meaning of the line, the fact that {{spoiler|he has been captured by the police after avoiding arrest for many years}}.

** The first Nightowl's autobiography is titled ''Under The Hood'', which refers both to his life as a masked superhero and to his career as a mechanic.

* The agency [[Mortadelo Y Filemon]] work for is called T.I.A., which is an obvious reference to the CIA. Since "tia" in Spanish means "aunt", the name also works as a pun on ''[[The Man Fromfrom UNCLEU.N.C.L.E.]]'', fitting since it's a Spanish series about comedic espionage.

* ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'''s scene with The Beastie Boys' song "Sabotage" can refer to the director going against Star Trek tradition by using a radical approach that may unsettle fans, Kirk's rebellious nature that could endanger his chance of reaching the iconic status he's known for eventually, and it's a reference to William Shatner's trouble pronouncing the word sabotage without a Canadian accent.

** That said, the director maintains that he hadn't been thinking of the infamous "sabataage" outtake when he chose that song.

* The title of ''[[Easy A (Film)|Easy A]]'' is a pun that uses the common expression to refer to both the protagonist's alleged sluttiness and the [[The Scarlet Letter|'A']] she sews onto her clothing to make a point.

* Most of the [[Double Meaning Title|Double Meaning Titles]]s endemic in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. For instance, ''Grave Peril'' features Harry in... well, grave peril, mostly due to [[The Undead|vampires and ghosts]].<ref>[[Don't Explain the Joke]] |Grave, get it?]]</ref>. ''Summer Knight'' begins with the murder of the Summer Knight, happens on summer nights, and [[A Midsummer NightsNight's Dream|is about fairies]].

** The only exceptions are ''Changes'', which is [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]], and ''Death Masks'', where the title doesn't have much to do with the story (it was originally going to be called ''Holy Sheet'', which does follow the pattern).

{{quote| '''Clarkson''': Brutus Hammond was out with a broken water-pump and then it was the turn of Cassius May.}}

* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' had a double entendre for the title of almost every episode, not to mention the title of the series itself. (It obviously refers to the mental immaturity of the main cast, but it's also about a real estate developer who gets arrested.)

* [[A Hawk and A Hacksaw (Music)|A Hawk and Aa Hacksaw]]'s name is a reference to Smollet's translation of ''[[Don Quixote (Literature)|Don Quixote]]'': "...therefore, let every man lay his hand upon his heart and not pretend to mistake an hawk for a hand-saw...";<ref>other versions of ''Quixote'' contrast black and white, rather than a hawk and a handsaw</ref>; this was itself a reference to ''[[Hamlet]]'': "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." They replaced "handsaw" with "hacksaw" as a reference to a meter from Balkan and Turkish music, called Aksak.

== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==

** A friend who is "in need" will do their best to remind you that they're your friend ("in deed").

* [[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days Over 2 (Video Game)|Xion]] and [[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Video Game)|Vanitas]] from the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series. Let's see...

* In the fan translation of [[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]], [[Complete Monster|Fassad]]'s name is the arabic word for "greed", it also sounds like the word "facade", both of these are apt summations of the character who uses an overly nice face to hide all his [[Kick the Dog]] moments done to further his and his master's desires.

* In the [[Web Comic]] ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'', Mr. Mighty has been known to exclaim "Great Siegel's Ghost!" This is based on the phrase "Great Caesar's Ghost", commonly used by ''Daily Planet'' editor Perry White in ''[[The Adventures of Superman (Radioradio)|The Adventures]]'' ''[[The Adventures of Superman (TV)|of Superman]]''... which starred a character created by Jerry Siegel.

* The title of the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Bend Her" is both a reference to the episode's plot of Bender getting a sex change to compete as a woman in the Olympics and a reference to the movie "[[Ben -Hur]]," not to mention the pun on Bender's own name.

[[Category:Double Meaning Tropes]]