Scott Pilgrim vs. the World/Shout-Out

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • The Item Get theme from The Legend of Zelda is used at least twice, and one of the dream sequences features the series' fairy theme.
    • There's also a musical Shout Out early in the film during a dream sequence. A choir can be heard singing the menu/Fairy Fountain theme from The Legend of Zelda.
      • That snippet starts playing during the unfilling the PEE BAR scene in the bathroom, which creates a sort of Fridge Brilliance if you equate the Great Fairy of the fountain as an Epiphany Toilet figure, since that scene does lead into a new big development in the next after the dream sequence.
    • On the Zelda theme, there was what resembled an upside-down triforce symbol painted on Chaos Theatre's door in the last scene. This is apparently the video game equivalent of an upside-down cross. The three triangles were also G's, in reference to the initials of Gideon Gordon Graves, and if you'll count the letters, you'll see another Satanic reference, 666.
    • Also from Zelda, the beginning of the movie, the scene in the kitchen, featured a lot of music from A Link to The Past. Close inspection of Young Neil's DS reveals a Game Boy Advance cartridge sticking out the bottom, and that game was ported to the GBA.
  • Many other video game sound effects are used too, notably the ring sound from Sonic the Hedgehog.
    • Quite a few pop up during Roxy's fight.
      • When Roxy gives Scott a look just before he "gets it", the sound effect is a single star from the intro to Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
      • When Scott "gets it", the sound that plays is from Sonic the Hedgehog, when your score total has finished rolling over at the end of an Act.
      • The bonus stage warp sound from Sonic is used when Ramona brandishes the huge hammer.
  • Gideon's health bar is accompanied by the mushroom power-up sound effect from Super Mario Bros..
  • The Seinfeld-esque scene after Scott spends the night with Ramona, complete with the Seinfeld theme.
  • Scott opens the bass battle with the battle theme from Final Fantasy II, which he was learning to play earlier in the movie. Todd counters with the opening bass riff from the song "Around the World" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
  • As horrible as it is, Scott's SARS shirt. Anyone from Toronto can appreciate it.
  • Scott also wears shirts featuring the Bass symbol from Rock Band, the logo of the CBC, The Smashing Pumpkins "Zero" shirt and SP shrit, and the name of the band, Plumtree, who wrote the original "Scott Pilgrim" song that inspired the graphic novels. Young Neil wears a Sloan shirt, a shout out to band member Chris Murphy, who tutored the cast in playing instruments.
  • Todd Ingram says "That's bullroar" when the Vegan Police call him on his gelato and chicken-related crimes.
  • Sound effects and sprites from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game were added to the film in post-production (most noticeably in Ramona's comic book-style flashbacks) because the director was impressed with the game developer's work.
  • The monster Scott summons with his bass is rather similar to the one from Forbidden Planet. Given that the monster from FP was an extension of a character's Id and Scott's creature is probably driven by his jealousy upon seeing Ramona with Gideon (hence his and the monster's green eyes) its not too surprising.
  • Envy's hairstyle while singing in the club looks exactly like Misa's from Death Note. She even wears a similar outfit to one of Misa's.
  • In the scene just after the opening credits Young Neil can be seen reading the webcomic Achewood on his computer.
  • Because the movie's script was written before volume 6 was published, Zangetsu The Power of Understanding doesn't make an appearance. To make up for it though, we get Knives looking almost exactly like a certain Action Ninja from the same series.
  • Gideon uses Kuji-in (used in various points in Japanese culture, and most well known these days from Naruto) to summon his 8-Bit Katana.
  • ...Her? CONFIRMED.
  • The manifestation of The Power of Love is possibly a reference to X 1999. Or Mazinkaiser, which would also make it a Stealth Pun relating to JAM Project.
  • Dance Dance Revolution (or other Rhythm Game) is definitely there. Scott literally plays a "ninja-esque" version of it.
    • ... called "Ninja Ninja Revolution."
  • Some form of Street Fighter is present. Well, actually it's more like every fighting game in existence with all those 'Scott vs. (insertenemyhere)' type screens. Fun fact: That KO! sound you hear? It's from Street Fighter Alpha 3.
    • The KO! sound effect is also used in the game.
      • Except its a real headscratcher that the iconic, "Here come's a new challenger!" or variant isn't announced."
  • The fight between Ramona and Roxy is pure Soul Calibur. Roxy has Ivy's sword whip...thing, and her outfit's even ripped to match. Ramona has Rock's Onslaught.
    • Once the weapons are removed from the picture, both Ramona and Roxy use Jin/Hwoarang's Heel Drop move from Tekken.
  • When Knives dyes her hair blue, her appearance becomes rather Rei-esque.
  • Subverted in Scott's first meeting with Roxy.

Scott: "I'm not up for this right now, come back later."
Roxy: "Oh I'd love to darlin', but I'm afraid I just cashed my last raincheck."
Scott: "What's that from?"
Roxy: "My brain!"

  • After Scott is convinced to go get Ramona back, Edgar Wright uses his mundane Lock and Load Montage parody, a favourite technique of his in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. And then subverts it brilliantly.
  • The twins crank up their amp to eleven.
  • Lucas Lee's message tone is the alert sound from MGS.
  • This troper can't help but feel that Gideons pixellated beam katana is a reference to No More Heroes
  • This troper found that one combo lasted to up to 64, referring to probably the 64-bit games or Neji's 64 trigrams
    • However, since the first volume (in which this same gag appeared) was released in 2004, in which no character in that series had been depicted using that move so far, (Naruto had only just started it's second year in the Hidden Mist saga, and US Naruto had not debuted,) that it's a reference to the 64-bit era, through-and-through.
    • I thought it referred to the 64-hit combos from Killer Instinct (though you can go higher).
  • Before the final confrontation with Gideon, Wallace tells Scott to "Finish Him"
  • This troper remains convinced that the fight with Gideon's mooks was styled very similarly to Liu Kang's fight at the end of the first Mortal Kombat film.
  • Gideon's glowing ring used the hypnotic ring sound effect from the 1980 Flash Gordon movie.
  • This troper thought that the fight between the Katayanagi Twins resembled Pokémon battles, where there are people from separate sides controlling large Mons and battling it out.
    • The Katayanagi Twins' released dragons resemble Hyorinmaru's Shikai form.
  • Scott blocking and countering Matthew Patel is very reminiscent of Dead or Alive's "reversal" system.
  • The music cue that scores the beginning of the Lucas Lee fight - titled "Rumble" on the film's score soundtrack - is heavily stylized after the score from The Warriors.
  • The "punching" during the Roxy fight is exactly like it happens in a free comic released in 2006, which is available on the Scott Pilgrim website.
  • Although the actual shade of Ramona's first dye-job is debatable, if you think it's red, that would make all three hair shades a reference to the three goddesses from Zelda.
    • Becomes even more likely if you want to consider the Oracles; though associated with the color red, Din herself wears pink.
    • Pink, Blue, and Green?
    • Or even a reference to Edgar Wright's "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy: Strawberry, Classico, and Mint Chocolate Chip.
    • The color combination of Red, Blue, and Green could be a reference to many things, also including the RGB color system used in coding pixel colors and in mixing light.
  • The sound effect when Ramona kisses Patel in the flashback is the Mac startup sound.
  • The green-eyed Yeti summoned by Scott's Bass in the penultimate Evil Ex battle (As well as Scott's bass itself) was covered in light blue lightning.
    • Did anybody else jump up from their seats in the theater and yell "STAR POWER!" when this happened?........oh, just me.
  • According to Edgar Wright, the Chaos Theatre pyramid from which Gideon sits on top with Ramona, is partially inspired by the original arcade Donkey Kong game. It even shares a red and black aesthetic.
  • Also according to Edgar Wright, he and composer Nigel Godrich are huge Doctor Who fans, and some cues from the film's score are in reference to The Sea Devils serial, a stretch of episodes known for an improvisational score using synthesizers.
  • Scott throws the Clash At Demonhead CD on top of the Beck section of the CD store. Beck wrote Sex Bob-Omb's songs.
  • The original version of the 1-UP/second-run sequence, as seen in the Deleted Scenes on the DVD, featured a number of Super Mario World sound effects.
  • This is probably a coincidence, but during the swordfight between Scott and Gideon, their styles of fighting reminded me muchly of the Ryan Vs Dorkman series of videos.
  • The day after Scott talks to Ramona at the party, he plays what seems to be a variation of the Game Over theme of Super Mario World on his guitar
  • Most of the evil exes resemble characters from famous fighting games:
  • When Scott enters the Chaos Theatre for the second time, Comeau can be heard in the background making a rather paradoxical statement: "Their first album was better than their first album." While it comes across as a parody of hipsters and music snobbery in general, it's also a subtle reference to the band Metric, which wrote the song "Black Sheep" that appears earlier in the movie. Due to trouble with their record label, the first album they recorded - "Grow Up and Blow Away" - was released six years late, during which time they started from scratch and released two other albums. Thus, two albums that were technically first (first released and first recorded).
  • The part where Scott calls Knives from a phone booth and starts glancing around resembles a similar scene in the 2002 movie Phone Booth.
  • Scott's (really Wallace's) home phone rings in the exact same manner as Tim and Daisy's in Spaced.
  • The platform Gideon is sitting on in the final fight looks like a scene in The Killing Joke.
  • Two of Scott's T-shirts—the SP and ZERO shirts—are shout outs to Smashing Pumpkins
    • Also, during the band's first battle/the first ex battle, Scott is wearing a Plumtree shirt. Scott is named after the Plumtree song Scott Pilgrim.
  • Probably just coincidence, but one of Crash and the Boys' members is a ten-year-old Asian girl, in a band with adult men, much like Noodle of Gorillaz.
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