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Shout Out / Critical Role

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So, does it surprise anyone that a group of prolific and nerdy voice actors playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons roll out media references as frequently as their dice?

  • Crit Role Stats keeps track of the media references on an episode by episode basis here.
  • Accidental one to Pillars of Eternity: In Campaign 1 and the first game, the first main base is a castle. In Campaign 2 and the second game, the first real "base" is a ship on the ocean.

Vox Machina (Campaign 1)

  • Part of Percy's full name references the main character of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
  • Speaking of names, the second part of the name Vax'ildan might be a reference to one of Liam's other roles, Illidan Stormrage.
  • Most of Scanlan's songs are takes of known songs modified to fit the situation.
  • The first homebase for Vox Machina is named Grayskull Keep.
  • That's fucking teamwork!
  • Keyleth has to impersonate a male dwarf, with the help of form-masking magic - but her attempt at the typical dwarf accent sounds more like Mrs. Doubtfire.
  • "You had two pairs of gloves?!"
  • In Campaign 1 Episode 2, Travis mentions that Grog's rage form is plagued with nightmares of Sebastian. Liam starts humming "Under the Sea," prompting Travis to sing his version of "Les Poissons."
  • "This was a triumph..." "...I'm making a note here: huge success."
  • In episode 11 Travis discuses an attack plan involving Grog coming in on the flying carpet like Randy Quaid's character from Independence Day. "Hello boys, I'm baaaack!"
  • Trinket might have some distant, cross-universe family in a certain book series' entire species of armored bears.
  • Keyleth as an Earth Elemental walks down the stairs, takes the elevator, and rows a boat, much to Grog's amusement.
  • Sam mispronounces the duergar queen's name as Durarara!!
  • The Water Sphere explosion in episode 7 is described as done "AKIRA-style".
  • Pike's spiritual spear in episode 15 is produced from her chest.
  • At one point in episode 16, Travis describes rolling a Natural 1 as "Wheatoning".
    • After the first few of Thorbir's many failed rolls in episode 20, Wil hoped he would just step in a bucket (a bit of a Running Gag in Titansgrave).
  • Orion and Sam slip in a reference to a certain duo of Ace Attorneys they voice while inspecting the Draconic script in episode 16.
    Tiberius: See that, Scanlan? This says something like 'Apollo Justice' something...
    Scanlan: Nah, it's 'Phoenix' something.
    • Another one in episode 23 — when Scanlan refers to himself as an Ace Attorney, Orion breaks character to slam the table and yell "HOLD IT!" as Apollo.
  • Episode 18 has a couple of subtle Acquisitions Incorporated references. Some think that this may lead up to Wil Wheaton's up-coming guest character, but it could have been coincidental.
    • "N-n-n-nineteen!"note  is done twice the next episode. Episodes 20 and 21 had the aforementioned guest spot from Wil himself, so several of those there as well.
  • Episode 20 features blow dart traps and a giant rolling bolder trap, and Kashaw disappearing "Goonies style" down a slide trap.
  • "You look like someone from The Guild."
  • Scanlan refers to the Two Frost Giants as Ace and Gary.
  • Scanlan upon getting Pike out of a tight spot: "Come with me if you want to live!"
  • Tiberius, during the group's escape from K'varn's temple, after casting the "Flight" spell on several party members: "Fly, you fools!"
  • The group can't help but throw in a few references to Metal Gear Solid during the stealth inside the duergar fortress.
  • Unintentional, but the chat essentially sent Lion-O to kill Tygra.
  • Also probably unintentional, but Mercer refers to Wheaton/Thorbir as the "Nega-Percy".
  • Episode 21, Vax'ildan refers to his motions to crawl around looking for traps as "Golluming" and makes a "Naruto run" during the Rakshasa battle. Doubling as Actor Allusion, since Liam O'Brien has voiced both Gollum and Gaara.
    • Also in this episode, there is a huge room with nothing but acid (and Thorbir refers to a friend that was a victim of an acid pit). Matt later admitted that was fan-requested.
    • And Keyleth also invites everyone to Be Our Guest.
  • After some confusion over who had the Slayer's Take contract in episode 21, Liam quips "I'm fine, we're all fine, how are you?"
  • In episode 22, Matt and Travis talk about how the oddity salesman is basically that guy from the start of Aladdin, shadiness included.
  • Scanlan, jumping on a table, shouting to a crowded bar: "Listen, you motherfuckers, my friend just asked you a fucking question, now fucking answer him, or I'll kill every last motherfucking one of you!" note 
  • Discussion about the Hydra attack on Vasselheim in Episode 17:
    Bastion/Matt: I think it's testing the wall.
    Laura: (to Travis) Like a raptor.
    Grog: They remember.
    Vex: Clever girl!
  • Upon spotting a trap and repeating to the group what the DM just told them, Laura and Mary quote "I have one job on this ship, I know it's stupid, but I'm gonna do it!"
  • "Hey you GUUUUUUYYYYYYS!"
  • Tiberius names the little pseudodragon he adopts Lockheed.
  • "KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERN! KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERN!" Fittingly, this was shortly after Matt told Laura she was becoming the new Anti-Wheaton.
  • The group's level up tune is the stage clear music from Super Mario Bros..
    • It's also likely that this is actually the level up jingle from Final Fantasy, which sounds very similar to the previously mentioned music.
  • When Percy kills the Broker in Episode 25, he's legitimately confused as to whether he fired five times or six. Under his breath, Sam Riegel asks if he's feeling lucky.
  • "There is no spoon."
  • Vax quoting Hamlet, of all things, to Emperor Uriel. "We're cultured," indeed.
    Vax: One may smile and smile and still be a villain.
    • He also briefly quotes part of the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V as the group prepares to go charging into the duergar throne room.
  • Liam quotes Hamlet again - "Dead for a ducat, dead!" - after Sam kills a mosquito with a rolled-up paper in Episode 93. (He would do the same thing later after Travis zaps a fly dead in campaign 2, episode 77... coincidentally and amusingly called The Tangled Web.)
  • Scanlan, upon creating the plan to turn Vox Machina into cows to attract a giant bird, requests more cowbell.
  • "Hold still, Casper!"
  • After Tiberius has blades attached to the ends of his staff, he starts referring to it first as his Swallow, then as his Sergeblade.
  • After "Ermahgerd"ing Premature Stealth when Vex learns it, Liam adds, "Ruror Juror"
  • After everyone decides to go into disguise, Taliesin quips that his disguise is basically Link.
  • Scanlan "does a David Caruso" and makes a bad pun in Episode 29 and Matt's response is "In the distance, you hear YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHH."
  • The de Rolo family motto is from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
  • The Jurassic Park theme song just before Scanlan fights as a triceratops.
  • During Scanlan's one-man takedown of one of the Whitestone mansions, Matt ends up improvising maps for a room Scanlan was not meant to go into. Taliesin and Marisha exclaim in unison "He's taking him off the grid! He doesn't have a Social Security Number!
  • Taliesin has a gold colored D20 (with which he tends to roll natural 20s) which the players sometimes refer to as the Golden Snitch.
  • After his Pepperbox breaks mid-combat, Percy refers to it as a piece of gosa.
  • Cassandra de Rolo is reintroduced immediately before Professor Anders slashes her throat. Taliesin says, "This went really Hannibal really quickly," referencing the recurring injury suffered by Abigail Hobbs.
  • Scanlan makes the obvious Ripliad reference by referring to 'the talented Dr. Ripley'.
  • Percy, while possessed by a ghost: "I'll swallow your soul!"
  • Those familiar with German Romanticism (or maybe those just familiar with Hellsing Ultimate, which Taliesin Jaffe produced the English dub for) will note certain similarities between Percy's bargain with the smoky entity and the opera Der Freischütz, the folktale it was based on, and the rock opera it inspired. Especially The List/pepperbox and its one blank barrel.
  • A folk hero in Scanlan's town is named Fabio.
  • When Keyleth rolls low on an Insight check and Matt rules that she was too distracted to notice anything useful, Sam says "Squirrel!"
  • Part of the Ducktales theme song was sung.
  • Gnome bard Kaylie, a member of Scanlan's former troupe, studied at the College of the White Duke (confirmed by Matt to be named in remembrance); it's compounded by Laura accidentally referring to Jarett as Jareth.)
    • It also turns out that one of the Vestiges of Divergence is a longsword, Mythcarver, last wielded by the White Duke.
  • An ancient and powerful dragon, trapped in an elemental realm after a battle, suddenly bursts through onto the material plane after decades of waiting, and proceeds to lay waste to everything in its path, shattering the palace of one of the largest cities on the main continent and claiming it for its dominion. Are we talking about Thordak the Cinder King or Deathwing?
  • In Episode 41, when Keyleth says that her Commune With Nature spell didn't detect Uriel, Grog comments that if he's outside the range of the spell, it's a "moo point". Asked to elaborate, he replies "It's like a cow's opinion. It's moo."
  • When Keyleth fields the idea of bringing down the building they're in to destroy a dangerous magical object (which may or may not be a doorway between planes), Travis/Grog says "Bury it? Like the Pharaohs of old?"
  • Liam and Laura share a fist bump in episode 1, after which Laura makes the same "Balalalala" sound as Baymax.
  • In Episode 47 Laura sings "Something has changed within me" upon activating a flying broom.
    • In episode 58 Sam brings it further: to repay the favor Vex owes him, Scanlan decides that she must always wear a pointy hat while she rides the broom.
    • Finally, in episode 114, while she's wearing the hat and riding the broom, Scanlan casts Minor Illusion to turn her skin green, completing the reference.
  • In episode 59, Liam suggests moving Up, Left, Down, Left to get out of a field, giving a name drop to the original ''Legend of Zelda''.
  • The presence of Garthok in Episode 41 prompts a "Party on, Garthok!" "Party on, Waynethok!"
  • In the Goblins one-shot, the five goblins disguise themselves with a Totem Pole Trench, becoming "Goblon!".
    Matt: This is the best goblin Voltron ever!
  • Episode 51: Apparently Crow!Keyleth is Lassie.
    Crow!Keyleth: Caw!
    Percy: Scanlan fell down a well?
  • Episode 67: After the party finds Mistress Asharru's dead body riddled with bullet holes and conclude that Dr. Ripley was the murderer, they decide to inform her employers that "it wasn't me, it was a one-armed woman".
  • Episode 85:
  • Taryon Darrington, an egocentric, ridiculously wealthy young man with flashy, decked out armor has parents named Howard and Maria.
    • Additionally, he referred to himself and Percy as "science bros" in episode 95, a Fan Nickname for Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Both Bruce and Percy are bespectacled scientists with a tragic past and a Superpowered Evil Side (Percy's by way of Demonic Possession and Deal with the Devil).
    • "Doty is, by the way, the fifth Doty. Doty Four had a glitch. He tried to kill us all." In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark has to deal with his fourth sentient creation (after the AI JARVIS and the robots Dum-E and U) deciding Earth is better off without humanity. Jarvis was based on the Starks' butler, who Tony was fond of. Doty was created to be Taryon's friend and companion.
  • Scanlan's clutch Counterspell against Vecna in Episode 102 ("Race To The Tower") is capped off by Sam parodying James Blunt:
    Scanlan: I'm beautiful! I'm beautiful, it's true! You saw my face, in a crowded place, and you didn't know what to do ... 'cause I just took a shit on you!
    Matt: The last thing you hear, as the spell begins to take effect, is the whispered voice of Vecna as he says ...
    Vecna: ... What?
  • Episode 105: Sprig attempts to come up with a mnemonic device: "Goliath grab".
  • The Search for Grog: in asking for the location of Grog's soul, he almost mispronounces "Grog's soul" as "Grog's hole".
  • Adventures of the Darrington Brigade:
  • "I'm a golden god!" was spoken by Sam/Tary about Keyleth jumping off a cliff in episode 97, and it's also a quote spoken from the roof of a house in Almost Famous.
  • "D-E-A-R C-A-S-S, how are you, I'm fine." "Everybody else is too." is from the "Letter Song" in The Secret Garden.
  • It might be unintentional, but guest character Arkhan The Cruel might be a reference to the character Arkhan The Black from Warhammer. In addition to the very similar names, there's also the fact that both characters have Necromancy powers and serve evil deities. Both characters arguably end up being Foils for one anouther though, considering that Arkhan the Cruel is fiercely opposed to Vecna, who has several similarities to Nagash, Arkhan the Black's master in Warhammer Fantasy. Though the two might end up being similar once Arkhan the Cruel ultimately acquires the Hand of Vecna for himself once Vecna is defeated...

Mighty Nein (Campaign 2)

  • Fjord of all people asking if the horse is a Mustang (a lovely double-headed one - not only is there a Running Gag of references to Ford cars like the Mustang haunting Fjord, but Travis Willingham played Col. Roy Mustang).
  • A couple of times the casts like to do some trolling to Matt with a bit of singing some music when they hear or say words like "it's been awhile" and/or "making my way".
  • The troll of Labenda Swamp turns out to be a twofer - after hearing about how its past victims just managed to hurt it, Calianna (Special Guest Mark Hulmes) is the first to say "if it bleeds, we can kill it." Then they catch up to it and it turns out it bleeds acid (after it abducts a Red Shirt NPC in a very Alien-like manner).
  • Speaking of Calianna, Mark Hulmes depicts her as dorky (but secretly creepy), which with his accent ends up sounding like MCU Korg.
  • New for 2020, Narrative Telephone is an online chain-of-whispers affair where a story set within Mighty Nein continuity is passed through the email from one person to another, with degrading levels of accuracy.
    Liam: When we get to Ashley it's gonna start with "Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a gangster..."
    • Episode 4 has this fleeting one:
    Liam: (seeing Ashley in a hoodie) You gotta lose yourself in the moment!
    • Season 2 has special guest Aabria Iyengar as a crime lord in Emon that Travis dubbed the Power Broker.
  • When our heroes are going to visit the halfling Brenatto family, Beau claims they will "smash down their door, eat all the food, break all their dishes", which is a subtle reference to the "what Bilbo Baggins hates" song from The Hobbit.
  • Episode 37: "That's some Pan's Labyrinth bullshit going on here!"
  • Episode 69: In reference to Caleb whacking himself in the face and breaking his nose with a natural 20, Taliesin quips, "Ooh, self-crit. Those are rare."
  • Caduceus' ability to cast Bane almost always provokes a joke or two from the cast:
    Liam: (covering his mouth with cupped hands) I am Gotham's reckoning!
    Travis: (singing) BANE! I'm gonna live forever~!
  • The Gentleman is a blue parental figure to a slightly goofy hero, and he has a complicated criminal backstory involving human trafficking... kinda like MCU Yondu
  • Episode 134: the party awakens an ancient Aeorian automaton that speaks like a malfunctioning Sonny or Baymax. Ashley suggests naming it Chappie.
    • Later on, the guys realise that repairing the robot completely might make it remember all its Killer Robot programming.
    Marisha: Didn't you watch Raised by Wolves (2020)?
  • Lucien in his Neo-Somnovem form is referred to as his Super Saiyan form. For bonus points, the minifig actually resembles Super Saiyan Broly.
  • Caleb's speech to his parents at their graves opens and ends with two quotes from Hamilton - "I have so much work to do." and "I'll see you on the other side." Both are said/sung by Alexander Hamilton to his wife Eliza, at the death of John Laurens and as Hamilton accepts his own death at the hand of Aaron Burr, respectively.
  • Mighty Nein Reunited:
  • Echoes of the Solstice:
    • It starts out with Sam mimicking the Freddie Mercury call-and-response with the audience while dressed as Ginger Spice.
    • Aggy (Daniel Sloss) is drinking a tonic wine that's an actual brand of booze, Buckfast - at least in the UK.
    Daniel: None of them get it!

Bell's Hells (Campaign 3)

  • The first major battle is against magically animated household things, including a table, a kitchen knife and even a rug. Liam's idea of a Bond One-Liner?
    "You really tied the room together."
  • Ashley Johnson plays Patterson in Blindspot, who carries around a Critical Role coffee mug. When the cast dressed up as each other for Halloween 2021, Liam O'Brien's costume of Ashley included a mug that said "It's a Blindspot thing, you wouldn't understand".
  • Laudna attempts to pull open a welded door, causing her shoulders to dislocate and muscles to deform, mirroring an iconic scene from Ghost in the Shell.
  • When Fresh Cut Grass uses their grappling arm attachment to pull a shade creeper towards them, Sam shouts "GET OVER HERE!" in a gruff voice.
  • After Anni loses her duel against Dorian, Imogen politely asks, "Are you okay, Anni?"
  • After getting back up with a Nat-20, Liam stabs Ira and mutters, "I can do this all day".
  • Matt, as an indignant shopkeeper, remarks "Some may call this trash. Me? I call them treasures."
  • Episode 15 is full of references to Aliens. Upon realizing the Hells are in a mine full of shade creepers, Imogen starts to freak out, stating: "We're all going to die!" Matt responds with "Game over, man". Towards the end of the episode, when Chetney ventures into a chamber full of slime and cocoons, Laura makes a motion tracker sound, and Travis remarks "They're in the walls, man!" and Marisha states: "They're in the goddamn walls!" Matt also acknowledges Aliens to be the inspiration.
  • When Matt states that the impact of the elevator probably alerted the shadow creepers. Travis states "Good job, Fearne" to which Liam replies "Fool of a Took" and Travis follows up with "Rid us of your stupidity."
  • Orym is revealed to ride horses by standing upright (out of necessity - he can't see past the horse head), just like the horse-racing skater boy sketch on Saturday Night Live a couple of weeks ago.
  • Imogen named her horse Heart, just so she can use "Barracuda" for a horse riding leitmotif.
  • As Imogen and Ashton pay for a creepy marionette doll as a gift for Laudna, Ashley jokes that they will name her Annabelle; Travis is naturally against this.
  • Due to her psychic Power Incontinence, Imogen has been compared to Jean Grey. In episode 24 a botched use of Wild Magic makes her lose all her hair, making her resemble Professor X.
  • As the Hells meet the captain of the Sun Chaser, Matt's accent for Xandis has Sam reply with, "Oh, hey Mark".
  • Orym has to masquerade as Laudna's child, and he suggests the name "Nancy"; but she goes instead with "Georgie".
  • During the Deathwish race, FCG summons his Spiritual Weapon as a ring of turtle shells.
    Marisha: Team Dry Bones, let's go!
  • The Hells run into a group who refuse to move out of their way, leading Ashton to perform an Akira like slide.
  • One of Fearne's fey realm buddies, Mr Nesbitt, resembles a talking owl with the voice of Stewie Griffin.
  • During a long journey that requires riding goats, Laura has to roll for the potential battle of the day, and gets a natural 1. Travis jokes about their luck being so bad that one of the goats turns into Satan.
  • F.C.G. telling Deanna that he thinks she will just up and leave Chetney, but in rhyme, is actually a reference to "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon.
  • Episode 59, Somewhere Out There, is likely named for the song of the same name from An American Tail, whose lyrics are likewise about family members being seperated and clinging to the hope of being reunited.
  • In episode 62, the guys forage for grub and Deni$e apparently hunted and killed a rabbit with her bare hands (the fact that she has Femme Fatalons might have helped.)
    Aimee: "I'm not going to be ignored, Dan!"
  • In episode 69, Chetney, Laudna and Imogen learn about the aerial sentries of Zephrah using hang gliders, which sound more or less like Fortnite gliders, and then start playing around with them like they were tourist attractions.
    Liam: Do the people of Zephrah see Leisure Suit Larry, the banshee of Inisherin and Jean Grey flying through the sky?
  • Ruidus, a red moon that has a powerful evil entity sealed within it is very similar to Dalamud from Final Fantasy XIV.
  • In the 3rd opening titles, a mangled automaton from Fresh Cut Grass' nightmare has the lower body of a Guntank and shoulders from the Zaku-I.
  • After F.C.G. gains the functions of an oven and starts baking fish within themselves, they proudly announce that their nether regions smell of fish, which pushes Matt into a Heroic BSoD as he gets out of the DM chair and starts walking around.
    Sam: SUBLIME!
  • Episode 79 ends with Matt announcing that the next round is a special project where two of the players are randomly and secretly given the task of sabotaging the whole party.
  • Episode 82 starts with Sam replacing himself with his own son for a Time-Shifted Actor, and the boy claims to be Sam after he messed around with a "haunted Zoltar machine".
  • Episode 91 has a couple to Hamilton.
    • "The World Was Wide Enough": In his Heroic Sacrifice, F.C.G. thinks of his dead & departed friends (Bertrand and Dorian) and love interest (FRIDA) in his last moment, like Hamilton thinking of his mentor/father figure Washington, friend (and possible love interest) Laurens, son Philip, and wife Eliza during his own Death Song, also in combat (technically a duel, and F.C.G charged Otohan one-on-one).
    • "It's Quiet Uptown": Afterwards, Matt comments that "It's quiet up here" and Liliana takes Imogen's hand, echoing "She takes his hand/It's quiet uptown". The party's in-universe silence also recalls "There are moments that the words don't reach/There is suffering too powerful to name". In context, "Uptown" is one of the most devastating songs in Hamilton as characters struggle to cope with a recent major loss and grief.

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