Shout Out / No More Heroes

• So many to Star Wars. Reaches its peak at the 1st Rank battle—after racing some Imperial troopers riding Tie-Fighter motorbikes on your own X-Wing styled scooter, you fight a Darth Vader Expy who tries to pull a Luke, I Am Your Father on you. And the song played during the normal ending credits is a Suspiciously Similar Song of the Star Wars theme. And, of course, Travis' weapon is essentially a lightsaber.
  • According to the Word of God, the beam katanas in the game are a reference to the schwartz rings in Spaceballs with both of them being phallic jokes.
  • Henry's oddly vicious beatdown of a garbage can before his fight in No More Heroes III is nearly shot-for-shot Kylo Ren's tantrum on the console in The Force Awakens.
• There is a Nintendo 64-like console in Travis's room.
• Dr. Peace has gold revolvers. Hmm... where else have we seen that?
• Letz Shake's visor appears to be a Virtual Boy, and the "AtM" sticker on it highly resembles the logo for Public Image Ltd (PiL).
• Holly Summer's prosthetic, weaponized leg seems to be a reference to Planet Terror.
• The plot sounds suspiciously like Branded to Kill.
  • Alejandro Jodorowsky's film El Topo was an influence too.
• In the Final Battle, you fight Jeane, a character who makes extensive use of duck-dodging to counter your attacks - a hallmark of the character homonym Gene from God Hand.
• Next to the clothing shop, Area 51, there's a shop called Clover.
• There are lots of references to previous Grasshopper works, too. The fridge in the Rank 2 boss fight in the first game says "Chiller7," a reference to Killer7.
  • The "3... 2... 1... Zilch" and "Saved game beep" sound effects are references to Killer7 as well, and other sound blips are borrowed from Flower, Sun and Rain, as well as three of the collectible mask belonging to luchadores called The Flower, The Sun and The Rain. Ermen Palmer is a Captain Ersatz for Emir Parkreiner, aka Garcian Smith. Also ISZK Electronics and ZaKa TV, said TV station being a reference to both Michigan: Report From Hell and Killer7. Not to mention that every Lovikov move references a member of the Smith Syndicate.
• The 'To Be Continued' card at the end is in the style of the Back to the Future title.
• One of Henry's attacks involves shooting energy balls at you, a reference to one of the characters from Devil May Cry.
• The title "No More Heroes" is a reference to the album and song of the same name by The Stranglers.
  • You can actually see a poster referencing the song slapped on an otherwise nondescript wall in Santa Destroy.
• In a further punk reference, the sword Three Girl Rhumba is named after a song by Wire (the one Elastica basically hijacked with "Connection").
• The background music in Thunder Ryu's Gym is a heavy metal Suspiciously Similar Song of "Eye Of The Tiger".
• Travis' figurines, among them Sailor Moon, Reisen, and The Lady Fighter.
• In the original trailer for the first game, Sylvia instructs Travis to "aim for the top!"
• A parody of the Sex Pistols' album, Never Mind The Bollocks..., is displayed across the street from the Beef Head video store.
  • Another band parody, this time of Black Sabbath, is displayed on a t-shirt you can buy once you become 4th in rank.
  • Travis' many shirts are ripe with references, referencing everything from previous Grasshopper works (there are several Flower, Sun and Rain and The Silver Case designs) to existing magazines and publications to The Rocky Horror Picture Show: one tshirt has a very familiar pair of red, open-mouthed lips.
• Travis' Strawberry On The Shortcake attack has his hair turn gold, and he gains an increase in attack and speed.
• Sylvia Christel is named after actress Sylvia Kristel, mostly known for the role of Emmanuelle in the eponymous french softcore films.
• There is one to The Warriors. In Dr. Peace's stage, all the mooks are dressed in baseball gear. Though none of them are wearing face paint like the Furies. Also they have the word Warrior written on the front of their jerseys.
• Bishop's video store, Beef Head, is a reference to Takashi Miike's movie Gozu.
• Damon Ricotello's true form is obviously a reference to They Live!. A member of the social elite secretly has purple skin and bulging eyes? It's no coincidence.

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