"I'm of an older generation who grew up with classic giant robot anime by Nippon Sunrise (e.g. Raideen, Gundam, and Votoms). Besides the guy who enthusiastically created gear/AMWS/AGWS/ES mecha is more Takahashi than me. (His room is filled with vintage Chogokin Toys.) ;) "
— Soraya Saga, (DeviantArt, Jul 7, 2008)
- Super Dimension Gear Yggdrasil IV
. - Giant Robo's basic design and piloting method are used by Seibzehn. Seibzehn launches by dropping into the sky as well, and even has its pilot's parent's will within it (mostly to allow it to interpret commands properly, rather than give it full autonomy). Both are also hilariously overpowered in their setting of nigh-superhuman characters and robots.
- Seibzehn and Achtzehn, being the fusion of man and machine, are also a nod to Number 17 and Number 18. It's also a Bilingual Bonus.
- Daitetsujin 17 has a number of shout-outs here!
- Seibzehn's name and Gravitation Cannon are direct references to "One-Seven" (the number itself is the robot's name, without a prefix or suffix) and the Graviton. The Gravitation Cannon is even described as being too dangerous to use, albeit for a very different reason.
- As far as armaments, Siebzehn follows 17's pattern and only carries missiles and the Gravitation Cannon. In battle, they both largely fight with physical attacks.
- As it happens, 17 has a "younger brother", 18. They even fight once, unwillingly on 17 and Maria's part. 18 is even destroyed after telling 17 to use the Graviton on him while he's restraining an enemy.
- Ft. Hurricane, fought with Yggdrasil IV, is clearly based on the second Brain Robo, Hurricane Robo. Less obviously, Main Gun and Dora look like (part of) Battleship Robo and Cannon Robo respectively.
- The ancestors of Bartholomew Fatima and Sigurd Harcourt are Roni Fatima and Rene Fatima. This is a Shout Out to royal Final Fantasy VI brothers Edgar Roni Figaro and Sabin Rene Figaro. As another Shout Out to FFVI, Sigurd's surname Harcourt is shared by Duncan Harcourt, who was Sabin's martial arts mentor.
- Soraya Saga created the characters of Edgar and Sabin, including way too much backstory to actually fit it all into the game and making not-quite-official tales of their childhood as a doujinshi. She was also one of the lead writers for Xenogears, giving her a chance to throw in lots of references to a pair of her favorite characters.
- One of Billy's special attacks is clearly a Shout-Out to Doom
- A "Ticketmiester" vendor in Solaris.
- Amuro called. He wants his Magnetic Coating back.
- Domon would also like to have a word regarding Weltall Mk. II and its System Id, as would Ramba Ral regarding Brigandier/Andvari's weapons. And Aerods? More like funnels. They're even housed in the skirt armor when not in use.
- Allenby's Gundam and her going berserk and having Domon give her a similar speech before defeating her are very reminiscent of Fei talking to and defeating a drugged up Elly in Vierge.
- The Dark Gundam's penultimate form mutates organic wings, as (the location) Deus does. When traveling through its interior, Domon even goes through similar tunnels as the Xenogears party does. And, of course, there's the fact the love interest is assimilated with the Big Bad and is rescued by the protagonist. The last few episodes are where Xenogears's homages really begin to shine through, and this was all done intentionally, and as such it does nothing to make the endgame less awesome. See Sincerest Form of Flattery.
- OR-Weltall's posture is remarkably similar to the Master Gundam. Unsurprising, considering who pilots it. In battle, it also sports a few rather notable aesthetic similarities to Deathscythe Hell Custom.
- At one point we have main hero and his rival use their Gears to push away a massive falling object. Seems slightly familiar, no?
- Perhaps they would've fared better had the Doc been there with Heimdall to assist them.
- Kahran Ramsus has an obsessive grudge against the protagonist and challenges him to battle at every opportunity, only to have his clock cleaned every time.
- The creature in the sewer is named Redrum.
- There's a poster of Tifa on the wall in one of the second class district residences in Etrenank. And while we're on the topic, Solaris' foodstuffs are processed by a facility referred to as the Soylent System. No prizes for guessing what the secret ingredient is...
- This wasn't so obvious for the Japanese audience, as Soylent Green isn't an iconic movie in Japan.
- Andvari's origins and introduction: see Panzer World Galient.
- Name any super robot show that features no less than three robots performing a GATTAI sequence and you'll find your reference in the G-Elements.
- The meager efforts of you land dwellers are insignificant to the true and only power.
- A Positronic Cybernetic Brain... That's bound to get us into trouble with Asimov! note
- On that note, the captain's self destruct panel in the opening movie has several sound effects taken directly from Star Trek, notably the comm badge click, the sound of a hypospray, the computer ambient sound and the chimes of the door on the Enterprise are played in sequence as he activates it.
- Shevat contains a few references to Zeal. A floating city where one can find a Sage's hidden room, strange talking creatures (Chu-chus to Chrono Trigger's Nus), and Queen Zephyr (though she doesn't gain immortality by her own choice, and she's not quite as batshit insane). And speaking of Chrono Trigger, be sure to say "hi" to Lucca before you head out from Lahan...
- Fei gets frozen in carbonite. He gets better.
- The Gazel Ministry's personality data is housed in a supercomputer called SOL-9000. It is even deactivated by sliding circuit boards out of it one by one, just like in the movie.
- The Zohar is also a reference to the Monolith from 2001. Its technical name in Perfect Works (Magnetic Abnormal Matter - MAM) also mirrors the Monolith's technical name from the 2001 novels (Tycho Magnetic Anomaly - TMA).
- Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior are in the game as shout-outs to both biblical Fanon and Chrono Trigger.
- The planet orbiting floating city/space station Solaris is a shout out to the novel Solaris by Stanislav Lem.
- Word of God says Fei was based off of Wong Fei-hung. Or at least Jet Li's version of the historical character.
- A nearly-dead figurehead Emperor being kept alive for thousands of years on life support? Where have we seen that before?
- The fact that the game is named after the Fei's final gear upgrade, the Xenogears, is probably a shoutout to the Gundam series in general, where the title of each installment is almost always named after the main character's final mech.
- Deus's plan to turn everyone into Wels which he can then absorb into himself into sustenance is a clear reference to the Overmind in Childhood's End. Which only makes sense then that one of his primary workers on the planet is named Karellen, the leader of the Overlords in the book.
- Isaac Stone's face upon being bonded to Alkanshel is a dead ringer for Marvel Comics: Red Skull.
- Numerous references to Star Wars abound, between Grahf being a deliberate Expy of Darth Vader, Fei being frozen in carbonite after the destruction of Solaris, and Rico battling a Rancor.
