Blaz Blue/Shout Out

Main Shout Outs
"Jin: Shut up, Shut up, Shut up! / Urusai, Urusai, Urusai!"
 * The game has several shout outs to the Nasuverse.
 * Rachel is Rin. Aside from having the same Japanese and English Voice Actors, they also have their respective servants who are walking Time Paradox - Hakumen and Archer, respectively.
 * Interestingly, Relius shares a voice actor with Archer.
 * Hakumen is Archer. Despite Archer having the same looks as Ragna.
 * Noel even has a Sion colour scheme.
 * Blonde/White-Haired Guy with big sword in red trench coat has a lethal foe yay relationship with brother in blue coat with katana. Are we talking about Ragna and Jin or Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry?
 * Spiky silver hair, red trenchcoat, giant sword... that screams Sanger Zonvolt.
 * The setting also draws inspiration from Trigun.
 * The game has references to Rozen Maiden.
 * The most notable example would be Rachel, whose overall appearance, outlook and attitude is perfectly similar to Shinku. Up to having the same English voice actor.
 * Ragna's eye colors are also Mismatched Eyes.
 * Jin shares his most notable traits with Suigintou. Including having an existing Rivalry with the main characters. As well as having a "Suigintou" Color Pallete in Calamity Trigger.
 * Nu-13's overall appearance and emotionless attitude is a reference to Barasuishou. Both wears eyepatches (Albeit, Nu-13 can only be seen wearing an eyepatch in her "Younger Form"), both are clones of the originals, and both only show their emotions towards someone important to them.
 * Nu's unarmoured form and attack patterns (not to mention being an artificial being) highly resemble Cinque from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS.
 * The Game has references and actual plots from Code Geass.
 * Hakumen(Jin's alternate persona) is obviously similar to Zero(Lelouch's alternate persona). And it is official, Hakumen's voice is based from Zero.
 * The Game has some notable references to Higurashi/Umineko Anime/Game Series.
 * Blaz Blue's Groundhog Day Loop is similar to Higurashi's Groundhog Day Loop in which certain events happen and keep repeating in a cycle.
 * Then to Mary Poppins (somewhat) with Rachel.
 * One of the trophies in CT is called "A Spoonful of Sugar". It involves keeping Rachel aloft for an extended time.
 * A lot of Continuum Shift's achievements. Examples:
 * Fatality
 * 1.21 Gigawatts!
 * For Great Justice
 * I Get Around
 * Are You There, God? It's Me, Noel
 * Aniki Is Watching You
 * Fur and Loathing in Kagutsuchi
 * Twirling Towards Freedom and And That's the End of That Chapter.
 * In Continuum Shift. In Jin's Arcade Mode where he faces Ragna, and resisting Yukianesa's influence.

"Jubei: The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. You will never find a more Wretched Hive of scum and villainy."
 * There is a shout-out to Star Wars, of all things, in Ragna's Continuum Shift Story Mode when Jubei tells Ragna of Kagutsuchi.

""I sense something; a presence I've not felt since...""
 * Another Star Wars shout-out occurs later in the game during Rachel's joke ending,  Kokonoe's description of Bang's reaction to   is "as if millions of voices cried out in anguish, and were suddenly silenced." Though there may have been a bit of playing with the fourth wall, there too.
 * And again in Noel's CS story mode, where orders her "Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!"
 * And there's this gem from Bang in his story mode when he first sets out:

"Taokaka: "In the name of...that round white thingy in the night sky...I shall punish you!""
 * And when Taokaka fights Hazama:

"Hazama: Come on, Carl Clover. Why so serious?"
 * Hazama to Carl:

"Hazama: HEEEEEEEEEEERE'S TERUMI!"
 * Hazama in Makoto's Gag Reel:

"Arakune: I'm in a role-playing game... Form party... I need to find the Azure, weapons, allies, Azure, final boss. Ultimate Attack is "OVER 9000...!""
 * Arakune's joke ending:

"Bang: You can do it, Tao. Believe in me who believes in you!"
 * Bang to Taokaka in episode two of "Teach Me Miss Litchi ":

"Taokaka: Now please do... that voodoo... that YOU do... SOOOO WELLLLLL!"
 * This doubles as an Actor Allusion. Bang's dub voice actor is also the narrator in Gurren Lagann.
 * There's another one in episode three of "Teach Me Miss Litchi ":

"Rachel: Tea ba-
 * A few are in Rachel's "Help Me Professor Kokonoe" episode:

Kokonoe: Ugh. Look, don't go there, OK? You can't even do that in this game."

"Rachel: Shutupshutupshutup! / Uruchai! Uruchai! Uruchai!"
 * And...

"Tao: "My kitty senses are tingling! You're a bad guy, aren't you?""
 * CSs "Help Me! Professor Kokonoe!" segments can be seen as shout outs to Fate/stay nights Tiger Dojo, as they're both only viewable upon attaining a bad ending, they're much more lighthearted and comedic in tone, and they both tell you how you screwed up and how you can get it right next time.
 * When finishing her Astral Heat, Taokaka helpfully informs her opponent "You're already dead!"
 * Tao to Hazama:

"Kokonoe: Tager? What's going on!? Report... Tageeeeer!"
 * There's at least one shout out to Ken Akamatsu's Negima hidden in both games. Some fans speculate that Ishiwatari and Akamatsu know each other and are fans of each others' works.
 * A pretty large one is that Rachel Alucard to Evangeline, possible right down to the Expy level. However, her cross shaped attacks are more reminiscent of Remilia Scarlet. Considering though that Evangeline herself may be an Expy of Remilia Scarlet, this may just be a recursive sort of thing.
 * Arakune used to be a normal being, but he is now some sort of Eldritch Abomination. He is litterally consumed by madness, he isn't aware of what he is doing, and he repeats lines and lines with the same word over and over. In Story Mode, one of his losing scenes shows him as a creepy swirl repeating "Azure" ad nauseam. The resemblance with Giygas from Earthbound is striking.
 * Before you dismiss it too quickly, bear in mind that Blaz Blue has a healthy sense of humor.

""Kokonoe! Just when did you install this?""
 * Villain with a high rank in the military? Blonde hair and mask? Fights with the aid of a red robot? Relius Clover, he is A CHAR!
 * More accurately, he might be said to be a cross between Char Aznable, Gendo Ikari and Father.
 * The appearances of Tager's "Golden Tager" form in his joke endings contain Shout Outs to various Super Robot anime.
 * His "Sunshine Spark" attack is identical in appearance to Stoner Sunshine, and draws part of its name from Shine Spark.
 * Kokonoe's image of a "remodelled" Hakumen resembles Dancougar.
 * Golden Tager's fight with Mecha-kaka in Continuum Shift contains references to the fight between Eva-01 and Zeruel.
 * Not to mention his Rocket Punch in the "Teach Me, Miss Litchi" segment.

""I have already... won.""
 * There are some shout outs to Tsukihime:
 * Arakune and the infestation of bugs can be compared to Nrvnqsr (Nero) Chaos and his chaos of 666 'black beasts'. Arakune and Nero both have some kind of relation with the big bad.
 * Arakune has also been compared to the Night of Wallachia, via consuming information.
 * The title, main characters, and guest characters of "Teach Me, Miss Litchi!", would very well be a shout out to Tsukihime's "Teach Me Ciel-Sensei!".
 * Meat buns are mentioned often throughout the "Teach Me, Miss Litchi!". In comparison, Curry is a common food topic in "Teach Me, Ciel-Sensei!"
 * References with Fate/stay night actual plots happen a lot:
 * Fate route probably gets shouted out by... Bang, the overly idealistic 'Hero of Ikaruga', who is way too eager to follow his master's footsteps, and had a nearly impossible dream of winning Litchi's heart, same way like Shirou who is dead set to follow Kiritsugu's footsteps as a 'Hero of Justice', and never gave up loving Saber, even when.
 * Unlimited Blade Works main shout out would come from Jin, after the discovery that he is the world's antibody and that Hakumen is his future self, resulting him losing his insanity (or traded it with a different one), similar on how Shirou starts seeing a harsher light of his ideals thanks to his future self Archer, who is the Counter Guardian of the world (similar to antibody). Hakumen himself became bound with the orders of Rachel, same way like Archer became the Servant of Rin... who has the same seiyuu and voice actor like Rachel.
 * Heaven's Feel has elements of it running already. Tsubaki, being the lover of Jin who stays on the dark due to a jealousy with someone else (Noel) is similar to Sakura, the lover of Shirou on the route, becoming Dark Sakura as she is jealous with Rin. On the other hand, Litchi started to mirror Shirou in the case of . Bang's involvement may also be seen as a reference whereas Bang is like Shirou while Litchi is like Sakura, as it is believed that Bang's Nox, Phoenix Rettenjou, is the key to save Litchi from corruption, same way as how Shirou used the Rule Breaker to separate Sakura from the Dark Grail.
 * The plot of Carl's joke ending resembles the "six mysteries" event in Kingdom Hearts II... with added hilarity. The sound of a crying girl in the restroom? That is the School Nurse Litchi trying to get into a miniskirt one size too small. It also references Detective Conan, for obvious reasons, and even Scooby Doo, since one of the group members calls them "Mystery Inc."
 * One of Ragna's costumes in Calamity Trigger bears semblance to the Joker.
 * Genesic Emerald Tager Buster references to Genesic GaoGaiGar. Tager even gets a GaoGaiGar pallete as DLC.
 * Speaking of color palletes, Tager als has one referencing The Big O.
 * Tager takes quite a few cues from the Nakajima sisters in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
 * Cyborgs.
 * Tager's gauntlets look like upsized Revolver Knuckles.
 * Melee-centric but with ranged secondary ability (Divine Buster and the... magnetic ball thing, Spark Bolt).
 * GaoGaiGar references for both sides.
 * Tager joke ending has Kokonoe have him perform the Golden Tager Sun. SHINE SPAAAAAAAAAAAARK!
 * Arakune's gag reel mentions quite a few internet memes.
 * Bang himself is loaded with them.
 * His design and Hot-Blooded personality is based on Ryoma from Getter Robo. The sketchy art style and crazy, spinny eyes in his Astral Finish are also a homage to the show and manga.
 * He also wears a Kamen Rider belt and occasionally performs the henshin pose.
 * CHESTO!
 * Bang also has many the similarity to another Hot Blooded Determinator with a BFS.
 * Scope out Terumi's color sheet. Michael Jackson, Alucard, The Joker, The Riddler, Lupin III, Seto Kaiba and Dick Tracy.
 * And, of course, the obvious similarities to Gin Ichimaru. Right down to the same English voice actor.
 * "DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!"
 * Terumi has several lines:
 * GET OVER HERE!
 * "Heeeeeeere's Terumi!"
 * "Come on, Carl Clover! Why so serious?!
 * "Strike me down with all of your hatred!"
 * Makoto's full of Street Fighter references. While her fighting style is already similar to Dudley's, her Unlimited mode pretty much gives her his entire moveset (and taunt). In addition, her Astral Finish is an over-the-top version of the Seichusen Godonzuki, an attack used by her namesake Makoto. Unlimited Makoto can also perform the Abare Tosanami.
 * She randomly shouts "SPOOOOOON!" when performing her drive.
 * One of her Distortion Drives resembles Jin Saotome's Blodia Punch.
 * Hellsing should be all that needs to be said in regard to Valkenhayn.
 * Not to mention that his Japanese VA also voiced Walter C. Dornez
 * The techniques he uses in his werewolf form are based off of Jon Talbain from Darkstalkers, and those of his normal form are similar to another aristocratic fellow from Arc System Works: Slayer.
 * His wolf form also resembles Zafira from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As. Zafira's master has the same voice actress as Rachel and even shares a cross motif.
 * His howl while in wolf form sounds a bit more like Blanka's yelp than a wolf's howl.
 * overall look is possibly a reference to Himiko, an ancient Japanese shaman queen which apparently ruled in the Yayoi period. And we know somebody in this game that has Yayoi as her last name...
 * A lot of Litchi's traits are similar to Kyoko Minazuki. To wit:
 * They're two Hospital Hotties with leerings to Hot Scientist (Litchi was before, Kyoko was after) with long black hair. They had an occasion wearing a lab coat too (Litchi on the back stories as her scientist days, Kyoko wears it all the time, even in combat), and both wear glasses all the time. They're also teachers (Litchi taught the Kaka clan, Kyoko is a Badass Teacher)
 * Both tangled/sided with the antagonist faction (NOL and Justice High), but their true personality seems to leer to actually good hearted people.
 * Though they seem professional/kind most of the time, when nobody's looking, they tend to be Lady Drunk (Litchi as seen in Noel's CT Joke End and Tsubaki's Gag Reel, Kyoko's All There in the Manual).
 * They're surrounded with two guys, one intellectual and so far is the one winning their affection (Arakune/Lotte Carmine and Hideo Shimazu), one Hot-Blooded guy who probably had one-sided crush on them (Bang Shishigami and Hayato Nekketsu, the latter of whom teamed up with Kyoko and Hideo in Project Justice)
 * For fun, during Carl's Gag Reel, what role does Litchi took? School Nurse, just like Kyoko.
 * This may seem like a stretch, but during Hakumen and Hazama's unique battle intro (with settings into English language), Hakumen said something along the lines of "You do not belong in this world" to Hazama. Now, who's Hakumen's VA again?
 * Even more hilariously, Ragna's VA is Patrick Seitz. Guess which Castlevania character he did?
 * Several characters also bear similarity to those from this game's spiritual predecessor.
 * Personality-wise, Ragna is very much like Sol.
 * As far as looks go, Jin is almost identical to Ky. But his personality is completely different.
 * Noel could be seen as an alternate Dizzy slapped with Millia's color. Or the game's Cammy.
 * Rachel is essentially a female Slayer. In a wink from the creators, Rachel and Slayer even share one of their KO poses.
 * Likewise, Arakune combines both Zato-1/Eddie and Zappa, with a dash of No-Face.
 * Litchi is pretty much the combination of both Millia Rage and Anji Mito. She gets her powers in similar way as Millia (Boundary corruption and Forbidden Beast), and her relationship with Arakune mirrors Millia and Zato/Eddie, as well as them leaving their former posts (Sector Seven and Assassin's Guild). And just like Anji, Litchi is closely related to a pink-haired woman who is rather vengeful (Kokonoe as a stand-in for Anji's Baiken), wears glasses, and CS development had her
 * If Potemkin were a cyborg devil, Tager would most likely be the direct result.
 * Carl's design is Cedric from Battle Fantasia, updated to fit the Blaz Blue setting.
 * Nu is Robo-Dizzy, with a heavy dose of Justice as well.
 * Hakumen is essentially samurai Justice.
 * Makoto is similar to Jam. They're both loud, ditzy Genki Girls who fight with their fists and wear very little.
 * Bang, being a hotheaded Highly-Visible Ninja with a dead master he's sworn to avenge, could be an expy of Chipp Zanuff. C'mon, Chipp even wears a red Scarf of Asskicking sometimes! Fortunately, Bang does not share Chipp's infamously low defense.
 * Ragna, however does - in the fourth Teach Me, Ms. Litchi!!!, Ragna even complains about his low defense, and Litchi explicitly says it's "not as bad as Chipp Za-", while her thought bubble had a silhouette of Super-Deformed Chipp.
 * Hakumen's entire character fighting style is based off an older Daisuke Ishiwatari game, Last Blade, back when he started at SNK. He plays much like a Power character from that series.
 * During one of CS's "Teach Me, Miss Litchi!" segments, Noel comments on how she had been trying to make herself smarter for her studies, and brings out the. "Ludovico Brain Flex-O-Matic model 1984." She said she saw an ad for one in a magazine and ordered it from the Orwellian Industries website.
 * During Ragna's gag ending/reel, Rachel tells Valkenhayn, "Explain to him, as you would a child".
 * For an old school Shout-Out, Hazama/Terumi has a lot in common with Richard Wong from Psychic Force. Both lived in a Crapsack World steered to satisfy their desires (Terumi feeds on hate, Wong always seems to get the happy ends for him). They can manipulate time and highly think of themselves as in the world's most awesome person. They manipulate a 'dark, antagonistic but may be well-intentioned' group (NOL and NOA) for their own purposes... with eyes closed. They're also HUGE Complete Monster who at one point turned a good Shrinking Violet member of the good guys into psychotic evil people (Noel and Emilio). And while Hazama is on his way to screw a hot female scientist, Wong already screwed a hot female former scientist
 * Said in a very commanding and serious tone, Makoto's victory line at the end of a match parodies Fist of the North Star.
 * Said in a very commanding and serious tone, Makoto's victory line at the end of a match parodies Fist of the North Star.

"ATATATATATATATATATATA!"
 * Also, she says this during the Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs component of her Astral:

""He who conquers the left ... CONQUERS THE WORLD!""
 * Another victory quote is a shout out to Fooly Cooly.

""And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and furious anger those who dare to defile my-...er...meatbuns...meow""
 * Noel's "Fenrir" minigun has exactly the same front grip as the one from Terminator2.
 * Taokaka in Teach Me, Miss Litchi!  quotes a certain someone:


 * A possible reference in the English version when Hazama finishes of someone with his astral heat he will say "Please, just die for me".
 * One of Arakune's winquotes is translated in the dub as "What is a man?"
 * Tsubaki also seems to have similarities to Lancer Trope Codifier Kain. They're both the best friend of a more important character (story-wise), they are both more skilled fighters than said friend (Noel needs Bolverk to fight, whereas Kain deals more damage than Dark Knight!Cecil due to his Jump), and yet they are both ranked lower than their friend on account of favouritism (although, granted, Cecil was the king's adopted son while Noel is the victim of a Manipulative Bastard), and in both cases The Lancer is jealous of their friend's close proximity to their Love Interest. Also?
 * Platinum's Astral Heat is almost identical to Marisa Kirisame's "Surefire Spark" spellcard from Touhou Hisoutensoku.
 * Relius' fighting style is similar to a Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure character, mixed with Eddie.
 * Taokaka's "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe" segment has Tao say, after recovering from eating Kokonoe's silvervine candy, that her mind "was aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapor of invention."
 * Platinum's Gag Reel (a parody of the Magical Girl genre) has the following references:
 * Relius shows up as "Puppeteer Mask."
 * Platinum needs to collect the Boing Cards to stop the Boing Queen (Litchi) from hogging all the breasts' sizes (seriously) in the world.
 * Arakune: "...tract... me... become... magical girl..."
 * Most fitting, since Platinum's voice actress voiced the titular Madoka
 * There's a throwaway plot comparison to Lord of the Rings by Noel and Rachel.
 * Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is referenced a couple of times:
 * Litchi is called an "oppai obake" (lit. boob monster), the exact same nickname that Vita has for Signum
 * STARBOING... BREAKER!!!!
 * During Plantinum's encounter with Ragna, while insult him Luna randomly calls him "Baldy". This is probably a shout out to Bleach's Hiyori, another bratty character who likes calling people "baldy" regardless of whether they actually are.
 * Another possible Bleach reference, one of Hazama's favorite insults is "trash". This is the signature insult of prominent villain Ulquiorra.

Palette Swap References

 * In Continuum Shift, The first color in the first DLC pack is a reference to other characters, and is also from CT's DLC.
 * Ragna is Gintoki Sakata
 * Jin is Ky Kiske
 * Noel is Seras Victoria
 * Rachel is Hatsune Miku
 * Iron Tager is GaoGaiGar
 * Taokaka is Pikachu
 * Arakune is Lilith
 * Litchi is Morrigan
 * Bang is Strider Hiryu
 * Carl is Detective Conan
 * Hakumen is...something.
 * Lambda is a Gundam
 * Tsubaki is Megurine Luka
 * Hazama is the Joker
 * Mu-12 is EVA Unit00
 * Makoto is Yoko Littner
 * Valkenhayn is Jon Talbain
 * Platinum is Nanoha
 * Also the fourth color of the second DLC pack is a reference to Guilty Gear.
 * Ragna is Order Sol
 * Jin is Robo-Ky
 * Noel is I-No
 * Rachel is Slayer.
 * Tager is Potemkin
 * Tao is May
 * Arakune is Zato-1/Eddie
 * Litchi is Jam
 * Bang is Anji Mito
 * Carl is A.B.A., with Ada as Paracelsus.
 * Hakumen is Baiken
 * Lambda is Justice
 * Tsubaki is Millia Rage
 * Hazama is Venom
 * Mu-12 is Dizzy
 * Makoto is Sol
 * Valkenhayn is also Slayer
 * Platinum is Bridget
 * Other references include:
 * Hakumen as Zero and Zero
 * Makoto as Kallen and Yoko.
 * Nu/Lambda as Eva Units 1 and 2
 * Hazama's white outfit and yellow outfit seem familiar.
 * Platinum as Nia.
 * Bang as Ryu, Ken, and Akuma in Calamity Trigger.

Expy and Captain Ersatz references

 * Word of God is that Ragna's design and personality are based on Vash the Stampede.
 * His personality in joke endings is influenced by Gintoki, with whom he shares seiyuu. Both Ragna and Gintoki are badass white haired swordsmen whose fear of ghosts makes them scream like girls. It is implied in the materials collection that Mori asked Tomokazu Sugita to be Ragna after he watched Gintama. This inspires various Blazblue x Gintama MAD videos.
 * Jin's brother may be the one who looks a bit like Archer,
 * Noel's appearance looks similar to Melty Blood/Tsukihime's Sion Eltnam Atlasia but her personality is completely different.
 * Considering how the Nasuverse reference spree goes, Rachel filled in for Rin Tohsaka; not only she has the same English and Japanese voice actresses,
 * She isn't the only vampire to attack with giant laser crosses.
 * Her character design is pretty much "Gothic Fate Testarossa" or Mina Tepes.
 * Arakune is an obvious Expy of Zato-1/Eddie, with a little bit of Zappa thrown in for good measure.
 * He's also like a terrifying version of No Face.
 * He also bears some physical similiarities to Uboa.
 * Nirvana, Carl's doll puppet, looks a bit like Dorothy Waynewright.
 * With Jin's case, Hakumen is.
 * And then, the obvious similarities to Zero. Hakumen's voice is officially based off from Lelouch's Zero Persona, after all.
 * One look at Tsubaki's outfit and weapons and you might end up instantly thinking "Sophitia/Cassandra/Lizardman".
 * On the other hand, her playstyle is identical to Order-Sol's.
 * Again with the Nasuverse references, she seems like the stand-in for Sakura Matou, being the most likely of Jin's love interests.
 * Platinum has What we're facing here is a loli Ryougi Shiki. RUN.
 * Her actual character design is an over-the-top parody of Sailor Moon.
 * Funny little note, if one notices, the third personality of Platinum is Ryougi... but in reverse. Where Ryougi can, more or less, destroy anything that she comes across being the personification of Akasha, Platinum's Trinity can create... anything. The odd thing is that Ryougi can recreate... anything... however this is a power of Akasha that she doesn't use all that much.
 * Makoto is an expy of Squirrel Girl, and her fighting style is very similar to Dudley's from Street Fighter. Her Unlimited mode takes this to its logical extreme as she gains several of Dudley's moves, and even a variant of his taunt where she throws an acorn at the opponent.
 * Terumi is essentially Gin Ichimaru, Sosuke Aizen, and Ribbons Almark rolled into one, with a little bit of The Joker thrown in for good measure.
 * Some of his move set seems to be based on Dio Brando as well.
 * Kokonoe is a pink-haired, rather egotistical Mad Scientist with a bit of an amoral streak... seems like a Darker and Edgier Washu.
 * Relius Clover looks kinda like Godot.
 * On the subject of Ace Attorney characters, Relius seems a bit reminiscent of Manfred Von Karma, as both are stoic Complete Monsters who are obsessed with achieving perfection, both are abusive towards their (adopted in Von Karma's case) sons, and even try to kill them when they get in the way. They are also very refined, and wear cravats. Not to mention their voices are both deep. All that's left now is for Relius to become a lawyer.
 * Jokes are already being made about how HE IS A CHAR.
 * Crazy genius who wears a mask, hangs out underground on occasion, his main interest is opera... Remind you of anyone?
 * His mannerism and penchant for Hammy yet deadpan Mad Science also sometimes led fans to compare him to Resident Evil's Albert Wesker. That mask may also serve as a 'replacement' for Wesker's Cool Shades.
 * appears to be the Aizen to Hazama's Gin at first.
 * In Jin's Arcade Mode in Continuum Shift. When he's resisting Yukianesa's influence on him, he says "Urusai!" three times in a row. Does this remind you of a certain Fiery Redheaded Girl who is also an aloof Tsundere and wields a Katana?
 * Tager shows up in this outfit during Arakune's Help Me! Dr. Kokonoe! segment. This may be a reference to Kamen no Maid Guy.
 * Tager shows up in this outfit during Arakune's Help Me! Dr. Kokonoe! segment. This may be a reference to Kamen no Maid Guy.

Homages

 * One of the unlockable artwork pieces shows Hakumen standing in a Field of Blades suspiciously reminiscent of another walking time paradox you may know.
 * Take a look at his Astral Finish, then notice the pose he takes afterward. He must've learned a thing or two from Akuma.
 * If you listen closely to his story mode dialogue in Japanese, you'll eventually realize that  is pretty much channeling Jun Fukuyama's "Zero voice". It makes even more sense considering his mask, which looks chillingly similar. He is even more reminiscient of Nightmare of Nunnally Zero. This comes full circle when in CS he gains a Zero palette! All Hail Hakumen/Jin! and the realization that Hakumen's voice is based off of Lelouch's Zero Persona.
 * One of his palettes gives him red armour and blonde hair, which together with the green sword trails may remind some of another Zero.
 * One wonders if his name and Kitsune theme might make him a shout-out to the Big Bad of Ushio and Tora, the kitsune daiyoukai Hakumen no Mono.
 * According to Word of God, Ragna drew inspiration from another wanted man in red, Vash the Stampede. Also, there's stuff like the psycho-brother, dead female companion, (Rem may not have been Vash and Knives' sister, but damn close enough) and
 * (Manga only) Dead Older Sister, Tessla. Closer?
 * There's a sketch of him with Rebellion in his hand in the Material Collection. Word of God also says that he was inspired by Heine from the manga DOGS Bullets and Carnage, with additional inspiration from Dante and Cloud.
 * Noel is one to Guilty Gear. In one of her story mode paths she's forced to dress as both a Jellyfish Pirate and later Valentine's outfit.
 * Her entire fighting style is an homage to Equilibrium, from which many of her moves are explicitly taken.
 * This might be stretching a bit, but consider the fact Taokaka is a Genki Girl voiced by Chiwa Saitou who doesn't wear pants... doesn't that also describe Francesca Lucchini? (Yes, the pantsless bit is important.)
 * A few references to Wolverine as portrayed in the Marvel vs. Capcom games, such as Hexa Edge resembling Berserker Barrage X or both having supers that create a double.
 * According to Word of God, Bang is based off a real person Hiroshi Fujioka (AKA Kamen Rider). Notice the belt and scarf?
 * His color schemes have homages to Galford and Strider Hiryu.
 * Carl's storyline is sort of a callback to Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * On the subject of Fullmetal Alchemist, Hakumen can be seen as a reference to Alphonse considering he's actually Jin who sealed his soul into an Animated Armor. Plus both mention their brothers quite often.
 * They might remind some of Tarvek and Anevka Sturmvoraus from Girl Genius. Mysterious father whose experiments have screwed up the family and, sister transformed from human to something not...
 * He may also be a reference to Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure, particularly Part 3 (on which the fighting game adaptation was based). As in the JoJo fighting game, the Carl player effectively controls two characters at once. Marionette Purple even sounds like the name of a stand.
 * Nu's armour design is reminiscient of Anubis. Specifically, the pointy ends of the legs combined with the wings. Now, if the armour had dog ears and a staff...
 * Hmmm... silver-haired cyborg with an Eyepatch of Power and a fondness for throwing around sharp objects... nope, doesn't sound familiar.
 * Speaking of which, go look at the palette used for Nu's Combo Six in the tutorial on the bonus disc. Consider it for a moment... Doesn't it looks like Lindy Harlaown in her admiral uniform?
 * Relius's design seems to be a tribute to Phantom of the Opera.
 * Hazama's Astral Heat has the same input as our dear Geese Howard's Raging Storm. Geese's Raging Storm releases a series of shockwaves blasting above upon execution. Hazama's Astral Heat conjures a series of chains blasting above upon execution. Coincidence?
 * Tsubaki's Astral Heat is one big homage to Lenneth.
 * During Arakune's joke ending, Jin's shop has Sol's Fuuenken sitting on the table.
 * Jin's personality and powerset makes him similar to Fatima of Luminous Arc 2 fame.
 * In Continuum Shift, Jin gains Fatima's color pallete:
 * Relius Clover's Astral Finish is just one big shout out to hentai in general. The place looks like a crazy sex dungeon, the opponent is tied up (or in the case of Hazama/Tsubaki, totally willing / completely oblivious), and the doors close before anything can be seen or heard. While this may seem creepy the fandom has already started making fun of it, even going so far as to call it the greatest troll finishing move of all time.
 * In Bang's case, he has cinderblocks placed onto his knees in order to break his legs. This is a Shout-Out to Darkstalkers, where this was the signature super of Bishamon.
 * Platinum's Joke Ending in Extend has Arakune saying "M.k. a c.n.t..t w..h m. .nd b.c..e a m.g.cal g.rl!" Even funnier when you remember who the Japanese voice of Platinum is...