Trivia Browser
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Originally, YouTuber Jirard Khalil (most famous for his webseries "The Completionist") made a cameo in Sea of Stars as an NPC named "Jirard the Constructionist", who you could donate building plans to to help construct new buildings in the town of Mirth as part of the "Home Neat Home" achievement. This cameo came after Khalil had previously featured unique builds of Sea of Stars, including one featuring Jirard the Constructionist, during his annual indie game spotlight charity event "IndieLand", which was run by his official charity organization, the Open Hand Foundation. In November 2023, a few months after the game's release, Khalil was accused of committing charity fraud through the organization, spawning a controversy that prompted the game's developers to release a patch for the game that removed his cameo, and replacing him with a generic NPC named Bob. Considering Bob is a builder, this new character may be a reference to the children's animated series "Bob the Builder".
Sea of Stars - Jirard the Constructionist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02mb5Q6RiWo
Sea of Stars - Home Neat Home achievement guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC1KJJS93A0
Jirard accusations:
https://www.ign.com/articles/youtuber-the-completionist-responds-to-allegations-of-charity-fraud-against-him-and-open-hand
Cameo removal:
https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/sea-of-stars-devs-remove-the-completionist-cameo-amid-charity-controversy-2434740/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02mb5Q6RiWo
Sea of Stars - Home Neat Home achievement guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC1KJJS93A0
Jirard accusations:
https://www.ign.com/articles/youtuber-the-completionist-responds-to-allegations-of-charity-fraud-against-him-and-open-hand
Cameo removal:
https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/sea-of-stars-devs-remove-the-completionist-cameo-amid-charity-controversy-2434740/
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If the New Donk City Hall stage loops three times, or a music track from the game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is playing, Captain Toad will cameo on the stage. This references Super Mario Odyssey where Captain Toad will occasionally appear.
Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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On September 21, 2020, as part of his podcast BumbleKast, writer Ian Flynn expressed interest in adapting Cosmo and the Metarex from the animated series "Sonic X" into IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog comics, which would effectively incorporate them into the mainline Sonic canon. A year later, he would reveal that said arc would not happen anytime soon, as fellow writer Evan Stanley had more stories that needed to be finished. In January 2024, however, Flynn revealed that most content that comes from the show is off the table, including characters such as Cosmo, the Metarex, Topaz, Mr. Tanaka, and Ella.
However, there may be an exception to this in the form of the "Next Show", a fictional children's show featuring a purple mascot character named Next that Cream and Cheese are shown to be fans of during Sonic X. The show was first referenced in Cream's Sonic Channel profile, where it was listed as one of her likes. Later, 2023 would feature two seperate instances of the show being referenced: first during the "Otherworld Comedy" series of wallpapers posted on Sonic Channel, where it was mentioned in the story for the May 2023 wallpaper ("Story Act 5: My Vector Man"), then later as part of the official Christmas 2023 picture, where a toy based on Next appears amongst the pile of gifts.
However, there may be an exception to this in the form of the "Next Show", a fictional children's show featuring a purple mascot character named Next that Cream and Cheese are shown to be fans of during Sonic X. The show was first referenced in Cream's Sonic Channel profile, where it was listed as one of her likes. Later, 2023 would feature two seperate instances of the show being referenced: first during the "Otherworld Comedy" series of wallpapers posted on Sonic Channel, where it was mentioned in the story for the May 2023 wallpaper ("Story Act 5: My Vector Man"), then later as part of the official Christmas 2023 picture, where a toy based on Next appears amongst the pile of gifts.
BumbleKast - September 21, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdELP9Rm668&t=1177s
BumbleKast - October 20, 2021:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4X3T0r6LFg&t=435s
BumbleKast - January 15, 2024:
https://youtu.be/N_v5DGcmvLE?si=RsnM-99pfyIxPT8L&t=1459
Article about the 2024 statement:
https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/media/most-characters-from-sonic-x-off-the-table-flynn-confirms-r1847/
Sonic X - "Satellite Swindle" (first episode to feature the "Next Show"):
https://youtu.be/9KYeihPwS7Q?si=pRK7OX79vq8bk0yF
Cream's Sonic Channel profile:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190525142731/http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicChannel/character/cream.html
Otherworld Comedy May 2023:
https://browniehideout.wordpress.com/2023/04/27/sonic-channel-calendar-otherworld-comedy-story-act-5-my-vector-man-may-2023/
Christmas 2023 picture:
https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/1739330164675203155
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdELP9Rm668&t=1177s
BumbleKast - October 20, 2021:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4X3T0r6LFg&t=435s
BumbleKast - January 15, 2024:
https://youtu.be/N_v5DGcmvLE?si=RsnM-99pfyIxPT8L&t=1459
Article about the 2024 statement:
https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/media/most-characters-from-sonic-x-off-the-table-flynn-confirms-r1847/
Sonic X - "Satellite Swindle" (first episode to feature the "Next Show"):
https://youtu.be/9KYeihPwS7Q?si=pRK7OX79vq8bk0yF
Cream's Sonic Channel profile:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190525142731/http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicChannel/character/cream.html
Otherworld Comedy May 2023:
https://browniehideout.wordpress.com/2023/04/27/sonic-channel-calendar-otherworld-comedy-story-act-5-my-vector-man-may-2023/
Christmas 2023 picture:
https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/1739330164675203155
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One of Master Hand's attacks has him firing what appear to be golden versions of the Banzai Bill enemies from Super Mario World. These predate the first appearance of a Gold Bullet Bill in the Mario series 3 years later in Super Mario Sunshine. This would also mark one of the few times that one of Master Hand's attacks references another series outside of the Kirby franchise.
Gameplay with Gold Bullet Bill:
https://youtu.be/XHolq7ASZSg
Texture picture source:
https://smallmariofindings.tumblr.com/post/728385133352239104/mariowikicomfilessbbulletbillmodelpng
Super Mario Sunshine Gold Bullet Bill:
https://youtu.be/dU3tEAc1lbQ&t=604
https://youtu.be/XHolq7ASZSg
Texture picture source:
https://smallmariofindings.tumblr.com/post/728385133352239104/mariowikicomfilessbbulletbillmodelpng
Super Mario Sunshine Gold Bullet Bill:
https://youtu.be/dU3tEAc1lbQ&t=604
subdirectory_arrow_right Street Fighter (Franchise)
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In American Dad vs. Family Guy: Kung-Fu II Turbo! Hyper-Mega Edition, Ryu from the Street Fighter series appears as a playable character, using sprites from Street Fighter II instead of being redrawn into the Seth MacFarlane artstyle. Unusually, his stage is Sagat's instead of his own.
subdirectory_arrow_right Planet Sheen (Franchise)
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In Super Fall Brawl, one of the many reskins of Jingle Brawl, the new character was intended to be Sheen Estevez from Jimmy Neutron, in promotion for his then-new spin-off series Planet Sheen. However, Sheen was not coded correctly, making him near-impossible to beat in a fight. The game's second update would remove Sheen and his stage completely, and he would never be added back in, making Fall Brawl the only Super Brawl game without any new combatants. Sheen would return in Super Brawl 2, though the House of Pain stage, based on the first episode of Planet Sheen, would be swapped for a Zeenu stage generally based on Planet Sheen instead of a single episode.
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An NPC appearing in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is potentially a reference to American domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. It should be noted that while his character portrait and overworld sprite look similar to Kaczynski, it is used for several different NPC characters in the game, so it's unknown if he was originally intended to physically resemble the real-life Unabomber. However, like the Unabomber this character is also named Ted, he moved to a cabin in the woods, and believes society is too reliant on industrial technology, even complimenting Vegeta on "blowing up" a neighbor's generator after he failed to destroy it himself. His dialogue is the following:
Ted: "I moved out here because society is too reliant on Capsule technology. Civilization is falling apart, and we've all filled our pockets with capsules, SUV's and capsule cappuccino machines. It is unnatural. It was very peaceful here - until that Vinnie guy moved in. He makes me sick! Listen to that music he is always playing:
"Feel the danger around you!
The black darkness surrounds you!"
"What are you going to do?
The eyes of the lion!"
I can't stand that corporate pop music Vinnie is always playing: [same lyrics as above]
[After destroying Vinnie's generator]: You blew up his generator? I like your style! I would have done it myself, but I couldn't figure out his security code."
"Feel the danger around you!
The black darkness surrounds you!"
"What are you going to do?
The eyes of the lion!"
I can't stand that corporate pop music Vinnie is always playing: [same lyrics as above]
[After destroying Vinnie's generator]: You blew up his generator? I like your style! I would have done it myself, but I couldn't figure out his security code."
Gameplay footage confirming the character is in the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUHk90n-ydI#t=390
Game's script for reference:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/914608-dragon-ball-z-the-legacy-of-goku-ii/faqs/24159
Portrait:
https://www.spriters-resource.com/game_boy_advance/dbzlog2/sheet/38248/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUHk90n-ydI#t=390
Game's script for reference:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/914608-dragon-ball-z-the-legacy-of-goku-ii/faqs/24159
Portrait:
https://www.spriters-resource.com/game_boy_advance/dbzlog2/sheet/38248/
subdirectory_arrow_right Bigley's Revenge (Game)
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While most of the memes featured in Meme Run are well-known mainstream memes that were already quite storied by the time of the game's release, one meme included in the game is much more obscure. "Bigley" is a mosquito-like parody of Ridley from the Metroid series meant to mock fierce fandom debates over whether the latter character was "too big" to feasibly include in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. This character was hugely popular within the Miiverse community, and was often considered a mascot for the community during its heyday. However, Meme Run and its sequel Bigley's Revenge were the only footprint Bigley managed to impart outside of the Miiverse community, with the meme being so obscure that its article was rejected from Know Your Meme.
subdirectory_arrow_right Donkey Konga 2 (Game)
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Donkey Konga 2 features a set of unlockable badges based on not only Donkey Kong Country characters (specifically DK, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Cranky Kong), but also other Nintendo IPs such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Pikmin. The Japanese version of the game also features badges of generic humans.
The international release of Donkey Konga 2 would remove the aforementioned human badges (as well as the Boo badge) and replace them with six extra Donkey Kong Country badges (Funky Kong, Kiddy Kong, Swanky Kong, Wrinkly Kong, Banana Bird, and King K. Rool). Five badges from Star Fox: Assault, another Namco developed game, were also included, featuring the Star Fox team as depicted in that game (Fox, Falco, Krystal, and Slippy) and also strangely enough, Andrew Oikonny; it's possible that this is meant to be a reference to both the Donkey Kong and Star Fox series heavily featuring ape/monkey characters.
The international release of Donkey Konga 2 would remove the aforementioned human badges (as well as the Boo badge) and replace them with six extra Donkey Kong Country badges (Funky Kong, Kiddy Kong, Swanky Kong, Wrinkly Kong, Banana Bird, and King K. Rool). Five badges from Star Fox: Assault, another Namco developed game, were also included, featuring the Star Fox team as depicted in that game (Fox, Falco, Krystal, and Slippy) and also strangely enough, Andrew Oikonny; it's possible that this is meant to be a reference to both the Donkey Kong and Star Fox series heavily featuring ape/monkey characters.
subdirectory_arrow_right Bit.Trip (Collection)
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Bubsy: Paws on Fire! attempted to raise funds for DLC with a Kickstarter campaign before its launch, which would've added new levels with new themes, mini-games, costumes, and Commander Video from Bit.Trip as a guest character. The Kickstarter was heavily criticized for the confusing structure it had, where the funding goal would merely add extra one-liners and two costumes for Bubsy while the stretch goals were individual parts of a short extra world, known as the "Impossible World". The campaign did not reach its base goal, and Paws on Fire! recieved no DLC.
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In the GameCube and Xbox versions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, it was intended for there to be portraits littered throughout Hogwarts of various real world people, specifically developers, their families, and some people the developers forgot about years after the fact (but believed they were involved in some kind of contest). The portraits of family members in particular were included as a coping mechanism, as they were suffering during development.
The development team considered these portraits some of the very few elements of the game they were truly proud of. Eurocom requested the portraits be removed without explaining why, something the developers were "too tired to fight".
"We were doing very long hours, and it wasn’t just us suffering – our families were, too. They were supporting us – often suffering in silence. Marriages were strained, children were missing a parent. It seemed only right to put their pictures into Hogwarts; our odd way of showing our love and gratitude. And possibly to remind us what they looked like."
The development team considered these portraits some of the very few elements of the game they were truly proud of. Eurocom requested the portraits be removed without explaining why, something the developers were "too tired to fight".
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In Final Egg, two large stasis tubes can be found. One holds Metal Sonic, while the other holds an unknown Sonic-based robot, later referred to as Mecha Sonic Mark III by Ian Flynn. This robot has no importance in the story, however, it seems to be based heavily on the design of Mechagodzilla from the "Godzilla" franchise's Shōwa era, due to many similar parts and possible textures from the robot. This also seems to be a reference to Mecha Sonic Mark I, also known as Silver Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, whose concept art also shows similarities to Mechagodzilla.
Detailed comparison tweet:
https://twitter.com/MainJPW/status/1355253093605249025
Mecha Sonic Mark III name reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ielPq4miRsE&t=573s
https://twitter.com/MainJPW/status/1355253093605249025
Mecha Sonic Mark III name reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ielPq4miRsE&t=573s
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Hello Kitty Island Adventure marks the first official appearance of Big Challenges, a Sanrio character who was created in 1978, but was never used in any merchandise, and had gained internet meme status thanks to his mysterious origins. Island Adventure plays into the cult nature of the character, referring to him as enigmatic and stating he was frozen in ice for many years.
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic X (Game)
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Apart from a cameo in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (where he appears on Sonic X posters during Mission Mode), Sonic X for Leapster marks the only appearance of Sonic X character Chris Thorndyke in a Sonic the Hedgehog video game. Specifically, he appears in the animated cutscenes and cheers Sonic on off-screen each time a math problem is solved.
Sonic Adventure DX cameo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diWbgyPxhb4
Sonic X gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZywUhXukzRI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diWbgyPxhb4
Sonic X gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZywUhXukzRI
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In Speed Highway, several billboards can be found depicting an unknown female character. In 2020, Satoshi Okano, a former designer at Sega who worked on Sonic Adventure, revealed that this was a scrapped spider character he designed with the prototype name "Spider Girl", and posted an old sketch of the character alongside a sketch of another scrapped character, a bat named "Fly the Vampire". In 2023, Okano posted an inked version of the original Spider Girl sketch from the same time period alongside several inked sketches from the development of Samba de Amigo. Spider Girl's appearance on the billboards in Sonic Adventure suggests that the character lasted far enough into the game's development to receive a 3D model, but the character was ultimately scrapped for unknown reasons, and this 3D model has yet to surface on its own. It's unknown what role either Spider Girl or Fly were intended to have, though fans have noted that Spider Girl has some similarities to Rouge the Bat from Sonic Adventure 2, namely that both characters have large bosoms and prominent heart-based/romantic imagery.
Sonic Adventure - Speed Highway (Knuckles):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIPsjiCeAh4#t=31
Satoshi Okano confirming this was his character:
https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1292455545853448192
Satoshi Okano first full-body reveal of Spider Girl:
https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1727610208363667752
Satoshi Okano inked drawing of Spider Girl:
https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1727508980963188852
News coverage:
https://gamerant.com/sonic-adventure-scrapped-character-reveal/
https://www.cbr.com/sonic-adventure-artist-art-lost-character/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIPsjiCeAh4#t=31
Satoshi Okano confirming this was his character:
https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1292455545853448192
Satoshi Okano first full-body reveal of Spider Girl:
https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1727610208363667752
Satoshi Okano inked drawing of Spider Girl:
https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1727508980963188852
News coverage:
https://gamerant.com/sonic-adventure-scrapped-character-reveal/
https://www.cbr.com/sonic-adventure-artist-art-lost-character/
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic The Hedgehog (Franchise)
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Quik & Silva features many plagiarized characters as duplicated enemies, including characters from Nebulus, Bubble Bobble, Contra, and The Great Giana Sisters. Among these characters is Sonic the Hedgehog, whose first title had not released at that point, technically making it Sonic's first appearance in a home console video game, even if unauthorized and predated by the arcade game Rad Mobile.
Sonic Retro article on appearance discovery:
https://sonicretro.org/tag/the-adventures-of-quik-silva/
Larry Bundy Jr. video on Sonic's first appearance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5uC0ymZK3s
https://sonicretro.org/tag/the-adventures-of-quik-silva/
Larry Bundy Jr. video on Sonic's first appearance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5uC0ymZK3s
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When actor Rahul Kohli's likeness was used as a trooper card in the 2023 remake of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, he expressed a feeling that there were notable differences in corresponding with Western and Eastern game studios. In an interview with Digital Trends, he was quoted as saying:
"I definitely saw a difference between working with Western and Eastern studios. Our correspondence with Sega and RGG was so involved and sweet. They really cared, and it felt so much more collaborative. Nothing specific, but when I've been involved in other things, it's like, 'Just do the voice, mate," and then you never hear about it again. I never expected to have the back and forth of RGG constantly checking in to ask, "Is Rahul happy with this? Does he like the artwork?" I never said no to any of it, but I'm sure if I had any type of gripe, they would have obliged, so I felt very welcome and involved."
subdirectory_arrow_right Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (Game)
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The Myconid is a race of intelligent fungus creatures appearing in Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei. This is notable as while the concept of mushroom creatures is well known in pop culture, the specific term “Myconid” was specifically invented for the fantasy tabletop role playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Myconid in Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzul2qUbwgQ#t=6603
Wiki page on Myconid:
https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Myconid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzul2qUbwgQ#t=6603
Wiki page on Myconid:
https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Myconid
Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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Prior to doing official work on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise as one of its writers/artists, Evan Stanley worked on a fan comic called "Ghosts of the Future" based on the series. Set in an alternate reality where Sonic and his friends are defeated by Dr. Eggman with the aid of a mind-controlled Shadow, the comic featured Silver the Hedgehog as the main character, tasked with restoring the seven Chaos Emeralds that were removed from time as a last resort. After being brought on to do official work on the franchise, the fan comic has been referenced on two occasions in official Sonic comics. The first was in issue 257 of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic, which featured cameos from Richard and Deborah Erin (Silver's parents in the comic) during the scene where Rotor is directing rescue operations outside Twinkle Park (note that they are slightly recolored in this scene). The second time was in issue 64 of IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog comic, which featured cameos from Vanice the Hedgehog and Sicily the Hedgehog (Silver's sisters in the comic) during the scene where Silver and Whisper are trying to confront Duo.
The first chapter of "Ghosts of the Future":
https://www.deviantart.com/evanstanley/gallery/83636/ghosts-of-the-future-01
Issue 64 cameo:
https://www.tumblr.com/spiritsonic/728281657605554176/the-girls-have-escaped-containment?source=share
https://www.deviantart.com/evanstanley/gallery/83636/ghosts-of-the-future-01
Issue 64 cameo:
https://www.tumblr.com/spiritsonic/728281657605554176/the-girls-have-escaped-containment?source=share