Spandex Force is filled with various references to comics, movies and other media. This is a list of some of these references; can you find the ones not included here?
Note: This list may contain spoilers, so make sure you don't read this before playing the game!
The male hero's default name is taken from Stephen Lynch's song Superhero.
"If I could be a superhero I would be Awesome Man / I'd fly around the world fighting crime according to my awesome plan."
Inspiration for the male hero's default secret identity comes from Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy.
Another famous superhero has the name Lara...namely Supergirl!
In the game you'll see the main character express a random exclamation now and then. This is a reference to golden age superhero expressions. The term "gnomes of Zurich" which pops up occasionally is a specific reference to the Illuminati boardgame.
When our hero arrives at Vigilance Valley he or she mentions that he/she'd rather be stationed in Gothic City, but some other superhero got that position. This is a reference to Batman, and Gotham City. (In fact, up 'til version 0.5 the city mentioned was in fact Gotham City.)
The Heavy Mob is the name of an inept bank robber gang in the Bananaman animated series.
One of the random criminals you can encounter is called Jack 'The Knife.' This is a reference to the Threepenny Opera, and the character Mack the Knife.
An intelligent computer that goes berzerk... This is a reference to HAL-9000 from 2001 - a Space Oddysey.
The way PAL-9000 speaks is similar to that of Hex from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
The Crossdresser's alter ego sounds suspiciously like another boy sidekick... Robin, the Boy Wonder - Batman's sidekick! Also, Wonder Boy is a series of action adventure games.
If the Wonder Boy / Boy Wonder hint wasn't enough, he also mentions the term Dynamic Duo. Another reference to Batman and Robin.
This is a pretty obvious take on the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
A slight pun on the phrase "truth and fiction."
Again, an obvious one: Of Mice and Men.
"How did you find us?!"
"A little birdie told me [...]"
"No more breadcrumbs for them [...]"
This little exchange of words is based on an old joke in which a young boy decides that he won't feed the birds anymore, after a similar exchange of words with his mother. The original joke had rather nastier language, however.
"[Some phrase]"
"You can say that again!"
"[Starts to repeat the phrase]"
"Don't."
This pun is taken from a Bananaman episode, in which Bananaman cuts off Gentleman Eddie, leader of the Heavy Mob.
"I have a feeling that Vigilance Valley will be a quiet and peaceful place now!"
"Unfortunately, our hero is a lousy fortune teller."
This little pun is taken from the ending of the first episode of the anime Dragon Half.
Our hero mentions this phrase at the beginning of episode two. It's also the beginning of the song Shpadoinkle from the movie Cannibal - The Musical by the makers of South Park. Incidentally, did you know that the beginning notes of this song are played at the end of every South Park episode?
In reply to the Blizzard Wizard's rethorical question, the hero mentions quite a few other super characters who can control nature. All of these are character in either Marvel's or DC's universe.
It's mentioned that Miracle Man got injured in a battle against the Evil Weevil. The Evil Weevil is mentioned in an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Miracle Man's secret identity sounds strangely familiar; could it be referring to Clark Kent?