Welcome back, everyone, to another look into the deep, and often random as hell world that is TO/OB references. Sorry it’s taken so long to make another, life has been beyond chaotic these last few months, and shows no signs of stopping. I’ll see about getting more of these out quicker, maybe once every 1-2 weeks or so?

Dungeons & Dragons (Blackmoor, and others)

While there are a ton of references to DnD mechanics all throughout the games, and even the genre (Such as Parries and Deflects being a more elegant way to present Saving Throws), there have been few outright references outside of Blackmoor. For those unfamiliar, this was the name one of the first DnD rulesets, changing many of the aspects of the original to try and improve the game for a bigger audience.

It laid the groundwork for many of the mechanics the tabletop scene would continue to iterate upon for decades to come, and clearly, they must have succeeded, because it’s bigger now than ever (and makes for some hilarious listening).

For the TO side of things, The longest dungeon in the game has a boss that you almost need magical weapons to even fight, summons legions of undead, and hangs out in a volcano, sounds pretty fitting for the ending of a DnD campaign.

In the original LUCT, he was the boss at the farthest possible point in the Palace of the Dead, while in the remake he’s technically on the same 100th floor, but got one-upped by ol’ Roddy for that deepest spot. Still, if you’d prefer to forego the politics and wars for some good ol Roleplay and Spelunking, he’s there.

In the remake, Rudlum, who shows up in the POTD even comes with Detect Traps for good measure(He will never detect a single trap in there, though they likely meant to add them.).

Retiarius, Roman Gladiators (Tridents and Mermaids)

This is one I didn’t expect, but this is Matsuno we’re talking about, so it might just be true. For those who didn’t know, Roman Gladiators were generally broken up into specific classes, and they usually had some pretty weird loadouts. Among them was one called the Retarius, who fought with a Trident…and a net?

What does this have to do with TO? Throughout the series, Tridents are generally used by the mermaids, which seems odd considering they could just stick with their normal spear. It’s my thinking that the series’ premier water units using Tridents after taking them from people throwing nets seems a lot more plausible than some of the stuff they’ve confirmed (like Gousin dueling and killing Puss in Boots offscreen in LUCT)

Halloween and Prince of Darkness (Donnalto)

You know, I never had expected Matsuno to be a fan of slasher and horro movies. Surely enough, though, LUCT’s resident exorcist, Donnalto Presance is actually named after the actor that plays Dr Loomis from the Halloween series and Father Loomis from Prince of Darkness, Donald Pleasence. Thankfully, Ol Donny here has a bit more success exorcising skeletons than he ever did trying to take out Mike Myers (One Vision let him get an exorcism shot with pistols), but shares some similar traits to his Prince of Darkness counterpart, such as exorcism bumrushing the undead.

That Time When Everyone Was Demons

There’s a ton of references to theological demons, as one would expect. Some of them are in really weird places, though.

Forcas/Folcurt

This reference was stronger in the SNES/PS1/Saturn version, but Forcas is a Fire Elemental knight, named directly after a demon that teaches philosophy, pyromancy, logic, and several other things. Apparently the name itself is a weird combination of Fork and Tomb, which isn’t relevant to anything, but just weird. He was a fire elemental, and spends most of his time trying to be the logical foil to Cerya, provided he made it that far.

Leshy/Lechies/Lecheisis?

A name in LUCT, and a finisher in Knight of Lodis are possibly named after a deity who is functionally the spirit of the woods. Also kind of looks like Bigfoot. Or are they?

Actually, this one may be a double reference, because despite the heavy forest themes on the archery sets, the rest of the finishers are named after…

The Greek Fates/Atropos/Lechies/Clotho

In Greek Myth, there are 3 Fates, who weave together the destinies of everyone. They are Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, or “The Inflexible”, “The Alloter”, and “The Spinner” respectively. Of the 3, Clotho was responsible for making the thread, Lachesis was the measurer, and Atropos handled the cutting. In relation to their moves, Atropos makes the most sense as the sword move, so that’s a clear one. Lachesis makes some sense as the measurer in this case, being used with a very measured weapon in bows. Clotho…admittedly doesn’t make as much sense unless you consider it’s use as the somewhat needle-like thrusting swords? That one’s probably just a filler to fit the trio, but I’m going to guess the tie is needles there.

[The Ars Goetia]

There’s a lot of story behind this, but let’s just say the Ars Goetia is an old as hell demon summoning cult thing that gets referenced a TON in RPGs, presumably to intentionally get under the skin of many parents from the 80s and 90s. Also it’s just got a ton to reference from, I suppose.

Agares/Agares

Originally a demon that looks like an old guy riding a crocodile for some reason, and given the power to destroy dignity. Sounds like another day in florida. This is the first knight you fight in LUCT. I suppose it would wreck dignity to lose to this guy. Also, could possibly be a reference in FFT with Agrias.

Barbas/Barbatos

The big guy is seemingly named after a duke of hell that is said to conciliate friends, understand animals, and can lead his men to hidden treasures. Sounds like a fitting reference. He’s also often depicted using a gun, which may be why Barbas snipes his own guy in the face before deciding it isn’t his cup of tea.

Gusion/Gousin

I love this one. He is a duke of hell said to tell the meaning of all questions, show paths, and reconcile friends. Now granted, he usually just gets shot in the face in LUCT, only to get mentioned as a side note later, but he makes your path clear, and is the first step to reconciling Vyce and Denam. Interestingly he’s also usually depicted as a monkey, and Gousin, despite being a Man at Arms (generally expected to be full armor infantry), shows up as a ninja, with many monkey flavored moves. In a bit of an odd twist, he drops Alluring Boots in his high level encounter, and Matsuno confirmed that he dueled and killed Puss in Boots off screen. No, I have no idea what that’s about, but apparently he has something against Antonio Banderas?

Zepar/Zepan/Xapan

This one is a bit less on the nose, but Zepar is a Goetic demon said to cause barenness, and make women love men. So…kind of an infertility specialist? The general idea is that he’s always badly flirting, and can become whatever someone wants, but then their junk malfunctions. Anyhow, he’s always shown in red armor. This one sounds like Zapan/Xapan to me, and could be close enough for the usual mistranslation issues. He always wears a red vest, can’t stop trying to get Catiua as a concubine, and has a job being whatever people need him to be. Despite the dramatic picture here, his literal description mentions him looking like a normal soldier wearing red, so it could be it.

Bathin/Bathym/Bayin

Even more squinty for this one! He is a duke who can bring men from one country to another, taking you where you need to go, with a knowledge of minerals and herbs. Sounds to me like our old man with a ship and Earth Augment with a similar name for sure!

Aim/Aym/Hoborym/Hobyrim

Depicted as a very strong Duke of Hell, handsome to most, setting cities, castles, and people on fire, and making…everyone witty? He gives everyone the right answers to their private problems, and is represented by 3 heads; a Serpent, a Cat, and a Man. OK, I love the amount of references behind this one. The Law encounter with him has him be in a fight right as the city is set on fire, the Chaos one right after a castle has been burned, and the Neutral one right after you’ve saved the Neutral Trio, presumably by fireballing the leader to make this reference work better. Still, though, wow. He is represented as the Obi-Wan of the time, as was mentioned last time, to cover the good looks part, and that last bit is the best. 3 heads. He’s a swordmaster, so the dude’s got cat-like reflexes. He loves his wife, whose faction is represented by snakes, but can’t bring himself back there until he recovers his third head by getting his humanity back from taking out ol moustachio. Dang man. That’s a lot of reference for one guy, or one extreme rear end pull.

Allocer/Aloser/Arycelle

OK, this one is probably the most directly obvious, but also just kind of weird. I suppose they all are, aren’t they? He is a Duke of hell that induces immorality, teaches art, and knows the mysteries of the sky. Fair enough, that sounds about right so far. He has lion-line features, a rugged complexion, and is known to speak with gravity. Still seems on point. He is said to provide good familiars? Her units are usually terrible, but alright. Also he teaches Astronomy and…Liberal Arts? Is there such a thing as a hipster demon?

Alright, that’s all for today, this Goetic stuff could go on all day, so we’ll continue on that later! Thank You for reading, and have a good one!