1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:04,912 I love references! 2 00:00:04,912 --> 00:00:07,800 Remember when Wario was on SNL? 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,673 Or that time Rick and Morty showed up in Space Jam 2? That was so awesome. 4 00:00:12,673 --> 00:00:15,520 I will remember that scene until the day I die. 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,200 References like these cater to this  strange appeal in our minds to see two 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:23,760 things we are familiar with get combined  to create a fun and unique experience. 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:29,040 And when it comes to indie games, crossovers,  cameos and references happen all the time. Like 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:34,000 when Shovel Knight made it into Smash Ultimate.  Or when Shovel Knight made it into Yooka-Laylee. 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,040 Or when Shovel Knight made it into Fall Guys. Or  when Shovel Knight made it into Shovel Knight. 10 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,280 While the Knight from Hollow Knight isn’t as  prevalent as Shovel Knight from Shovel Knight in 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:48,000 terms of crossovers or cameos, there are still  a few references to be found here and there. 12 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,200 The one I have seen the most is probably the  Hollow Knight portrait found in Dead Cells. 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,200 This image of the Knight’s head can be  found among a bunch of other bug specimens 14 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,920 in a room found in the third level of the game. 15 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:05,200 But this isn’t the only Hollow Knight reference  found in Dead Cells. Content from Hollow Knight 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:10,000 and five other indie games has been added to  Dead Cells in their most recent Everyone is 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,680 Here update. And by recent, I mean it launched the  same day this video was uploaded. The developers 18 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,640 behind Dead Cells, Motion Twin, were kind enough  to give me early access to this new content. 19 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:26,160 So consider this a bit of a hot scope. I had  actually never played Dead Cells before this 20 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:32,480 either, so it was a nice excuse to finally try  it out. And I can see why people like it so much. 21 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:38,240 It’s sort of a roguelike-metroidvania hybrid, but  the combat gets pretty addicting after a while. 22 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,240 As for the new Hollow Knight content, 23 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,280 in the first area of the game you can find various  elements from different games such as Guacamelee, 24 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,000 Blasphemous and Hyper Light Drifter.  For Hollow Knight, they added a bench, 25 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,200 an object first popularized by its inclusion  in Hollow Knight. Interacting with the bench 26 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:00,240 will give you the Pure Nail item. The Pure Nail  isn’t like other weapons in Dead Cells, as it 27 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:05,520 allows you to swing upwards and downwards. And you  can even pogo off of stuff by downward striking. 28 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,680 You can also unlock a costume  called Vessel. Unfortunately, 29 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,200 it’s not as detailed as some of  the other skins from this update. 30 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,000 I’m not sure if this was a limitation from Team  Cherry or if they decided the Knight’s proportions 31 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,520 just don’t work well on a full sized human  body. Regardless, it's still a pretty cool skin. 32 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,120 And this is easily one of the most involved  Hollow Knight cameos in this video. 33 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:33,520 Another well known Hollow Knight reference is from  Bug Fables. Bug Fables is a spiritual successor to 34 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,720 the Paper Mario franchise, harkening back to  the more RPG-heavy gameplay from the N64 and 35 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:44,240 GameCube eras. At one point, you are able to  open a bank account at the Bank of Bugaria. 36 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,720 But one of the characters, Vi, is hesitant,  claiming that the banker might steal their 37 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:53,440 money and go to a hot spring. This is a  pretty cheeky reference to Millibelle, 38 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:58,240 a bug who steals all your geo and then goes  to a hot spring in the City of Tears. Or it 39 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:03,440 might be a cleaver reference to the sham that  is central banking and modern monetary theory. 40 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:09,040 Hollow Knight also makes a cameo in Guacamelee! 2.  The Guacamelee games are absolutely stacked with 41 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:16,000 references to pop culture. Metroid, Castlevania,  Super Mario, Space Invaders. It even references 42 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,040 Wreck-It Ralph, itself a reference to  Donkey Kong. And then there’s the Knight. 43 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,920 It shows up in a billboard facing off against  Shovel Knight. I’d like to think Shovel Knight and 44 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:30,640 the Knight would get along if they met in the real  world. But perhaps that’s just wishful thinking. 45 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,960 The Binding Of Isaac is another indie game with  lots of little references to other media. Zelda, 46 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,040 Castlevania. In fact, the title  of the game “Binding of Isaac” 47 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,800 is actually a reference to a somewhat  obscure piece of literature known as 48 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:49,360 the Bible. More importantly, there’s actually  a Hollow Knight reference hidden in this game. 49 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,800 Binding of Isaac Rebirth features a drop-in  co-op system, where additional players can join 50 00:03:54,800 --> 00:04:00,320 in mid-game as little babies. In the Repentance  release of the game, not to be confused with the 51 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:06,240 Binding of Isaac Rebirth or Binding of Isaac  Afterbirth, or Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 reMix, 52 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:10,320 they added a baby that resembles the Broken  Vessel boss from Hollow Knight. 53 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,720 While I’m talking about Binding of Isaac, I should  mention the Binding of Isaac: Four Souls card 54 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:21,440 game. It was released in late 2018, and in 2021  its first expansion, Requiem, was kickstarted 55 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:28,560 for 6.7 million dollars. Requiem features four  Hollow Knight inspired cards: the Knight, Focus, 56 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:34,960 Grubfather, and The Radiance. Not only that, but  Requiem also features other famous characters such 57 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,000 as the Boyfriend and Girlfriend from Friday Night  Funkin’ and another character known as “Crewmate” 58 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,680 from a somewhat obscure piece of media known as  Among Us. Speaking of which, the Crewmate also 59 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:51,360 appears as a skin in Fall Guys. Another fictional  character who appears in Fall Guys is Ninja, 60 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,720 who also appears in Fortnite. Which means we can  now connect Hollow Knight to Fortnite. 61 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,840 Of course, if they put the Knight in Fall Guys,  we could make this chain much shorter. In fact, 62 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:05,200 the Fall Guys twitter page publicly  reached out to Team Cherry to do a 63 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:10,080 collaboration. But alas, as of yet,  we still haven’t seen a skin of the Knight 64 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:14,240 in Fall Guys. This really bums me  out, because out of all the games 65 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,240 for the Knight to make a cameo, Fall  Guys probably makes the most sense. 66 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:23,680 Another game to get a Knight cameo is Forager.  Forager is an open-world adventure game about 67 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,240 purchasing and exploring islands for  challenges and rewards. In the game, 68 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,480 the player can find a skull chest, which  gives them a custom skin of the Knight. 69 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:37,200 There’s also a Hollow Knight reference in another  Metroidvania style game known as Grime. In one 70 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:42,320 section of the game, you can find graffiti of  both the Knight and Zote. Another Metroidvania, 71 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:47,280 F.I.S.T., features a steampunk version of  the Knight as a coating for a drill weapon. 72 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,960 This art is pretty dope, and it’s  clearly drawn from the Void Heart 73 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,600 artwork done for the console release of the game. 74 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,640 There’s a cheeky reference to the Knight in the  DLC for the crazy wall jumping Metroidvania game 75 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:03,360 Dandara. There’s a Hollow Knight  figurine sitting on a desk in one area. 76 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,920 There is a sticker of the Knight in a platformer  game called The Adventure Pals. In 77 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,560 the deck building game One Step From Eden,  there’s a card called Ice Needle. The flavor 78 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,880 text for this item seems to be a reference to  a certain phrase that appears in Hollow Knight. 79 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,360 And there are probably even more subtle nods  to Hollow Knight in other games that I didn’t 80 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:26,000 find in my research. So let me know if I missed  anything, and check the description for a link 81 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:30,560 to the games I mentioned, if any of them seem  interesting to you. But it isn’t just games that 82 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:35,360 reference Hollow Knight. There have actually  been a few TV shows to reference it as well. 83 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:40,320 Amphibia is an animated Disney show about a young  girl stumbling into a strange fantasy world, 84 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,720 where she must learn how to live among bizarre,  new creatures and maybe even make a few friends 85 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,720 along the way. The show draws a lot of  inspiration from video games like The 86 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,160 Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger, and it’s  chock full of random video game references. 87 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:58,880 There’s even an Earthbound reference at one point.  In one episode, the characters spend time getting 88 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:03,920 combat training from some guy pretending to run  a daycare who tricks them into robbing a train. 89 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,840 In one shot, we can see a weapon rack  with a few different swords on it. 90 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:12,000 At the top, we can see what appears to be the  Sharpened Nail from Hollow Knight, right above the 91 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,880 Master Sword from Zelda. But Amphibia isn’t the  only show to reference Hollow Knight like this. 92 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:22,800 The Owl House is an animated Disney show about a  young girl stumbling into a strange fantasy world, 93 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:27,520 where she must learn to live among bizarre, new  creatures and maybe even make a few friends along 94 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:32,240 the way. The Hollow Knight reference in Owl House  is actually pretty blatant, as it appears in the 95 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:37,120 opening credits of the first season. There’s  one shot in the opening where this dog thing, 96 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:42,320 named King, is standing in a pile of plushies.  There are a ton of references in this one 97 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:48,000 image. There’s the Fourth Angle from Neon  Genesis Evangelion. There’s the Ohmu from Nausicaa 98 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,960 of the Valley of the Wind. There’s that annoying  ass cat from Sailor Moon. There’s that annoying 99 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:58,400 ass penguin from Digimon. There’s a giraffe, which  is a reference to a somewhat obscure continent 100 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:04,560 known as Asia. There are even references  here to Bosch’s famous painting from 1510, 101 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,120 The Garden of Earthly Delights. And of course,  the Knight also makes an appearance here. 102 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:14,880 For this next one, I’m not really sure we can  call it an Easter egg. There’s an Australian 103 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:20,480 television show called The Block. This reality  television show is about couples competing to buy, 104 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:26,720 renovate and flip houses. It's apparently been  running for 17 year and has over 800 episodes. 105 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,040 Which is impressive, because I didn’t even  realize there were that many houses in Australia. 106 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,480 During an episode that aired in September of 2020, 107 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,840 they actually used the Main  Theme from Hollow Knight. 108 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,520 This wasn’t a reference. They  weren’t talking about Hollow Knight. 109 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:52,160 They were just using the song. Now I don’t really  have any hard evidence for what happened here, 110 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,600 but from my understanding and from what I’ve heard  this wasn’t any sort of copyright infringement 111 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,720 or anything. It has to do with music rights in  Australia. Due to the small size of the country’s 112 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:07,840 entertainment sector, rights holders will allow  one another to use their music, within reason. 113 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:13,680 And we can keep going down this rabbit hole if  we want. Like the Knight cameo that appears in 114 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:19,680 the Brazilian comic series Turma da Monica,  alongside Shovel Knight, a green elephant 115 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:26,480 version of Gandalf, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace  Windu, and the Black Knight from Scooby Doo. 116 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,480 Apparently the Knight even  appears on a craft beer in Russia. 117 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,960 Well, I guess there’s one  more reason to go to Russia. 118 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,640 It’s no surprise that the Knight is  popping up in all these random places. 119 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:41,840 The character is easily recognizable, and the game  itself is really good. I wouldn’t be surprised 120 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,720 if the Knight started showing up on TV more  often, or on the moon, or in our blood cells. 121 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,520 But this does raise an interesting  question. Are there any references or 122 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:56,960 homages in Hollow Knight? That sounds like a  pretty interesting topic if I’m being honest. 123 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,640 I wonder if anyone has made a video  about that yet. I wonder if there’s a 124 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:04,400 link on screen right now that you could  click on to watch a video like that.