References to Queen[]
As a self-admitted fan of the British band, Yasumi Matsuno makes frequent references to them in his works:
- The game series itself is named after their 1974 song Ogre Battle, one of the most hard-rock sounding tracks of their repertoire.
- Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen is named after their 1974 song The March of the Black Queen, a complicated composition describing the titular Black Queen who forces her subject to commit abominable acts.
- Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is named after their 1976 song Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together), a melodic track notable for having two choruses sung entirely in Japanese, and originally exclusive to the Japanese market.
- The Ryhan Sea is named after their 1973 song Seven Seas of Rhye, one of their most fantasy-influenced songs.
- The Vultan class is a less direct reference, as Queen did the sountrack for the 1980's film Flash Gordon, including a track named Vultan's Theme.
References to Fiction[]
- The Vultan are named after Prince Vultan, a major character in the Flash Gordon franchise. The mention of the Vartan having "once ruled the heavens" can also be a reference to Vultan and the Hawkmen, who rule the floating Sky City. The Hawkmen are a humanoid race found in both series.
- From March of the Black Queen and the PSP version of Let Us Cling Together, the Dark spell Evil Dead is named after the Evil Dead franchise.
- Two of the possible names of your first generic units in the PS1 version of Let Us Cling Together are Ripley and Newt, two characters from the Alien franchise. Another possible generic name is MacReady, named after the main character from John Carpenter's The Thing.
- Lans Hamilton's quote in the PS1 version of Let Us Cling Together "I see... We are going to Amorika anyway... Not to help you, but to fight for truth, justice, and the Amer... Umm, we're just going in the same direction" refers to Superman's M.O. from the comics, "to fight for truth, justice, and the American way".
References to Real People[]
- Donnalto Presance is based and named after the English actor Donald Pleasence, who portrayed a nameless exorcist-priest in John Carpenter's film Prince of Darkness.
- Some possible names for generic enemies in the PS1 version of Let Us Cling Together are Ridley, Zemeckis and Landis.
References to Other Works[]
The series has done references to other works made by the same companies or developement teams, most notably Matsuno's Final Fantasy Tactics:
- Ravness Loxaerion is based on Agrias Oaks, a character from Final Fantasy Tactics. Their character sprites are nearly identical.
- Arycelle Dania's new moniker in the PSP version, "Thunder Maiden", is most likely a nod to Cidolfus Orlandeau, a character from Final Fantasy Tactics, nicknamed "Thunder God Cid" in-universe. Like Cid, Arycelle is well-known as an overpowered unit.
- In another reference to Cidolfus Orlandeau, a "Count Orlandeau" is mentioned in the Warren Reports of the PSP version of Tactics Ogre, naming this figure as the ancestor to Leundar Balbatos's puppet lord and figurehead leader of the Galgastani.
- As two near-identical demonic servants disguised as humans, Lethe and Cirvante seems to be inspired in Lettie and Celia; both pairs have names beginning with the same letter, and Lethe's name is very similar to Lettie's.
- In a retroactive example, Vyce's characterization and motivations in the Chaos route of the PSP version draws similarities to Argath Thadalfus, up to including his murder of another character via crossbow. Incidentally, Vyce was the original inspiration for Delita Heiral.