Dorky References In Character Design

Midio is just booming with references to things I love!

First off is his name.
Midio = Midi (file format) + Mirio (My hero academia character) + Dio (KONO DIO DA)
Blûvox = Blue Vox (A parody of a band I like called Red Vox)

His hoodie being green is a nod to Ralsei (Deltarune)'s cloak thing.
The heart on the middle of his hoodie is also a reference to Spinel from Steven Universe, aka my favorite character from there.

The moon symbol on his hands is a weird obscure reference to the Pokémon Deoxys, which gets similarly shaped parts on their hands.
The eye symbol on their undershirt is a little nod to Bill Cipher.

His backstory about him being a lab creation is a reference to an Undertale fan-comic called "Handplates", where Sans and Papyrus are the lab creations of Dr. Gaster.
Midio's in-lore creator, Rysal Bortsov, is even inspired by that same Dr. Gaster himself!

Midio's single horn is a reference to the fact that I'm a fan of demonic aesthetics as well. Surprisingly, it's NOT a reference to Eri from My Hero Academia, as that's not what I intended when designing it.

Sorry for posting twice in a row, but I had to do one for my old fursona too!

Azeleon's name is the same as my art username I use in places like Twitter.
The name itself is a combination of Azazel, which is a cool demon name, and also Leon, which both references Chameleons and Leo, my star sign.

His hairstyle is vaguely inspired by Lars from Steven Universe.
His poncho is also a bit inspired by Ralsei's cloak from Deltatune.
The Diamond ball weapon he uses is basically a ripoff of Gyro Zeppeli from JoJo's Bizarre Avdenture Part 7, who uses steel balls as weapons.
The diamond ball being diamond is also a small reference to Pokémon Diamond Version.

My username on most websites (Lunala's Mask) is a reference to two of my favorite video games - Pokemon and Majora's Mask! I designed my main 'sona well after coming up with the name, and a lot of details are based on it. Like... well, the mask! Arguably my main's most recognizable feature, and it all started because of a cool Zelda game.

Most of my OCs have some kind of reference to another piece of media I like, and most of them also have names referencing musicians/bands/songs I like (Rio named after the Duran Duran song, Ash from Daniel Ash, and Mick from Mick Karn), and a few of them are also visually based off of different artists too (Rio's fashion sense was ripped off of Robert Smith and Oberon is basically a gothic version of Jareth from Labyrinth)

Though my WIP character for a TTRPG probably has the most references to things out of all my other characters, his first name will either be Martin or Marcus, both names are derived from the name Mars, which I think suits works well as a name made up on the spot by a robot from Mars (and as a bonus both names can also be references to musicians I like too, haha), and his last name will be be Ellison which is a reference to the writer of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, a sci-fi book about an evil AI, and lastly for his name, his initials are M.E which comes from a song also about an evil AI (which I believe is loosely based off of the book but I'm not certain), and a few other aspects about his character are from songs by the same artist such as him wearing ID pins on his collar and his ID number itself being numbers mentioned in reference to robots. 

It's a lot but I enjoy referencing things in my characters and it's great when others pick up on all the little references sprinkled through my characters

pretty much since her inception ximena was designed to be someone who can read minds, and her character concept (and design, specifically her with short purple hair) is heavily inspired by satori komeiji from touhou, one of the biggest inspirations i took from her other than mind reading is being feared/disliked by others because of her mind reading abilities :U her short hair was also inspired by kumatora from mother 3

char's ripped gliding wings and bulky heavy footed walking style was inspired GREATLY by 'Soul Reaver' for the playstation 1.

specifically just the 15 min demo... because i didnt own the actual game and honestly never have lol 

15 minutes changed my life, since char was the first true character i designed when i was 8 (he was basically formed at the same time as me playing this demo and i had to run to my room and draw this character i got inspired to draw after the demo finished). his design honestly hasnt changed too much. he looks a little less anthro now but yeah, because of a few minutes of a playstation 1 soul reaver demo, i made a character that has been with me for 20 years of my life :D

Narukis design is heavily influenced by Viktor from League of Legends (though I assume you wouldn't notice it until I've told you lmao). Just minus the crippling depression, and plus only a single braincell that's in charge of spelling.

YeonSang black and white hair got inspired by an edit of Suga from BTS with that hair and i love it so much

Dex's overall look was thought up while i was listening to Lemon Demons song Touch Tone Telephone, and its the reason why hes a conspiracy theorist! His hoodie design however is more specifically based on the Local 58 video "Skywatching".

Freya's colors are all based on the Zaku II cause best mobile suit.

Larch was named because of a Monty Python skit! (Her children are named Horse and Chestnut)
If you get this reference that's amazing

Fargo's name is based off the song Wells Fargo Wagon

Darcy was loosely based off of Pyro from tf2 - a game I don't even play - because my friend said I acted like them
Also a bit of a reference to the empty child from doctor who, I really like gas masks

So this is dumb as hellKJFDGKJFLDH but I have a certain dragon lady I like watching who just so happens to be uh. Really, really detrimentally into adidas. Miss Kiryu Coco. Brings it up a ton on her streams, like here
When making a design I needed to go for something more casual and comfortable (so not a suit again) so I took inspo from her wild ramblings about it and slapped it on him. Just 2 stripes instead of 3 though
And a month later I decide to get my own track set and see exactly why they like it so much......dam