Infernolab references in the Dragoma series

"*Abandon all hope ye robots who enter.*"
— Official motto to the Infernolab.

**Infernolab** *(インフェルノラボ Inferunorabo)* was a combat robotics team headed by Jason Dante Bardis which competed in *Battlebots* from Long Beach 1999 to ABC Season 2. He was quite successful, winning two lightweight championships & 1 lightweight rumble championship. Dragoma Exivus, The World Ends with You, Rise Above the Storm, Gears of the Horizon and Dragoma Inferno mostly references themes and bots from Team Infernolab.

## References

>
> "*It's kind of a long story with my enthusiasm about you and your bots. I don't know why but out of all the bot builders on a dart board, my interest struck you and your bots. Honestly, I want to clarify about my reason, enthusiasm, and effort for incorporating you and your bots in my video game series, Dragoma. I don't want to sound like a crazy fangirl but the reason why I'm doing this is because of my character who is highly inspired off of you. He (Dante Ryuzaki) views you as his honorary role model. Your history in robot combat drove him to walk down an identical career path in gaining a phD in Mechanical Engineering from UYSZ (University of Yakuwara Seoul Zenin) and design various mechanical products via composite materials for various companies in Zenin (a location in Dragoma). Which is why I started this email thread with fanart and the introduction of my wonderful series to you. I hope you aren't bothered about my enthusiasm or creativity regarding Dragoma. I'm just an average Infernolab and BattleBots fan.*"
> — Robin Ward to Jason during a Gmail conversation.
>

Dante Ryuzaki is highly based off of Team Infernolab's 3 time champion Battlebot builder, Jason Dante Bardis. Though the both of them share a similar appearance, they portray different personalities. He views Jason as his honorary role model. Bardis' history in robot combat drove Ryuzaki to walk down an identical career path in gaining a phD in Mechanical Engineering from UYSZ (University of Yakuwara Seoul Zenin) and design various mechanical products via composite materials for various companies in Zenin. Most of Dante's bots transformed into draconic automatons reflect off of the Infernolab bots with the exception of a replica of The Disk O' Inferno used as spy bot against enemies across Zenin. Same goes along with Christian Wolfberg and Team Cool Wolf Robotics in relation to Christian Carlberg and C2 Robotics.

Dante's father Yuji Ryuzaki, is highly based off of the current version of Jason Bardis and his father, Panos Bardis, traiting similar appearance and personalities. Though they hold a spark of kindness, their strict personalities are sometimes unmerciful. Both of their parents were university professors and teachers in the ME trade, whilst continuing to learn and teach robotics throughout their generation.

Dante's mother Kana Ryuzaki and Jenna Bardis are based off of Jason's mother, Donna Jean Bardis. Both of them had ambitions in performing with thier classical symphonies and teaching students at certain schools and universities across their respective worlds.

Dante's brother, Galen Ryuzaki, is based off of Jason's older brother, Byron Bardis. They both have keen interests in electronics and photography while attaining thier chubby appearance. The only difference is, Byron wears glasses while Galen does not.

A fictional version of Jason Bardis appears in the *Dragoma Inferno* anime where he's part of a secretive yazuka clan, donning a *Ryuzaki Daira* hooded robe. When revealed, he wears an Infernolab polo layered over his Flaming Gear shirt. Maroon red cargo pants, and Onitsuka Dragon shoes completes his profile. Mainly an older version of Dante, Jason resides in Shirakawa while spying on The Infernolab, bidding work on Tohjo’s behalf. He later befriends Dante as a temporary ally before disappearing at random intervals during the story. Inferno Dragonis Daira Mugen Blaze is his partner draguz.

Two new incantations of Jason Bardis appear in *Dragoma Inferno: The Bardis Chronicles*, where both timeskips of the real Jason Bardis are codenamed Mirai and Itsuki. After the Infernolab discover their presence in Zenin, Dante learns about the mysterious Fusion Nut that took form of a Giant Nut trophy they won during their glory days from *BattleBots.* Dante and Jason assign them with weapons and powers blessed by a Ryujin Shrine in Okinawa. Mirai is known to be a lower ranked blademaster known to wield the Hakase katana while Itsuki is a Grandmaster Tactician / Sorcerer, possessing the powers of the Mystic arts to open Flaming Gear portals across the Infernoverse and summon the Divine Kami through various spells in Japanese.

Later on in the anime, the fictional Jason's relative, Eva Bardis is based off of Jason Bardis' greek relative by the same name. They both admire simple and abstract art while owning a lovable cat. They both tend to be smokers.

### Dragoma Exivus

The Dread Ragnavatar Guardians from the *Exivus / Draconica* series are based off of Team Infernolab / Jason Dante Bardis's combat robots in relation to the designs:

* **Samhain RIFT** pertains a similar appearance to a mix of Dr. Inferno Jr. and the Ministry robot dragon, equipped with the carbon fiber skirts, a silver wings and bi pedal dragon body, and gradient flaming gear isosceles.
* **Mabon ROAR** mirrors a similar appearance to the Missing Link, complete with two dragon spears and a draconic saw blade similar to the Yato from *Fire Emblem Fates*.
* **Lughnasadh TRI** shares it's design modeled after Towering Inferno, equipped with two toned hammers, triangular prism wings, and a metallic jet black and red bi pedal dragon body.
* **Litha HEL** shares it's design modeled after Hell on Wheels, complete with two ruby red rods, and carbon fiber bi pedal dragon body.
* **Beltane SEN** shares it's design modeled after Lame - O Inferno, equipped with a carbon fiber scooping wedge.
* **Ostara FORCE** shares it's design modeled after Same - O Inferno, complete with a carbon fiber scooping wedge.
* **Imbolc ZAN** shares it's design modeled after Mini Inferno, equipped with an aluminum bi pedal dragon body along with a carbon fiber ramping scoop, and it's signature ruby red trident.
* **Yule GENESIS** shares it's design with The Disk O' Inferno, complete with an aluminum and white dragon body, armoured with individual colored tiles, reflective square panels on sparkling wings, and a triangular rotating disk on it's back.

### The World Ends with You ~ Infernolab

* A lot of Infernolab references can be found throughout the movie:
	+ Dante watches a Japanese dubbed Battlebots match on TV, ironic enough to be Dr. Inferno Jr. vs Toe Crusher.
	+ An Easter egg during another scene shows a magazine depicting the Design News April 2001 issue with Jason and Towering Inferno could be seen on the bookshelf behind the Ryuzaki katana.
	+ The Infernolab music CD can be seen on a windowfront CD store as Dante walks past in the rain.
	+ The name of the store, *Revelation Records* is inspired by the same name of the music CD company that sponsored The Disk O' Inferno.
	+ An RC Dr. Inferno Jr. toy boxed and labeled as "RC Robot" is perched on a shelf right behind the Kiosk manager.
	+ The girl that Dante runs into has a shirt sporting the Rampage bot on it.
	+ The redhead Lauren in Dante's ME department references to Jason's ex - girlfriend, Lauren Herold.
	+ The site that Dante discovered his home in flames, Jade Dragon Online, was a fansite that covered over *Battlebots*.
	+ During the scene of Dante's childhood home in flames, a robot toy resembling The Disk O'Inferno is flipped upside down on the burning rubble. It has been dubbed as "The Drak O' Inferno." through The Disk O Inferno's original banner can be seen.
	+ When Dante enters the nightclub, he is seen wearing the jet black polo with golden reflective flames. "J. Bardis" is stitched to the right side of Ryuzaki's chest, implying a reference to Battlebots builder, Jason Bardis.
	+ The robotic combat event *Robo Brawl* held similar elements to BattleBots such as the arena, the red square / blue square introductions and the appearance of The Disk O' Inferno (dubbed as The Drak O' Inferno) fighting against a heavyweight fictional bot.
	+ Yuji's martial arts dojo possesses hazards reminiscent to the ones in the Battlebox from Battlebots.
	+ Renoa's assurance of Dante unconscious reflects off of Jason's message to Lars written on The Disk O' Inferno's tiled flipper.
	+ The militant fleet vehicles used by the RGO reflect off of the Infernolab LEGO bots: Stealth Hawk (2A), Dreadnaught Dozer (Dreadnought), Tesseract Phoenix helidrone (Tesseract).
	+ A map of UCSB can be seen in the room of the ME department at UYSZ, referencing Jason's university in Santa Barbara, CA.
	+ Miata mentions UYSZ news Network, KCSB in the movie. It highly refers to the radio station Jason had his own segment with, partnered with UCSB.
	+ When *Dies Infernum* is cast, the flames recreate into the Flaming Gear, referencing the Infernolab logo.
	+ Dante's words to Yuji during the final battle of *Dies Infernum* references to two Infernolab moments: Vinny's fanart of the Disk O' Inferno and Jason's swing dance segment on BattleBots season 5.0.

### Rise Above the Storm ~ Infernolab

* A lot of Infernolab references can be found throughout the movie:
	+ One of Rin's elements apart from her magenta blueberry flames is blue lightning, a reference to one of Jason's quotes from *BotBash 2000*, where he demonstrated Overpowered Box's abilities such as "The bot shoots out blue lightning."
	+ Dante's quote on Galen references Jason's irked reply to Robin in a private Gmail conversation. *"Miffed? You're angry at me for making a mistake? I'm juggling too much. Please spell out what I did wrong (eBay auction contents? other?) & what I was supposed to do. I don't seem to able to keep up with all of my responsibilities very well."*
	+ The TV show broadcasted on Hano Seoul from Miata's TV was *Santa Barbara*, an American television soap opera where it revolves around the Capwell family living in Santa Barbara, CA. Ironically, this ties up with Jason living in Santa Barbara during the early 2000's.
	+ A red *City Bug E - scooter* can be seen in the living room of the Kare Narou House in Kagoshima. Ironically, Jason owned the same e - scooter back in 2000 documented in one of his image builds with Dr. Inferno Jr.
	+ Kana's quote during Dante's dream is inspired after Donna's reply to Jason's FB post. *"Maybe next time find a treeless area like the baseball field across from your childhood home?" "Indeed. That would have been wiser."*

### Gears of the Horizon ~ Infernolab

* A lot of Infernolab references can be found throughout the movie:
	+ The movie's working title is named after Jason Bardis' current Facebook banner: an orange sunset on the beach.

### Dragoma Inferno The Shadow Fox

* Bardis' birthplace, Toledo is named after his original birthplace in Toledo, Ohio. His lifestyle of living in an unkempt and rundown trailer park is highly inspired by the real Jason Bardis' 10 question survey from *White Trash World*.
* Jason's younger days in Toledo include him smiling mischievously for a family photo with Jenna and naughtily climbing doorframes. This is a direct reference to Jason Bardis' passport photo when he was 7 and himself climbing doorframes when he was 12 years old.

### Dragoma Inferno (anime)

* A lot of Infernolab references can be found throughout the anime:
	+ Kurosumera is based off of the LEGO dragon that Jason Bardis built for his 1992 stop motion music video about a robotic dragon disrupting a rock concert on the moon. The video inspired the anime to tell the story of Kurosumera attacking a New Year festival in Miyazaki.
	+ The random static music segments from the Employment Hall's PA speakers in Shirakawa is the Static Promo for Jason's Industrial Gothic Radio Show on KCSB in 1995. The very same audio can be found in *Dante's Return ~ Dragoma Inferno,* where the player approaches the locked jukebox.
	+ One of Jason's nightmares with the kitsune turning against him is based off of Bardis' replies where wolves nipped at his heels on *Arcade Controls Forum*.
	+ One of the episode titles *Viva Las Bardis* references to one of the comments on Jason’s recent FB posts.
	+ Luke mentioning Dante's glory days down Lake Caguya is a direct reference to Jason Bardis windsurfing down the lake by the same name on Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY.
	+ Nekoferno's nickname to Jason, Mr. Smarty Pants, is based off of one of R!Jason's friends on FB who called him that while vacationing in Nevada.
	+ The Hodoken wooden bridge in Miyazaki during episode 3 of the Santa Barbara arc is based off of Jason's wooden bridge workshop where he weighed down 20kg of weight by hand on a wooden bridge made of popsicle sticks during an elementary school presentation.
	+ The team utilizing cheesebots as bait for the Nurarihyon and the Shōjō are references to Jason's FB post where he made more than 50 cheesebots with his daughter for her elementary school's snack time.
	+ During the Final Chapters of The Capellen arc, Galen dreamwalks through his own body to meet Panos Bardis sculpting a pagoda tower reminiscent to The Temple of the Rising Dragon. The soccer ball that was held by Galen is a reference to Jason Bardis' FB posts where he snapped images of his son's worn out soccer ball, nicknamed the Old Blue.
	+ The team sets down a chocolate cake beside the two headed lamp stand. The cake is a reference to his 30th birthday, decorated with his name and The Flaming Gear while the Craftsman lamp stand was used in the pits of *BattleBots* Season 3.0.

### Dragoma Inferno The Bardis Chronicles

* A lot of Infernolab references can be found throughout the movie:
	+ Apart from Jason Ryuzaki Bardis, the other two Jason Bardis' from the real world are given code names such as "Mirai" for past Jason Bardis and "Itsuki" for the current version of him. "Ryozuki" was also suggested but Dante declined, remarking its similarities to his surname, Ryuzaki.
	+ The Fusion Nut (Hirokami) is modeled in parallel to the Giant Nut from *BattleBots*. The only difference is that it has the ability to time travel and cast spells.
	+ Itsuki compliments Dante, remarking about his intelligence and strength to Judge Dredd. This references to the highlighted movie by the same name aired on the show *Movies for Guys Who Like Movies*, where Jason demonstrates Dr. Inferno Jr. and Towering Inferno.
	+ During the scene at the Grand Nishirai Library, Dante finds a book titled *Sections Volume 1: Tolerance*. Coincidentally, a kids book by the same title was written and illustrated in *SolidWorks* by Jason Bardis during his free time. Ultimately the project was cancelled due to a time crunch and minimal audience interest.
	+ When Dante and the Jason Bardis trio were having difficulties differentiating from one another, Itsuki suggested Team 1, Team 2, and Team 3. This is in par reference to Jason's FB post where he assembled antweight bots during his son's soccer practice.
	+ Dante, wearing The Disk O' Inferno disco suit, notices the shirt hung on the rails in the dry cleaners in Arima. This scene nods towards a FB reference where Jason gets his shirt done at the dry cleaners in his city.
	+ In one of the scenes, Jason mentions that he lives in a junkyard in relation to Shirakawa. Mirai and Itsuki remark about their first pinball machine named *Junkyard*. The very same machine was owned by Bardis in 1995.
	+ The formulated code for the Fusion Nut is NET 1015. This references to the product code on the cover of the *Dr. Inferno Jr. CD single*.

## Trivia

* The team's motto *Abandon all hope ye robots who enter* references to the translated inscription on the gates of hell, *Abandon all hope, ye who enters there* from *Dante's Inferno*.
* All 4 characters based off of Jason Bardis have their birthdays based off of his except for the fictional Jason Ryuzaki Bardis.

* Hot Air and Dr. Inferno (Lightweight)
* Dr. Inferno Jr. (Lightweight)
* Towering Inferno (Heavyweight)
* Rampage, Jason Bardis' entry in Robot Wars 1995 and 1996.
* Bot Will Eat Itself, Jason Bardis' entry in Robot Wars 1997.
* The Missing Link (Lightweight)
* Slugger (Heavyweight)
* Hell On Wheels (Hobbyweight)
* Hell on Wheels at Steel Conflict 2003.
* Mini Inferno (Lightweight)
* Lame-O and Same-O Inferno (Antweight)
* Disko Inferno (Middleweight)
* The Disk O' Inferno (Heavyweight)
* Infernolab's Builder's DB page.
* BDB profile for Lame O and Same O Inferno.
* BDB profile for Hell on Wheels.
* BDB profile for Dr. Inferno Jr.
* BDB profile for Towering Inferno.
* BDB profile for Disko Inferno.
* BDB profile for Dr. Antferno Jr.
* Infernolab's old logo.
* Infernolab's new logo.
* NEW Infernolab banner
* Infernolab Final Fantasy style
* Cool Robots logo Final Fantasy style
* Infernolab Flaming Gear
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## External Links

* Team Infernolab website
* Infernolab's Youtube channel
* Infernolab (Battlebots Wiki)
* Jason's profile on Heisenberg Racing

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo-dgAQp2ag