List of cultural and pop-cultural references

**WARNING: Elements of this page may be speculative in nature and lack proper verification. While some references are blatant enough to be undeniably intentional, others are arguably coincidental or only loosely inspired. Entries of questionable legitimacy should be prefaced with "(?)".**

This page is an attempt to compile every instance of **Mutafukaz** and its various spin-offs referencing elements of culture or pop-culture. This includes references to books, comic books, music, videogames, films, TV shows and classic literature, but also non-fictitious elements, such as real life historical figures, groups, companies and brands. Since these references are numerous and would likely clutter the "Trivia" sections of other pages, they'll be listed here from now on.

**Be warned, this page may contain spoilers of varying severity!**

## Mutafukaz (bande desinée):

### Volume 1:

* **Pipo's** fast-food joint is covered in the logo of "Escobar Cola", an obvious spoof of **Coca-Cola**.
* One of the children which assault **Agent Crocodile** after the alley fight is drinking a can of "Dr Dre", both a reference to American rapper **Dr. Dre** and the **Dr Pepper** brand of soft drinks.
* When Angelino and Vinz are forced to move to **Palm Hill**, they encounter the **Bloods**, a real life Los Angeles street gang well known for its rivalry with the **Crips**.
* A prominent member of the **Bloods** in **Palm Hill**, **Popeye**, is likely named after **Popeye the Sailor**, an American cartoon character created by **Elzie Crisler Segar**.

### Volume 2:

* In the scene showing the **Lucha Ultima** gathered in mourning, **Jesse Christ's** body is drawn to resemble **Andrea Mantegna's** painting, **The Lamentation of Christ**. **Mantegna's** name is also written on the side of the bed, below **Jesse's** feet.
* The diner to which **Lino** and **Vinz** take **Luna** is called **Shady's Diner**, a reference to **Eminem's** 2000 hit song, **The Real Slim Shady**. **Marshall**, a waiter at the diner, is named after **The Marshall Mathers LP**, the album on which the song is featured. **Marshall's** appearance is also based on **Eminem**, with blonde hair, a butch cut, blue eyes and a similar nose.

### Volume 4:

* When **Diablo**, **Espirito**, **Momia N.** and **Backquerel Boy** mount horses in order to fight the giant mantis monsters, they're openly compared to the **Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse** from the **Book of Revelations**.

### Volume 5:

* During the invasion of DMC, the pose of one of the scorched human corpses (a mother holding a baby) bears a striking resemblance to one seen in the white phosphorus scene from 2012's third-person shooter, **Spec Ops: The Line**.
* In one of the volume's penultimate scenes, where **Luna** is seen wearing a red coat in front of a psychic's store, a character resembling **Hugo** from the **Street Fighter** series of fighting games can be seen in the crowd.
* In the televised debate discussing the Events of DMC, one of the attendees wears a Guy Fawkes outfit with a large, deformed mask. This is both a reference to **Ghostface** from the 1996 American horror film, **Scream**, and a spoof on the decentralized international hacktivist group, **Anonymous**, who use Guy Fawkes masks as one of their main symbols.

## Mutafukaz (2017 film)

* The scene in which Lino points out the strange shadow of the man reading a magazine is likely a reference to a very similar scene in **John Carpenter's** 1998 film **They Live**. Both scenes have the main character in disbelief as they realise they're surrounded by alien impostors, and both take place on a city street in front of a magazine rack. **RUN** cites **They Live** as one of his "ultimate" inspirations.
* After the alleyway fight against **Agent Crocodile**, when **Lino** asks **Vinz** if he took **Randy's** gun, **Vinz** replies with "It's not GTA", a direct reference to the **Grand Theft Auto** series of videogames.
* Amazed at his friend's acrobatic abilities during the apartment raid, **Vinz** says that **Angelino** must have eaten "a ninja turtle", a direct reference to the **Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles**.
* The head of the **Grapz** in **Palm Hill**, **Shakespeare**, is named after 16th century English playwright **William Shakespeare**. The gang leader incorporates **Shakespeare** quotes into his speech, mostly from **Hamlet** but also from **As You Like It**.
* In their **Palm Hill** hideout, **Lino** refers to the **Z-7** as "robocops", a direct reference to the 1987 American action film, **Robocop**.
* When the camera shows the interior of the ice cream truck, two stickers can be seen near the ignition: one with "PUFF" written on it and one depicting a character resembling **Bubbles** from the 1998 animated TV series, **The Powerpuff Girls**.
* The ice cream truck stolen by **Lino** and **Vinz** is labelled "Ice Ice Baby" a reference to the 1990 hip hop song of the same name by American rapper **Vanilla Ice**.

## Puta Madre

### Tome 2:

* (?) The character of **Tod Stanton III** is a collage of various inspirations, broadly reflecting the American fascination with true-crime and serial killers. His first name, Tod, might be a nod to the infamous American serial killer **Ted Bundy**, while his nickname, "The Motorway Scalper", could be a reference **William Bonin**, the "Freeway Killer". His appearance includes various stereotypical features, such as a prominent moustache (William Bonin, John Wayne Gacy, etc.) and large, rectangular glasses (Jeffrey Dahmer, Robert Hansen, etc.). **Diablo** later sells Tod Stanton's autograph, a reference to the sub-culture of "murderabilia" collectors.

### Tome 4:

* When working the grocery store register, **Diablo** can be seen drinking from a black can with a large, ragged "W" on it. The font and contrasting colors, alongside the fact that the letter "W" can be read as an upside-down "M", suggest that it's based on **Monster Energy**, a brand of energy drink.

### Tome 5:

* (?) An interlude page depicting **Diablo** and **Lizzie** kissing resembles the style of American pop artist, **Roy Lichtenstein**.

### Tome 6:

* (?) An opening page showing **Lizzie** crying is again styled to resemble the works of **Roy Lichtenstein**.

## Loba Loca

### Tome 1:

* **Guada** is shown using a social media network called "Fakebook", an obvious riff on the real-world **Facebook**.
* In the summary of events following **Guada's** fight with **Crystal**, one panel depicts a video hosting website which resembles a simplified version of **YouTube**.
* When researching on her phone, **Guada** uses a site whose layout, font and colour scheme perfectly match those of **Wikipedia**.

### Tome 4:

* When refilling his car, **Tigre** sees an advertisement for a "Warriors" energy drink. This spoof of **Monster Energy** is even more obvious than in **Puta Madre**, with a black-green color scheme and the slogan "Unleash the Power", clearly based on **Monster's** "Unleash the Beast". There are also white and blue cans of Warrior, corresponding to similarly colored variants of **Monster**.

## Mutafukaz 1886

* Throughout the series, **Vinz** is often reading a copy of **Herman Melville's** 1851 novel **Moby Dick**, with imagery and narration related to the book being a running motif. The passages don't seem to be quotations from any current French translation of **Moby Dick**, so chances are **RUN** is abbreviating them to fit the comic format.

## MFK2

* The plot thread of a populist movement revolving around **Omega**, an anonymous saviour who reveals government secrets in "drops" and fear-mongers about Satanist cults and "adrenochrome" is a very blunt parody of the American far-right conspiracy theory, **QAnon**.
* During **Lino's** opening monologue, a large billboard in the background advertises the services of the attorney **David Goodenough**. This character appears as a running gag in the videogame review videos of French YouTuber **Joueur Du Grenier**.
* Following the sushi restaurant attack, an intermission page shows the media personality **Ωdecryption** share their views in something resembling an **Instagram story**.
* On the same page, a media personality named **Alex John** angrily comments on the sushi restaurant attack. This is a jab at **Alex Jones**, a far-right conspiracy theorist and host of **InfoWars**.
* The website hosting Alex John's video is called **True Tube**, its name and layout heavily resembling **YouTube**.
* In an intermission page showing a line-up of phones with various social media sites open, one phone case is styled after **PTSD**, a graphic novel from RUN's fellow **Label 619** author, **Guillaume Singelin**.
* **Archie Krupp**, an aggressive right-wing politician with light ginger hair and ambitions to construct a boarder wall between the US and Mexico is an unsubtle parody of **Donald Trump**. A later scene suggests plans to put pressure on Twitter to ban his account, referencing the real life controversy around the suspension of Trump's Twitter account.
* **Archie Krupp's** name and business mascot are references to the **Archie** comic book series and its main character, **Archie Andrews**.
* The **Cosmic Gate** cult is likely a nod to **Heaven's Gate**, an American new religious movement infamous for leading 39 of its members to participate in a mass suicide.

## Merchandise and other media

* During an unclear time-frame, "Dark Meat Coffee" mugs were available for purchase on the **Ankama** shop. These mugs featured a design strongly resembling the logo of **Starbucks**, a well known American coffeehouse chain.
* The promotional video for a "MFKZ Burger" set of pins uses a logo strongly resembling the new, simplified logo adopted by **Burger King** on December 21st, 2020.
* A short comic **RUN** drew for an issue of **Doggybags** depicts an alternate version of **Mutafukaz** where the world has undergone a zombie apocalypse. The way **Angelino** wields a katana and uses a chain to drag around an infected, armless **Vinz** strongly resembles **Michonne** from **The Walking Dead** comic book series.

## Gallery

A comparison between a "Dr Dre" soda can in volume 2 and a can of Dr Pepper.Jesse Christ's body from volume 2 compared to Mantegna's "Lamentation of Christ".Marshall from volume 2 of Mutafukaz compared to Eminem's appearance circa 2000.A drawing from volume 5 of Mutafukaz compared to the white phosphorus scene from Spec Ops: The Line.A drawing from volume 5 of Mutafukaz compared to Hugo's sprite from Street Fighter III.Warriors energy drink from Puta Madre and Loba Loca compared with a standard Monster can.The logo of the "MFKZ Burger" pin set compared to the new, simplified Burger King logo.The "Dark Meat Coffee" mug compared to the Starbucks logo.Angelino and Vinz from Doggybags #11 compared to Michonne from the cover of The Walking Dead issue #19.