This is a list of references in the Bloons franchise to other media, elements of popular culture, and real-world figures. References from official crossovers that are limited to the other party's source material (such as Bloons Adventure Time TD referencing the Adventure Time show) are not included.
The special Chomper Bloon is directly based on Pac-Man; whenever one is popped, Pac-Man appears in its place and the player is able to control him using the arrow keys, popping other Bloons in the process before Pac-Man soon vanishes. Starting from Even More Bloons, an active Pac-Man plays Pac-Man's introduction music and signature "waka waka" eating noise from the original 1980 Pac-Man arcade game l, though in the arcade game the eating noise only occurs while eating pellets.
Level 47, Bloon of Damacles, references the Sword of Damocles story, in which Dionysius offers Damocles the chance to be king for a day but precariously hangs a sword above the throne to convey the dangers that being king presents. In the level, a lone Spikey Ball Bloon represents the sword.
One of the new special Bloon types is the Light Sabre Bloon, referencing the Lightsaber weapon used throughout the Star Wars franchise; its introductory level, Use the Force, also references Star Wars.
Level 11, Death Star, references the space station of the same name shown throughout the Star Wars franchise; the solution to the level is dropping a single dart through a narrow hole on the top, which mirrors how the original Death Star was destroyed by launching a torpedo into an exhaust vent.
Level 29, Dagobah, bears a name referencing the planet in the Star Wars universe.
Two of the game's levels (7 and 17) are named after the Minesweeper computer game.
Three of the game's levels (13, 25, and 39) are named after the Pop-Tarts snack food. Additionally, level 13 contains all Bloons in a simple grid-like structure reminiscent of how the holes in Pop-Tarts are arranged.
Level 25, Angry Monkeys, is a parody of Angry Birds: The monkey sits atop a structure resembling a slingshot, the Bloons sit atop a geometric structure of breakable blocks, and the special Bloon types are used in ways that mirror the special abilities of the different birds.
The MOAB Bloon is a reference to the real-world MOAB bomb developed for the United States military. The namesake bomb is an abbreviation for "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" and nicknamed the "Mother of All Blasts", while the blimp is named and nicknamed a similar way.
The tier 4 upgrade for the Boomerang Thrower, Lightsabre Thrower, is based on the lightsaber used throughout Star Wars. However, unlike most upgrades, Lightsabre Thrower does not return in any later games, which has been implied to be due to copyright concerns.[1]
The tier 3 upgrade for the Banana Farm, Banana Republic, is based on the real-world idea of a "banana republic" country—a country that is very unstable and relies on exporting its natural resources.
Most of the Extreme tracks available for purchase in the mobile version reference other media:
Roger That Gold Leader references the end of the first Star Wars film, when Jon Vander (using Gold Leader as a callsign) leads the attack run that results in Luke Skywalker destroying the first Death Star; the only available towers are Monkey Buccaneers and Monkey Aces, accordingly.
The Super Enhancements Upgrade Building, when tier 3 or 4, includes a searchlight that casts the Super Monkey's emblem into the sky; this is a reference to the Bat-Signal from the Batman franchise.
The Here's My Water achievement refers to the game Where's My Water?.
The third, fourth, and fifth bottom path upgrades for the Super Monkey change the tower's design to instead reference Batman, another DC Comics super hero.
The tier 5 bottom path upgrade for the Banana Farm, Monkey Wall Street, refers to the real-world Wall Street within New York City; the upgrade description considers it a "Hub of Monkey trades" in the same way that "Wall Street" is often used to describe New York City's whole Financial District and not just a street.
Striker Jones's placement line "I love the smell of bubble wrap in the morning" references the quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from Apocalypse Now.
The Fusty the Snowman skin for Pat Fusty references Frosty the Snowman, as he appears in the 1969 TV special of the same name, in both name and design. Additionally, the description for the skin, "Was a poppy happy soul", refers to the original "Frosty the Snowman" song.
The Kaiju Pat skin references the monster Godzilla in its design. Additionally, its voice line for when a Bloon leaks references the mecha from the 2013 film Pacific Rim.
The Joan of Arc skin for Adora references the real-world Joan of Arc in both name and design, with the skin description, "All battles are first won or lost in the mind", also being a quote from her.
The Candy Falls map is conceptually very similar to the chocolate river room found within Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and it contains a much more direct reference as an easter egg: Interacting with various parts of the map reveals monkeys that resemble Oompa-Loompas, and the first part of their song can play when they are selected in the correct order.
The Monkey Buccaneer's Flavored Trades Projectiles cosmetic references a running gag among members of the Bloons community, whereby the Favored Trades upgrade is referred to as "Flavored Trades" instead.
Most of the Monkey Village flag cosmetics based on real-world flags have descriptions that include general cultural references to their respective countries.
The Red Nose Decal cosmetic equips all MOABs with a red nose and fake antlers that reference Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
The Disguise Glasses Bloons cosmetic equips all Bloons with the type of Groucho glasses used by Groucho Marx.
The Mo' Monkeys Pop FX cosmetic is based on the Barrel of Monkeys toy.
The Pew Pew Pop FX cosmetic is based on the blasters used throughout the Star Wars franchise.
The Dancing Monkey co-op emote bears a description that references the song "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I.
The "All is fine" co-op emote references the "This is fine" internet meme.
The Sunset Samba - 64 Mix music track is based on the music of the Commodore 64.
The Jingle Bloons music track bears a name referencing Jingle Bells.
The Sunshine Serenade - Gameboy Mix music track is based on the music of the NintendoGame Boy.
The Yes We Can Engineer avatar references the "Yes we can!" catchphrase frequently used in Bob the Builder.
Snap of your fingers, in both name and unlock requirement, refers to the part of Avengers: Infinity War in which Thanos snaps his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, erasing half of all life in the film's universe. The achievement icon also depicts a rendition of the Infinity Gauntlet.
I'll Be Back is a catchphrase used by the Terminator; the achievement icon also depicts a monkey with a robotic endoskeleton hidden underneath its skin.
Bill Greates refers to the real-world Bill Gates, with the unlock requirement referencing his status as a multi-billionaire and a philanthropist.
Josh's Constant refers to Jajajosh, an online content creator known for being the first to complete Bloody Puddles on CHIMPS mode and for using Perma-Spike to clear many difficult Expert maps on CHIMPS; the unlock requirement references this by encouraging the use of the Perma-Spike specifically.
Golden Ticket refers to the tickets present in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, with the achievement icon showing a rendition of the ticket.
In the update notes for Version 41.0, one of the listed changes is "Removed Herobrine". The phrase is based on the running gag of Minecraft update logs including "Removed Herobrine" many times over.
This section is incomplete. You can help out by expanding it. The editor who added this notice did not specify a reason.
Adora Dragon Pet's description in Frontier Legends directly mentions the character Spyro.
Some elements of Fishing Spots seem to be references to other games:
The fishing minigame is very similar to the fishing minigame in Stardew Valley.
The chance of fish being SHINY seems to be a reference to Shiny Pokémon from the Pokémon franchise, which similarly are obtainable through a fishing mechanic (among other methods).
Many references can also be found within the Legendary Mercenaries of Frontier Legends:
The Fusty the Snowman skin for Pat Fusty returns from Bloons TD 6, being a reference to Frosty the Snowman, as he appears in the 1969 TV special of the same name. Additionally, the skin's description and related player title (Poppy Happy Soul) refer to the original Frosty the Snowman song.
The In the Wall map, which takes place alongside a large brick wall and has the same visual style as Another Brick, references the song "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd; the song's name being split between two different maps furthers this connection, as the original composition was also split into different parts.
The Sun Palace map displays a parody of the painting The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo; the same reference is also made by the Art Monkey profile banner.
Two cosmetic packs specifically themed around Super Bowl LIX were made available for a limited time leading up to and including the day of the game; the only difference between the two packs was the included avatar icon, as one was Kansas City themed and the other was Philadelphia themed.
Star Captain Jericho's Bounty Hunter Hero Pack references the anime series Cowboy Bebop, in which the protagonists are interstellar bounty hunters. The pack's avatar, Space Cowboy, alludes to the series' popular phrase, "See you space cowboy"; and Asteroid Bloons is a pun on the name of the series' first episode, "Asteroid Blues".
The discontinued gift code "Usethecode" references the phrase "Use the Force" from the Star Wars franchise; the text emote it unlocks, "Hello There!", references the scene when Obi-Wan Kenobi greets General Grievous with the phrase in Revenge of the Sith.
Many references can also be found within the default names of towers in Bloons TD Battles 2:
Ice Monkey: Captain Robert Scott, a real-life British Royal Navy officer famous for leading expeditions into Antarctica. This reference is shared with the Captain Scott Avatar Icon.
Many references can also be found within the individual cosmetic items of Bloons TD Battles 2:
Several online content creators in the Bloons community, including Tewity, Boltrix, and ISAB, have cosmetic items based on them.
Captain Scott references Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who was known for leading two expeditions to the Antarctic regions in the early 20th century.
The Red Monkey Sub references the film The Hunt for Red October; the avatar itself is a parody of the film's poster.
Simpler Times references the painting American Gothic by Grant Wood; the avatar's description "banana farm remembers" is also a reference to the slogan of Pepperidge Farm.
Iron Monkey references the super hero Iron Man, with the unlock requirement referencing how Tony Stark is an engineer without innate super powers.
Gotta Go Fast features a parody of the rotating signs that mark the end of each zone in some Sonic the Hedgehog games; "Gotta go fast" is also a catchphrase used by Sonic.
Bricks Pop Effect makes all popped Bloons burst into small plastic toy bricks akin to Legos; the Toy Bricks weapon skin also makes the same reference.
Blasting off again! is based on a catchphrase used by Jessie and James in the Pokémon anime series; the Blast off! sell animation also makes the same reference.
Foam Darts bears a description referencing the slogan of Nerf.
Biker out of hell references the song "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf, with its description alluding to the lyric, "I'll be gone when the morning comes."
The game is a direct parody of the television game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, featuring a series of multiple choice questions with two lifelines included; these include 50/50 and Ask the Monkeys, both of which are also derived from the show.
One of the questions asks what the initials B.F.B stand for; one of the incorrect answers, "Big Freaking Bloon", references the fictional BFG from id Software games such as Doom.
Triple Threat Bloon is a reference to a "triple threat" performer, which is able to act, sing, and dance. This is reflected in both its name and flavor text.
The Luftballons feat is a reference to the song "99 Luftballons" by German new wave band Nena.
Various flavor texts of each card are references to popular culture, media, or other Bloons games.
Double Lead Bloon: the final sentence is a pun that references "PB", which is an abbreviation of the gaming term "personal best", and the chemical element for lead "Pb".
