References in When They Cry

Umineko no Naku Koro ni contains several cultural and historical references as a result of author Ryukishi07's habit of putting references in his work just to have them. Several of them are listed below.

Divine Comedy

Umineko no Naku Koro ni contains many references of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

• Beatrice is likely based off of Beatrice Portinari.
  • Umineko's Beatrice is frequently called "Bice", as is Beatrice Portinari.
  • The original incarnation of Beatrice, Kinzo Ushiromiya's lover Beatrice Castiglioni is Italian as is Beatrice Portinari.
  • Beatrice Portinari is referred to as Dante's "ideal woman", similar to how Umineko's Beatrice is referred to as Battler's "ideal woman".
  • "Beatrice" is pronounced in the Italian fashion as "Be-a-tri-ce" (Be-a-to-ri-che [ベアトリーチェ] in Japanese phonetics) rather than the English way, as "Be-a-triss".
• Clair Vaux Bernardus is likely based off of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
• Virgilia is likely based off of Virgil.
• The Seven Stakes of Purgatory are likely based off of the Seven Deadly Sins as they appear in Purgatorio.

Detective fiction

• Dlanor A. Knox is directly related to detective fiction author Ronald A. Knox.
  • "Dlanor" is "Ronald" spelled backwards.
  • One of Dlanor's weapons, Knox's Decalogue, is taken from Ronald Knox's The Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction.
• Willard H. Wright is likely based off of Willard Huntington Wright.
  • One of Willard's weapons, Van Dine's Commandments, is taken from Willard Huntington Wright's Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
• Lion Ushiromiya and Willard call each other "Watson" and "Holmes", direct references to the famous Sherlock Holmes franchise.
• In End of the Golden Witch, both Soji Shimada's Tokyo Zodiac Murders and Ango Sakaguchi's Furenzoku satsujin jiken are directly referenced.
• In Requiem of the Golden Witch, Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians is directly referenced.

Other

• Battler Ushiromiya is partially based off of Phoenix Wright from the Ace Attorney franchise, most clearly seen in Battler's Objection sprite.
• Jessica Ushiromiya cosplays as Marisa Kirisame from Touhou Project while playing in her band.
• Ange Ushiromiya's false name "Gretel" is likely a reference to the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, which Battler jokingly mentions.
• The 72 Pillars of Hell mentioned in Umineko no Naku Koro ni is likely a reference to the 72 demons in the Lesser Key of Solomon. Several demons within Umineko no Naku Koro ni are based off of these 72 demons.
  • Ronove is based off of Marquis Ronove, the 27th demon.
  • Furfur and Zepar are based off of Furfur, the 34th demon, and Zepar, the 16th demon, respectively.
  • Gaap is based off of the 33rd demon of the Lesser Key of Solomon, Gaap. This is particularly notable as the demon Gaap is partly known for providing medical care for women. This could allude to false autopsies being made by Nanjo Terumasa, the only doctor on Rokkenjima.
• Much of the demonology Maria Ushiromiya mentions is taken from the Key of Solomon, a 14th/15th century grimoire and early example of Renaissance magic.
  • Maria's amulets, meant to protect her from the evil entities on the island, have the fifth pentacle of Mars inscribed on them.
  • The symbol found on the shed in Legend of the Golden Witch is the seventh pentacle of the Sun.
  • The symbol found on Eva Ushiromiya and Hideyoshi Ushiromiya's room is the pentacle of the Moon.