References in When They Cry

The When They Cry franchise contains several cultural and historical references as a result of author Ryukishi07's habit of putting references in his work just to have them.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 The Tokyo Zodiac Murders and Ango Sakaguchi's Furenzoku satsujin jiken are directly referenced.
• Much of Umineko no Naku Koro ni draws inspiration from Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
  • The setting of an island cut off from the rest of the world due to a storm occurs in both Umineko no Naku Koro ni and And Then There Were None.
  • Both Umineko no Naku Koro ni and And Then There Were None feature a prophetic passage that ensuing murders line up with (the witch's epitaph in Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Ten Little Indians in And Then There Were None).
  • The way that the "truth" of Umineko no Naku Koro ni is revealed through message bottles mirrors how the truth of And Then There Were None is revealed in the epilogue.
  • In Requiem of the Golden Witch, Ten Little Indians is directly referenced.
  • In Requiem of the Golden Witch, Gaap refers to herself as "U.N. Owen, a 495-year-old witch", a reference to U.N. Owen, an alias for the main antagonist of And Then There Were None.
• Battler Ushiromiya's name may be a reference to Superintendent Battle, a recurring character created by Agatha Christie.
• The popularity of mahjong in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is possibly a reference to the use of mahjong in Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
• Sayo Yasuda's nickname "Yasu" is likely a reference to Yasuhiko "Yasu" Mano from the the 1983 game The Portopia Serial Murder Case.

Demonology

• 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.
  • Flauros is based off of the demon Flauros.
• 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.
• The name Bernkastel may be a reference to the birthplace of Peter Binsfield, a German theologian who was the first to associate the seven princes of hell with the Seven Deadly Sins. Binsfield was born in the town of Binsfield which is located in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district of Germany.
  • Peter Binsfeld's classification of demons is used in the Seven Stakes of Purgatory. Each of the Stakes is named after a prince of hell and is the embodiment of the associated Deadly Sin.

Touhou Project

• Jessica Ushiromiya cosplays as Marisa Kirisame while playing in her band.
• In Jessica and Kanon's ending in Golden Fantasia, Kanon cosplays as Reimu Hakurei.
• In Requiem of the Golden Witch, Gaap refers to herself as "U.N. Owen, a 495-year-old witch", a reference to Flandre Scarlet's popular theme "U.N. Owen Was Her?".

Other

• Battler Ushiromiya is partially based off of Phoenix Wright from the Ace Attorney franchise, most clearly seen in Battler's Objection sprite.
• Ange Ushiromiya's false name "Gretel" is likely a reference to the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, which Battler jokingly mentions.
• When Beatrice and Virgilia battle in Banquet of the Golden Witch, they summon a litany of mythical weapons including Gungnir, Mjolnir, and the horse rider Death.
  • Beatrice's War Towers are said to be "100 merute" tall. This unit of measurement is a reference to the "merute" of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which is said to be equal to roughly one meter.
• Sakutarou was originally to be named "Sakura" after the protagonist of Card Captor Sakura, however Maria changed it to sound more masculine.
  • This is actually an anachronism as Card Captor Sakura debuted in 1996, ten years after Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place.
• Rumiko Chie is a parody of Ciel from Tsukihime.
• Hameln is likely a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
• Renoir is likely named after Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
• Scarletite from the Final Fantasy franchise is mentioned in "My Best Friend."

Intertextual references

Ryukishi07 is also known to include references and crossovers within his own works.

• The phrase "That is my only wish" in relation to solving a mystery is used frequently throughout the franchise, by Keiichi Maebara, Ooishi Kuraudo, Mamoru Akasaka, and Maria Ushiromiya.
• The character Okonogi is present in both Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, as the leader of the Yamainu, and in Umineko no Naku Koro ni, as president of a company with ties to Rudolf Ushiromiya and Hideyoshi Ushiromiya.
• Frederica Bernkastel is known in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni as the author of the poems that each arc opens with. In Umineko no Naku Koro ni, the character Bernkastel appears to be the same character. Furthermore, Bernkastel is revealed to be a version of Rika Furude, as seen in their similar appearances and their supernatural abilities. Bernkastel herself references this fact by using Rika's catchphrase "Nipah~" in Turn of the Golden Witch. In addition to this, there is also a character named Erika Furudo, a character Bernkastel created in her own likeness who bears a similar name and appearance to Rika. The name "Furudo Erika" is phonetically similar to the name "Frederica".
• Lambdadelta, while not referenced in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, is speculated to be Miyo Takano due to their similar appearance. Furthermore, Lamdadelta refers to Miyo Takano as "her other self" in the Hotarubi no Tomoru Koro ni prologue, The First and the Last Gift. However, Ryukishi07 has directly refuted this theory and refers to it as a red herring.
• Ange Ushiromiya and Shion Sonozaki both attended St. Lucia Academy.
• The Angel Mort uniform and the Seven Stakes of Purgatory outfit have similar designs.
• The cast of both Higurashi and Umineko show up in Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode X.