Mad Max Pop Culture References

This article is written from a real world point of view and is not considered to be part of the Mad Max canonical narrative.

The Fallout series has included many MM references within their games

• The Mad Max series has been referenced in popular culture directly or indirectly on a number of occasions.

A pop culture reference is usually a nod toward the original series, they can be satirical or not, though are usually easily identifiable.

Television

• One episode of the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, "Toad Warriors", directly parodies "The Road Warrior". In the episode, Mario and his friends try to help a group of rebels who are trying to deliver a truckload of tomato sauce to another compound. On his way to the starting place, Toad snags a Starman and becomes the Toad Warrior. A massive car chase ensues and Toad defeats King Koopa in a chicken challenge.

• In season 2 of "ReBoot" series, the 4th episode entitled "Bad Bob" pays direct homage to The Road Warrior by completely remaking the final chase scene with the shows characters portraying characters from the film. That episode was written by Brendan McCarthy, who had always been a big Mad Max fan. He sent that episode to George Miller around the time early work on Fury Road started in 1996. Doug Mitchell of Kennedy Miller Mitchell productions met McCarthy in Los Angeles after watching that episode and after hearing McCarthy's ideas on the next Mad Max movie he hired him as one of the main storyboard artists and also as a co-screenwriter.
• The Japanese manga and anime "Hokuto no Ken" ("Fist of the North Star") takes quite a few cues from the Mad Max series.
  • For starters, the show's protagonist, Kenshiro, has a similiar appearance to Max, and wears an almost identical outfit.
  • One of the show's antagonists, Kenshiro's brother Jagi, is heavily based on Lord Humungous, sporting a similiar appearance complete with a face mask that while not completely identical, is very similiar looking. Ironically, Jagi also wears similar clothes (but unlike Kenshiro, not completely identical) to Max's, and also uses a sawed off shotgun as his signature weapon.
  • The Hokuto no Ken universe often depicts large roving gangs of raiders wielding crossbow weapons and driving large armadas of motor vehicles very similiar to Lord Humungus' Marauders or the Toecutter's gang. 
  • A very early minor antagonist Spade has a very similiar appearance and personality to Wez.
  • Jackal, the main antagonist of an early arc, closely resembles Toecutter. Like Toecutter, he runs a criminal biker gang and is at one point threatened by an Old Lady with a large rifle.
  • In turn, Mad Max: Fury Road takes a few cues from Fist of the North Star. Notably, the antagonist Immortan Joe has similarities to Fist of the North Star antagonist Roah, an emperor with a simililarly imposing presence.
• In Regular Show, the episode "Trailer Trashed" has a road fight scene which is a reference to Mad Max.
• In Invader Zim, there was an episode involving central character Dib, where as part of a annual school competition, fights against a fellow student in a Thunderdome to try and prove that Zim is indeed an alien.
• In South Park episode "Eat, Pray, Queef" lines between Wez and Lord Humungus are quoted/queefed. In the episode "Proper Condom Use" the girls create a compound. Also, Butters stands in play car with a Lord Humungus mask and tells the girls to "Just walk away."
• In Stranger Things Season 2 the character Max uses "MADMAX" as a pseudonym to record her score for Dig Dug.

Film

• Hot Fuzz (2007), Angel's long, lonely car drive is a reference to Max's long drive for justice in Mad Max.

• Watchmen (2009), Adrian is watching Nite Owl and Rorschach make their way into his Antarctic home on his security monitor wall. On one of his monitors, the scene in Road Warrior when Max and Humungus are exchanging shots is shown.

• Strike Commando, the scene when Ransom wakes up screaming and falls out of a hut (then hanging on a rope and surrounded by chanting natives), is shot and edited exactly like when Mad Max wakes in the children's village in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Video Games

• The Fallout series is known for its numerous and repeated references to Mad Max.
  • In Fallouts 1, 2, 3, & New Vegas, a leather jacket identical to the one that Max wears in all 3 movies can be worn by the character or NPCs as armour. In addition, the Raider Blaster Helmet in Fallout 3 is similiar to the one Blaster wears in Thunderdome, and the Outfit worn by Mccready, Little Lamplight's leader, is identical to the costume worn by Jedediah the pilot's son.
  • Upon meeting Harkness in Fallout 3, one of his replies might be "Oh yeah? And I'm a fairy princess." as a reference to an utterance made by Mad Max when he talks to MasterBlaster.
  • In the same game, the Lone Wanderer has a chance of encountering "Mel" (A reference to Mel Gibson) in the Wasteland, who resembles Max. He asks for all of the character's money, even though he appears friendly on the radar. If the characters Perception is high enough, s/he can notice that his sawed-off shotgun is not loaded.
  • Dogmeat, a dog the character can obtain in Fallouts 1, 2 (only by random encounter) and 3 pays homage to the Blue Heeler that accompanied Max in Road Warrior (Mad Max 2). Also, on the back of the video game case of 3 (and in the final clip of the ending slideshow before the credits), there is a picture of the character and the dog walking away in the sunset, which resembles the cover of The Road Warrior, viewed from behind.
  • Adding to this, in Fallout 2, another "Mel" Max lookalike will appear out of thin air and attack the Chosen One if they harm Dogmeat while he is not a companion.
  • In Little Lamplight one of the children uses the word humongous incorrectly, saying "humungus." While this may appear to be a simple typo to the untrained eye, this is actually a reference to Lord Humungus.
  • Also in Fallout 3 (and New Vegas), characters can acquire both a sawn-off shotgun that is identical to Max's signature weapon, as well as a scoped revolver that bears a striking resemblance to Lord Humungous's weapon of choice.
  • In Fallout: New Vegas, two achievements can be earned by the name of "Blast Mastery" and "You Run Barter Town," both references to Beyond Thunderdome, the former referencing Master Blaster, and the latter the location of Bartertown.
  • The image for the Fallout 3: The Pitt expansion perk "Pitt Fighter" depicts Vault Boy (the main mascot of the Fallout series and Vault-Tec) wearing armor identical to Blaster's armor. In addition, the arena in The Pitt heavily resembles the Thunderdome, and the outfits worn by the slaves in The Pitt resemble the ones worn by the slaves in the Thunderdome.
  • Fallout 2's Broken Hills is a reference to the town of Broken Hill that the Road Warrior was filmed in.
  • In Fallout 2, making fun of Stuart Little's appearance prompts him to call male characters "Madd Maxx wannabes".^sic
  • After destroying the Enclave's oil rig in Fallout 2, teenagers from the Wright family can be found singing a little of Thunderdome's theme.
• In Borderlands the boss named Mad Mel is a mix of Mel Gibson and Mad Max. He also fight while driving a vehicle. His phisical aspect, though, resemblese Lord Humungous.
• In an indie game "Broforce" as of October 2014, a playable character called 'Bro Max' was released in the 'Steam Workshop Update'. Bro Max is based on the fictional character Max Rockatansky. In the game, Bro Max uses a Dragon's breath Shotgun (a Shotgun which ignites enemies and deals knockback. The fire travels through walls and enemies) and a Special Command Bro Max uses a boomerang which is a reference to 'The Feral Kid' in "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior". The looks of Bro Max are based on Mad Max 2 incarnation of Max with a bruised eye, gray hair on the sides and a shoulder pad.
• In The 10th Installment of the Mortal Kombat Franchise ( Mortal Kombat X) A Character was introduced named Ferra/Thorr these are two characters in one, Ferra being a small child who hangs on Thorr's Back which is a bigger brawnier character, This is a Reference to Master Blaster from Beyond Thunder Dome. If you pick Johnny Cage against them, he will Say 'Master Blaster' in the Introduction which confirms it being a direct reference.
• In Brawlhalla,the character Barraza is a character that makes homage to Mad Max,due to his appereance an his weapons.
• In the MOBA Heroes Of The Storm,Garrosh Hellscream has a skin called "Mad Axe",a combination o Mad Max and Axe,given that he carries an axe,the appearence of the skin is based on Mad Max and his mount.
• In the game Hearthstone a card named Bone Baron has quotes with references of the series,when he enters in battle he says "ride eternal",and when he attacks says "witness me!" referencing the kamikaze action.
• Forza Horizon 3 had many vehicles from Australian legend so it was not surprising there are several references within the game. Being a racing game most of the references are cars.
  • 1. A barn find where the mechanic from the game freaks out about finding the V8 intercepter in the middle of the outback. This whole barn find sequence is dripping in clues and references.
    • The radio dj(,different with every channel), will say a crazy apocalyptic prepper had left a hint saying that his car was anyone's for the taking. walking off with his dog into the sunset, much like the scene from road warrior.
    • Warren, the mechanic will act and talk very much like chumbucket from the mad max videogame, wanting to put "cross-bows and flame-throwers" all over the car, sadly this is not the case and he restores it to a state very similar to the interceptor, before modification to the vehicle in the first movie.
    • Another reference is the number plate in the cut scene in which you uncover it boldly states "last V8".
  • 2. Another reference is also a barn find hidden in the outback. The vehicle in question is a Holden hq panelvan "sandman"This is not a direct reference like the xb gt ford falcon but still classed as a reference.
    • The Sandman, as warren calls it in the game, comes stock in a colour very similar to the movie.
  • 3. The Holden Monaro gts is the next one, it like the sandman is an indirect reference. The vehicle is the same make and model as several cars in the Mad Max universe, such as nightriders Monaro and several others.
    • One of the stock colours matches up to nightriders Monaro in the first film.
  • 4. The ford 5 window coupe barn find, part of the hot wheels expansion pack, resembles both the Chevrolet 5 window coupe "the Nux car" and the ford 3 door coupe "Elvis" from Fury Road