Kamiccolo9 wrote:There are the monks that Krillin used to be a part of, although I'm not sure if that is specific enough to be considered a real-life reference. And there are numerous religious references, like crosses and stuff.
They're from Orin temple, a parody of the real life Shaolin temple. Which I'd consider a little different than a flat-out reference. It's like the dictator from DBZ movie 12, who is obviously based on Hitler but isn't actually Hitler, or all those Bruce Lee-lookalike who pop up from time to time. Farther afield, the Ginyu Force are based on Tokusentai but are obviously not an actual Tokusentai team.
Thinking more about it, Kuririn also mentions the Olympics, and there's all those references to Buddhism and a few to Christianity. Toriyama also included a bunch of specific car models and brands. And there's that cameo from his Bali friend.
There's also how DB Earth's solar system contains a Jupiter. I do wonder where to draw the line though. Strawberries are real of course, but does Bulma mentioning strawberries count as a real world reference?
