Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe is a series of platformer/beat-em-up games developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. The series consisted of two main games released for the Gamecube and Playstation 2, two spin-off games released for the Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable respectively, and an anime series. The first game was directed by Hideki Kamiya.

After the poor sales of Okami and God Hand, Clover Studio went defunct, most of their employees went on to form Platinum Games, and the full rights to Viewtiful Joe (as well as Clover's other works) went to Capcom, thus the series was never "finished", and the second main game ends on an unresolved cliffhanger.

Viewtiful Joe references in Bayonetta

 * In the Viewtiful Joe series, if Joe or Silvia dodged an enemy attack at the right time, the said the enemy would be left open for attack easier. In the Bayonetta series, Bayonetta has the Witch Time ability, which lets her slow downtime after successfully dodging an attack so that she can attack her enemies more, and continue scoring combos. The Viewtiful Joe series also had a time-slowing ability as well.
 * In the first Bayonetta game, a gravestone that reads "JOE - 'RED HOT' HOME RUN HITTER" can be seen in the graveyard. Joe is, of course, the name of Viewtiful Joe's protagonist, and "red hot" is a phrase commonly used in the series.
 * When Enzo is driving after Bayonetta accidentally breaks his car, he passes a road sign giving directions to "Movie Land". Movie Land is where the Viewtiful Joe games take place.
 * Joe's catchphrase is "Henshin-a-go-go, baby!" In Chapter III of Bayonetta, Bayonetta quotes it when using an angel's body to surf through molten lava, but changes "henshin" to "dancing".
 * An item can be bought from the shop called the "Red Hot Shot", which regains Bayonetta's health after being depleted. The "Red Hot" part is most likely a Viewtiful Joe reference.
 * In the first game, Luka mentions the women he has dated, all of whom are Capcom characters, one of them being Silvia. Silvia was the name of Joe's girlfriend.
 * When playing as Jeanne, wearing the Cutie J outfit and taunting with Bloody Moon causes her to make the same pose that Joe does during his henshin (superhero transformation).
 * The After Burner Kick is similar to Joe's Red Hot Kick.
 * The two twin enemies "Grace and Glory" are references to Viewtiful Joe and Sexy Silvia, Fire and Lightning (blue).
 * During the "Congratulations!" screen at the end of the game, Golem shows the Viewtiful Joe henshin hand sign.

The Wonderful 101
The Wonderful 101 is an action game for the WiiU developed by Platinum Games and directed by Hideki Kamiya, and contains several similarities and references to Viewtiful Joe.
 * Both games are heavily inspired by tokusatsu TV shows and films.
 * The main protagonist, Wonder Red, looks somewhat similar to Joe.
 * There is a restaurant called "Red Hot Joe's", whose sign the player has to slice through at one point.
 * Upon failing one of Wonder Pink's QTEs, before she falls, she gets a phone call from a friend and their entire conversation is fast-forwarded (while Pink is still floating in mid-air), and then she falls upon hanging up. Slowing down this conversation reveals that the friend she is talking to is Silvia (although her name is not mentioned). Silvia even mentions that Joe stood her up, talking about the "conclusion to the Red Hot Trilogy", which is referring to how the Viewtiful Joe series will never be "completed" due to Capcom obtaining full rights to the series and not allowing any more use of the characters except for in Capcom crossover games.
 * The "Shocking Red Bomb" works just like the "Shocking Pink Bomb" from Viewtiful Joe, and looks incredibly similar.
 * One of Vorkken's attacks is a V-shaped boomerang, similar to Joe's "Voomerang".
 * A special move can be purchased called "Wonderful Forever", which is a reference to Joe's "Viewtiful Forever" ability.
 * There are two recruitable superheroes, named Poseeman and Wonder-Cheerleader. Poseman looks exactly like Viewtiful Joe, while Wonder-Cheerleader looks like Silvia's superhero form, and is even named Silvianne.

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