User blog comment:DocTanner/Discussing Trivia Guidelines/@comment-5035765-20131012191615/@comment-18521310-20131014094747

That's my thought exactly. "King Rammus is a reference to Bowser from the Mario franchise" is acceptable because it's entirely obvious. "Full Metal Rammus is a reference to Droideka from Star Wars" is not acceptable, however, as it's not obvious and is quite subject to opinion. It might be acceptable to say "resembles" instead. (Though, perhaps not.)

The question is, how to phrase that well as a guideline? Suggestions?