General
- Maokai was named after Maokai Xiao (his concept artist [1]) while the name itself is an anagram for 'I am oak' as well as Chinese for 茂凯 ('lush (vegetation)-triumphant')
- Maokai has the highest Level 18 base armor (96.7)
- Maokai's dance references the Harlem Globetrotters.
- Tabs for and can be seen during Maokai's 'Art Spotlight'.
- For Maokai's Visual Update rooting was made to resemble '.
Skins
- He might be referencing the Ents from The Lord of the Rings.
- He references the eponymous tribal figures.
- His splash artwork may have been inspired by the 2016 animated film Moana.
- He celebrates Snowdown Showdown 2011 by impersonating a Christmas tree.
- A few things can be seen in the background:
- Two
- He celebrates Harrowing 2012 by impersonating a cemetery.
- This might be him were he to be consumed by the Black Mist.
- He and were the first skins to have a respawn animation.
- He celebrates the FIFA World Cup 2014.
- He shares this theme with Error: Skin All-Star for Akali is not specified in Module:SkinData/data., , , , , , , and .
- He celebrates April Fools' Day 2016 ( Day)
- He references the Nyan Cat as well as Cody 'Elementz' Sigfusson (he 'named' him during his streams).
- He is wearing a cat onesie.
- He shares this theme with , , and .
- Alongside , his chroma pack may be referencing the different known Emojis.
- He shares this theme with , , and .
- He was unlocked by players who achieved Gold+ rank in Season 6 (2016)
- He shares this theme with , , , , and .