History Main / AlternateCharacterReading

* This the reason protagonist Syouko of ''VisualNovel/AoiShiro'' calls Kaya "Natsu" (or "Natchan"). The first character for Kaya's name is the ''kanji'' for 'summer,' which when used on its own is pronounced Natsu. It's mentioned in passing that Syouko's grandmother did something similar with the ''kanji'' for spring in her name.

* The real name of Stork in ''VideoGame/TheCaligulaEffect [[UpdatedRerelease Overdose]]'' is 'Sagan Masahiro', written with 目 大洋. The kanji respecitively read as 'Me' like 'eye' and 'Taiyou' like 'Sun'. There is no one kanji that can be read as Sagan, and Masahiro is usually written with different kanji.

* ''VideoGame/{{Daikatana}}'' takes its name from 大刀, which native Japanese speakers would read as "daito" which literally means longsword. Considering that the game was made by a [[Creator/IonStorm western developer]] this could be a case of GratuitousJapanese and AsLongAsItSoundsForeign.

* ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'': Series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, a man with [[MythicalMotifs dragon motifs]] out the wazoo, makes a point of not spelling the "ryu" part of his name with the kanji meaning "dragon" (which is the most common way of doing it.)

* The ''Manga/MiracleGirls'' LicensedGame for the Platform/SuperFamicom has a subtitle in which for "Fushigi Sekai no Daibōken" has furigana indicating the GratuitousEnglish reading "Miracle World Adventure."
* ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'' has the little BirdPeople siblings. The younger sister's name is Dōjo, which is the ''on'yomi'' of its ''kanji'' writing 童女. Her older brother, on the other hand, has his ''kanji'' name 童男 read "Oguna" rather than its ''on'yomi'' "Dōdan" like one would expect.
** The [[BirdPeople part-bird]] [[ParasolOfPain umbrella-wielding]] ActionMom. Her name is 姑獲鳥, which should be read "Kokakuchō" but her in-game profile states that it's read [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubume "Ubume"]]. Even her [[Creator/ToaYukinari voice actress]] uses the former reading.

* The title of ''VideoGame/{{Salamander}}'' is written with ateji characters that can be interpreted as "sand gauze wide (or beautiful) snake." Likewise, the title for ''{{VideoGame/Contra}}'' is written the same way and can be interpreted as the less sensical "soul bucket net".
* In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', Chosokabe Motochika's shpiel when it comes to his attacks' names: each of them is composed of at least one numerical kanji and another one, so to spell out a concept while keeping a different Kanji set; for example, "Sabaki" (literally "Judgement") written with the kanji meaning Three (Sa), Conquering (Ha/Ba) and Ogre (Ki). The first and second games also do it in regard to Masamune, Nohime and Yukimura's top weapons, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 Alastor, Ebony&Ivory, Ifrit and Sparda]], whose names aren't spelled in katakana but in kanji phonetically arranged to spell out their names.
* The BonusDungeon of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', an alternate version of Tokyo overrun by demons, takes the names of its various areas from Tokyo's districts and landmarks, but all spelled using different kanji with a meaning relevant to the boss that dwells within. The dungeon itself, to give an example, is named 東狂 ("East Madness") rather than the normal 東京 ("East Capital"). Sadly, due to being nigh impossible to translate, this is lost entirely in the localization, which simply dubs the location "Twisted Tokyo".

** The series associates [[{{UsefulNotes/Onmyodo}} shikigami]] with computers. This tends to show up by having one term in kanji and the other in furigana. Sometimes related terms get the same treatment.

** Even the series' name is an example of this, as the kanji for "Touhou" can also be pronounced "Higashikata" -- as in [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Josuke Higashikata]]. Needless to say, ZUN is a huge ''[=JoJo=]'' fan.
* ''VideoGame/{{XenoGears}}'': The text system did not really support Furigana. For example, ''VideoGame/{{XenoSaga}}'''s did, and so used one term without brackets to show what the character saying this term is meaning, while using the brackets to designate how they were supposed to be spoken. Like so: Stand back, Surface Dweller<Lamb>. In keeping with traditional English syntax, the best way to designate this in the US version could have been something like this: Stand back, Lamb(Surface Dweller).
* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the reason why the electric sheep Pokémon, Ampharos, is able to become a Dragon-type when it Mega Evolves in Gen VI [[DubNameChange is because of an alternate reading of its name in Japanese]]. Its Japanese name is, ''Denryu'' (デンリュウ), which can also be alternatively read as either ''Denryu'' (電流) meaning electric current or ''Denryu'' (電竜) meaning electric dragon.
* ''VideoGame/DonPachi'': the series mascot and TrueFinalBoss is always named "Hibachi", but different games have spelled its name using different kanji, resulting in different meanings like "Fire Bee", "Red Bee", or "Solar Bee".

* [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]] loves this. Almost every single term in his stories is written with kanji and furigana to give a double meaning to every single thing. This even applies to the ending songs for the anime adaptation of ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'', where non-standard kanji are given for lyrics in the liner notes.

** Being the oldest hero of mankind, Gilgamesh uses some archaic language with glosses. This includes [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns how he refers to himself]] -- spelled as the old-fashioned "ware" but pronounced as the more modern[=/=]macho "ore".

* In ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'', Tohri Nishikikouji gets very annoyed with the heroine constantly forgetting and calling him Toshiki Watashouji.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Used to horrifying effect; the town's annual Watanagashi Festival (translated normally as "Cotton Drifting") has an alternate reading; "Wata" (Cotton) also means [[spoiler:"Entrails". Yes, someone in the story has noticed this. And yes, we get to see the bloody results.]]

** Ina'nis Ninomae's surname is written with the kanji 一 (''ichi''/''hitotsu''), which normally means "one". "''Ni no mae''" (二の前) means "before two", and [[CaptainObvious one does indeed come before two]].

* Fitting for a setting inspired by Imperial China, ''Literature/TheApothecaryDiaries'' makes ample use of Chinese pronunciations in names (or at least, the closet Japanese can approximate) but still makes use of Japanese readings (both on'yomi and kun'yomi), and overall doesn't seem to have a strict preference either way. The consort Gyokuyou's name (玉葉), for example, uses the on'yomi reading while the consort Lihua's name (梨花) is given the kana reading of リファ (''rifa''), an approximation of the Mandarin ''lí huā'' (for reference, the typical Japanese pronunciation of the name is ''Rika''). Later, a kitten is adopted by the princess Lingli and named Maomao, which is identical in pronounciation to the story's main character[[note:At least in Japanese: in Mandarin the names would employ different tones]] but written with different kanji.

* The ''Manga/MiracleGirls'' LicensedGame for the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom has a subtitle in which for "Fushigi Sekai no Daibōken" has furigana indicating the GratuitousEnglish reading "Miracle World Adventure."

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'': Series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, a man with [[MythicalMotifs dragon motifs]] out the wazoo, makes a point of not spelling the "ryu" part of his name with the kanji meaning "dragon" (which is the most common way of doing it.)
** A more prominent example in ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'' is how [[spoiler:the "to" in Haruto's name and the "yu" in Yuta's name are represented by the same kanji]].

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the reason why the electric sheep Pokémon, Ampharos, is able to become a Dragon-type when it mega evolves in Gen VI, [[DubNameChange is because of an alternate reading of its name in Japanese]]. Its Japanese name is, ''Denryu'' (デンリュウ), which can also be alternatively read as either ''Denryu'' (電流) meaning electric current or ''Denryu'' (電竜) meaning electric dragon.

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the reason why the electric sheep Pokémon, ''Ampharos'', is able to become a dragon type when it mega evolves in Gen VI, [[DubNameChange is because of an alternate reading of its name in Japanese]]. Its Japanese name is, ''Denryu'' (デンリュウ), which can also be alternatively read as either ''Denryu'' (電流) meaning electric current or ''Denryu'' (電竜) meaning electric dragon.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'': Series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, a man with [[AnimalMotifs Dragon motifs]] out the wazoo, makes a point of not spelling the "ryu" part of his name with the kanji meaning "dragon" (which is the most common way of doing it.)
* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the reason why the electric sheep pokemon, ''Ampharos'', is able to become a dragon type when it mega evolves in Gen VI, [[DubNameChange is because of an alternate reading of its name in Japanese]]. Its Japanese name is, ''Denryu'' (デンリュウ), which can also be alternatively read as either ''Denryu'' (電流) meaning electric current or ''Denryu'' (電竜) meaning electric dragon.

* ''Manga/DeathNote:'' The main character is called Light, in English, but the kanji is ''Tsuki'' (月), which means moon. ''Raito'' written with "moon" is actually a real name outside of the series[[labelnote:*]]The kanji for moon actually has lots of interesting name readings, such as ''Aporo'' ("Apollo"), ''Arute'' ("Arte"mis), ''Runa'' ("Luna"), and ''Mūn'' (not even creative there, that's just "Moon").[[/labelnote]], but it's rare, and [[GenderBlenderName feminine]] at that. But why the hell not, you get a MeaningfulName out of the deal, since the kanji for tsuki has [[FourIsDeath four strokes]] and LightIsNotGood.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' for the NES, producer Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto (宮本 茂) is credited as "S. Miyahon" as the kanji 本 can be read either way.

* ''Nanori'' (Japanese: 名乗り), also known as ''jinmeikun'' (Japanese: 人名訓) is a particular type of ''kun'yomi'' only used in Japanese names. In most such cases, the name is conceived with a ''kun'yomi''-based Japanese word first, and then a ''kanji'' with a related meaning is attached to that word.

* Keine Kamishirasawa of the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' series has a name that can also be read as "Uwa-hakutaku", which is a pun of "were-hakutaku", which she is one of.

* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': Kimura's first name is written with the kanji for "Masayoshi" (正義), but it actually reads as the English translation of the word, "Justice" (''Jasutisu''), [[EmbarrassingFirstName much to his embarrassment]].
* The Japanese word for asteroids, 小惑星, is usually pronounced shouwakusei through on-yomi, which it also how the term is pronounced in ''Manga/AsteroidInLove''. For the purpose of the series's title, however, that phrase is glossed with the transliteration for "asteroid," thus the title is pronounced ''Koisuru Asteroid'' in Japanese.

** Index and its spinoff series ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' have alternate readings in their titles themselves -- kanji that would normally be read "kinshomokuroku" and "choudenjihou" are given the pronunciations "index" and "railgun," respectively. This applies to many of ''Index'''s episode titles as well; for example, one episode has "Witch-Hunting King" in kanji and "Innocentius" in katakana.

* The title of ''VideoGame/{{Salamander}}'' is written with ateji characters that can be interpreted as "sand gauze wide (or beautiful) snake." Likewise, the title for {{VideoGame/Contra}} is written the same way and can be interpreted as the less sensical "soul bucket net".
* In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', Chosokabe Motochika's shpiel when it comes to his attacks' names: each of them is composed of at least one numerical kanji and another one, so to spell out a concept while keeping a different Kanji set; for example, "Sabaki" (literally "Judgement") written with the kanji meaning Three (Sa), Conquering (Ha/Ba) and Ogre (Ki). The first and second games also do it in regards of Masamune, Nohime and Yukimura's top weapons, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 Alastor, Ebony&Ivory, Ifrit and Sparda]], whose names aren't spelled in katakana but in kanji phonetically arranged to spell out their names.

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/SyukushoGakuen''. [[spoiler:The BigBad is named Miku, which is an alternate reading for ''mirai'' (future). She's a [[TimeTravel time traveller.]]]]

* ''Anime/AnimeGataris'' has a character whose name is written down as [[spoiler:Kouji]], formally pronounced as [[spoiler: Aurora]]. As you can imagine, [[spoiler:Nakano is so embarrassed to have anyone know his true name he rewrites reality itself to get rid of it.]]

** Mayuri Kurotsuchi's last name is written using kanji based on the ''meaning'' of the name, rather than how it's usually read. "Kurotsuchi" means "black soil" (kuro - black; tsuchi - soil), as does the kanji (涅). However, the kanji's reading (pronunciation) is "ne" or "so".

** Kakuzu's techniques are [[ShoutOutThemeNaming named in reference]] to ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' using kanji readings. For example, his main technique is named "Earth Grudge Fear", written as 地怨虞 and read "Jiongu" - a reference to Mobile Suit MSN-02 Zeong.

* ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'': This is something of a major point in the series, as [[spoiler: Tetsuo's birth name is Rei, but the orphanage workers and his adoptive mother called him Reiko, due to an error in the pronunciation. Later, when Tetsuo is having a personality crisis, Taichi reassures him of who he is by writing the kanji that was written in the box containing Tetsuo's umbilical cord; the kanji ''can'' be read as Rei, but it can also be read as ''Akira'', and Taichi reads it as such.]]

--->'''Accelerator''': Sorry, but from here on out it's a "one-way street"! You cannot advance, so just curl up and cower back in your nest!

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/SyukushoGakuen''. [[spoiler: The BigBad is named Miku, which is an alternate reading for ''mirai'' (future). She's a [[TimeTravel time traveller.]]]]

** Lancer (Cu Chullain) has two {{Special Attack}}s he can perform with his spear Gae Bolg - a melee thrust which is [[AlwaysAccurateAttack normally impossible to dodge]], and a throw which is [[UnblockableAttack normally impossible to block]]. Both involve [[CallingYourAttacks calling the name "Gae Bolg"]], but written with different kanji (translating roughly as "Barbed Spear of Striking Death" and "Soaring Spear of Piercing Death" respectively).

** Being the oldest hero of mankind, Gilgamesh uses some archaic language with glosses. This includes [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns how he refers to himself]] - spelled as the old-fashioned "ware" but pronounced as the more modern[=/=]macho "ore".

* This seems to be becoming a {{running gag}} in ''Manga/{{Gate 7}}'' where Takamoto is concerned. Many names of places, organizations, are pronounced like already-familiar Japanese terms, but are spelled with completely different kanji (this is done by using alternate readings of said kanji). The comedy is that Takamoto keeps assuming that everyone is using the usual kanji for the pronunciation (even when it might imply something crude or dirty) -- {{hilarity ensues}}.

[[folder:Miscellaneous]]
* One of the logic puzzles published by Nikoli (the same company that popularized [[GridPuzzle Sudoku]]) is known as ''Masyu'' ("evil influence"). This originated from a misreading of the characters 真珠 (''shinju'', "pearls"), referring to what the circular symbols in the grid resemble.
* A few of the ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'' idols have {{Stealth Pun}}s hidden in their names via this method.

** [[Anime/SailorMoon The first anime]]'s OP Moonlight Densetsu has the line "onaji kuni ni umareta no", meaning "(we're) born in the same country", and which would typically be written 同じ国に生まれたの. However, the written lyrics (e.g. the CD booklet and karaoke aid) write it as 同じ地球に生まれたの, that is, the word '国/kuni/country' is written as 地球 (Earth), which is normally read as 'chikyū'. Animelyrics.com renders it as [[https://www.animelyrics.com/dance/pnuts/moonlightlegend.jis 地球(くに)]] (roughly, 'Earth (country)'). The pun country/Earth probably brings the [[ReincarnationRomance Usagi-Mamoru]] theme to a planetary level. [[StarCrossedLovers It fits well]].

* One of the logic puzzles published by Nikoli (the same company that popularized Sudoku) is known as ''Masyu'' ("evil influence"). This originated from a misreading of the characters 真珠 (''shinju'', "pearls"), referring to what the circular symbols in the grid resemble.

** The word "omokage (image/vestage)" is normally written in kanji as "面影" or "俤". The in-series term "omokage", used for ayakashi doppelgangers of humans, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS varies]] between being written in just katana or as an alternate pronunciation the word "bunshin (分身)" (lit. "alter ego", but often used in fiction to describe SelfDuplication powers).

** The [[BirdPeople part-bird]] [[ParasolOfPain umbrella-wielding]] ActionMom. Her name is 姑獲鳥, which should be read "Kokakuchō" but her in-game profile states that it's read [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubume "Ubume"]]. Becomes SpellMyNameWithAnS when even her [[Creator/ToaYukinari voice actress]] uses the former reading.

** [[Anime/SailorMoon First anime]]'s OP Moonlight Densetsu has the line "onaji kuni ni umareta no" meant to mean "(we've) born on the same country" (like 同じ国に生まれたの) but it's written 同じ地球に生まれたの everywhere (like CD booklet or OP karaoke aid), in which the '国/kuni/country' part is written 地球 (Earth), what normally would not be read as 'kuni' ('chikyū' is more common), albeit the furigana provided is 'kuni' (くに). Animelyrics.com renders it as [[https://www.animelyrics.com/dance/pnuts/moonlightlegend.jis 地球(くに)]]. The pun country/Earth probably brings the [[ReincarnationRomance Usagi-Mamoru]] theme to a planetary level. [[StarCrossedLovers It fits well]].