History Main / DitchingTheDubNames

* When the Rito first appeared in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', the Italian translation renamed them "falchi viaggiatori" ("travelling hawks"). Later on, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' refers to their species with its original name.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'': In the initial releases, the mavericks were named after members of Music/GunsNRoses. When the legacy collection came out, these names were abandoned for more accurate translations.

* When Mick Swagger is mentioned for the first time in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', his name is translated as "Mick Spaccone". As the translated name missed the reference joke, the character reverted to the original name almost instantly.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': In the Mexican Spanish dub, Brick, Boomer, and Butch were renamed Bajeza, Bandido, and Bacteria in their debut episode. In all their other appearances, they keep their English names.

* The German title of the first Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean movie, Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl, is just "Fluch der Karibik"[[note]]Curse of the Caribbean[[/note]]. Starting with the second movie, for the official titles, "Pirates of the Caribbean has been used, with Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest released as "Pirates of the Caribbean: Fluch der Karibik 2" and the subsequent ones with subtitles like "Am Ende der Welt" for Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd.

* When ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' was first localized in the West, many of the characters' names were Westernized. Some were rather simple, like Maki (Mary) and Yuka (Alana), while some are drastic, like Kei Nanjo (Nate Trinity) and Takehisa Kandori (Guido Sardenia). In the sequel, ''VideoGame/Persona2'' (specifically, ''Eternal Punishment''), while the Persona 1 cast's first name remained Westernized, they were given their Japanese surname, with Kandori himself claiming that his Westernized name was an alias. When ''Persona 1'' was remade for the PSP, the names were reverted back to their original Japanese name.

* When Creator/{{SNK}} first released ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'', they decided to rename the character Marco Rodriguez [[RenamedToAvoidAssociation to prevent confusion with real-life mixed martial artist Ricco Rodriguez]]. Considering that their initial choice was Khushnood ''[[EmbarrassingLastName Butt]]'', starting from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'' they went back to Marco [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rodrigues]].

** The manga's '''first''' Vietnamese translation (which was unlicensed) changed some of the names slightly; we had Doraemon, Shizuka, Jaian and Suneo becoming Đôrêmon, Xuka, Chaien and Xêkô, respectively[[note]]Nobita is still Nôbita -- they just added a diacritic.[[/note]]. However, once Kim Đồng Publishing House finally acquired the license to publish the manga in Vietnam, they issued a new translation for the manga, with all the names intact. [[BrokenBase Most fans embraced it, but some fans didn't like this change at all]], and stick with the "unlicensed" names to this day.

* ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' was originally dubbed in Italian with all the character names ([[MascotsNameGoesUnchanged except for the titular character's]]) replaced with Italian ones. Starting from the 2003 redub of the 1979 series, the original names were kept instead.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': Nearly every dub that wasn't the original Italian renamed the SixthRanger. Purportedly, because her name, Aisha, was Arab in origin and sensibilities were touchy from the UsefulNotes/WarOnTerror -- so even unaffected countries such as Latin America, went for Layla instead of Aisha. Rumors aside, when Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} bought the franchise, it forced every dub to use the original name.

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': When the series was brought to the west, it was renamed to "Star Blazers", all of the characters were given more western sounding names (such as "Susumu Kodai" being changed to "Derek Wildstar"), and even the titular Yamato was renamed in-universe as the "Argo". The 2010 live-action ''Film/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' film ditched these changes, and used the original names for the english dub. The remake series ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' and it's sequel ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2202'' were both localized in the west as "Star Blazers 2199" and "Star Blazers 2202", likely as a nod to fans who grew up with the dub, but still retained the original names for the ship and characters.

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': When the series was brought to the west, it was renamed to "Star Blazers", all of the characters were given more western sounding names (such as "Susumu Kodai" being changed to "Derek Wildstar"), and even the titular Yamato was renamed in-universe as the "Argo". The 2010 live-action ''Film/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' film ditched these changes, and used the original names for the english dub. The remake series ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' and it's sequel Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2202'' were both localized in the west as "Star Blazers 2199" and "Star Blazers 2202", likely as a nod to fans who grew up with the dub, but still retained the original names for the ship and characters.

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': When the series was brought to the west, it was reanamed to "Star Blazers", all of the the chacacters were given more western sounding names (such as "Susumu Kodai" being changed to "Derek Wildstar"), and even the titular Yamato was renamed in-universe as the "Argo". The 2010 live-action ''Film/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' film ditched these changes, and used the original names for the english dub. The reamake series ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' and it's sequel Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2202'' also retained the original names for the ship and characters, but the titles were localized as "Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199/2202", likely as a nod for those who grew up with the dubbed version of the orignal series.

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': When the series was brought to the west, it was reanamed to "Star Blazers", all of the the chacacters were given more western sounding names (such as "Susumu Kodai" being changed to "Derek Wildstar"), and even the titular Yamato was renamed in-universe as the "Argo". The 2010 live-action ''Film/SpaceBattleshipYamato film ditched these changes, and used the original names for the english dub. The reamake series ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' and it's sequel Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2202'' also retained the original names for the ship and characters, but the titles were localized as "Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199/2202", likely as a nod for those who grew up with the dubbed version of the orignal series.

* Played with in the german dub of ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022''. Dale's name has always been changed to ''Chap'' in Germany. The movie addresses this by the opening narration revealing that Dale is his real name, while "Chap" is only a stage name.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Outside of Japan, Princess Peach was originally called Princess Toadstool, which the localizers presumably thought was a better name for the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. In ''VideoGame/YoshisSafari'' and from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' onwards, they switched to using her original name, beginning with a letter at the start of the game which she signs as "Princess Toadstool--Peach", implying that "Peach" is her nickname, but the series has made little to no allusions to the former name since.

* In the English and French dubs of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Mr. Satan's name was changed to Hercule. For the former, it was due to "Satan" being a potentially offensive name for a hero in the predominantly-Christian Anglo sphere. For the latter dub, it was due to Piccolo already having his name changed to "Satan's Little Heart". However, later dubs of ''Dragon Ball'' reverted him back into Mr. Satan.

* In the English and French dubs of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Mr. Satan's name was changed to Hercule. For the former, it was due to "Satan" being a potentially offensive name for a hero in the predominantly-Christian Anglo sphere. For the latter dub, it was due to Piccolo already having his name changed to "Satan's Little Heart", wanting to avoid confusion. However, later dubs of ''Dragon Ball'' reverted him back into Mr. Satan.

* In the English dub of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Mr. Satan's name was changed to Hercule, due to "Satan" being a potentially offensive name for a hero in the predominantly-Christian Anglosphere. However, later dubs of ''Dragon Ball'' revert him back into Mr. Satan.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': In Japan, the games follow Japanese lawyer Naruhodo Ryuichi. When localizing the games for America, Capcom changed the setting to [[ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange California]] and the protagonist got renamed to Pheonix Wright. However for the spin-off duology ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' they instead used the original setting of Japan and Pheonix/Ryuichi's ancestor kept his Japanese name, Naruhodo Ryunnosuke (presented as Ryunosuke Naruhodo to follow western full name conventions). This is because the Story of the GAA games deals heavily with the relationship between Victorian England and Meiji Japan, so making it take place in America wouldn't have worked.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': In Japan, the games follow Japanese lawyer Naruhodo Ryuichi. When localizing the games for America, Capcom changed the setting to [[ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange California]] and the protagonist got renamed to Pheonix Wright. However for the spin-off duology ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' they instead used the original setting of Japan and Pheonix/Ryuichi's ancestor kept his Japanese name, Naruhodo Ryunnosuke. This is because the Story of the GAA games deals heavily with the relationship between Victorian England and Meiji Japan, so making it take place in America wouldn't have worked.

* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' was known as ''Los Pequeños Muppets'' in the Latin American Spanish dub. However, ''WesternAnimation/Muppet Babies2018'' leaves the title untranslated.

* The Italian dub of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' had some translated names ("Pesce citrullo" for Bubble Bass, "Uomo Raggio" for Man Ray) that were later removed in favor of the original ones.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': Not a character, but a food. The English dubs attempted any number of {{Woolseyism}}s to describe ''onigiri'' (stuffed rice balls wrapped in seaweed, a common Japanese snack), from sandwiches to popcorn. Eventually they gave up and started calling them rice balls.

* In the English dub of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Mr. Satan's name was changed to Hercule, due to the religious overtone of his name. However, later dubs of Dragon Ball revert him back into Mr. Satan.

* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats'': In the Mexican Spanish dub, Chuckie and Chas's last name was Baldoza, but it went back to Finster in later seasons. In that same dub, Jonathan was initially named Eugenio until he later went back to his original name. Dr. Lipschitz was also known as Dr. Aquilino until his debut episode, where he started to be referred to by his English name.

Oftentimes, localizers decide to change certain names when translating a work for a different region. This can include the [[MarketBasedTitle name of the work itself]], [[DubNameChange or certain characters or things within it]]. They may do this in order to ensure that the work becomes as popular as possible in its new audience. However, sometimes, after a series has been around for some time, the localizer may decide to revert these changes, and start using the same names as the original. This could be for a variety of reasons: the series might already be successful, and the localizers feel that changing the names is no longer necessary, the creators might want to keep the names the same in all regions for consistency's sake, or the original creator of the work might not like the localizers' changes and request that it be changed back.

This trope is inherently a [[SubvertedTrope a subversion]] of either DubNameChange, or MarketBasedTitle. Compare with InconsistentDub, where a dub or localization uses differing translations for the same character/concept. A subtrope of SuddenNameChange. It can fall under AdaptationNameChange if later adaptations change a character's name to their original name. Also compare, TruerToTheText, where a new adaptation of a work tries to be more faithful to the original. Compare TranslationNod, when the original version of a work references something (such as a DubNameChange) from one of its translations.

* In the English dub of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Mr. Satan's name was changed to Hercule, due to the religious overtone of his name. However, later dubs of Dragon Ball reverts him back into Mr. Satan.

** When the show was dubbed by [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids]], names of many characters were changed from their original, such as Zoro becoming Zolo and Ace becoming Trace. When Funimation took over, they kept the name changes for the Creator/{{Toonami}} broadcast for a while, but used their original names for the uncut versions. After Toonami went to Adult Swim, Funimation abandoned the dub names for the characters completely, only doing a dub name for Sniper King (whose name is still translated from Sogeking).

* A trend for Creator/{{Marvel}} comics since the early 2000's in Italy has been getting rid of any translated name as soon as a movie about that character or group is released.

** During the early days of Generation One, characters had different names in Italian (Optimus Prime was called "Commander", Starscream was "Astrum", Soundwave was "Memor"...), both in cartoons and comics and on the toy boxes themselves. The practice was kept around up until ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', and after that they began using the English names (albeit Autobots were referred to as "Autorobot" up until [[Film/{{Transformers}} the first live-action film]]).

* The German title of the first Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean movie, Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl, is just "Fluch der Karibik"[[note]]Curse of the Caribbean[[/note]]. Starting with the second movie, for the official titles, "Pirates of the Caribbean has been used, with Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest released as "Pirates of the Carribbean: Fluch der Karibik 2" and the subsequent ones with subtitles like "Am Ende der Welt" for Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd.

** Originally, the franchise was known in Italy as ''Guerre Stellari'' and had a lot of translated character names, but this was slowly changed in the years. The Special Editions brought back the English title, the prequel trilogy reverted C-3PO and R2-D2 to their original names (instead of "D-3BO" and "C1-P8") and then the sequel trilogy removed almost every other translated name. The only change that is still kept around is Chewbacca's AffectionateNickname being "Chube" instead of "Chewie".

* Downplayed with the Italian translations of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants''. The original release of the books ([[UnfinishedDub which was interrupted after the eighth book]]) changed all the character names. The rereleases that began in 2017, the translations of the later books and the dubs of animated media like ''WesternAnimation/CaptainUnderpantsTheFirstEpicMovie'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheEpicTalesOfCaptainUnderpants'' use the English names for George, Harold and Melvin while leaving all the translated names for every other character.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': In Japan the games follow Japanese lawyer Naruhodo Ryuichi. When localizing the games for America, Capcom changed the setting to [[ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange California]] and the protagonist got renamed to Pheonix Wright. However for the spin-off duology ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' they instead used the original setting of Japan and Pheonix/Ryuichi's ancestor kept his Japanese name, Naruhodo Ryunnosuke. This is because the Story of the GAA games deals heavily with the relationship between Victorian England and Meiji Japan, so making it take place in America wouldn't have worked.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' were renamed to ''Final Fantasy II'' and ''Final Fantasy III'' during their original SNES releases, due to Square deciding to not export the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII 2nd]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII 3rd]], and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV 5th]] games in the series. Subsequent releases, many of which released alongside or after releases of the missing entries, retitled them to their original names.
* When Creator/{{SNK}} first released ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'', they decided to rename the character Marco Rodriguez [[RenamedToAvoidAssociation to prevent confusion with real life mixed martial artist Ricco Rodriguez]]. Considering that their initial choice was Khushnood ''[[EmbarrassingLastName Butt]]'', starting from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'' they went back to Marco [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rodrigues]].

* When ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' was first localized in the West, many of the character's name were Westernized. Some were rather simple, like Maki (Mary) and Yuka (Alana), while some are drastic, like Kei Nanjo (Nate Trinity) and Takehisa Kandori (Guido Sardenia). In the sequel, ''VideoGame/Persona2'' (specifically, ''Eternal Punishment''), while the Persona 1 cast's first name remained Westernized, they were given their Japanese surname, with Kandori himself claiming that his Westernized name was an alias. When ''Persona 1'' was remade for the PSP, the names were reverted back to their original Japanese name.
* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' was known as ''Puyo Pop'' in the West for some time in the 2000's. Starting with the English release of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', it reverted to its native name for all international versions.

** Series antagonist Dr. Eggman was originally renamed to Dr. Robotnik outside of Japan prior to ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''. That game had one reference to Eggman being a nickname that Sonic and Tails gave to Robotnik, similar to what ''Super Mario 64'' did with Princess Peach. Unlike the ''Mario'' series however, Robotnik renamed the character's real name in canon, although the use of it within the games was rare.

* [[ScrewedByTheLawyers For legal reasons]], Creator/XSeedGames is not allowed to use the Creator/{{Natsume}} dub names for any of the ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' characters, which extends to the old international series name ''Harvest Moon''. When ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature'' was remade as ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendsOfMineralTown'', all of the character who received dub name changes had their names reverted to their original Japanese names.

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