History Main / MarthDebutedInSmashBros

So a series doesn't quite manage to make the jump into other countries. [[NoExportForYou It happens.]] Sometimes this work may cross over with another series, and characters from it may appear in something else, typically in a non-starring role. Official crossovers, extended company in-jokes, whatever, Product B has characters and whatnot from Product A.f

So a series doesn't quite manage to make the jump into other countries. [[NoExportForYou It happens.]] Sometimes this work may cross over with another series, and characters from it may appear in something else, typically in a non-starring role. Official crossovers, extended company in-jokes, whatever, Product B has characters and whatnot from Product A.

* Though previously released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan, Melee's trophy list included characters from ''Doshin the Giant'' (Doshin and Jashin), ''{{Cubivore}}'' (Alpha), and ''AnimalCrossing'' (Tom Nook, Mr. Resetti and K.K. Slider/Totakeke), all of which had the words "Future release" in their descriptions in the Western release of Melee. While ''Animal Crossing'' gained worldwide availability, ''Cubivore'' was released in America only, while ''Doshin the Giant'' only came out in the PAL reigons. NoExportForYou, indeed.

** Starfy also got a cameo in ''Super [[SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]]''And even before then, on a poster in ''MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga''.

* Barbara the Bat is quite an odd case. While her first game, ''Daigasso! Band Brothers'', debuted in Japan, she only made her first appearance overseas in ''Master of Illusion'', which is a completely different game. Later, she was brought back as an unlockable Assist Trophy in ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', with a {{callback}} to ''Band Brothers'' to boot. To add insult to injury, there were scrapped plans to bring ''Band Brothers'' overseas under the title ''Jam with the Band''.''Band Brothers DX'' wasn't released in Europe until May 2010..

** Yet another ''Smash'' example, though it's so strange and unexpected that it's almost funny. In 2006, a little game for the Nintendo DS came out in Japan called ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title implies]], the game can be used to look up recipes of various types of dishes. The catch? The "Shaberu!" in the title translates to "It Talks!", meaning that the game features a character known as the DS Chef, who actually reads out the instructions on how to prepare and cook the food to you, and you can use the DS's Microphone for vocal commands as an alternative to using the touch screen. Then all is quiet until 2008, when all of the world received a big game called ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. Among the recognisable music that the game offered to many gamers worldwide, one song hailed from ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi''. While it is recognisable to Japanese players familiar with the game, everyone overseas is left in the dark, having never heard such a tune before. In the following months after ''Brawl''[='=]s, a sequel to ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'', ''Sekai no Gohan Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'' was released... and it came to America as ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' (and ''Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?'' in PAL territories). While the song made for ''Brawl'' was only made for the Japanese version in mind, the localized versions of the ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' come in the five other languages that Nintendo generally supports: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. The bottom line? '''A talking cookbook for the DS debuted in Smash Bros!'''

* Many playing ''Pokémon Pinball'' outside of Japan when it first came out probably didn't realize that the tune that plays during the "capture" mode is "Mezase Pokémon Masutā", the original opening to the Pokemon anime.

*** In fact, ''MazingerZ'' didn't make it to America until the 80s (under the title ''Tranzor Z''), and when it did, it got dismissed as a "''{{Voltron}}'' ripoff" (despite having ''invented the genre'').

* Many playing ''Pokemon Pinball'' outside of Japan when it first came out probably didn't realize that the tune that plays during the "capture" mode is "Mezase Pokemon Masutā", the original opening to the Pokemon anime.

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Subspace_marth_8955.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:280:A new challenger has entered the ring!]]

*** Roy's game actully never made it to America either. Only the prequel staring his father Eliwood did.

* In ''3DDotGameHeroes'' the loading screens are parodies of the artwork to various classic games in the "3D pixel" style of DGH. However, many of the games were never released outside of Japan are currently being having their remade forms released. It's surprisingly hard to be nostalgic for something that isn't due out until later this year. Compounding the problem is that these are (with a few exceptions) parodies of the Japanese artwork which is many cases is completely different from the artwork in other territories. Sure, you got Tetris, but not with the box art being parodied.

* Roy actually ''did'' debut in ''Melee''- his own game hadn't come out yet when the game was released, both in Japan and in America, and his inclusion (and possibly Marth's as well) was meant to promote the upcoming game. For Europe and Australia, however, this is a straight example, as ''Melee'' came out there a few months after ''The Sword of Seals'' was released in Japan.

See also SequelFirst, AdaptationFirst.

* The TropeNamer and current world record holder of this trope is, of course, Marth, the star of the original ''FireEmblem'' game who made his (and the series as a whole) Western debut in ''SuperSmashBros Melee'', over a decade after the first FE game was released in Japan. His presence and popularity motivated Nintendo to release FE games in the West at last. However, since that series uses mostly [[NonLinearSequel Non-Linear Sequels]], until 2009 Marth would not appear in any of his own games, despite appearing in ''Super Smash Brothers'' twice! However, in 2009 the DS remake of his game finally, FINALLY reached Western shores. This was '''eight years''' after his debut in ''Super Smash Brothers'' and a mind-boggling '''''nineteen years''''' (Eighteen for Europeans) after his initial Famicom debut in Japan!
** This created odd cases such as people who supposedly love Marth but hate strategy rpgs and know nothing about his history. This also resulted in egregious amounts of {{Fanon}}.
** To put this into perspective: in the time it took ''FireEmblem Shadow Dragon'' and Marth to reach American shores in a solo debut, a whole generation of game-playing children was born, then introduced to the NES and SNES, then they watched the fall of Nintendo and rise of Sony, got hooked on Pokemon, experienced the [=PS2=] era, went through all twelve years of grade school during this, watched the Wii and DS reassert Nintendo market dominance, and went off to college owning their own consoles and possibly starting their own families. Alternately, by the time ''FESD'' came out, America saw ''five'' Presidents inaugurated, the last of whom, Barack Obama, was still in law school when the game was released in Japan. Barring Atelier taking another decade to cross the ocean, it doesn't seem like Marth's title of "longest delayed debut in history" will be usurped any time soon.
*** That's longer than the time ''DukeNukemForever'' took from start to [[strike: cancellation]] release.
** ''SuperSmashBros'' can be terrible about this. This also happened to Roy, who debuted alongside Marth in ''Melee''. While his '''dad's''' game eventually came over, his own was skipped and it seems likely that with the march of the series forward, it never will.
*** As a side note, Roy actually ''did'' debut in ''Melee''- his own game hadn't come out yet when the game was released, both in Japan and in America, and his inclusion (and possibly Marth's as well) was meant to promote the upcoming game. For Europe and Australia, however, this is a straight example, as ''Melee'' came out there a few months after ''The Sword of Seals'' was released in Japan.
**** For those of you wondering, "If they were in ''Melee'' to promote the upcoming game ''that was only released in Japan'', what are they doing in the American version?", well, [[ThrowItIn there's a perfectly good reason they speak Japanese in the American version.]] ''They were originally only intended to be in the Japanese version''. However, they garnered favorable attention during the localization and were left in, without which the franchise might never have left Japan at all.
** A rather notorious example in SSB is Lucas in ''Brawl''. Fans have been hollering for a ''{{Mother 3}}'' release ever since it came out in Japan and Nintendo pointedly ignored them... and then Lucas was put into ''Brawl'', and some of his Subspace Emissary missions were spoilers for ''[=M3=]''. This remains a sore spot with a lot of Nintendo fans.
*** Ness from ''{{Earthbound}}'' has been in all three ''Smash Bros.'' games despite his own game never being released in Europe.
** A much more minor version of this occured with Starfy, the star of ''[[TheLegendaryStarfy The Legendary Starfy]]'' series, [[SequelFirst the fifth installment for the DS being the first one released internationally]]. He's not a full character though, just an Assist Trophy.
*** Starfy also got a cameo in ''Super [[SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]]''.
*** And even before then, on a poster in ''MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga''.
*** And in almost all of these appearances, he is called "[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Stafy]]". Uh huh.
*** Tha's just cos tha's how ya says it in New Yowk. "[[AmericanAccents Stahfee]]".
** In ''SSBM'', there were several trophies that came from ''Custom Robo''. Eventually, a game for the GameCube was released for ''Custom Robo'' in America.
*** Europe had to wait for the DS one. [[NoExportForYou Not a surprise]].
** While not upsetting to people, this also happened with the title character from ''Devil World'', the only game by ShigeruMiyamoto that has been everywhere but North America (besides the ''Mysterious Castle of Murasame''). Despite that fact, it has now made cameos in three games available worldwide - ''Tetris DS'', ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', and the {{DSiWare}} game ''Art Style: [=PiCOPiCT=]'' (known as ''[=PiCTOBiTS=]'' in North America).
*** Tamagon was even a trophy in ''Melee'' but was removed from the international release (along with a few others).
** Barbara the Bat is quite an odd case. While her first game, ''Daigasso! Band Brothers'', debuted in Japan, she only made her first appearance overseas in ''Master of Illusion'', which is a completely different game. Later, she was brought back as an unlockable Assist Trophy in ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', with a {{callback}} to ''Band Brothers'' to boot. To add insult to injury, there were scrapped plans to bring ''Band Brothers'' overseas under the title ''Jam with the Band''. Let's hope Nintendo comes to their senses and release the upcoming ''Band Brothers DX'' here.
*** Is coming in Europe for May 2010.
** Barely averted with fellow assist trophy Saki Amamiya. His game ''SinAndPunishment'' was made available to Americans on the Virtual Console mere months before Brawl's release, more than seven years after its initial Japanese release.
*** And now they're making a sequel.
** Though previously released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan, Melee's trophy list included characters from ''Doshin the Giant'' (Doshin and Jashin), ''{{Cubivore}}'' (Alpha), and ''AnimalCrossing'' (Tom Nook, Mr. Resetti and K.K. Slider/Totakeke), all of which had the words "Future release" in their descriptions in the Western release of Melee. While ''Animal Crossing'' gained worldwide availability, ''Cubivore'' was released in America only, while ''Doshin the Giant'' only came out in the PAL reigons. NoExportForYou, indeed.
** Yet another ''Smash'' example, though it's so strange and unexpected that it's almost funny. In 2006, a little game for the Nintendo DS came out in Japan called ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title implies]], the game can be used to look up recipes of various types of dishes. The catch? The "Shaberu!" in the title translates to "It Talks!", meaning that the game features a character known as the DS Chef, who actually reads out the instructions on how to prepare and cook the food to you, and you can use the DS's Microphone for vocal commands as an alternative to using the touch screen. Then all is quiet until 2008, when all of the world received a big game called ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. Among the recognisable music that the game offered to many gamers worldwide, one song hailed from ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi''. While it is recognisable to Japanese players familiar with the game, everyone overseas is left in the dark, having never heard such a tune before. In the following months after ''Brawl''[='=]s, a sequel to ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'', ''Sekai no Gohan Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'' was released... and it came to America as ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' (and ''Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?'' in PAL territories). While the song made for ''Brawl'' was only made for the Japanese version in mind, the localized versions of the ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' come in the five other languages that Nintendo generally supports: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. The bottom line? '''A talking cookbook for the DS debuted in Smash Bros!'''
** Plot hints for ''MetalGearSolid4'' were dropped into the Shadow Moses stage (specifically, the presence of [[spoiler:Metal Gear RAY, an army of Gekko and an active REX]]). In Europe, ''[=MGS4=]'' came first. So this was in some ways an inversion for Europe.
*** Though to be fair, there was a trailer that showed Solid Snake and Liquid about to fight each other in REX and RAY, respectively.
* Non-Smash Nintendo example. SamuraiWarriors 3 will be featuring the likes of none other than Takamaru from ''Nazo No Murasamejou'', a contemporary of Marth's from the Famicom, who is appearing as a GuestFighter. This trope could very well be renamed "Takamaru Debuted in Samurai Warriors" within a year.
** If a sticker and a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHNOUtE-1tw&feature=related song]] count as a debut, he technically debuted in Smash Bros too...

* DragonQuestIX has its own spin on this phenomenon. With downloadable character cameos from 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 becoming slowly available over the course of a year (July 2010 - July 2011), it's a fun look back at the history of the series as a whole - wait, DragonQuestVI? That hasn't been released outside of Japan yet, and "Ashlynn of Sorceria" was the third one up. Hence, she came over before her game did.

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* Alfred the pilot from ''Real Bout {{Fatal Fury}} 2'' was actually designed to be the main character of ''Garou Densetsu: Dominated Minds'', a [=PlayStation=] game based on ''Real Bout Fatal Fury Special'' that was released a few months later and only in Japan.

*** That's longer than the time ''DukeNukemForever'' took from start to cancellation.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* During the Silver Age of comic books, DC and Marvel tended to introduce new or reinvented characters in anthology titles and determine the character's popularity from its sales. The second Flash and Green Lantern were all introduced in ''Showcase''. Superheroes debuting in their own titles, though it occurred in the Golden Age, was restarted later on by Marvel. Other anthology titles which debuted characters include:
** ''Journey into Mystery'' (Thor, and the book was later turned into his solo book)
** ''Tales to Astonish'' (Ant-Man)
** ''Tales of Suspense'' (IronMan)
** ''House of Secrets'' (SwampThing)
** ''Amazing Fantasy'' ({{Spider-Man}})

[[AC:WebComics]]
* During the CrossoverWars a character from the OrphanedSeries ''Action Porn'' (no longer on the web) appeared in ''Evil Overlords United'' before he was supposed to appear in his parent comic (and ''Action Porn'' ended before he could appear at all.)
* Arguably Bob and George in BobAndGeorge. They were originally to be the comic's main characters, but when the hand-drawn comic [[SoBadItsHorrible flopped]], they were later introduced as minor characters in the [[strike:filler]] sprite comic.
** Definitely their mother though; she was presumably to be shown earlier, but she actually debuted in the ''final comic''.
** Also [[strike:Nate]] N4-T3, who was originally one of George's friends named Nate who was never shown in the comic until N4-T3 was introduced. Only, he's not human, he's an anthropomorphic Yellow Demon with glasses the size of his face.

tollaway

So a series doesn't quite manage to make the jump into other countries. [[NoExportForYou It happens.]] Sometimes this work may cross over with another series, and characters from it may appear in something else, typically in a non-starring role. Official crossovers, extended company in-jokes, whatever, Product B has characters and whatnot from Product A.

...and then, for whatever reason, Product B manages to come out in a new market ''before'' Product A does. Meaning that the characters of Product A get their debut... in a product that isn't theirs at all.

That's how MarthDebutedInSmashBros (in the West, anyway). A fairly peculiar subtrope of NoExportForYou that applies often to videogames but can happen in any medium where a product is blocked or delayed at length from reaching other countries and then gets referenced in another work. Distinct from SequelFirst in that this often involves characters debuting in crossover works that are often ''nothing like'' their "core" franchises or are at best tangentially connected. This happens to Japanese products fairly often as companies, especially fan-oriented ones, like to have cameos and such as a [[{{Fanservice}} nod to their fans]]. Note that the "source" products for the characters may ''eventually'' come out in other countries, but the fact remains that they debuted in other markets in other, often decidedly odd ways. It's also worth noting that if this happens [[ScrewedByTheNetwork multiple times]] to a single franchise, it can agitate the fans, who may begin to (understandably) wonder why Product A doesn't just come out in the first place instead of appearing minorly in Products B, C, D, and so on. Of course, if Product A comes out ''because'' of its appearances in Products B, C, etc..., that's one explanation right there.

See also SequelFirst, AdaptationFirst.
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!!Examples:

[[AC: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* The cast of ''{{Kanon}}'', a game by [[KeyVisualArts Key/Visual Art's]] and animated by KyotoAnimation, made their Western debut in a cameo in [=KyoAni's=] ''{{AIR}}'' anime adaptation when ADV Films brought it over. Granted, all the roles were cast with an eye toward bringing ''Kanon'' over, but that was '''if''' ''AIR'' sold well enough. It did, so the [=KyoAni=] ''Kanon'' was pretty swift in making the jump... but ''Kanon'' had previously been produced by ToeiAnimation, half a decade prior, with no export.
* This occurred to ''MazingerZ'' in large parts of Europe and the Middle East; ''UFORoboGrendizer'' was translated and shown in countries such as Italy and France first, and when ''Mazinger'' finally aired in response to the surprise popularity of ''Grendizer'', it was seen as a '''cheap knockoff''' of ''Grendizer'', especially since Kouji Kabuto, the hero of ''Mazinger'', appears in ''Grendizer'' in a supporting role (despite the series sort-of-not-really being a direct sequel.) This was exacerbated even further because [[{{Macekre}} Kouji's name was somewhat unnecessarily changed between the two shows]], making people think that "Kouji Kabuto" was a bad knockoff of Duke Fleed's buddy "Alcor".
** Technically ''Grendizer'' beat ''Mazinger'' to American airwaves as well, but due to [[{{Macekre}} name changes and the like]] the phenomenon went unnoticed.
*** In fact, ''MazingerZ'' didn't make it to America until the 80s (under the title ''Tranzor Z''), and when it did, it got dismissed as a "''{{Voltron}}'' ripoff" (despite having ''invented the genre'').
* This was even worse, and weirder, for ''{{Raideen}}'', ''Danguard'', and ''CombattlerV''. They were part of the "Shogun Warriors" toy set Mattel introduced into the States in the late 70s - which also included bizzaro versions of Mazinger and the various [[GetterRobo Getters]], so if you really want to stretch the trope you could say that a lot of robots "debuted" as oddly huge toys - but the cartoons weren't licensed for American release. Oh no, that would be logical. Instead, the likenesses of the Raideen, Danguard and Combattler robots were licensed to, of all people, ''MarvelComics'' for the creation of a Shogun Warriors American print comic. That eventually featured, among other things, ''Combattler fighting alongside the Fantastic Four against the gigantic robot minion of, basically, the Star of David''. Really, you couldn't make up something like this [[http://www.option38.com/comics/80s/shogun_warriors_19.asp if you tried.]] Raideen and Combattler's shows never made it to America (well, ''Raideen'' aired in three cities on local Japanese language commmunity channels, but the majority of the Union and 99% of the public never got to see the show); Danguard eventually made it to American TV with the franchise name intact as part of the syndicated ''ForceFive'' cartoon package (alongside Grendizer from above), after the toys and comic went out of production.
* ''{{Kinnikuman}}'' - While neither, the original manga nor anime were licensed for the US, toy company Mattel did sell a toyline of ''Kinnikuman'' figures under the name of ''M.U.S.C.L.E.'' When the sequel series, ''Kinnikuman Nisei'', was later adapted to the US, the title was changed to ''Ultimate Muscle'' in order to tie the series with Mattel's figures.
* The only American appearance of ''Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru'' (1988) is the US game "Keith Courage in the Alpha Zones". The anime has yet to appear as of 2009.
* ''{{Dragonball}}'s'' aborted first syndication run (which cuts off at the end of the Emperor Pilaf arc), meant that every one of Goku's fellow Z-Warriors (with the exception of Yamcha) were introduced to American viewers when ''DragonballZ'' debuted.
**Who here was familiar with {{Doctor Slump}} before Goku and General Blue visited Penguin Village?
* Since ''GundamWing'' debuted before the original, ''MobileSuitGundam'' on Toonami, American viewers met the CharClone Zechs Marquise before the original villain.

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* The TropeNamer and current world record holder of this trope is, of course, Marth, the star of the original ''FireEmblem'' game who made his (and the series as a whole) Western debut in ''SuperSmashBros Melee'', over a decade after the first FE game was released in Japan. His presence and popularity motivated Nintendo to release FE games in the West at last. However, since that series uses mostly [[NonLinearSequel Non-Linear Sequels]], until 2009 Marth would not appear in any of his own games, despite appearing in ''Super Smash Brothers'' twice! However, in 2009 the DS remake of his game finally, FINALLY reached Western shores. This was '''eight years''' after his debut in ''Super Smash Brothers'' and a mind-boggling '''''nineteen years''''' (Eighteen for Europeans) after his initial Famicom debut in Japan!
** This created odd cases such as people who supposedly love Marth but hate strategy rpgs and know nothing about his history. This also resulted in egregious amounts of {{Fanon}}.
** To put this into perspective: in the time it took ''FireEmblem Shadow Dragon'' and Marth to reach American shores in a solo debut, a whole generation of game-playing children was born, then introduced to the NES and SNES, then they watched the fall of Nintendo and rise of Sony, got hooked on Pokemon, experienced the [=PS2=] era, went through all twelve years of grade school during this, watched the Wii and DS reassert Nintendo market dominance, and went off to college owning their own consoles and possibly starting their own families. Alternately, by the time ''FESD'' came out, America saw ''five'' Presidents inaugurated, the last of whom, Barack Obama, was still in law school when the game was released in Japan. Barring Atelier taking another decade to cross the ocean, it doesn't seem like Marth's title of "longest delayed debut in history" will be usurped any time soon.
*** That's longer than the time ''DukeNukemForever'' took from start to cancellation.
** ''SuperSmashBros'' can be terrible about this. This also happened to Roy, who debuted alongside Marth in ''Melee''. While his '''dad's''' game eventually came over, his own was skipped and it seems likely that with the march of the series forward, it never will.
*** As a side note, Roy actually ''did'' debut in ''Melee''- his own game hadn't come out yet when the game was released, both in Japan and in America, and his inclusion (and possibly Marth's as well) was meant to promote the upcoming game. For Europe and Australia, however, this is a straight example, as ''Melee'' came out there a few months after ''The Sword of Seals'' was released in Japan.
**** For those of you wondering, "If they were in ''Melee'' to promote the upcoming game ''that was only released in Japan'', what are they doing in the American version?", well, [[ThrowItIn there's a perfectly good reason they speak Japanese in the American version.]] ''They were originally only intended to be in the Japanese version''. However, they garnered favorable attention during the localization and were left in, without which the franchise might never have left Japan at all.
** A rather notorious example in SSB is Lucas in ''Brawl''. Fans have been hollering for a ''{{Mother 3}}'' release ever since it came out in Japan and Nintendo pointedly ignored them... and then Lucas was put into ''Brawl'', and some of his Subspace Emissary missions were spoilers for ''[=M3=]''. This remains a sore spot with a lot of Nintendo fans.
*** Ness from ''{{Earthbound}}'' has been in all three ''Smash Bros.'' games despite his own game never being released in Europe.
** A much more minor version of this occured with Starfy, the star of ''[[TheLegendaryStarfy The Legendary Starfy]]'' series, [[SequelFirst the fifth installment for the DS being the first one released internationally]]. He's not a full character though, just an Assist Trophy.
*** Starfy also got a cameo in ''Super [[SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]]''.
*** And even before then, on a poster in ''MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga''.
*** And in almost all of these appearances, he is called "[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Stafy]]". Uh huh.
*** Tha's just cos tha's how ya says it in New Yowk. "[[AmericanAccents Stahfee]]".
** In ''SSBM'', there were several trophies that came from ''Custom Robo''. Eventually, a game for the GameCube was released for ''Custom Robo'' in America.
*** Europe had to wait for the DS one. [[NoExportForYou Not a surprise]].
** While not upsetting to people, this also happened with the title character from ''Devil World'', the only game by ShigeruMiyamoto that has been everywhere but North America (besides the ''Mysterious Castle of Murasame''). Despite that fact, it has now made cameos in three games available worldwide - ''Tetris DS'', ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', and the {{DSiWare}} game ''Art Style: [=PiCOPiCT=]'' (known as ''[=PiCTOBiTS=]'' in North America).
*** Tamagon was even a trophy in ''Melee'' but was removed from the international release (along with a few others).
** Barbara the Bat is quite an odd case. While her first game, ''Daigasso! Band Brothers'', debuted in Japan, she only made her first appearance overseas in ''Master of Illusion'', which is a completely different game. Later, she was brought back as an unlockable Assist Trophy in ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', with a {{callback}} to ''Band Brothers'' to boot. To add insult to injury, there were scrapped plans to bring ''Band Brothers'' overseas under the title ''Jam with the Band''. Let's hope Nintendo comes to their senses and release the upcoming ''Band Brothers DX'' here.
*** Is coming in Europe for May 2010.
** Barely averted with fellow assist trophy Saki Amamiya. His game ''SinAndPunishment'' was made available to Americans on the Virtual Console mere months before Brawl's release, more than seven years after its initial Japanese release.
*** And now they're making a sequel.
** Though previously released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan, Melee's trophy list included characters from ''Doshin the Giant'' (Doshin and Jashin), ''{{Cubivore}}'' (Alpha), and ''AnimalCrossing'' (Tom Nook, Mr. Resetti and K.K. Slider/Totakeke), all of which had the words "Future release" in their descriptions in the Western release of Melee. While ''Animal Crossing'' gained worldwide availability, ''Cubivore'' was released in America only, while ''Doshin the Giant'' only came out in the PAL reigons. NoExportForYou, indeed.
** Yet another ''Smash'' example, though it's so strange and unexpected that it's almost funny. In 2006, a little game for the Nintendo DS came out in Japan called ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title implies]], the game can be used to look up recipes of various types of dishes. The catch? The "Shaberu!" in the title translates to "It Talks!", meaning that the game features a character known as the DS Chef, who actually reads out the instructions on how to prepare and cook the food to you, and you can use the DS's Microphone for vocal commands as an alternative to using the touch screen. Then all is quiet until 2008, when all of the world received a big game called ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. Among the recognisable music that the game offered to many gamers worldwide, one song hailed from ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi''. While it is recognisable to Japanese players familiar with the game, everyone overseas is left in the dark, having never heard such a tune before. In the following months after ''Brawl''[='=]s, a sequel to ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'', ''Sekai no Gohan Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'' was released... and it came to America as ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' (and ''Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?'' in PAL territories). While the song made for ''Brawl'' was only made for the Japanese version in mind, the localized versions of the ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' come in the five other languages that Nintendo generally supports: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. The bottom line? '''A talking cookbook for the DS debuted in Smash Bros!'''
** Plot hints for ''MetalGearSolid4'' were dropped into the Shadow Moses stage (specifically, the presence of [[spoiler:Metal Gear RAY, an army of Gekko and an active REX]]). In Europe, ''[=MGS4=]'' came first. So this was in some ways an inversion for Europe.
*** Though to be fair, there was a trailer that showed Solid Snake and Liquid about to fight each other in REX and RAY, respectively.
* Non-Smash Nintendo example. SamuraiWarriors 3 will be featuring the likes of none other than Takamaru from ''Nazo No Murasamejou'', a contemporary of Marth's from the Famicom, who is appearing as a GuestFighter. This trope could very well be renamed "Takamaru Debuted in Samurai Warriors" within a year.
** If a sticker and a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHNOUtE-1tw&feature=related song]] count as a debut, he technically debuted in Smash Bros too...
* Some of the cast of the first and second ''{{Atelier}}'' games finally appeared in America... in the Gust game ''ArTonelico'', in a bonus level of the dream states for the heroines. This happened nearly ''ten years'' after the debut of the first ''Atelier'' game. The characters finally made their solo debut in the Western market in manga form, but the ''Atelier'' games that ''Ar Tonelico'' referenced still aren't out in the States.
** This has gotten even more ridiculous and more Marth-like with the game ''XEdge'' (pronounced "Cross Edge"), which has been released by NIS America in late May 2009. It's the full-on console debut for Marie, the first ''Atelier'' heroine, in a SSB-style crossover game... that wasn't produced by, and isn't distributed by, ''her own home company''.
*** And now, with [[Game/TrinityUniverse ''Trinity Universe'']], it's happening ''again'', with Violet Platane of ''Atelier [[strike:Viorate]]Violet'' making her American debut in that game. Potentially rabid gamers wielding carrots have, in fact, been spotted outside the NISA offices.
**Speaking of ''XEdge'', 4 characters from it, Lily, Whim, Raze, and Rewrich are from Mana Khemia 2, a game that was planned to be brought over by NISA..... months after XEdge in spite of [=MK2=] far preceedng it in Japan in both system and release dates.
** Relatedly, the ''Atelier'' series first came to the US via the ''Iris'' subseries, which was an attempt to use some of the ''Atelier'' concepts in a more standard RPG -- namely, one with a male lead and a Defeat The BigBad main plot. The fact that ''these'' were the ones that finally managed to get companies interested in a US release is irksome to some fans, as well.
** In a franchise sense, the newest ''Atelier'' games are now coming over, Rorona and Annie respectively... which means that this trope has happened ''again''. Liese Randel in ''AtelierAnnie'' shows up in the second year of gameplay to help out our heroine and seemingly has a bit of history... history which is covered in ''her own game'', ''Atelier Lise'', which didn't make it out of Japan[[hottip:*:For reasons [[GameBreakingBug that are probably pretty good]], to be honest]] meaning English gamers only know her from ''Annie''.
* Cless Albane and Arche Klein, of ''TalesOfPhantasia'' fame, made their Western debut in 1998... in a cameo in ''TalesOfDestiny''. And then they appeared in ''TalesOfEternia'' (known in the West as ''Tales Of Destiny 2'') as a BonusBoss fight. ''TalesOfPhantasia'' didn't cross the Pacific until 2006, ''over a decade'' after its debut in Japan and ''eight years'' after the characters showed up in [=ToD=].
** Don't forget Eugene and Annie from ''TalesOfRebirth''. Their American debut was in 2007 in [[TalesSeries Tales of the World: Radient Mythology]], ''3 years'' after [[TalesOfRebirth ToR]] came out in Japan. It has yet to arrive in the USA and I doubt it ever will...
** Can't forget that ''TalesOfSymphonia'' was actually intended as a prequel to ''TalesOfPhantasia''. ''Symphonia'' was localized at least a year before ''Phantasia''.
* ''Super {{Godzilla}}'' featured several monsters from movies that had yet to be released outside of Japan such as Battra and Mecha King Ghidorah. However, the American version did replace the 90's Mechagodzilla with the 70's one.
* ''LaPucelle'' didn't receive an English localization until the American success of ''{{Disgaea}}''. This resulted in Prier first appearing as a BonusBoss cameo in ''{{Disgaea}}'', before appearing in her own game. Worse, her appearance in ''Disgaea'' spoils a plot point of ''LaPucelle''.
* This trope could've easily been called "Meryl Silverburgh debuted in ''MetalGearSolid''", originally a character from HideoKojima's previous AdventureGame ''{{Policenauts}}'', which was officially slated for an American release at one point, but apparently canceled when Konami couldn't properly lip-sync the English dialogue with the game's [[FullMotionVideo FMV cut-scenes]]. The bottom line of this is that the ShoutOut in the scene where Snake tells her [[ManWithNoName his real name]] is lost (it's the same name as her best friend in ''Policenauts'', who is otherwise the complete opposite of Snake).
** To a lesser extent, many of the tropes that ''Metal Gear Solid'' are credited for creating were actually featured in some form or another in the original [=MSX2=] games, especially in ''Metal Gear 2''. Remember the part where you have to look at the back of the game's packaging to obtain Meryl's frequency? Or where you had to follow her to the women's bathroom? Or where Snake's mysterious informant tells him to watch out for mines? ''Metal Gear 2'' did all of that first.
* The ''RobotWars'' game ''Arenas of Destruction'' featured Terrohurtz amongst its robots. The game was based on the 4th season, and Terrohurtz would not appear until the 5th (which didn't start until after the game was released).
* A peculiar ''intra-series'' instance of this involves the ''FinalFantasy'' series. The games tend to reuse themes, but Western audiences were denied several of the original games for quite a while. So, for example, while practically every game has "Gysahl Greens", the place it's named after wasn't seen until ''FinalFantasyIII'' was finally released for the Nintendo DS in 2006, a full ''sixteen years'' after its 1990 release in Japan and nine years after Gysahl Greens first were seen in North America in ''FinalFantasyVII''.
** FinalFantasyIII is especially prone to this as it wasn't released outside of Japan until the DS remake. This led to many elements first introduced here being assumed to have debuted in later games, such as SummonMagic, Moogles and the Job Change system.
*** FF 3 is especially prone to this as it was the only game of the original six to not get any sort of remake or port for said sixteen years after its initial Famicom release. And to give an idea of how often the first six Final Fantasies are ported/remade for those not familiar with the series' history: the first two games, originally released on the Famicom, were not only released on the Wonderswan Color and PSP as separate titles, but were released as a combo game on the PS1, the GBA... and the Famicom. Yes, they were recycling their success so fast, they did it on the ''same system it debuted on'' and still never got around to FF 3. On the one hand, considering their utter lack of success at selling anything before Final Fantasy (as the famous story goes, the series got it's oft-ridiculed name because it was to be their last attempt at a game before going out of business,) one can hardly blame them for wanting to ride it for all it was worth... oh, and as another note on just how amazing it is that 3 never got a remake for as long as it did, the other five of the original six all got remakes/ports on the PS1 (as did Chrono Trigger) and the GBA, and the Wonderswan Color had remakes of 1, 2, and 4 - the remake for 3 was canceled. It was a surprise when they not only actually went through with the DS remake for [=FF3=], but also released it internationally.
** Minor example of this with Gilgamesh first appearing in North America in ''FinalFantasyVIII''. This was a few weeks before ''Final Fantasy Anthology'' containing ''FinalFantasyV'' came out.
** Cissnei's appearance in ''CrisisCore'' was the first time Western audiences met her, but she was actually featured in ''BeforeCrisis'' which came out three or four years prior and was never released outside Japan.
** Another example is the recurring Job Class of Dragoons, which originally came out in ''FinalFantasyII'' with the character Ricard Highwind. It would also appear again in ''FinalFantasyIII'' as a Class that the player could pick for the main characters. Since neither of those games never were ported outside of Japan originally, the first time westerners would see that Class would be with Kain Highwind in ''FinalFantasyIV'' (AKA: "FFII"). References to the class as a whole are sometimes erroneously attributed to the popular Kain character in specific. The remakes of ''II'' and ''IV'' make a MythologyGag out of it, naming Richard's son Kain in ''II'', and Kain's father Richard in ''IV''.
* Fans of ''SonicTheHedgehog'' often insist that certain details about the characters, such as Tails' GadgeteerGenius skills and Eggman's goofiness first appeared in ''Sonic Adventure''. In reality, this was actually a case of AllThereInTheManual mixed with NoExportForYou, as the Japanese manuals and supplemental material revealed these facts from the start. Furthermore, Tails had been shown as an inventor in a Western-released game before, the little known Game Gear title ''Tails' Adventure''.
** Actually well before that! Anyone with the necessary gaming skills and a good eye for detail should notice this in Sonic the Hedgehog 2: the Tornado (the airplane, to the uninformed) gets shot down in the beginning of Wing Fortress, and appears fully functional, with a brand-new rocket engine to boot, at the end of Death Egg. Unless you've played the entire game as Tails (which puts Sonic at the plane's controls), Tails is the only one who could have fixed the plane. Provided Sonic doesn't die between these two points of time, the level time limits only allow for 20 minutes between these events.
* Technically, ''SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' did this to all the cast members who appeared in the "main" games of the SuperRobotWars series, to say nothing of Elzam, who [[CanonImmigrant DID debut in Original Generation]] before appearing in Alpha 2.
** Similarly, ''Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: EndlessFrontier'' will be the North American debut of Reiji and Xiaomu, the protagonists of ''[[CapcomVsWhatever Namco x Capcom]]''.
* The entire cast of ''Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune'', an arcade game released worldwide, comes from the manga and anime series ''Wangan Midnight''. Despite the former first being serialized in 1992, [[NoExportForYou neither the manga nor the anime have seen an official release outside of Japan]].
* ''SakuraWars'', [[http://nisamerica.com/pressevent/2009/press/Sakura_release_20090507_support.pdf anyone]]?
* Saki Omokane from ''[[http://hardcoregaming101.net/quiznanairo/quiznanairo.htm Quiz Nanairo Dreams]]'', a trivia game/{{dating sim}} released only in Japan, is much better known to western players as "that girl with the big gun" from ''[[{{Capcom Vs Whatever}} Marvel vs. Capcom]]'', where she appeared as a helper character.
**Another example is Shuma-Gorath. Most people know him more from the Marvel vs Capcom games than they do from the comics.
** In ''Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars'', surprisingly, Ippatsuman (and his HumongousMecha Gyakuten-Oh) is the only one who fits in this trope. All the other Tatsunoko (and Capcom) characters had their licenses applied in many ways.
* Alfred the pilot from ''Real Bout {{Fatal Fury}} 2'' was actually designed to be the main character of ''Garou Densetsu: Dominated Minds'', a [=PlayStation=] game based on ''Real Bout Fatal Fury Special'' that was released a few months later and only in Japan.
* One of the alternate character skins becomes this in the Japanese version of 2008's ''PrinceOfPersia'' game. After beating the game, you unlock an alternate skin for the Prince's sidekick, Elika, which makes her look like Jade from ''BeyondGoodAndEvil.'' But that game was never released in Japan. (The other cameo skins--[[AssassinsCreed Altaiir]] for the Prince, and characters from the previous ''Prince of Persia'' trilogy on the previous generation of systems--''do'' feature games released in Japan.)
* Thanks to the magic of {{Vaporware}}, Conker the Squirrel made his debut in ''Diddy Kong Racing'' in '98. The game he was supposed to star in, ''Conker's Quest'', was in DevelopmentHell, and wouldn't come out for three years, during which time it took an adult swerve and was renamed ''[[ConkersBadFurDay Conker's Bad Fur Day]]''. In the meantime, ''Conker's Pocket Tales'' was released for the GameBoyColor.
** Don't forget that Banjo, star of the later title Banjo-Kazooie, also debuted in Diddy Kong Racing. Tiptup appeared in BK too.
** Timber was also supposed to have his own game after DKR, with Bumper and Pipsy as his sidekicks.
* Terra from ''{{Ys}}: The Ark of Napishtim'' originally debuted in ''Ys V'', [[NoExportForYou which was never exported]].
* A number of Mobile Suits from various {{Gundam}} series made their American debut in video games long before their series reached the US (''[[GundamZZ ZZ]]'', ''[[VictoryGundam V]]'' and ''[[TurnAGundam Turn-A]]'' still haven't, although ''Turn-A'' has recently been announced for an American release.)
** Granted, ''ZZ'' having trouble coming over is [[YourMileageMayVary understandable]].
* Many playing ''Pokemon Pinball'' outside of Japan when it first came out probably didn't realize that the tune that plays during the "capture" mode is "Mezase Pokemon Masutā", the original opening to the Pokemon anime.
* In Europe the ''FinalFantasy'' games [[NoExportForYou weren't released until the 7th game]] (Then came the port/remake storm...), so when ''SecretOfEvermore'' was released, years before ''FinalFantasyIV'' reached European shores, it basically meant ''Cecil Harvey debuted in Secret of Evermore'' (He's got a cameo there). Not to mention he happily mentions plot points of his game...
** And some of the ''FinalFantasyVI'' cast did debut there as well, also in cameo roles.
*A similar case to the [[SuperSmashBros Smash Bros.]] one: In the newest ''SegaSuperstars'' game, ''Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing,'' the two protagonists of ''[[strike:HouseOfTheDead EX]]'' "[[NeverSayDie HOTD EX]]" Zobio and Zobiko, appear as fully playable racers, despite [[NoExportForYou their game not leaving Japan and All-Stars Racing not leaving Western countries.]]
*Shaft was cut from the only port of ''CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' that America or Europe got prior to 2007. This led to him mind-controlling Richter in ''SymphonyOfTheNight'' with pretty much no introduction.
* The characters from ''Jewelry Master Twinkle'', a FallingBlocks PuzzleGame with DatingSim elements that somehow got an international release, actually come from an older Japan-only {{Mahjong}} game called ''Taikyoku Mahjong: Net de Ron!''.
* In ''3DDotGameHeroes'' the loading screens are parodies of the artwork to various classic games in the "3D pixel" style of DGH. However, many of the games were never released outside of Japan are currently being having their remade forms released. It's surprisingly hard to be nostalgic for something that isn't due out until later this year. Compounding the problem is that these are (with a few exceptions) parodies of the Japanese artwork which is many cases is completely different from the artwork in other territories. Sure, you got Tetris, but not with the box art being parodied.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* During the Silver Age of comic books, DC and Marvel tended to introduce new or reinvented characters in anthology titles and determine the character's popularity from its sales. The second Flash and Green Lantern were all introduced in ''Showcase''. Superheroes debuting in their own titles, though it occurred in the Golden Age, was restarted later on by Marvel. Other anthology titles which debuted characters include:
** ''Journey into Mystery'' (Thor, and the book was later turned into his solo book)
** ''Tales to Astonish'' (Ant-Man)
** ''Tales of Suspense'' (IronMan)
** ''House of Secrets'' (SwampThing)
** ''Amazing Fantasy'' ({{Spider-Man}})

[[AC:WebComics]]
* During the CrossoverWars a character from the OrphanedSeries ''Action Porn'' (no longer on the web) appeared in ''Evil Overlords United'' before he was supposed to appear in his parent comic (and ''Action Porn'' ended before he could appear at all.)
* Arguably Bob and George in BobAndGeorge. They were originally to be the comic's main characters, but when the hand-drawn comic [[SoBadItsHorrible flopped]], they were later introduced as minor characters in the [[strike:filler]] sprite comic.
** Definitely their mother though; she was presumably to be shown earlier, but she actually debuted in the ''final comic''.
** Also [[strike:Nate]] N4-T3, who was originally one of George's friends named Nate who was never shown in the comic until N4-T3 was introduced. Only, he's not human, he's an anthropomorphic Yellow Demon with glasses the size of his face.
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