History Main / MarthDebutedInSmashBros

* Alabama "Bama the Hammer" Kowalski, a.k.a. Sgt. Hammer, makes her ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' debut in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII Legacy of the Void'', but originally appeared in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm''... though she ''was'' based off of a generic unit that was given a name (and more of a personality) that existed since the original, making this a case where it overlaps with AscendedExtra.
** The characters Lt. Rosa Morales and Cpl. Miles "Blaze" Lewis went through the same treatment.

** In the Chinese Tencent release for ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'', any track that debuted in ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' that's featured in the Booster Course Pass doesn't feature a prefix at all, including [[RealWorldEpisode the city courses]] (compared to every other region, where non-prefix tracks in the pass are ''Tour'' non-city courses), likely due to the fact that ''Tour'' is unavailable on Chinese smartphones, thus having the ''Tour'' tracks make their official Chinese debut in the pass.

** In the Chinese Tencent release for ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'', any track that debuted in ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' that's featured in the Booster Course Pass doesn't feature a prefix at all regardless of whether they're a city course or not (unlike everywhere else, where non-prefix tracks in the pass are ''Tour'' non-city courses), likely due to the fact that ''Tour'' is unavailable on smartphones in that region, thus those tracks make their official Chinese debut in the pass.

* When ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' was released in China for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQue_Player iQue Player]], characters that weren't in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (read: Mario, Peach, Bowser, Toad, and Yoshi) or [[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario 64]] (Wario) made their Chinese debut in ''Mario Kart''. The remaining two characters were Franchise/DonkeyKong and even Luigi.

* When ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' was released in China for the UsefulNotes/IquePlayer, characters that weren't in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (read: Mario, Peach, Bowser, Toad, and Yoshi) made their Chinese debut in ''Mario Kart''. The remaining three characters were Franchise/DonkeyKong, VideoGame/{{Wario}} and even Luigi.

* Because ''WesternAnimation/JonahAVeggieTalesMovie'' did not get dubbed into some languages, some countries that dubbed ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' such as Germany, Slovenia and Norway saw the debut of Khalil in "The Ballad of Little Joe".

* The second game in the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, ''Twisted!'', was released in the US only after the third game, ''Touched!'', was already out in stores, while in Europe [[NoExportForYou it was never released]]. As a result, Wario-Man and 18-Volt appeared first in ''Touched!'' for Western players.

* When ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' was released in China for the UsefulNotes/IquePlayer, characters that weren't in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (read: Mario, Peach, Bowser, Toad and to a lesser extent [[TheCameo Yoshi]]) made their Chinese debut in ''Mario Kart''. The remaining three characters were Franchise/DonkeyKong, VideoGame/{{Wario}} and even Luigi.

* Misato Hayakawa of ''Countdown Vampires'' first appeared in the Japan-exclusive ''R?MJ: The Mystery Hospital'', a ''VideoGame/{{D}}''-like first-person AdventureGame from the same developer and publisher.

** The TropeNamer is Marth, the star of the first ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' game (''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight''), who made his and his' series Western debut in ''Melee''. Well, ''gaming'' debut, if we want to be precise.[[note]]A two-episode ''Fire Emblem'' OVA, also starring Marth, was the series' true Western debut in 1997.[[/note]] His presence and popularity motivated Nintendo to release all future games in the franchise internationally, but it wasn't until the Nintendo DS remake of his game in 2009 that Marth himself would finally appear outside the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series in the West, and [[https://youtu.be/8xNUYS-tJZQ Nintendo themselves]] lampshaded this trope when announcing the localization of the original NES game for the series' 30th anniversary.

* In ''[[VideoGame/MusouStars Warriors All-Stars]]'', two members of the playable roster are Hajime Arima and Darius, both of whom hail from the Japan-exclusive visual novel series VideoGame/HarukanaruTokinoNakade. Seeing as how Hajime and Darius are appearing in a crossover game that's being localized, even before their own series has seen a western release, they are a perfect example of this trope.

** The [=iPod=] songs in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' include songs from games (or in some cases, a movie and a CD album/radio drama) that have never been released outside of Japan. The game includes pop songs from ''HIDECHAN! Radio. 2.5 - Two-Han Princess Singles + Music & Drama CD'', which was a GreatestHits album of Creator/KojimaProductions' soundtracks (alongside a handful of new compositions including two J-Pop songs by Two-Han Princess) that also includes a {{Defictionalization}} of the [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'' RadioDrama from ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''. There are also songs from the aforementioned ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', ''VideoGame/Boktai3SabatasCounterattack'', the original PC-88 version of ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' (all of which have never been released outside of Japan, though a UsefulNotes/SegaCD VideoGameRemake would be made for ''Snatcher'' [[RemadeForTheExport specifically for an international release]]), and songs from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2: [[MotionComic Digital Graphic Novel]]'', [[LateExportForYou which would never be released outside of Japan until 2013]] as part of ''[[CompilationRerelease The Legacy Collection]]'', [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment despite an English dub being made in 2008 shortly after the Japanese DVD release]].

** Similarly, as ''VideoGame/{{Cyberbots}}'' remains largely obscure in the West, Western fans are far more likely to know Jin Saotome and Devilotte from their appearances in the ''Videogame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series than the game they actually originated in (Devilotte also showed up as a secret character in ''Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo'').
** In ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'', we have Comicbook/{{Nova}}'s [[DownloadableContent DLC]] [[http://x.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/8/c0/4ecab2670714a.jpg costume]]. The preview of this costume took place on November 16, 2011. Both Marvel and Capcom executives weren't allowed to tell the public were it originated from, as it was from a new project that Marvel wanted to keep under wraps at the time. On February 21, 2012, the costume was finally made downloadable to the public, but there was still no word about its origin. Then, on March 2, 2012, Marvel gives us a preview of Sam Alexander, the new Nova as seen in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' (which later aired on April 1, 2012). Sam's costume is the DLC costume of Nova in ''[=UMvC3=]''.

* Kasumi Yoshizawa from ''VideoGame/Persona5 [[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'' appeared in the ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' mobile game Memory Defrag more than a month before Royal was released in the North America. She was not even a gacha character, she was just given to anyone who logged in during the collaboration period.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has Cameo fights too. Granted, all three of the cameos in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' were from games that were released in America before (Garr was from ''Tales of Destiny'', Farah and Meredy were from ''Tales of Eternia''), but not in Europe[[note]]at least until the PSP version of ''Eternia'' was released in Europe (under its original name)... but not North America, thanks to a policy SCEA (but not SCEJ or SCEE) has on requiring a certain amount of new content in ports and remakes[[/note]]. However, in ''Tales of the Abyss'', there's Mint (from ''Tales of Phantasia'', which was finally released in the US the same year as ''Abyss''), Philia (from ''Tales of Destiny'', released years ago), and Reid from ''Tales of Eternia''. However, who's this "Nanaly" girl in there? She is not Chelsea from ''Tales of Destiny''. Ironically she's from the ''real Tales of Destiny 2'' (note the Arabic numeral; ''Eternia'' used a Roman one) and is in no way related to Chelsea unless you WMG her to be a descendant of Chelsea (or Mary). Not to mention, two of Anise's Tokunaga accessories that reference Reala and Harold also first appeared in the west through ''Tales of the Abyss''.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces f'' had three of these upon its western release in the forms of Veigue Lungberg (''Tales of Rebirth''), Reala (''Tales of Destiny 2''), and Kohaku Hearts (''Tales of Hearts''). The PS Vita version of VideoGame/TalesOfHearts is the only one that's getting a western release.

** With many past characters appearing in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' as DLC, this trope was inevitable for the international releases. For every game not released overseas at the time[[note]][[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]][[/note]], ten more characters made their international debuts this way.[[note]]Four from ''Mystery of the Emblem'', counting Emperor Hardin, and three from the "Others" set, for a total of 53. This count includes the characters from [=FE6=] appearing in the [=FE7=] epilogue, as the epilogue was removed from European and Australian copies of [=FE7=].[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' featured the Diamond Dust and One-Winged Angel Keyblades as attack cards. Those weapons were only added to the original ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI Kingdom Hearts]]'' in its [[UpdatedRerelease Final Mix]], which did not see an English release until a near decade later.

* Reimu Hakurei, protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', appears as an OptionalBoss in ''VideoGame/MagicPengel'' and a playable character in its sequel ''VideoGame/GraffitiKingdom'' (as "Flying Maiden"), despite her own games never being released in English. The ''Touhou'' situation became particularly strange in 2015, when some {{Doujin}} fangames received a commercial [=PS4=] release under the ''Play, Doujin!'' programme. These were then localized into English and received a [[TranslationMatchmaking misleading advertising campaign]] which implied them to be an official release of the original ''Touhou'' games.

* Since ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' didn't receive an official release there, the first official appearance in China of the characters from the series was the CCTV-6 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies''. It is also the first official Chinese appearance of [[BigBad Slade]] and [[spoiler:the original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''.]]

* In ''Melee'', there were several trophies that came from ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'', a series of mecha games that were exclusive to Japan. The games would start releasing in North America with the fourth entry of the series, while PAL regions would have to wait for the fifth installment.

* One of the characters featured in ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'' is Mamoru, a KidAppealCharacter that aids in public safety, sometimes by giving safety tips, other times directly assisting Red in helping those in danger. Except this isn't his first appearance, as Mamoru originally debuted in a series of [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA stories and games]] simply titled ''Mamoru-Kun'' as a part of Fukuoka’s disaster preparation program. Likewise, for Europeans as a whole, this marks the first appearance of Waffle, Panta, Cyan, Therria, Alicia, Flare, and Stare, as ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' was never released in [=PAL=] territories outside of France (for some reason).

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters''. The first game had enemies from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' plus Milly and Terry from ''VI'', well before either game was released in the US. And PAL regions hadn't received ''any'' game in the series before this, meaning that every character that wasn't an OriginalGeneration was an example.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' had character cameos from the entire series becoming slowly available over the course of a year (July 2010 - July 2011), including Ashlynn and Milly from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', which hadn't been released outside of Japan at the time. It wouldn't take long, though, as ''VI'' received an international release in February 2011 -- soon enough that when another ''VI'' character, Carver, showed up in ''IX''; the game was out and he no longer qualified for this trope. (It was also possible to hack the game to unlock characters' appearances, including Carver's, ahead of schedule.) The game also had previous villains as {{superboss}}es, including Murdaw, Mortamor, and Nokturnus from ''VI''. And while PAL regions had received remakes of ''IV'' and ''V'' by that time and received ''VI'' alongside the US, characters from the original trilogy and ''VII'' were still new to them.

* The Shoot 'em-up game ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' was never released in PAL territories. So for some players who have never heard of it, ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'''s Gummi-Ship sections (very much a Shoot-em-up) was their first introduction to the game via the secret boss of "Schwarzgeist", same with the ship "Endymion".

* Celica A. Mercury and Naoto Kurogane from ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' both debuted in a series of light novels that never got an overseas release, ''LightNovel/BlazBluePhaseShift'' for Celica and ''Bloodedge Experience'' for Naoto. As a result, most western fans were initially exposed to them through their playable appearances in the main series and scratching their heads at just who the hell they were. It's especially jarring because both seem to play very important roles in the plot and some have prior relationships with the already established cast, so it comes off as RememberTheNewGuy if you didn't do your research beforehand.

* Kasumi Yoshizawa from ''VideoGame/Persona5 [[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'' appeared in the ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' mobile game Memory Defrag more than a month before Royal was released in the North America. She was not even a gacha character, she was just given to anyone who logged in during the collaboration period.

[[folder: ''Super Smash Bros.'']]

[[folder: Action Adventure]]

[[folder: Action Game]]

[[folder: Adventure Game]]

[[folder: Fighting Game]]

[[folder: Mecha Game]]

[[folder: Multiple]]

[[folder: Platform Game]]

[[folder: Puzzle Game]]

[[folder: Racing Game]]

[[folder: Rail Shooter]]

[[folder: Real Time Strategy]]

[[folder: Rhythm Game]]

[[folder: Role-Playing Game]]

* Labrys, from ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''. Or rather, from a Japan-exclusive drama CD released for ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', released 5-6 years previously. That said, she was little more than a passing mention.

[[folder: Shoot 'em Up]]

[[folder: Simulation Game]]

[[folder: Survival Horror]]

[[folder: Turn-Based Strategy]]

[[folder: Other]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Films -- Animation]]

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Toys]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* [=JoJo=] Siwa's first appearance in Japan was her cameo in ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=]'s Big Birthday Blowout!]]''.
* On February 8th 2023, ''Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm'' debuted in Creator/HBOMax UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}, making the Polish debut of[[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce the Aqua Teens]].

* On February 8th 2023, ''Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm'' debuted in Creator/HBOMax UsefulNotes/Poland, making the Polish debut of[[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce the Aqua Teens]].

*** Example with France: While Super Sentai stopped being dubbed in French after ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'' (while it was already heavily [[CensorshipTropes censored]]) in favor of the "less violent and confusing" ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', ''Abaranger'' would eventually mark itself, through ''Dino Thunder'', to be the last ''Super Sentai Series'' dubbed in French.

** ''Lost in Translation'' of ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' featured the Power Rangers watching episode 10 of ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger''. This resulted in an entire Super Sentai episode to be dubbed in countries who usually don't do Super Sentai.

** Cress Albane and Arche Klein, of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' fame (released in 1995), made their Western debut in 1998... in a cameo in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny''. And then they appeared in ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' (known in the West as ''Tales of Destiny II'') as a BonusBoss fight. ''Phantasia'' 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=].

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' had character cameos from the entire series becoming slowly available over the course of a year (July 2010 - July 2011), including Ashlynn and Milly from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', which hadn't been released outside of Japan at the time. It wouldn't take long, though, as ''VI'' received an international release in February 2011 -- soon enough that when another ''VI'' character, Carver, showed up in ''IX''; the game was out and he no longer qualified for this trope. (It was also possible to hack the game to unlock characters' appearances, including Carver's, ahead of schedule.) The game also had previous villains as {{Bonus Boss}}es, including Murdaw, Mortamor, and Nokturnus from ''VI''. And while PAL regions had received remakes of ''IV'' and ''V'' by that time and received ''VI'' alongside the US, characters from the original trilogy and ''VII'' were still new to them.

* Reimu Hakurei, protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', appears as a BonusBoss in ''VideoGame/MagicPengel'' and a playable character in its sequel ''VideoGame/GraffitiKingdom'' (as "Flying Maiden"), despite her own games never being released in English. The ''Touhou'' situation became particularly strange in 2015, when some {{Doujin}} fangames received a commercial [=PS4=] release under the ''Play, Doujin!'' programme. These were then localized into English and received a [[TranslationMatchmaking misleading advertising campaign]] which implied them to be an official release of the original ''Touhou'' games.

** ''[[VideoGame/{{SUGURI}} Acceleration of SUGURI]]'' has Sora, protagonist of [[VideoGame/{{sora}} her own game]], who appears as a BonusBoss and unlockable character. Her game was still in development when ''Acceleration Of SUGURI'' was released. [[spoiler:However, a teaser of her game can be unlocked by fighting Sora and unlocking her extra story.]]

* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' didn't receive an English localization until the American success of ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''. This resulted in Prier first appearing as a BonusBoss cameo in ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', before appearing in her own game. Worse, her appearance in ''Disgaea'' spoils a plot point of ''La Pucelle''.

** The first three games weren't released in PAL regions, making their characters examples.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters''. The first game had enemies from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' plus Milly and Terry from ''VI'', well before either game was released in the US. Milly and ''VI'''s bosses Murdaw, Mortamor, and Nokturnus would go on to make further cameos in ''IX'' before their own game got released in the US.
** While Yangus, the cockney thief from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', is familiar to non-Japanese audiences, he also appeared in a Japan-only ''Fushigi no Dungeon'' GaidenGame on the [=PS2=], in which [[SpinoffBabies he is a young boy who is still in training]]. This version of him was reused in the ''Itadaki Street'' series, from which ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' was released to Western audiences. Naturally, they were confused why he was suddenly a kid in that game.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' had character and cameos from the entire series becoming slowly available over the course of a year (July 2010 - July 2011), but the third character available was Ashlynn from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', which hadn't been released outside of Japan at the time. It wouldn't take long, though, as ''VI'' received an international release in February 2011 -- soon enough that when another ''VI'' character to appear in ''IX'', Carver, showed up the game was out and he no longer qualified for this trope. (Milly, on the other hand, wasn't an example despite appearing before ''VI''[='s=] release, since as noted above she had already been in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters''. It was also possible to hack the game to unlock characters' appearances, including Carver's, ahead of schedule.)

** The [=iPod=] songs in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' include songs from games (or in some cases, a movie and a CD album/radio drama) that have never been released outside of Japan. The game includes pop songs from ''HIDECHAN! Radio. 2.5 - Two-Han Princess Singles + Music & Drama CD'', which was a GreatestHits album of Creator/KojimaProductions' soundtracks (alongside a handful of new compositions including two J-Pop songs by Two-Han Princess) that also includes a {{Defictionalization}} of the [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'' RadioDrama from ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''. There are also songs from the aforementioned ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', ''VideoGame/Boktai3SabatasCounterattack'', the original PC-88 version of ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' (all of which have never been released outside of Japan, though a UsefulNotes/SegaCD VideoGameRemake would be made for ''Snatcher'' [[RemadeForTheExport specifically for an international release]]), and songs from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2: [[MotionComic Digital Graphic Novel]]'', [[LateExportForYou which would never be released outside of Japan until 2013]] as part of ''[[CompilationRerelease The Legacy Collection]]'', [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment despite an English dub in 2008 shortly after the Japanese DVD release]].

** The [=iPod=] songs in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' include songs from games (or in some cases, a movie and a CD album/radio drama) that have never been released outside of Japan. The game includes pop songs from ''HIDECHAN! Radio. 2.5 - Two-Han Princess Singles + Music & Drama CD'', which was a GreatestHits album of Creator/KojimaProductions' soundtracks (alongside a handful of new compositions including two J-Pop songs by Two-Han Princess) that also includes a {{Defictionalization}} of the [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'' RadioDrama from ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''. There are also songs from the aforementioned ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', ''VideoGame/Boktai3SabatasCounterattack'', the original PC-88 version of ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}} (all of which have never been released outside of Japan), and songs from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2: [[MotionComic Digital Graphic Novel]]'', [[LateExportForYou which would never be released outside of Japan until 2013]] as part of ''[[CompilationRerelease The Legacy Collection]]'', [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment despite an English dub in 2008 shortly after the Japanese DVD release]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' also includes references to ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'', an [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] RadioDrama that was included as an EasterEgg in the [[LocalizationBonus Japanese and European releases of]] ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''. ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'' was not included in the North American release of the game.

**

* Similar to ''Kururin '', Devil from ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' also first appeared in the US as an Assist Torphy in ''Brawl'' since he US is the only terretory that ''Devil World'' never rleased in.

** Ness from ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' appeared in the first three ''Smash Bros.'' games before his own game eventually got released in Europe and Australia through the Virtual Console. Mr. Saturn made an even earlier cameo appearance in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' (as a treasure in The Great Cave Offensive), which released in Europe under the title ''Kirby's Fun Pak''.