History Main / SequelNumberSnarl

** ''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'' was not a numbered ''Street Fighter'' entry, despite being the first all-new ''Street Fighter'' game developed by Capcom since ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' (not counting ''The Movie'' tie-in games), partly because it was a much lower-budget game that was made to get rid of unsold/returned stocks [=CPS1=]/[=CPS2=] boards, but also because it was a prequel to ''Street Fighter II'', so it was treated as its own side-series of games, with the follow-ups being numbered like conventional sequels (e.g. ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', ''Street Fighter Alpha 3''). This logic felt out the window when the eventual ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' series turned out to be an interquel set between ''II'' and ''III'', as well as the succeeding ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', likely a result of the lukewarm reception of the ''III'' series back in its day. It would not be until ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'', released 24 years after ''New Generation'' in 2023, that the series [[CliffhangerWall would finally move beyond]] the events of the ''III'' series.

** ''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'' was not a numbered ''Street Fighter'' entry, despite being the first all-new ''Street Fighter'' game developed by Capcom since ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' (not counting ''The Movie'' tie-in games), partly because it was a much lower-budget game that was made to get rid of unsold/returned stocks [=CPS1=]/[=CPS2=] boards, but also because it was a prequel to ''Street Fighter II'', so it was treated as its own side-series of games, with the follow-ups being numbered like conventional sequels (e.g. ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', ''Street Fighter Alpha 3''). This logic felt out the window when the eventual ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' series turned out to be an interquel set between ''II'' and ''III'', as well as the succeeding ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', likely a result of the lukewarm reception of the ''III'' series back in its day. It would not be until ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'', released roughly 17 years after ''New Generation'' in 2023, that the series [[CliffhangerWall would finally move beyond]] the events of the ''III'' series.

* In Japan, the order of the second and third ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games were swapped when they ported to the Famicom, thus ''Wizardry II'' on the Famicom is actually a port of ''Wizardry III'' and vice-versa. Thankfully, the subtitles make it clear that ''Wizardry II'' is based on Scenario #3 and ''Wizardry III'' is Scenario #2. This isn't much of an issue on the NES, as Scenario #3 was [[NoExportForYou skipped over]] in favor of Scenario #2, allowing it to retain its actual numbering.

** ''Double Dragon II'' could refer to the arcade game ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragonII Double Dragon II: The Revenge]]'' or its console adaptations (most notably the NES version), as well as an original UsefulNotes/GameBoy sequel to [[VideoGame/DoubleDragonI the first game]]. The Game Boy version was actually repurposed from a canceled sequel to the Technos arcade game ''Renegade'' that was titled ''The Renegades'', but the story and graphics were redesigned when the publisher shift from American Technos to Acclaim in order to fit into the ''Double Dragon'' setting. The game would be released in Japan as a ''VideoGame/KunioKun'' spin-off, but with chibi-style graphics similar to ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari'' (aka ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'') instead of the more realistic style of the original ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun''.

** Since the Famicom port of ''Gradius II'' was never released outside Japan, many people at the time (particularly in the U.S.) assumed that ''Life Force'' was being counted as the second game in the series when the Super NES port of ''Gradius III'' was released in the U.S. with its numbering intact.

** Because ''Super Contra'' was already taken by the prior arcade sequel, the 1992 UsefulNotes/{{Super Nintendo|EntertainmentSystem}} entry in the series was instead titled ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' in North America (the Japanese version on the other hand, went with ''[[MarketBasedTitle Contra Spirits]]''). However, the originally announced title was actually ''Contra IV: The Alien Wars''. The reason for this being that Creator/{{Konami}} intended to release another game on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], titled ''Contra Force'', to serve the position of ''Contra III'' (although one could be forgiven for assuming that ''Operation C'' was filling this position as well, since it was essentially a sequel to ''Super C'', the NES version of the aforementioned ''Super Contra''). But because ''Contra Force'' was delayed, Konami released ''Alien Wars'' ahead and renumbered it accordingly. This probably worked out for the better though, as ''Contra Force'' was really just [[DolledUpInstallment an unrelated game]] that was repurposed as a ''Contra'' entry in North America and was really more of a spin-off than a proper mainline entry, with the game being set in modern times and featuring human terrorists as the main adversaries instead of aliens.

** ''Super Double Dragon'', released for the SNES in 1992, was not a numbered sequel to any of the prior ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' games, nor did it really follow the same continuity as the previous games either, but that didn't stop publisher Tradewest from counting it when they made ''Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'', a fighting game based on [[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon1993 the animated TV show]] released for the SNES and Genesis in 1994, which also had no continuity with the prior games in the series. Creator/ArcSystemWorks would eventually release an official ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonIV'' in 2017 developed by former members of Technos, [[{{Unreboot}} serving as a sequel to the NES versions of the first three games]] (rather than the original arcade games).
** ''Double Dragon II'' could refer to the arcade game ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragonII Double Dragon II: The Revenge]]'' or its console adaptations (most notably the NES version), as well as an original UsefulNotes/GameBoy sequel to [[VideoGame/DoubleDragonI the first game]]. The Game Boy version was actually repurposed from a canceled sequel to the Technos arcade game ''Renegade'' that was titled ''The Renegades'', but the story and graphics were redesigned when the publisher shift from American Technos to Acclaim in order to fit into the ''Double Dragon'' canon. The game would be released in Japan as a ''VideoGame/KunioKun'' spin-off, but with chibi-style graphics similar to ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' instead of the more realistic style of the original ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun''.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' was originally released in North America as ''II'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as ''III'' due to the lack of English versions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII III]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV V]]'' on their original platforms. Synchronizing the sequels as of ''VII'' confused westerners briefly who were not informed of the regional changes, but the numbering has caught on. The UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole releases of ''Final Fantasy IV'' and ''VI'' in western regions, being straight emulation of the SNES versions, kept the earlier westernized numbering, although there were already localized ports of those game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation and UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance that kept the original Japanese numbering.

** Since the Famicom port of ''Gradius II'' was never released outside Japan, many people at the time (particularly in the U.S.) assumed that ''Life Force'' was being counted as the second game in the series when the SNES port of ''Gradius III'' was released in the U.S. with its numbering intact.

** The ''Super Mario Advance'' series has its own numbering system, despite the games themselves simply being Game Boy Advance ports of the NES and SNES titles. The ''Advance'' games are released in no particular order: the first game is a port of the U.S. version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', the second game is a port of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', the third game is a port of ''Super Mario World 2: VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' (thankfully, they didn't use the full title of ''Yoshi's Island'', dropping the ''Super Mario World 2'' portion to make room for ''Super Mario Advance 3'' instead), and the fourth game has the rather weird title of ''Super Mario Advance 4: VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.

** Also worth noting that ''TMNT II'' was a port of the ''TMNT'' arcade game and not a direct sequel to the first NES game. The addition of a numeral to the title and the subtitle "The Arcade Game" were merely done to distinguish it from the first game. Likewise ''[[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime Turtles in Time]]'', the second arcade game, became ''TMNT IV'' when it was ported to the SNES in order to take into account the prior three games on the original NES.
** There were also a trilogy of Game Boy games released at the same time as the NES and SNES games that had their own numbering: ''TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan'', ''TMNT II: Back from the Sewers'' and ''TMNT III: Radical Rescue''.

A sequel number snarl often occurs when {{Sequel}}s and {{Interquel}}s start filling up the chronology, but then gets difficult to understand by the addition of an differently named work or two (or five...) whose title ''doesn't'' include a number. [[ContinuityReboot Reboots]], {{Alternate Continuit|y}}ies and even [[MarketBasedTitle Market-Based Titles]] can make it even harder to understand. This is sometimes ''intentionally'' invoked if [[SequelGap there's been a notable gap since the last one]], like with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''. After all, if the number is there, it ''must'' be a big deal!

** The mainline Mario games have two different games titled ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'': the original Japanese game (aka ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'') and the game that the rest of the world is familiar with (adapted from the Japan-exclusive ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic''). This was done since ''Lost Levels'' was essentially [[MissionPackSequel a level pack]] for the first game with the [[SequelDifficultySpike difficulty spiked up]], and Nintendo of America wanted a more original and less frustrating game (presumably to avoid the conundrum of having to renumber ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' when it came time to localize that game in the West, which is what would've happened had they decided to just skip ''Lost Levels'' completely without releasing a substitute game). Ultimately, both games were recursively made available in both Japan and overseas (with Japan receiving ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' under the name ''Super Mario USA''), and were further canonized by the inclusion of their features in future games, so the snarl is now limited to their names.

** Aside from John XVI, other antipopes counted in the numbering are Alexander V, Benedict X and XIII, Boniface VII, and Felix II and V.

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' has the same problem as the ''NSMB'' series: only console entries are numbered, so you have the original game plus nine numbered sequels. Then you add in all of the handheld games, which were released in-between the console games: ''-e'' (which makes use of the e-Reader accessory for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, hence the name), ''Advance'', ''DS'', ''Island Tour'', ''Star Rush'', and ''The Top 100'' (the 100 referring to the amount of minigames in it; obviously it's not the 100th game). ''Super Mario Party'' and ''Mario Party Superstars'' instead bear new titles with no numbers, though for reference they're the 17th and 18th games released.

** ''Super Double Dragon'', released for the SNES in 1992, was not a numbered sequel to any of the prior ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' games, nor did it really follow the same continuity as the previous games either, but that didn't stop publisher Tradewest from counting it when they made ''Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'', a fighting game based on [[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon the animated TV show]] released for the SNES and Genesis in 1994, which also had no continuity with the prior games in the series. Creator/ArcSystemWorks would eventually release an official ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonIV'' in 2017 developed by former members of Technos, [[{{Unreboot}} serving as a sequel to the NES versions of the first three games]] (rather than the original arcade games).

* ''The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' was originally canceled after six issues. After appearing in various other mags and becoming more popular, the Hulk was given a new solo feature in the ''Tales to Astonish'' anthology. When Marvel finally found a better distributor, ''The Incredible Hulk'' became its own mag again, but it neither started over with a new #1 nor did it continue the original numbering, it continued that of ''Tales of Astonish'', with #102. This resulted in confusion over whether the revival should be considered a resumption of the original series or a second volume -- Marvel's website uses the former interpretation while their trade collections prefer the latter.

* The Creator/DataEast arcade game ''[[VideoGame/JoeAndMac Joe & Mac]]'' was originally subtitled ''Tatakae Genshijin'' (Fighting Caveman) in Japan. The first sequel to the series, ''Tatakae Genshijin 2: Rūkī no Bōken'' (The Adventure of Rookie), was released for the Super Famicom and did not starred Joe and Mac (hence the different subtitle) , so it was retitled ''Congo's Caper'' overseas. When ''Tatakae Genshijin 3'' brought back the original duo, that game ended becoming ''Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics'' in North America. Simple enough? However, the European version went back to the original numbering and became ''Joe & Mac 3'', likely due to the existence of a separate arcade sequel titled ''Joe & Mac Returns'' that was released during the same year.

* The ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' series goes ''Film/FirstBlood'', ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'', ''Film/RamboIII'', and then ''Film/{{Rambo|IV}}'' (also known as ''[[MarketBasedTitle John Rambo]]'' or ''[[NumberedSequels Rambo IV]]'' in certain countries) and finally ''Film/RamboLastBlood''. Film critic Roger Ebert pointed out that technically, ''Film/RamboIII'' should have been entitled ''Rambo II: First Blood Part III'', which, he supposed, would have caused film executives heads to explode in confusion.

** Season numbering can be quite confusing. Does the revival series start again, which means distinguishing between two Season Ones? (This is the official stance of Creator/TheBBC, who classifies the classic series seasons as "seasons" and the revival series seasons as "series" - while still being at pains to point out that it's all the same TV show.) Or do you just keep going past Season 26, as many fans do? (Wiki/ThisVeryWiki's Recap page lists both.) Creator/StevenMoffat confused things further by claiming in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' that if Creator/MattSmith's first season wasn't Season 31 (because it's all one thing), then it was Series 1 (since it was as much a split from what had come before as the initial relaunch), before later admitting that he'd called it Series 5 in all practical situations. And then there's the split series 6A and 6B (Not to be confused with ''[[{{Fanon}} Season 6b]]'') ... or season 32A and 32B.

A sequel number snarl often occurs when {{Sequel}}s and {{Interquel}}s start filling up the chronology, but then gets difficult to understand by the addition of an differently named work or two (or five...) whose title ''doesn't'' include a number. [[ContinuityReboot Reboots]], {{Alternate Continuit|y}}ies and even {{Market Based Title}}s can make even more hard to understand. This is sometimes ''intentionally'' invoked if there's been a notable gap since the last one, like with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''. After all, if the number is there, it ''must'' be a big deal!

A subtrope of NumberedSequels. If the numbering doesn't start with 1, but is otherwise logical, see NPlusOneSequelTitle. If it's chapters within a single work that are numbered unusually, that's UnusualChapterNumbers.

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' started off simple enough, with [[VideoGame/GuiltyGearTheMissingLink the first game]] (subtitled ''The Missing Link'' [[MarketBasedTitle in certain regions]]), and then ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearX X]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearXX XX]]'' ([[CapcomSequelStagnation and the latter's many retoolings]]). But then ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus'' ended up being a sequel plot-wise to the original ''XX'', and then there was ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' (which made a VideoGame3DLeap ''[[OddballInTheSeries and]]'' underwent a GenreShift in addition to [[PutOnABus jettisoning most the cast]] by means a TimeSkip), and all the ''X'' and ''XX'' games were declared to be {{Gaiden Game}}s (albeit in-canon Gaiden Games). Fair enough, but then came the next game in the main continuity: ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'', which was followed by ''Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-'' and ''Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2''. The next installment would then drops the Xs completely, being titled ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive''.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is a minor example compared to others, but seeing as it has one major entry that was not a {{Numbered Sequel|s}} (''VideoGame/HaloReach''), ''VideoGame/Halo4'' is actually the fifth major game in-series, ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' is the sixth, and so on. Although, as of ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'' the series has StoppedNumberingSequels, so this may not matter so much in the future.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'', originally released in 1998 for the Super Famicom in Japan as a cheap alternative to ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' aimed at younger players who hadn't transitioned yet to the newer generation of consoles at the time (the [=PlayStation=] and Sega Saturn), was at one point nicknamed among fans "Mega Man 9". An official ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' wouldn't be released until a decade later in 2008. Internally, the game was titled ''Rockman [[{{Interquel}} 8.5]]''. Notably the title was excluded from the ''Mega Man Legacy Collection'' series, which otherwise includes all the numbered Mega Man titles from 1 through 10.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' for the PSP was initially counted as the sixth canonical entry in the series, being developed between the release of ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' on the [=PS2=] and ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' on the [=PS3=]. But the game was developed with very minimal involvement from series's director Creator/HideoKojima. When Kojima himself later directed ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' (the seventh game in the series he directed), which was also on the PSP, he demoted ''Portable Ops'' to a {{broad strokes}} side-story status, going as far as to throw in a DiscontinuityNod within the game's script. In fact, ''Peace Walker'' originally had the {{working title}} of ''Metal Gear Solid 5'' in an attempt to drive the point that it was a legitimate follow-up to ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' in spite of the switch from the advanced [=PS3=] to the more limited PSP hardware. And while the game was ultimately released without a numbered title, it would later be given a remastered release on the [=PS3=] and Xbox 360 (a privilege that was not given to ''Portable Ops'') and the actual ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'' would eventually serve as a direct sequel to ''Peace Walker''.

* ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft|I}}'' was initially released on 31 March 1998. By 2009 the franchise included various novels, add-ons, etc., as well as a major ExpansionPack, ''Brood War''. When ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftII Starcraft II]]'' came out in 2010, there was a noticeable DoubleTake by some fans at the fact that it was "only" the first sequel. As though to confuse things further, it came in three parts (''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty Wings Of Liberty]]'', ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIILegacyOfTheVoid Legacy Of The Void]]''), and it's difficult to know whether to consider each of them separate video games or expansion packs or what.

** Each numbered ''Street Fighter'' title since ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' is treated by Creator/{{Capcom}} as it was its own series of games. This was because rather than working immediately on ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' after completing ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' (the first iteration), Capcom decided to do [[CapcomSequelStagnation reiterations of the same game]] before working a full-fledged sequel. It started simple enough with ''Street Fighter II: Champion Edition'' (the second iteration), which turned the CPU-only boss characters into playable fighters and allowed for mirror matches, but then they made three more upgrades after that: ''Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting'' (third entry), ''Super Street Fighter II'' (fourth entry) and ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'' (fifth entry). Even after ''Super Turbo'', Capcom ended up working on a bunch of other ''Street Fighter'' installments, such as the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' prequel series, ''VideoGame/StreetFighterTheMovie'' tie-in game, the polygonal ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'' series and crossovers such as ''VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter'', before eventually releasing ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII: New Generation''. Naturally, ''Street Fighter III'' would have its own iterations in the form of ''2nd Impact'' and ''3rd Strike'', as did ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' with ''Super Street Fighter IV'', ''Arcade Edition'' and ''Ultra Street Fighter IV''.
** ''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'' was not a numbered ''Street Fighter'' entry, despite being the first all-new ''Street Fighter'' game developed by Capcom since ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' (not counting ''The Movie'' tie-in games), partly because it was a much lower-budget game that was made to get rid of unsold/returned stocks [=CPS1=]/[=CPS2=] boards, but also because it was a prequel to ''Street Fighter II'', so it was treated as its own side-series of games, with the follow-ups being numbered like conventional sequels (e.g. ''Street Fighter Alpha 2'', ''Street Fighter Alpha 3''). This logic felt out the window when the eventual ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' series turned out to be an interquel set between ''II'' and ''III'', as well as the succeeding ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', likely a result of the lukewarm reception of the ''III'' series back in its day.
** Chronologically the series goes ''SFI'' -> ''Alpha'' & ''Alpha 2'' (the second game overwrites the first one for the most part) > ''Alpha 3'' > ''SFII'' (each iteration overwrites the last) > ''SFIV'' > ''Super/Ultra SFIV'' > ''SFV'' > ''SFIII: New Generation'' & ''2nd Impact'' > ''3rd Strike''.

** Strictly speaking, ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' aren't really proper sequels of their respective predecessors, but instead [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot spin-offs]], which is why ''their'' own respective sequels dropped the original titles and went by the subtitle instead (e.g. ''Wario Land II'' instead of ''Super Mario Land 4'', ''Yoshi's Island DS'' instead of ''Super Mario World 3''). Interestingly, the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' was originally going to be titled ''Super Mario Bros. 4'' and this {{working title}} was still used on the packaging of the Japanese version (it isn't used in the actual game); meanwhile, ''Yoshi's Island'' didn't have the ''World 2'' moniker in Japan, so the full name was ''Super Mario: Yoshi's Island''.

* ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' were numbered up to ''4''. The next three used subtitles instead. Then the eighth installment was called ''Project 8'', followed by four more games (plus spin-offs) without numbers. The series is capped off with a [[ObviousBeta rushed cash-in]] released in 2015 simply named ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5''.
* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'' is nowhere near the second game in the ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'' franchise, nor is it the second game in its continuity (it's the fifth), nor is it even the sequel to the game simply titled ''[[VideoGame/Wolfenstein2009 Wolfenstein]]'', as ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' and ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheOldBlood'' were both released and take place between the two. The only sensible way to interpret the "II" is the fact that it's the second standalone game in the series to be developed by Creator/MachineGames. A common joke among fans is to suggest that the "II" is actually an "11", since it ''is'' technically the eleventh game to be released in the series, if you count the [[MissionPackSequel Mission-Pack Sequels]] ''Spear of Destiny'' & ''Enemy Territory'' and the spin-off ''Wolfenstein RPG''.

->''"VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII is the tenth game in the Franchise/KingdomHearts series."''[[note]]It's potentially the ''eleventh''[[/note]]

** Because ''Super Contra'' was already taken by the prior arcade sequel, the 1992 UsefulNotes/{{Super Nintendo|EntertainmentSystem}} entry in the series was instead titled ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' in North America (the Japanese version on the other hand, went with ''[[MarketBasedTitle Contra Spirits]]''). However, the originally announced title was actually ''Contra IV: The Alien Wars''. The reason for this being that Creator/{{Konami}} intended to release another game on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], titled ''Contra Force'', to serve the position of ''Contra III'' (although one could be forgiven for assuming that ''Operation C'' was filling this position as well, since it was essentially a sequel to ''Super C'', the NES version of the aforementioned ''Super Contra''). But because ''Contra Force'' was delayed, Konami released ''Alien Wars'' ahead and renumbered it accordingly. This probably worked out for the better though, as ''Contra Force'' was really just a [[DolledUpInstallment an unrelated game]] that was repurposed as a ''Contra'' entry in North America and was really more of a spin-off than a proper mainline entry, with the game being set in modern times and featuring human terrorists as the main adversaries instead of aliens.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' series [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo goes]]: ''Tecmo's Deception'' (''Devil's Deception'' in Europe), ''Kagero: Deception II'', ''Deception III: Dark Delusion'', ''Trapt'', ''Deception IV: Blood Ties'', and ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess''. This gives the impression that ''Trapt'' is either, a spinoff released between ''Deception III'' and ''IV'', or not even part of the series at all, while ''Nightmare Princess'' is just an expanded edition of ''Blood Ties'' (due to having the same numbered title) when it's actually a direct sequel. However, the [[MarketBasedTitle Japanese titles]] are completely different for each game and the numbering does not match their English counterparts as a result. The Japanese series goes: ''Kokumeikan'' (which loosely translates to "Mansion of Engraved Fate"), ''Kagerō: Kokumeikan Shinshō'' (''Kagerō'' means "Prison of Shadows" and the subtitle translates "The New Chapter of Kokumeikan"), ''Sōmatō'' (loosely translates to "Blue Torch of Evil"), ''Kagerō 2: Dark Illusion'', ''Kagerō: Darkside Princess'', and ''Kagerō: Mōhitori no Princess''. While the last two games didn't have any numbered titles in Japan, the official Japanese sites have "[=kagero3=]" and "[=kagero3-2=]" on their [=URLs=].

* ''Gal*Gun 2'' is the third main game of the ''VideoGame/{{GalGun}}'' series, coming after ''Double Peace'' (and not counting ''VR''). Probably because ''DP'' was primarily aimed at the handheld systems, ''VR'' aimed at virtual reality; and leaving ''Gal*Gun 2'' only the second primarily console/PC release.

** The original ''Gradius'' had its fair share of direct sequels. The first of these was ''Salamander'' in 1986 (known in the U.S. as ''Life Force''), which began development as a ''Gradius'' sequel, but was ultimately released under a different title when it was deemed too different from ''Gradius'' and is nowadays treated as a spin-off. Konami's MSX division then ended up making their own ''Gradius'' sequel titled ''Gradius 2'' (spelled with an Arabic numeral) in 1987, which was not based on any prior arcade game. The "true" arcade sequel, ''Gradius II'' (spelled with a Roman numeral), was eventually released in 1988 and all the mainline ''Gradius'' sequels from that point on used Roman numerals.

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' started off simple enough, with [[VideoGame/GuiltyGearTheMissingLink the first game]] (subtitled ''The Missing Link'' [[MarketBasedTitle in certain regions]]), and then ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearX X]]'' and ''XX'' ([[CapcomSequelStagnation and the latter's many retoolings]]). But then ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus'' ended up being a sequel plot-wise to the original ''XX'', and then there was ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' (which made a VideoGame3DLeap ''[[OddballInTheSeries and]]'' underwent a GenreShift in addition to [[PutOnABus jettisoning most the cast]] by means a TimeSkip), and all the ''X'' and ''XX'' games were declared to be {{Gaiden Game}}s (albeit in-canon Gaiden Games). Fair enough, but then came the next game in the main continuity: ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'', which was followed by ''Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-'' and ''Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2''. The next installment would then drops the Xs completely, being titled ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive''.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'', originally released in 1998 for the Super Famicom in Japan as a cheap alternative to ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' aimed at younger players who haven't transitioned yet to the newer generation of consoles at the time (the [=PlayStation=] and Sega Saturn), was at one point nicknamed among fans "Mega Man 9". An official ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' wouldn't be released until a decade later in 2008. Internally the game was titled ''Rockman 8.5''. Notably the title was excluded from the ''Mega Man Legacy Collection'' series, which otherwise includes all the numbered Mega Man titles from 1 through 10.

** The original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' got its title due to the fact that it was the third (canonical) game in the series following the original ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', both on the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}2, as well as the first game in the series to be in 3D (note the {{pun}} on a three-dimensional object being a "solid"). But because of the obscurity of the first two [=MSX2=] games due to their lack of North American releases (''Solid Snake'' in particular was never ported to any other platform outside the [=MSX2=] at the time), the next mainline in the series was not ''Metal Gear 4'', but rather ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', giving the impression that the first ''Metal Gear Solid'' was a [[MorePopularSpinoff more successful spin-off]] to the [=MSX2=] games rather than a direct sequel to them. The remaining members of the canon, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' (actually a prequel), ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' [[note]]see below[[/note]] and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''[[note]]see belower[[/note]], followed suit. The sole exception to the naming scheme is ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', a SpinOff whose title is somehow [[PerfectlyCromulentWord even weirder than the rest]].

** Because ''Super Contra'' was already taken by the prior arcade sequel, the 1992 Super NES entry in the series was instead titled ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' in North America (the Japanese version on the other hand, went with ''[[MarketBasedTitle Contra Spirits]]''). However, the originally announced title was actually ''Contra IV: The Alien Wars''. The reason for this being that Creator/{{Konami}} intended to release another game on the NES, titled ''Contra Force'', to serve the position of ''Contra III'' (although one could be forgiven for assuming that ''Operation C'' was filling this position as well, since it was essentially a sequel to ''Super C'', the NES version of the aforementioned ''Super Contra''). But because ''Contra Force'' was delayed, Konami released ''Alien Wars'' ahead and renumbered it accordingly. This probably worked out for the better though, as ''Contra Force'' was really just a [[DolledUpInstallment an unrelated game]] that was repurposed as a ''Contra'' entry in North America and was really more of a spin-off than a proper mainline entry, with the game being set in modern times and featuring human terrorists as the main adversaries instead of aliens.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' series goes: ''Tecmo's Deception'' (''Devil's Deception'' in Europe), ''Kagero: Deception II'', ''Deception III: Dark Delusion'', ''Trapt'', ''Deception IV: Blood Ties'', and ''Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess''. This gives the impression that ''Trapt'' is either, a spinoff released between ''Deception III'' and ''IV'', or not even part of the series at all, while ''Nightmare Princess'' is just an expanded edition of ''Blood Ties'' (due to having the same numbered title) when it's actually a direct sequel. However, the [[MarketBasedTitle Japanese titles]] are completely different for each game and the numbering does not match their English counterparts as a result. The Japanese series goes: ''Kokumeikan'' (which loosely translates to "Mansion of Engraved Fate"), ''Kagerō: Kokumeikan Shinshō'' (''Kagerō'' means "Prison of Shadows" and the subtitle translates "The New Chapter of Kokumeikan"), ''Sōmatō'' (loosely translates to "Blue Torch of Evil"), ''Kagerō 2: Dark Illusion'', ''Kagerō: Darkside Princess'', and ''Kagerō: Mōhitori no Princess''. While the last two games didn't have any numbered titles in Japan, the official Japanese sites have "[=kagero3=]" and "[=kagero3-2=]" on their [=URLs=].

** ''Super Double Dragon'', released for the Super NES in 1992, was not a numbered sequel to any of the prior ''Double Dragon'' games, nor did it really followed the same continuity as the previous games either, but that didn't stop publisher Tradewest from counting it when they made ''Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'', a fighting game based on [[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon the animated TV show]] released for the Super NES and Genesis in 1994, which also had no continuity with the prior games in the series. Creator/ArcSystemWorks would eventually released an official ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonIV'' in 2017 developed by former members of Technos, serving as a sequel to the NES versions of the first three games (rather than the original arcade games).
** ''Double Dragon II'' could refer to the arcade game ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragonII Double Dragon II: The Revenge]]'' or its console adaptations (most notably the NES version), as well as an original Game Boy sequel to the first game. The Game Boy version was actually repurposed from a canceled sequel to the Technos arcade game ''Renegade'' that was titled ''The Renegades'', but the story and graphics were redesigned when the publisher shift from American Technos to Acclaim in order to fit into the ''Double Dragon'' canon. The game would be released in Japan as a ''VideoGame/KunioKun'' spin-off, but with chibi-style graphics similar to ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' instead of the more realistic style of the original ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun''.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' was originally released in North America as ''II'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as ''III'' due to the lack of English versions of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII III]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV V]]'' on their original platforms. Synchronizing the sequels as of ''VII'' confused westerners briefly who were not informed of the regional changes, but the numbering has caught on. The UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole releases of ''Final Fantasy IV'' and ''VI'' in western regions, being straight emulation of the Super NES versions, kept the earlier westernized numbering, although there were already localized ports of those game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation and UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance that kept the original Japanese numbering.
** Up until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', every entry in the franchise was a stand-alone game, but after that Square released ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', they decided to make a direct sequel to that game under the rather awkward title of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' (that's "Ten Two"). Since then, they have went to do sequels and spinoffs to prior and even later entries (most notably the ''Compilation of Final Fantasy VII'' line), but they all avoided using double numerals... at least until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' (Thirteen Two). ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' itself was repurposed from an abandoned spin-off titled ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII''.

** Since the Famicom port of ''Gradius II'' was never released outside Japan, many people at the time (particularly in the U.S.) assumed that ''Life Force'' was being counted as the second game in the series when the Super NES port of ''Gradius III'' was released in the U.S. with its numbering intact.

** The original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' got its title due to the fact that it was the third (canonical) game in the series following the original ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', both on the [=MSX2=], as well as the first game in the series to be in 3D (note the {{pun}} on a three-dimensional object being a "solid"). But because of the obscurity of the first two [=MSX2=] games due to their lack of North American releases (''Solid Snake'' in particular was never ported to any other platform outside the [=MSX2=] at the time), the next mainline in the series was not ''Metal Gear 4'', but rather ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', giving the impression that the first ''Metal Gear Solid'' was a [[MorePopularSpinoff more successful spin-off]] to the [=MSX2=] games rather than a direct sequel to them. The remaining members of the canon, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' (actually a prequel), ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' [[note]]see below[[/note]] and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''[[note]]see belower[[/note]], followed suit. The sole exception to the naming scheme is ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', a SpinOff whose title is somehow [[PerfectlyCromulentWord even weirder than the rest]].

** Within the mainline series, the chronology is still thrown off by ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', an interquel between ''Super'' and ''Fusion''. Numbers wouldn't reappear in the series' titles until ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', the chronological followup and proper sequel to ''Fusion'', which was billed as "Metroid 5" in its E3 reveal.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series is straightforward enough... in Japan. ''Outside'' of Japan, ''Mother 2'' was the first game released, as ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. However, the first ''Mother'' game was initially considered for release in the United States, and a nearly finished prototype to this end, titled ''Earth Bound'' (spelled as two words), was found in the late 1990s. For the purposes of keeping things straight, this English version of the game was commonly referred to as "[=EarthBound=] Zero" in fan communities until its official release on the Wii U's Virtual Console as ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' in 2015. ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', [[NoExportForYou which still remains officially unlocalized]], is mostly called by its Japanese title and never as ''[=EarthBound=] 2''.

** The confusion doesn't end there either; following ''Shinobi III'' and the generally unrelated ''VideoGame/ShinobiLegions'' (also known as ''Shin Shinobi Den'' in Japan and ''Shinobi X'' in Europe[[note]]which coincidentally happens to be the tenth game in the series, meaning the "X" in ''Shinobi X'' ([[https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_61/page/n51/mode/2up which was the original Japanese title as well]]) could possibly stand for the Roman numeral ten[[/note]]), the series would go on hiatus until the SoftReboot that was [[VideoGame/Shinobi2002 the 2002 installment]] ([[RecycledTitle simply titled]] ''[[RecycledTitle Shinobi]]''). This would be followed by a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game [[RecycledTitle also titled]] ''Revenge of Shinobi'' (but having nothing to do with the original ''or'' the 2002 game), ''VideoGame/{{Nightshade|Kunoichi}}'' (a sequel to the 2002 game, known as ''Kunoichi'' in Japan; like the 2002 ''Shinobi'', the game's logo features the kanji 忍[[note]]"shinobi"[[/note]] behind the title for marketing purposes), and -- [[SequelGap after eight years]] -- [[VideoGame/Shinobi2011 a third game]] bearing the name ''Shinobi'' (this time a ''prequel'' to the entire series starring Joe's father Jiro).

** The series did not actually start with the original ''Soulcalibur'', [[SequelDisplacement but rather with]] ''Soul Edge''. However, [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] was forced to rename the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}} port ''Soul Blade'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]] in order to [[WritingAroundTrademarks get around a trademark dispute]] with game designer Tim Langdell over the use of the word "Edge". As a result, when it came time to make the sequel, Namco decided to retitle the series ''Soulcalibur'' in order to avoid having two different names for the series between markets, although Langdell's ownership of the word "Edge" would later be proven fraudulent after a separate trademark dispute with Creator/ElectronicArts over ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge''.

** The ''Super Mario Advance'' series has its own numbering system, despite the games themselves simply being Game Boy Advance ports of the NES and Super NES titles. The ''Advance'' games are released in no particular order: the first game is a port of the U.S. version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', the second game is a port of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', the third game is a port of ''Super Mario World 2: VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' (thankfully, they didn't use the full title of ''Yoshi's Island'', dropping the ''Super Mario World 2'' portion to make room for ''Super Mario Advance 3'' instead), and the fourth game has the rather weird title of ''Super Mario Advance 4: VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.

** Also worth noting that ''TMNT II'' was a port of the ''TMNT'' arcade game and not a direct sequel to the first NES game. The addition of a numeral to the title and the subtitle "The Arcade Game" were merely done to distinguish it from the first game. Likewise ''[[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime Turtles in Time]]'', the second arcade game, became ''TMNT IV'' when it was ported to the Super NES in order to take into account the prior three games on the original NES.
** There were also a trilogy of Game Boy games released at the same time as the NES and Super NES games that had their own numbering: ''TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan'', ''TMNT II: Back from the Sewers'' and ''TMNT III: Radical Rescue''.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': There are two entries with "3" in the title: ''Anime/Danganronpa3'' follows up on the story set in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' and ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', but is an anime. ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' is the third cardinal visual novel, it's the fourth video game overall counting the action spin-off ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'' as part of the games. It's also advertised the ''first'' game in the Gifted Inmates Saga. This doesn't get into the unnumbered spinoffs and prequels meant to suppliment the Hope's Peak Saga, which sets both games labeled "3" much further down the line.

* ''Franchise/GuiltyGear'' started off simple enough, with [[VideoGame/GuiltyGearTheMissingLink the first game]] (subtitled ''The Missing Link'' [[MarketBasedTitle in certain regions]]), and then ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearX X]]'' and ''XX'' ([[CapcomSequelStagnation and the latter's many retoolings]]). But then ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus'' ended up being a sequel plot-wise to the original ''XX'', and then there was ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' (which made a VideoGame3DLeap ''[[OddballInTheSeries and]]'' underwent a GenreShift in addition to [[PutOnABus jettisoning most the cast]] by means a TimeSkip), and all the ''X'' and ''XX'' games were declared to be {{Gaiden Game}}s (albeit in-canon Gaiden Games). Fair enough, but then came the next game in the main continuity: ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'', which was followed by ''Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-'' and ''Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2''. The next installment would then drops the Xs completely, being titled ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive''.

** The confusion doesn't end there either; following ''Shinobi III'' and the generally unrelated ''VideoGame/ShinobiLegions'' (also known as ''Shin Shinobi Den'' in Japan and ''Shinobi X'' in Europe), the series would go on hiatus until the SoftReboot that was [[VideoGame/Shinobi2002 the 2002 installment]] ([[RecycledTitle simply titled]] ''[[RecycledTitle Shinobi]]''). This would be followed by a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game [[RecycledTitle also titled]] ''Revenge of Shinobi'' (but having nothing to do with the original), ''VideoGame/{{Nightshade|Kunoichi}}'' (a sequel to the 2002 game, known as ''Kunoichi'' in Japan), and -- [[SequelGap after eight years]] -- [[VideoGame/Shinobi2011 a third game]] bearing the name ''Shinobi'' (this time a ''prequel'' to the entire series starring Joe's father Jiro).

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' started off simple enough, with the first game (subtitled ''The Missing Link'' [[MarketBasedTitle in certain regions]]), and then ''X'' and ''XX'' ([[CapcomSequelStagnation and the latter's many retoolings]]). But then ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus'' ended up being a sequel plot-wise to the original ''XX'', and then there was ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' (which made a VideoGame3DLeap ''[[OddballInTheSeries and]]'' underwent a GenreShift in addition to [[PutOnABus jettisoning most the cast]] by means a TimeSkip), and all the ''X'' and ''XX'' games were declared to be {{Gaiden Game}}s (albeit in-canon Gaiden Games). Fair enough, but then came the next game in the main continuity: ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'', which was followed by ''Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-'' and ''Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2''. The next installment would then drops the Xs completely, being titled ''Guilty Gear -STRIVE-''.

** ''Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master'' happens to be the third ''Shinobi'' game for the Sega Genesis. However, the first two ''Shinobi'' games on the Genesis were both sequels as well. ''VideoGame/TheRevengeOfShinobi'', was a direct sequel to the original ''Shinobi'' released for the arcades and Master System, while ''Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi'' was marketed as the sequel to ''The Revenge of Shinobi'' in western territories, making it unclear which games ''Shinobi III'' is counting in its numbering. However, the lineage is much clearer with the Japanese titles: ''The Revenge of Shinobi'' and ''Shinobi III'' were originally known as ''The Super Shinobi'' and ''The Super Shinobi II'' respectively, making them a distinct line from the more arcade-inspired ''Shadow Dancer'' (which was loosely based on the arcade sequel to ''Shinobi'' of the same name). It helps that the Mega Drive version of ''Shadow Dancer'' was never actually part of the same continuity as ''The Super Shinobi'' series in Japan -- it branches off completely from the original ''Shinobi'' and stars Joe Musashi's son Hayate -- but the plot and the protagonist's identity were changed in the English localization in order to avoid confusing western players with an alternate timeline.

** ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'' doesn't help matters either; while being numbered like a sequel, it is actually a ContinuityReboot of the series that primarily retells the events of the original ''Soulcalibur'' [[AdaptationalExpansion with some new elements and deviations]] [[note]]though the ending of ''Soul Edge'' and a few events leading up to ''Soulcalibur II'' are also covered[[/note]] and could be considered a second starting point in general. [[spoiler:Zasalamel and Cassandra's Soul Chronicles, [[ZigZaggingTrope on the other hand]], show that--much like ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''--the original canon is still intact. The latter story, in fact, frames the events of ''V'' as the BadFuture of the series, [[ArcWelding effectively tying together both timelines]] and making ''VI'' a "proper" sequel to its predecessor.]]

* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'' (originally released for the arcades in 1986) was followed by numerous sequels such as ''VideoGame/RainbowIslands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2'' (a 1987 arcade sequel that played nothing like the first game), ''Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III'' (a UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 sequel to ''Rainbow Islands'' released in 1991), ''Bubble Bobble Part 2'' (an NES sequel to the original game released in 1993), ''Bubble Symphony'' (the third arcade game in the series, released in 1994 and also known as ''Bubble Bobble II'' in North America) and ''Bubble Memories: The Story of Bubble Bobble III'' (the last game in the main series, released for the arcades in 1996).

* ''The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' was originally canceled after six issues. After appearing in various other mags and becoming more popular, the Hulk was given a new solo feature in the ''Tales to Astonish'' anthology. When Marvel finally found a better distributor, ''The Incredible Hulk'' became its own mag again, but it neither started over with a new #1 nor did it continue the original numbering, it continued that of ''Tales of Astonish'', with #102. This resulted in confusion over whether the revival should be considered a resumption of the original series or a second volume - Marvel's website uses the former interpretation while their trade collections prefer the latter.

* The Hindi-language superhero film ''Krrish 3'', the second film to feature Creator/HrithikRoshan as Krishna Mehra / Krrish, is the sequel to ''Film/{{Krrish}}'', the first film about Krishna but the second film in a series begun with ''Film/KoiMilGaya (Found Someone)'', starring the same actor as Rohit, Krishna's father (who also appears in the sequels).

* The ''Theatre/{{Tsukipro}}'' franchise has over 30 stage plays across 5 series -- the series are divided by which of the UniversalAdaptorCast's {{Geodesic|Cast}} units are the main characters. There are also numbered series by which world of TheMultiverse they take place in. So, ''Theatre/TsukinoEmpire: Unleash Your Mind'' the eighth installment of the ''Theatre/{{Tsukiuta}}'' series, while ''Theatre/TsukinoEmpire 2: Beginning of the World'' is Theatre/{{SQS}} episode 4. There is also''Theatre/{{Tsukipro}} Stage: Theatre/MachineElements eins: Sora wo Wataru Kaze'' and ''Theatre/{{SQS}} episode 6: Theatre/MachineElements zwei: Akai Hono''. The Theatre/TsukinoHyakkiYakou series aren't numbered, and they take place over a much longer time span...

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is a minor example compared to others, but seeing as it has one major entry that was not a NumberedSequel (''VideoGame/HaloReach''), ''VideoGame/Halo4'' is actually the 5th major game in series, ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' is the 6th, and so on. Although, as of ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'' the series has StoppedNumberingSequels, so this may not matter so much in the future.

** Interestingly, this has been introduced in-universe with the Doctor themself. Originally, when regeneration was introduced, it wasn't stated that William Hartnell's character was in fact the First Doctor. The Fourth Doctor episode "The Brain of Morbius" has a scene indicating prior regenerations. However, it was later firmly established that the First Doctor was the original incarnation... until "The Timeless Children" established that the Doctor actually had numerous incarnations prior to the First (with the ones from "The Brain of Morbius" specifically included) who had been wiped from their memory. Then comes "The Name of the Doctor" and "The Day of the Doctor", which introduced a new regeneration between 8 and 9. It was stated that the Doctor doesn't consider the War Doctor to be worthy of the title, so he doesn't count in the numbering. Add in "Time of the Doctor", which stated that Ten's aborted regeneration actually counted, and you have a situation where the Twelfth Doctor could technically be considered the Fourteenth.

** The Doctor themself gets around the whole business by counting personalities and regenerations separately. X Doctors, one incarnation who didn't claim the title, one extra regeneration burned.

* UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows has had its share of travails. See the "Software" section above.
* [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Popes]] named Stephen. In 752, a priest from Rome named Stephen was elected to become pope, and would have been the second pope with that name. But he died suddenly of a stroke a couple of days later before being fully installed. Confusion exists as to whether he counts as a pope, and with it the numbering of subsequent popes named Stephen, who are either Stephen II through IX or III through X, depending on the interpretation; that numbering didn't become common until the 10th century, after most of these popes had come and gone, doesn't help. Many sources would list ''both'' numbers, showing "Stephen III (IV)", for example.

->''"VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII is the tenth game in the Franchise/KingdomHearts series."''[[note]]It's potentially the ''eleventh'' [[/labelnote]]