History Main / ShoddyKnockoffProduct

* ''Series/TomorrowsPioneers''. A Jihadi children's show with a knockoff Mickey Mouse that teaches young kids terrorism, while trying to make America look like a chicken.

* Video Brinquedo is a Brazilian company notorious for making cheap knock offs of popular animated movies. Some of their widely known ones are ''Ratatoing'', ''An Ant's Life'' and ''The Little Cars''. The animation and plots are definitely inferior to the real things.

* WebVideo/SpaceHamster has done several videos on bootleg video games, including ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis. Humorously, one of the three happens to be a reskin of a game that was itself a bootleg of a ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' game. He also tackles ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', and ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' bootlegs in later videos.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' has the "Game Child", a shoddy knockoff of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy which was made in "Chainor". Also parodied in "The Copycats", which (rather [[TakeThat aggressively]]) pokes fun at ''Miracle Star'', an actual Chinese knockoff of ''Gumball'' mentioned elsewhere on this page.

* Unfortunately, UsefulNotes/{{SD card}}s (mainly online purchases) can be forged to imitate a larger capacity, so it is good practice to run new/used cards through Fake Flash Test or similar testing software to ensure that your data will be safe on the card(s). This is also the reason why data recovery facilities advise users to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRhj3yp_LRY steer clear]] of promotional flash drives given away at conventions as they are a ticking time bomb--good luck trying to recover from one once they fail all of a sudden.

* ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheDarkFate'' is an infamous Russian bootleg of ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheStories''. It goes beyond a typical [[TheMockbuster mockbuster]] by copying not only the characters, but duplicating entire scenes with (slightly different) new characters. It also has such blatant copycat characters.

* ''Tomorrow’s Pioneers'': This Jihadi children’s show with a knockoff Mickey Mouse teaches young kids terrorism, while trying to make America look like a chicken.

** This was already going on during the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors interwar]] [[UsefulNotes/ChineseCivilWar period]], as many metal fabricators were set to work making weapons for the variouswarlord factions, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HNaB7l2GQk these showcased by Forgotten Weapons]]. These weapons were based on known brands of self-loading pistols but clearly weren't, with quality ranging from plain crap to surprisingly good, but copied in form and not function, due the manufacturer simply being told to make copies of a gun and not knowing much about them. Some would reliably fire, but had all manner of secondary functions that were simply left as solid details with no moving parts, dead loose, or simply with no alignment at all. Particularly the rear sights were often marked with a series of nonsensical numbers due to the manufacturers not being able to read European languages, and just stamping on improper makers' marks, nonsense graduations and strings of total gibberish all over the item. Others, such as the National Revolutionary Army's German-derived [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek_rifle Chiang Kai-shek]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanyang_88 Hanyang 88]] field rifles, were mass-produced at government-controlled arsenals with comparable quality to western firearms such as the Enfield.

** This was going on during [[UsefulNotes/TheWarlordEra the interwar period]], as many metal fabricators were set to work making weapons for various factions, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HNaB7l2GQk these showcased by Forgotten Weapons]]. These weapons were based on known brands of self-loading pistols but clearly weren't, with quality ranging from plain crap to surprisingly good, but copied in form and not function, due the manufacturer simply being told to make copies of a gun and not knowing much about them. Some would reliably fire, but had all manner of secondary functions that were simply left as solid details with no moving parts, dead loose, or simply with no alignment at all, particularly the rear sights which are often graduated in a series of numbers which makes no sense at all, due to them not being able to read European languages either, and just stamping on improper makers' marks, nonsense graduations and strings of total gibberish all over the item.

** This was going on during the interwar period, as many metal fabricators were set to work making weapons for various factions, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HNaB7l2GQk these showcased by Forgotten Weapons]]. These weapons were based on known brands of self-loading pistols but clearly weren't, with quality ranging from plain crap to surprisingly good, but copied in form and not function, due the manufacturer simply being told to make copies of a gun and not knowing much about them. Some would reliably fire, but had all manner of secondary functions that were simply left as solid details with no moving parts, dead loose, or simply with no alignment at all, particularly the rear sights which are often graduated in a series of numbers which makes no sense at all, due to them not being able to read European languages either, and just stamping on improper makers' marks, nonsense graduations and strings of total gibberish all over the item.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[SarcasmMode It's just as good]] as [[UsefulNotes/GameBoy the real thing]]!]]

* ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'' has an in-universe example; the Inner Sphere-built ''Rakshasa'' HumongousMecha is an inferior copy of the Clan-built ''Timber Wolf'' / [[ReportingNames Mad Cat]]. While the Rakshasa is actually a competent 'mech in its own right, the clumsy-looking clone pales in comparison to the high-tech Timber Wolf, which carries ''significantly'' more firepower, runs cooler in combat, and is more durable, earning the Rakshasa an (often undeserved) bad reputation.
** Downplayed with the ''Mad Dog'', a Smoke Jaguar-made knockoff of the ''Timber Wolf''. Built around the same basic concept and carrying the same primary weapons, the ''Mad Dog'' isn't as good as the ''Timber Wolf'' (it's fifteen tonnes lighter and has much less armour, fewer weapons and not as many heat sinks), but it fulfills roughly the same role at two thirds the price and -- crucially -- the Jaguars liberally gave away the production rights, unlike the Wolves who maintained a monopoly and only had a single factory producing the ''Timber Wolf''. [[EffectiveKnockoff The 'knockoff' thus became a Clan workhorse and near omnipresent in all Clan armies]], while the original remained an AwesomeButImpractical symbol of Wolf superiority.

* ''The Stupid Adventures of LetsPlay/TacoMan'' has an episode which revolves around Taco-Man taking out a poorly drawn counterpart of his known as Toco-Man.

** Downplayed with the ''Mad Dog'', a Smoke Jaguar-made knockoff of the ''Timber Wolf''. Built around the same basic concept and carrying the same primary weapons, the ''Mad Dog'' isn't as good as the ''Timber Wolf'' (it's fifteen tonnes lighter and has much less armour, fewer weapons and not as many heat sinks), but it fulfills roughly the same role at two thirds the price and -- crucially -- the Jaguars liberally gave away the production rights, unlike the Wolves who maintained a monopoly and only had a single factory producing the ''Timber Wolf''. The 'knockoff' thus became a Clan workhorse and near omnipresent in all Clan armies, while the original remained an AwesomeButImpractical symbol of Wolf superiority.

[[folder:Toys]]
* This often happens when any toy line takes off, especially if it has some relation to a popular television series. The knockoffs usually don't carry the logos of whatever franchise they're based on, but try to resemble them, using similar names and/or fonts and sometimes using stolen official artwork on the packaging. The companies responsible for the knockoffs sometimes actually copy the molds used by the original manufacturer, but not their solid plastics or detail quality. Dolls in particular often also have low-quality hair which falls out easily and is nearly always tangled. These copycat products can be found in a wide variety of stores both large and small.
* The bootleg market can be so strong that even legal pursuit failed to take it down; case in point is when TT Hong-Li made ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' knockoffs. Bandai had issued a lawsuit against its parent company, but market demand is large enough to resurrect the company from the brink of death. The shoddy part comes from the fact that, while the models are 90% accurate, it has excessively bad quality control such as extremely brittle plastic and toxic dust.
* LEGO knock-offs. {{Franchise/LEGO}} has its share of these due to its popularity. Because LEGO's age and [[StuckOnBandAidBrand sheer, overwhelming dominance]] in the [[BrandNameTakeover modular plastic building block]] market gives it a massive advantage over these upstart manufacturers, these tend to be cheap modifications of sets, or fill niches LEGO doesn't, such as and war themes, which LEGO has chosen to avoid. Often, they will not copy new parts, whose patents haven't expired yet, but ''will'' copy older ones and devise new parts to fill the same niche as the LEGO counterpart (e.g. minifigures are patented in the Commonwealth until at least 2025, but MegaBloks has released a posable figure that performs a similar role, but doesn't use the same limb design and lacks removable head and legs). Fortunately, it's fairly easy to tell the difference when you have one of the same sort of piece from each to observe; LEGO elements tend to have better 'clutch power', subtlely different colours, and have ''LEGO'' printed on the top of each stud; fakes will often have blank studs, or even have the plastic injection on the stud, something LEGO never does. By the way, as one of the largest geek communities on earth, fans tend to ''strongly'' favour LEGO to alternative products, and will vehemently oppose any remarks that other brands are superior in any way.
** Even though they are compatible with LEGO, many kids are often disappointed to receive Mega Bloks instead of proper LEGO from a parent, relative, or friend unaware of the difference between the two and just going for the cheaper product. Unlike most examples, Mega Bloks doesn't really actively pretend to be LEGO -- its branding and products are fairly well-differentiated from LEGO, and it tends to produce relatively different sorts of sets with a greater emphasis on licensed cash-ins (including ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''). According to the Website/SCPFoundation, sentient self-assembling LEGO brick specimens aren't particularly pleased to see instances of Mega Bloks either. Yes, even [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] hate Lego knock-offs:
--> ...a small mound of Megablocks (a common copy of Lego) was placed near the community. When this happened, everything constructed of [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-387 387]] stopped moving, turned slowly towards the Megablocks and [[TakeOurWordForIt [EXPUNGED]]].
-->''Addendum 387-6: Jesus [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] Christ. -- Dr. Arch''
** LEPIN, a Chinese brand, on the other hand, does actively pretend to be LEGO; its sets emulate LEGO sets piece-for-piece, with entire ''themes'' such as 'Girl's Club' (LEGO Friends) or licenced themes such as 'Cities' and 'Creators' for LEGO City and LEGO Creator respectively, 'Star Wart/Star Wnrs' or 'Star Plan' for Franchise/StarWars (thus ripping off not one but ''two'' franchises), and even the '[[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart Lepin Movie II]]'.
** Or, [[http://www.cracked.com/article_15670_the-25-most-baffling-toys-from-around-world_p2.html Cock Bloc.]]
** Back during their respective runs, ''{{Toys/BIONICLE}}'' and its successor ''Toys/HeroFactory'' tended to get hit very hard with knockoffs from all over the world; some of the most well-known discovered ones including "Invincibility Robots" and "Maskers". Interestingly, most ''BIONICLE'' knockoffs were visually near-indistinguishable from the real thing -- many even used the exact same packaging and canisters, though with the BIONICLE and LEGO logos edited or removed. Amusingly, one discovered instance of a knockoff took the 2005 Rahaga sets and replaced their heads with what appeared to be [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader helmets]].
** In the last few decades, LEGO has become a very popular target for bootleggers, with brands like "LELE", "LEPIN", or "LEBQ". In flea markets, it's common to find entire LEGO sets duplicated brick-for-brick (with matching copied box art) with varying degrees of plastic quality, but sometimes bootleggers get more creative and put out knockoff minifigures of Marvel, DC, video game or Star Wars characters that do not have official minifigure representations. Then, bootleggers have actually gone a step further and are producing knock-off kits based on fan creations posted online.
* Oddly enough, the August 2007 issue of ''Popular Science'' featured an article on the various shameless ripoffs from China. Main part of the article was one of the copied cars getting the attention of the actual manufacturer -- and ''offered to fix it up to them'' (the copied car was extremely dangerous). It explains how some companies manage to get crap electronics out the doors, even when they're only on display (they literally have loads of engineers photograph the living shit out of electronics on display). Hell -- there's even the "[=iClone=]" episode, where there was a surprisingly good touch phone (before everyone else started to FollowTheLeader!)
* There are a lot of {{Franchise/Barbie}} or Toys/{{Bratz}} imitations that try (and succeed) to convince older people that they are Barbies or Bratz dolls.
* ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'' knockoffs:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fhaVVD_Y0U Twist n' Change Robots.]] You can find them at many toy stores and drugstores. They're actually based on old Takatoku molds, which were also the basis for Select's Convertors Defenders toy line, and some official ''Transformers'' such as Whirl and Roadbuster.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgWvdZUEoGU There's even]] a CombiningMecha ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' knockoff. What are you, [[Anime/TheBraveExpressMightGaine Thomas the Might Gaine]]?!
*** Amazingly and bafflingly, there's a knockoff of this knockoff. The trains have generic smiley faces on them instead of the trademark Thomas face, but the molds are otherwise the same.
** Kmart's Just Kidz Robo Morphers toy line includes a Rodimus knockoff that becomes a Ferrari Enzo lookalike, a [[Film/{{Transformers}} Movie Ratchet]] knockoff, and a [[Anime/TransformersCybertron Cybertron Evac]] knockoff.
** Big Lots has several, including G1 combiner bootlegs, "Robot Kings", and the "Battle Robots", one of which is an even flimsier clone of the aforementioned Rodimus Ferrari wannabe.
** Befitting the franchise's MerchandiseDriven nature, there are fans who actually ''collect'' bootlegs and knockoffs, and that's without getting into the fan-made "reproductions" of Classics and G1 toys, along with downsized Masterpiece figures.
** Some of the bootlegs are fairly impressive for bootlegging things that existed 20 years ago using modern molds. The ''Classics'' Sideswipe/Sunstreaker/Red Alert mold, for instance, is getting a ''lot'' of use producing, among other things, bootlegs of G2 Sideswipe, Japanese-exclusive Tigertrack, and Generation 2 Streetwise, whose only officially released toy was a Botcon-exclusive redeco of ''Universe'' Prowl.
** One Chinese company has managed to do something fans have dreamed off for the longest time in [[http://www.actionfigurechecklist.com/Images/Album/index.php?v=view&i=0&p=Transformers_KnockOff_KO/Combiner/Dinobots/DSC02226_Dinobot_Combiner.jpg the most bizarre, brightly colored way.]] These are miniature Dinobots, all clearly using tiny versions of the original alternate modes' molds, but with entirely new robot forms. They combine into... [[http://www.actionfigurechecklist.com/Images/Album/index.php?v=view&i=21&p=Transformers_KnockOff_KO/Combiner/Dinobots/DSC08432_Dinobot_Combiner.jpg this garishly colored thing]]. No known Transformers product remotely resembling this thing exists, either; likely knockoff victims like Monstructor or the Scramble City-type Transformers simply don't match up to the details. The closest they come is apparently being a hybridized combination of Dinobot bodies and Predacon assembly patterns, which makes the combined form distantly similar to Predaking.
** ''Transformers'' X ''Titanic'' = [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsYiXuORnD0 Titanic Bot!]]
** Why have a robot that turns into a truck or jet plane when you could have the [[https://toygeek.com/appliance-heroes/set-of-5/ Appliance Heroes]]? The fact that certain versions of the toy make the appliance form have a goofy face, thus ''also'' ripping off WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster, just adds to the hilarity factor.
** A bit more of a grey area are the higher quality third party Transformers which are clearly based on Transformers characters, but are usually original molds. Many Transformers fans are fine paying high prices for them due to their quality, and also because the third party companies often produce characters who otherwise might not get toys at all. For example, until the Combiner Wars gave us reasonably priced combiners, many Transformers fans paid out the nose for combiners with names like Uranos (Superion), Calamity (Menasor) and Feral Rex (Predaking).
** And then there's ''Taikongzhans'' (a poorly transliterated version of "太空戰士", Chinese for "Space Warrior" and coincidentally the same name they gave to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''), which are starting to show up in numbers in lesser toy stores in Asian third world countries. Whatever company they're from, they have the audacity to copy Hasbro's packaging and the toys bears enough resemblance to the real deal that the differences are unnoticable to the ignorant.
* [=Cracked.com=] published [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19056_the-15-most-unintentionally-hilarious-bootleg-toys.html this article]] profiling cases of [[{{Narm}} unintentionally funny]] knockoff toys.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' toys are frequently knocked-off, and some have actually become ''more'' valuable then the actual toys. The vintage Turkish and Polish varieties are the most popular.
* British convenience store Poundland stocks ''[[Franchise/MyLittlePony My Lovely Pony]]'', "[[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Tommy the Train]]", "[[WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer Little Explorer]]" and "[[Franchise/SpiderMan Spider Power]]" merchandise. Amusingly, another ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' ripoff is available, sold as [[Series/FatherTed My Lovely HORSE]].
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' [[http://the-fakie-hideout.weebly.com/the-fakie-guide.html has had a very wide variety of knockoffs]] for around as long as it's existed:
** The German toy giant Simba introduced their own ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' ShoddyKnockoffProduct when the real deal had fallen into unimportance due to neglect by Hasbro. They copied the G3 molds, modified the printing and named the result "''My Sweet Pony''". Hasbro noticed and sued, and Simba had to apply a few more changes and re-release their small toy horses (''not'' ponies) under the "Filly" brand. Due largely to G3.5's oft-disliked style shift and emphasis on SpinoffBabies [[AudienceAlienatingPremise driving people away from My Little Pony itself]], ''Filly'' has become so popular among little girls in Germany who have never heard of ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' that [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic the fourth MLP generation]] would have ended up in obscurity, were it not for [[PeripheryDemographic the bronies]]. The ''Filly'' brand is also popular among a particular group of former ''My Little Pony'' collectors due to the stylistic direction Hasbro has taken with ''MLP'' (read: ''Filly'' ponies actually resemble ponies, which G4 ''My Little Pony'' ponies generally don't). ''Filly'' even has an AnimatedAdaptation called ''WesternAnimation/FillyFuntasia''.
** There was a very obscure, short-lived, and [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] My Little Pony line made by Takara. Genuine Takara ponies are extremely rare. However, there are ''many'' more knockoffs copying the official molds than there are real ones. The bootleg ones are rarely labeled as being ponies of any sort, mainly because they're [[NonstandardCharacterDesign so]] [[InformedSpecies stylistically]] [[AnthropomorphicShift different]] that one would never know the Takaras are even My Little Pony toys at all without being told. Since the real thing is nearly impossible to find, collectors who want them often opt for knockoffs.
* When Toys/BeanieBabies were at the height of their popularity, there were a ton of counterfeits of the official toys and cheap imitations trying to capitalize on the craze.
* There are "Super Hero/Sense of Right Alliance/Crew/League/Etc." toy lines which consist of Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}, Creator/{{DC|Comics}}, ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'', and ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'' characters teaming up to fight crime or something.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2NdPTjrjdA This version]] of the Manga/ShugoChara Humpty Lock might seem like the authentic version at first, but then it does not talk like the characters and plays "Jingle Bells".
* Variant: Brazilian toy company Glasslite made [[Series/KyojuuTokusouJuspion Jaspion]] toys by putting his helmet on Franchise/RoboCop dolls and painting the body like Jaspion's armor. Just look at [[http://assets-cache02.flogao.com.br/s33/13/07/06/78/67106940.jpg both]], and then at [[http://www.tokufriends.net/br/wp-content/2010/10/jaspion_toy_entrevista_wilson_katakura_tokufriends_tokusatsu.jpg the toy]] (even the distributor of the show admitted, adding that they preferred to licence it to Glasslite instead of importing the Japanese toys).
* ''Franchise/{{Beyblade}}'' has a couple of prominent bootleggers, the biggest of which is Hongyi. Their fakes are sold under the name Rapidity and advertised as "compatible" with Beyblade parts. However, quality control is nonexistent, and the metal wheels are lead-based pewter. They deform and break much more quickly than the real thing, and release ''toxic gas'' if heated. The plastic parts are a fair bit closer in quality to the real thing, but still fall short.
* Toys/Mini4WD cars tend to see a number of these in third world countries thanks to the popularity of the [[Manga/BakusouKyoudaiLetsAndGo anime adaptation]] of the mangas among grade school children, who usually don't receive much allowance to have left over for saving anyway. They often cost one tenth of the genuine Tamiya model. Notorious bootleg companies include Diamond, Jiada, Gokey, Heipao and Auldey and unlike Tamiya brands with separately sold motor, those bootlegs usually prepackaged with a motor and sometimes packed pre-built. A side note: these bootlegs tend to come from mainland China, and are made of clearly inferior plastic (although ''Auldey'' is often cited as an exception with decent build quality and later instead of knocking off Tamiya's designs they create their own, but they are still frowned upon by Tamiya purists).
* There exists a OuijaBoard knockoff called "Wee-Ji".
* There exist [[http://bootlegpokemontoys.tumblr.com two]] [[http://fuckyeahderpmon.tumblr.com blogs]] in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fandom devoted to these. And plenty of bootleg plush can be found on places like eBay, with many unwary buyers getting ripped off.
* Very early Airfix figure sets dating from the 1950's are still in circulation, even though the figures are wooden, crude and blobby and the original moulds have passed through several owners and have not been improved by sixty or seventy years of continual use. They are now marketed by a firm based in Spain called ''Barcelona Universale Modeles'' and can very correctly be described as BUM models.
* ''[[https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/892967-bootleg-knock-off Mecha Thomas]]'', a HumongousMecha version of [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Thomas the Tank Engine]].
* ''[[http://titleknown.tumblr.com/post/121555362828/troll-fighter-for-trollandia Troll Fighters]]'', troll versions of the Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse franchise.
* ''[[http://thingsofplastic.blogspot.com/2011/05/sailor-moon-bootlegs-beauty-soldier.htm Beauty Soldier Shirley Moore]]'', a line of bootleg Franchise/SailorMoon dolls.
* ''[[http://bootlegactionfigures.com/blog/?p=1689 Titanic Legend]]'', a handheld Film/{{Titanic|1997}} video game.
* ''[[https://softoyhobby.com/tag/shark-norris/ Shark Norris]]'', ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - a shark version of Chuck Norris.
* ''[[https://preview.redd.it/remember-the-time-in-tasm-2-when-spidey-got-a-skateboard-me-v0-ejp5bdao2mv91.jpg?auto=webp&s=c0ad9884d483b81ae77fc7d04e61184f1f58fcb4 Remember when Spidey used a skateboard in The Amazing Spider-Man 2?, me neither!]]''.
* Educational toys are now part of the fray thanks to the lucrative market for them. Check out a second rate toy store in a second or third world country and you'll find pretty blatant knockoffs of Creator/FisherPrice and Franchise/LeapFrog products. Oftentimes these things are voiced by [=VAs=] with a tenuous grasp on the language they're supposed to teach (usually with a heavy Chinese accent), raising the question of the effectiveness of the bootleg.
* [[http://66.media.tumblr.com/e0179a89d2745d4f7b0c08ab41a8980f/tumblr_nhd8w40Xew1tg9y78o1_1280.jpg Behold]], bootleg action figures of [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Hol Horse and Noriaki Kakyoin]]. The former is called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Cowboy"]], [[YouDontLookLikeYou looks absolutely nothing like himself]] and almost like [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Waluigi]], and the packaging implies that his [[FightingSpirit Stand]] is [[TimeStandsStill The World]][[note]]Hol Horse's Stand is actually a gun rather than any sort of humanoid[[/note]]. The latter has a just plain horrifying face, is called "[[TranslationTrainWreck Hua Jing]]", and the packaging again depicts the wrong Stand.
* Galaxy Warriors are probably one of the most notable knockoff lines. Made by Sungold to cash in on Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse toy line. Despite the fact they were obviously trying to ride the coattails of He-man the figures were pretty high quality. Now, this is where the confusion comes in, with the combination of the figures being high quality and Sungold being an easier company to rip off without a lawsuit, many people decided to bootleg the Galaxy Warrior figures to cash in on He-man without the worry of being sued making Galaxy Warriors one of the most bootleg lines out there. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90JhVbzLVTk&list=PLmw8h6lAcMICwHbk2lRSBmnShYfhTBkM- Phelous goes into their history here]]. Some notable examples in the Galaxy Hole include.
** Galaxy Fighters by Sewco is the first major knockoff, or is it? There’s honestly a lot of confusion about whether it really was a knockoff line or the company had some kind of deal with Sungold. Many factors point to one way or the other, examples including the character Sunhawk appearing on Sungold’s Sword and Sorcery line with Galaxy fighter armor or Sewco using Galaxy Warrior figures for some of the promotional material, on the other hand, the three figures that took their heads from the Galaxy Warriors had their names changed in later releases of Galaxy Fighters implying Sungold may have taken issue with the line. It is clear however that the line was trying to cash-in on Galaxy Warriors officially or not. Yes, a cash-in line on a cash-in line, don’t worry it gets more insane later on. Despite this, however, the figures were still pretty good quality
** The Turly Gang - Fighters of Freedom by euro play is probably one of the most infamous knockoffs, attempted to cash in on TMNT with He-Man knockoff figures. Like the Galaxy Fighters, we do not know for sure if euro play ripped off their molds or they commissioned SunGold to make them. The line got into legal trouble with the TMNT distributors in Europe. As such the heads of the two leads, Primus and Sekundos were replaced with a modified Galaxy Fighters Iguana head. The line also had repaints of some of the mounts from Fighters. If you’ve subscribed to the theory that SunGold made the figures but they didn’t have a partnership with Sewco then that means that they bootleg their own bootleg line for another knockoff line. It should be noted once again the figures were still pretty nice quality.
** While there is some confusion with the other two lines if they were connected to SunGold in some way, there is none with Galaxy Heroes and Muscle Warriors that knocked off a bunch of Galaxy Warriors along with some touches of Galaxy Fighters. At this point, any semblance of quality was gone and there are also some heavy implications that these lines themselves were bootleg...and then those bootleg were bootleg. meaning some figures like the Iguana ripoff figure could have been a bootleg of a bootleg of a bootleg of a knockoff of a knockoff.
* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' is hit by this sometimes, with things like cheap dinosaur toys that imitate the films’ style in their packaging and toy companies stealing color schemes of JP figures to appeal to either kids or confused parents. Some also have straight up used official figures as molds. It’s especially noticeable in older knockoffs when the bootleggers didn’t bother to remove the areas where buttons or flesh damage existed in the original figure, leaving the bootleg with weird looking skin features. Other companies make cheap toys that are imitations of things like the ''Indominus Rex'' and ''Indoraptor'' because they’re iconic to the franchise. And many have put out raptors painted like the tiger raptor or Blue or JP-inspired ''Spinosaurus'' and ''T.Rex'' figures, as well as ''Dilophosaurus'' with frills. Note this isn’t including better companies like Papo and Rebor who do make imitation or inspired-by figures but still put decent quality into them at least.
* Knockoff ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'' consoles have been around since the franchise's inception. Most of them utilize what is known by the fandom as the Bunny ROM, a multi-pet rom that lets you choose from over 100 pets, some of which are plagiarized from ''Tamagotchi'' and its sister franchise ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. One modern knockoff Tamagotchi that is notable is the [=QPet=], an unlicensed attempt at translating the ''Tamagotchi Plus Color'' to Chinese and English, with the shell even replicating that of the official product. However, the sprites often do not match those of the original programming, and some elements are altered, like the pet celebrating Chinese holidays and Patrick from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' replacing the travel agent character. Earlier versions of the [=QPet=] were also known for displaying the word "[[PrecisionFStrike Shitty]]" when you lost a game, with later versions instead using the word "Poor".
[[/folder]]

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'':
** Team Rocket takes advantage of the Pokétch craze by churning out counterfeit Pokétches, which turn out to have mind control properties over the town's Pokémon. Dawn gets a real Pokétch at the end of the episode.
** This wasn't even the first time they tried their hand at counterfeiting. A previous episode had them making fake gym badges out of bottle caps.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In the ''Diamond and Pearl'' arc, Team Rocket takes advantage of the Pokétch craze by churning out counterfeit Pokétches, which turn out to have mind control properties over the town's Pokémon. Dawn gets a real Pokétch at the end of the episode.

* ShoddyKnockoffProduct/Toys

[[folder:Video Games]]
* A large percentage of UsefulNotes/{{Shovelware}} is made of these.
* Many unlicensed / bootleg NES games, especially by ''Thin Chen Enterprise'' (often sold under the Sachen brand name), are shoddy imitations of licensed ones, e.g. ''Rocman X'' (''VideoGame/MegaManX''), ''Challenge of the Dragon'' (''VideoGame/DoubleDragon''), ''Jurassic Boy'' (''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1''), ''Mission Cobra'' (''VideoGame/TwinCobra''), ''Street Heroes'' (''VideoGame/StreetFighterII''), ''Q-Boy'' (''Franchise/{{Kirby}}''), and ''Pipes'' (''VideoGame/PipeDream''). There are also several "pirate original" games based on movie franchises, such as ''Deathbots'' (''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''), ''Harry's Legend'' (''Franchise/HarryPotter''), and ''VideoGame/{{Titenic}}'' ''(Film/{{Titanic|1997}}).''
* ''VideoGame/CoffeeTalk'' has an InUniverse example. In one of Myrtle's status updates in Episode 2, she finds the number of copycat apps on the app store "staggering".
* ''VideoGame/WarioWareIncMegaMicrogames'': ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e3Mvh4qcuQ Dr. Wario]]'' (Wario's knockoff of ''VideoGame/DrMario''), is a parody of bootleg games, particularly the ones with head-swapped characters and edited titles, e.g. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiCDjQQSMZg Super Bros. 11]].
* ''Guitar Superstar'' is a plug-n-play knockoff of ''VideoGame/GuitarHero''.
* There are ads on this very wiki promoting an online game entitled ''[[VideoGame/StarTrekOnline Space Trek]]''.
* Then there's "World of [=LordCraft=]" (from the same organization that's behind ''{{VideoGame/Evony}}''), which has banner ads that urge you to "join the battlt now" (yes, spelled "battlt").
* The multicart ''Caltron 6-in-1'', in addition to the original game ''Magic Carpet 1001'', features knockoffs of ''Space Harrier'' (''Cosmos Cop''), ''Balloon Fight'' (''Adam & Eve''), ''Sokoban'' (''Porter''), ''Make Trax'' (''Bookyman''), and ''Buster Brothers'' (''Balloon Monster'').
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvXleDSkB-g POPstation]] (actually spelled that way) a RealLife knockoff of the UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable: acts as an extremely good example of this trope--as well as the former TropeNamer--and that's about the only good thing it does. Check out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvXleDSkB-g this video review]]. There are other products in the [=POPStation=] Watch series which are devices shaped like other consoles but have the same internals.
* Other UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable knock-offs include the [=GameStation=], the Funstation, the [=PlayCentral=], the [=RumbleStation=] (includes games from everybody's [[SarcasmMode favorite]] NES producer, Color Dreams) and many oldies compilations put in a Nintendo 64 controller (Powerplayer Super Joy; they got shot down by Nintendo pretty quick). The Dingoo A330 is a notable aversion; it's nearly identical to the PSP but has far better build quality than other copycats and runs the Android platform, making it a good choice for emulation.
* Within weeks of the release of the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} console, the Vii. Said to be made by Ken Sing Ton (BlandNameProduct knockoff of Kensington), but actually by Jungletac, who also made the Wireless 60, Air 60, and Wireless light gun plug-n-play mentioned below. Now we have the Vii 2. With its [[GratuitousEnglish Porwer]] button and its new strangely-shaped controller, but with the same low quality games, it [[SarcasmMode oughta be a blast]]! In a similar vein we have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-aTfLayXwQ Tilt Games]], the Zone-40/Zone-60, the [=MiWi=], the Wü and the [[http://www.marcosgarcia.es/imagenes/wiii_1.jpg Wiii!]]
* ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' knockoffs running on Famiclones are ''very'' common. One rather well-known ROM is ''Street Dance'', which WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} viewers will remember as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo54hv58mAQ the one]] that inexplicably has sprites of a dancing [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Jar-Jar Binks]] in it.
** One such knockoff, called ''Dance! It's Your Stage'', subverts the nomination by being a good bit less shoddy than most, even having its own songs. It gained a certain degree of Internet fame after Creator/{{Funhaus}} played it.
** Another is literally titled ''DDR''. No, not ''Dance Dance Revolution'' ... just ''DDR''. Made by "DDR Game", apparently.
** Namco-owned arcades in the U.S. got duped by a bootlegger that had made an entire shipment of ''DDR Extreme'' cabinets. They turned up being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKWmBfNerNo shoddy knockoffs]]. with a hacked [=PlayStation 2=] inside running the U.S. home version of ''DDR Extreme'' (which A. is not the Japanese arcade release, B. illegal, and C. is a version that [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wasn't really received well by fans to begin with]]), low quality pads, and broke down quickly or just on arrival. Realizing their mistake, the machines were recalled quickly, but the move dispersed many legitimate machines to other locations, and only some managed to get their machines back. Namco did try to salvage the "crap-o-cabs" by rebuilding the pads and [[http://i.imgur.com/y1h5O.jpg converting]] them to ''VideoGame/InTheGroove 2'' though.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBBMnY7mANg The PCP Station.]] A UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable lookalike with Xbox buttons that's named after a drug. It comes with "[[Franchise/StreetFighter Street Overlord]]" and "[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mary]]". Also, "Chanticleer Hegemony".
* Now there's the Nanica SMITCH (with the M being an actual upside down W). It looks a lot like a switch, and has 800 NES roms built in. It costs 50$. But at least the controllers actually do detach, and actually are wireless.
* The Power Player Super Joy is a Famiclone shaped like an N64 controller. The second controller is a Sega Genesis controller.
* There's also a Famiclone Vii.
* Behold, ''VideoGame/FinalCombat'' (Not to be confused with Sachen's ''VideoGame/BattleCity'' knockoff of the same name), a Chinese knockoff of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' that couldn't be more blatant if it tried. To be fair, the Striker does seem like a legitimately new class (albeit lifting ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' assets), but the Rocket, Firebat, Fatman, and Sniper are obvious ripoffs of [=TF2=]'s Soldier, Pyro, Heavy, and... er, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Sniper]]. Even the map most of the gameplay videos take place in is a blatant ripoff of Harvest (which is doubly insulting when you remember that Harvest was a ''fan-made map''. Ouch.). Worse yet, closer observation will show that it's actually a ripoff of ''multiple'' games, as the other maps besides the Harvest lookalike are taken from ''VideoGame/BattlefieldHeroes'' and parts of ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'''s de_dust. Just how many stolen assets are actually in this thing?! (Answer: Enough for Valve, usually a fairly laid-back group, to start vigorously pursuing legal action.)
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'', there's a Chinese T-54 knockoff, labeled Type 59. It's one tier lower and generally worse than the original, except the armor slopes, which make it quite tough.
* ''Mole Kart'' from the ''VideoGame/MolesWorld'' series is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZdrSUo-Tms a Chinese ripoff of]] ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', though it's less of a shoddy knockoff and more outright thievery. It is quite literally a texture hack of ''Mario Kart Wii'' being sold on the app store, complete with the exact same tracks (with minor texture edits to remove Mario references), the exact same items and likely everything else being the same as well.
* ''VideoGame/RockRevolution'', a painfully obvious rip-off of ''VideoGame/RockBand''. It ended up in discount bins in an instant. Ironically, it was published by Konami, who made [[VideoGame/{{Gitadora}} the games that inspired]] ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' and ''Rock Band'' to begin with.
* An in-media example occurs in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' during the Point Lookout [[MushroomSamba Punga trip]]; along the bog trail, there are fake Bobbleheads called "Schmault-tec Bubbleheads" whose descriptions mock the player's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. abilities.
* Syrian Games don't even bother to change the names, but makes various "special editions" of the same game (often Grand Theft Auto) to entice people to buy the same game. Which is reportedly a broken mod lacking all story events and missions. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3eNToC7AAM The covers themselves are hilarious.]]
* Somewhere in China is a company making a ''VideoGame/{{jubeat}}'' knockoff called "Magic Box", videos of which can be found all over [=YouTube=]. By all accounts, the hardware appears to be very close to actual ''jubeat'' in both appearance and functionality, except Magic Box replaces the top marquee with a duplicate screen a la ''VideoGame/DJMaxTechnika'' and adds some lights to the sides. The software, however, is painfully obviously inferior.
** Said knockoff also goes by the name of ''e-Magic'' and ''Magic Touch'' in some markets. Notably tho, they filled the niche in markets where Konami won't export the official Jubeat machines.
* A'' VideoGame/PumpItUp'' knockoff has been spotted going under the name ''[[WordSaladTitle King of Dancer]]''. It is most probably also made by the same company who brought us ''e-Magic'' and ''Magic Box''.
* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Burst After Burst]]'' is a ''triple'' knockoff; it's a low-quality puzzle-action game that very loosely rips off ''VideoGame/AirFortress'' and ''VideoGame/{{Thexder}}'', but there's no way the robots on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:After_Burst.jpg the cover art]] aren't just recolored, SuperDeformed [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Mobile Suits]]!
* There used to be a Chinese smartphone game called ''Pao Mei'' (Gun Girl) that basically rips off ''VideoGame/KanColle'' replete with traced and downright stolen models.
* [[TheKiddieRide Kiddie rides]], especially Japanese and European makes, are often shamelessly copied constantly by shoddy Chinese manufacturers. There have been records of recreations of R. G. Mitchells, Bafco and Amutec rides from the east where European rides are concerned, and recreations of rides by Hope, Sega and Banpresto where Japanese rides are concerned. And to show that they have no shame, there are records of Chinese manufacturers ''copying rides by other Chinese manufacturers''- there exist a ripoff of a Chinese ride that is in turn a poor ripoff of R. G. Mitchell's ''Bertie's Fun Bug'' ride.
* An in-universe example occurs in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, where recurring character Gilgamesh is continually fooled by the "legendary" sword Excalipoor, which has the special property of always doing 1 damage.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', he carries swords from several previous games, including [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud's]] Buster Sword, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Squall's]] Revolver, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Zidane's]] left-hand blade Orichalcon, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Tidus']] Brotherhood, Odin's Zantetsuken, and two versions of ''XII''[='=]s strongest Great sword. Most of them, though, gives away the fact that they are all knockoffs and novelty swords. Brotherhood has two prongs, rather than one, is shaped differently, and is much more translucent. The Revolver gunblade has the wrong engraving on it (that of a chocobo, rather than Griever) and no key chain. Orichalcon is shaped differently, and the Buster sword, aside from having 4 materia slots rather than 2, flat-out has the kanji for "Fake" right on the blade itself.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', he finds a Gunhalberd which looks like Bradamante, the weapon used by the BigBad of 1.0's Legacy storyline, Nael Van Darnus. It was used to launch WaveMotionGun attacks on the party in battle. In true Gilgamesh fashion, it turns out that this weapon is actually ''Pradamante'', which is a replica (as in, completely ordinary, and possessing no special features outside of the fact that it is a gunhalberd). Gilgamesh is of course not pleased to discover this fact.
* An in-universe example in ''Videogame/{{Warframe}}''. The Corpus MegaCorp manufactures inferior copies of [[LostTechnology long-lost Orokin]] "Prime" weaponry, such as the Braton, being the reproduction of the Braton Prime dealing almost half as much damage as the original, while also bad at {{Status Infliction Attack}}s. They also look industrial, lacking the trademark Oroking BlingBlingBang and being all [[OurWeaponsWillBeBoxyInTheFuture boxified]]. However, since 2017 it has been [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] with Braton being redesigned to imply that it's a decent Tenno reproduction of Orokin weaponry instead of a mass-produced Corpus reproduction.
* An in-universe example in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' occurs with Varric Tethras and his famous serial Hard in Hightown and its knockoffs Hard in Hightown 2 and Hard in Hightown 3: The Re-Punchening, much to his anger. His desire to find out who dared to write the knockoff for Hard in Hightown 3 is a War Table mission.
* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' actually subverts this. You can buy the [=B.ShotBowtie=] from Swatch, while Spamton sells you to the BSHOTBOWTIE, that's much weaker than the one Swatch has. However, Swatch's bowties have the brand names removed while Spamton proclaims his bowties to be "EXCLUSIVE OFFICIAL SPAMTON", which means Spamton sold those bowties before going RichesToRags, and kept some of the originals as they worsened over time.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** A virtual version of this is fake event Pokémon, ever since someone figured out how to create their own mons and inject them into the game. Sometimes, these can be spotted by things like an incorrect or missing ribbon, perfect 6ivs, or mistakes in the met location, game, date, etc. Events obtained from a Power Saves or Cyber Saves device are identifiable by always being generated with the same date on the fake wondercard. Others, though, are very good, and can only be spotted by dumping the file and checking the SID (Secret ID) to see if it's correct, incorrect or missing (although some events in earlier generations never had [=SIDs=] to begin with).
** As for the games, bootleggers have managed to sell fake game cartridges in the earlier generations, either counterfeits of the licensed games or knockoff rom hacks loaded onto cartridges.
*** Counterfeited versions of the ''Pokémon'' games are almost indistinguishable in terms of gameplay, but are known for having buggy saving and, in the case of G3, Pal Park incompatibility. The game cartridges themselves can sometimes be very difficult to distinguish from the genuine product, making it a frustrating task to find a G3 game to migrate Pokémon into the later games.
*** Gen 4 ''Heart Gold and Soul Silver'' fakes have a similar issue connecting to the Poke Walker.
*** ROM hacks loaded onto cartridges are another issue. Whilst some hack cartridges are poorly-made hacks of other games to include Pokémon characters, there are also high-quality hacks made by fans that are meant to be distributed online for free which have been loaded onto cartridges by bootleggers. It's gotten to the point where fan hacks have started inserting disclaimers to explain that the game should be released for free, and that if you paid for a cartridge you are being ripped off.
** The DS and 3DS games are more difficult to counterfeit, but bootlegs are still being circulated. Genuine versions of ''Heart Gold, Soul Silver'' and the ''Black and White'' games have an infrared port atop the game cards used for certain features (such as the Pokéwalker) which are not present on fake versions. Some G5 events had an infrared scanner at the entry used to detect illegitimate copies of the games.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' practically begged for this to occur, especially after Niantic/Nintendo made a (since withdrawn) announcement that the game would not be launched in China and were very secretive regarding their launch schedule. As the total result of their actions, [[https://www.techinasia.com/pokemon-go-clone-china ripoffs have flooded the Chinese iOS store, as well as the various unofficial Android appstores in the country]]. Toys and fake trading cards also had the Go logo slapped on them because bootleggers knew it would lure in unsuspecting fans. Some were simply game screenshots made into cards. For the record, the only official product for Go is the Gotcha game accessory. Official tie-in trading cards were released in 2022, but as part of larger expansions and not with the Go logo on the cards anywhere.
** Mobile games love ripping off Pokémon, even going as far as to put actual Pokémon in ads seen on places like [=YouTube=]. The games aren’t usually that good, though.
* There are several inexpensive portable consoles for sale at reputable retailers, like the VG Pocket and the Dreamgear [=MyArcade=]. Most of these are relatively decent quality in terms of materials and construction, but are loaded with dozens or even hundreds of forgettable, unlicensed copycat versions of classic arcade and 8-bit games. The [=MyArcade=] mini-cabinet actually has a decent handful of legit early-era NES games like ''VideoGame/UrbanChampion'' and ''VideoGame/BalloonFight'' (plus a few that were originally only released in Japan), only with heavily modified graphics to disguise what they are (two exceptions are ''Tag Team Wrestling'' and ''Pinball'', which have [[SerialNumbersFiledOff most of the trademarks removed]], but are otherwise untouched). A plug'n play TV variant of the [=MyArcade=] is the [[https://youtu.be/3kPfCEo5Wgw Retroplay Controller]], which was called the "worst plug n play console" by CausticCritic WebVideo/{{Rerez}}. Thankfully, manufacturers eventually cottoned on to what a neat concept these mini-cabinets are and began selling licensed versions featuring the real arcade games (although these most frequently include only one game per unit, for a few [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope obvious]] [[GottaCatchThemAll reasons]]).
* The original ''Videogame/{{Crysis}}'' has an InUniverse example. Nomad encounters a group of North Korean soldiers wearing PowerArmor based on the US's multi-billion dollar nanosuits. Nomad explicitly says they look like cheap knockoffs, and in gameplay they are; while Nomad's suit can flip between bullet-resistance, super strength, super speed, and cloaking, the KPA suits can only boost their resistance or strength. However, in multiplayer the US and KPA suits are a case of CosmeticallyDifferentSides.
* Beware the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystation Polystation]]! This one's a Famiclone that looks like a UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} until you open it up and see a cartridge slot.
* ''Sepia Go!'' is a Chinese mobile port of the first ''VideoGame/Splatoon1''. It looks exactly like a low-poly version of ''Splatoon'', reuses music from the game, and has official art from it. The game would be discontinued within months for obvious reasons, but the creators would return two years later with ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebShnBc9uFs Paintman Go!]]''. The new game swapped out the Inklings with CaptainErsatz characters that turn into robots instead of squids, and replaces the music with [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong suspiciously similar tracks]], though this version would also disappear within months (this time due to server costs).
* The infamous ''7 Grand Dad'', which is ''Videogame/TheFlintstonesTheRescueOfDinoAndHoppy'', but Mario's head is pasted on Fred's body. The only other difference is the title screen. The game wouldn't be very noteworthy if not for both [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Joel]] and Music/SiIvaGunner, the former reacting to it during a Chinese bootleg stream, and the latter basing his entire channel around doing BaitAndSwitch videos, usually with the "Fleenstones" theme from the title screen. Watch Joel's reaction [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF-xdiL7Nr0 here]].
* In-universe example from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'': The Bluemoon Greatsword is a knockoff trying to pass itself off as the Moonlight Greatsword forged from the tail of Seath the Scaleless, which the Chosen Undead cut off many ages ago in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI''. It is the family heirloom of Benhart of Jugo, and he couldn't be prouder of being the current owner, as his family thinks it's the real thing. Magerold of Lanafir mentions meeting him once, and says he could tell the sword was fake right away, but couldn't bring himself to tell Benhart because it would break the poor man's heart. It's worth noting though, that the Bluemoon Greatsword is still [[{{BFS}} a big sword that hurts a lot when you hit something with it]], and with no stat scaling it is a perfect candidate for Raw infusion. It just lacks the magical properties of the real thing. Its durability is also absolutely terrible, even worse than most katanas, so it's still shoddy in that aspect.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qiRCU0SCTs Wireless Air 60,]] said to be the worst console of all time, is a completely unworkable Kinect knockoff, and recycles many games from the aforementioned Vii and Zone/Wireless 60.
* The Wireless 60 itself contains many knockoffs of classic games, including Go-Kart (''VideoGame/RallyX''), Deep Storm (''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier''), Dream Bubble (''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}''), Totally Jet (''VideoGame/WaveRace''), Bump Jump (''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'', not to be confused with ''VideoGame/BumpNJump''), Pop Ball (''[[VideoGame/{{Pang}} Buster Brothers]]''), Lightning Plan (''[[VideoGame/Area88 UN Squadron]]''), Jewel Fever 2 (''[[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Bust-a-Move]]''), Auto X (''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart''), Motor Rally 2 (''VideoGame/SuperHangOn''), Ice Climber (''VideoGame/IceClimber''), Treasure Hunt (''VideoGame/LodeRunner''), Bomb Hero (''VideoGame/BomberMan''), Ballroom Bonanza (''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}''), Milk Mania (''VideoGame/BoulderDash''), etc.
* A Chinese ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' ripoff mobile game (Detailed by [=YouTube=] user "ohnickel" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuBMX3EJxko here]]) has some very blatant design theft. Even if some characters don't look like their Overwatch counterparts, their moveset gives them away. Some characters take inspiration from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and for some mysterious reason, Film/MadMax. One of the more blatant (and hilarious) ones is the knockoff!Torbjorn: instead of being based on ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'''s dwarves, he's based on their gnomes! But even still has the exact same tattoo on his shoulder. It's pretty easy to tell at a glance what each character is stolen from.
* ''Mario 3: Around the World'', a Russian bootleg game.
* ''Super Bros. 11'', also known as Mario Adventures, a Mario hack of ''Adventure Island 3''.
* '' Super Shrek Bros.'', a hack of Super Mario Bros. that turns Mario into Franchise/{{Shrek}}.
* '' Super Mario 14'', a hack of ''Kid Niki: Radical Ninja 3'' that changes the title screen and replaces a few of Kid Niki's sprites with Mario.
* ''Sonic Jam 6'', a hack of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' with Sonic in Mario's role.
* ''Somari'', the inverse of the above, with Mario playing Sonic's role in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1''.
* ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' on the NES, a pirate SNES hack of [[VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures Sparkster]] with Sonic's sprites instead of the original Sparkster sprites.
* ''Шрек'' (aka Shrek), an unlicensed Russian hack of ''Adventures of Yogi Bear'' for the Sega Genesis. The game is unchanged except for the sprite of Yogi being replaced by Shrek.
** ''Шрек 2'', a sequel to the above, a sprite hack of The Ottifants which replaces the main character with one loosely based off Shrek and also translates all the text to Russian.
* ''Ben 10: Alien Force'', is an unlicensed Russian Sega Mega Drive port of a beat-em-up Ben Ten game. You can only play as regular boy Ben, and the enemies are the same three aliens over and over again.
* ''Spongebob Squarepants'', a Russian re-skin of ''VideoGame/CoolSpot'', with WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants replacing Cool Spot.
* ''LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean'', an Russian unlicensed Mega Drive game based off the [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean movie series of the same name]].
* ''Angry Bird 2'', a ROM hack of Moai-kun that has replaced the sprites with ones loosely based off the Angry Birds characters.
* ''Feng Yin Dao'', a Chinese backport of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' made for the Famicom.
* ''Ultimate Battle Royale'', a mobile game which attempts to mimic ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}} Battle Royale'', but fails due to being slow and clunky, with horrible controls and constant advertisements with every move the player makes.
* ''Battleground Royale'', a mobile rip-off of ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}} Battle Royale'' which uses VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} graphics.
* ''Super Mario World 64'', a pirated port of the SNES ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' for the Sega Mega Drive.
* '' Super Mario World'', a hack of Squirrel King for the Sega Mega Drive, which itself is a bootleg of ''VideoGame/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' from the NES.
* ''Mario 4: A Space Odyssey'', a hack of the existing bootleg game ''Mario 3: Around the World''. While the game adds a few changes, it plays pretty much the same as Mario 3: Around the World.
* '' M.C. Mario'', a hack of M.C. Kids that changes the title screen and replaces the two kids with Mario and Luigi.
* ''Pizza Pop Mario'' (also known as 'Mary Pizza Pop'), a Pizza Pop hack which changes the title screen and replaces the pizza delivery boy with Mario.
* ''Super Bros. 10: Kung Fu Mario'', a hack of ''Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu'' which changes the title screen and swaps out Jackie Chan's head with Mario's.
* ''Sonic 3D Blast 5'', a pirate Game Boy hack which was later re-hacked as ''Sonic Adventure 7'' for the Game Boy Color.
* ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4'', a pirate game which is in actuality a hack of the Speedy Gonzales video game ''Los Gatos Bandidos''.
* ''Sonic'' for the NES, a pirated version of Adventure Island which is identical to the original apart from the main sprites and title screen.
* ''Super Mario 'n Sonik 2'', a pirate hack of the video game ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers 2''.
* ''Sonyc'', a 1995 fan game/pirate game for MSX2 computers.
* ''World Heroes 2'', a bootleg fighting game in which players can play as [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], [[Franchise/StreetFighter Chun-Li]], Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog and [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leonardo]], among others.
* ''Harry Potter'' (or Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen [=/=] "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", to use its full title), a pirated game for the Sega Mega Drive, which plays somewhat like a 3D VideoGame/PacMan clone.
* ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (not to be confused with the official Game Boy Color game), a hack of a [=McDonalds=] game called Global Gladiators.
* ''Harry Potter'', a hack of ''Magic Carpet 1001''.
* ''Harry Wrestle'', a hack of ''Panic Restaurant''.
* ''Harry Boy and the Chamber of Secrets'', a bootleg game which uses a variant of the Super Mario Bros clone engine. In the game, you play as Harry Potter - starting out as a frog, with pieces of meat returning you to Harry form.
* ''Harry Potter 3'', a Chinese shoot 'em up for the Game Boy Color released in 2002.
* ''Harry Potter 2'' (also known as simply Harry Potter), a Game Boy Color made by the company BBD.
* ''Donkey Kong Country 4'', a pirated port of VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry made for the Famicom. It was later re-hacked as ''The Jungle Book 2'', replacing both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong with [[Literature/TheJungleBook Mowgli]].
* ''Super Donkey Kong 2'', a pirated Famicom port of VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest.
* ''Donkey Kong 5: The Journey of Over Time and Space'', a bootleg game for the Game Boy Color. The game itself is a remake of the first five worlds of Super Mario Bros., with Donkey Kong as the main protagonist.
* ''Super Donkey Kong '99'', a bootleg game for the Mega Drive. Instead of a port, this game is an original platformer based on the Donkey Kong Country series.
* ''Super Donkey Kong - Xiang Jiao Chuan'', a Chinese Donkey Kong Country bootleg for the Famicom.
* ''Star Wars Escape From Hoth'', a hack of VideoGame/{{Asteroids}} for the Atari 2600.
* ''Star Wars Galaxian'', a hack of the original Galaxian video game.
* ''Star Wars Invaders'', a hack of VideoGame/SpaceInvaders.
* ''Star Wars: The Battle of Alderaan'', a hack of the video game Star Strike for the Atari 2600.
* ''Star Wars'', a hack of the game Battle City for the Nintendo NES.
* ''Super Star Wars 2'', a hack of the game Baltron.
* ''Super Star Wars'', a hack of the game Argus.
* ''Yoda Bros'', a hack of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' with Yoda in Mario's role.
* ''Yoda's Adventure'', a hack of ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' where Yoda replaces Link.
* ''Star Wars: Jedy'', a hack of Wolfchild for the Mega Drive.
* ''Star Wars: Episode 2'', a Game Boy Color bootleg game that was only sold in China.
* ''Zelda: Triforce of the Gods'', a hack of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' made for the Famicom.
* ''Shen Qi De Mao Zi'': supposedly a backport of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' for the Famicom, but it's a turn-based RPG for some reason.
* ''Lord of the Rings'', a bootleg game which copies Konami's Japan-exclusive NES game, ''Getsu Fuuma Den''.
* ''Mo Jie Qi Bing'', a bootleg ''VideoGame/KikiKaiKai'' clone with characters from ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]''.
* ''Lord of the Rings'', a hack of ''Stormlord''.
* ''The Lord of the Rings 3: Return of the King'', an extensive graphical hack of ''Chinese Fighter III''.
* ''King of Ring'', a Lord of the Rings bootleg by the developer Sintax.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iouRVcPaH5E Media Mega Drive]] is a Famiclone in [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Megadrive/Genesis]] clothing that [[BlatantLies claims to be built with Sony components from Japan]].
* Top Hunter, a plug'n play light gun system, otherwise simply known as "Wireless" ([[https://youtu.be/GoEFTg9iRzU as reviewed by Rerez]]), already rips off the name of a UsefulNotes/NeoGeo game and the controller design of ''VideoGame/BigBuckHunter'', along with including knockoffs of ''VideoGame/Area51'', ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers II'', ''Franchise/TombRaider'', and ''Ranger Mission'', but what really takes the cake is ''Duck Hunt'', which outright plagiarizes [[VideoGame/DuckHunt the NES game]] down to the sound effects, along with featuring a WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck {{expy}} on the Game Over screen.
* On the more serious side, arcade bootlegs are a huge problem for the industry and collectors alike:
** VideoGame/SnowBros 3 is just a romhack of the first Snow Bros game combined with a blatant attempt to cash in on the 2001 Japan-Korea World Cup.
** Bootlegs of SNK MVS cartridges are plentiful and one should be careful when buying them. Specifically, there exists a bootleg copy of ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 6'' that is actually nothing more than a romhack of the first Metal Slug game[[note]]The real Metal Slug 6 is released on the Atomiswave platform and thus come on Atomiswave cartridges, not Neo Geo MVS cartridges[[/note]]. Aside from that, there’s the usual ''Plus 20xx'' bootlegs to contend with, be it Metal Slug or VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters titles.
* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'':
** Jo Amon weaponizes this in his OptionalBoss fight in ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza 0}}'', as throughout his fight he repeatedly pickpockets Majima, replacing his items with useless Amon-branded tissues and a knockoff of Staminan Spark called Staminan Spork (which has the exact same appearance and description as the original, with only a single-letter typo being the difference.) While Staminan Spark fully restores your health and Heat meters, Staminan Spork instead causes huge amounts of damage and drains your Heat meter.
** By the time of ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', Ono Michio-kun (the in-universe small town mascot introduced in ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'') has become so virally popular throughout Japan that counterfeiters have started to make fake Michio figurines to cash in on his popularity. Not only do the "Fauxno Michio" figurines look off design-wise in just about every respect, but their crappy voice chips and batteries are flawed, making them an explosive hazard if not handled carefully.
* The so-called [[https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/%221.8%22_Handheld_Games "1.8" handhelds]] are several editions with misleadingly different stylings (UsefulNotes/GameBoy, UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} controller lookalikes all exist) of a handheld LCD multigame featuring particularly oddly-titled selections (and numerous reskins) of loose knockoffs of games ranging from Game & Watch classics to more recent mobile hits. Besides familiar titles which may include ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'', ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'', ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' (retitled either "Anger Birds" or "Angry Chicken") and ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'', they also offer games titled after such mundane activities as ''Baggage Claim'', ''Beer Waitress'', ''Car Parking'' and ''Receive Gift'', as well as bizarre-sounding titles like ''Bear vs. Bald'', ''Beware Cross'', ''The Bird Home'', ''Boldly Egg'', ''Destroy Hubble'' (which turns out to be a ''VideoGame/{{Pang}}'' clone and nothing to do with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope Hubble Space Telescope]]), ''Eatting Balls'' (sic) and ''The Ftpunk''. Whoever developed this system also seems to have believed that the C library functions "tolower" and "toupper" would also be good names for video games. One of these may be the only handheld video gaming device ever to be sold as an "eyecare console." Ashens reviews one of the earlier versions (while glancing at another) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C1qiNcB0k here]]. Despite the presence of a fair number of UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem games commonly seen on bootleg multigames, none of these units are actual Famiclones; the earlier ones run on hardware closer to the Timetop [=GameKing=] (itself designed as a low-budget substitute for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance), while later the games were ported to a platform similar to some of the aforementioned Wii knockoffs.
* An in-universe example occurs in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'', and serves as part of the backstory for Claire Rieveldt, which is revealed in the third game. Years before the main plot, her father and uncle ran the Rieveldt Company, which prided itself on high-quality musical instruments. However, her uncle was smuggling in cheap knock-offs from abroad and selling them under the Rieveldt label to make a profit. Her father caught on to this, and was about to expose the scam. However, her uncle hired someone to kill him in a car crash to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident, which also killed Claire's mother and younger brother. Claire eventually caught on too, and was able to gather the evidence needed to expose her uncle, who was given the death penalty for his crimes.
* ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' for UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} was such a ''shameless'' rip-off of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' that its makers even had the audacity to write "[[TemptingFate The brothers are history!]]" on the cover. Copies of the game were swiftly ripped from the shelves after a mere month when [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Nintendo made some legal threats]], but pirated versions of the game were widely circulated as it was a floppy disk game with no CopyProtection because "being so similar to Mario that Nintendo got upset" actually managed to be a [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity fairly glowing endorsement to Commodore 64 fans]]. The game ended up getting an unofficial sequel, fan-made remakes, and not [[VideoGame/GianaSistersDS one]] but [[Videogame/GianaSistersTwistedDreams two]] official new entries in the series that completely avert this trope.
* The Nintendo Switch isn’t immune to these. Most are cheap gaming tablets loaded with retro game roms and made to resemble the Switch’s colors and button layout.
** Even before, when Playstation Vita was in circulation, there existed the same thing but with Vita's layout.
** And as an odd step-up, they are made to run Android or Raspberry PI instead of being NES or Genesis clones like before and loaded with so many actual (instead of hacks to inflate number) games of various consoles (usually from the NES to 1st generation Playstation) due to the advent of gigabytes large internal storage unit. Due to the lack of quality control however, their performance left too much to be desired, not to mention all the loaded roms are less than even legally questionable. One such infamous bootleg right below...
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqXuAuTFXpA Souljagame]], a weird attempt by ''Music/SouljaBoy'' to sell videogame and specialty electronic products. They consist of re-sold knockoff consoles.
* [[https://youtu.be/0Pk8WDwlRIo Here]] is a Game Boy clone that was made with similar hardware to the official console. It was sold on the market when the official Game Boy wasn’t available in the country it’s from. It actually can play Game Boy game cartridges. There’s also a cheap Game Boy imitation called Game Child.
* Older handheld system cartridges aren’t the only ones frequently faked, collectors have to watch out for fake NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 reproduction cartridges as well. Sometimes the bootleggers even reprint the game’s manual to go with it.
* [[https://youtube.com/c/TheRetroFuture The Retro Future]] and [[https://youtube.com/c/RetroDodo Retro Dodo]] often unbox cheap knockoff game consoles on video.
* Naturally, the success of ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' has led to plenty of knockoffs -- including ''[[https://youtu.be/HVI71zv2x7Q Pretend]]'', which is basically ''Among Us'' set in an office building. Oh, and it mines your computer for bitcoin.
* In-universe example from ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation''. Working Joes are primitive androids produced by Seegson as a "low cost" alternative to Weyland-Yutani androids. The W-Y androids are [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot practically indistinguishable from humans]] even with close inspection (in fact some players might even be fooled by [[spoiler:Samuels' initial appearance into thinking he is human]]); the Working Joes look like crash test dummies with plastic skin, they cannot move faster than a brisk walking pace and have rather poor sensors (which is fortunate for Amanda), and [[ArtificialStupidity they are stupid enough to walk into fires and electrical hazards]].
* An In-Universe example in ''VideoGame/LisaThePointless'' would be the entire fashion company of Kung, which exclusively dedicated itself to imitating the clothing of a legitimate fashion company known as King (which [[AfterTheEnd post-Flash]] is the attire of the Gold Diamonds). Then Kung created the [[ArtifactOfDoom Infinity Jerseys]], which were meant to be a knockoff of a product that never came to fruition (and more ominously seems to be connected to a HatePlague and the rise of a murder cult known as the Infinity Franchise).
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' series, Gehn's Descriptive Books are regarded as this In-universe, as he never learned the Art of writing Ages properly, treating it as a science instead of an art. ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'' is set within the titular Age that was written by Gehn, and it is already falling apart at the seams when Atrus sends the PlayerCharacter inside to imprison Gehn in a Trap Book and rescue Atrus' wife Catherine while Atrus makes edits to the Riven Descriptive Book to keep it going until the PlayerCharacter is done with their mission.
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