History MarthDebutedInSmashBros / AnimeAndManga

** The Sailor Moon [[VideoGame/SailorMoonArcade arcade game]] received an international release in March 1995, ''including'' in North America, where [[Anime/SailorMoon the anime]]'' hadn't made its premiere yet (The anime was already airing its fourth season in Japan). The first season of the anime wouldn't premiere until September later that year. Rendering the arcade game the official debut of ''Sailor Moon'' in the region.

* Rock Lee made his US debut in the game ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' ''Clash of Ninja'', which came out a month before he debuted in the show.

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': Given the fact that [[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable the PSP games]] and ''[[Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaInnocent Innocent]]'' were never released outside of Japan, the limited release of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaReflection'' marked the first time that the Materials, the Florian sisters, and U-D could legally be seen in the West. Averted in Shario's case, as ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers StrikerS]]'' had been licensed by Amazon a year prior.

** The Italian dubs of ''Gold'' and ''Stampede'' similarly introduce a lot of characters to Italian audiences, since the Italian dub of the series [[UnfinishedDub stopped at Fishman Island]].

** Since ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' was never released in Italy, Masaru Daimon and [=ShineGreymon=] (with relative Burst Mode) appeared for the first time over there in ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersWhoLeaptThroughTime''.

** As for the [[Anime/PokemontheSeries anime]], audiences in many countries (like the Nordic countries, Poland, Czech Republic and Portugal) were first introduced to Misty's Togepi in ''Pikachu's Vacation'', a short shown alongside ''Anime/PokemontheFirstMovie''. The short as well as the movie itself also spoiled the evolutions of Ash's Charizard, Jessie's Arbok and James's Weezing. At the time the movie was released, these countries had yet to air the episodes where Togepi hatched and the other aforementioned Pokémon evolved.

* Given the failure of the ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' franchise in the West and Level-5's horrid mismanagement, the only material fans see is the manga. With the release of Volume 17, we got Nate's son from the future (Tate Adams) before his first appearance in the fourth movie and more prominent role in the Shadowside anime, as well as Shin and Nekomata (renamed Jack and Gusto) before their first appearance in the fifth movie.

* Kaito Kid has his own [[Manga/MagicKaito Manga and Anime adaption]], but most people know him as an reoccurring character in ''Manga/DetectiveConan''[=/=]''Case Closed''.

* The ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' franchise's first appearance in the United States was, oddly enough, on an episode of ''[[Series/IronChef Iron Chef America]]''. In one part of the episode, sardine tacos that had been made by Morimoto Masaharu [[https://ogiuemaniax.com/2010/05/09/well-they-do-say-that-presentation-matters/ were held together]] by origami paper with the cast of ''[[Anime/YesPrettyCure5 Yes! Pretty Cure 5 [=GoGo=]!]]'' printed on it. The franchise would not show up in the United States until five years after the episode had aired.

** Many playing ''VideoGame/PokemonPinball'' outside of Japan when it first came out probably didn't realize that the tune that plays during the "capture" mode is "Mezase Pokémon Masutaa", the original opening to the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime. This also happens with the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' side game ''Network Transmission''. If you happen to have seen the anime in Japanese, you'll get the intended thrill when, at a key moment, the game busts out an instrumental version of "Kaze wo Tsukinukete" (the show's first opening theme).

** ''Manga/PocketMonsters'' is the longest-running ''Pokemon'' manga and one of the earliest manga for the series, but it has never been officially exported outside of a few volumes in Singapore; outside Japan, the ongoing ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' is the most well-known manga for the franchise. The main characters of ''Pocket Monsters'' did appear in a ShowWithinAShow in a Hoenn episode of the anime, though.

* For ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', the character of Alex Louis Armstrong made his U.S. debut in the video game ''VideoGame/FullmetalAlchemistAndTheBrokenAngel'', which was released just a few weeks before the first episode with him in the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist anime]] aired on television and months before the first manga volume with him was released.

* The only American appearance of ''Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru'' (1988) has been in the guise of the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 game ''VideoGame/KeithCourageInAlphaZones''. The anime has yet to appear as of 2014.

** Ryuma was the main character of his own Manga oneshot called "Wanted!" before, which has yet to be released outside of Japan.

** Since ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' was never released in Italy, Masaru Daimon and [=ShineGreymon=] (with relative Burst Mode) appeared for the first time over there in ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime''.

** The Italian dubs of ''Gold'' and ''Stampede'' similarly introduce a lot of characters to Italian audiences, since the Italian dub of the series stopped at Fishman Island.

* Manga/MyHeroAcademia character Hawks had a fairly important part in the film Anime/MyHeroAcademiaHeroesRising before he appeared in the anime, leaving anyone not familiar with his role in manga wondering who he is. [[spoiler: Said film also spoils that he is a double agent, but doesn't reveal which side he is really working for.]]

** ''Manga/PocketMonsters'' is the longest-running ''Pokemon'' manga and one of the earliest manga for the series, but it has never been localized outside of a few volumes in Singapore. The main characters appeared in a ShowWithinAShow in a Hoenn episode of the anime.

** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': While all eight Chosen Children are shown in the first movie, only Hikari was left out at the start of the series. For the broadcast outside of Japan, most people first saw her in episode 21, where she's introduced as a rather CreepyChild who knows a lot more about Digimon (at least, Koromon) than you would expect, which made her very mysterious to the viewers. While the series does explain the events of the first movie in two seperate occassions, it doesn't change the fact that Hikari made her international debut in her late TV series appearance. The first movie was later released together with next two, but that happened after the success of the first two seasons.

* Many Western fans' first exposure to characters from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' were from [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MUGEN M.U.G.E.N]].

* Many Western fans' first exposure to characters from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' were from [[VideoGame/MUGEN M.U.G.E.N.]]

* Before Creator/{{WildBrain}} acquired the rights to ''Anime/ShimaShimaToraNoShimajiro'' in 2020, clips of the "If You Can Use The Toilet, You're A Pantsman!" segment from the ''Kodomo Challenge'' program were used in one of ''Series/TheSoup''[='s=] "What The Kids Are Watching" segments.

* Before Creator/{{WildBrain}} acquired the rights to the series in 2020, ''Anime/ShimaShimaToraNoShimajiro'', clips of the "If You Can Use The Toilet, You're A Pantsman!" segment from the ''Kodomo Challenge'' program were used in one of ''Series/TheSoup''[='s=] "What The Kids Are Watching" segments.

* The Earthree Gundam of ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise'' first appeared in ''VideoGame/GundamBattleGunplaWarfare'' two days before ''Re:RISE'' aired on Youtube.