History Main / CrossCulturalKerfluffle

* Barret Wallace, the ScaryBlackMan from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', is often held up as an example of UnfortunateImplications, if not outright EthnicScrappy, by American players. He's not treated disrespectfully compared to the other characters and the [[UncleTomfoolery comic relief idiot]] of some players' memories is a DeadUnicornTrope, but he ''was'' based on imported, racist stereotypes about African-Americans, all of which read as neutral character quirks in Japan but got extremely painful when sent back across the ocean. When asked about this in an interview, Kazushige Nojima claimed he didn't really understand the issues when he wrote the character initially, but listened to the criticisms, and tried to do better next time (Kiros from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is notably less stereotypical). Creator/TetsuyaNomura claimed it was all the translators' fault. (He [[JiveTurkey may have had at least half a point]]).

** Related to this, an InSeriesNickname given to the character was Demiya, which stands for Detroit Emiya[[note]]Detroit is a US city with a high crime rate and a majority African-America population[[/note]]. In order to avoid the UnfortunateImplications such a name would have in the West, the NA version changed it to Edgemiya, or "Edgy Emiya", lampshading the DarkerAndEdgier nature of the character.

* A zoo in Germany was so honored that President [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]] visited their town they named an animal after him -- a monkey.

* ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'''s lead is Kamala Khan. Her parents named her Kamala because, in Arabic, ''Kamal'' means "perfection". In Finnish, however, the word "Kamala" translates to "horrible."

See also: BiteTheWaxTadpole (for advertising examples), CultureClash, FeeFiFauxPas, AccidentalProposal, AccidentalMarriage, FumblingTheGauntlet, HarsherInHindsight, ValuesDissonance, DeliberateValuesDissonance, VSign, InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike, and DidNotDoTheBloodyResearch. CleanDubName might be related to this.

* In ''Literature/TheGeneralSeries'', the Skinners (nomadic barbarians) refer to the main character as "half-man", which pisses of one of his subordinates. The main character takes his subordinate aside and explains that to the Skinners "half-man" is high praise of a non-Skinner. In the Skinner language, the words for Outsider and "not-man" are the same, as are the words for Skinner and "Real Man". By calling him "half-man", they are saying he's much better than almost all others.

* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' episodes "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? I & II" have a character who [[spoiler:chooses to switch fates with Sarah Jane, and the fate is drowning (or possibly from the impact from falling from a pier into the sea, it's not clear)]]. Her name was Andrea Yates, which is the same name as that of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates an American woman who drowned her own children]]. Several American fans winced and called this distasteful on the Outpost Gallifrey forums, but was [[WordOfGod confirmed]] unintentional by writer Gareth Roberts who would've used another name had he known.

See also: BiteTheWaxTadpole (for advertising examples), CultureClash, FeeFiFauxPas, AccidentalProposal, AccidentalMarriage, FumblingTheGauntlet, HarsherInHindsight, ValuesDissonance, DeliberateValuesDissonance, VSign, InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike, and DidNotDoTheBloodyResearch. A CleanDubName might be related to this.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': InUniverse. In campaign 2, Jester decides to cause chaos by sneaking into the Church of the Platinum Dragon and painting the statue of Bahamut in bright colors. In her mind, this was an innocent prank, and her goal was just to cause a stir. What she failed to realize is that Bahamut directly opposes Tiamat, the Queen of Chromatic Dragons and one of the Betrayer Gods, and that painting an idol of Bahamut in chromatic colors is the highest form of blasphemy one could possibly commit.

* A shop display in Spain featuring a clarification that the traditional Holy Week procession outfits depicted are not meant to resemble members of the Ku Klux Klan can be found here. [[http://i.imgur.com/xOaNxR7.jpg Thanks for the clarification.]][[note]]It's because the Klan stole the design originally.[[/note]]

** The character Spastic has sparked this in the UK; while in America, the term "spastic" refers to being aloof and clumsy, in the UK it is an offensive term for those with cerebral palsy.

* The intro/attract sequence from ''VideoGames/SamuraiShodown II''s goes like this: "Long, long ago, there were a man who try to make his skill ultimate. Because of his bloody life, it's no accident that he was involved in [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles the troubles]]." (Ok, that series in general tends to be an AnachronismStew, but even so, '''that''' particular anachronism probably wasn't intentionally put there by SNK...)

* ''VideoGames/SamuraiShodownII'''s intro sequence goes like this: "Long, long ago, there were a man who try to make his skill ultimate. Because of his bloody life, it's no accident that he was involved in [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles the troubles]]." (Ok, that series in general tends to be an AnachronismStew, but even so, '''that''' particular anachronism probably wasn't intentionally put there by SNK...)

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' features a prominent villain called Black Face in the Japanese version. Because that combination of words is normally associated with [[{{Blackface}} a racist costuming practice]] in the US, the English localization renames him Metal Face.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars'': In the Japanese version, Bowser's victory pose is a BicepPolishingGesture. However, western audiences weren't familiar with the gesture, and to them, it looked like slap-the-crook-of-your-elbow, which has roughly the same meaning as FlippingTheBird. His victory pose was changed to a double fist clench in international releases of the game.

* The differing uses of the word "wank" in British and internet circles are semantically connected but very different in rudeness level. In Britain (and Australia) it's a fairly harsh swearword. Not one of the worst, but bad enough to be censored on telly, etc. It refers (explicitly or obliquely in different contexts) to masturbation. The internet version has broadly the same meaning -- by referring to something as 'wank' it's identifying it as self-indulgently onanistic; comparing geekily convoluted fan-theorising to masturbation. But perhaps because in this case the reference to masturbation is ''always'' oblique, the word is considered far less rude. In fact, it's not really considered a swear-word at all online, it's just a useful word. It can be a little jarring for British Tropers, therefore, to see the word used freely and often in contexts that become uncomfortable when its British meaning is taken into account.

* One of the earliest and most widely-used open source software applications available for [[UsefulNotes/{{UNIX}} UNIX-like]] operating systems that provides screen-locking and screensaver functionality is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XScreenSaver XScreenSaver]]. There are many screensavers bundled with it; one specific one of them, which was first added to the collection in 2003, is named "Bouncing Cow", and its name makes it pretty self-explanatory as to what it looks like. In March 2005, the project leader of the Ubuntu Linux distribution filed [[https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xscreensaver/+bug/13436 a bug report titled "Bouncing Cow Must Go!"]], in which he ordered that this screensaver must not be enabled by default in the then-upcoming version 5.04 of Ubuntu[[note]]as its version number implies, this version of Ubuntu was released about 1 month after the bug report; also note that the Ubuntu project was quite young at that point, as it had only had one release-version made (version 4.10) prior to this point in time[[/note]], because he was concerned that it might be offensive to people who adhere to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_in_religion_and_mythology#In_Indian_religions South Asian cultural and/or religious norms about the proper treatment of cattle]].

* Australia's "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_bloody_hell_are_you So where the bloody hell are you?]]" tourism campaign. The British did not like the word "bloody". The Canadians did not like the word "hell". The Singaporeans did not like either. Overlaps with DidNotDoTheBloodyResearch, as "bloody hell" is a fairly mild oath in Australia. The man who ultimately responsible for the campaign, Scott Morrison, ended up getting fired from the Tourism Australia director role, before running for Parliament, knifing his opponent in the party pre-selection (primary) ballot via a dirty tricks campaign and eventual become the 30th Prime Minister of Australia, in 2018.

* [[Literature/TheDarkHunters Sherrilyn Kenyon]]'s ''League'' series: A fantastic version of this meets unfortunate names, Dancer Hauk. On his native world Dancer means Protector and is suitably manly. Everywhere else it means Dancer, like the profession. [[{{RealMenWearPink}} Though some would argue that is no less manly, possibly even more so]].

** Lenora from ''Videogame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is a black woman who wears an apron. It's supposed to be both because she's an archaeologist--it keeps her clothes from getting dirty and possibly is a place to put stuff--and to signify she's motherly. In America it comes off as referring to {{Mammy}} stereotypes, especially considering she has curly hair and is a BigBeautifulWoman. Her official art and [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries anime]] appearances were changed to have the apron off (in the game art she drapes it over her shoulder like a BadassCape) but her game sprite is unchanged even in the sequels. In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' she's depicted without it, which may be due to the controversy.

* ''VideoGame/ProjectSekai'' has the infamous BannedEpisode regarding its web anime series ''Petit SEKAI'' in which the punchline for a particular gag ends with Leo/need dressing up in "tribal" outfits while wearing dark makeup with bright lipstick. The joke is meant to be a play on a stereotypical ''ganguro'' appearance from GyaruGirl subculture, but for American fans it accidentally came off looking like {{Blackface}}. Public outcry on the internet eventually got the episode removed and replaced with a censored version that tweaked the outfits and removed the dark makeup to make it less offensive for Western fans.

* In Philippines, the word "malakas" means strong. In Greece, however, it's an umbrella term for "asshole or {{Jerkass}}" and generally means [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown somebody that plays with themself in public]] (it literally means "softie" in the negative sense). It doesn't help that it's the most known Greek word globally.

* In Philippines, the word "malakas" means strong. In Greece, however, it's an umbrella term for "asshole or {{Jerkass}}" and literally means [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown somebody that plays with themself in public.]] It doesn't help that it's the most known Greek word globally.

* In Philippines, the word "malakas" means strong. In Greece, however, it's an umbrella term for "asshole or {{Jerkass}}" and literally means [[{{Masturbation}} somebody that plays with themself.]] It doesn't help that it's the most known Greek word globally.

* In Philippines, the word "malakas" means strong. In Greece, however, it's an umbrella term for "asshole or {{Jerkass}}" and literally means [[ADateWithRosiePalms somebody that plays with themself.]] It doesn't help that it's the most known greek word globally.