History Main / GrandfatherClause

* ''Series/SesameStreet'': Although the term "muppet" is now owned and trademarked by Creator/{{Disney}} as of their purchase of ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' in 2004, and ''The Muppets'' and ''Sesame Street'' are no longer connected, Sesame Workshop -- the owners of ''Sesame Street'' -- has a license that allows them to continue referring to their non-human puppet characters as "muppets". This is because they've used the term since the show's beginning (since they were created and owned by Jim Henson and his company until 2000) and The Jim Henson Company allowed Sesame Workshop to use the term before Disney bought ''The Muppets''.

** The original reason [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Dark Pit]] was given his own position in the roster instead of being an alternate skin for [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]] (as is the case of [[VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} Alph and Olimar]]) was due to Pit using the Three Sacred Treasures as his Final Smash, and it didn't feel right for Dark Pit to use them as well. The very next game would, in an effort to keep Final Smashes quick and to-the-point, trade the TST for the Lightning Chariot, something the Dark Pit has used in canon. That said, it probably would seem awkward to renege on Dark Pit's character-hood now that they've coined the term "Echo Fighter" to describe last-minute {{Moveset Clone}}s like him.

* Pets. There is a well-defined set of "normal" pet animals which have been part of human existence for years (if not millennia), and legislation and customs are always written around the assumption that people are entitled to buy and own these animals. Outside that well-defined set, just watch the people start to stare and the legal compliance issues start to mount. Case in point: [[WeaselMascot Ferrets]]. They're the 3rd most popular pet in the US, yet you seldom see them in the media and laws and regulations prohibiting their ownership abound. Some animals, such as raccoons, are considered wild animals (even if born in captivity) and not possible to tame properly after a year or two, and as such, some states allow them as pets, and some don't. In Russia, however, there are no laws against it, so raccoons are surprisingly popular pets (as evidenced by all the Russian [=YouTube=] videos on them).

** The complete inability to crouch, compared to other games and franchises. While sometimes criticized, many players don't mind this, as it helps to maintain the quick pace of the platforming, with the slide ability usually compensating. A notable aversion came when ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX6 X6]]'' actually allowed players to duck in addition to the usual VideoGameDashing, and even that change was reverted when the series [[VideoGame3DLeap made the jump to 3D]] with ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX7 X7]]''.

** Grandfather Clause #1: In 2004, the NCAA specifically allowed eight Division III institutions to continue to play select sports in D-I ''and'' award scholarships in those sports; the latter practice is otherwise prohibited in D-III, whether or not a team "plays up". Each covered school could only award scholarships in one men's and one women's sport. Of these eight schools, five still play the covered sports in D-I; the other three have either moved the covered sports to D-III or dropped them entirely.[[note]]This piece of NCAA legislation also added a rule that allows any D-II or D-III school to "play up" in a sport that does not have a championship for the school's own division.[[/note]]

* ''Marvel Super Hero Island'' continues to exist at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Islands of Adventure]] despite [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]] being down the road because of this. The contract for Marvel's theme park rights as it was sold in the 90's is extremely favorable to Universal; they give the company full exclusive rights to use ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', ''ComicBook/TheX-Men'', and ''ComicBook/TheFantasicFour'' plus their respective supporting characters and rogues galleries at parks "east of the Mississippi" in-perpetuity as long as those parks are in a state of good maintenance, and later as long as those characters had a presence in the park before the Disney acquisition. This is why ''Ride/AvengersCampus'' only exists in Anaheim, as Disney must make-do with secondary Marvel properties like ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'', and ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' (the last one being ''heavily'' divorced from mainstream Marvel nowadays) for the area. Even then, Disney is forbidden to use the "Marvel" name for their parks ''anywhere'' in the United States (especially the east of the Mississippi) and Japan as that was also signed away by Marvel to Universal.

* ''Marvel Super Hero Island'' continues to exist at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Islands of Adventure]] despite [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]] being down the road because of this. The contract for Marvel's theme park rights as it was sold in the 90's is extremely favorable to Universal; they give the company full exclusive rights to use Marvel characters at parks "east of the Mississippi" in-perpetuity as long as those parks are in a state of good maintenance, and later as long as those characters had a presence in the park before the Disney acquisition. This is why ''Ride/AvengersCampus'' only exists in Anaheim, and why Walt Disney World must make-do with secondary Marvel properties like ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', and ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' (the last one being ''heavily'' divorced from mainstream Marvel nowadays).

* One of the most interesting quirks about UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows is that you can't name a file or folder "CON". That's because on Windows, "CON" is actually a reserved name for device files[[note]]that means you can't even name a file "PRN", "AUX", "NUL, "[=COM0" up to "COM9" and "LPT0" to "LPT9=]"[[/note]]. These device files were introduced in the DOS era, so that various devices could make use of them to communicate with the PC e.g. printers. Nowadays, modern devices -- even printers -- communicate with [=PCs=] using USB ports and protocols. You might think that with this in mind, there's no need for device files -- but latest versions of Windows still retain the device files, because it needs to ensure backwards compatibility with old devices. This is why many companies and people -- who still rely on old devices in their workflow -- stick with Windows.

** VideoGameLives and [[TimedMission time limits]] are holdovers from the heyday of the UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame, and most modern platformers have abandoned them. Mario platformers not only keep both out of tradition, but harness them as a way of increasing difficulty (for example, ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'' gives players only 100 seconds to complete each stage). That said, the 3D platformers are slowly starting to drop 1-ups altogether as of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch era, as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' and ''VideoGame/BowsersFury'' drop them in favor of having you lose coins upon dying instead, though these elements might be living on borrowed time in 2D platformers as well, since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' also dropped the timer entirely.

* For the longest time, games would ask you to "Press Start" on the title screen, even if any other button would accomplish the same goal. The name "Start" for the button is a bygone relic itself, since its main use now (and arguably even in the NES days) is actually to pause the game. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 does away with "Start" and "Select" entirely. While the [=GameCube=] tried to remedy this by renaming the button "Start/Pause", the Wii ultimately ended up doing as the [=PS4=] would later and ditched the button, replacing it and Select with + and -, respectively, which stuck with later Creator/{{Nintendo}} home consoles' controllers. Regardless, the tradition of pressing a button to start the game lives on. Most modern games will say "press any button to start", "click to start" if it's on PC, or "tap to start" if it's touch-controlled.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' are the only pulp-cinematic modern military shooters left in the market since they both codified the sub-genre to begin with. Said sub-genre has been heavily mocked and criticized for oversaturating the market for most of UsefulNotes/{{the seventh generation|OfConsoleVideoGames}} to the point that no new original gaming IP can play it straight anymore, but since both franchises are massive juggernauts that defined the gaming landscape of the late 2000s to early 2010s, they get to stay without any mockery because gaming culture just wouldn't be the same without them. Even when some installments try to steer away from the formula, they just get met with [[VideoGame/BattlefieldHardline indifference]] or [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare backlash]].

* Up through its fourth generation of titles, the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' games still had maps that were made up of 8-12 discrete areas, with fixed-duration loading screens whenever the player passes between them. This was well into UsefulNotes/{{The Eighth Generation|OfConsoleVideoGames}}, where a lack of DynamicLoading had long been considered a damning flaw. The developers went on record stating this was an intentional design choice: fleeing from one area to another was a tactic both players and monsters used to escape each other to recover (among other mechanics) and making the whole map one large field dramatically changes the flow of the game. It helped that the developers took advantage of the small environments to pack in exquisite amounts of detail, even when the system was living on Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS handheld line]] (which weren't exactly graphical powerhouses). With the release of ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'', Creator/{{Capcom}} finally bit the bullet and modernized the series, prompting the development of a thoroughly predictable BrokenBase over which game people liked more (and with ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' retaining the unified map design, it's confirmed to be a series mainstay).

* The roleplay ''Into the Black'' (from the creators of ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'') had a gritty cyberpunk setting with a focus on realistic science and technology. Its sequel, ''Racing the Storm'', had a new GM who introduced psionics and space ships and took an unpopular direction with the characters. When a [[ContinuityReboot new sequel]] to ''Into the Black'' was planned, the [=GMs=] specified that psionics were not permitted under any circumstances. The only exceptions were Lily North and Flora, characters from the previous role-plays whose abilities are heavily tied into their appearance and backstories.

** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'', [[Franchise/FireEmblem Marth and Roy]] speak in Japanese to reflect the fact that [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros the Fire Emblem series had not been released outside of Japan]]. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' (for Marth only) and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU 3DS/Wii U]]'' continued to have them do so despite ''Fire Emblem'' games already have international distribution, Marth having English [=VAs=] for a while, and later ''Fire Emblem'' protagonists to be playable in the series speak English. This [[BreakingOldTrends was finally averted]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', where Marth and Roy both have English lines (Marth's voice provided by his English VA Creator/YuriLowenthal [[note]]by the announcement of ''Ultimate'', Lowenthal had already voiced Marth in ''VideoGame/CodeNameSteam'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors''[[/note]] and Roy's voice being provided by his English VA Creator/Ray Chase [[note]]who first voiced him in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes''[[/note]]) in the game at last.

** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'', [[Franchise/FireEmblem Marth]] speaks in Japanese to reflect the fact that [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros the Fire Emblem series had not been released outside of Japan]]. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU 3DS/Wii U]]'' continue to have him do so despite ''Fire Emblem'' games already have international distribution, Marth having English [=VAs=] for a while, and later ''Fire Emblem'' protagonists to be playable in the series speak English. This [[BreakingOldTrends was finally averted]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', where Marth has English lines (provided by his then-standard English VA Creator/YuriLowenthal [[note]]by the announcement of ''Ultimate'', Lowenthal had already voiced Marth in ''VideoGame/CodeNameSteam'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors''[[/note]]) in the game at last.

* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'', the leader of India was UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi, who while very well-known in western circles as a key figure in the struggle for modern Indian independence never actually held any sort of official office. If Gandhi were to have made his debut in a modern installment of the series, he would have more likely been implemented as a Great Person rather than as the leader of India, especially since India has had many potential leaders throughout its history. However, Gandhi has gone on to appear in every ''Civilization'' game since as the leader of India. This is perhaps due to his popularity among the player base, in particular due to the infamous "Nuclear Gandhi" meme, and due to his recurring appearances Gandhi has gone on to become the ''Civilization'' SeriesMascot.

** Though the site won't list artists the staff doesn't consider "metal enough," some bands, such as Music/{{Arditi}} or Music/{{Rush}} were accepted onto the site for their importance to the metal scene. A few exceptions were also made for side projects of predominandly metal musicians, such as Music/{{Wongraven}}. Though no new exceptions are to be added, the ones already listed get to stay.

*** KnightTemplar: A trope referring to characters who view themselves as heroic but are actually clearly evil... named for the historical organization of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar--a complex, long-lasting group involved in events that are, to say the least, controversial and still widely-debated in their moral implications and justifications. Tellingly, as a morality-based trope, the page itself has a Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease marking, meaning it would be impossible to list the Knights Templar as an example of KnightTemplar. If the trope were launched today, there's almost no chance it'd last before it got renamed, for fear of sparking countless debates over whether the Templar were morally in the right for their entire history. But it's been around for so long and been so widely-linked that it's stood the test of time. It does help that even if you don't know the historical organization, the name does tend to conjure up the image of the kind of holier-than-thou warrior that the trope describes.

* UsefulNotes/{{British Law|s}} (and by extension, Commonwealth law) takes this as the default position when dealing with the effects of a law repeal. This is justified, as these countries would routinely repeal old laws that no longer have any use except wasting space on their Statute Books and confusing lawyers. But to avoid [[ForWantOfANail unwanted consequences]] of these repeals, this trope is applied. Representative of their legalese for this is Article 16 of UK's Interpretation Act 1977:

* Although the term "muppet" is now owned and trademarked by Creator/{{Disney}} as of their purchase of ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' in 2004, and ''The Muppets'' and ''Series/SesameStreet'' are no longer connected, Sesame Workshop -- the owners of ''Sesame Street'' -- has a license that allows them to continue referring to their non-human puppet characters as "muppets". This is because they've used the term since the show's beginning (since they were created and owned by Jim Henson and his company until 2000) and The Jim Henson Company allowed Sesame Workshop to use the term before Disney bought ''The Muppets''.]]

* ''Film/ChristopherRobin'' has [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Pooh and Tigger]] be reprised by the American Creator/{{Jim Cummings|VoiceActor}} despite the movie being explicitly set in Britain like the original books (unlike previous Disney works, where it's made ambiguous) and the rest of the cast being played by British and Irish actors. This is likely because he's been voicing and associated with the characters for so long now (he's been playing them since ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' in the late '80s) that hearing them with different voices would just feel wrong. Tigger was originally planned to be voiced by Irish actor Creator/ChrisODowd, but backlash from audiences over the decision led to Cummings reprising his role instead. This is also likely why Jim Cummings reprised his role as Pooh and Tigger in ''WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011'', even though the rest of the 1980s-2000s voice cast were replaced with new voice actors in that movie.

* [[RefugeeFromTime Every year it becomes less and less plausible]] that ComicBook/{{Magneto}} can be a Holocaust survivor, with writers having to regularly de-age him through various means so that he doesn't become a decrepit old man. However, this aspect of his backstory is synonymous with the character and is unlikely to be changed anytime soon.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is the only MascotWithAttitude allowed to play all of the facets of the trope straight, due to the fact that [[TropeCodifier he solidified most of them]]. In fact, there was considerable [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks backlash]] against the plots of games where Sega tried to change him up. (A lot of modern Sonic versions and adaptions play him as cool when in his element, but also as a somewhat dorkish DumbJock type when out of it--in particular, it gives a reason for him to have Tails as a SideKick.)

** While other classic video game series have been trying to make their plots deeper and more complex, the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]'' series is still about the same Italian plumber [[SaveThePrincess rescuing the same princess]] from the same turtle-dragon creature, and while there have been few games that have tried to avert this like ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', the franchise always ends up returning to the same ExcusePlot in later installments. The [=RPGs=], being games with a higher StoryToGameplayRatio but having essentially the same plot, make fun of this. Every Mario RPG so far, besides ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor The Thousand-Year Door]]'' and ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'', has started with Bowser kidnapping, trying to kidnap, or at least planning to kidnap the princess,[[note]]So far, only the original ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' has had the main plot focus on this.[[/note]] and in ''Thousand-Year Door'', he objects to someone else doing it because it's ''his'' gimmick (and his love, but that's beside the point). Even the main series has made fun of the gimmick of the princess being kidnapped; ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this with a news report saying that Princess Peach has been kidnapped... [[OhNoNotAgain AGAIN]] (emphasis theirs).
** VideoGameLives and [[TimedMission time limits]] are holdovers from the heyday of the UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame, and most modern platformers have abandoned them. Mario platformers not only keep both out of tradition, but harness them as a way of increasing difficulty (for example, ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'' gives players only 100 seconds to complete each stage). That said, the 3D platformers are slowly starting to drop 1-ups altogether as of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch era, as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' and ''VideoGame/BowsersFury'' drop them in favor of having you lose coins upon dying instead, though these elements might be living on borrowed time in 2D platformers as well, since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' has also dropped the timer entirely.

** Samus' morph ball form also came about because of the hardware limitations making the developers unable to get Samus to crouch or crawl. Needless to say that these days, we have the technology, and yet the morph ball remains regardless.

*** There's also the topic of Wily's status as the BigBad for each game. Of the mainline games, ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan1 1]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan2 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan7 7]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan8 8]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan11 11]]'' feature him gleefully declaring to TakeOverTheWorld from the very start. In the remaining mainline games (along with ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass''), he'll take a NotMeThisTime stance. Whether he [[FalselyReformedVillain acts as though he changed his ways]], [[{{Frameup}} frames someone else as the Big Bad]], [[LatexPerfection disguises himself as someone else]], or what have you, he'll always hijack the spot as the Big Bad later on in the story somehow.

* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series started as a ridiculous ActionHero game in the mid '80s. Even as soon as ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' in 1990, the series started to take itself seriously, and both became a lot more grim and disillusioned as well as getting known for its highly complex plot and deep and well-written characters. Many of the bosses, however, are so ridiculous (from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' alone we have a fat guy in roller skates who plants bombs and drinks wine through a bendy straw, a literal vampire, a woman who dodges bullets just by being really lucky, and a former U.S. President in powered armor with tentacles and a pair of katana literally named "Democrat" and "Republican") they could be straight out of ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' and many of the sequences could be from cheap '80s action movies, but since those elements have been part of the series from the beginning, they were kept, similar to ''Film/JamesBond'' movies. Using a cardboard box to hide in -- and having it work so well -- is a part of the game's mythos from the very first game. It would be hard to imagine a newer stealth action game playing the "moving cardboard box" bit straight.
** Many modern stealth video games give the player some sort of infinite use throwing item that can be thrown to distract enemies. The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' franchise has long allowed players to distract guards by throwing empty ammunition magazines, but the player was limited by how many magazines had actually been emptied by firing guns. However, the unlimited distraction item paradigm was embraced in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV''. While other games have players throwing some sort of item the player character could presumably scrounge from the environment, usually rocks, the player character in Metal Gear Solid V has an unlimited, free supply of empty magazines, regardless of how little sense that actually makes, because empty magazines is what the franchise has always used for that function.

* The score counter, while not being used as much as it once was, occasionally continues to pop up in newer games (although not necessarily always in the traditional way). However, it has found another purpose by changing the points to money or 'experience', and then having the player spend it on upgrades, weapons, health and so forth.

* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' is the only video game franchise that could get away with using the MayanDoomsday as a major plot point since the first main StoryArc, spanning [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI the first game in 2007]] to 2012's ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', revolves around a solar flare on December 21, 2012 that almost destroyed humanity only for Desmond Miles to do a HeroicSacrifice. Fans playing III when it first came out joked about rushing to finish it before the apocalypse that was due to several months later.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' are the only pulp-cinematic modern military shooters left in the market since they both codified the sub-genre to begin with. Said sub-genre has been heavily mocked and criticized for oversaturating the market for most of the ''UsefulNotes/{{The Seventh Generation|OfConsoleVideoGames}}'' to the point that no new original gaming IP can play it straight anymore, but since both franchises are massive juggernauts that defined the gaming landscape of the late 2000s to early 2010s, they get to stay without any mockery because gaming culture just wouldn't be the same without them. Even when some installments try to steer away from the formula, it only just gets met with [[VideoGame/BattlefieldHardline indifference]] or [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare backlash]].
* Sometimes when patching a game to fix a GameBreaker or a {{Good Bad Bug|s}}, the developers will let the players keep the old versions of equipment if it doesn't hurt other players. For example, when Gearbox nerfed The Bee in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', they didn't actually alter any of the shields already acquired - only new ones, that drop after the patch is implemented.

* Up through its fourth generation of titles, the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' games still had maps that were made up of 8-12 discrete areas, with fixed-duration loading screens whenever the player passes between them. This was well into UsefulNotes/{{The Eighth Generation|OfConsoleVideoGames}}, where a lack of DynamicLoading had long been considered a damning flaw. The developers went on record stating this was an intentional design choice: fleeing from one area to another was a tactic both players and monsters used to escape each other to recover (among other mechanics) and making the whole map one large field dramatically changes the flow of the game. It helped that the developers took advantage of the small environments to pack in exquisite amounts of detail, even when the system was living on Nintendo's handheld line (which weren't exactly graphical powerhouses). With the release of ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'', Capcom finally bit the bullet and modernized the series, prompting the development of a thoroughly predictable BrokenBase over which game people liked more (and with ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' retaining the unified map design, it's confirmed to be a series mainstay).

** In the competitive meta for ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', there's a single Pokémon that completely overshadows the rest: Snorlax. It is so widely accepted as a GameBreaker that it's regarded as the best pick even in the Ubers tier, where legendaries are legal, and it sees literally universal usage (as in, well over 95%) on serious teams in the standard Overused tier. In nearly every other meta since then, such a completely dominant Pokémon would be banned from Overused--however, at the time when the second-generation meta was solidifying, that idea simply didn't occur to anyone, as Ubers was regarded as a tier that existed just for the stronger legendaries, and banning standard-but-strong Pokémon didn't become accepted until Garchomp showed up two generations later. Hence, Snorlax remains unbanned in large part because people have long accepted that it being the best Pokémon is just a fact of the meta, and learned to play with that in mind. That said, there's an additional reason for this: Snorlax being so powerful means that it's highly effective at breaking stall teams, and when it's not available, then PaddedSumoGameplay becomes far more likely to ensue.
** In ''[=FireRed=]'' and ''[=LeafGreen=]'', the lack of a special song for rival battles and Team Rocket battles is allowed because [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the games]] they are [[VideoGameRemake a remake]] of didn't have such songs to begin with. It was after the first generation that the main games started using customized Trainer Battle tunes for rivals and criminal gangs. ''[=HeartGold=]'' and ''[=SoulSilver=]'', though, give Lugia and Ho-Oh special battle themes, whereas the original ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' had generic wild Pokémon battle music for these legendaries [[note]]having special music for legendary battles also became a trend from [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire the third generation]] onward[[/note]].
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' introduced brand new baby Pokémon to evolve into preexisting species, such as Munchlax, Bonsly, Mime. Jr, Happiny, and Wynaut. Their evolved forms will still hatch from Eggs unless the correct Incense is held by the parent--the only alternative use for the items is as a duplicate effect of a different item (for example, the Rock Incense needed to breed a Bonsly is otherwise a duplicate of the Hard Stone item). For those unfamiliar with Pokemon before the new babies occurred, seeing an evolved Pokémon--especially Snorlax--hatch from an Egg can be a bit of a shock. Though as of ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', all Pokémon will now hatch from their lowest form[[note]]For example, Marill will produce eggs that will hatch Azurill instead of Marill even without the Sea Incense, which alongside the other incenses, were removed from the games[[/note]].

** A specific example of this happening comes from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', where almost every returning character received a new costume except Ryu, Chun-Li, and Zangief (also arguably Rainbow Mika, who received only minor modifications from her original ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 3'' costume; and later on Gill, Dan, Rose and Oro as well). Capcom deemed that their appearances were simply [[ClothesMakeTheLegend too]] {{iconic|Outfit}} to alter, and as such they remain the same (for their default costume, anyway; Chun-Li has pretty much an UnlimitedWardrobe for DLC), while everyone else looks different (in varying degrees of CostumeEvolution) but usually has a Nostalgia Costume available as [[DownloadableContent DLC]] if players prefer their original/previous design. However, this clause is seemingly about to expire in ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'', which finally gives Ryu and Chun-Li a drastic case of CostumeEvolution - and even then their classic outfits are available as alternate costumes.

* Speaking of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', the limitations of the CPS-1 meant that all of the male characters in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' [[ActingForTwo had the same voice set]] and shared the exact same DeathCryEcho. Once ''[[UpdatedRerelease Super Street Fighter II]]'' rolled around, the CPS-2 allowed for all of them to have new and improved attack calls and KO screams - except for Ryu, the franchise's mascot and protagonist, who merely had his voice clips remastered.

** Due to technical limitations, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' completely did away with [[StanceSystem transformations]], making [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda/Sheik]] and [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus/Zero Suit Samus]] [[DecompositeCharacter separate characters]] while removing the [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokemon Trainer]] alongside Squirtle and Ivysaur, putting in Charizard as a [[AscendedExtra lone and fully developed character]]. Then, in ''Ultimate'', where the theme is that ''everyone'' [[TheBusCameBack makes their return]], Charizard was made part of the Trainer's set alongside Squirtle and Ivysaur once again. This despite ''Ultimate'' carrying on the tradition of not having transformations otherwise [[note]]until the addition of [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 Pyra and Mythra]] via DLC[[/note]], and in fact goes even further by taking out some of the Final Smash transformations (like Fox with the [[TankGoodness Landmaster]]). Because Pokémon Trainer had to be represented alongside Squirtle and Ivysaur, they got to return even though their stance system gimmick has been largely discredited, as it would be ''impossible'' to do the character properly without it. As a side effect, it ends up making Charizard [[DemotedToExtra feel less distinct because of this]]. Although ''Ultimate'' did away with the mechanic of Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon getting tired and having to switch every so often, so aside from cycling back to it after getting [=KOed=], players can still play as their favorite 'mon.

** Regarding the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'''s {{Palette Swap}}s, in the very first game, Pikachu and Jigglypuff [[AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal had party hats and ribbons]] respectively as the basis for their alternate colors, as their colors were deemed too iconic to change and Shiny Pokémon had not yet been introduced. ''Melee'' continued the trend with Pichu - but Mewtwo received full-fledged color swaps. ''Brawl'' scaled back on this by both cutting Mewtwo and giving both the Pokémon Trainer and Lucario more subtle tints, only for the next game to have more distinct colors for Charizard and incoming newcomer Greninja, alongside bringing back Mewtwo via DLC. ''Ultimate'' followed suit with having Incineroar receive proper color swaps. Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Pichu? Still sporting accessories with only mild tints in their general colorization, simply because they started off with them.

* Players of ''VideoGame/DaytonaUSA'' discovered that downshifting to first gear will throw the car into a slide, making drifting around corners easier. However, attempting to do this while driving the new cars in ''Daytona USA 2'' will cause the car to spin out. But if you're driving the Hornet Classic, you can downshift without penalty, because that car emulates the physics of the first game.

* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'', the leader of India was UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi, who while very well known in western circles as a key figure in the struggle for modern Indian independence never actually held any sort of official office. If Gandhi were to have made his debut in a modern installment of the series, he would have more likely been implemented as a Great Person rather than as the leader of India, especially since India has had many potential leaders throughout its history. However, Gandhi has gone on to appear in every ''Civilization'' game since as the leader of India. This is perhaps due to his popularity among the player base, in particular due to the infamous "Nuclear Gandhi" meme, and due to his recurring appearances Gandhi has gone on to become the ''Civilization'' SeriesMascot.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' made its name with BlackComedy humor that [[CrossesTheLineTwice crosses line all the time]], it's why the series is so popular to begin with. Naturally, when ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' was released, that kind of humor carried over in-full. The most noticeable is the four classes you can play as FighterMageThief and... [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Jew]]. Yes, there's a Jew class. It's been said that this is the only game that could get away with something like that.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' premiered in 1999, at a time when {{Zany Cartoon}}s with NegativeContinuity ruled the day. Fast forward 20+ years later, when more continuity-driven cartoons are now the norm, and ''[=SpongeBob=]'' is [[LongRunners still actively on the air]] with essentially the same brand of undersea silliness it debuted with.