History Main / MarketBasedTitle

* For a while, the Australian group Bumblebeez had to be billed as Bumblebeez 81 in the US, due to an existing group called The Bumblebees - apparently the use of XtremeKoolLetterz and lack of a "the" wasn't enough to differentiate the two. They're now back to being just Bumblebeez in both countries though.

* One [[TheEighties 80's]] issue of SpiderMan dealt with Spidey busting an arms trafficking ring, complete with an {{Anvilicious}} message about gun violence. The Brazilian title was ''A Cidade Apresenta Suas Armas'' (''The City Presents Its Weapons''), which also happened to be the first verse of a popular, then-recently released Brazilian rock song by band Paralamas do Sucesso. It fit [[{{Woolseyism}} amazingly well]], possibly because the song had a similar [[{{Anvilicious}} anti-violence theme]].
* The American ''[[DennisTheMenaceUS Dennis the Menace]]'' cartoon was renamed ''Dennis'' in the UK, presumably due to [[DennisTheMenaceUK the existing UK comic character]] of the [[NamesTheSame same name]]. Likewise the British ''[[DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]]'' cartoon is known as ''Dennis and Gnasher'' internationally, likely for the same reason (Gnasher is the name of the British Dennis's dog, by the way).

** ''SnakesOnAPlane'' to ''Snake Flight''

* ''{{Tangled}}'' became known as ''Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale'' in parts of Asia. Despite this, Disney Channel Asia still refers to the film under its original name.

* ''HarryPotter''
** ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' became ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' in America. The book was initially marketed as a children's book, and some of the higher-ups believed it less cerebral for a kid to know what a ''sorcerer'' is compared to a ''philosopher''. Her American publisher initially proposed changing the first book's title to ''Harry Potter and the School of Magic,'' but Rowling didn't like it; she then suggested "Sorcerer's Stone" as a compromise. Oddly enough, the French title for the book translates as "School of Magic".
** For the seventh book, Rowling herself suggested that translation could be based on the phrase "[[HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Relics]]".

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'' became ''Yubiwa Monogatari'' (roughly "Tale of the Rings") when it was released in Japan.

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** ''{{Gladiators}}'' = ''AmericanGladiators'' ([[JustifiedTrope Justified]] for obvious reasons)

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* Enix found that there was already an old RPG released in North America had used the title ''[=DragonQuest=]'' and SPI (the publisher of said game) still held the trademark to the name. Thus, when bringing the series over, they were forced to use the name ''Dragon Warrior''. Technically it was the camelcase [=DragonQuest=], which, while not exactly the same, was still close enough to prevent Enix from calling its video games series ''DragonQuest''. Disuse of the [=DragonQuest=] trademark prevented any problems Square Enix would have had with obtaining the ''Dragon Quest'' trademark.

* One [[SuperMarioBros Yoshi-themed]] puzzle game for the original GameBoy was titled ''Yoshi's Egg'' in Japan, ''Mario and Yoshi'' in Europe, and simply ''Yoshi'' in North America.

* ''PacMan'' was originally titled Puck-man, until someone figured out what would happen if a vandal changed the P to an F.

* The ''NinjaGaiden'' series was originally called ''Ninja Ryukenden'' in Japan. An odd case, as Tecmo simply switched one Japanese word for another ([[GratuitousJapanese and with one that doesn't make much sense in context]]), instead of actually translating the title into English. ''Ninja Gaiden'' was actually the WorkingTitle in Japan before they eventually settled with ''Ninja Ryukenden''. Tecmo thought that the title ''Ninja Ryukenden'' would've been too hard to pronounce for English speakers, so they kept the name ''Ninja Gaiden'' for the American version.
** The PAL versions of the ''NinjaGaiden'' games (particularly the arcade version and the first two NES games) were released ''Shadow Warriors'' as using the word 'ninja' was forbidden for children's toys under some European laws - see also the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' below.

** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s Family Computer: it actually has many differences between itself and its overseas counterpart, the NintendoEntertainmentSystem. The Super Famicom, however, is a straight play of this trope: it's almost identical to the [[{{SNES}} Super NES]] aside for the shape of its cartridge slot.

** {{Sega}}'s Mark III was released as the MasterSystem overseas (a name later used in Japan for a revised version of the Mark III). Its successor, the Mega Drive, was released as the SegaGenesis in North America (but was still called the Mega Drive everywhere else). As a result, its AddOn, the Mega CD, became known as the Sega CD in America. The Super [=32X=] in Japan was exported to Europe as the Mega [=32X=] and to America as the Genesis [=32X=].

* When Namco of America localized ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'', they named it ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny II'' in a bid to catch the people who had seen the only other ''Tales'' game they had published in America, and also to avoid lawsuits concerning ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe}}''. This proved to be a bit awkward for everyone when Namco released ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny 2'', a direct sequel to ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny''. Presumably [=NoA=] learned their lesson when translating ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', and the rest is history.

* All of the sequels to ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'' have had their subtitles changed in Europe - ''[[RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'' became ''Locked And Loaded'' and ''[[RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal Up Your Arsenal]]'' was just called ''Ratchet & Clank 3''. Presumably by then changing the title was simply a tradition, as ''[[RatchetDeadlocked Deadlocked]]'' became ''Gladiator'' and all ''Ratchet and Clank [[StoryArc Future]]'' titles had the "Future" part removed.

** The exceptions are the PSP games (which were developed by a different team who have links with the original team), which are named ''[[RatchetAndClankSizeMatters Size]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Matters]]'' and ''VideoGame/SecretAgentClank'' in both regions.

* The ''{{Wild ARMs}}'' sequels all have subtitles in Japan (such as ''[=Wild ARMs: 2nd Ignition=]'' or ''[=Wild ARMs: The 4th Detonator=]''. In North America, these were all dropped for plain old numbers.

* Some of the ''StreetFighter'' games are titled differently between regional releases and console ports.
** The very first ''Street Fighter'' was released for the [[TurbografxSixteen Turbografx CD]] as ''Fighting Street''.
** In Japan, ''Street Fighter II: Champion Edition'' is known as ''Street Fighter II Dash'', while ''Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting'' is known as ''Street Fighter II Dash Turbo''. The word "dash" is not spelled out on the title of either game, but represented by a prime mark (′) as a sort of StealthPun (both games were derivatives of the original ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII''). The SNES port of ''Hyper Fighting'' is simply titled ''Street Fighter II Turbo'' in all regions, while its Genesis counterpart is known as ''Street Fighter II Dash Plus'' in Japan and ''Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition'' everywhere else.

* The ''ArTonelico'' series has had its [[LongTitle rather lengthy titles]] shortened for each installment. The first game, ''Ar tonelico: Sekai no Owari de Utaitsudzukeru Shoujo'' (''The Girl who Continues to Sing at the End of the World'') became ''Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia''. Similarly, ''[[ArTonelico2 Ar tonelico II: Sekai ni Hibiku Shoujo-tachi no Metafalica]]'' (''The Girls' Metafalica that Resounds through the World'') became ''Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica''. Lastly, ''[[ArTonelico3 Ar tonelico III: Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hiku]]'' (''The Girl's Song that Pulls the Trigger of the World's Demise'') broke the pattern with ''Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel''.

* With the exception of the [[ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage first one]], [[ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox all]] [[ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture the]] [[ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter games]] in the ''ProfessorLayton'' series have different titles in the US and UK markets.

* ''MortalKombat'' game are usually published with an untranslated title in France. But ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'' was translated to ''"Mortal Kombat: Mystification"'' because ''"déception"'' is the French word for "disappointment".

* Sega's ''Eternal Arcadia'' became ''Skies of Arcadia'' overseas.

** The Honda NSX was sold in the US as the Acura NSX. IIRC, the idea was that Americans would not buy a $60k+ Honda, but would pay that for an Acura.

* A minor example: JoeHill's ''Literature/NOS4A2'' is changed to ''NOS4R2'' in the UK release, to better agree with the British pronunciation of "Nosferatu".

* ''{{Parodius}} Da!'' was retitled ''Parodius'' in Europe, [[NoExportForYou as the original game was never released there]].

* TheBible has been hit by a lot of this over the centuries. Ever notice how we use Latin names for a bunch of ancient Hebrew books?

* ''Trouble With The Curve'' was renamed ''Back In The Game''. That's not a translation from the German, by the way - that's the ''actual German title''.

** ''Film/Hoosiers'' became ''Free Throw''.

* The Swedish movie ''Fucking Åmål'' was retitled ''Film/ShowMeLove'' in English, for presumably obvious reasons. The renaming, that is -- the choice of new title seems less obvious.

* The British band called The Beat came to be known as The English Beat in the [=US=] after discovering the existence of an American band of the same name (which is known as Paul Collins' Beat in the Europe due an agreement by both bands not to use the name "The Beat" in each other's main area of operations). After discovering the existence of the other's band, bandleaders Paul Collins and Dave Wakeling struck up a long friendship that culminated in the two bands touring together in 2012.

* The British band called The Beat came to be known as The English Beat in the [=US=] after discovering the existence of an American band of the same name (which is known as Paul Collins' Beat in the Europe due an agreement by both bands not to use the name "The Beat" in each other's main area of operations). The two bands even toured together in 2012.

* The British band called The Beat came to be known as The English Beat in the [=US=] after discovering the existence of an American band of the same name (which is known as Paul Collins' Beat in the Europe due an agreement by both bands not to use the name "The Beat" in each other's main area of operations).

** Australian GM subsidiary Holden has recently struck the really rather good Astra from it's model range, and replaced it with the Cruze... which is a rebadged Daewoo. Yay?

* ''TheLionKing 1 1/2'' became known as ''The Lion King 3'' in the UK, for why we do not know.

* The first-published book in C.S.Forester's ''HoratioHornblower'' series was titled ''The Happy Return'' in the UK, and ''Beat To Quarters'' in the United States. Several of the TV films similarly had alternate titles, usually while still managing a TitleDrop.

* Several of the ''HoratioHornblower'' TV films were renamed for the American market. Indeed, in the UK, the series was simply titled ''Hornblower'', the naming being extended to include the character's first name for the US.
** ''The Even Chance'' became ''The Duel''
** ''The Examination For Lieutenant'' became ''The Fire Ships''
** ''The Frogs And Lobsters'' became ''The Wrong War''

* ''GundamWing'' is marketed outside japan as "Mobile Suit Gundam Wing" it's orignal Japanese title was "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing"

** EightLeggedFreaks used its original title ''Arack Attack''. That was the original US title, before it was changed in deference to some bizarre cultural sensitivity to words that kinda sound like ''arab'' or ''Iraq''.

** For some bizarre resaon, ''WeWereSoldiers'' became ''We Were Heroes'' (even though overly patriotic themes are typically looked down on in Germany).

* In Israel, both WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond and XMenEvolution are known as ______ - The Next Generation - probably after the Star Trek. Never mind that it is wrong with the second example.

** Maybe that's a wierd QWERTY/QWERTZ joke.

* A lot of movies who keep their English title in France lose their "the", further fueling TheTheTitleConfusion. Others, like TheDarkKnightTrilogy, were spared.

* Similarly, Mainframe's (the same studio behind Beast Wars) ''Shadow Raiders'' was named such because it was loosely based on a US-based toy line named ''War Planets'', and they couldn't include War in the name of a children's cartoon in Canada. Initial US runs restored the series name to ''War Planets'' to match the toys... but later runs kept the name ''Shadow Raiders'' which was the original for the series, but a Market Based Title compared to the toys it was based on. Confused yet?

* The SegaMasterSystem game ''[=TransBot=]'' was titled ''Astro Flash'' in Japan and ''Nuclear Creature'' in Brazil. It was also released as an ArcadeGame, which had the same title in Japan but was titled ''Transformer'' internationally.