History Main / NumberedSequels

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare. Many video game series also use a variation where numbered sequels denote "significant", or "mainline" games, while other entries like spin-off, side games, or {{Gaiden Game}}s will use subtitles or WordSequel instead. While what distinguishes a numbered and non-numbered sequel is clear in some series, it is more arbitrary in others, leading to [[SequelNumberSnarl the weird phenomenon where some franchises have many more games than the title of the latest numbered sequel would imply]].

* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', a RP board, is split up into "versions" by [[BigBad Danya]]. Each version takes place on a different island with ~150 characters trying to be the [[KillEmAll last one standing]]. Version 0 refers to the final "test run" which was only shown on an obscure channel, and Version 1 was shown nation-wide (and the first where people started writing). These were followed a year later by Version 2 and another year later by Version 3. The fourth version takes place [[WebcomicTime in 2008.]]

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty'': Home console sequels are numbered 2-10 until ''Super'' (the eleventh), while handheld ones are excluded (they started with SuperTitle64Advance with the first two games, but then dropped that in favor of unique subtitles).

A common way to name movie {{sequel}}s is to take the title of the original, possibly abbreviated, and add a number. So ''Foomovie'' will be followed with ''Foomovie 2'', ''Foomovie 3'' (or ''[[ThirdIs3D 3D]]''), etc. Also common is to follow ''Foomovie'' with ''Foomovie, Part 2'', etc. -- though the word "part" will usually be dropped when talking about the movies. (This is usually done when the stories of the movies are supposed to form one big story.) Sometimes there are subtitles as well.

* All the mainline ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' entries have been numbered with a Roman numeral (with the latest one as of this writing being ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''; ''Final Fantasy XVI'' is currently in production), despite the fact that each entry in the series is essentially a stand-alone story with no ties to previous titles. When it came to make a direct sequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', they titled the game ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' (as in "Ten-Two") and likewise the direct sequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' is ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' (Thirteen-Two), although other sequels/spinoffs to specific entries (such as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' and ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'') opted to use subtitles instead.

** Gustav Mahler, superstitious that several other previous composers had died either leaving 9 symphonies, or 8 and an unfinished 9th, at one time said that the symphony now numbered his 9th was actually his 10th, by counting the symphonic {{cantata}} "Das Lied von der Erde" as a symphony and thus as his actual ninth (this is what qualifies him for this trope). Subverted in that nobody else has since accepted that renumbering, so "Das Lied" remains defined as a symphonic cantata, is NOT counted in the sequence of symphonies, and the 9th symphony as a 9th. Oh, and he died shortly afterwards, leaving sketches for a half-completed 10th.

A common way to name movie {{sequel}}s is to take the title of the original, possibly abbreviated, and add a number. So ''Foomovie'' will be followed with ''Foomovie 2'', ''Foomovie 3'' (or ''[[ThirdIs3D 3D]]''), etc. Also common is to follow ''Foomovie'' with ''Foomovie, Part 2'', etc. - though the word "part" will usually be dropped when talking about the movies. (This is usually done when the stories of the movies are supposed to form one big story.) Sometimes there are subtitles as well.

* Normally, in classical music, number of works isn't really that important, but there's a particular superstition around writing exactly nine numbered symphonies...
** Gustav Mahler, superstitious that several other previous composers had died either leaving 9 symphonies, or 8 and an unfinished 9th, at one time said that the symphony now numbered his 9th was actually his 10th, by counting the symphonic cantata "Das Lied von der Erde" as a symphony and thus as his actual ninth (this is what qualifies him for this trope). Subverted in that nobody else has since accepted that renumbering, so "Das Lied" remains defined as a symphonic cantata, is NOT counted in the sequence of symphonies, and the 9th symphony as a 9th. Oh, and he died shortly afterwards, leaving sketches for a half-completed 10th.

This trope [[StoppedNumberingSequels can be subverted]]: The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' series started with ''Marathon'' and ''Marathon 2'' but then jumped to ''Marathon '''Infinity'''''. The subsequent release and open-source development of ''Marathon 2'''s game engine restored sequential numbering by naming the engine ''Aleph One'', [[UpToEleven the next largest infinity]]. (See below.)

* The ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'' series followed this trope until the sixth installment which was called ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (as if the other movies were about some other guy named "Rocky"). Word of God says that the movie was not called "Rocky VI" to avoid any possibility of another ''Rocky'' installment. That didn't stop Stallone from reprising the role in the spin-off/sequel {{Film/Creed}}, though.

** Of course, after reaching double-digits the movies started to go out of their away to avoid mentioning what number they were up to, as if out of embarrassment. Re-releases of the sequels on DVD rarely state the number of the movie anymore either.

* Each UsefulNotes/SuperBowl is known by its Roman numbered ordinal. This began with Super Bowl III in 1969, after the first two were simply known as the "AFL-NFL Championship Game" and later retconned into Super Bowls.
** Except for the 50th Super Bowl in 2016, which the NFL is marketing as Super Bowl ''50'' (not "L"). See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_50#Use_of_the_Arabic_numeral The Other Wiki]] for an explanation.
* The UsefulNotes/OlympicGames are officially referred to by number. The 2016 Summer Olympics will be the Games of the XXXI Olympiad.
** It's worth noticing the ones cancelled due to World Wars still count for the Summer Games, but ''not'' for the Winter Games.
** Makes a certain amount of sense since an olympiad is a measure of time.
** Numbering the Winter Games in the same manner as Summer Games could have become awkward once the IOC changed the Winter Olympic cycle to fall in the middle of an Olympiad (the even-numbered year between Summer Olympics). Since an Olympiad is officially defined as starting on January 1 of a Summer Olympic year, the 25th Olympiad (1992–1995) had two Winter Games (1992 and 1994).

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare. Many video game series also use a variation where numbered sequels denote "significant", or "mainline" games, while other entries like spin-off or side games will use subtitles or WordSequel instead. While what distinguishes a numbered and non-numbered sequel is clear in some series, it is more arbitrary in others, leading to [[SequelNumberSnarl the weird phenomenon where some franchises have many more games than the title of the latest numbered sequel would imply]].

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare. Many video game series also use a variation where the numbered sequels are used to denote "significant", or "mainline" games, while spin-off or side games will use subtitles or WordSequel instead. While what distinguishes a numbered and non-numbered sequel is clear in some series, it is more arbitrary in others, leading to [[SequelNumberSnarl the weird phenomenon where some franchises have many more games than the title of the latest numbered sequel would imply]].

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare. Many video game series also use a variation where the numbered sequels are used to denote "significant", or "mainline" games, while spin-off or side games will use subtitles or WordSequel instead. While what distinguishes a numbered and non-numbered sequel is clear in some series, it is more arbitrary in others, leading to the weird phenomenon where some franchises have many more games than the title of the latest numbered sequel would imply.

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare. Many video game series also use a variation where the numbered sequels are used to denote "significant", or "mainline" games, while spin-off or side games will use subtitles or WordSequel instead.

For some reason (FourIsDeath? RuleOfThree?), it's very common for Numbered Sequels [[StopedNumberingSequels to stop at 3]], and any subsequent media to be given a subtitle alone instead.

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare. Many video game series also use a variation where the numbered sequels are used to denote "significant", or "mainline" games, while spin-off or side games will use WordSequel instead.

For some reason (FourIsDeath? RuleOfThree?), it's very common for Numbered Sequels to stop at 3, and any subsequent media to be given a subtitle alone instead.

This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare.

* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' has six main games, even though the latest one released is only titled ''[[VideoGame/Persona5 5]]''. This is because [[VideoGame/Persona2 the second game]] is [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo actually two games]]. The spinoff sequels of the fourth and fifth games are simply named ''VideoGame/Persona4 *[[VideoGame/Persona4Arena insert]] [[VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax subtitle]] [[VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight here]]*'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5 *[[VideoGame/Persona5DancingInStarlight insert subtitle]] [[VideoGame/Persona5Strikers here]]*'', but ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', which is a {{Midquel}} to [[{{Crossover}} both the third and fourth games]] (weird time shit is involved) [[LetteredSequel drops the numbering]] rather than associating it with one game over the other. Persona Q itself would get a numbered sequel in ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', crossing over Persona 3, 4, and 5.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' had a subtitle when it was first released in Japan, namely ''Super Mario Bros 4''. Then, for the Western releases of ''Yoshi's Island'', it had the subtitle "Super Mario World 2" to become ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland''. All following games in the ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' series, including ''World 2'' retroactively, are now considered part of a separate subseries.

* The four movies of the Franchise/{{Rambo}} franchise were originally named and ordered thusly: ''Film/FirstBlood'', ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII'', ''Film/RamboIII'', and ''Film/{{Rambo}}''. Note how "Rambo" goes from being the subtitle of the second movie to the main title of the third. The fourth movie, released twenty years after the third, is a clear case of StoppedNumberingSequels.

* The second to fourth ''Literature/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' books are numbered and [[ElectricBoogaloo subtitled]] as ''The Science of Discworld II: [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare The Globe]]'', ''The Science Of Discworld III: [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin Darwin's]] Watch'' and ''The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day''.

** In Brazil, it's more straightforward, with some [[TheForeignSubtitle subtitles added]]: ''Rambo - Programmed to Kill'', ''Rambo II: The Mission'' (fun fact: "The Mission" is the equivalent of "ElectricBoogaloo" in that country), ''Rambo III'' and ''Rambo IV''.