Line #14 Main/Bowdlerise


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4	[[quoteright:319:[[Art/{{David}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NT5323150_791.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:319:You know, [[GoofyPrintUnderwear the overly blatant portrayal of sexual symbols on this statue's underwear]] really [[{{Irony}} goes against the grain!]]]]
6	->''"It's my job to protect you, the viewer, from reality."''
7	-->-- '''[[MeaningfulName Fox Censor]]''', a Creator/{{Fox}} network censor, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
8
9	[[AC:''This page has been deemed Too Inappropriate by the MoralGuardians, so they have set up a [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Bowdlerise}} Family Friendly Substitute]].'']]
10
11	To Bowdlerise[[labelnote:Pronunciation]]"Bow" (as in "port bow" or "cow" minus c) plus "dler" (as in ''Film/SchindlersList'') plus "ise" (pronounced like eyes). Alternatively, those who know IPA: /ˈbaʊd.lə.ˌɹaɪz/.[[/labelnote]] means to alter existing programs, plays, etc. so they are less rude and/or offensive. Commonly, this takes the form of swapping "curse" words for [[GoshDangItToHeck euphemisms.]] The term is used in a negative sense, by those who think the alterations are often done with a ridiculously high [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope fear of lawsuits]] and/or [[PoliticalCorrectnessIsEvil need for political correctness]]. Sometimes it's understandable -- [[ValuesDissonance different countries have different standards]], so if a distributor wants to keep the same age rating, some of the more sexual or violent content may need to be removed before the MoralGuardians catch wind of it. Or maybe someone noticed that all it takes to change a show from something for teens to suitable for kids is the removal of a few swear words, [[GoshDangItToHeck darn it]]. Others are fairly reasonable for broadcast, such as toning down violence since ChildrenAreTenderHearted. Such modifications are also understandable when the work is being adapted into a play that will be performed by kids, not just watched by them.
12
13	But true Bowdlerizing starts when you actually lower the quality of the art or story in some way in the editing, sometimes as little as spoiling jokes or perhaps making villains not look quite as evil, but escalating to damaging the plot, making dialogue confusing, and making heroes look pure and shiny. And at its very "best", it can make a situation ''less'' acceptable. In many cases (such as the airing of R- and NC-17-rated films on broadcast television or the release of sexual, violent, or edgy material in countries where such things are known to be forbidden), the viewer/listener/reader is often left wondering why a release in such a venue was even attempted.
14
15	Censorship starts at editing out blood splatter and profanity. But it escalates pretty quickly. [[FrothyMugsOfWater Beer may become water even when it's adults drinking]] -- even villainous adults. Cigarettes and cigars might be removed even though it's a bad guy smoking. [[FamilyFriendlyFirearms A six-round revolver can become a water gun or slingshot.]][[note]]Like what happened to the gun emoji.[[/note]] Then they start warping entire characters to the entire show so that a character is AmbiguouslyBi, as if a good guy being gay might encourage kids to be gay -- when ironically a good guy being bi might just encourage a kid to experiment. [[NobodyCanDie Then when a situation presents itself where death should be a given, it's always avoided or explained away]], removing the idea of consequences stemming from dangerous activities. A girl hits a boy because he got her dirty, instead of because he might be groping her. A scene of a parent hitting their child is completely removed, making it look like they are running away over nothing.
16
17	If they really ''can't'' remove a death, they might try to remove emotional depth from it, so somebody doesn't seem to grieve that much over their best friend/lover dying -- so now you're encouraged to stifle your emotions. Other emotional conversations may be edited, so characters seem to be friends rather than in love. Vital discussions might be removed because they take place in a bar, leaving plotholes. And at its most extreme, there may be the removal of entire episodes, and you might never even get to see the final season of your show because it's DarkerAndEdgier.
18
19	Named after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who first did it on Literature/TheBible and Creator/WilliamShakespeare's plays; for instance, changing [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Ophelia's drowning]] from suicide to accident. It's worth noting that Bowdler himself created his "Family Shakespeare" versions as a way to introduce Shakespeare's plays to audiences who would otherwise be barred from experiencing them at all, [[MisBlamed and actively encouraged people to seek out the originals]]. Sadly, this cannot be said of most modern Bowdlerisers. Before him, the French Duke of Montausier published "ad usum Delphini" versions of works for the Dauphin (heir apparent) of France. "Ad usum Delphini" is now a synonym of this trope.
20
21	CulturalTranslation can often contain elements of Bowdlerization, especially due to ValuesDissonance. See TWordEuphemism for a mild form of bowdlerization. See also DubInducedPlotlineChange (which specifically refers to Bowdlerization in translated works and refers more to the final product than the process) and {{Disneyfication}} (which generally goes further, in not only removing content but adding new, "kid-friendly" content). See Administrivia/BluenoseBowdlerizer for when it happens here on the wiki.
22
23	The inverse of this trope is AmericanKirbyIsHardcore. Yet another related trope is SelfCensoredRelease, where a creator self-censors his work to appeal to a broader audience. There is also a CensoredTitle, for when a work seems to be Bowdlerized, but only the title is for marketing purposes. If the censoring is done InUniverse, that's NarrativeProfanityFilter.
24
25	See also CulturallySensitiveAdaptation.
26
27	Tropes that often or always arise from Bowdlerisation include:
28	* AbridgedForChildren: If works are edited to remove material unsuitable for kids, though it's just one reason why that trope may occur.
29	* AdaptationalModesty: Making a character's general dress sense more modest in an adaptation, and/or cutting incidents that had them naked or in underwear.
30	* AdaptationalWeaponSwap: When certain weapons are considered risqué or psychologically toxic for children (like brass knuckles or nunchucks), adaptations or reboots will trade those weapons for something parents will "approve" of.
31	* BlackBlood and MadeOfBologna: Covering up extreme gore and blood through digital editing or redrawing the carnage so it's less shocking.
32	* BloodlessCarnage: Removing [[{{Gorn}} blood and gore]] altogether from battles and otherwise violent scenes, even if they would do serious damage to living entities involved if they were to occur in real life.
33	* TheBodyPartsThatMustNotBeNamed: Resorting to euphemisms to avoid any of the common words for, uh, the bathing suit area.
34	* CensoredForComedy: {{Parod\|y}}ies of Bowdlerism, often showing how poor censorship can make something seem even dirtier.
35	* CleanDubName: A name is changed overseas because it accidentally sounds obscene in a certain language.
36	* CurseOfTheAncients: Replacing curse words with [[AntiquatedLinguistics old-timey slang]] such as "consarn it!" or "dagnabbit!"
37	* DigitalBikini: Using digital editing to add clothes to naked people or to make someone's clothes less revealing. Can be used in conjunction with FamilyFriendlyStripper, though it has also been used in conjunction with bath and shower scenes (at least when Cartoon Network aired anime), hot springs episodes, or any scene of half-naked characters in a locker room-type setting (both animated and live-action).
38	* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: Editing, delaying, or banning something (mostly TV shows and movies) due to the plot being similar to a real-life current event that may be considered to be done in poor taste. HarsherInHindsight is similar, but only applies to past media that somehow "predicts" future bad events.
39	* EditedForSyndication: Most of the bowdlerization does occur after a TV show is put into syndication or makes its rounds on the international market.
40	* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Replacing realistic weapons with more fantastic or less lethal ones.
41	* FamilyFriendlyStripper: Strip clubs and other sex establishments have the workers in relatively "innocent" skimpy clothes (usually a bikini) rather than being naked, topless, or in some kind of overt fetish costume.
42	* FlawlessToken: The villain or ButtMonkey can't belong to a race, ethnic group, religion, or social class that has historically been persecuted. Even when the group the hated character represents ''hasn't'' been persecuted, this trope may still come into play if the group the character represents wields a lot of power in society and threatens a boycott of the work. (However, if a character becomes a villain ''[[ThenLetMeBeEvil because]]'' [[StartOfDarkness of persecution]], that's usually okay to show.)
43	* FrothyMugsOfWater: Replacing alcohol with non-alcoholic drinks (usually juice, soda, or water) and hand-waving the drunken behavior as "acting crazy" or [[TookALevelInJerkass "being a jerk"]].
44	* GetBackInTheCloset: Gay stuff is treated harsher than straight stuff.
45	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The creator of a work making excessive revisions to it since its original release, usually to update and upgrade special effects, but sometimes to bowdlerise too.
46	* GoshDangItToHeck: Replacing sensitive words with their "safer" variants ("damn" to "darn", "hell" to "heck", "ass" to "butt" or "rear", etc). WitchWithACapitalB is the same thing, only it focuses on toning down the word "bitch".
47	* HideYourLesbians: Homosexuals with PlausibleDeniability.
48	* NeverSayDie: Characters can't mention anything about death and the afterlife because it may be too upsetting; even ghosts might be seen as too creepy for kids. In many cases, the word "kill" can ''never'' be used, even if [[JustJokingJustification it's in a comedic context]].
49	* NoSmoking: Characters can't enjoy a cigarette (be it tobacco -- or, in more extreme cases, cannabis, crack cocaine or meth), lest more impressionable viewers imitate what they see.
50	* NoSwastikas: Removing offensive imagery (usually swastikas or anything having to do with [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Adolf Hitler]] and his Nazi regime).
51	* OrwellianRetcon: When a Retcon is performed by going back and changing the original work, so that subsequent printings of "the same" work are actually different.
52	* PacifiedAdaptation: When an adaptation is less violent than other iterations.
53	* ScunthorpeProblem: Trying so hard to block dirty words that your software censors the same strings of letters when they appear in perfectly innocent contexts, due to lazy programming [[CensoredForComedy ***umptions]].
54	* ShesAManInJapan: When a transgender character is changed to cisgender, or one character in a same-sex relationship is [[HideYourLesbians changed to the opposite sex]] (though this can also be for different reasons, such as the producers making a mistake or for language translation reasons).
55	* TamerAndChaster: Sex scenes and {{Fanservice}} are toned down or outright omitted in adaptations and sequels in order to pull in a family audience.
56	* TechnicalEuphemism: Technical vernacular used to avoid saying something rude or unsettling.
57	* TranslationWithAnAgenda
58	* ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange: Sanitizing a work created in a foreign country of any and all references to its country of origin, with references to the destination country shoehorned into their place.
59	* VideoGamePerversityPrevention: Video games have censorship systems to stop players using editing options or crafting systems in offensive ways.
60	----
61	!!Examples:
62	[[index]]
63	* Bowdlerise/AnimeAndManga
64	* Bowdlerise/ComicBooks
65	* Bowdlerise/{{Film}}
66	* Bowdlerise/{{Literature}}
67	* Bowdlerise/LiveActionTV
68	* Bowdlerise/{{Music}}
69	* Bowdlerise/MythAndLegend
70	* Bowdlerise/{{Theatre}}
71	* Bowdlerise/VideoGames
72	* Bowdlerise/WesternAnimation
73	** ''[[Bowdlerise.TheSimpsons The Simpsons]]''
74	* Bowdlerise/RealLife
75	[[/index]]
76	----
77
78	[[foldercontrol]]
79
80	[[folder:Advertising]]
81	* A commercial for Air Action Vigorsol gums released in early 2007 showed a squirrel eating the gum and extinguishing a fire in the woods with [[{{Fartillery}} a freezing fart]]. After complaints, the commercial was altered so that the squirrel gets ice breath instead, and the final shot (which had the "R" in the Vigorsol logo lifting a leg to let a small fart out) had the fart sound bleeped out. Curiously, they later made a sequel commercial where the squirrel brings some gums to a couple of penguins so that they can escape from the melting ice float they're on with a rocket-boosted fart, which wasn't censored at all.
82	* Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdHmDmlJpzU this cinema commercial for Holsten Export]] in which the editors attempt to remove all instances of the beer in question from a family film on the grounds it's "too strong" for the target audience, with no regard to story context. The result is, obviously, anything but PG/12A-but the editors don't seem to care as long as all the alcohol's gone.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Art]]
86	* The nude saints in the Art/SistineChapel ''The Last Judgement'' had their genitalia painted over with garments after Michelangelo's death, leaving the schmuck who agreed to do it to forever be known as "the breeches maker." After a restoration effort in the 20th century, the fresco survives unbreeched.
87	* That picture of the ''Art/{{David}}'' statue with the boxer shorts on the main page? It was clearly done in jest, but something like that actually happened. A plaster cast of the statue was made as a gift to Queen Victoria, and since this was one of the more prudish times in history, they felt that male nudity might offend someone, so a plaster fig leaf was made to use [[http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/d/davids-fig-leaf/ during the Queen's visits.]]
88	* The Museum of Reading in England has a replica of Art/TheBayeuxTapestry on display. It was created using a drawing of the original as a guide. However, the drawing put shorts on a figure who was originally naked, so the replica does too.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
92	* ''Animation/BoonieBears'': In Season 4 episode 1, Logger Vick lets the animals play a game of passing a drink from a wine jar around, but Bramble says drinking is not good and Logger Vick assures them it's filled with juice instead. The English version removes any reference to it being a wine jar, leaving it at just "it's filled with juice".
93	* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' has been a notably example of this trope:
94	** Due to the accident that happened in April 6, 2013 on China where a boy accidentally burnt another two of his friends while trying to imitating a scene from the cartoon itself, starting with ''Paddi the Amazing Chef'', ropes were changed into jelly pudding-shaped rope or laser rope (made by Wolffy), the pot that the wolves used to cook the goats lacks the fire (in the later seasons, the pot never appeared again), [[https://imgur.com/mwLYLZ4 Wolffy wears the safety hat when get launched into the sky,]] and Wolnie's uses of frying pan attack has been reduced (also applies in the last two films). In a few scenes, DontTryThisAtHome messages were added, although it disappeared in the later seasons.
95	** Also applies to ''Mighty Little Defenders''. The National Radio and Television Administration forced Creative Power Entertaining to edit the fighting scenes to make them more suitable for kids. They also forced CPE to change some of the weapons.
96	** The official Website/YouTube uploads of episodes 341-380, as well as the ''Great War in the Bizarre World'' arc, were edited to make them less violent, including removing violent scenes (including cutting the scenes with Wolnie beats Wolffy with her frying pan repeatedly in episodes) and changing weapons to look less realistic.
97	*** Notably, in episode 353, the scene where Paddi burns Wolffy's tail outside the Wolf Castle is heavily edited and cut.
98	** Official [=YouTube=] uploads of ''Joys of Seasons'' episodes have a few edits of their own, such as cutting the scenes where Wolnie beats Wolffy with her frying pan repeatedly or changing knives into vegetables.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
102	* The Sunday edition of the August 26 2018 ''ComicStrip/Blondie1930'' strip in which Mr. Dithers dreams of beating the crap out of Dagwood before his wife wakes him up, removed the panels of him pounding Dagwood over the head with both fists and strangling him.
103	* When Scott Adams was told he could not have {{Satan}} as a character in one of his ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strips, he introduced "Phil the Prince of Insufficient Light", who wielded a large spoon and would temporarily [[GoshDangItToHeck "darn" people to "heck"]] over relatively minor offenses. Adams does admit that this character ended up being funnier than what he had planned for Satan. (And given that it allows for any number of "spooning" jokes, is it really better?)
104	** When Adams did a story about a police officer shooting a criminal in the leg, he was told he couldn't use guns, so instead the officer shoots the crook with his donut, which makes it funnier.
105	* Gary Larson often had his ''[[ComicStrip/TheFarSide Far Side]]'' cartoons rejected because they were "too scatological". Often this meant they only contained innuendoes, such as a boy sitting behind an outhouse and playing a tuba.
106	** And as Larson relates in his book ''The Prehistory of The Far Side'', an editor once told him he could not use the term "dork" because it meant "penis" (Larson didn't know this, he says, till he looked the word up later).
107	* The ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'' comic for June 25, 1994 has John reacting to Michael's girlfriend Rhetta all dolled up with a "BOINGG!" above his head. The rerun of this strip published on June 24, 2023 removes this, likely to avoid the unfortunate implications of a middle-aged man being aroused by a teenage girl.
108	* The original version of an early ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip had Jason leaving a FunnyAnsweringMachine message for the "Satan Hotline". When reprinted in books, it was changed to him singing "A Million Bottles of Beer" instead.
109	* In an early ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip set on a farm, Garfield said, "Wanna swap sheep jokes?" Although Jim Davis didn't intend it that way, his editor thought that it sounded like a bestiality joke. It became "dirt jokes" as a result.
110	%%* Boy, have ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' and ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' gone through ''this''.
111	%%** What's weird is that in one instance ("[[http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Yust%20Sven I yust got out]]") it ''[[http://books.google.com/books?id=7jF1vg_A8OIC&pg=PA227&dq=%22i+yust+got+out%22+%22dilbert%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=s9PMUOrtBNGy0QHp9IHYBw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22i%20yust%20got%20out%22%20%22dilbert%22&f=false improved]]'' the clarity. That's two for a thousand so far.
112	* In a Finnish translation of ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'', of the story introducing the Vultures, one of the members of the gang is shot and [[NeverSayDie "wounded"]] by the police, so the protagonist investigating the gang gets to take a look at him in a forbidding-looking "hospital", where he lies on a slab. For some reason, he's never interrogated...
113	[[/folder]]
114	[[folder:Fan Works]]
115	* Nintendo's tendency to remove blood from its games was referenced in ''WebAnimation/MeleesEnd'' episode 5:
116	-->'''Mario:''' What do you want, Ganondorf?\
117	'''Ganondorf:''' I have come for your ''blood''.\
118	'''Marth:''' Oh, not my blood!\
119	'''Fox:''' You don't even know what blood is.\
120	'''Mario:''' Guys, this is a ''Nintendo game''. Don't worry.\
121	'''Ganondorf:''' I've coughed up plenty of blood in my day. Nintendo can't save you now!\
122	'''Fox:''' [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Your blood is green.]]
123	* Although ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' is, by and large, ''much'' more adult than the [[Anime/DragonBallZ original series]] by featuring profane dialogue and loads of BlackComedy, it does edit out one thing that was in the original: genitalia. This is likely because Website/{{Youtube}} has very strict rules regarding nudity. That said, their abridged version of ''Anime/BrolyTheLegendarySuperSaiyan'' does not remove them.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Pinball]]
127	* Many PhysicalPinballTables have options to tone down racy or possibly offensive voice clips for certain markets, as a form of AdjustableCensorship. A notable example would be ''Pinball/ElviraAndThePartyMonsters'', which not only allowed suppressing the saucier quotes, but also came with a "modesty decal" to cover Elvira's massive knockers on the backglass. Other examples include ''Pinball/{{ACDC}}'' muting swearing in the song lyrics and covering up bare breasts on the dot-matrix display animations, as well as alternate photographs of the models in Stern's ''Pinball/{{Playboy\|Stern}}''. In both cases, there are three levels: completely uncensored, a DigitalBikini variant with mild swearing left intact, and characters fully clothed and no swearing at all.
128	* ''Pinball/{{NASCAR}}'' allowed operators to replace the default backglass art with one that changed the "Miller Lite" logo on Rusty Wallace's car with a "Rusty" logo instead, in case their location was sensitive to alcohol-related advertising.
129	* ''Pinball/SouthPark'' got this twice over.
130	** The "G"-rated AdjustableCensorship option changes the software in various ways - all mentions of farting are altered (Terrence and Phillip's "Super Fart Bumpers" become "Super Pop Bumpers", while the MatchSequence changes from them farting numbers to burping them instead), while the famous "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" "You bastards!" exchange is cut down to "They killed Kenny!" "Rats!" Furthermore, the game also came with decals to cover up potentially offensive playfield art, such as Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo.
131	** The original version of the game software included completely uncensored dialogue (the game's highest setting otherwise is "PG-13", which still bleeps out harsher cursing), as well as a removed VideoMode that involved Cartman and Stan trying to be lesbians by engaging in a literal carpet-eating contest. Creator/ComedyCentral demanded these changes soon after the game's release.
132	* In ''VideoGame/DevilsCrush'' for the Platform/TurboGrafx16, the pentagrams were geometrically altered for the U.S. version, becoming eight-pointed. In the Platform/SegaGenesis version, ''Dragon's Fury'', anything star-shaped was changed into a simple five-pointed star.
133	* The home version[[note]]a home {{Physical Pinball Table\|s}}, not a video game port[[/note]] of Bally's ''[[Pinball/CaptainFantastic Capt. Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy]]'' replaces the racy artwork of the original with a family-friendly quasi-psychedelic depiction of Music/EltonJohn and the Cowboy.
134	* Creator/{{Gottlieb}}'s ''Pinball/SuperMarioBrosMushroomWorld'' reuses the VideoMode from their earlier ''Pinball/SuperMarioBros'', but replaces the Bullet Bills with Boos instead.
135	* The Platform/SuperNintendo version of ''VideoGame/PinballDreams'' removed the crosses in the "Nightmare" table.
136	* ''Pinball/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' ships with a gun grip and trigger to launch balls and fire at in-game targets. Operators have the option to replace the grip with a fire/launch button "for sensitive locations".
137	* Several of the changes required by Creator/{{Universal}} for ''Pinball/TheBigLebowski'' include removing Walter's Colt .45 and a marijuana leaf from the playfield art.
138	* Universal also nixed the caged female dancers from the backglass art on ''Pinball/MonsterBash''.
139	* ''VideoGame/ZenPinball'' and all its offshoots aim for a blanket E10+ rating, which often means that tables based on more adult subject matter end up censored accordingly. This extends to their recreations of older pinball tables, which alter the artwork to remove cigars, add heavier clothing to scantily-clad women, and relabel beer cans "soda".
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Podcasts]]
143	* ''Podcast/{{Psycomedia}}'' uses Freud as a substitute profanity, to highlight that AllPsychologyIsFreudian is not true.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
147	* Wrestling/{{CMLL}} will edit any blood it can out of any of its televised matches or simply not air them if it cannot.
148	* Around the turn of the century, there was a memo circulated by Turner Broadcasting for CNN that declared that "foreign" stories be referred to as "international" stories. Wrestling/{{WCW}} received this memo, which wasn't meant for them. This lead to the term "foreign object" (a weapon that shouldn't be part of the match, e.g. a chair at ringside) being changed to "international object." Back in [=WWF/E=] Jim Ross called weapons used in matches "international objects" on at least one broadcast as an in-joke.
149	* Also in WCW, when the Music/InsaneClownPosse were working there, the "Violent" in Violent J's name was deemed unacceptable, causing the commentators to refer to him as Jake Jeckel. Sometimes. Other times they called him Violent J. Consistency was not a hallmark in late period WCW.
150	* When 'asshole' chants first became a thing in professional wrestling, Turner Broadcasting tried very hard at first to figure out a way of censoring the chants. Since there was no way to get the fans to stop and trying to mute the chants without muting whoever was talking was impractical, they gave up after a couple months.
151	* During the early 2000s, UPN forced Wrestling/{{W\|orld Wrestling Federation}}WF to rename two of its wrestlers.
152	** "Badd Ass" Wrestling/BillyGunn's name was deemed problematic because of the gun reference. He went by Mr. Ass for a few years. (Yes, "gun" was deemed more offensive than "ass." Weird.)
153	** Val Venis' name was deemed unacceptable because it rhymed with penis. One of his nicknames had been 'The Big Valboski', and that briefly became his real name.
154	* Wrestling/ColtCabana's [[AssKicksYou flying asshole]] is referred to as the "flying apple" in Wrestling/{{Chikara}}. Similarly, [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]]'s [[BellyFlopCrushing shadows over hell]] is called "shadows over Hades".
155	* Since action figures are marketed to kids, when Wrestling/BallsMahoney was working for WWE, his action figure was named on the box as "B. Mahoney."
156	** Wrestling/BillyGunn pops up here again. His [[FinishingMove finisher]] was called the Famasser, which might have angered parents. Initially toy boxes listed his finisher as the Fame-er, but eventually settled on Famouser. Interestingly, WWE now spells the move Famouser after the PG switch.
157	** A Wrestling/ChrisJericho figure was released sporting his "[[BigShutUp SHUT THE HELL UP!]]" shirt, but it was changed to "SHUT THE HECK UP!"
158	In the "Attitude Era" Jeff Jarrett would come to the ring with a guitar painted with "Don't Piss Me Off" but it was sometimes written "Don't P* Me Off". His action figure's guitar said "Don't Make Me Mad".
159	* As a family friendly publication covering something not really family friendly, ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' would Bowdlerize some wrestler's names. In ''PWI'' Balls Mahoney was simply Mahoney, [[Creator/HardGay Razor Ramon Hard Gay]] became "Razor Ramon H.G."[[note]]And only got to keep the "H.G." so people wouldn't confuse him with [[Wrestling/ScottHall the other Razor Ramon]][[/note]], and Billy Gunn was ''never'' referred to as "Mr. Ass".
160	* WWE's Divas Undressed special. Even though it aired during the graveyard block, they still spent a lot of time cutting away to judge reactions during particularly racy bits.
161	* In one particularly disappointing example, the heel character of Wrestling/MuhammadHassan was completely written out of storylines following the London terrorist bombing of the summer of 2005. This despite the character referring to himself as an Arab rather than a Muslim (although his ring entrance did make liberal use of Islamic imagery) and using a garrote made of piano wire as a heel weapon (a more stereotypically [[TheMafia Italian]] way of murdering someone, and in fact Hassan's portrayer, Mark Copani, was partly Italian-American).
162	* At ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 22'', Wrestling/MickieJames grabbed Wrestling/TrishStratus' crotch to break a hold. The DVD edited out Mickie licking her fingers afterward since Vince [=McMahon=] didn't like it, or because Mickie received a bigger {{Face}} reaction than Trish did.
163	* WWE briefly had a show on the CW called Saturday Morning Slam. Because it was in a children's programming block it had to be rated TV-G/TV-Y7. As such, all moves involving the head and neck could not be shown.
164	* Indy wrestler Wrestling/DaltonCastle's gimmick includes his being accompanied at all times by two men who form human furniture for him and fan him off during matches. When he made a few appearances in TNA in 2015, they had him accompanied by two women instead, although otherwise they left his gimmick intact.
165	* In a confusing case of this, during Wrestling/KevinOwens "My Son Is A WWE Superstar" minidoc, they identified his mother as Suzanne Steen, rather than Suzanne Benoit, which she introduced herself as. This may be due to her sharing a name with disgraced wrestler and murderer Wrestling/ChrisBenoit.
166	* Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has done this on occasion to unsigned wrestlers working on Dark. Jennacide was, after her first appearance, renamed to Bionic Beast Jenna. Luchador Australian Suicide was renamed to El Australiano[[note]]This may have been a trademark issue, as TNA had a character named Suicide that featured prominently in their video game[[/note]].
167	** When deathmatch icon Wrestling/NickGage showed up to work a match with Wrestling/ChrisJericho on ''Dynamite'', very little was toned down to fit network TV. The only thing that did change was the complete lack of swearing, with Wrestling/{{MJF}} introducing him with his catchphrase: "Nick. [[GoshDangItToHeck Freakin']]. Gage."
168	* The full matches uploaded to WWE's official Website/{{YouTube}} channel are often subject to this, especially pre-2010 matches. For example, weapon attacks to the head are censored by freeze-framing just before the weapon connects, then resuming the action after the weapon connects. Weapon attacks to the head are no longer allowed in WWE, in order to preserve the health of the talent, maintain a PG rating, and prevent kids from imitating them. But since the weapon shots remain uncensored on the WWE Network, the [=YouTube=] censorship is probably done in order to prevent any violations that could lead to demonetization.
169	* Wrestling/BookerT's promo against Wrestling/HulkHogan on the 1997 [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} Spring Stampede]] ended with "Hulk Hogan, we comin' for you, nigga!" on live pay-per-view. The VHS release changes it to "Hulk Hogan, we comin' for you, sucka!" for obvious reasons. The WWE Network featured the unaltered dialogue, but after the acquisition by Creator/{{Peacock}}, it was changed to the bowdlerized version again.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Radio]]
173	* The 1937 ''Radio/LuxRadioTheatre'' adaptation of ''Film/AFreeSoul'' resulted in massive revisions to the plot. In the film, Jan throws over her safe, dull boyfriend Dwight and takes up with Ace, a charming mobster. After they have sex without benefit of marriage, Ace becomes violently possessive. Dwight kills Ace after Ace threatens to reveal his affair with Jan and ruin her reputation. Dwight is then acquitted of Ace's murder. ''A Free Soul'' was made in 1931, during MediaNoyes/ThePreCodeEra, when movie makers could get away with stuff like that. By 1937, when the movie was adapted for radio, MediaNotes/TheHaysCode was firmly in place, so the plot was completely rewritten. In the Lux version, Ace is a gambler instead of a mobster. He and Jan get married instead of just having an affair. Further, it's ''[[SparedByTheAdaptation Ace]]'' who kills ''[[DeathByAdaptation Dwight]]'' in the radio show, and by a GunStruggle instead of with malice aforethought as in the film. Making the murder a GunStruggle allowed for Ace to be acquitted, since by 1937, guilty parties were no longer allowed to escape punishment in Hollywood productions.
174	* The ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' adaptation of the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''Damaged Goods'' replaced cocaine with a FantasticDrug called Smile, and doesn't have the Doctor take it. Chris's sex scene with David Daniels is [[ButNotTooGay toned down]] to them just kissing.
175	* On ''Radio/WaitWaitDontTellMe'':
176	-->'''Bill''': "This guy is such a total pussycat, it's stunning."\
177	'''Peter''': That was Fox News analyst Ralph Peters, who, by the way, left off the word "cat" in the original quote...
178	* CILQ-FM in Toronto, Canada, cut out parts from ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' when they aired it. For [[https://www.cbsc.ca/decisionsarchive/19-9900/19-9900-0722_PD_E.pdf example]], on July 14, 2000, removed content included a "comment about blacks and the mentally challenged and property value" at 10:07 AM, along with "Howard imitating [a] mentally challenged [person]" and "more comments about the mentally challenged" at 10:10 AM. However, these edits were not enough to prevent the episode from breaking the rules of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Sports]]
182	* Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir altered a lift in their ''Film/MoulinRouge'' program to be more family-friendly at the Olympics. The original lift had Virtue straddling Moir's shoulders with her crotch in his face. That being said, the final results is still [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOEKdWrtz6U a highly sensual program.]]
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
186	* The German version of ''Space Crusade'', the simplified ''Tabletopgame/Warhammer40000'' offshoot, greatly stressed how humanitarian the Imperium was and rebranded all their ordnance as non-lethal weaponry (giving them nonsensical names in the process) that merely paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated enemies instead of outright killing them. This was done to appease the MoralGuardians who didn't want to see violent content in what was considered a children's game (and who presumably would have gotten a stroke had they read what the setting was ''actually'' like). However, it has to be said that if one ignored the part from the manual that didn't refer to the rules and stats, it was otherwise indistinguishable from the normal game.
187	* This is one of the reasons why sets in the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game get release schedules that get released months later, as the Western card designers needed time to redesign the cards. This is the reason why for a long time in ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' the Official Trading Card game had huge advantages over the Trading Card game because the Official Card game was always one set ahead.
188	** From Strike of Neos onwards however it seems averted, because Western card designers decided that they would design cards that will remain TCG exclusive to balance out the problem.
189	** Many of the cards that originally portray religious symbols, nudity, violent weapons and gore were modified for overseas ''Trading Card Game'' and anime. You can see the list on this [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_modified_cards#Violence.2C_gore.2C_blood_etc.: page]] with examples like Monster Reborn, which turned the ankh into a stylized crystal, and Destiny Board's message, which was changed from "DEATH" to [[NeverSayDie "FINAL"]].
190	*** Similarly, the Dark Magician Girl has her bust reduced by editing out cleavage lines, the pentagram brooch replaced by a red jewel, and a single shot in her first appearance edits a close up of her legs to include a mini-skirt (which is gone in the next shot, and from that point on is never seen again). Then again, you can see why some of the cards imagery was toned down. Check out the original art for cards like [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Last_Day_of_Witch Last Day of Witch]], [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Final_Flame Final Flame]] and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Soul_of_the_Pure Soul of the Pure]]. ...Oh, and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Fiend_Comedian Fiend Comedian.]]
191	*** She's just one of many who have their busts reduced for the international release. While most of these edits also involved covering up cleavage, some, such as [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Lady_Ninja_Yae Lady Ninja Yae]] and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Helios_-_The_Primordial_Sun Helios -- The Primordial Sun]], are purely for the sake of reducing bust sizes, and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Artworks:Deep_Sea_Diva Deep Sea Diva]] doesn't appear to have gotten any smaller but has had her clothing slightly recolored to de-emphasize them. Apparently large breasts are considered HarmfulToMinors even if they're fully covered.
192	*** This phenomenon however only happens with OCG original cards (probably because 4Kids motivates them to do so, they need to feature those cards in their original TCG form on the anime after all). There exist a few very sexual TCG exclusive cards (such as this one, [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake Lady of the Lake]]), that give a whole new light to the matter.
193	*** Some artwork also modifies characters' agonizing faces in pain and changes them into looking peaceful/calm, and removing implications that they're dying, like from drowning or having their souls drained out from their bodies. References to black magic don't get a pass either, where the Oujia Board from the Destiny Board card has been removed and changes people who look possessed to have them meditate instead. Guns or references to it are also cut out.
194	** The TCG itself gets toned down. In the OCG, it happens quite frequently that decks can heavily OTK. To prevent such very fast aggressive decks being played in the TCG they get banned or limited right before they get a release. A good example of this would be Temple of the Kings, a card that was [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/September_2010_Lists banned]] before the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Structure_Deck:_Marik_%28TCG%29 structure deck that contained that card]] was released.
195	** There is also a difference between the way the OCG obtains cards and the way the TCG obtains cards. In the OCG it's perfectly possible to buy a set and have the set to turn out to have 9 commons. If you turn out to have such an unlucky set in the TCG it's always due to a printing error, as the TCG sets usually will have 1 rare card. Whilst it is debatable whether or not this is actual bowdlerizing, one can't deny that it makes buying sets look less like gambling.
196	* Examples from ''Tabletopgame/MagicTheGathering''
197	** The original [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=87 Unholy Strength]] card depicted a man with a burning Sigil of Baphomet behind him. Starting with 4th Edition, the Sigil was removed, leaving [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=2133 just a man]] making a weird face in a strange pose.
198	* In the ''Literature/RedRising'' board game, members of the Pink caste are described as "Companions"; the book made it very explicit that they are often sex workers.
199	* The ''TabletopGame/DigimonCardGame'' had to censor some card artwork in the sixth booster set: Sistermon Noir was replaced with Sistermon Ciel (something that already happened before in ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory''), [=BaoHuckmon=]'s art was edited to remove Sistermon Noir in the background (Sistermon Ciel was already in the picture in this case) and both Deputymon and Gundramon have the smoke coming out from their gun barrels removed (albeit the latter still keeps the shots coming out from all his other gun barrels).
200	* ''TabletopGame/SevenWonders'': The Manneken Pis started as a promotional Wonder whose B side has a single, very expensive stage that gives you all sorts of stuff, including the right to get a well-chilled beer from whoever ends up winning. When it was re-released in the ''Wonder Pack'', the beer reference was removed.
201	[[/folder]]
202
203	[[folder:Toys]]
204	* Among the Toys/BeanieBabies' poems, Runner's stood out for being exceptionally gruesome, describing [[SnakeVersusMongoose his obsession with killing every cobra he sees]]. It was later changed to a "nice" poem about [[CartoonCreature his species being intentionally vague]].
205	* One series of Franchise/{{Lego}} sets from 2005 had two completely different iterations depending on the country it was sold: in North America, the line was called ''Dino Attack'' and featured human characters fighting against mutant dinosaurs with armed vehicles, while the rest of the world had ''Dino 2010'', which had near-identical sets but with all the weapons removed and replaced with nets and harpoons, implying that they were capturing the dinosaurs to keep them in a safe place. Curiously, it appears that ''2010'' was the original intent and ''Attack'' a DarkerAndEdgier retool for American audiences, given that the set numbers are different and higher on the American sets (for example, ''Dino 2010'' set 7295 matches up with ''Dino Attack'' set 7474).
206	* ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' toys suffered from this in Germany. Due to their OldShame about their involvement in World War II, Germany in the 80's was very sensitive about toys related to combat. Therefore several of the toys are retooled to make them appear less violent. This is mostly done by removing realistic looking weapons or change them to a non-violent object. For example, Rhino's missile is replaced by a "weather satellite", while Switchblade's bomb is completely excluded from the set.
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder:Web Animation]]
210	* The [=YouTube=] channel for ''DC Super Hero Girls'' uploaded a music video for [[WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls the 2015 iteration of the franchise]] consisting of the Music/FifthHarmony song "That's My Girl". The franchise being aimed at young girls resulted in two notable changes to the lyrics: Changing "Who's been working so damn hard" to "Who's been working so so hard" so there'd be no profanity and omitting the lyric "Nod if you've been played by every boo/Just tryna show you off/Thought he was the best you ever had/Until he cut you off" to bring more focus to the song's message of female empowerment and not bring up the issue of abusive relationships (which is seldom discussed in media aimed at children).
211	* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/{{Arfenhouse}} Teh Movie Too'', where one character says "ow" while the subtitle shows "FUCK!!!" struck out before it.
212	* The last episode of ''WebAnimation/LetsGoTamagotchi'' has a scene cut out in the English dub where an elderly Tamagotchi stumbles through the streets while drunk.
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Webcomics]]
216	* An [[Webcomic/BooksOfAdam Adam Ellis]] comic depicting Sonic having sex (and subsequently a Sonichu baby) with Pikachu, as a joke off a "[[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Sonic]] Tops [[Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu Pikachu]]" headline, was deleted from Instagram due to sexual content. When he [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B8wiz24BsYr/ re-uploaded the comic]], he replaced the NSFW panel with [[GagCensor the screencap of the Instagram report]].
217	* [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1279#comic This]] ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip has the {{Moral Guardian}}s censoring the racy romance novels in the local library by affixing Jesus stickers over offensive words. The result is, of course, pretty hilarious.
218	[[/folder]]
219
220	[[folder:Websites]]
221	* Encyclopedia Dramatica is oh too overly fond of doing this in the case of many of their articles, and even some of the members of the EDF forum members do this.
222	** Chris Marek aka Magnum - his username is a Poor Man's Bastardisation of the classic car brand, the ice cream treat, and the gun of the same name as well as the show ''Series/MagnumPI''
223	* Google's doodle on December 20, 2012 in honour of the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. The woodsman pulls Red and Granny out of the wolf and sends it to jail.
224	* Website/{{Vine}}r WebVideo/ThomasSanders isn't squeaky clean, but he does clean up the harsher language in several of his Vines, either self-censoring the word or substituting something lighter, sometimes for comedic effect.
225	-->Well, I'm off to lunch, yes I'm in luck // I'm gonna stuff my face and not give a...darn. Eugh...
226	[[/folder]]
227
228	[[folder:Web Videos]]
229	* WebVideo/DavidNear: What appears to be the [[https://youtu.be/OA2IAYG663E?t=246 original cut]] of "[[https://youtu.be/0zi3yUSKBv4 Laughing Jack (Story Time)]]" has Jack greet a girl with, "Well, hey there, sexy..." before he learns said girl is only 11 years old (which [[ChildHater repulses him]]). The official upload cuts out the word "sexy" for [[PaedoHunt understandable reasons]].
230	* ''WebVideo/FrenchBaguetteIntelligence'': In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h68VwvNkhHE The Million Dollar Puzzle – Reflection on Intention]]'', Fuck Cares announces that he had to change his name to 'Faux Cares' to avoid getting demonetised, but that didn't stop him from naming the Judge '[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Fucking Goddamn Fucker]]'.
231	* Swearing in Connor's ''WebVideo/SMPLive'' highlight videos is censored with a beep.
232	* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': Some of the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness first 31 episodes]] are re-uploaded eight years after their initial release under the title ''Lovely World Classic'', with the swearing edited out after Stampy's channel went family-friendly.
233	* In WebVideo/TheUnluckyTug's fandub of the ''WesternAnimation/{{TUGS}}'' episode "Sunshine", Zorran calls Izzy Gomez a "rusty old piece of scrap metal" instead of a "South American heap of junk".
234	* Also parodied in WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's review of ''Action 52'', where they show a clip of the "TV Version" of the review:
235	-->'''AVGN:''' "Whoever came up with this is an [[BleepDammit ass[bleep]]]!... Ass!... Hole?... Ass[bleep]! [[SarcasmMode Television makes a]] ''[[SarcasmMode lot]]'' [[SarcasmMode of sense.]]"
236	* Lampshaded in WebVideo/PawDugan's ''Top 9 Composers'' video, where Paw is [[TrappedInTVLand Trapped In Game Land]]. In the ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' portion, he comes upon Bowdlerized versions of the Hitler portraits and comments that something's missing. After a quick FadeOut and FadeIn, we see a crudely painted toothbrush mustache applied to the painting as Paw comments "Much better!"
237	* This gets parodied [[PlayedForLaughs mercilessly]] in the "radio edit" of the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}} Christmas song "Carrot For a Cock". The song is renamed "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu7tNWh1oMM Carrot For a Nose]]", with the word "cock" being badly replaced by LetsPlay/SimonLane singing "nose" over it, even if the offending word is sung by [[Music/{{Area 11}} Sparkles*]], who has a different voice and is a better singer. None of the rhymes of the song change to match the censorship, no other bad words such as "dong" or "bellend" are removed, and the rest of the lyrics are ''exactly the same'', meaning that Simon was aiming for the snowman's face and missed, hitting his waist, yet he somehow has a nose anyway.
238	* Max of ''LetsPlay/YoVideogames'' was extremely censor-happy in the ''VideoGame/GalGun: Double Peace'' series. Justified because he didn't want his channel banned from Twitch for illicit content.
239	* ''WebVideo/StopSkeletonsFromFighting'': In a special video produced before his review of the 2010 ''Splatterhouse'' game, Derek explored the changes made to the original ''Splatterhouse'' -- including the Bowdlerized elements -- in its transition from the arcade to the [=TurboGrafx-16=].
240	* Parodied by Stevie T's video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqui9mAXgWg "Swearing Songs... After Autocorrect!"]], where Stevie facetiously cleans up songs known for their {{cluster f bomb}}s by texting the lyrics to himself with his cellphone's autocorrect function on. A sample from Anti-Nowhere League's "So What" [[note]]in the style of {{Music/Metallica}}'s [[CoveredUp more well-known version]][[/note]]:
241	--> Well, I '''faced''' a queen
242	-->I '''furled''' Bach
243	-->I've even '''sacked''' an old man's '''cork'''
244	--> So what?
245	[[/folder]]
246
247	[[folder:Other]]
248	* Forumer (a free internet forum provider) decided to update their terms of service to become more child and general audiences friendly. They also decided to run a program that changed all sorts of words on ''every single Forumer forum'' to "work safe" alternatives. The change was based around cooking - for example, 'fuck' became 'bake'. But some of them were just bizarre. 'Little' was auto-changed to 'cilantro', 'video' was changed to 'recipe', 'girl' was changed to 'steak'...
249	* Later editions of Creator/DonBluth’s video on how to draw Kimberly from VideoGame/SpaceAce removes the scene where he draws her panties as she’s doing a high kick as he talks about it.
250	[[/folder]]

Context Main / Bowdlerise