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5%% Remember that the text "outside Japan" is not a replacement for the text "in the country I'm from". For example, if a game was not released in Europe but was released in North America, that means "not released outside Japan" does not apply, because North America is outside Japan.
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8->''"Remember Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu from [[VideoGame/EndlessFrontier Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier]]? These characters are actually guests from an earlier Creator/MonolithSoft game, VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom."''
9-->-- '''Spencer''', ''[[http://www.siliconera.com/2012/07/24/namco-x-capcom-heroes-return-as-project-x-zone-playable-characters/ Siliconera]]''
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11So a series doesn't quite manage to make the jump into other countries. [[NoExportForYou It happens.]] Sometimes this work may cross over with another series, and characters from it may appear in something else, typically in a non-starring role. Official crossovers, extended company in-jokes, whatever, Product B has characters and whatnot from Product A...
12
13...and then, for whatever reason, Product B manages to come out in a new market ''before'' Product A does. Meaning that the characters of Product A get their debut... in a product that isn't theirs at all. This causes people to assume that an EasterEgg character from Product B got their own spinoff in the form of Product A.
14
15That's how [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Marth]] debuted in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' (in the West, anyway). A fairly peculiar subtrope of NoExportForYou that applies often to video games but can happen in any medium where a product is blocked or delayed at length from reaching other countries and then gets referenced in another work. Distinct from SequelFirst in that this often involves characters debuting in crossover works that are often ''nothing like'' their "core" franchises or are at best tangentially connected (the trope namer is a character from a StrategyRPG series, with ''Smash Bros.'' being a PlatformFighter series). This happens to Japanese products fairly often as companies, especially fan-oriented ones, like to have cameos and such as a [[FandomNod nod to their fans]]. But at the same could present a LateArrivalSpoiler for events that occurred in past products, note that the "source" products for the characters may ''eventually'' come out in other countries, but the fact remains that they debuted in other markets in other, often decidedly odd ways. It's also worth noting that if this happens [[ScrewedByTheNetwork multiple times]] to a single franchise, it can agitate the fans, who may begin to (understandably) wonder why Product A doesn't just come out in the first place instead of appearing minorly in Products B, C, D, and so on. Of course, if Product A comes out ''because'' of its appearances in Products B, C, etc..., that's one explanation right there.
16
17Sometimes an example of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, since this can drum up interest in the game or series in question, causing it to be localized. The TropeNamer is one of these positive examples.
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19In the cases where Marth actually ''does'' debut in ''Smash Bros.'' (which was the case for fellow ''Fire Emblem'' character, Roy) see EarlyBirdCameo.
20
21See also SequelFirst, AdaptationFirst, and SirCameosALot. May lead to RemadeForTheExport.
22----
23!!Examples from Video Games:
24
25[[foldercontrol]]
26
27[[folder:''Super Smash Bros.'']]
28* The Nintendo 64 game ''Doubutsu no Mori'' debuted in the West through some of its characters, specifically Tom Nook, Mr. Resetti and K.K. Slider/Totakeke, appearing as trophies in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee''. The characters would show up within their own series shortly after when the [=GameCube=] {{updated rerelease}} of the game, ''Doubutsu no Mori+'', was localized as ''VideoGame/{{Animal Crossing|2001}}'' the following year.
29* Seven of the stickers in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' are of the icons for the seven games in the ''bit Generations'' series, a series of seven Game Boy Advance games with very simplistic graphics and gameplay that only came out in Japan. A few of these games got remakes via [=WiiWare=] and [=DSiWare=] under the ''Art Style'' banner, but the original games have never seen a release outside Japan.
30* Warrior Mech Gauss, one of the mechs in the Japan-only ''Chōsōjū Mecha MG'', appeared as a trophy in ''Brawl'' and as a spirit in ''Ultimate''.
31* Alpha from ''VideoGame/{{Cubivore}}'' first appeared as a trophy in ''Melee'' in the West; while their game would see a North American release thanks to Creator/{{Atlus}}, it never saw a European one.
32* In ''Melee'', there were several trophies that came from ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'', a series of mecha games that were exclusive to Japan. The games would start releasing in North America with the fourth entry of the series, while Europe and Australia would have to wait for the fifth installment.
33* ''VideoGame/DoshinTheGiant'''s Doshin and Jashin were first seen by Westerners as trophies in ''Melee''; in an inverse of the above ''Cubivore'' situation, ''Doshin The Giant'' would eventually release in Europe, but never hit American shores.
34* The ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' Hero's Final Smash in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' is the first international cameo of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'' main character, since it's the only game in the series that hasn't been localized yet.
35* Ayumi Tachibana, a main character in the Japan-only ''VisualNovel/FamicomDetectiveClub'' adventure games, first appeared as a trophy in ''Melee'', and would later reappear as spirit in ''Ultimate'' (and a Mystery Mushroom costume in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' a few years prior). [[WordOfGod According to Sakurai]], she was even considered as a potential fighter for ''Melee'', but was turned down due to her lack of familiarity to overseas audiences. [[RemadeForTheExport Remakes of said games]] would eventually release internationally two decades later for the Nintendo Switch.
36* In the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series, Samus' double-jump and ledge-gripping abilities didn't exist prior to her appearance in ''Super Smash Bros.'' for the N64, and her subsequent appearance in ''Melee''. Both of these abilities would later make their full debut in the ''Metroid series'' shortly after ''Melee'''s release, with her double-jump being given to the Space Jump Boots in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' and her ledge-grip being given to the Power Grip in ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission''. Her stun gun in ''Zero Mission'' would remain nameless until ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' gave it the name "Paralyzer", as well as a whip ability that has yet to be implemented in other ''Metroid'' games.
37* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
38** The TropeNamer is Marth, the star of the first ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' game (''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight''), who made his and his' series Western debut in ''Melee''. Well, ''gaming'' debut, if we want to be precise.[[note]]A two-episode ''Fire Emblem'' OVA, also starring Marth, was the series' true Western debut in April 1998.[[/note]] His presence and popularity motivated Nintendo to release all future games in the franchise internationally, but it wasn't until the Nintendo DS remake of his game in 2009 that Marth himself would finally appear outside the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series in the West, and [[https://youtu.be/8xNUYS-tJZQ Nintendo themselves]] lampshaded this trope when announcing the localization of the original NES game for the series' 30th anniversary.
39** In comparison, Roy truly did debut in ''Melee'', with no caveats. In fact, he doubles as an EarlyBirdCameo, as [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade his own game]] hadn't come out yet in Japan; his inclusion was meant to promote the upcoming game. Ironically, his game never made it internationally; Westerners got [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade the next game in the series]] instead, which is a prequel starring his father, Eliwood (though Roy makes a cameo in the epilogue as a child).
40** When Corrin, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', was announced as a DLC character for ''3DS/Wii U'', ''Fates'' had already been released in Japan a few months prior, but not internationally. WordOfGod says this was an InvokedTrope, similar to Roy's situation. The character became available to play as only weeks before the international release of ''Fates''.
41* Sukapon, the main character of Nintendo's Japanese-only NES fighting game ''VideoGame/JoyMechFight'', was first seen in the West as a sticker in ''Brawl'', before becoming an assist trophy in ''Ultimate''.
42* ''VideoGame/KuruKuruKururin'' is a Nintendo series that focuses on a duck-like character who must pilot a spinning stick-shaped vehicle through mazes. Because the series never got a North American release until 2016 (with the Platform/VirtualConsole release of the first game), Kururin's vehicle appearing as an assist trophy in ''Brawl'' led to a lot of confusion from American gamers.
43* Devil from ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' first appeared in the US as an Assist Trophy in ''Brawl'' since the original game wouldn't see a release in the territory until 2023 via Nintendo Switch Online.
44* The Pac-Land stage in ''Super Smash Bros. for 3DS & Wii U'' has "Libble Rabble Medley" as one of its songs. The arcade game ''VideoGame/LibbleRabble'' did not see a release outside Japan until November 2021, when it was released as part of Hamster's ''Arcade Archives''.
45* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
46** Ness from ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'' appeared in the first three ''Smash Bros.'' games before his own game eventually got released in Europe and Australia through the Virtual Console. Mr. Saturn made an even earlier cameo appearance in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' (as a treasure in The Great Cave Offensive), which released in Europe under the title ''Kirby's Fun Pak''.
47** Lucas debuted overseas as a fighter in ''Brawl''. His game, ''VideoGame/Mother3'', is one of the most noteworthy examples of NoExportForYou in Nintendo's library. In addition, some of his Subspace Emissary missions [[LateArrivalSpoiler were spoilers for the final sections of his game]], which remains a sore spot for a lot of ''Mother'' fans.
48** Elements from ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' -- from songs, to the Devil Car enemy in Smash Run, to the Magicant stage introduced in ''Smash for 3DS'' -- are this, with that game first seeing international release through the Virtual Console in 2015, twenty-six years after its initial Japan-only release.
49* When ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' was localized as ''Tetris Attack'' for American and European audiences, the [[OurFairiesAreDifferent original]] [[{{UsefulNotes/Kawaisa}} characters]] got [[DolledUpInstallment switched out]] in favor of [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Yoshi and friends]]. The magic wand of the titular character Lip (i.e. Lip's Stick) has been an item in the ''Smash'' series since ''Melee'', while her and the rest of her cast would appear as stickers in ''Brawl''. Lip herself would become a Mii costume and a spirit in ''Ultimate''. The original game wouldn't see a release outside of Japan for nearly 25 years, until it was added to the Nintendo Switch Online lineup in May 2020.
50* A song from the game ''Shaberu! DS Cooking Navi'' (which, as the name implies, is a talking cookbook; the song contains voice clips from the cookbook) appeared in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' a few months before the sequel was localized. The song was absent in ''For Wii U'', but reappeared in Ultimate under the name of the localized sequel, ''Personal Trainer: Cooking''.
51* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}''[='s=] Inklings underwent this in South Korea. The Wii U, and by extension the first ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' game, was never released in the country. The creatures would cameo as Mii costumes and a trophy in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'', and as [[GuestFighter guest characters]] in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'', before making their proper Korean debut in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''.
52* Since the Wii U version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' was never released in South Korea (due to the unavailability of the Wii U itself), and the 3DS version wasn't released until 2017, the game's first portrayal in any capacity for South Korean players was via the eponymous Super Mario Maker DLC stage in ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS''.
53* Ando Kensaku, the host character of the Japanese-only web search themed game ''VideoGame/AndKensaku'' appeared as a Spirit fighter in ''Ultimate'' a full eight years after that game's Japanese release.
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56[[folder:Action Adventure]]
57* One of the alternate character skins becomes this in the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008''. After beating the game, you unlock an alternate skin for the Prince's sidekick, Elika, which makes her look like Jade from ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil.'' But that game was never released in Japan. (The other cameo skins--[[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Altair]] for the Prince, and characters from the previous ''Prince of Persia'' trilogy on the previous generation of systems--''do'' feature games released in Japan.)
58* One of the characters featured in ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'' is Mamoru, a KidAppealCharacter that aids in public safety, sometimes by giving safety tips, other times directly assisting Red in helping those in danger. Except this isn't his first appearance, as Mamoru originally debuted in a series of [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA stories and games]] simply titled ''Mamoru-Kun'' as a part of Fukuoka’s disaster preparation program. Likewise, for Europeans as a whole, this marks the first appearance of Waffle, Panta, Cyan, Therria, Alicia, Flare, and Stare, as ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' was never released throughout most of Europe outside of France (for some reason).
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61[[folder:Action Game]]
62* In ''[[VideoGame/MusouStars Warriors All-Stars]]'', two members of the playable roster are Hajime Arima and Darius, both of whom hail from the Japan-exclusive visual novel series ''VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe''. Seeing as how Hajime and Darius are appearing in a crossover game that's being localized, even before their own series has seen a western release, they are a perfect example of this trope.
63* ''VideoGame/TheMysteriousMurasameCastle'' got many cameos before finally seeing international release on the Nintendo 3DS Platform/VirtualConsole in 2014, thirty years after its Japanese debut. The Famicom game disc for ''Nazo no Murasamejo'' appeared in ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'' as one of the many treasures you could collect. The main character Takamaru appears as a sticker in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', where one of the songs was remixed as well, and WordOfGod says that he was a planned fighter in the previous entry before getting scrapped due to lack of overseas familiarity. ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors 3'' features Takamaru as a GuestFighter and even has a "Murasamame Castle Mode". Finally, the minigame "Takamaru's Ninja Castle" from ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'' is based on this title.
64* ''VideoGame/SuperGodzilla'' featured several monsters from movies that had yet to be released outside of Japan such as Battra and Mecha King Ghidorah. However, the American version did replace the 90's Mechagodzilla with the 70's one.
65* Peter Griffin is referenced in ''Film/{{Ted}}'', which was the first of Creator/SethMacFarlane's works to be shown in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, since none of his shows were aired there.
66[[/folder]]
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68[[folder:Adventure Game]]
69* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
70** This could've easily been called "Meryl Silverburgh debuted in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''". Originally a character from Creator/HideoKojima's previous AdventureGame ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', the game was officially slated for a North American release at one point, but apparently cancelled when Creator/{{Konami}} couldn't properly lip-sync the English dialogue with the game's [[PreRenderedGraphics pre-rendered anime cutscenes]]. The bottom line of this is that the ShoutOut in the scene where Snake tells her [[ManWithNoName his real name]] is lost (it's the same name as her best friend in ''Policenauts'', who is otherwise the complete opposite of Snake).
71** To a lesser extent, many of the tropes that ''Metal Gear Solid'' is credited for creating were actually featured in some form or another in the original [=MSX2=] games, especially in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''. Remember the part where you have to look at the back of the game's packaging to obtain Meryl's frequency? Or where you had to follow her to the women's bathroom? Or where Snake's mysterious informant tells him to watch out for mines? ''Metal Gear 2'' did all of that first.
72** The [=iPod=] songs in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' include songs from games (or in some cases, a movie and a CD album/radio drama) that have never been released outside of Japan. The game includes pop songs from ''HIDECHAN! Radio. 2.5 - Two-Han Princess Singles + Music & Drama CD'', which was a GreatestHits album of Creator/KojimaProductions' soundtracks (alongside a handful of new compositions including two J-Pop songs by Two-Han Princess) that also includes a {{Defictionalization}} of the [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'' RadioDrama from ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''. There are also songs from the aforementioned ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', ''[[VideoGame/{{Boktai}} Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack]]'', the original PC-88 version of ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' (none of which have ever been released outside of Japan, though a Platform/SegaCD VideoGameRemake would be made for ''Snatcher'' [[RemadeForTheExport specifically for an international release]]), and songs from ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2|SonsOfLiberty}}: [[MotionComic Digital Graphic Novel]]'', [[LateExportForYou which wouldn't be released outside of Japan until 2013]] as part of ''[[CompilationRerelease The Legacy Collection]]'', [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment despite an English dub being made in 2008 shortly after the Japanese DVD release]].
73** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' also includes references to ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'', an [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe]] RadioDrama that was included as an EasterEgg in the [[RegionalBonus Japanese and European releases of]] ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''. ''[=IdeaSpy=] 2.5'' was not included in the North American release of the game.
74* The motive for Chapter 2 of ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' is the "Twilight Syndrome Murder Case" arcade game, which is a {{homage}} to the ''Twilight Syndrome'' mystery/horror series, none of which have been released outside of Japan (there aren't even any {{Fan Translation}}s).
75* In the early 1990s, a few Creator/{{Sierra}} games were ported to Japanese computers, which caused this trope to happen in the event of a few crossovers or Easter eggs. One such example is ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest2TheVengeance'', where VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry (from his series started in 1987) "debuted" in.
76* Prince of the Sablé Kingdom from ''Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru'' (''VideoGame/ForTheFrogTheBellTolls'') appears as an assist trophy in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' onwards. As you might tell from the title, it was not released outside of Japan. His fellow prince, Richard, cameoed in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' two decades prior. Dr. Arewo Shitain from that game also appeared in ''VideoGame/WarioLand3'', ''VideoGame/DrMario 64'', and ''VideoGame/WarioLand4'' (though given a DubNameChange to "Mad Scientistein" in the first two).
77* Donbe and Hikari have a fairly long lineage in Japanese releases and cameos, but have only been seen outside Japan four times: a cameo in ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', a trophy in ''Melee'', in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' as Mystery Mushroom costumes and ultimately in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' as a spirit (which can also be evolved into a spirit of their older designs from the Super Famicom sequel, ''Heisei Shin Onigashima''). They originated in the Famicom Disk System adventure game ''Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima'', a title most often recognized by Western audiences as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcPPgqT3VfU that awesome speed metal song]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''". Goku and Chao, from the other ''Famicom Mukashibanashi'' game, ''Yuuyuuki'', also make cameo appearances in ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'' and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. Unfortunately, though, their original game's chances of ever being exported are considerably less than many of the other minor Nintendo franchises; the game's dialogue is written vertically, which isn't a problem in Japanese writing, but the Roman alphabet is another story.
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80[[folder:Fighting Game]]
81* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear XX Accent Core'' featured an alternate version of Sol Badguy called Order Sol. Except his first appearance in the series as a playable character (outside of cameos in gallery art) was ''Guilty Gear XX Slash'', which [[NoExportForYou was Japan-only]]. A.B.A, however, averts this as she first appeared in ''Isuka'', which did get an overseas release.
82* ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'':
83** ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2'': The English Dub of the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' anime was still around the 2nd arc of ''Shippuden'' when this game came out (October 14th, 2010), meaning this was the English debut for some characters:
84*** Hidan, Kakuzu, Konan and Pain appear in this game outside of sillhouetes.
85*** [[spoiler:Nagato]] appears in the cutscene after the final boss.
86*** Tobi's [[spoiler:Madara persona]] debuts as part of his Awakening.
87*** Other characters first debuting in English are Sasuke's Hebi[=/=]Taka team (Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo), Sage Mode Naruto, Killer Bee and [[spoiler:the Eight Tails]].
88** ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStormGenerations'': Onoki and Mei Terumi debut in this game before the English dub reached the Five Kage Summit arc.
89** ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm4'':
90*** Kaguya Otsutsuki is this for people who have only followed the anime.
91*** In Latin America, besides Kaguya, half of the new cast from ''Shippuden'' plus Boruto and Sarada[[note]]This is especially relevant with those two characters, because ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'' will probably never be dubbed in Spanish, since only one of the movies and one special were dubbed to Spanish, nor anything beyond the second half of ''Shippuden'', as the Latin American dub stopped when the voice acting studio who dubbed the series went bankrupt. The same goes with Mecha-Naruto.[[/note]], as the series only recently debuted in Latin America in 2015, after a long hiatus when the rest of the series was cancelled from Creator/CartoonNetwork's Latin American feed in 2006.
92* ''VideoGame/RentAHero'' has never been released outside Japan (and its FanTranslation didn't appear until 2015), but its title character was unlockable in the internationally released ''VideoGame/FightersMegamix''.
93* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'':
94** ''XI'' added Gai Tendo and Silber to the KOF cast, but they originated in ''VideoGame/BurikiOne'', which was exclusive to Japanese arcades.
95** ''The King of Fighters XIV'' has added Alice, Love Heart, and Mui Mui, with all three of them previously being exclusive to pachislot games [[note]]Garou Densetsu (as well as Days of Memories for Japanese mobile devices), Sky Love, and Dragon Gal respectively[[/note]] which were [[NoExportForYou only released in Japan]].
96* For many Western gamers, ''Project Justice'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/RivalSchools'', is the debut game for [[SchoolNewspaperNewshound Ran Hibiki]] and [[WalkingShirtlessScene Nagare Namikawa]]. In actuality, both characters made their debut in the Japan-only UpdatedRerelease of the first ''Rival Schools''.
97* ''VideoGame/CapcomVs'':
98** Saki Omokane debuted in ''VideoGame/QuizNanairoDREAMS'', an obscure quiz game/dating sim hybrid that was only ever released in Japan. Global audiences are more likely to recognize her from her appearances in ''Videogame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom''.
99** Similarly, as ''VideoGame/{{Cyberbots}}'' remains largely obscure in the West, Western fans are far more likely to know Jin Saotome and Devilotte from their appearances in the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series than the game they actually originated in (Devilotte also showed up as a secret character in ''Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo'').
100** In ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'', we have ComicBook/{{Nova}}'s {{D|ownloadableContent}}LC [[http://x.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/8/c0/4ecab2670714a.jpg costume]]. The preview of this costume took place on November 16, 2011. Both Marvel and Capcom executives weren't allowed to tell the public were it originated from, as it was from a new project that Marvel wanted to keep under wraps at the time. On February 21, 2012, the costume was finally made downloadable to the public, but there was still no word about its origin. Then, on March 2, 2012, Marvel gives us a preview of Sam Alexander, the new Nova as seen in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' (which later aired on April 1, 2012). Sam's costume is the DLC costume of Nova in ''[=UMvC3=]''.
101** Another example is Shuma-Gorath. Most people know him more from the ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' games than they do from the comics, though he only actually counts as an example in territories where the comics didn't get published.
102** In ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom: Ultimate All-Stars'', surprisingly, Ippatsuman (and his HumongousMecha Gyakuten-Oh) is the only one who strictly fits in this trope. All the other Tatsunoko (and Capcom) characters had their licenses applied in many ways. However, while many of those series may have been licensed overseas, many of them were still obscure to Western audiences (the most notable exception probably being the cast of ''[[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]'', as that seriously was previously adapted for American TV as ''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets'').
103* None of the ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' games were released in Japan, but Isaac Clarke is available as a DLC character in ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'', including the Japanese version.
104* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotSpirits'' barely sold 10,000 units in Japan and it never got exported, so a lot of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' fans never knew that Levi Torah and her unit Judecca came from this game, rather than debuting in ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Alpha]]''.
105* Though there were English localizations[[note]]so to speak, because these mangas have no speech[[/note]] of his mangas, Manga/{{Gon}} was incredibly obscure outside Japan, which meant that his appearance in ''VideoGame/Tekken3'' led people to believe he'd been invented for the game. Also, ''Tekken 3'' was not Gon's video game debut. There was a SNES game released in 1994, ''Gon''.
106* Many gamers are far more likely to recognize Tessa from ''VideoGame/SuperGemFighter'' or ''[[VideoGame/SNKVsCapcomSVCChaos SVC Chaos]]'' than from her home game, ''VideoGame/RedEarth'', which never got a console release.
107* Labrys was on a drama CD for ''VideoGame/Persona3''. These were not released outside of Japan, so many Western gamers thought she debuted in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''.
108* ''VideoGame/DragonballXenoverse'' marks the first international appearance of Mira and Towa, the leaders of the villainous Time Breakers, and the Time Patrol version of Trunks, all of whom debuted in ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline'', a now-defunct MMO [[NoExportForYou that never saw release outside of Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong]]. The Supreme Kai of Time was also mentioned in ''Dragon Ball'' online, and Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman debuted in the West in ''Xenoverse''.
109* Celica A. Mercury and Naoto Kurogane from ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' both debuted in a series of light novels that never got an overseas release, ''Literature/BlazBluePhaseShift'' for Celica and ''Bloodedge Experience'' for Naoto. As a result, most western fans were initially exposed to them through their playable appearances in the main series and scratching their heads at just who the hell they were. It's especially jarring because both seem to play very important roles in the plot and some have prior relationships with the already established cast, so it comes off as RememberTheNewGuy if you didn't do your research beforehand.
110* The Japanese version of ''[[VideoGame/PipeworksGodzillaTrilogy Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee]]'' replaced the Heisei Mechagodzilla (simply known in the game as "Mechagodzilla") with its then-recent Millennium counterpart, Kiryu. Okay, no problem. But when the game was ported over to the Xbox in North America in 2003, Kiryu was included as a playable character (here named "Mechagodzilla 3") alongside its Heisei incarnation (now named "Mechagodzilla 2"). Kiryu's [[Film/GodzillaAgainstMechagodzilla film debut]] wouldn't see a US release until the next year.
111* ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureAllStarBattle'' and ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'' feature characters from the first 8 parts of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', including some {{Walking Spoiler}}s. These games were localized into English, even though the series has only been officially translated into English up to [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders part 3]] as of ''All-Star Battle''[='=]s release, [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind part 4]] as of ''Eyes of Heaven''[='=]s release, and [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean part 6]] as of ''All-Star Battle R'''s release. However, this isn't the case ''everywhere'' in the West, as the manga has been officially translated up to [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJoLion part 8]] in French and Italian.
112* ''[[VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2]]'' marked the Japanese debut of Manny/El Tigre and Frida from ''WesternAnimation/ElTigreTheAdventuresOfMannyRivera'', as the series was never exported to Japan.
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115[[folder:Mecha Game]]
116* Technically, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' did this to all the cast members who appeared in the "main" games of the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series, to say nothing of Elzam, who [[CanonImmigrant DID debut in Original Generation]] before appearing in Alpha 2.
117* ''Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'' is the North American debut of Reiji and Xiaomu, the protagonists of ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom''.
118* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30'', being the first franchise-based entry to come to North America, is the debut for ''Anime/BravePoliceJDecker'', ''Getter Robo Daikessen!!'' (via Shin Getter Dragon), ''Anime/GaoGaiGarFinal''. The game's platform also marks the global debut of ''Literature/KingOfKingsGaogaigarVSBetterman'' in animation, mecha specs design, and character design solidification.
119[[/folder]]
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121[[folder:Multiple]]
122* In ''VideoGame/ThreeDDotGameHeroes'', the loading screens are parodies of the artwork to various classic games in the "3D pixel" style of DGH. However, many of the games that were never released outside of Japan are currently being having their remade forms released. It's surprisingly hard to be nostalgic for something that isn't due out until later this year. Compounding the problem is that these are (with a few exceptions) parodies of the Japanese artwork which in many cases is completely different from the artwork in other territories. Sure, you got Tetris, but not with the box art being parodied.
123* Though Creator/{{Konami}} has refused to release ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' in Western countries, a few references to the series in other Konami games released internationally got through, such as Yae's "Kirameki Uniform" (aka the Summer version of the iconic SailorFuku of the first ''Tokimemo'' game) in ''[[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Goemon's Great Adventure]]'', or the Kaori Yae (the EnsembleDarkhorse of ''Tokimeki Memorial 2'') Dog Tag in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. Shiori Fujisaki makes her first international appearance as a boss in ''VideoGame/{{Otomedius}} Excellent''.
124* Creator/{{Sanrio}}'s ''Toys/{{Jewelpet}}'' franchise never got exported to American shores because of its similarities with ''Webkinz'' and the resulting fear of getting sued by the company that owns it. Along with the fact that Magical Girl shows are a [[AmericansHateTingle hard sell in the American market these days.]] However, the main characters [[https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/images/10_share_images/games_15/nintendo_ds_22/SI_NDS_LovingLifeWithHelloKittyAndFriends_image1600w.jpg Ruby, Garnet and Sapphie]] showed up in a 2011 ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' Nintendo DS game called [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tGnQuhjkL.jpg "Loving Life with Hello Kitty & Friends"]], making it the first and only appearance of the franchise in anglophone countries.
125* Misato Hayakawa of ''VideoGame/CountdownVampires'' first appeared in the Japan-exclusive ''R?MJ: The Mystery Hospital'', a ''VideoGame/{{D}}''-like first-person AdventureGame from the same developer and publisher.
126* ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDiva F'', a RhythmGame, featured a music video for "The MMORPG Addict's Anthem" showing Miku playing the MMORPG ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2''. ''Project Diva F'' was the first game in its series to be released internationally in 2013, while the North American version of [=PSO2=] languished in DevelopmentHell until finally being put back on track for a 2020 release.
127* ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarLostParadise'' has a tape that players can listen to while driving through the wastes containing the opening theme song for ''[=PSO2=]''. It would be almost another year before word of a Western release was uttered.
128* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' tried to avert this for the introduction of the character Altera, as her debut event was supposed to start on the same day the release of ''VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar'' where she's one of the headline characters as a bit of cross-promotion. Due to the latter game being delayed, she appeared in FGO several months early, bringing a bunch of not-completely-answered questions with her (as the FGO version is a different iteration of Altera, with the Extella version being the boss of the event with a very different LimitBreak among other things). Interestingly, this was reversed when the games were released in English, as Extella dropped on its own long before FGO's event cycle caught up to the promo.
129[[/folder]]
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131[[folder:Platform Game]]
132* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
133** Many fans of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' widely believe that certain details about the characters, such as Tails' GadgeteerGenius skills and Eggman's goofiness (and his nickname being Eggman) first appeared in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''. In reality, this was actually a case of AllThereInTheManual mixed with NoExportForYou, as the Japanese manuals and supplemental material revealed these facts from the start. There were hints in-game, however, such as Tails' mechanical know-how in ''VideoGame/SonicTripleTrouble'' or ''VideoGame/TailsAdventure'' (he has a personal submarine, for one thing). Even more notably, in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', Tails fixed Sonic's plane, the Tornado, by affixing a jet beneath it when it was shot down at the start of Wing Fortress Zone, and in such a short amount of time as to be ready to pick Sonic up at the end of the stage ''no more than ten minutes later''.
134** In the games, Amy Rose and Charmy Bee first appeared in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' and ''[[VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix Knuckles' Chaotix]]'', respectively; however, they [[CanonImmigrant instead]] debuted in [[Manga/SonicTheHedgehog Shogakukan manga]] much earlier, with some notable differences.[[note]]Amy in particular was originally known as [[AdaptationNameChange Eimy]], was [[AdaptationDyeJob brown]] in earlier issues, and was [[AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul actually]] a sweet, loving and totally normal ''[[OfficialCouple girlfriend]]''.[[/note]]
135** There are some fans who believe that ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was the first ''Sonic'' game that takes place on Earth, and that the classic series instead took place on the planet Mobius. In reality, Mobius was a [[CanonForeigner foreign concept]] in the cartoons and comics, although it was mentioned as the setting of ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogSpinball Sonic Spinball]]'' (which is more based on the cartoons than game canon). ''Anime/SonicTheAnimation'' is also blatantly on Earth and it was made in 1994.
136** Mobius itself was a concept taken from an early, quickly-dropped American backstory, but was considered canon in the UK until 2000, where it's use appears to have predated the cartoons.
137** ''Sonic Adventure'' wasn't even the first game in English-speaking markets to use the name Eggman - it appears on the side of the Wing Fortress in ''Sonic 2'', is used as Robotnik's racing moniker ("The Eggman") in ''Sonic Drift 2'', and is again used in ''Sonic the Fighters''. The Robotnik name was used in the Japanese release of ''Sonic Spinball'' ("Robotnik is getting away! Go get him!"), and ''Sonic & Tails 2'', the Japanese release of ''Triple Trouble'' ("Robotnik Winter Zone"), both before it was used in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''.
138** On the opposite side of things, several characters from ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' and ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' made their only (to date) Japanese appearance in ''Sonic Spinball''.
139** Mighty the Armadillo, a Sonic-like character in ''[[VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix Knuckles' Chaotix]]'', made his first actual appearance in ''VideoGame/SegaSonicTheHedgehog'', whose Japan-only release predates even ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic 3]]'', let alone ''Chaotix''. [[DevelopmentGag Mighty was allegedly based on one of the original designs for Sonic]]. The same applies for Ray the Flying Squirrel, who appeared in some of the ''Sonic'' Archie Comics in the US and the internationally-released ''VideoGame/SonicMania Plus'', but also first appeared in the Japan-only ''[=SegaSonic=]'' game.
140* Starfy, the star of ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy'' series, received cameos in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' (on a movie poster), ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach'' (as a [[MetalSlime rare enemy]]), and ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' (as an Assist Trophy) before the series was first released outside of Japan.
141* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':
142** Shaft was cut from the only port of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' that the US or Europe got prior to 2007. This led to him mind-controlling Richter in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' with pretty much no introduction.
143** Maria Renard debuted in ''Rondo of Blood'' as a 12-year old vampire slayer, and returns as a [[SheIsAllGrownUp 17 year old adult]] in ''Symphony of the Night''. All cameos of Maria use her as a 12 year old since that's how she debuted first. Many western fans are confused why they don't show her as an adult, since that's the first time they saw her.
144** Getsu Fuuma, from ''VideoGame/GetsuFumaDen'', first appeared outside Japan in video game form in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDespair''. However, his first international appearance was actually as [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Getsu_Fuhma a Yu-Gi-Oh! card.]]
145* Sayo, the main protagonist of ''VideoGame/KikiKaiKai'' (later known to Western gamers as [[DubNameChange Pocky]] when the series was released SequelFirst), first appeared outside Japan as the World 6 boss in the NES version of ''VideoGame/RainbowIslands''. This was averted in Europe, which ended up getting a [[RemadeForTheExport completely different port]] of that game.
146* [[VideoGame/ApeEscape Spike]] in ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' is based on his appearance in ''Million Monkeys'', which was released only in Japan.
147* When ''VideoGame/{{Hebereke}}'' was localized as ''[[VideoGame/{{Ufouria}} U-four-ia: The Saga]]'', the character design was changed. Because of this (and ''U-four-ia'' only getting a limited release in Scandinavia), they ended up debuting in the Platform/MegaDrive port of ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}''.
148* ''VideoGame/{{Runbow}}'' has guest characters from indie games with several of those still having yet to be released in Japan, so ''Runbow''[='=]s Japanese release was the debut of some of the guest characters in Japan unlike outside of Japan where all of the guest characters debuted in their own games first.
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151[[folder:Puzzle Game]]
152* VideoGame/{{Wario}} ended up making his Chinese debut in [[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario 64]], which was the built-in launch title for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQue_Player the iQue Player]].
153* The characters from ''Jewelry Master Twinkle'', a FallingBlocks PuzzleGame with DatingSim elements that somehow got an international release, actually come from an older Japan-only TabletopGame/{{Mahjong}} game called ''Taikyoku Mahjong: Net de Ron!''.
154* Toro Inoue, mascot of [[Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment SCE Japan]], is the star of the ''Doko Demo Issho'' series and the spinoff ''Mainichi Issho''. None of these games made it out of Japan, and even his cameos in other games tended not to be exported. His first international appearance in a video game was as a playable character in the Platform/PlayStation3 version of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'', along with his neighbor Kuro, followed by his appearance in ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale''.
155* In a cross media example, ''Anime/ProfessorLaytonAndTheEternalDiva'' introduced some new characters from the not-yet-released-outside-of-Japan prequel trilogy to the western world. (Mainly in Europe - in the US the movie was delayed just long enough for the first game to be released first.)
156* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' is one of the most extreme examples of this trope, as between the [[NoExportForYou sporadic releases outside of Japan]] and ''Puyo Puyo'' originally being a spin-off of ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'', this means almost every single character is subject to this. To put things into perspective, the only characters that avert this are those introduced in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever'', ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', and ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2''.
157[[/folder]]
158
159[[folder:Racing Game]]
160* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'':
161** When ''VideoGame/MarioKart64'' was released in China for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQue_Player iQue Player]], characters that weren't in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' (read: Mario, Peach, Bowser, Toad, and Yoshi) or [[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario 64]] (Wario) made their Chinese debut in ''Mario Kart''. The remaining two characters were Franchise/DonkeyKong and even Luigi.
162** [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Elimine]] of the Eight Legends is a very unusual one, as the bonus disc bundled with preordered copies of ''[[VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash Double Dash!!]]'' outside of Japan was, at the time, the only piece of media where she actually made an appearance at all. Nearly 19 years later, she would finally appear in a ''Fire Emblem'' game via ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'', though she has yet to appear in any game set on the continent of Elibe despite her church having a prominent role in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.
163** In the Chinese Tencent release for ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'', any track that debuted in ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' that's featured in the Booster Course Pass doesn't feature a prefix at all, including [[RealWorldEpisode the city courses]] (compared to every other region, where non-prefix tracks in the pass are ''Tour'' non-city courses), because ''Tour'' is unavailable on Chinese smartphones, thus having the ''Tour'' tracks make their official Chinese debut in the pass.
164* WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph appearing in the British-developed ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'' (released on November 18, 2012; around two weeks after the film's US premiere) qualifies as this in the developers' home country, where the film was released in February 2013.
165[[/folder]]
166
167[[folder:Rail Shooter]]
168* ''VideoGame/MightyGunvolt'', as its name implies, features characters from ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'' and ''VideoGame/MightyNo9''. What the title ''doesn't'' suggest, however, is that the game also features characters from a shooter called ''VideoGame/GalGun'',[[note]]Unless you're playing the [=PS4=] version, in which case the title implies there aren't any ''Mighty No. 9'' characters.[[/note]] which is about a boy who accidentally gets shot by too many love arrows and is forced to spend a day at school courting one of four girls while fending off an UnwantedHarem. Ekoro, an apprentice angel who debuted in ''Gal*Gun: Double Peace'', is a playable character alongside Gunvolt and Beck. Since [[RomanceGame Bishoujo games]] are hard to come by outside of Japan, ''Mighty Gunvolt'' serves as the international debut of the ''Gal*Gun'' cast. Additionally, Shinobu and Maya, the heroines of ''Double Peace'', have a cameo in the school stage, though Maya only appears in Ekoro's route. Most of the games were eventually released just in time for ''Mighty Gunvolt Burst'' to feature Kurona without any recognition problems, though those curious about Tenzou (protagonist of the very first game) would have to wait three years for ''Gal*Gun Returns''.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Real-Time Strategy]]
172* Alabama "Bama the Hammer" Kowalski, a.k.a. Sgt. Hammer, makes her ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' debut in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII Legacy of the Void'', but originally appeared in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm''... though she ''was'' based off of a generic unit that was given a name (and more of a personality) that existed since the original, making this a case where it overlaps with AscendedExtra. The characters Lt. Rosa Morales and Cpl. Miles "Blaze" Lewis went through the same treatment.
173[[/folder]]
174
175[[folder:Rhythm Game]]
176* Basically ''every'' Bemani crossovers in ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' have been mistaken to be new content for the games by Western fans, instead of, well, crossovers from other entries in the VideoGame/{{Bemani}} line of rhythm video games, which DDR is just one of many. This is because DDR is the only Bemani series that gained as much popularity inside Japan as it did outside, causing it to be the only one that Konami marketed overseas with any semblance of seriousness (They did try to release a Western port of ''VideoGame/BeatmaniaIIDX'' once, but it flopped). In Japan, DDR is not actually the most popular of the bunch (''beatmania IIDX'' is), though it is the oldest one still active.
177* ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'', which is globally available, features collaboration content of the ''VideoGame/{{Performai}}'' series (''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'', ''VideoGame/{{CHUNITHM}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{ONGEKI}}''). Only ''maimai'' would get a release outside of the combined Asia Pacific / Australia region, in 2019 in the U.S., while the ''CHUNITHM'' and ''O.N.G.E.K.I.'' content fall squarely within this trope as neither of those games have yet to be released outside that area.
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Role-Playing Game]]
181* ''VideoGame/AtelierSeries'':
182** Some of the cast of the first and second games finally appeared in the US... in the Gust game ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoMelodyOfElemia'', in a bonus level of the dream states for the heroines. This happened nearly ''ten years'' after the debut of the first ''Atelier'' game. The characters finally made their solo debut in the Western market in manga form, but the ''Atelier'' games that ''Ar Tonelico'' referenced still aren't out in the States.
183** ''[[VideoGame/CrossEdge X Edge]]'' (pronounced "Cross Edge") was released by NIS America in late May 2009. It's the full-on console debut for Marie, the first ''Atelier'' heroine, in a SSB-style crossover game that wasn't produced by, and isn't distributed by, ''her own home company''.
184** With ''VideoGame/TrinityUniverse'', it happened again, with Violet Platane of ''Atelier Violet'' making her American debut in that game.
185** Also in ''[[VideoGame/CrossEdge X Edge]]'', 4 characters from it, Lily, Whim, Raze, and Rewrich are from ''Mana Khemia 2'', a game that was planned to be brought over by NISA months after ''[[VideoGame/CrossEdge X Edge]]'' in spite of [=MK2=] far preceding it in Japan in both system and release dates.
186** In a franchise sense, the newest ''Atelier'' games are now coming over, Rorona and Annie respectively... which means that this trope has happened ''again''. Liese Randel in ''VideoGame/{{Atelier Annie|Alchemists of Sera Island}}'' shows up in the second year of gameplay to help out our heroine and seemingly has a bit of history... history which is covered in ''her own game'', ''Atelier Liese'', which didn't make it out of Japan[[note]]For reasons related to {{Game Breaking Bug}}s in the initial release[[/note]] meaning English gamers only know her from ''Annie''.
187** Finally, there's ''VideoGame/NelkeAndTheLegendaryAlchemistsAteliersOfTheNewWorld'', whose status as a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover means that multiple secondary characters from previous generations, such as [[Characters/AtelierMarieTheAlchemistOfSalburg Enderk Jad]] and [[Characters/AtelierViorateTheAlchemistOfGramnad2 Bartholomaus Platane]], at last make an appearance in an internationally-sold title.
188* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter''. Since some of the early installments remained exclusive to Japan, many of the monsters that debuted in them would have to wait until later installments to be available for hunt among overseas players:
189** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterFreedom2'':
190*** All monsters that kickstarted the second generation of the series appeared first in the Japan-exclusive ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2Dos''. Thus, it wasn't until ''Freedom 2'' (which ''was'' released in the West) when players outside Japan could have a chance to hunt them. The exception is Yama Tsukami, which had debuted ''Dos'' as well but didn't appear in the game; even then, the UpdatedRerelease ''Freedom Unite'' brought it back so international players can hunt it in G Rank.
191*** Hypnocatrice and Lavasioth make their international debuts in the UpdatedRerelease ''Freedom Unite'', having first appeared in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterFrontier'' which was exclusive to Japan, South Korea, and China.
192** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': While the original game isn't an example, the UpdatedRerelease ''3 Ultimate'' incorporates into its bestiary Arzuros, Great Wroggi, Lagombi, Volvidon, Nibelsnarf, Duramboros, Zinogre and nearly all third-generation subspecies that debuted in the Japan-exclusive ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPortable3rd'' (only Brute Tigrex and Amatsu were skipped over; even then, the former would later debut overseas in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter4 Ultimate'', while the latter did in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations'').
193* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' is a case of this as well. The first game was released in the US in 2007, the same year that the first English edition of [[Literature/TheLastWish the first book]] was released in the UK and a year before it first hit US bookshelves. This continued on, with ''Literature/SeasonOfStorms'' being adapted into comic form by Dark Horse three years before the English translation was released.
194* Kasumi Yoshizawa from ''VideoGame/Persona5 [[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'' appeared in the ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' mobile game ''Memory Defrag'' more than a month before ''Royal'' was released in the North America. She was not even a gacha character, she was just given to anyone who logged in during the collaboration period.
195* ''VideoGame/TalesOf Series'':
196** Cress Albane and Arche Klein, of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' fame (released in 1995), made their Western debut in 1998... in a cameo in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny''. And then they appeared in ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' (known in the West as ''Tales of Destiny II'') as an OptionalBoss fight. ''Phantasia'' didn't cross the Pacific until 2006, ''over a decade'' after its debut in Japan and ''eight years'' after the characters showed up in [=ToD=].
197** Eugene and Annie from ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth''. Their American debut was in 2007 in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheWorld: Radiant Mythology'', ''three years'' after [=ToR=] came out in Japan.
198** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has Cameo fights too. Granted, all three of the cameos in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' were from games that were released in America before (Garr was from ''Tales of Destiny'', Farah and Meredy were from ''Tales of Eternia''), but not in Europe[[note]]at least until the PSP version of ''Eternia'' was released in Europe (under its original name)... but not North America, thanks to a policy SCEA (but not SCEJ or SCEE) has on requiring a certain amount of new content in ports and remakes[[/note]]. However, in ''Tales of the Abyss'', there's Mint (from ''Tales of Phantasia'', which was finally released in the US the same year as ''Abyss''), Philia (from ''Tales of Destiny'', released years ago), and Reid from ''Tales of Eternia''. However, who's this "Nanaly" girl in there? She is not Chelsea from ''Tales of Destiny''. Ironically she's from the ''real VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'' (note the Arabic numeral; ''Eternia'' used a Roman one) and is in no way related to Chelsea unless you WMG her to be a descendant of Chelsea (or Mary). Not to mention, two of Anise's Tokunaga accessories that reference Reala and Harold also first appeared in the west through ''Tales of the Abyss''.
199** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' also had Barbatos appear as a cameo boss - and neither the Destiny remake ''nor'' the real ''[=ToD2=]'' ever was released outside of Japan!
200** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces f'' had three of these upon its western release in the forms of Veigue Lungberg (''Tales of Rebirth''), Reala (''Tales of Destiny 2''), and Kohaku Hearts (''Tales of Hearts''). The PS Vita version of ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' is the only one that's getting a western release.
201** One of the save data unlockables in ''Tales of Symphonia Chronicles'' is an alternate costume for Kratos based on Ludger from ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2''. While ''Xillia 2'' was released a year before the compilation in Japan, ''Symphonia Chronicles'' came out first in the US.
202** One of the DLC costumes Ludger can get in ''Xillia 2'' is on based on Luca Milda ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS localized as Ruca]]) from ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'', which neither the original Nintendo DS version nor the PS Vita remake ever left Japan.
203* A peculiar ''intra-series'' instance of this involves the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series. The games tend to reuse themes, but Western audiences were denied several of the original games for quite a while. So, for example, while practically every game has "Gysahl Greens", the place it's named after wasn't seen until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' was finally released for the Nintendo DS in 2006, a full ''sixteen years'' after its 1990 release in Japan and nine years after Gysahl Greens first were seen in the West under that name.)
204** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is especially prone to this as it wasn't released outside of Japan until the DS remake. This led to many elements first introduced here being assumed to have debuted in later games, such as SummonMagic, Moogles and the Job Change system. Moogles are particularly notable, as due to lack of releases of ''3'' or ''5'' at the time, the first game released in America to feature them was part of a spinoff series: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure''.
205** Gilgamesh first appeared in North America in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. This was a few weeks before ''Final Fantasy Anthology'' containing ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' came out.
206** Lone Wolf and Gogo both first appeared in Japan and Europe in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' (the European appearance was in the remake), but the US in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. Unusually for this trope, both characters have larger roles in ''VI'' than ''V''.
207** Mid and the heroes of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' were introduced to the US in the [[SequelInAnotherMedium OAV]] ''Anime/FinalFantasyLegendOfTheCrystals''.
208** Cissnei's appearance in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' was the first time Western audiences met her, but she was actually featured in ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis'' which came out three or four years prior and was never released outside Japan.
209** Another example is the recurring Job Class of Dragoons, which originally came out in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' with the character Ricard Highwind. It would also appear again in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' as a Class that the player could pick for the main characters. Since neither of those games were ported outside of Japan originally, the first time westerners would see that Class would be with Kain Highwind in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. References to the class as a whole are sometimes erroneously attributed to the popular Kain character in specific. The remakes of ''II'' and ''IV'' make a MythologyGag out of it, naming Richard's son Kain in ''II'', and Kain's father Richard in ''IV''.
210** When ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'' was released in Europe, years before ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' reached the region, several characters returning from the latter series in cameos appeared there first.
211** A few ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' characters such as Astos debuted in Europe, believe it or not, in ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster''. Really.
212* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
213** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters''. The first game had enemies from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' plus Milly and Terry from ''VI'', well before either game was released in North America. And Europe and Australia hadn't received ''any'' game in the series before this, meaning that every character that wasn't an OriginalGeneration was an example.
214** While Yangus, the cockney thief from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', is familiar to non-Japanese audiences, he also appeared in a Japan-only ''VideoGame/MysteryDungeon'' GaidenGame on the [=PS2=], in which [[SpinoffBabies he is a young boy who is still in training]]. This version of him was reused when ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' was released to Western audiences. Naturally, they were confused why he was suddenly a kid in that game.
215** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' had character cameos from the entire series becoming slowly available over the course of a year (July 2010 - July 2011), including Ashlynn and Milly from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', which hadn't been released outside of Japan at the time. It wouldn't take long, though, as ''VI'' received an international release in February 2011 -- soon enough that when another ''VI'' character, Carver, showed up in ''IX''; the game was out and he no longer qualified for this trope. (It was also possible to hack the game to unlock characters' appearances, including Carver's, ahead of schedule.) The game also had previous villains as {{superboss}}es, including Murdaw, Mortamor, and Nokturnus from ''VI''. And while Europe and Australia had received remakes of ''IV'' and ''V'' by that time and received ''VI'' alongside North America, characters from the original trilogy and ''VII'' were still new to them.
216** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' similarly had a series of sidequests making throwback references to the rest of the series. These included content from the Japan-only ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX''.
217** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestTreasures'' features treasures based on the entire rest of the franchise including spin-offs, some of which were never released internationally. The big ones are characters and equipment from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'' and trading cards from ''Dragon Quest Rivals'', but there are also assorted references to ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters: Joker 3'', ''Dragon Quest Walk'', ''Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi'', and the ''VideoGame/MysteryDungeon'' version of Yangus.
218* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' has plenty of examples even outside the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series:
219** With many past characters appearing in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' as DLC, this trope was inevitable for the international releases. For every game not released overseas at the time[[note]]''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''[[/note]], ten more characters made their international debuts this way.[[note]]Four from ''Mystery of the Emblem'', counting Emperor Hardin, and three from the "Others" set, for a total of 53. This count includes the characters from [=FE6=] appearing in the [=FE7=] epilogue, as the epilogue was removed from European and Australian copies of [=FE7=].[[/note]]
220** Of those who debuted in ''Awakening'' as DLC, Alm, Celica, and the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' cast star in the 3DS remake entitled ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''. This is 25 years after the original Famicom release, much longer than the 19 years it took Marth to appear as a main character, but only 4 years after appearing in ''Awakening''.
221** The mobile game ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' features characters throughout the entire history of the series, making it the debut for many of the characters who had been Japan-only prior to it.
222** Faye from ''Echoes'' makes her debut in ''Heroes'' one week prior to Echoes' Japanese release and a month prior to its international release.
223** Original characters Emma, Shade, Yuzu, and Lando, from the Japan-only ''TabletopGame/FireEmblemCipher'' make their international debut outside their card game as DLC characters for ''Echoes''.
224* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
225** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' featured the Diamond Dust and One-Winged Angel Keyblades as attack cards. Those weapons were only added to the original ''VideoGame/{{Kingdom Hearts|I}}'' in its [[UpdatedRerelease Final Mix]], which did not see an English release until a near decade later.
226** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' uses “Cavern of Remembrance” as the Character Select/Preparations theme for Mission Mode. This song was introduced in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII’s'' Final Mix[[note]] Which was also initially Japan-only, including at the time of Days’ release. [[/note]] as the BGM for the BonusDungeon of the same name.
227** ''Videogame/KingdomHeartsII'' offers sort of a cross-media case; the first Summon the player has access to in the game is WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle, whose film debuted in America on October 30th, 2005. almost ''two months'' before the game came out on December 22nd. As a result, Chicken Little's appearance in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' predates the Japanese release of the movie, December 23rd, '''by a single day'''.
228** ''Videogame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' has another one: the {{Superboss}} is Julius from ''Westernanimation/RunawayBrain'', making the first time in almost twenty years that Disney acknowledged the existence of this 1995 Mickey Mouse short [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes of very limited availability]], and possibly the first time many gamers had learned about it.
229* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' has never had an export outside of Japan until the 2022 remake, and even in its native country, it is at best a CultClassic and at worst a flop. This did not stop them from releasing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiwauFMt7Oo Megalomania]] as a DLC song in ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy'', or for the mobile game ''Final Fantasy Legends: The Space-time Crystal'' as an optional boss and a [[https://www.siliconera.com/live-a-live-knight-has-a-cameo-in-a-final-fantasy-game/ summon]].
230* Labrys, from ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''. Or rather, from a Japan-exclusive drama CD released for ''VideoGame/Persona3'', released 5-6 years previously. That said, she was little more than a passing mention.
231* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'': The second arc of the series, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure the Crossbell arc]], wasn't localized outside of Japan and China until long after the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Trails in the Sky]]'' trilogy - which contains a story arc that ''Trails from Zero'' completes - and the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Trails of Cold Steel]]'' tetralogy - the first half of which occurs concurrently with the duology, the second half of which relies heavily on familiarity with the Crossbell arc due to [[spoiler:Crossbell being annexed by the Erebonian Empire]] - came stateside. As in, ''Trails of Cold Steel IV'', an ''Film/AvengersEndgame''-esque CrisisCrossover featuring playable characters from all three arcs, was released in 2020... ''Trails from Zero'' will be released in '''2022''', ''Trails to Azure'' in 2023, and the only reason the duology's coming out as soon as that is because a FanTranslation group licensed their translations to Creator/NISAmerica. As a result, several characters from the Crossbell arc made their worldwide debut in ''Cold Steel II'', ''III'' and ''IV'', including primary characters such as Lloyd Bannings, Rixia Mao, Elie [=MacDowell=] and Mariabell Crois, as well as side characters like Cao Lee and Grace Lynn.
232* Both Swin Abel and Nadia Rayne who first show up in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'', made their debut in the US in the mobile game called ''VideoGame/BraveNine''.
233* ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' had to wait twenty-three years for an official English release. In the meantime, its prequel (which included many supporting characters and concepts from ''Trials'') was released as ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMana'', ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' made a number of references to ''Trials'' locations (mostly in item names, like "Dior Wood" and "Altena Alloy") while also including statues of the main characters of ''Trials'' in one location, a couple songs from the game appeared in ''VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy Curtain Call'', and Riesz appeared in ''Million Arthur: Arcana Blood''.
234* ''Franchise/YokaiWatch'':
235** The mobile phone puzzle game spinoff of ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch,'' ''Yo-kai Watch Wibble Wobble,'' (''Puni Puni'') came out after the second game in Japan and thus featured many Yo-kai from the sequel. However, ''Wibble Wobble'' came out in English before the second ''Yo-kai Watch'' game was localized, meaning many of the sequel's Yo-kai debuted there first in English.
236** ''Wibble Wobble'' has also included Yo-kai that appeared in the third game and the ''Busters'' spin-off before either came out in the West.
237** In a non-''Wibble Wobble'' example, the localization of ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch3'' introduced six "Commander" Yo-kai that were originally featured in ''Yo-kai Sangokushi'', a spin-off crossover with Koei-Tecmo's ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''. Sangokushi never got localized.
238* Terra from ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' originally debuted in ''VideoGame/YsVLostKefinKingdomOfSand'', which was never exported.
239[[/folder]]
240
241[[folder:Shoot 'em Up]]
242* The Shoot 'em-up game ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' was never released in Europe and Australia. So for some players who have never heard of it, ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'''s Gummi-Ship sections (very much a Shoot-em-up) was their first introduction to the game via the secret boss of "Schwarzgeist", same with the ship "Endymion".
243* In the ''VideoGame/SegaSuperstars'' game, ''Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing,'' the two protagonists of "[[VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead HOTD EX]]" Zobio and Zobiko, appear as fully playable racers, despite [[NoExportForYou their game not leaving Japan (and for a short while, China) and All-Stars Racing not leaving Western countries.]]
244* Reimu Hakurei, protagonist of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', appears as an OptionalBoss in ''VideoGame/MagicPengel'' and a playable character in its sequel ''VideoGame/GraffitiKingdom'' (as "Flying Maiden"), despite her own games never being released in English. The ''Touhou'' situation became particularly strange in 2015, when some {{Doujin}} fangames received a commercial [=PS4=] release under the ''Play, Doujin!'' programme. These were then localized into English and received a [[TranslationMatchmaking misleading advertising campaign]] which implied them to be an official release of the original ''Touhou'' games.
245* Creator/OrangeJuice examples:
246** ''[[VideoGame/{{SUGURI}} Acceleration of SUGURI]]'' has Sora, protagonist of [[VideoGame/{{sora}} her own game]], who appears as a {{superboss}} and unlockable character. Her game was still in development when ''Acceleration Of SUGURI'' was released. [[spoiler:However, a teaser of her game can be unlocked by fighting Sora and unlocking her extra story.]]
247** QP is actually a GuestFighter from another Orange_Juice game, ''VideoGame/QPShooting''. Said game [[NoExportForYou did not see a release in the west]] (although its sequel, ''Dangerous!!'', did), thus making ''Acceleration of SUGURI'' her debut game to westerners.
248** And for many of the characters from ''QP Shooting'' and ''Xmas Shooting'', their first appearance for Western audiences was ''VideoGame/OneHundredPercentOrangeJuice''.
249** Kyousuke from ''QP Shooting - Dangerous!!'' originated in ''QP Kiss'', an untranslated April Fools release that resembles a DatingSim with gender-swapped Orange_Juice characters and ''Acceleration''-like gameplay. In addition, the ''100% Orange Juice!'' card "President's Privilege" features some scrapped character designs from the project. His long-absent fellow cast member Kyupita was added to ''100% Orange Juice!'' in late 2020.
250* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'':
251** Venom, one of the series' villains, made his North American debut in ''Gradius V'' in 2005, 18 years after he debuted in the Japan- and Europe-exclusive ''Nemesis 2'' in 1987. Just to add insult to injury, his massive-brain form in this game looks nothing like how he does in the MSX games or in ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'' (2009) where he's a comparatively normal green humanoid alien.
252** James Burton, one of the series' few named heroes, also debuted in ''Nemesis 2'' in Japan and Europe, yet he did not appear in any game released for the North American market until ''Gradius [=ReBirth=]'' in 2009, 22 years later.
253** Gofer of ''Gradius II'' (1988) had to wait 10 years to appear in a game released in North America, namely ''Gradius IV''.
254* ''VideoGame/{{Ketsui}}'', a 2003 game, was first officially made known to the Western world in 2011 when the Xbox 360 version of ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi Resurrection'' was localized in Europe, which includes an ArrangeMode based on ''Ketsui'' and which features the Tiger Schwert, one of the two playable ships from that game, as well as HIVAC, a variation of ''Ketsui''[='=]s TrueFinalBoss Evaccaneer DOOM. The rest of the world would follow suit in 2012 with the global release of ''[=DoDonpachi=] Maximum'', which again features the Tiger Schwert as well as a simulated version of Stage 4 of ''Ketsui''. ''Ketsui'' itself [[LateExportForYou would not be localized for non-Japan markets until 2020]] with the release of ''[[UpdatedRerelease Ketsui Deathtiny]]'' for [=PS4=].
255* An interesting variation occurs in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}''. With the announcement of the ''Delicious Last Course'' DLC came the announcement that the NPC the Legendary Chalice would be PromotedToPlayable in a new form called Ms. Chalice. The DLC was originally set to release in 2019, however the release would be pushed back to 2020 to avoid overworking the development team, and then again to 2022 due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. The DLC and playable Ms. Chalice are currently set for release in June 2022. However, Ms. Chalice made her first official appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'' animated adaptation in February 2022, just four months ahead of the DLC.
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:Simulation Game]]
259* ''VideoGame/QuizNanairoDREAMS'', a trivia game/{{dating sim}} released only in Japan: Saki Omokane is much better known to Western players as "that girl with the big gun" from ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'', where she appeared as a helper character; and ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'', where she was PromotedToPlayable.
260* Though ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster THE iDOLM@STER]]'' will likely never be released outside Japan (with some exceptions such as South Korea, Taiwan and China) [[LateExportForYou until years later]], the Idolmaster-themed skins for ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation'' are available stateside, and ''The iDOLM@STER'' Gamertag icons also made it over.
261* ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'':
262** Ichiro Ogami and Sakura Shinguji, the stars of the first four ''Sakura Wars'' games, made their North American and European debut in ''VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove''.
263** Erica Fontaine and Ciseaux from ''VideoGame/SakuraWars3IsParisBurning'', as well as Aya-Me from ''VideoGame/SakuraWars1996'', made their international debut in the ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' series.
264** The worldwide release of ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019'' marks the in-game debut of Sumire Kanzaki.
265[[/folder]]
266
267[[folder:Survival Horror]]
268* In the ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' games, the [[VideoGame/ClockTower1995 original game]] released for the SNES was Japan-only. The sequel ''VideoGame/ClockTower2'' on the [=PlayStation=] was received in North America, introducing Jennifer and the [=ScissorMan=].
269[[/folder]]
270
271[[folder:Turn-Based Strategy]]
272* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' didn't receive an English localization until the American success of ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''. This resulted in Prier first appearing as an OptionalBoss cameo in ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', before appearing in her own game. Worse, her appearance in ''Disgaea'' spoils a plot point of ''La Pucelle''.
273* ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' introduces a little known character in the West named Souichirou Kogure. The reason why he is little known is because the visual novel in which he originated from, ''Hayarigami'', has not been released outside of Japan and, considering NISA's general aversion to visual novels outside of ''VisualNovel/DisgaeaInfinite'', probably never will.
274* ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'': Petta, Zetta's KidFromTheFuture, appeared in the PSP remake of ''Makai Kingdom'', which was never released outside of Japan. She hasn't been able to appear outside of Japan until ''VideoGame/Disgaea4'' as a DLC character, and it would take 15 years until her game gets released in the west.
275[[/folder]]
276
277[[folder:Other]]
278* While ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has never officially aired in Japan, various entries in the ''VideoGame/NicktoonsUnite'' series (which features the titular protagonist as a playable character) have been released there; thus that series marks Danny's debut for Japanese audiences.
279* Until October 2023, ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' was the only game by Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto that has been released in Europe but not in North America. Despite that fact, Tamagon has made cameos in four games available worldwide before - ''Tetris DS'', ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', ''Art Style: [=PiCOPiCT=]'' (known as ''[=PiCTOBiTS=]'' in North America) and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. ''Brawl'', ''3DS/Wii U'' and ''Ultimate'' also have the Devil as an [[AssistCharacter Assist Trophy]]; Tamagon was a trophy in ''Melee'' but was removed from the international release (along with a few others).
280* Due to the DevelopmentHell ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' went through during localization, several iconic Pokémon characters made their first appearance outside Japan as stamps in the VideoGame/GameBoyCamera, of all places.
281* Barbara the Bat is the host of the RhythmGame ''Daigasso! Band Brothers'', which debuted in Japan as a 2004 Nintendo DS launch title. However, despite plans to localize the game for Western regions, it never happened; the character would instead make her first overseas appearance as the host of ''Master of Illusion'', a "non-game game" that teaches the player how to perform magic card tricks, followed by being an unlockable Assist Trophy in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. Her game's sequel (''Daigasso! Band Brothers DX'') would be released in Europe as ''VideoGame/JamWithTheBand'' in 2010, but the third game (''Daigasso! Band Brothers P'') would remain Japan-exclusive, while none of the games would release North America at all.
282* The second game in the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, ''VideoGame/WarioWareTwisted'', was released in the US only after the third game, ''VideoGame/WarioWareTouched'', was already out in stores, while in Europe [[NoExportForYou it was never released]]. As a result, Wario-Man and 18-Volt appeared first in ''Touched!'' for Western players.
283[[/folder]]
284
285!! Non-Video Game Examples
286
287[[index]]
288* MarthDebutedInSmashBros/AnimeAndManga
289[[/index]]
290
291[[folder:Comic Books]]
292* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has never been released outside of the UK and Ireland. Tekno and Ember appeared in a non-canon cameo in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''.
293* Before the translation of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'' in some countries, Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf debuted in ''VideoGame/SonicForcesSpeedBattle'.
294* The character of Smurfbegonia originally appeared in the French ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' comic "Un Noveau Depart," before showing up in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs2021''. However, her animated appearance was translated into English before her comic book appearance, leading some English-speaking fans to mistakenly believe she originated from the show.
295[[/folder]]
296
297[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
298* In Japan, ''WesternAnimation/GnomeoAndJuliet'' was never released, but ''WesternAnimation/SherlockGnomes'' was, leading the appearance of the characters from the previous film to be the first time they showed up in Japan. What’s even more confusing is that the reference to the former movie in the opening scene was kept in the Japanese dub despite the film in question not being dubbed.
299* The ''[[ComicBook/MonicasGang Monica and Friends]]'' franchise would make a debut outside Brazil with the film "An Adventure in Time" releasing in Latin America during 2008. This led to the first exposure of the franchise in Latin America. Almost 7 years later, the animated shorts would debut on the Latin American version of Creator/{{Boomerang}} when they started to air the 2012 series, then later moved to the 2009 series, then the 2000s series and much later the 1980s series. The show then later expanded to a handful of countries when they didn't get the comics nor the show such as Japan.
300* The 1981 Japanese animated film ''Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico'' (based on the Creator/OsamuTezuka manga series Manga/{{Unico}}) by Sanrio Animation, featured Kiki and Lala (aka "The Little Twin Stars") making a non-speaking cameo apperance in the background during a musical number focused on Katy/Chloe's dreams on becoming a witch. In the western market alongside Spanish speaking countries, this was "The Little Twin Stars" first exposure to non-Japanese audiences and first exposure to Sanrio characters besides Hello Kitty. Sames goes for the 1983 sequel ''Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic'' where Tuxedo Sam makes a non-speaking cameo apperance where he's among the animals alongside Unico lessening to Toby's song performed on a flute.
301* ''WesternAnimation/UnGalloConMuchosHuevos'' is actually the third in a series of animated films and the only to be released outside Mexico and to have an English dub. Relatedly, ''WeaternAnimation/UnRescateDeHuevitos'' was the first in the franchise to be released in parts of Europe, Asia, and Australia.
302* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' was the first appearance of characters from ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'' in many countries, most notably [[RecursiveImport the United Kingdom]], since the show was only exported to a handful of countries.
303* In 2014 ''Creator/Studio100'' created a movie based on ''Literature/MayaTheBee'' which was released in 2014 (2015 for the United States and Australia). Since Studio 100 is a Belgian company, various Studio 100 characters such as [[http://www.animaatjes.nl/cliparts/cartoons/piet-piraat/clipart_piet-piraat_animaatjes-0.jpg "Piet Piraat"]] and ''Series/SamsonEnGert'' make cameo apperances during the opening as clouds. Both [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACxWfzvdxbo Piet Piraat and Samson En Gert are from the same studio]] and are [[CashCowFranchise very popular in Belgium and The Netherlands]] (and Germany to a smaller degree). However, both are unknown to other countries leaving non-Belgians confused with these characters.
304* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'':
305** The Japanese dub of the film features a translated version of the Plumbers' Rap from ''Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'', which never got a Japanese release.
306** The movie is one of the only pieces of ''Mario'' media to ever release in India, many years after [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 the first game]]. It features established characters like the Yoshis, the penguins, and a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Luma]] (specifically Lumalee) who, up to that point, had never officially been introduced to India.
307* Due to its Christian themes, ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie'' was the only piece of ''[=VeggieTales=]'' media to be released and dubbed in many countries.
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
311* Chitti from the famous Bollywood movie ''Film/{{Robot}}'' had his first appearance in Germany with a cameo in the movie ''Ra.One''.
312* Franchise/{{Godzilla}} gets hit with this a lot. Many viewers nowadays don't realize that such famous Godzilla foes as Film/{{Mothra}} and Film/{{Rodan}} were actually the stars of their own successful films before making the jump.
313* Popular Argentinian comic character ComicStrip/{{Mafalda}} makes a cameo appearance in the 2021 Creator/{{DC}} and Creator/WarnerBros film ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' as a keychain during a scene shot inside Milton's vehicle. While the series is well-known in Spanish speaking countries, the series is completely unknown to the non-Hispanophone market (such as Asia, America, and parts of Europe) with some of her comics never gaining official translations to some countries.
314* Many ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' characters, like Nitara and Reiko, first appeared in South Korea in [[Film/MortalKombat2021 the 2021 movie]], since none of 3D-era games have been released there.
315* The Film/FatAlbert movie is the only piece of Fat Albert media to be released in countries like the UK and Japan.
316[[/folder]]
317
318[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
319* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
320** In South Korea, the dub of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' was the debut for ''Franchise/{{Kamen Rider}}s'' ''[[Series/KamenRiderKuuga Kuuga]]'', ''[[Series/KamenRiderAgito Agito]]'' and ''[[Series/KamenRiderHibiki Hibiki]]'', as their series were not imported over there. The same occurred in Singapore but with ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' in addition to that list.
321** In the US, ReunionShow footage remains the only appearances of [[Series/MaskedRider every Kamen Rider prior to Black RX (aside from Black)]]. The past Riders were said to be previous users of the Masked Rider powers summoned through time.
322** The North American airing (on the Japanese premium channel TV Japan) of ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' airs the special episode featuring ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', features the entire Heisei Riders, which marks the debut of the entire Heisei Riders who never made it or adapted into North America with the exception of ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' which was adapted from ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' for the first time. Also, ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' will made a debut in North America despite ''Kamen Rider Gaim'' was skipped in favor of ''Series/KamenRiderDrive''.
323** Creator/ShoutFactory licensed ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'' for streaming, then followed it up with ''Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsFOREVER'', jumping ahead '''19 years''' and making every Heisei Rider other than Kuuga an example of this trope.
324* In Germany, [=Pro7=] got the rights to only the first two seasons of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' revival. Rival TV station Creator/RTL2 had more luck with spin-off ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' which led to the Doctor's companion Martha Jones first appearing in ''Torchwood'' and not Series 3 of ''Doctor Who''.
325* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
326** ''"Lost and Found in Translation"'' of ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' featured the Power Rangers watching episode 10 of ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'', which itself is a satire on cultural differences between Japan and the US. This resulted in an entire ''Super Sentai'' episode to be dubbed in countries who usually don't do Super Sentai, including America. And in France, while ''Super Sentai'' [[ScrewedByTheLawyers stopped being dubbed]] in French after ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'' in 1992 (while it was already heavily [[CensorshipTropes censored]]) in favor of the [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids "less violent and confusing"]] ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' on following years, ''Abaranger'' would eventually mark itself, through ''Dino Thunder'', to be the last ''Super Sentai Series'' dubbed in French.
327** While ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' was skipped in South Korea, characters from that show appeared in the dub of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' when that show had a crossover with ''Shinkenger''.
328** The Korean, Cantonese and Taiwanese dubs of ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' present the first appearances of numerous ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' teams who never made it over to those countries in the first place.
329** As South Korea skipped ahead to air ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'' in the months following its Japanese premiere, ''Power Rangers Zenkaiger'' features the first appearance of its original counterpart's immediate predecessor, ''Series/MashinSentaiKiramager''.
330* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
331** ''[[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Power Rangers Super Megaforce]]'' features the first appearances of the five core ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'' suits, ''Series/HikariSentaiMaskman'', ''Series/ChoushinseiFlashman'', ''Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman'', and ''Series/ChikyuuSentaiFiveman'' as "new powers". Uniquely, the presence of this trope was actually handwaved... poorly,[[note]]The mentor Gosei tells the Rangers that they have unlocked the ''Dairanger'' suits as "new modes that have never been seen before on this planet" without explaining where did the ''Dairanger'' suits originate from within the narrative of the ''Power Rangers'' universe, naming them or saying how and why did the Rangers suddenly unlock new modes. And that's just the ''Dairanger'' suits. The ''Maskman'' and ''Flashman'' suits were equally nameless, completely pulled out of thin air and given zero explanation as to their sudden existence and how the Rangers obtained the suits![[/note]] single-handely leading the ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' fandom [[BrokenBase into a meltdown]] and causing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ-b67BPKPg a new fandom meme]] to spawn.
332** ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' featured the US debut of ''Series/MetalHeroes'' character [[Series/SekaiNinjaSenJiraiya Jiraiya]] who was adapted as a character named "Space Sheriff Skyfire", who is recruited by BigBad Madame Odius to fight the Power Rangers.
333** ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'' also featured the US debut of a ''Metal Heroes'' character. In this case, it was Gavan Type-G from ''Film/SpaceSheriffGavanTheMovie'', who was adapted as Captain Chaku.
334** The Italian dub of the franchise initially skipped ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', which was dubbed only after ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai''. As a result, the RPM Red Ranger was first seen in the ''Samurai'' special episode "Clash of the Red Rangers".
335** MonsterOfTheWeek examples appear all the time - some sentai monsters don't get adapted, or are used in a different order than the original series. This means a gathering of past monsters might contain monsters who have never appeared, or who haven't appeared yet, leaving fans to say "when did they ever fight ''that'' guy?" or "wait, didn't we see that one in monster hell? What's he doing alive to be this week's MOTW?"
336* ''Series/BigBadBeetleborgs'' had an episode which featured the debut of some ''Series/MetalHeroes'' characters whose series were never aired in the US. Among them was ''[[Series/TokusouRoboJanperson Janperson]]'', who was explained to be another comic book character named "Karato", who had been made by the artist who later created the Beetleborgs comic. Not only did Gun Gibson and Bill Goldy also appear (as "Silver Ray" and "Goldex"), [[TheDragon Mademoiselle Q]] from ''Series/BlueSWAT'' appeared too, as "Wingar". (The Blue SWAT team themselves were cut completely, likely because of their exposed Japanese faces.)
337* The release of ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' in Australia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates marked the debuts of characters such as Donkey Hodie, Purple Panda, Bob Dog and Harriet Elizabeth Cow from ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' in the country, but in different incarnations.
338[[/folder]]
339
340[[folder:Toys]]
341* Since not all ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'' devices are released outside of Japan, some characters appeared on devices years after their Japanese debut. The most notable example was the V3, which used many characters that were originally from the Osutchi and Mesutchi, which came out nine years earlier.
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343
344[[folder:Western Animation]]
345* ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'':
346** Since the first two seasons were dubbed in Hungarian, Miss Miller's first appearance in the franchise was ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunkAdventure''.
347** The Japanese dub, due to skipping a handful of episodes, had The Chipettes debut in ''May The Best Chipmunk Win'' (season 1, episode 13b) instead of their namesake episode (season 1, episode 1b).
348* Because ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' was never dubbed into Norwegian, the characters' first appearances were in the dubs of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}''.
349* In some countries, like Italy, ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'' appeared for the first time in the opening skit of ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie''.
350* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' was never aired in countries like the UK, making most people over there think that Jay Sherman is just a one-shot character on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
351* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' was never released in Hungary (except, oddly, as a picture book); therefore the character's animated debut in the country was in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017''.
352* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'':
353** A number of international markets had not yet aired the end of the third season of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' before they ran the theatrical release, ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'', which picks up on some plot points from the final episode of Season 3. As a result, in quite a few countries, the film opens with Twilight Sparkle complaining about the new wings and alicorn princess status that she hadn't yet been shown gaining. Similarly, locations and characters from Season 3 were showing up in some markets on the toys' box art before the episodes they debuted in were locally aired. Also, in some countries ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' was released before the end of season 4 of the show, spoiling Twilight's castle obtained at the end of that season.
354** In Japan, while the ''Friendship is Magic'' dub was on hiatus, the dub of the ''Equestria Girls'' series resulted in several plot points from Season 3 onward being introduced in later ''Equestria Girls'' works such as Twilight's ascension as an alicorn princess, Twilight's castle, and taking on former villain Starlight Glimmer as a student.
355** In Croatia, by the time ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' came out and was being shown locally in theaters, the country had ''just'' started airing season 2. This means that the country was treated to Twilight's status as being an alicorn princess before it was even hinted at in-series in the season 3 premiere, and various elements from later in the show such as the Tree of Harmony and Crystal Heart (both in stained glass) and the characters Cheese Sandwich, Starlight Glimmer and Maud Pie ([[DubNameChange called "Manda" in the Croatian version of the movie]]) have made their debut in the country as quick cameos.
356* In Italy, the two main characters from ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' appeared first in the CouchGag for the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS26E22MathletesFeat "Mathlete's Feat"]].
357* Since ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' didn't receive an official release there, the first official appearance in China of the characters from the series was the CCTV-6 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies''. It is also the first official Chinese appearance of [[BigBad Slade]] and [[spoiler:the original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''.]]
358* In an odd case that combines this trope and ShortRunInPeru, ''WesternAnimation/ThundercatsRoar'' first appeared in Canada in the CrossOver with ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo''.
359* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaRama''
360** As ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'' never aired in Hungary, Jude Lizowski made his first appearance in ''[=Total DramaRama=]''.
361** Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, ''[=DramaRama=]'' also marks the debut of [=MacArthur=], Don, Carrie, Devin, Chet, Ella, Max, Laurie, Lightning, Sugar, Alejandro Burromuerto, and Jasmine, as only the first two seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' (''Island'' and ''Action'') were shown in Britain. While the British version had no more than two seasons of the original show, only the first season was reran on Pop! as of 2019.
362** In the UK, ''The Ridonculous Race'' made its debut on Creator/TheBBC iPlayer on April 4, 2022. Because only ''Island'' and ''Action'' aired in the UK, Leonard (from ''Pahkitew Island''), Anne Maria (from ''Revenge of the Island''), and Blaineley (from ''World Tour'') make their UK debut.
363** ''[=DramaRama=]'' also marks the franchise's debut in Germany as none of the original series (including ''The Ridonculous Race'') was aired nor dubbed in German. However, a scene from the season 2 opening was featured on ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}'' (which was the only Creator/FreshTV cartoon--between ''Total Drama'', ''6teen'', and ''Stoked''--to have a German dub at the time of the show's initial release).
364* ''WesternAnimation/{{Villainous|CartoonNetwork}}'' had become a staple of Creator/CartoonNetwork's Latin American branches since its first miniseries aired in 2017, with its various shorts being available in both Spanish and English on the official CN Latin America [=YouTube=] page. However, the characters wouldn't be formally introduced to American audiences until its October 2020 crossover with ''WesternAnimation/VictorAndValentino'', which was meant to coincide with the premiere of a full-length ''Villainous'' TV series, which got delayed into late 2021 and wouldn't get an official release outside Latin America itself.
365* Due to ''[[Literature/WinnieThePooh The House on Pooh Corner]]'' not having a Spanish translation until the 80's, the first appearance of Tigger in Spain and Latin America was in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day]]'', which came out in 1968. It's possible that this happened in other places as well.
366* Since ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' wasn't aired outside of the United States (though Canadians could watch the show via cable), this meant that ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' marked the debut of several characters from ''Mister Rogers'' in various overseas territories, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
367* The 1987 western-produced series ''WesternAnimation/HelloKittysFurryTaleTheater'' marked the first time non-Japanese audiences were exposed to other Sanrio characters (notably My Melody, Tuxedo Sam [[note]] And further back Tuxeo Sam's non-speaking cameo in ''Unico in the Island of Magic'' [[/note]], and Chip). While Franchise/HelloKitty was beginning to catch on in the western market, Sanrio characters were mainly known in Japan but didn't catch on with international audiences until the 1990s.
368* Some countries like the United Kingdom and Portugal got localized versions of ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' with new hosts. This meant that ''WesternAnimation/BluesCluesAndYou'' was the first appearance of the hosts of the American version, Steve and Joe, in those countries.
369* [=JoJo=] Siwa's first appearance in Japan was her cameo in ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout!]]''.
370* On February 8th 2023, ''Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm'' debuted in Creator/HBOMax UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}, making the Polish debut of [[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce the Aqua Teens]].
371* Because ''WesternAnimation/JonahAVeggieTalesMovie'' did not get dubbed into some languages, some countries that dubbed ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' such as Germany, Slovenia and Norway saw the debut of Khalil in "The Ballad of Little Joe". Meanwhile, in Israel, the character debuted in "Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn't", which is noteworthy for having Khalil directly reference the events of ''Jonah''.
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