Fandom Enraging Misconception / Video Games

Franchises with their own pages:

• Kirby
• Pokémon
• Sonic the Hedgehog

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General

• A major offense against video games as a whole, overlapping with New Media Are Evil, is to call them Murder Simulators and claim that they cause violent behavior. Numerous academic studies refute these claims (and ironically, some studies suggest that video games actually reduce violent behavior), and video game hobbyists have grown tired of the accusations.
• Never, ever confuse Fighting Games with Beat 'em Up games. Conflating the different subgenres of Fighting Game (such as calling a 2d fighter a “Tekken clone”) is also a no-no.
• Never, ever refer to a Rhythm Game song as "that song from osu!" (unless of course, it was specifically made for that game) For similar reasons, don't go around calling other rhythm games "osu! ripoffs" or even just osu!-inspired, unless the developer explicitly cites osu! as an inspiration.
• Shoot 'Em Up genre:
  • Fans really don't like it when you call a non-Touhou Project shmup a ripoff of such, especially if the game in question has no clear Touhou influences (often non-Bullet Hell games or games that use mecha/ships as opppsed to humanoid characters), or outright predates the series (which started in 1996, at least a decade and a half after the genre as many fans know it began,^note And even then, the first game in the series, Touhou Reiiden ~ Highly Responsive to Prayers, is more of a ball-bouncer game rather than a full-fledged shmup; it was only with the second game, Touhou Fuumaroku ~ the Story of Eastern Wonderland, that the series shifted to being proper shmups and three years after Batsugun, the Trope Maker for Bullet Hell, was released).
  • Using Bullet Hell to refer to the genre as a whole, rather than just games with thick, intricate bullet patterns will be met with many a head-on-desk reaction from older shmup fans who grew up in the pre-danmaku era of shmups. As those fans will be angrily quick to point out, many classical shmups, and even some more modern shmups (mainly ones that are throwbacks to older shmups, like Star Gagnant, or sequels to long-running series or much older games, like R-Type Final 2 or Andro Dunos II), use sources of difficulty other than "flood the screen with pretty patterns," usually employing maze-like level design or enemies that snipe the player with fewer but much faster bullets. Usually, the confusion comes from younger gamers who were not alive when shmups being non-danmaku were the norm, and therefore do not understand that shmups can exist, let alone be challenging, without walls of bullets; in fact, many of these younger games have never even heard of the term "shmup", and just assume all games of the genre are called "bullet hell".
  • Run-and-Gun games are not shmups, or at the least do not consider them the same kind of gameplay if you want to feel safe in shmup communities. Shmups as they're commonly defined feature a freely-moving ship/character in auto-scrolling levels, while run-and-gun games feature platforming in a level that only scrolls when you move accordingly (with auto-scrolling being the exception rather than the norm).
• Suggesting to Role-Playing Game fans that turn-based battle systems are either outdated or only were used due to technological limitations of the time. Turn-based games sell well to this day with one of them (Pokémon) being the best selling video game franchise of all-time, and the Action RPG has been around for decades with games like Hydlide even pre-dating the original Dragon Quest. It is a stylistic choice and turn-based fans are very vocal about their support of such battle systems.
• Suggesting that anything said from Game Theory is true is a good way to get yelled at by more diehard fans of certain franchises. While a lot of the videos about video game logic are better regarded, anything that makes claims on lore gets politely pushed aside if you're lucky unless the theory was already Fanon. Especially if the theory was made after the claim of Sans being Ness.
• If someone mentions that they listen to video game music, complaining that "it's all beeps and boops" is not a good idea.
• Saying all Mahjong video games are erotic strip games will draw the ire of mahjong fans (both those who play mahjong video games, most notably online clients like Tenhou and Mahjong Soul, and the physical tabletop game) real fast, in a vein similar to insinuating that All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles.
• Unironically saying video games are just for children or to assume a work is intended for children just because it's a game is a huge no-no. An American political commentator learned this the hard way when he called Grand Theft Auto VI (a game intended for adults) a "kids game".

Nintendo

• In general:
  • If you state that the company puts out nothing but remakes and barely distinguishable sequels to the same four or five game series, such as Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, don't be surprised when Nintendo's fanbase believes that you have been living under a rock and subsequently educates you soundly on the many new IPs and smaller games the company makes on a regular basis.
  • If you are a non-gamer who grew up during the Nintendo Wii era, never, ever think that the Wii is the only Nintendo console, and that the only Nintendo games are Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and the Just Dance series, and assume that games on subsequent home consoles are for Wii. Aside from third-party titles, Nintendo hasn't given the Wii any new games since 2012, with the last game being Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition. At best, you will be politely corrected. Similarly, never assume Nintendo stopped making games altogether after you've stopped playing them.
  • Using "Nintendo" as a synonym for "gaming console" (especially ones that aren't actually made by Nintendo) will make it clear that you don't really care about video games, on top of angering any gamer within earshot. It might be acceptable if you only own consoles that are made by Nintendo, but lord help you if you call your Xbox or PlayStation "your Nintendo". Fortunately, this is becoming rarer these days, but it was a major source of annoyance for gamers in the past, especially The '90s, when Nintendo was trying to do everything they could to distance themselves from the dangerous reputation that video games as a medium had at the time.
  • Do not refer to the DS line of handheld consoles as "Game Boy DS".
  • No, the Wii U was NOT a "new controller for the Wii", it was the Wii's successor (albeit backwards-compatible). The controller is called the "GamePad", and is not the console itself — the console is a box similar to other consoles. The controller is also not a "tablet". It's got so bad at one point that Nintendo had to send out a notice to everyone's Wii console to remind them that the Wii U was, in fact, a brand new console and not an add-on for the Wii whatsoever. That said, all who do know that the Wii U is a separate console are fully aware that it was a bad name, and general consensus is that this was one of the factors that led to the system's failure.
  • Saying that Nintendo only ever outputs "kiddy" games will get you in hot water real fast, and fans will be quick to remind you that games like the Metroid series and the Fire Emblem series, two properties with more mature-than-usual themes, exist, and if you want to stretch the definition of a Nintendo game a little, Sin and Punishment and Astral Chain are nitty-gritty games that are Nintendo-owned, just contracted out to third-party developers. In a similar vein, don't insinuate that Nintendo systems only have games made for children if you don't want a bunch of angry replies; Nintendo may have been infamous for censorship guidelines during the NES and SNES days, but this has long been toned down drastically, and games like Conker's Bad Fur Day (Toilet Humor), Gal*Gun (Fanservice), and MadWorld (Gorn) have since been allowed to exist on Nintendo platforms.
• Animal Crossing: Unless you are clearly joking, do not say that Tom Nook is a greedy loan shark that forces the player into debt for his own benefit. Not only did said interpretation of the character die a long time ago, but if anything Tom Nook is actually a Benevolent Boss given that he helps the player establish themselves in town and none of his loans have deadlines or interest fees added to them. Ironically enough, Tom himself is aware of the misconception in-universe, but it doesn't bother him nearly as much as it does the fans; it makes people actually pay back their debts, after all.
• Astral Chain: Claiming that Nintendo moneyhatted or is keeping Astral Chain from coming to PlayStation and Xbox platforms will get you laughed at by many fans, and was large enough of a misconception for PlatinumGames themselves to step and confirm that yes, the game was funded fully by Nintendo and that they own the IP wholly as of 2021.
• EarthBound (1994):
  • Never mention the "Giygas fetus theory" on a forum. You WILL get banned (temporarily, at least). It's a lot calmer these days... as long as you make it clear that the fetus symbolism is just that: Purely symbolic (Giygas was an adult by that point in the timeline).
  • Please, don't refer to Ninten, the protagonist of EarthBound Beginnings, as "Ness". They're two different characters. Likewise, don't confuse Lloyd and Ana for the second game's Jeff and Paula. Most of the main characters of EarthBound may each be an Expy of an equivalent protagonist from the first game, but they are not the same characters.
  • Don't ever hold the "Ness is Sans from Undertale" theory as any sort of canonical fact. EarthBound was originally released in 1995, Undertale in 2015. Even if you get the timeline right and express it as "Sans is Ness" (as the original video actually did), the idea is generally not taken seriously.
  • Don't say that EarthBound is a rip-off of Undertale, which will result in fans from both games—friendly and vitriolic—uniting against you, because EarthBound was released 20 years before and because the majority of Undertale fans know that their game takes inspiration from EarthBound, respectively. That said, calling Undertale an "EarthBound rip-off" is not a good idea either.
• Fire Emblem:
  • Don't say that The Blazing Blade was the first game in the series, or else you'll have hardcore fans yelling at you about how the series started on the Famicom. Claiming the same of Awakening will get you yelled at even more, considering it actively refers to previous games in the series.
    • On that matter, don't say Awakening introduced second-generation units, Casual Mode, or playable avatars. The first of these debuted in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, while the latter two are from Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem.
  • Calling Roy "red Marth" or Ike "buff Marth" will naturally anger fans of the series, due to the differences each character displays in their original games. Calling Lucina "girl Marth" is more excusable, though, given that Lucina takes up Marth's name as an alias in the first half of her game.
  • Don't treat any of about Nanna's fathers as definitively canon under any circumstance. Her only confirmed parent is her mother, Lachesis, and her father can be among most of the first generation male units in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, depending on who Lachesis is paired up with in that game.
• F-Zero: Fans tend to get very upset when people confuse the anime adaptation with the games. Captain Falcon's real name is not Bart Lemming, not Andy Summer, and certainly not Rick Wheeler. Also, Rick Wheeler does not exist in the series' main continuity.
• Kid Icarus:
  • The main character is Pit. Trying to say his name is Kid Icarus or even just Icarus will get you laughed out of any Nintendo forum, especially if you grew up with or your first exposure to the character was Captain N: The Game Master, which referred to Pit as such.
  • Do not go claiming that Dark Pit is a villain or evil, else you'd cause some ire. To be clear, while in the story he's created to be an Evil Knockoff of Pit, he rebels and becomes an Anti-Hero, gaining a tense rivalry with Pit, but also helping him in some of the plot's key moments. You can get away with jokingly calling him an edgy Pit though.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • Spelling Ganondorf, AKA Ganon's name as "Gannon" will get people to yell "GANNON-BANNED"^note The former name for this trope at you on most websites. It is commonly believed that he got an additional "N" in his name in the original game due to poor localization or because it was a leftover from the original Japanese. Neither is completely the case. The proper Japanese has always been "Ganon", as explained on gannon-banned.com, and all the original English materials have the correct spelling.◊ The extra "N" was simply a typo that is only seen in the game itself. In any case, calling Ganon "Gannon" will cause eyerolls at best and anger at worst.
  • Claiming that there is only one Link or Zelda, that the games were released in chronological order, etc., is liable to get you laughed out of any timeline forum. Oh, and don't bother saying that the Super Smash Bros. games, Soulcalibur II, or any other crossover he's involved with are canon either.
  • Call Link "Zelda" around any Zelda fan and prepare to get yelled at. Link is the hero, Zelda is the princess. While it used to be a common mistake among non-fans and casual fans, nowadays it is a fairly obvious Troll.
  • For your own safety, don't call the Zelda games (except The Adventure of Link and maybe Breath of the Wild) RPGs. The games do have RPG elements, yes, but they are Action-Adventure games.
  • Majora's Mask is not "Zelda 2", no matter how much Sequel Displacement Ocarina of Time created.
  • A Link Between Worlds is not a remake of A Link to the Past, but a sequel taking place in the same version of Hyrule. Certainly not helped by Shigeru Miyamoto originally considering remaking it before Eiji Aonuma convinced him to make an original game, and Miyamoto still erroneously referring to it as a remake from time-to-time.
  • In regards to Hyrule Warriors, Linkle is her own character and not a gender-swapped incarnation of Link. Her entire plotline in game is about her believing this to be the case.
  • Denying anything written in Hyrule Historia as being "unofficial" is likely to get what you say disregarded. Being that it was written by the series's production team and overseen by Miyamoto and Aonuma, it should be regarded as canonical as the games themselves.
  • Never call The Legend of Zelda CD-i Games canon. Even Nintendo regards them as an Old Shame and as Canon Discontinuity. In fact, they are not mentioned in Hyrule Historia at all.
  • Pre-2010, treating anything from Zelda.com's "Encyclopedia" as official canon was liable to get you laughed at or yelled at. Post-2017, the Nintendo Dream magazine's similarly Fan Wank-happy "Hyrule Encyclopedia" has drawn the fanbase's ire, particularly regarding their theory that Termina ceased to exist at the end of Majora's Mask. This is especially significant given that this book is part of a series alongside the aforementioned Hyrule Historia; this has led many people who don't look too much into things to assume that either both books are fully official or neither of them are.
  • Calling any given Link besides the one in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask the "Hero of Time". That's a title that has only ever referred to that specific incarnation of the character; other Links are distinct individuals with either their own titles or no known special title.
  • To fans from specific countries, "Hyrule" is pronounced as "Hi-rool" and not as "E-roo-leh". To say that fans were pissed off when it was revealed that the Spanish dub of Breath of the Wild used the latter pronunciation would be an understatement.
  • While it is more likely to just earn you a hasty correction (and/or a possibly interesting tidbit of trivia) rather than outright rage, but the primary inhabitants of Hyrule, including Link and Zelda, are "Hylians." Yes, they have Pointy Ears, but they are a race and culture unto themselves that are distinct from both elves and humans alike.
  • Ganondorf's exclamation when he performs his forward smash in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate isn't a meaningless Kiai spelled "Doriyah!"; it's "Sorya!" (そりゃ), a Japanese exclamation equivalent to "take that". Additionally, the voice clip in question is Older Than They Think; it was used in Ocarina of Time for when Ganondorf launches Tennis Boss projectiles, is in Melee's sound test despite being unused, and is his selection sound in Brawl.
  • No, you CAN'T beat the Running Man in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, not even by using cheats to lock the timer at 0 seconds or warp to the end at the very start. Fans will get upset at you if you believe you can. Even Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto themselves have confirmed you can't beat him.
• Metroid:
  • Calling Samus "Metroid" or even, God forbid, saying "I love Metroid, he's so cool in these games" is considered a horrible crime. ^note This is hand waved that in Chozo language that the word Metroid means "Ultimate Warrior", but again, Metroid is an it, a jellyfish-like creature. (Similarly to Master Chief, the only exception allowed is referencing the "y can't metroid crawl" meme.) As of Metroid Dread, Samus is a Metroid DNA-wise, so it now may be considered acceptable to call her a Metroid, but Samus is still her actual name.
  • Likewise, thinking she's a he is also considered very, VERY bad. And she's a (half) human wearing a Powered Armor, not a robot or a cyborg. Thankfully, these misconceptions are far less common after the very obviously and visibly female Zero Suit Samus appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
  • During the heyday of the first-person Metroid Prime games in the 2000s, there were (and probably still are) a group of uneducated people who believed Metroid rips off Halo, oblivious that the former began in 1986 with Metroid on the NES, or that Metroid Prime is still an Action-Adventure Game, albeit with FPS elements present. Conversations on Metroid forums did not go well for them.
  • Do not claim that the Metroid Prime games are not canon or exist in a separate timeline. A cutscene in Metroid: Samus Returns solidifies their canoncity by showing Ridley being transferred from his robotic body in the Prime games back to an organic one.
• Panel de Pon:
  • Insinuating that Tetris Attack or Pokémon Puzzle League came before is a good way to get the fairy characters' fanbase very angry at you.
  • Saying that Tetris Attack is a Tetris game is a good way to draw ire from both Panel de Pon fans and Tetris fans. Other than both games having Falling Blocks, both games have completely different gameplay.^note In fact, Henk Rogers, currently the managing director of The Tetris Company, regrets allowing Nintendo to use the Tetris branding; he only went along with it because the rights holders wanted to use the Tetris brand to make money, and he feels that in doing so, he prevented Panel de Pon from standing on its own merits.
• Pikmin:
  • Go ahead and call Olimar incompetent for not using the Nova Blaster to destroy the meteor that caused him to crash. You will get a lot of angry Pikmin fans demanding you Read the Freaking Manual for the first game to see that Olimar had set his set his ship on auto-pilot at the time for a route he traveled many times before, or the fact that the meteor blindsided him before he could react to it.
  • Do not assume that Olimar is enslaving the Pikmin and forcing them to fight for him and carry things back to the ship. They very clearly want to help him, otherwise their onions wouldn't follow his ship.
  • Whatever you do, never call Alph "Olimar" or vice versa or you will have several rabid fans tell you that they are completely different characters.
  • Do not call Olimar or Alph "Pikman". The Pikmin are the tiny Plant People.
• Punch-Out!!:
  • Do NOT insist that the Wii version is a carbon copy of the NES version with updated graphics.
  • If you were born before the 1990s, don't think that Mike Tyson is still involved with the series or the Series Mascot. His contract with Nintendo expired, and all re-releases of the NES Punch-Out!! replace him with a character named Mr. Dream, and he wasn't even the mascot in the first place.
• Star Fox:
  • Star Fox is the name of the mercenary unit where Fox McCloud works. It is not his name. This misconception isn't helped by the fact that Andross seemingly uses this name to refer to Fox at the end of Star Fox 64. (Andross was actually talking about the team in general, but in context it looks like he's just addressing Fox, who is alone at the time.)
  • Insisting the "amputated legs" theory is true, even after it has been disproven in the games themselves, will most likely get you laughed at by the fandom.
  • At least in Star Fox 64, it's "Lylat system" with a lowercase "s".
  • Do not say that Star Fox 64 is the first game in the series (not helped by the fact that 64 started the canon over), as there were two games in the series developed before it (although the second wasn't initially released).
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Asking for Super Mario Bros. 4 to be made will lead irked fans to point out that it already exists with the subtitle Super Mario World in Japan — it was simply shortened to only being referred to by the subtitle in most other regions. For that matter, asking for Super Mario Bros. 5 to be made will lead the nerdier among such irked fans to point out that it evolved into Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island in development.
  • Do not say Super Mario 64 (or any other Nintendo 64 game with the number in its title) is the 64th entry in the series. To begin with, that was just a marketing name based on the name of its console. Second, Super Mario 64 isn't even close to being the 64th title in the series. Counting all the "main" Mario games ^note Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 (in Japan, later called The Lost Levels) Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA), Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and discounting ports and spin-offs, this would likely make Super Mario 64 the tenth entry in the series. Ironically, counting all of the ports, spin-offs and cameos, the 64th Mario game released would be none other than the arcade port of the original Super Mario Bros., called Vs. Super Mario Bros.
  • The credits theme for Super Mario 64 is often the subject of condolences to Satoru Iwata, even though he's not even listed in the credits in question. Iwata hadn't even become president of Nintendo yet, still running HAL Laboratory, nor did he work on any Mario titles until Super Mario Sunshine.
  • Treating Yoshi like he talks solely in Pokémon Speak irks some fans, since he talks normally in older games. However, he speaks like this in later games Depending on the Writer.
  • Although Mario is stated to be older in some games, assuming that Mario and Luigi have a big age gap between them will get you laughed at. Mario and Luigi are twins, but many don't realize this due to either not playing the original Yoshi's Island game, or falsely believing that all twins are identical.
  • Do not say with a straight face that Yoshi's full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas, nor that Mario's species is Homo nintendonus. Not only does that come from a source that is not meant to be taken seriously, it was made up by someone unaffiliated with either Nintendo of Japan or the localisation department.
  • Don't even think about saying that Luigi is a "recolored" Mario unless you want to receive a lecture about their differences regarding physical appearance, personality and attributes. On a similar note, whatever you do, don't call Luigi "Green Mario". Not only does it annoy fans for similar reasons, but it will also make it clear that you don't know anything about the Mario series at all beyond the very first Super Mario Bros.^note Luigi really was a palette swap in Mario Bros. in the arcade and Super Mario Bros., but acquired his better jumping and worse traction to differentiate his gameplay style from Mario's in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 a.k.a. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, as well as other unique gameplay mechanics over the years depending on the game, and has retained them on-and-off since.
  • The idea of Daisy being a "recolored" Peach is wrong. Say that (or worse, call her "Yellow Peach") and you'll receive a "side-by-side" comparison between the two princesses pointing out their physical differences, and also a history lesson regarding Daisy's origins.
    • That said, in SMG4's earlier videos, Daisy appeared as a literal Peach "recolor", albeit due to limitations in the production of the bloopers at that time. But still, don't call her a Peach recolor.
  • Fans of Rosalina don't mind if you compare her to Elsa, but don't call her an Elsa rip-off. Rosalina predates Elsa by a good six years. It also isn't good to say that Elsa is a Rosalina rip-off either.
  • Many fans would like you to remember that just because Rosalina wears a dress and crown, it does not mean that she is a princess (she was in early promotional material, but the canon has officially dropped it). Many of the games in which she has appeared imply that she is actually some sort of Physical Goddess.
  • Please, don't ever try to imply or assert to a fan that Hotel Mario is in any way canon.
  • Don't you dare call the Damsel in Distress in the Donkey Kong arcade game "Peach". The damsel in that game is not Princess Peach but Pauline, who isn't a princess and returned in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games and Super Mario Odyssey.
  • Likewise, Diddy Kong is not "Donkey Kong Jr." And he most certainly is not "Monkey Kong."
  • Donkey Kong's name is not pronounced as "Don King Kong". Do that and you won't hear the end of it.
  • Diddy Kong's girlfriend is Dixie Kong, not "Daisy Kong" (no matter what Nintendo Power says), and definitely not "girl Diddy." Furthermore, the Kong family isn't a literal family, but more like the Bat Family. Only a few of the Kongs (not including Diddy and Dixie) are related by blood.
  • Do not call Peach a useless Damsel in Distress around her fans or they'll remind you of all the instances where she Took a Level in Badass.^ListSuper Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario RPG, Super Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros., Super Mario 3D World, Super Princess Peach, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Princess Peach: Showtime! and The Super Mario Bros. Movie
  • Don't confuse Baby Bowser and Bowser Jr. Baby Bowser is from Yoshi's Island, a prequel set right after Mario and Luigi's birth, and is therefore the same individual who will later grow into Bowser. Bowser Jr. is Bowser's son, who exists alongside the adult Bowser, Mario, and Luigi. This confusion likely comes from Mario Kart, which, starting with Double Dash!, features Baby Mario and Luigi alongside their adult counterparts and Bowser Jr.
  • And on that note, for Americans, "Koopa Kid" refers solely to the characters that appear in the first seven games of the Mario Party series. They are entirely separate characters from Baby Bowser, Bowser Jr., and the Koopalings (although in the first three Mario Party games "Koopa Kids" were named "Baby Bowsers").
  • If you are from a Spanish-speaking country, don't say that "Bros" is Mario's last name unless you want to get mocked for your poor English. "Bros" is a diminutive of "brothers" and the full title of the series is usually read as "Super Mario Brothers". And if you appreciate your life, don't write or pronounce it as "Mario Bross".
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is the only game where Daisy's infamous line "Hi, I'm Daisy!" appears^note Said when you switch drivers or when she wins a race, which can potentially become repetitive fast, so treating the line like it is her catchphrase used in every single game she appears in will get you called out.
  • Do not say that Mario or Luigi bash blocks with their heads. They use their fists. The only exception is Luigi in the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario World.
  • Saying that every game in the franchise is the same may get you a lecture on how, even ignoring spinoffs, the 3D entries do much to differentiate themselves from each other. Few, however, will defend the New Super Mario Bros. games on this basis.
• Super Smash Bros.:
  • Lucario is not a Moveset Clone of Mewtwo, nor is Mewtwo a clone of Lucario. Don't say they are, unless you're prepared to weather the resulting flames. This confusion stems from both of them being somewhat human-shaped Pokémon with a Charged Attack Energy Ball for their neutral special move as well as Lucario being added in Super Smash Bros. Brawl while Mewtwo is inexplicably removed, but the similarities end here, as their other moves and playstyle are completely different.
  • Saying that Corrin is no different from the other Fire Emblem characters in the game, especially Marth, will often result in the fanbase tearing you a new one. All Corrin really has in common with the other sword-fighting Fire Emblem characters is that they have a sword and Counter move, which both work completely different anyway. (And the others can't turn into dragons.) They couldn't play any more differently from each other. You'll likely get accused of only looking at Corrin's artwork and making your view on them based on that.
  • Before he was released to the public, suggesting that Cloud was going to be a clone of Shulk would have gotten you mocked.
  • Calling characters like the Fire Emblem characters, Link, Shulk, and Cloud "anime swordfighters" as an excuse to say why they're bad choices for Smash is a surefire way to piss people off, and the same could be said for anyone with a more anime-ish human design. This reached its apex when Sephiroth was added, with many people noting how Cloud and him are the main protagonist and antagonist respectively of the most famous RPGs ever made, as well two of the most iconic video game characters in general.
  • Do not say Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is just a port of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U or you will be accused of trolling. Fans will point out how the returning characters from the latter have new models and the different gameplay mechanics show it's a new game. Most of this came from when Ultimate was first revealed and there was doubt over exactly how much would be changed, but some people still stuck to their "port" belief even after the differences were made clear.
  • Don't state that the events of Smash are canon to the fighters' actual franchises. The only exceptions are the Kid Icarus, and to a lesser extent, Fire Emblem, Kirby, and Bayonetta games due to Canon Welding.
  • Ever since Terry Bogard was announced for Ultimate, there have been growing scorn against people who dismiss him as "Hat Ken". There are a few similarities (including his own version of Ryu and Ken's command specials), but Terry's moveset is distinct enough (complete with two unique mechanics^note Separate front and back specials instead of just one side special, and Desperation Attacks) to not make him redundant.
  • After Kazuya was announced as part of Fighter Pass 2, some high-profile Smash players started calling him a "Shoto", leading to some anger from the rest of the Fighting Game Community since the term refers to a specific type of moveset that doesn't really fit Kazuya's.
  • Calling A-OTF Folk Pro "the Melee font", or otherwise using it in association with only Melee, is irksome to those who are aware that it's also in Brawl and Smash 4 (the former of which, by the way, is where more people know the font from). This is especially not helped by its absence from Ultimate, and the fact that Melee-centric usage of it became common well after Ultimate was released.
• Xenoblade Chronicles series:
  • For your convenience, pronounce the first "e" in Xenoblade with a long "e."
  • The game does not take place on "two giant robots". While this description is accurate for Mechonis, it's definitely not for Bionis. Bionis actually is a giant organic being, refered to only as a "titan".
  • Don't call the Monado, the Aegis sword, or Lucky Seven "the Xenoblade" unless you are joking or generally referring to their archetype. The term itself has never been used in the games outside the title screen and was tacked onto the first game, which was originally going to be called Monado: Beginning of the World.
  • Don't try to claim that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a "waifu game". You might get away with if it you're clearly joking, but in general it's not a good idea. Similarly, judging the entire game solely on the fact that a few female characters have sexy designs is a good way to get fans of the game cheesed off.

Other

• Age of Empires II:
  • The Conquerors Expansion's official shorthand is "Age2x", not "AOC". It's not called "Age of Conquerors."
  • Monks do not say "Wololo". That's only true of Age of Empires I Priests.
• Assassin's Creed III faces a double-dose of this problem. Getting either of the following wrong is bait for serious backlash:
  • The protagonist is a half-Mohawk whose real name is Ratonhnhaké:ton, which is nearly impossible to spell correctly. The fandom is generally pretty lenient on this one.
  • Because of the cultural difficulty in using his real name, Ratonhnhaké:ton is re-named (in-universe) as "Connor". Don't make the mistake of spelling it "Conner", it annoys a lot of people. Furthermore, as his father's family name was "Kenway", many people (including some promotional materials) have taken to calling him "Connor Kenway", despite the fact that Ratonhnhaké:ton/Connor never takes on his father's last name. Fans are quick and harsh in correcting this.
• As far as SNK games go, do not confuse the original Athena with Athena Asamiya, since they are two separate characters. The latter is the former's descendant (and implied at times to be Goddess Athena's reincarnation), but that's as close as it gets.
• Baldur's Gate III: The romanceable characters are not "playersexual", they're all bi/pan, shown by in-game moments where all of them will flirt with or express feelings towards both male and female characters. Insisting that any or all of romanceable characters are monosexual will get you accused of bi erasure by fans.
• Banjo-Kazooie: Whatever you do, never, ever refer to Kazooie with male pronouns. She's a girl.
• BEMANI:
  • Don't get a song's game of origin incorrect. Calling "Xepher" a DanceDanceRevolution song is perhaps one of the most infamous examples.
  • NAOKI has not been part of Konami since 2013, and as such current fans of DDR get tired of having to explain that he has not contributed any songs, or anything else to the series since.
  • The memetic claim that "Konami doesn't make games anymore" will generate a fair number of facepalms from BEMANI players, who will grumble as they point out that yes, Konami still makes BEMANI games on a regular schedule.
  • Claiming that beatmania is a clone of Guitar Hero, much like in the infamous X-Play review of the former, will get you a lot of slaps from the BEMANI community.
  • Calling DDR a "ripoff" of Friday Night Funkin' will land you in hot water with DDR players real fast.
  • Saying that using the bar in DDR is cheating. This is certainly a Broken Base issue and was for a while a massive discourse topic, but at the official level, e.g. Konami Arcade Championship and the Professional Gaming circuit BEMANI Pro League, it is not cheating, and saying that KAC and BPL DDR players are cheating by using the bar will get you bonked with the bar itself.
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is not a prequel to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. While originally announced as one, the developers changed it into an Alternate Universe companion game late in development.
• The Coffin of Andy and Leyley: No, the game is not "literally just incest", and it is definitely not some kind of fetish-y incestuous H-Game. Claiming that the game is nothing but such such things will easily get a fan of the game to accuse you of making surface-level accusations about it without having actually done any research.
• Crash Bandicoot:
  • Many fans are not hesitant to rip you to shreds for calling the wumpa fruits "apples", "mangoes" or "peaches." ^note They are referred to as apples in the Japanese localization of the series, however.
  • Many facepalms have been made over folks not realizing that Coco is Crash's sister.
  • Referring to Crash and Coco as foxes is enough to make fans angry. They're bandicoots, it's even in the title of their name!
• Danganronpa:
  • Do not refer to Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony as Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School or get the two mixed up. Danganronpa 3 is the anime bookending the Hope's Peak saga, whereas Danganronpa V3 is the third main game in the series.
  • Referring to the first two games as "Danganronpa V1" and "Danganronpa V2" can definitely fall under this since there's an in-game reason for Danganronpa V3's name. Doesn't help that V3 attracted a lot of new players to the series.
  • Tread carefully if you claim that Chihiro Fujisaki is a transgender girl. While some will be perfectly okay with and encourage it, others will have you labeled as ignorant at best, and hateful at worst. Not helping matters is that Chihiro's arc is about how he's only crossdressing to avoid being bullied for not being masculine enough, and that he actually hates being treated like a girl.
  • Never refer to Sakura Oogami as a man. She is actually a really muscular girl.
  • Calling Kaede Akamatsu the series's first female protagonist is bound to ruffle a few feathers. Yes, she’s the first girl to be playable in the main games, but several side materials released before V3 have had female protagonists such as Ryoko Otonashi and Komaru Naegi. It doesn’t help that Kaede ends up being a Decoy Protagonist and dies at the end of the first chapter.
  • For the first game, don't say that Sayaka Maizono attempting to kill Leon Kuwata and frame protagonist Makoto Naegi for it was done out of malice. While her actions do come off as underhanded, it's made very clear that Sayaka acted out of fear (as her motive video showed her idol unit in danger) and became desperate to escape Hope's Peak and hopefully save her idol companions.
  • Never try to claim that the Forced Euthanasia motive of the third game's Chapter 4 was genuine on Kokichi's side. Not only do the later events of the game completely and utterly disprove this half-baked theory, Kokichi himself states that he consciously and intentionally used Gonta as The Scapegoat to get rid of Miu and make himself look like the mastermind.
• Dan Machi: Memoria Freese:
  • As with many gacha games, the crossover events are neither canon to this game nor its source material.
  • This game also is not an adaptation of Date A Live, it is an adaptation of Danmachi, the only event with Date A Live content came with is Ais Catastrophe.
• Deltarune:
  • Kris may be a Heroic Mime, but they still have a predefined personality, backstory, and relationships with other characters. Treating them like they're a Featureless Protagonist for the player to project themselves onto is an easy way to rile up the fanbase, especially since one of the game's major themes is exploring Player and Protagonist Integration.
  • Likewise, while Kris's true nature and morality are a common subject of debate among the fandom, don't point to their actions during Chapter 2's Snowgrave Route as if they're a smoking gun that proves they're evil. As you'll quickly be told, all of those actions are entirely optional, and more importantly, things that the player forced them to do rather than things they did of their own volition.
• Devil May Cry: Dante is not edgy. Despite the divisiveness of DmC: Devil May Cry and how loathed Devil May Cry 2 is, saying that Dante himself is an edgy character is a surefire way to piss off any Devil May Cry fans, as Devil May Cry had him as a confident devil-may-care demon hunter, while every game from 3 upped his cockiness and wisecracking with each passing installment, to the point where his original portrayal comes off as Early-Installment Weirdness.
• The Elder Scrolls:
  • Referring to the series as Skyrim or asking when Skyrim 2 is coming out is guaranteed to drop several points off your reputation meter in the TES fandom.
  • Daedra are not demons and Oblivion is not Hell. Daedra operate on Blue-and-Orange Morality and are not meant to have the connotations of evil those terms convey.
• Calling the Epic Battle Fantasy series a mere ripoff of the Final Fantasy series will guarantee an absolute shredding from the former fandom. While EBF did start off as an Affectionate Parody of FF, what seperates each other is EBF's meta-humor of self-awareness of the JRPG genre and Anachronism Stew slash Fantasy Kitchen Sink styled world, as well as the many Shout Outs by its developer.
• Go to the Escape Velocity: Nova webboard and ask about the "Vellos", "Velos", "Vell-Os", or (God forbid) the "Vell'Os", and somebody is sure to point out that they are called the "Vell-os".
• Say what you will about the (lack of) quality of the infamous E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial tie-in game, but do not say with a straight face that it single-handedly caused The Great Video Game Crash of 1983. This was the accepted opinion in the 1980s after many gamers lost trust in Atari over their handling of the game, but it has since been widely recognized that E.T. was the nadir of already-existing problems that culminated in the crash, not the cause. The real factors were console saturation on the market, heavy competition from personal computers, and lack of quality control on consoles resulting in many poor-quality games, some of which being pornography disguised as "games" like Custer's Revenge. All of these factors existed before E.T. was released.
• Fallout: Remember that the little blond mascot guy in a blue suit is called Vault Boy. Not Pip-Boy, that's the portable computer on the protagonist's wrist every game (even though Fallout Tactics made this very mistake). And very definitely not Fall Out Boy.
• Don't call Fantasy Strike an Allegedly Free Game just because the free version lacks most of the single-player content, local multiplayer, and the ability to invite friends to online matches. This is an objectively better deal than the paid version. Prior to the free-to-play update, you had to pay 30$ for everything, including the modes that are now free. Post-free-to-play, you have access to ranked and casual online matches, training, and single AI matches, with all characters, for free, while the 20$ paywall for the missing features is normal for this type of game.
• Final Fantasy:
  • Pronunciation in general can be a point of contention among many Final Fantasy fans, especially concerning games released before the addition of voice acting to the series. Fans still argue over which syllable in "Bahamut" should carry the stress.
  • Do not claim that Phoenix Downs resurrect dead party members, as the condition of fallen party members is instead things such as "disabled" or "unconscious" ^note The first three games used "dead" for such a condition, but remakes of them have changed such terms. This is also the reason why they didn't try reviving Aerith in Final Fantasy VII with one, as she was actually dead.
  • Because three of the games were initially skipped overseas, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI were originally released in English as II and III respectively. Don't confuse them with the actual Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III.
  • Final Fantasy IV: This game has this persistent FWAK^note "False Wisdom and Knowledge", a term for video game walkthroughs that intentionally feature wrong information entry about Palom and Porom, specifically that they can be retrieved after their Heroic Sacrifice in several walkthroughs with FWAK entries in them. Repeating them in forums can be a bad idea. This isn't helped by the fact that the game lets you try to use an item to restore them, but using the one that should work gives a Hand Wave message as to why it doesn't work, and there is no item at all that will work, and that remakes of the game have them re-joining you later on.
  • Final Fantasy VI: This game, like Final Fantasy IV before, has FWAK entries^note  specifically that you can get General Leo to join your party after his demise. You'd better be planning to stay offline for a while after repeating them in forums.
  • Final Fantasy VII:
    • Try asking if it's true that Cloud and Aeris/Aerith were originally called "Claude" and "Alice". Oh, and bring some popcorn for the show.
    • Do not call Final Fantasy VII the first Final Fantasy. They will call you a noob and point you to the Roman numeral in the title.
    • Don't pronounce Yuffie's name as /ˈjʌfi/. It's /ˈjufi/. Slightly less prevalent with the advent of voice acting, but still a sore point for many fans.
    • Hardcore fans (and speakers of Scottish Gaelic) will correct you if you give Cait Sith a spelling pronunciation ("Kate Sith"). It's pronounced /kɛt ˈʃi/. The same goes for Tifa (/ˈtɪfə/, not /ˈtifə/ or /ˈtaɪfə/).
  • Final Fantasy VIII:
    • Hilarity Ensues if you refer to Squall Leonheart as Squall Lionheart or, God forbid, Leon Loire.
    • If you're only familiar with him via Kingdom Hearts, it's best not to call him "Leon" (as he's known as in the series; he took on a different name out of shame when his world was consumed by darkness) if you're talking about him in the context of Final Fantasy.
    • Trot out the (Jossed by Ultimania) theory that Ultimecia is the future version of Rinoa.
  • Final Fantasy IX: The main character's name, Zidane, is pronounced /zi'dan/. Pronouncing it as /zɪˈdɛɪn/ will earn you the ire of many, many fans, of both the game and of the famous French soccer player Zinedine Zidane.
  • Final Fantasy X:
    • Around hardcore fans, pronouncing the main character's name as "Tie-dus" rather than "Tee-dus" is just asking for a slap.
    • It's a good idea not to mention the infamous laughing scene as an example of bad voice acting in video games, or say that it sounded better in Japanese (it didn't — in fact, it sounded worse), unless you want to be mobbed by a sizeable portion of the fanbase, who will point out that it was supposed to sound bad, since the characters are essentially forcing themselves to laugh despite not being very happy.
• Five Nights at Freddy's:
  • Don't say Chica is a duck (she's a chicken). Doing so is a One Way Ticket to getting stuffed into an animatronic suit by the fans. And don't refer to her with masculine pronouns either.
  • Do not assume that Bonnie is a girl due to the Gender-Blender Name.
  • No, Michael Afton is not Springtrap. Saying that this theory is fact is a fast way to enrage the entire fanbase.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is not the only game that is canon. The Crying Child did not make up FNAF 1-3 and 5-Security Breach.
    • Scott Cawthon being mentioned in Five Nights At Freddys VR Help Wanted does not mean that the entire series has been retconned. The In-Universe horror games are not the exact same ones that are played in real life.
• Don't ever call Freedom Planet a Sonic fan game. It may have been originally conceived as one (and it is of course inspired by Sonic), but it has developed its own setting, characters, and story and has no ties with Sonic. ^note You're completely free to make a Sonic/Freedom Planet Crossover or ship a Freedom Planet character with a Sonic one if you wish.
• FromSoftware:
  • If you refer to any games as the "Souls series", you had better be referring to the Dark Souls trilogy of games and no others. No, not even Demon's Souls. The rest that commonly get lumped in this group^note Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring are Souls Like RPGs which happen to be made by the same developer but are otherwise unrelated beyond some Recurring Elements, and a hardcore fan will be more than willing to hastily correct you. And don't even THINK about saying "Soulsborne"^note Implying that all of said games are an interconnected series in the same continuity around said people, or there will be hell to pay.
  • Armored Core: With Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon garnering much more attention than prior entries due to being hot off the heels of the massively successful Elden Ring, it's best not to refer to the series as being a "mecha-souls," as fans will be very quick to point out that despite some similarities, Armored Core and the Soulslike genre have far more differences than they do things in common, as well as decrying you as a "souls fanboy" who took no effort in researching the series.
• Friday Night Funkin':
  • Many of the characters featured in the game originated from elsewhere, mainly Newgrounds, with many of them being quite well-known back in the day. Claiming that Skid & Pump, Pico (who was a character for 21 years when FnF was released), Tankman, or (when counting mods) Tricky originated in Friday Night Funkin will get you labeled as ignorant about internet history, especially by those who remember the "good old days" of Newgrounds.
  • Don't confuse Game Mods for official content. While Friday Night Funkin has an active modding scene, and some mods, such as VS Whitty and VS Tricky, have become just as recognizable as the official weeks, they're still just fan-made and not actually part of the game's Canon.
  • For specific mods.
    • Saying that Taki is inspired by Sarvente is not a good idea, as Taki actually predates Mid-Fight Masses by a good number of years and the similarities between the two characters is merely a coincidence. Don't confuse the two for one another, either.
• Genshin Impact:
  • It's not a Japanese-made game. It's a Chinese one, although it does have Japanese as one of its language tracks and an Animesque aesthetic.
  • The name of one of the playable characters is spelled Xingqiu, not Xingqui.
• God of War:
  • Claiming that the Greek-era games are shallow, vulgar gorefests for 13-year-old boys and that the series only started to "grow up" and dip into complex and mature character-driven storytelling with God of War (PS4) is a great way to massively enrage fans of the classic games, as they will then proceed to bombard you with countless examples of how Kratos as a character is a throwback to classical Greek tragedies and how complex he was even then, how he was a Cosmic Plaything for a long time which added further ambiguity and depth to his actions, etc.
  • Similarly, Greek-era Kratos is not and has never been a mindless rage monster who kills everything in sight, be they gods, monsters or innocent civilians, no matter what parodies will make the average person think. Kratos was a deeply troubled man consumed by Revenge Before Reason who while callous and apathetic toward the collateral damage he caused (at least until his Heel Realization) did not randomly kill things for no reason, usually killing them because they were either directly attacking him or otherwise antagonizing him. Joking about this to a fan is another way to get a brief synopsis of Kratos' entire backstory and pointed toward his several Pet the Dog moments.
• Golden Axe: Pronouncing Tyris as "tie-ris" instead of "tee-ris" will be asking for a slap.
• Go ahead and accuse players who use Hyperspeed^note An option that increases the scroll speed of the notes, which many fans claim helps them play better since the notes are more spaced out in Guitar Hero of cheating. Don't expect to last long on any forum, official or not. This might have qualified as Broken Base in earlier games, since it was activated or unlocked by inputting a Classic Cheat Code (and in Guitar Hero III and World Tour, unlocked in a section of the options called "Cheats"), but Guitar Hero 5 explicitly put Hyperspeed in a separate menu from the cheats, settling the debate once and for all.
• Halo: His name is "Master Chief" or "John-117." His name is not "Halo," which is the name of the massive superweapons/ring-worlds created by the Forerunners which serves as the setting of the first game and the majority of the second. Get it wrong, and you're as good as dead. (The only acceptable exception is if you're citing the "I think Halo is a pretty cool guy" meme.)
• Henry Stickmin Series:
  • The protagonist's name is spelled Henry Stickmin, not Stickman. Expect to be swiftly corrected on the matter if you misspell his name as the latter, especially since Henry Stickman is now his own character.
  • Many fans do not appreciate when Among Us players say that the Airship is from Among Us, while it actually originates from Infiltrating the Airship, which came out about seven years before the Airship map was announced for Among Us.
• Hitman: The main character's name is Agent 47, not Hitman.
• A fair few in Hollow Knight:
  • The tiny, cute player character is not the titular Hollow Knight; it has no name but is commonly called "The Knight" or "Ghost/Little Ghost". The name of the game refers to the game's Final Boss, and even then it's not the True Final Boss.
  • Hornet is not made of Void, she is the half-sibling of all Vessels in the game, including the Knight and is actually a spider. This has become a fairly obvious way of trolling in the fandom and will get you laughed at.
  • The Knight is not the same character as the Pale King — this rumor was started by MatPat in a Game Theory video that has since been thoroughly debunked (including by HK fandom loremaster mossbag) to the point of it being a meme in the fandom.
  • The Kingdom in the game is called Hallownest, not "Hollownest".
  • Giving the Knight or any Vessel for that matter gendered pronouns. They have no gender.
• Honkai Impact 3rd: Claiming that Honkai Impact ripped off character designs from Genshin Impact is a surefire way to piss off fans of both games, especially given that Honkai Impact came out first, and they both were made by Hoyoverse, who has a history of using Mythology Gags.
• HuniePop: In some circles, don't call it a dating sim. It's considered to be more of a puzzle game. Kyu herself even refers to it as a puzzle game in one of her date intros.
• Many of Russian gamers are tired of people crediting Ice-Pick Lodge as the only Russian studio to create artistic and ingenious games. Before Ice-Pick Lodge Russia had K-D LAB, the creators of Vangers and Perimeter.
• The Idolmaster:
  • Saying that Idolmaster: Xenoglossia came before the games is not a good idea. The games are what started the entire franchise.
  • While there are also other Idolmaster anime, don't ever refer to The Idolmaster as only anime.
• Ikari Warriors: The pronunciation of Ikari is "e-kah-re". Pronouncing it as "eye-carry" or "e-carry" will earn the wrath of the fandom.
• Jak and Daxter:
  • Spelling Jak's name with an added c or Daxter without the a is a Berserk Button for many fans. If you're lucky, they'll facepalm and point out your mistake. If not, they'll eat you alive.
  • And as stated below, confusing this series and Ratchet & Clank with each other in any way will result in fans of both franchises giving you an earful on the various differences between them, despite them being Friendly Fandoms.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • If you find yourself among fans of this series, it is very important that you never, ever, ever call it "Kingdom of Hearts." You've been warned.
  • Do not refer to Sora, Riku and Kairi (or to a lesser extent, any of the series's Original Generation) as Final Fantasy characters. While Final Fantasy characters do appear in the games, Sora et al. are original characters created specifically for the series.
  • Do not even insinuate that Sora and Roxas are the same person, mainly because Roxas's entire character arc revolved around him coming into his own identity as an independent person separate from Sora. Same deal for Kairi and Namine.
  • The series is not a joint venture between Disney and Square Enix. The franchise is entirely created and owned by Disney, Square Enix merely publishes the games. This also means that all original properties of the games (such as original characters like Sora) belong to Disney, not Square Enix.
  • The χ-blade is pronounced like "Keyblade" (the χ is the Greek letter "chi", which the games themselves point out can be pronounced /ki/ or /kai/). Pronouncing it as the letter X will incur the wrath of fans. Similarly, Kingdom Hearts χ is Kingdom Hearts Chi (again, pronounced "key"), not Kingdom Hearts X.
  • Referring to non-Heartless enemies like Nobodies or Dream Eaters/Nightmares as "Heartless" will get you corrected. The Heartless are not the only type of enemy in the series.
  • Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover is not merely a retelling of Kingdom Hearts χ. It's an original movie (about an hour in length) set during the time of Kingdom Hearts χ and intended to be a companion to it.
  • Despite the title, don't refer to Kingdom Hearts II as the second game in the series. It's the third. The second is Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. On a similar note, don't claim that the non-numbered games are spin-offs or side games. Despite not being numbered, they are still main series games, and required in order to understand the story. This goes double for Kingdom Hearts coded, which is important to the series, despite what even some fans might tell you.
  • Mispronouncing Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. While fans will admit it is a silly title, they will still correct you if you say something like "Three hundred and fifty eight over two days" or "Three hundred and fifty eight days divided by two" or something similar. It's actually "Three five eight days over two".
  • Don't confuse Roxas and Ventus, or say that they're the same person. While there is a rather complicated reason for them looking alike, they are completely different characters — Roxas is Sora's Nobody, and Ventus is an apprentice Keyblade wielder who was around long before Roxas was.
  • Sora (and other player characters) do not acquire new Keyblades during the course of the games, they acquire new keychains. They (usually) only have one Keyblade. Fans will get annoyed if you ask why the Keyblade is said to be so special in the first game when Sora keeps finding new ones everywhere. The description for the Kingdom Key in the first game points out that the Keyblade's form changes based on the keychain attached to it.
  • Do not under any circumstances say that the reveal that Ansem (the villain of the first game) was an imposter is a Retcon, or you will incur the wrath of fans who will point out that it technically didn't change anything, so it's not a retcon but merely a plot twist.
• The Krion Conquest: Don't ever say that Kagemaru is a girl. The "-maru" part of the name is a Japanese male name.
• Left 4 Dead 2 has Bill Killed Off for Real. Despite what people and rumors tell you, Bill is dead. You can't revive him with a Magical Defibrillator, he is not "sleeping", and using mods to bring him back does not count. Trying to use any argument based on Fanon Discontinuity will get you mocked and viewed as someone who can't accept canon.
• Don't say that the Like a Dragon series is just the Japanese Grand Theft Auto. Not only do they play barely anything alike, but the creator of Yakuza actually hates GTA. It's also not received well if you call it a clone of Sleeping Dogs (2012), especially considering Yakuza was already on its fifth installment by the time that came out.
  • Don't call that one song Kiryu sings in Yakuza 0 "Dame Da Ne". It's "Baka Mitai".
• Never call LSD: Dream Emulator "LSD: Dream Simulator". And don't perpetuate any of the urban legends about the game's developers, like that the game was made by a woman^note The game was based off a woman's dream journal, but it wasn't made by her, or that they committed suicide after making the game. Doing this is a very quick way to get lectures from fans about how you're wrong. The LSD in the title stands for Lovely Sweet Dream (the title of the dream journal the game is based on); it has nothing to do with the drug.
• Mega Man:
  • Spelling the name of the primary villain of the original series as "Dr. Wiley" is a bad idea. "Dr. Willy" is even worse.
  • Pronouncing Bass's name wrong is another easy way to annoy fans, not helping that Mega Man 8's dub pronounces it as this. To note, it's pronounced "bayss" (like the clef, upright giant stringed instrument, or guitar), not the name of the fish.
  • Some fans don't take kindly to the names of Mega Man and the other Robot Masters — or the titles of the games themselves, for that matter — being spelled as one word unless you're talking about their NetNavi counterparts (i.e. MegaMan.EXE, ProtoMan.EXE, etc.), a fan work that deliberately uses an alternative spelling (ex. ProtoMan in Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race), or something similarly Mega Man-themed like The Protomen. (This can also apply to the likes of MegaMan Volnutt/Trigger and MegaMan Juno.) Others are more lenient, as it's a harmless misconception encouraged by the title font used in multiple installments and, sometimes, the in-game text.
  • There are several Mega Men with their own respective sub-series (Classic, X, Legends, Battle Network, Zero, ZX, and Star Force). It's best not to confuse them with one another, such as recalling a specific Mega Man and saying he's from a game of a sub-series he's not featured in (ex: "Mega Man X is awesome! He's such a cool fighter in Mega Man Legends 2!"). In addition, clumping all of the Mega Men together by saying they're the same character isn't a wise move.
  • Calling X "Mega Man" or claiming he's the same character as Classic Mega Man is enough to have the more rabid fans immediately point out your mistake. The two are completely separate creations built by Dr. Light.
  • Try to avoid calling Zero a "Mega Man," even though the name of his own sub-series says otherwise. He is never actually referred to as "Mega Man Zero," as the characters will always call him "Zero," as they did in the X series. The sub-series is called "Mega Man Zero," because Capcom wanted consumers to know it was a part of the general Mega Man franchise. This was actually poked fun at in Zero's ending in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Silver Surfer is an Audience Surrogate of people outside the Mega Man fandom with his response to Zero after transporting him to Neo Arcadia, a setting seen in the Mega Man Zero series:
    Zero: "I'm Zero, not Mega Man Zero."
    Silver Surfer: "Perplexing indeed. I cannot tell the difference between any of these worlds."
  • Some people claim that Zero is female (when actually he isn't), because of his long hair and the gems in his chest being mistaken for breasts.
  • Don't say that the Mega Man Legends games are separate from the main timeline of the franchise, as a Word of God source confirmed their basic placement in the timeline (currently at the very end of the Classic timeline, thousands of years after ZX). Conversely, don't say that the Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Star Force series are part of the main timeline. Officially, they're in an Alternate Universe where online technology flourished over robotics.
  • If you ever decide to make a fan work (such as a fanfiction or fan game) with Zero in it before the events of the Mega Man X series, never depict Zero possessing the Z-Saber, as he didn't receive said weapon until the events of X2.
  • This one is much less common nowadays due to Mega Man 10 actually existing, but do not confuse it with Mega Man X.
  • Do not pronounce "X" as the Greek letter "key". Confusing matters further is the fact that an Evil Knockoff of the title character first introduced in the Rockman X Designer Series of collectible figures and later ported over to Mega Man X DiVE is designated as χ (though his full name being χ -kai- suggests it's pronounced "kye", which Word of God would later confirm).
  • Regarding the Mega Man Legends games:
    • Don't refer to the human-like characters as actual humans. They're called Carbons, which are Artificial Humans (though several of them may or may not have some degree of cybernetics, akin to the Humanoids of Mega Man ZX). The only exceptions to this are Volnutt/Trigger and the other System Units (who are Ridiculously Human Robots) and The Master (who is the last surviving human).
    • On the other hand, referring to "Carbons" as mechanical beings and successors to the Reploids will also greatly annoy fans. The games, background material, and word of of the writers clarifies that Carbons are much closer to humans than robots or even Reploids and System Units, with the exact difference between Carbons and the "original" humans being a mystery. Carbons also age just like real life humans, whilst the "original" humans of that time had become not only immortal, but but so powerful they were practically Greek demi-gods that were immune to all disease. The last "original" outright declared the Carbons humanity's true descendants and successors. Finally do not assume the "Carbon" characters like Roll or Tron Bonne refer to themselves as Carbons, the Carbon term is only used by System Units determined to wipe them out for the "true" humanity and is treated as dehumanizing.
  • For the classic series, do not assume that all Robot Master bosses were made by Dr. Wily, as it's explained that the ones from Mega Man (and Mega Man 9) were made by Dr. Light ^note Even the Ruby-Spears cartoon acknowledged that Light created them. and that Wily didn't start making his own until Mega Man 2. ^note For a rundown on who created which sets of Robot Masters, Wily created the ones from MM2, MM5, MM7, and MM8, the ones from MM3 were a joint project between Light and Wily, the ones from MM4 were created by Dr. Cossack, the ones in MM6 and MM11 were made by various people, the ones from MM&B and MM10 are ambiguous, and the Stardroids from MMV are of alien origin.
  • The Stardroids from Mega Man V are not Robot Masters, as they are of alien origin and their creation predates Robot Masters by thousands of years, and their names do not contain "Man" like Robot Masters do (ex: Mercury is simply called "Mercury", not "Mercury Man").
• Metal Gear: Do not call Metal Gear Solid the first game of the series. It's the third canonical entry, fourth overall and eighth chronologically.
• Calling Namu Amida Butsu! -UTENA- or its anime adaptation a ripoff of Touken Ranbu will set off players of both games really fast. Despite being female-oriented card-battle games drawing heavily from Japanese culture, they have completely different premises, tackle completely different subject matters, have different tones, and their mechanics sport quite a few fundamental differences^note and while on the topic of mechanics, the former shares way more mechanical similarities to Bungo to Alchemist than Touken Ranbu.
• The NewZealand Story: Do not refer to Tiki and his friends as chicks. They're kiwis. It was even said so for the American NES title, Kiwi Kraze.
• Fans of NieR: Automata tend not to take kindly to complaints about the game being only "ten hours long" and are quick to remind said complainers that ten hours is just how long it takes to get the first ending, Ending A. The game itself tells players that they need to start New Game Plus in order to continue with the story, so fans are not very sympathetic to this complaint. A full playthrough will take more time to unlock all of the endings and gain a full understanding of the story.
• Ninja Gaiden: The pronunciation of "Gaiden" is "gye-den", not "gay-den".
• Octopath Traveler:
  • The cleric's name is Ophilia, not Ophelia. Ophelia is a character from Jacopo Sannazaro's poem Arcadia published in 1504, as well as a character from Shakespeare's Hamlet published in 1603 (and the moon of Uranus named after her). It doesn't help that the name "Ophilia" is a homophone i.e. pronounced the same as "Ophelia".
  • The merchant's name is Tressa, not Tessa. Tressa's name is a deliberate pun on "treasure".
• Overwatch: Calling Genji a robot. The game has plenty of Omnic characters, but Genji is not one of them. He is a Cyborg.
• The protagonist of Owlboy is called Otus, not "Owlboy". "Owlboy" is an alias for Solus.
• Accusing Paladins of being an Overwatch ripoff is sure to upset fans. Both games were in development around the same time, and were inspired by Team Fortress 2, most similarities are coincidental, and there are plenty of major differences if you look past them.
• While PAYDAY: The Heist did get inspired by the co-op gameplay of Left 4 Dead, calling the game a Left 4 Dead clone/rip-off is a quick way to get fans to laugh at you or blast you for being an ignorant fool if you think the game is Left 4 Dead with cops instead of zombies.
• Back when PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was first announced, Nintendo fans claimed that it was a rip-off of Super Smash Bros. Even now, the game is stuck with the "Sony's Smash Bros." moniker. Even though the games are similar on-paper (Massive Multiplayer Crossover games featuring their respective company's most popular characters), the gameplay is vastly different from Smash Bros. and other Platform Fighters... which ironically leads to the most common criticism of the game from both Nintendo and Sony fans being that they didn't copy their competitor enough. Oh, and don't say that Polygon Man copied Master Hand. The character is actually Older Than They Think, being a short-lived mascot of the PS1 that predates the first Super Smash Bros.
• Do NOT call a Pump It Up machine a DanceDanceRevolution machine in a Pump It Up forum, or vice versa.
• Plants vs. Zombies:
  • Never claim that Electronic Arts ruined the franchise. It is a common misconception that EA "forced" PopCap Games to make Plants Vs Zombies 2 free-to-play and add micro-transactions after acquiring the studio, when the decision to make the game a freemium mobile game was made long before that. George Fan, the original lead developer of the game, was not fired by PopCap Games for being against adding micro-transactions to Plants Vs Zombies 2, rather he had little interest in making a sequel and was laid off, not fired.
  • Saying that the single-player campaign in Plants Vs Zombies 2 is pay-to-win is great for showing how little you know about the game. Every level is fully beatable without using a single power-up, premium plant or level-up. The level-up mechanic was added months after the campaign's final world was finished, and the campaign levels were created without the mechanic in mind.
• Ratchet & Clank:
  • A large point of contention for fans is to say that the originals "used the same engines" as the Jak and Daxter games, when they really only share specific lines of code regarding streaming Level of Detail assets like models and textures for when they're far away.
  • Assuming that Insomniac Games also made Jak and Daxter (a game franchise created by Naughty Dog of Crash Bandicoot fame). This misconception was so pervasive that even professional journalists for video game-oriented publications and sites would get this wrong, and it only died when Naughty Dog stopped making Jak games after 2005. Oddly, the idea that Naughty Dog also made Ratchet & Clank was much less pervasive.
• Roblox fans hate it when people call it a rip-off of Minecraft, which it predates by five years (Roblox began development in 2004 and was released in 2006; Minecraft began development in 2009 and went into open beta before officially releasing in 2011).
• Don't call Rock Band a Guitar Hero knockoff. You will be bludgeoned to death with various plastic fake instruments. Sure, the guitar and bass gameplay is nearly identical to Guitar Hero, but Harmonix happens to have made the first two Guitar Hero games and the Spin-Off Rock The 80s, making Rock Band a Spiritual Successor. Ironically, Guitar Hero: World Tour, which was released after Rock Band, introduced drums and singing, so if anything, they ripped off RB.
• It's Samurai Shodown, not "Samurai Showdown."
• As mentioned in this PC Gamer article, ScummVM fans don't like it when people refer to it as an emulator. While they may share a similar purpose of running older games in modern hardware, ScummVM works on a game-by-game basis by using original code to read the games' files and scripts (unlike emulators, which focus on entire systems by re-implementing general-purpose code), and often implements several improvements and bug fixes to the original game where an emulator would try to keep the experience as authentic to the original as possible.
• For Sega in general, absolutely do not insist to certain Sega fans that Sonic the Hedgehog, and to a lesser extent Like a Dragon, are the only franchises that Sega releases games of anymore, particularly around fans of series and IPs that haven't had a new game in years, but also aren't aware of the other franchises that Sega is still making games for (such as maimai and Chunithm). It doesn't help that some of these series don't get released outside of Japan, or at least for the case of Yakuza 5, most of Puyo Puyo, and most infamously Phantasy Star Online 2, take a long time to do so. This is despite several other franchises that Sega has released before and during The New '10s, such as Bayonetta, Vanquish, Resonance of Fate, and Valkyria Chronicles, as well as Sega's acquisition of Atlus, leading to their Breakthrough Hit of Persona 5. This has picked up even more as older Sega franchises started to gain new releases in The New '10s and The New '20s, such as Streets of Rage 4, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, and Panzer Dragoon: Remake. So with all of this in mind, it's not a good idea to claim that Sega is still nowadays "that one company that only makes bad Sonic games and nothing else" if you don't want to be deemed an ignorant hater of the company, let alone a Sonic fan themselves that ignores looking at anything else from Sega.
• Shantae: Do not say that Shantae is officially 16-years-old. Her age is actually ambiguous or unconfirmed. An official tweet posted in 2015 that "confirmed" she is sixteen was actually posted by an intern without permission.
• Shin Megami Tensei:
  • Never call any of the enmies outside of Persona 3, 4 and 5 a "Shadow" unless you're talking about the red-eyed antagonistic reflections of characters in Persona 2. They're called "Demons". Likewise, it is a huge mistake to refer to the Demons as "Personas" in a non-Persona game.
  • Referring to Persona 3 onward as "the Persona series" without making it clear that you don't mean the entire series is sure to piss off more diehard fans of the series and mark you as a newbie. Sure, the previous games suffered from major Early-Installment Weirdness and Persona 3 caused massive Sequel Displacement, but it's still bound to hit a sore spot given the relative lack of attention Persona and the Persona 2 duology get compared to all the Persona 3, 4, and 5-centric Spinoffs.
  • Saying Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is the first game in the series. This likely stems from the fact that it's the first game released in the West that has Shin Megami Tensei in its name (past games used the title "Revelations"), and that Western releases dropped the number from the title.
  • Calling the franchise a clone of Pokémon. Megami Tensei actually did the "collecting enemy monsters to fight for you" thing first.
  • For Persona 4 specifically, mistaking Naoto for a transgender male. Not only is directly contradicted by the game itself (and thus, will most assuredly mark you as a newbie to the P4 fandom), but insisting on it would directly contradict her arc (which is about being able to accept herself for who she is and not let her life be dictated by others' expectations of her).
  • Calling mainline Shin Megami Tensei titles or non-Persona spinoffs "Persona" is a great way to get called out for your ignorance. Even major news sites have made this mistake sometimes◊, since the Persona games have entered the mainstream following Joker's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. while the rest of the series is very niche (although that seems to have changed thanks to the Updated Re-release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and the heavy marketing of Shin Megami Tensei V), but still, just the tiniest bit of research on the Persona series will tell you that it's a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei and not the other way around. Even worse is saying that Shin Megami Tensei is a rip-off of Persona (unless you are clearly joking, of course).
• Shining Series: Don't call Shining Force the first game of the series unless you want to get laughed at by the fandom. The first entry is Shining in the Darkness.
• Silent Hill:
  • Don't call Pyramid Head "Red Pyramid", whatever you do.
  • Bring up Heather's physical flaws from Silent Hill 3 in a bad light or compare her to the second movie's appearance. People will hate you for not doing the research on why Heather is blemished.
  • DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER CALL THE INCUBUS "SAMAEL". If you are in the presence of any Silent Hill fans, you might as well save yourself the trouble and just off yourself immediately. Additionally, do not call Pyramid Head "Valtiel" or Valtiel "Pyramid Head without his helmet." While some fans may debate what Pyramid Head looks like underneath the helmet, claiming the two are the same is not allowed.
• The surprisingly widespread popularity of Slender led to a sudden wave of newcomers to the fandom who unintentionally make mistakes such as:
  • Mistaking the title of the game for the name of the main antagonist. This is almost guaranteed to send long-time Slender Man fans into an eye-twitching rage. For the record, Slender is the game, Slender Man is the character.
  • Depending on the forum/blog you're commenting on, saying Slendy's full name is "Slenderman" rather than "Slender Man" will get some fans of the Mythos very, very angry with you. Other fans really couldn't care less how it's spelled as long as you're not calling it "Slender," and a few will respond by making jokes about LittleKuriboh's "Concrete Giraffes" and "Jack Slenderman, the cop who doesn't play by the rules" or Saul Slendamann.
  • When discussing Slender Man's powers and abilities, be extremely careful not to mention time as being the fourth dimension in fourth dimensional theory. Science buffs will want to kill you since the 4th dimension and Time are unrelated.
  • One of the worst possible moves that will immediately get your online life murdered by Slendy enthusiasts is to state that Slender Man is based on the game Slender. You can leave, but chances are wherever you said that will never welcome you back.
  • Do do not offhandedly refer to characters that are proxies as "Masky" unless you're talking about Tim/Masky. Marble Hornets fans will want you dead.
  • It's pronounced "Slender-MAHN,", not "Slender-MUHN." This wouldn't be a problem, except people who discovered the mythos through Slender becoming popular aren't aware of this.
• Smash TV: This game has no relation to Super Smash Bros. or Smash in spite of having Smash in its title.
• Soul Series:
  • Don't call Soulcalibur the first game in the series unless you want to be laughed at by the fandom. Soulcalibur certainly has wider recognition compared to Soul Edge/Soul Blade, but that's about as wide a berth as you'll get on the matter.
  • Using the old names of the Korean characters, like Yunsung and Seung Mina, is an easy way to piss off fans. ^note Since Soulcalibur III, their names have been given as Yun-seong and Seong Mi-na.
  • Calling the game a Tekken rip-off is also not a good idea, especially since the franchise has gained an identity of its own. The two are distinct enough outside of a developer and a shared legacy character (Yoshimitsu) that calling it a rip-off downplays Soulcalibur's impact.
• Story of Seasons:
  • Natsume does not make the Story of Seasons (originally localized as Harvest Moon) games, they translate them (and now they don't even do that). Well, except now they do, but those new Harvest Moon games are In Name Only and aren't based on the Japanese Bokujou Monogatari series.^note Natsume and Marvelous had a falling out, with Natsume taking the rights to the title and Marvelous taking the actual game content, and now Natsume makes their own Harvest Moon games while Marvelous has XSEED Games translate the Bokujou Monogatari games and releases them under the title Story of Seasons.
  • Harvest Moon 64 and Harvest Moon: Back to Nature are not the same game even if they have the same characters. They're completely different in plot, characterization, and feel.
  • Don't say that Leia can get blown away from your duck pond during a storm after marrying her in Harvest Moon DS.
• Street Fighter:
  • There are people who tend to complain about the Shadaloo bosses having the "wrong names" whenever they get to play the Japanese version of a game, unaware of the fact that the names were actually switched for the overseas version of the series: the black boxer M. Bison became Balrog overseas (to avoid a possible lawsuit from Mike Tyson), the Spanish Ninja Balrog became Vega (as "Vega" was more suitable for the Spaniard), and the Shadaloo overlord Vega became M. Bison (because Vega was deemed too non-threatening for a main villain).
  • To alleviate this in international tournaments, M. Bison is often called "Dictator," Vega is called "Claw" (or, less commonly, "Matador"), and Balrog "Boxer," which is fine so as not to cause confusion when Japanese and non-Japanese players come together. However, some people will insist you always refer to these characters as such. God help you if you don't around them.
  • Using "Shadowlaw," "Shadowloo," or "Shadaloo" will garner criticism depending on where you are (though the latter is the organization's official name, and has been the case in English since the Alpha days).
  • Don't pronounce "Ryu" as "RYE-you." It's pronounced "ree-YOU". Do not pronounce "Zangief" as "zang-geef", but rather "zahn-gee-eff". And don't pronounce "Guile" as "geel". It's pronounced "gyle". And Sagat is pronounced "sah-gaht", not like Bob Saget.
  • And don't ever dare to type Chun-Li's name as "Chun Lee".
  • Never refer to Ken as a "recolored" Ryu. Ken has had a unique head since the first game and starting with the Champion Edition version of Street Fighter II, his Shoryuken has longer range^note And starting with Super Street Fighter II, his Shoryuken can ignite his opponent on fire, his Hadoken has longer recovery time, and his Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku is weak but fast, further distinguishing them from Ryu's special moves.
• Team Fortress 2:
  • Yes, the Medic is German. Yes, the Medic is a Deadly Doctor. No, the Medic is not a Nazi. Valve themselves came right out and clearly stated as such, but some fans (likely trolls) still mention it from time to time.
  • Don't say you think the comics aren't canon.
• Tekken:
  • King is not a Funny Animal. He is a human wearing a mask, in particular being a Masked Luchador. This also goes for Armor King.
  • The King currently in the franchise was introduced in Tekken 3. The one from the first two games was a completely different character, with King II being an orphan who was taken in by the original. Same deal with Kuma (succeeded by his son Kuma II in Tekken 3), Armor King (succeeded by his younger brother Armor King II in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection^note though 6 establishes they both assumed the title when the original was still alive, even operating as a Tag Team), and Kunimitsu (succeeded by her daughter Kunimitsu II in Tekken 7).
  • The Law in Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament is a completely different character from the one in all the other games. The Tekken 3 Law is Forest Law, and the other Law is Marshall Law, his father. The Time Skip between T2 and T3 did originally give Marshall a mustache so that he could be easily told apart from Forest, only for Marshall to go clean-shaven in T6 and look almost indistinguishable from his son (to the point that some fans intially thought Forest was returning in the sixth game). For those who didn't get the memo, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 would finally clear up matters by bringing back Forest as a playable character in the console versions, allowing him to appear alongside his father.
  • Roger Jr. is not exactly Roger Jr. You actually play as his mother, and the real Roger Jr. is the baby kangaroo in the pouch.
  • Xiaoyu's first name is Xiaoyu, not Ling. The same can essentially be said for other Chinese characters, like Lei Wulong, Wang Jinrei, Lee Chaolan, and Feng Wei, as well as Baek Doo San (who's Korean). The confusion stems from the fact that the announcer gives the Japanese names in Western order ("Kazuya Mishima", "Jin Kazama", etc.) but does not do the same for the other Asian characters (i.e. "Ling Xiaoyu") unless they are Americans of Asian descent (the Laws^note "Law" may or may not be naturalized from "Luo"/"Lo" and Michelle Chang^note while Julia bears a strong resemblance to her mother, she's Michelle's daughter by adoption and her parentage is unknown). Further complicating matters is that Lee is a common given name in English (and Lee was adopted and raised by the Mishima family) while Wei is both a Chinese surname and given name.
  • When talking about the languages the characters speak, don't ask for Xiaoyu and Lee, Lars, or Alisa to speak their native languages (Chinese, Swedish, and Russian, respectively), as they were all raised in Japan.
• Terraria is not a ripoff of Minecraft. The two games have Friendly Fandoms that are okay with general comparisons (and ironically calling it "2D Minecraft" as part of a joke), and the former was inspired by the latter, but unironically calling it a clone will at best get someone to tell you that they go off in two different directions from the general "block sandbox" concept or write you off as an unoriginal troll.
  • No, the Dungeon is not accessable before killing Skeletron. Entering before killing the boss causes the Dungeon Guardian to appear and instantly kill you. Recommending someone to enter the Dungeon will cause you to be mistaken for a troll trying to get new players killed.
• Tomb Raider:
  • It is not wise to refer to Lara Croft as "Laura Croft." Or "Lara Craft." Or calling her "Tomb Raider."
  • Insisting that every Tomb Raider game is set within the same continuity (there are in fact three separate ones within the "main" series due to two reboots) is likely to irritate quite a few fans. Even more so if you try to bring the movies and the comics into it.
  • Calling the series as a whole, its first reboot or the 2013 game "an Uncharted rip-off" is close to a death wish. But God help you if you decide to compare any of the previous games, especially those made long before Uncharted debuted.
  • Comparisons with Indiana Jones will almost inevetably end with a lenghty lecture how Core Design put a lot of effort to distance themselves from Indy.
  • Referring to the graphic novels of the franchise as comics.
  • Tomb Raider: Legend has an in-universe example involving Arthurian mythology. When Lara's journey takes her to a kitschy tourist attraction of the King Arthur myth, including a prop Sword in the Stone that unlocks a door, Zip suggests Lara "try pulling Excalibur" once she restores power to the building, sending Alistair into a furor:
    Alistair: [Screaming at Zip] It's not Excalibur! The Sword in the Stone and Excalibur were two different bloody swords! Exaclibur was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake after the other sword was broken in the battle with Sir Pellinor! Ugh! Nobody gets it right!
    Zip: That's because nobody cares.
• Touhou Project:
  • When someone looks at some piece of Touhou fan art and asks "What anime is this?" flames are to be expected. Even worse if someone insists that Touhou is an anime even after they are corrected. The confusion often stems from the fact that the Touhou fandom has a lot of Fanwork-Only Fans, and a big part of its fan culture is fanworks, and the games themselves are part of a niche genre and often criticized for being too difficult, so they don't have as many players as the franchise has "secondary" fans. As a result, anyone who is not familiar with the games may make the earnest (but likely injury-provoking) mistake of thinking it is an anime.
  • Do not call other Shoot 'Em Up games "Touhou ripoffs", especially if they avert Bullet Hell and/or are older than the Touhou series.
  • Calling Flandre's theme ("U.N. Owen Was Her?") "Ronald McDonald Insanity/the Ran Ran Ru" song is a good way to get tempers flaring.
  • Whatever you do, do not mistake Flandre's theme for the impossible joke song known as "Death Waltz."◊ Doing so will probably have you murdered by musicians and Touhou fans alike.
  • In Japan, writing doujin where Marisa refers to herself with the masculine pronoun "ore" will immediately get you dismissed as a non-fan who's just using Touhou characters to get more sales. ^note While Marisa is a Tomboy and her speech patterns reflect that, she still uses the standard mildly-feminine pronoun watashi.
  • There are also the debates of PC-98 installments vs the Windows installments and people wanting Mima back in the Windows releases. Confusing Yuka with Mima is a surefire way to start a flame war.
  • Touhou is not Toho. Saying you are a fan of Godzilla after Touhou Project is mentioned in a conversation will go as well as mistaking Avatar: The Last Airbender for James Cameron's Avatar.
  • Don't say that Sanae replaced Sakuya as one of the main characters in the series starting with the 12th main game, as while Sanae was promoted to player character status starting there, she was absent from the 14th, 16th, and 17th main games. In addition, Sakuya returned for the 14th main game and the 18th main game has both of them as player characters.
• Fans of the Trails Series don't take kindly to them being called "indie RPGs of the 2000s/2010s", a common misconception caused by them being relatively obscure and available on Steam. Contrary to misconceptions, Falcom (who created the games) is a small AAA game publication studio, making the Trails Series niche AAA RPGs instead, and the series they spun-off from, Dragon Slayer, dates back to 1984, predating Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
• Undertale:
  • Don't refer to Mettaton as a female, especially when he is clearly referred to as male in the game narration and by other characters. Not that his androgynous EX design helps matters.
  • Frisk and Chara have an Ambiguous Gender. Referring to them as explicitly male or female will get you chewed out. And even if some people are okay with that, they wouldn't be happy if you say that Frisk and Chara are "genderless".
  • Don't claim that Undertale originated as an EarthBound (1994) ROM hack. That was a joke by Toby Fox; he did make an EarthBound hack in 2008, but it has nothing to do with Undertale save for a single shared piece of music.
  • Don't claim that Undertale is a rip-off of EarthBound. Toby Fox was strongly inspired by EarthBound when creating Undertale, but the two games play quite differently.
• Do not even try to say "Unreal is the same/worse as Quake!" in proximity of an Unreal fan (or vice versa), or you might end up ripped to shreds by his flak cannon.
• Valkyria Chronicles:
  • Never say that the series started as an anime or that the first game is based off of the anime. The fandom might just envelop you in a Final Flame.
  • Considering Selvaria Bles to be nothing more than a one-dimensional villain, given her backstory and motives for serving Prince Maximilian, can cause fans to rage.
• Vib-Ribbon: The main character's name is Vibri. Do not refer to her as Vib-Ribbon.
• Vs. Dave and Bambi: "3D Bambi". While his identity has originally not been discussed, nowadays the entity in question is known to be a powerful eldritch being who takes the form of Bambi and is referred to as Expunged, so calling him Bambi or a variation thereof will invoke cries from the fandom.
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune: Don't ask if dress-up parts affect car performance. Not only has it been indicated by the operator's manual that they don't, but players are sick of hearing it.
• Warcraft: No, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos are not sequels to World of Warcraft. They are sequels to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and all three are RTS games and were all released before the titanic MMORPG, with the first Warcraft game dating back to 1994 (World of Warcraft was first released in 2004).
• World of Warcraft:
  • Don't even think about calling the Mists of Pandaria expansion a rip-off of Kung Fu Panda. Pandaren were first introduced in Warcraft III, six years before the movie was released.
  • Don't make the mistake of saying that The Alliance are the "good guys" and The Horde are the "bad guys".
• Do not pronounce ZX Spectrum as "Zee-Ex Spectrum" unless you want the Speccy fans to turn you into a bloody toast, since the computer in question hailed from the United Kingdom.

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