Ret Canon / Video Games

• Kirby:
  • The platformer Kirby: Squeak Squad redesigned Dedede's palace to resemble the one from the anime adaptation. The room where Kirby fought Dedede even contained the monster summoning device from the series. This design subsequently appeared in Kirby's Epic Yarn as well.
  • Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, the GBA remake of Kirby's Adventure, features the Fountain of Dreams from Super Smash Bros. Melee, complete with its remixed stage music.
  • Meta Knight's sword, Galaxia, got its name and signature serrated design in the anime. The design was adopted in official art starting with Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (the sprites were too small to accurately represent it), while the name was first used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl before making it into the main-series games with Kirby's Epic Yarn.
  • Super Star Ultra and Mass Attack started giving attention to Sword and Blade as Meta Knight's followers, most likely because they were in the anime (where Axe, Mace, Trident, and Javelin were nowhere to be seen). Also, in Super Star Ultra, the Halberd was redesigned to resemble its Super Smash Bros. Brawl appearance.
  • Meta Knight's habit of idly wrapping his cape around himself first appeared in the anime and has been present in the games since Kirby Super Star Ultra.
  • After Super Smash Bros. Brawl added an emblem depicting the letter M with a sword through it on Meta Knight's right shoulderpad, it was added on his canon game design too.
  • Other aspects of the anime, such as Kirby's Character Catchphrase "poyo!" and Dedede's Verbal Tic "zoi", appeared in Kirby's Epic Yarn.
  • Escargoon, the N.M.E. Sales Guy, and Max Flexer, all anime-exclusive characters, appear in extra mini-games in Kirby Mass Attack.
  • Kirby: Planet Robobot redesigned Meta Knight to match his Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U design (armored gauntlets and sabatons, yellow eyes and no cheek blush when unmasked) and allows Meta Knight to use Galaxia Darkness, his Final Smash in the Super Smash Bros. series, as an attack. Likewise, the Ice Dragon boss from Kirby's Dream Land 2 also uses the Snowflake Shuriken attack from the anime.
• On the subject of Smash Bros., that game influenced how Captain Falcon was portrayed; all of his appearances after the SSB games now have him with all of his Smash Bros. moves intact. It overlaps with Ascended Meme as well. In F-Zero GX, the song that played during the credits reel when you completed Story Mode mentioned the Falcon Punch, hinting that it was one of his canonical abilities (his other SSB moves are left up in the air). In Falcon Densetsu/GP Legend, Falcon gets to finally show his moves during the Grand Finale and goes out in a blaze of glory.
• Pokémon:
  • Pokémon Red and Blue didn't take the anime into account due to being based on the Japanese Red and Green (and the anime didn't exist at the time). Later versions do. It shows:
    • Pokémon Yellow is a version of the Gen I games altered to match the anime. Pikachu is the starter, Jessie and James appear regularly, the Pokémon designs reflect their TV appearances (rather than the poorly drawn and frequently hideous original sprites), and the main Team Rocket mons are uncatchable (because Ash would never catch 'em). Surprisingly, one of the uncatchable mons is Weedle, which Ash attempted to catch in the anime. The player can however, obtain all three starters in scenarios that resemble plots in the anime where Ash got his starters from. Brock mentions his wanting to be a breeder in Yellow as well. The nurse sprite was altered to match Nurse Joy and a Chansey can be seen next to her.
    • In Pokémon Stadium 2, Misty has a Togetic. Misty's Togepi would eventually evolve into Togetic during Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, albeit Misty would release it afterwards so that it can protect the Mirage Kingdom.
    • In the canonical games, come Pokémon Gold and Silver Misty has some minor tsundere and Hot-Blooded qualities that she lacked in the original.
    • As of Pokémon X and Y, Pikachu's cry uses its voice from the anime, and, as of Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, so does Eevee.
    • The games have been using Wingdinglish instead of a 'real world' language since at least the fifth gen. This originated in the anime so localizers didn't have to remove Japanese text, and due to the franchise experiencing an Earth Drift of sorts.
    • In the anime, Ash's Pikachu famously defeated Blaine's Rhydon by shocking its horn (despite Rhydon being a Ground type, and thus immune to Electric moves). Starting in Generation III, one of Rhydon's possible abilities is Lightning Rod, which redirects Electric-type attacks toward its horn — while it's still immune to them, it gives proper basis to the attack.
    • Pokémon Center nurses in Red and Blue have long hair and no uniforms besides a dark dress. Starting with Yellow, they have short hair, wear white nurse outfits, and typically have pink or reddish hair, like the Nurse Joys in the anime.
  • The games usually avoid referencing adaptations besides the anime. However in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, a picture of Archie, Shelly, and Jirachi exists. In the Emerald chapter of Pokémon Adventures, Archie tried to capture Jirachi.
  • As of the fourth generation, Blue has a Machamp on his team, like his Adventures counterpart.
  • Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire made Wallace into a Contest Master. This originates from Adventures and was also used in the anime.
  • After Pokemon Adventures and the anime involved Team Rocket in Mewtwo's creation, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon unveiled a version of Giovanni who has a Mewtwo.
  • The "dash button" originally debuted in the second game of the Pokémon Trading Card Game series before being introduced to the main series in the third generation.
• Silent Hill: Homecoming takes many of its visual cues from the film adaptation.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Eggman's name was localized outside of Japan as "Dr. Robotnik", which it remained through The '90s. In Sonic Adventure, Sega attempted to wean everyone onto the original Japanese name by making "Dr. Eggman" an In-Series Nickname insult but one that he was somehow fine with come Sonic Adventure 2, casually referring to himself as "Dr. Eggman" (and has ever since). However his original English name also remains canon thanks to Adventure 2 as his grandfather is named Prof. Gerald Robotnik and his cousin being Maria Robotnik. The idea that he adopted the "Eggman Empire" name to reclaim the insult originated in Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog, and became canon in the games starting with Sonic Frontiers.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie changed Knuckles the Echidna into a treasure hunter. Half a decade later, Sonic Adventure 2 made references to Knuckles being a treasure hunter.
  • Amy and Knuckles' personalities were altered to match their Sonic X interpretation after the success of the anime. For example, Amy became brattier and even more love-struck than she was in the Adventure games, while the previously serious and stoic Knuckles was changed into a clumsy and short-tempered Butt-Monkey. Amy's characterization went back to normal around Sonic Unleashed, but Knuckles's new personality stuck for much longer, only reverting to his original stoic personality around the time of Sonic Frontiers.
  • The rings around Shadow's wrists have obviously been there since Sonic Adventure 2, but the idea of them inhibiting his power was introduced in Sonic X, and has since appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • The concept of roboticization from Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) was referenced in Sonic Chronicles, with Sonic Lost World and Sonic Superstars fully showing animals being put inside Badniks.
  • Sonic's love of chili dogs featured in DiC's animated adaptations (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and Sonic Underground) didn't come from any of the games, but was canonized in Japan through the manual of Sonic Advance 3. They've continued to appear and be referenced in most of the games released since; Sonic Unleashed has different kinds of chili dogs as consumable items, and Sonic and the Black Knight and Sonic Generations show him eating them on-screen.
  • In the games, Dr. Eggman, while having his robotic minions, didn't have any close sidekicks; compare this to the animated series and comics, where his counterparts always have some sort of underling (Snively in Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM); Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog; Grimer in Sonic the Comic; Sleet and Dingo in Sonic Underground; Bocoe, Decoe and Bokkun in Sonic X). This changed in Sonic Unleashed, which gave him SA-55 as a snarky underling, and then was cemented in Sonic Colors, where SA-55 was retooled into Orbot, and Cubot was introduced as his comedic foil.
  • When Ray the Flying Squirrel returned in Sonic Mania Plus, he wore double-striped blue shoes and was established to be close friends with Mighty the Armadillo, traits from his Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) incarnation.
  • In the original backstory of Sonic the Fighters, Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite were established as heroic friends of Sonic, while Fang the Sniper was a Token Evil Teammate. Because the writers of the Archie comics lacked this context, they made Bark and Bean bad guys associated with Fang. Sonic Generations subsequently showed the three of them on a "Wanted!" Poster in City Escape, and Sonic Mania features the trio returning as Sonic's adversaries (though they're really illusions created by Heavy Magician). TailsTube would definitively confirm that Bean and Bark are a part of "Fang's gang" in Episode 5, with the same posters from Generations.
  • Sonic was given lightning powers and an electric super form in Sonic Frontiers, a trait adapted from his counterpart in the Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) movie. In the sequel, the Buzz Bombers have a new laser attack, constantly emitting one along the ground until defeated or no enemies are in range, which would become their go-to attack in Sonic Superstars.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • The idea of pairing Luigi and Daisy might be the only plot element from the 1993 Super Mario Bros. (1993) movie that was actually adapted into the video games (Though "Mario Mario" and "Luigi Mario" has popped up in Nintendo of America-made media, despite Word of God saying they lack surnames). In her debut in Super Mario Land, Daisy was simply a Peach expy for that game and it wasn't until the later Mario Party and Sports games that the idea of having her as Luigi's love interest came about. Miyamoto then reconfirmed that the brothers' full names are indeed "Mario Mario" and "Luigi Mario".
  • Additionally, Luigi's cowardice originally was introduced in the cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, though an Atari commercial for Mario Bros. showed it earlier.
  • While Bowser's frequent kidnapping of Princess Peach was originally just to give the heroes a Damsel in Distress to save, Mario games not being known for their complex stories, the Nintendo Power comic Super Mario Adventures established that it was because he actually had a crush on the princess and wanted to marry her. Elements of this trait started creeping in as early as the original Paper Mario, but it was Super Mario Odyssey that fully canonized it by making the entire story revolve around it. The aforementioned comic would also have several ideas become game canon, such as Mechakoopas breathing fire like Bowser, Luigi disguising himself as Peach and being afraid of Boos and other ghosts, Peach being able to handle herself against the Koopa Troop even when kidnapped, a Magikoopa advisor to Bowser's schemes, and the Yoshi race speak in their own language.
  • Super Mario Maker made the brothers natives of Brooklyn via an official course by Coursebot, in part with the American media stating that they are from Flatbush.
  • The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach!, despite being non-canonical in relation to the video games, has had several ideas from it making it back into the series proper, including Luigi being taller than Mario in Super Mario Bros. 2, an airship and giant versions of usual Koopa Troop Minions such as Cheeps Cheeps and Koopa Paratroopas in Super Mario Bros. 3 and other games, Mario taking control of Lakitu's cloud in Super Mario World, Mario grabbing Bowser by the tail in Super Mario 64, Bowser trying to Marry Peach, seen in various games, but most prominent in Super Mario Odyssey, and introduces the concept of the neighboring Flower Kingdom seen in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. This was also the first Mario-related work whose portrayal of Peach is faithful to her concept artwork, as the games wouldn't portray her intended image until Super Mario World.
  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Fire Peach, a form of Princess Peach first seen in Super Mario 3D World, had her hair in its usual style as opposed to the ponytail, which would become the design for Fire Peach in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
• Street Fighter:
  • Many elements from the various media adaptations of the franchise ended up being used in the backstories of later games. Most notably, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie greatly influenced the plot of the Street Fighter Alpha prequel series, from M. Bison's more muscular design to the origin story of Ryu's red headband. Ken's brainwashed "Violent Ken" form from the animated movie also became playable in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos and Ultra Street Fighter II. Cammy's acrobatic Neck Snap from the movie would also eventually make it into the game canon as her Level 2 Super Art in Street Fighter 6, which also included a variation of her red coat from the film (which had previously appeared in her intro animation in the Alpha games and as an easter egg for her Shadaloo uniform in V) as an alternate DLC costume. Masahiko Nakahira's manga adaptation of the first Alpha game featured a storyline involving Ryu being possessed by the Satsui no Hadou, the same power used by Akuma; this concept would be reused for Ryu's storyline in Alpha 2.
  • Ken’s surname, “Masters,” was created by toy company Hasbro for their Street Fighter II-themed G.I. Joe line in 1993, and was eventually made canon in later games.
  • Evil Ryu having a burning hole in his chest in Street Fighter IV is taken from Masahiko Nakahira's Street Fighter III: Ryu Final manga, where Ryu impaled himself on Akuma's fist in order to avoid his Shun Goku Satsu.
  • Ryu Final also had Elena communicating with Ryu via a sacred tree in her native Kenya. The sacred tree in question is mentioned in Elena and Dudley's prologue in Street Fighter X Tekken.
  • While the real reason may be simple convenience for the artists of the scene, Guile's intro in Street Fighter IV shows him holding Charlie's dog tags, on which the name "Charlie Nash" is written ('Charlie' is his name in western territories, while 'Nash' is his name in Japan). While the true use of this probably is to avert having to redraw the scene for Japanese audiences, the name 'Charlie Nash' is a common Fanon name as well as the name given to Charlie in UDON's comic book series (which is how it fits into this trope).
  • Maki from Final Fight 2 originally sported a different outfit, but was redesigned for the Sakura Ganbaru! manga series. Elements of Maki's manga design (namely the use of a tonfa as her personal weapon) were incorporated into her new design for Capcom Vs. SNK 2, and later Street Fighter Alpha 3.
  • Sakura Ganbaru! ended with a Distant Finale showing a now-adult Sakura working as a gym teacher. Sakura's Street Fighter IV ending similarly depicts an adult Sakura reuniting with Ryu several years after the events of the game, and she's now shown wearing her gym teacher outfit from the manga.
  • Ryu's Metsu Hadouken also originated as Evil Ryu's Level 3 Super in Capcom vs. SNK 2.
  • Aspects of Cammy's backstory from the Alpha series, such as her codename Killer Bee, were also based on elements that originally appeared in Masaomi Kanzaki's Cammy Gaiden manga.
  • The idea that Decapre has her face burned on the left side comes from the UDON comics series.
  • In the Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki mini-series, Sarai is eventually allowed to begin ninja training after becoming sad over her Muggle Best Friend status. This plot point was canonized in Ibuki's Super Street Fighter IV ending, with Sarai shown in the same ninja training class as Ibuki. She can even be seen wearing her ninja garb in a cameo in Street Fighter X Tekken.
  • For years, Chun-Li's deceased father had no name in the game's canon. When Capcom finally named him around the time of Street Fighter V, they went with "Dorai," his name from the Street Fighter II V anime.
• Fatal Fury:
  • Elements of Wolfgang Krauser's backstory (such as being Geese Howard's half-brother and having killed their father when he was a teenager) were introduced in the second anime special, and later became canon in the subsequent games.
  • The anime specials also gave Terry a new move called the Hado Senpukyaku, where he created a miniature tornado to attack his opponents. Decades later, this would be incorporated as part of his new Hidden Gear, the Cosmic Strike Geyser, in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
• The Worlds of Power series of children's books based on NES games ended up affecting two games' sequels.
  • "Kal Torlin", which was the name of the land where Shadowgate took place, was first used in Before Shadowgate and ended up used in Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers.
  • Eve, the young woman Jason falls in love with in the novelization of Blaster Master, ends up being his wife in the sequel Blaster Master: Blasting Again for the PlayStation. The author of the book was surprised to find out that his character had become canonical. She even shows up in the Continuity Reboot Blaster Master Zero alongside Jason. As a bonus, he and his Japanese Famicom counterpart, Kane Gardner, now exist in the same canon, the later being Eve's father.
• The Updated Re-release of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (New Mystery of the Emblem) took several details that were previously solely Word of God, such as Ogma being a former gladiator, and made them part of the characters' official backstories through its support conversations. There's also a Downloadable Content map which centers around a duel between Ogma and Navarre similar to the second episode of the short-lived anime.
• The Emblem versions of Roy and Ike in Fire Emblem Engage draw more from their attributes in Super Smash Bros., with Roy being a Lightning Bruiser and Ike a Mighty Glacier. In their original games, Roy was a Master of None and Ike a Jack of All Stats. Marth, Roy and Ike's victory quotes from Smash Bros. also made their way into Engage, including Ike's infamous "I fight for my friends", and Ike and Corrin's Final Smashes Great Aether and Torrential Roar are usable as their Engage Attacks. Lyn, meanwhile, gained her association with the legendary bow Mulagir from Fire Emblem Heroes. While Lyn could use bows in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, the Mulagir wasn't obtainable.
• Starting with the second Yo-kai Watch game, the anime adaptation has had an influence on the games. For example Jibanyan (who is a main character in the anime and the franchise's mascot) was made into an Ascended Extra, while Katie (the female protagonist) was Demoted to Extra in exchange for Hailey Anne (a female character who has a Yokai Watch in the anime). Yo-kai Watch 4 is a sequel to two of the anime's films.
• Several elements from the Five Nights at Freddy's books have been made canon in the games, namely the fact that William Afton was first named in Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes, before the name entered canon in Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion 2, while primarily based on the anime TV series, also incorporates a few elements from Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's official manga adaptation of the show, but tweaks them to better fit in with the anime.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • Before first gaining a fairy companion in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link briefly had one in the The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past comic. She was even depicted as a ball of light with wings just like Navi! And even before that, he had a pixie companion in the cartoon. In turn, the cartoon itself would also have an Evil Zelda used by Ganon during the events of "Doppelganger" become canon through various media, such as The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (2004) and Hyrule Warriors, before being used as Phantom Ganon's disguise during the events of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
  • Official word confirmed that the Rito were inspired by the Watarara, a species of birdfolk from the Ocarina of Time manga.
  • The idea of the titular Princess Zelda being an Action Girl with archery skills first originated in the cartoon. It carried over to the games from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker onwards, and Zelda's trademark weapon (when it's not just plain magic) is usually the Bow and Arrows of Light.
  • The A Link to the Past manga made by Akira Himekawa changed Link's Dark World form from a rabbit to a wolf. This happened years before The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had Link transform into a wolf while in the Twilight.
  • In the Super Smash Bros. games prior to Ultimate, Link and Toon Link both have a Final Smash that consists of stunlocking their opponent and then delivering a rapid flurry of sword slashes. A similar move was later added in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where Link can do it after performing a Perfect Dodge.
• In the Assassin's Creed games, the Animus is a computer designed to let the user relive the lives of their ancestors. In the Assassins Creed movie, which is canon to the games, the creators redesigned the Animus to be a virtual reality crane mechanism in order to avoid confusion with The Matrix. Ubisoft loves the crane design so much that they have said that they plan on using it in future games. While it has yet to appear in a game as of Odyssey, it has appeared in tie-in books, and the new modern-day main character introduced in Origins is the woman who designed the crane herself.
• Caitlyn was originally white in League of Legends, with her parentage never really explored in the game's lore. After the Arcane animated series depicted Caitlyn as mixed-race with an Asian father, the 2021 updates to the game canonized this development by redesigning her with visibly Asian facial features.
• Medabots:
  • In Medarot 3 onward, the characters and Medabots are redesigned to match more closely their appearance in the anime adaptation.
  • In the original Medarot 2, Spyke uses a Krosserdog from the start. In its remake Medabots: Metabee and Rokusho, he instead has the older Cyandog model to match the anime, where Cyandog is the Medabot he uses for most of its runtime.
• Skylanders: When she was first introduced, Kaos' mom went unnamed, simply being referred to by her relation to her son. Skylanders Academy would give her the name Kaossandra, which could crossover into media related to the games.
• Fallout:
  • While Fallout: Van Buren was never released, and is therefore non-canon, various elements of it went on to be canonised in some way or another in later entries, most notably in Fallout: New Vegas.
  • This happened with an entire game, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. The game was originally declared non-canon by Bethesda Softworks in 2007, after they obtained the licence to the series. However, later Fallout games have since referenced its events, and in 2024, Bethesda's lead writer included it in a canonical series timeline, confirming that it is canon once again.
• The remastered version of Ace Attorney: Justice For All in the HD trilogy acknowledges the fact that Edgeworth left the Prosecutor's Office following the events of "Rise from the Ashes" from the first game, thereby making that case canon (at least, in the English version).

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