History Trivia / EternalChampions

** The original game can't be included in any UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis compilation because its graphic content would force the ESRB to rate said collection with an "M" rating and the individual UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole re-release was delisted in 2019, leaving UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and the Sega Genesis Mini as the only options to buy the game legally.
** ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' hasn't seen ANY re-release since its original 1995 debut. UsefulNotes/SegaCD consoles are notorious for their high failure rate and Sega CD discs are very susceptible to disc rot due to their age and manufacturing issues during the early days of CD technology. You are better off using an emulator to play it again.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite strong sales and an interest from other companies to create toys, comics, cartoons and other tie-in merchandise, Creator/{{Sega}} of Japan put a stop to ''Eternal Champions'' early on. They wanted ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' to be the company's flagship fighting game franchise and believed that ''Eternal Champions'' would eat into its potential player base and lower ''Virtua Fighter''[='s=] sales. To this end, they forbid Sega of America from creating a full sequel for the Sega CD, leading to the ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' enhancement of the first game, before completely giving the franchise the ax before the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn was released. This would come back to bite Sega of Japan as there hasn't been a new ''Virtua Fighter'' game that isn't an UpdatedRerelease since ''Virtua Fighter 5''.

** An early preview of the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game in Issue #49 of ''Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly'' (''EGM'') had showed Blast and Chin Wo among the original nine fighters at the title screen and in the game itself, highly implying and indicating that they were originally intended to be part of the main roster, but the two of them were removed from the final version of the game due to memory limitations, though the duo would eventually be made as hidden playable characters in [[RefittedForSequel the Sega CD sequel]] ''Challenge from the Dark Side''. Another fact to this is that both [=MidKnight=] and Jetta's stages from the Genesis game were originally meant for Blast and Chin Wo respectively (a jungle village stage set during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and an old Chinese temple stage) and from within the Sega CD game, the former duo had gained their own new stages (a scientific laboratory and a circus tent) while the latter duo were given the old, albeit newly modified ones from the Genesis game.

* DuelingWorks: With ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' in terms of being [[DarkerAndEdgier Dark]], [[BloodierAndGorier violent]] fighting games made by the leading console manufacturers at the time as a FollowTheLeader answer to ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', with outlandish character designs and gallons of RuleOfCool.

* DuelingWorks: with ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' in terms of being [DarkerAndEdgier Dark]], [[BloodierAndGorier violent]] fighting games made by the leading console manufacturers at the time as a FollowTheLeader answer to ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', with outlandish character designs and gallons of RuleOfCool.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite strong sales and an interest from other companies to create toys, comics, cartoons and other tie-in merchandise, Creator/{{Sega}} of Japan put a stop to ''Eternal Champions'' early on. They wanted ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' to be the company's flagship fighting game franchise and believed that ''Eternal Champions'' would eat into its potential player base and lower ''Virtua Fighter''[='s=] sales. To this end, they forbid Sega of America from creating a full sequel for the Sega CD, leading to the ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' enhancement of the first game, before completely giving the franchise the ax before the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn was released. This would come back to bite Sega of Japan as there hasn't been a new ''Virtua Fighter'' game that isn't an UpdatedRerelease since ''Videogame/VirtuaFighter5''.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite strong sales and an interest from other companies to create toys, comics, cartoons and other tie-in merchandise, Creator/{{Sega}} of Japan put a stop to ''Eternal Champions'' early on. They wanted ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' to be the company's flagship fighting game franchise and believed that ''Eternal Champions'' would eat into its potential player base and lower ''Virtua Fighter''[='s=] sales. To this end, they forbid Sega of America from creating a full sequel for the Sega CD, leading to the ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' enhancement of the first game, before completely giving the franchise the ax before the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn was released. This would come back to bite Sega of Japan as there hasn't been a new ''Virtua Fighter'' game that isn't an UpdatedRerelease.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite strong sales and an interest from other companies to create toys, comics, cartoons and other tie-in merchandise, Creator/{{Sega}} of Japan put a stop to ''Eternal Champions'' early on. They wanted ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' to be the company's flagship fighting game franchise and believed that ''Eternal Champions'' would eat into its potential player base and lower ''Virtua Fighter''[='s=] sales. To this end, they forbid Sega of America from creating a full sequel for the Sega CD, leading to the ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' enhancement of the first game, before completely giving the franchise the ax before the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn was released.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The game can't be included in any Sega Genesis compilation because it's graphic content would force the ESRB to rate said collection with an "M" rating and the indiviudal Wii Virtual Console re-release was delisted in 2019, leaving Steam and the Sega Gensis Mini as the only options to buy the game legally.
** Challenge from the Dark Side hasn't seen ANY re-release since it's original 1995. Sega CD consoles are notorious for their high failure rate and Sega CD discs are very susceptible to disc rot due to their age and manufcaturing issues during the early days of CD technology. You are better of using an emulator to play it again.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite strong sales and an interest from other companies to create toys, comics, cartoons and other tie-in merchandise, Sega of Japan put a stop to ''Eternal Champions'' early on. They wanted ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' to be the company's flagship fighting game franchise and believed that ''Eternal Champions'' would eat into its potential player base and lower ''Virtua Fighter''[='s=] sales. To this end, they forbid Sega of America from creating a full sequel for the Sega CD, leading to the ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' enhancement of the first game, before completely giving the franchise the ax before the Sega Saturn was released.

** An early preview of the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game in Issue #49 of ''Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly'' (''EGM'') had showed Blast and Chin Wo among the original nine fighters at the title screen and in the game itself, highly implying and indicating that they were originally intended to be part of the main roster, but the two of them were removed from the final version of the game due to memory limitations, though the duo would eventually be made as hidden playable characters in [[RefittedForSequel the Sega CD sequel]] ''Challenge from the Dark Side''. Another notable fact to this is that both [=MidKnight=] and Jetta's stages from the Genesis game were originally meant for Blast and Chin Wo respectively (a jungle village stage set during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and an old Chinese temple stage) and from within the Sega CD game, the former duo had gained their own new stages (a scientific laboratory and a circus tent) while the latter duo were given the old, albeit newly modified ones from the Genesis game.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite strong sales and an interest from other companies to create toys, comics, cartoons and other tie-in merchandise, Sega of Japan put a stop to ''Eternal Champions'' early on. They wanted ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' to be the company's flagship fighting game franchise and believed that ''Eternal Champions'' would eat into its potential player base and lower ''Virtua Fighters''' sales. To this end, they forbid Sega of America from creating a full sequel for the Sega CD, leading to the ''Challenge from the Dark Side'' enhancement of the first game, before completely giving the franchise the ax before the Sega Saturn was released.

** An early preview of the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis game in Issue #49 of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') had showed Blast and Chin Wo among the original nine fighters at the title screen and in the game itself, highly implying and indicating that they were originally intended to be part of the main roster, but the two of them were removed from the final version of the game due to memory limitations, though the duo would eventually be made as hidden playable characters in [[RefittedForSequel the Sega CD sequel]] ''Challenge from the Dark Side''. Another notable fact to this is that both [=MidKnight=] and Jetta's stages from the Genesis game were originally meant for Blast and Chin Wo respectively (a jungle village stage set during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and an old Chinese temple stage) and from within the Sega CD game, the former duo had gained their own new stages (a scientific laboratory and a circus tent) while the latter duo were given the old ones from the Genesis game.

** A third game, ''The Final Chapter'', was planned for release on the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, complete with new "Infernals," evil characters aligned with the Dark Champion and the forces of chaos. By the time the game was set to be made, [[VideoGame/VirtuaFighter another big fighting game]] was being made by Sega. Due to worry that [[NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs one fighting game would take away the significance of the other]], ''The Final Chapter'' bit the dust.

** According to [[http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=281&title=Interview:%20Scott%20Berfield this interview]] with former Sega of America employee Scott Berfield, ''Eternal Champions'' was originally going to be much more humorous and over the top. Characters would have been [[AffectionateParody affectionate parodies]] of various hero archetypes, while the training mode would have consisted of minigames where you could beat the crap out of knife-wielding dwarves. Berfield left [=SoA=] sometime after the project was greenlit; it was passed down to Michael Latham, who decided to restart the project and turn it into the ''Eternal Champions'' we have today.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to [[http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=281&title=Interview:%20Scott%20Berfield this interview]] with former Sega of America employee Scott Berfield, ''Eternal Champions'' was originally going to be much more humorous and over the top. Characters would have been [[AffectionateParody affectionate parodies]] of various hero archetypes, while the training mode would have consisted of minigames where you could beat the crap out of knife-wielding dwarves. Berfield left [=SoA=] sometime after the project was greenlit; it was passed down to Michael Latham, who decided to restart the project and turn it into the ''Eternal Champions'' we have today.

** Series creator Michael Latham claimed that there were numerous offers to make a comic book and even a cartoon series based on the show, but much like ''The Final Chapter'', said proposals were nixed by Sega to prevent overshadowing ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter''.

* Hip Hop group Music/BoneThugsNHarmony sampled the "Bad Ending" theme and "Character Bios" on their album ''E 1999 Eternal'' for the tracks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiZ4EMyh4c "Crossroads"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKQe23hUnY4 "Eternal"]], respectively.

*** A third game, ''The Final Chapter'', was planned for release on the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, complete with new "Infernals," evil characters aligned with the Dark Champion and the forces of chaos. By the time the game was set to be made, [[VideoGame/VirtuaFighter another big fighting game]] was being made by Sega. Due to worry that [[NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs one fighting game would take away the significance of the other]], ''The Final Chapter'' bit the dust.

*** A third game, ''The Final Chapter'', was planned for release on the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, complete with new "Infernals," evil characters aligned with the Dark Champion and the forces of chaos. By the time the game was set to be made, [[VirtuaFighter another big fighting game]] was being made by Sega. Due to worry that [[NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs one fighting game would take away the significance of the other]], ''The Final Chapter'' bit the dust.

*** A third game, ''The Final Chapter'', was planned for release on the [[SegaSaturn Sega Saturn]], complete with new "Infernals," evil characters aligned with the Dark Champion and the forces of chaos. By the time the game was set to be made, [[VirtuaFighter another big fighting game]] was being made by Sega. Due to worry that [[NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs one fighting game would take away the significance of the other]], ''The Final Chapter'' bit the dust.

* Hip Hop group Music/BoneThugsNHarmony sampled the "Bad Ending" theme and "Character Bios" on their debut album ''E 1999 Eternal'' for the tracks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiZ4EMyh4c "Crossroads"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKQe23hUnY4 "Eternal"]], respectively.

*** A third game, ''The Final Chapter'', was planned for release on the [[SegaSaturn Sega Saturn]]. By the time the game was set to be made, [[VirtuaFighter another big fighting game]] was being made by Sega. Due to worry that [[NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs one fighting game would take away the significance of the other]], ''The Final Chapter'' bit the dust.