History ExiledFromContinuity / LegalReasons

* Similarly, characters that appeared in Creator/DICEntertainment-produced cartoons based on video games, such as [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros Oogtar and the cavemen]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts]][[note]]Though Grounder is based on an existing design from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' onward, they were red in the games save one teal one meant as a ShoutOut.[[/note]], [WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM Sally Acorn and the other Acorn characters]], and even WesternAnimation/{{Captain N|TheGameMaster}} are believed to be banned from appearing in their video game source material due to messy rights issues with the characters (though in the case of Captain N, he wasn't created by Nintendo nor appears in any Nintendo video games whatsoever). This is possibly the reason why they don't appear or get referenced at all in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, and it also doesn't help that the characters often suffer from mockery by fans. The only official game appearances the Acorn characters and Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts ever made were ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'' and ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'', as both were essentially MerchandiseDriven fare for the TV shows and developed in the United States.

* The SPECTRE fracas in ''Film/JamesBond'' movies is a good non-comics example, and probably the most notorious case in live-action films. The villainous terrorist organization debuted in ''Literature/{{Thunderball}}'', a book written by Creator/IanFleming based on a screenplay he worked on with several other people. One of said people, Kevin [=McClory=], brought him to court in a complicated brouhaha; eventually, it was settled out of court, but the terms prevented SPECTRE from appearing in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. The pre-title sequence of ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'' shows Bond dropping [[LawyerFriendlyCameo a suspicious-looking bald man]] into a smoke stack [[TakeThat as a way of saying that the series didn't need SPECTRE]]. This is also what led to the Creator/DanielCraig films using the {{Expy}} organization Quantum. This legal battle finally ended on November 15, 2013 when MGM and Danjaq, LLC (the owners of the ''James Bond'' franchise) acquired the rights and interests of the estate of Kevin [=McClory=] (who died in 2006, about ten years after [[http://variety.com/1998/film/news/mclory-makes-official-claims-to-bond-rights-1117478405/ trying to inflate how he much contributed to Bond]]), and the title of the next Bond movie ended up being...''Film/{{SPECTRE}}''.

* The SPECTRE fracas in ''Film/JamesBond'' movies is a good non-comics example, and probably the most notorious case in live-action films. The villainous terrorist organization debuted in ''Literature/{{Thunderball}}'', a book written by Creator/IanFleming based on a screenplay he worked on with several other people. One of said people, Kevin [=McClory=], brought him to court in a complicated brouhaha; eventually, it was settled out of court, but the terms prevented SPECTRE from appearing in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. This is also what led to the Creator/DanielCraig films using the {{Expy}} organization Quantum. This legal battle finally ended on November 15, 2013 when MGM and Danjaq, LLC (the owners of the ''James Bond'' franchise) acquired the rights and interests of the estate of Kevin [=McClory=] (who died in 2006, about ten years after [[http://variety.com/1998/film/news/mclory-makes-official-claims-to-bond-rights-1117478405/ trying to inflate how he much contributed to Bond]]), and the title of the next Bond movie ended up being...''Film/{{SPECTRE}}''.

* Thanks to the complex status of VideoGame/{{Strider}} Hiryu, which requires the OK from both Capcom and manga studio Moto Kikaku to be used, he was beyond the grasp of U.S. Gold when they decided to create their [[VideoGame/StriderReturns own sequel]] to the [[VideroGame/StriderArcade original]]. Instead of bothering with that, they simply swapped the sprite's uniform white, named him "Hinjo" and called it a day. This was also the reason he was dropped from the roster in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. Fortunately, thanks to all the fan support he received, Capcom decided to work things out and he was finally included in ''Ultimate''.

* Similarly, characters that appeared in Creator/DICEntertainment-produced cartoons based on video games, such as [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros Oogtar and the cavemen]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts]][[note]]Though Grounder is based on an existing design from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' onward, they were red in the games save one teal one meant as a ShoutOut.[[/note]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM Sally Acorn and the other Acorn characters]], and even WesternAnimation/{{Captain N|TheGameMaster}} are believed to be banned from appearing in their video game source material due to messy rights issues with the characters (though in the case of Captain N, he wasn't created by Nintendo nor appears in any Nintendo video games whatsoever). This is possibly the reason why they don't appear or get referenced at all in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, and it also doesn't help that the characters often suffer from mockery by fans. The only official game appearances the Acorn characters and Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts ever made were ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'' and ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'', as both were essentially MerchandiseDriven fare for the TV shows and developed in the United States.
** In the case of the Freedom Fighters and other ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' characters, this is significantly more vague. The [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Archie Sonic comics]] were heavily based on the cartoon, and long outlived its progenitor, with the cartoon's characters actually surviving the soft reboot (which was caused by former Archie writer Ken Penders somehow gaining the rights to the characters he created in a legal fiasco that is too complex and too idiotic to be worth explaining here). While they didn't transition over to the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW Sonic comics]], all indications are that it's less a legal issue and more to do with SEGA's own mandates for who is allowed to appear.
* When Creator/{{Rare}} was working with Nintendo, originally they planned on making the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', and ''[[VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay Conker]]'' [=IPs=] take place in the same universe. This is most apparent with ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'', where Diddy Kong, Banjo, and Conker appeared together, and [[AllThereInTheManual the manual]] alluding to off-screen adventures explaining how they knew each other. However when Rare was bought out by [[Creator/XboxGameStudios Microsoft]], they were forced to drop this idea, resulting the Donkey Kong games no longer referencing any other Rare series. This notably impacted the aforementioned ''Diddy Kong Racing''; when it was remade for the Nintendo DS Banjo and Conker were replaced with Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong respectively, while the original N64 version never got a re-release.

** Surprisingly, Creator/SquareEnix was able to produce a HD remaster for the original game ''and'' retain Deep Jungle, which would be otherwise impossible without cutting the world out. And since some items relating to the controversial world have appeared in ''coded'', it's possible that it's a sign saying that the trope could be [[TheBusCameBack averted one day]].

** In the case of the Freedom Fighters and other WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM characters, this is significantly more vague. The [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Archie Sonic comics]] were heavily based on the cartoon, and long outlived its progenitor, with the cartoon's characters actually surviving the soft reboot (which was caused by former Archie writer Ken Penders somehow gaining the rights to the characters he created in a legal fiasco that is too complex and too idiotic to be worth explaining here). While they didn't transition over to the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW Sonic comics]], all indications are that it's less a legal issue and more to do with SEGA's own mandates for who is allowed to appear.

* Want to see the characters that only appear in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames'' appear in future games in the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series from Creator/{{Nintendo}}? Dream on. The games are property of Philips, not Nintendo, and the characters that were created strictly for the games (such as Gwonam from ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and Duke Onkled from ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'') are Philips' property. Of course, the games themselves [[CanonDiscontinuity are considered nonexistent]] by Nintendo, so the chances of ''anything'' pertaining to the CD-i games appearing in Nintendo's official canon, even if the legal problems weren't in play, are slim.

** Also affected by this is the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, as none of the characters from the CD-i games or King Harkinian make any appearances in that series, nor are there any trophies, stickers or chronicles pertaining to either of them.

* Similarly, characters that appeared in Creator/DICEntertainment-produced cartoons based on video games, such as [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros Oogtar and the cavemen]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts]][[note]]Though Grounder is based on an existing design from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' onward, they were red in the games save one teal one meant as a ShoutOut.[[/note]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM Sally Acorn and the other Acorn characters]], and even WesternAnimation/{{Captain N|TheGameMaster}} are believed to be banned from appearing in their video game source material due to messy rights issues with the characters (though in the case of Captain N, he wasn't created by Nintendo nor appears in any Nintendo video games whatsoever). This is possibly the reason why they don't appear or get referenced at all in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, and it also doesn't help that the characters often suffer from SnarkBait by fans. The only official game appearances the Acorn characters and Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts ever made were ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'' and ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'', as both were essentially MerchandiseDriven fare for the TV shows and developed in the United States.

* Want to see the characters that only appear in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames'' appear in future games in the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series from Creator/{{Nintendo}}? In your dreams. The games are property of Philips, not Nintendo, and the characters that were created strictly for the games (such as Gwonam from ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and Duke Onkled from ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'') are Philips' property. Of course, the games themselves [[CanonDiscontinuity are considered nonexistent]] by Nintendo, so the chances of ''anything'' pertaining to the CD-i games appearing in Nintendo's official canon, even if the legal problems weren't in play, are slim.

* Want to see the characters that only appear in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames'' appear in future games in the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series from Creator/{{Nintendo}}? It's all in your dreams, because it's highly unlikely that will happen. The games are property of Philips, not Nintendo, and the characters that were created strictly for the games (such as Gwonam from ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and Duke Onkled from ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'') are Philips' property. Of course, the games themselves [[CanonDiscontinuity are considered nonexistent]] by Nintendo, so the chances of ''anything'' pertaining to the CD-i games appearing in Nintendo's official canon, even if the legal problems weren't in play, are slim.

* Want to see the characters that only appear in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames'' appear in future games in the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series from Creator/{{Nintendo}}? Keep dreaming because it's highly unlikely that will happen. The games are property of Philips, not Nintendo, and the characters that were created strictly for the games (such as Gwonam from ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and Duke Onkled from ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'') are Philips' property. Of course, the games themselves [[CanonDiscontinuity are considered nonexistent]] by Nintendo, so the chances of ''anything'' pertaining to the CD-i games appearing in Nintendo's official canon, even if the legal problems weren't in play, are slim.

* Thanks to the complex status of VideoGame/{{Strider}} Hiryu, which requires the OK from both Capcom and manga studio Moto Kikaku to be used, he was beyond the grasp of U.S. Gold when they decided to create their own sequel to the original. Instead of bothering with that, they simply swapped the sprite's uniform white, named him "Hinjo" and called it a day. This was also the reason he was dropped from the roster in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. Fortunately, thanks to all the fan support he received, Capcom decided to work things out and he was finally included in ''Ultimate''.

* Similarly, characters that appeared in Creator/DICEntertainment-produced cartoons based on video games, such as [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros Oogtar and the cavemen]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts]][[note]]Though Grounder is based on an existing design from ''Sonic 2'' onward, they were red in the games save one teal one meant as a ShoutOut.[[/note]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM Sally Acorn and the other Acorn characters]], and even [[WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster Captain N]] are believed to be banned from appearing in their video game source material due to messy rights issues with the characters (though in the case of Captain N, he wasn't created by Nintendo nor appears in any Nintendo video games whatsoever). This is possibly the reason why they don't appear or get referenced at all in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, and it also doesn't help that the characters often suffer from SnarkBait by fans. The only official game appearances the Acorn characters and Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts ever made were ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'' and ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'', as both were essentially MerchandiseDriven fare for the TV shows and developed in the United States.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' itself is entirely absent from [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland and Disneyworld]]. While Disney owns the rights to all ''Kingdom Hearts'' characters, they're still not included for a few reasons: [[PopCulturalOsmosisFailure a good number of people wouldn't know who the characters are]], the few that do know probably wouldn't care, and Disney doesn't want to run afoul of any licensing issues that might come up with Square Enix. Sora could be seen in the parks back when [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]] came out, but [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/4/47/Sora_DLP.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111030182254 the costume]] [[UncannyValley left much to be desired]]. The Mitsukoshi store at Epcot's Japan pavilion carries some ''Kingdom Hearts'' merchandise, but that's about it.

* Disney was unable to reuse Bowser from the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' franchise in the ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' sequel ''Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', whilst once again omitting Mario from the feature after having previously cut him from ''Wreck-it Ralph'', after the ''Super Mario Bros.'' franchise's movie rights were acquired by Creator/{{Universal}} Studios almost a year before its release. To make up for their absence, an EasterEgg was added to where the background of Spamley's shack has yellow question mark blocks hidden in a stash full of game items. It should be noted that Creator/{{Nintendo}} ''did'' give Disney permission to use Mario in ''Wreck-it Ralph'', but the filmmakers didn't know where to fit him without turning the whole movie into a full-blown ''Mario'' adaptation. On the flip side, [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic and Dr. Eggman]], both of whom appeared in the previous film and whose [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 movie rights]] were tied up with Creator/{{Paramount}}, were allowed to appear in ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' at Paramount's blessing.

** Don't expect to see Deep Jungle, the world based on ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'', ever again in any games past [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first]], [[CanonDiscontinuity even in the form of flashbacks or recaps]], as Creator/{{Disney}} is unable to secure the ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' trademarks from the Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs estate[[note]]''Tarzan'' and all elements pertaining to it are in the public domain as the copyrights to the novels have expired, but the trademarks to these elements were retained by the Burroughs estate, thus subjecting them to similar restrictions[[/note]].

* Don't expect to see Deep Jungle, the world based on ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'', ever again in any ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' games past [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first]], [[CanonDiscontinuity even in the form of flashbacks or recaps]], as Creator/{{Disney}} is unable to secure the ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' trademarks from the Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs estate[[note]]''Tarzan'' and all elements pertaining to it are in the public domain as the copyrights to the novels have expired, but the trademarks to these elements were retained by the Burroughs estate, thus subjecting them to similar restrictions[[/note]].

* Disney was unable to reuse Bowser from the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' franchise in the ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' sequel ''Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', whilst once again omitting Mario from the feature after having previously cut him from ''Wreck-it Ralph'', after the ''Super Mario Bros.'' franchise's movie rights were acquired by Creator/{{Universal}} Studios almost a year before its release. To make up for their absence, an EasterEgg was added to where the background of Spamley's shack has yellow question mark blocks hidden in a stash full of game items. It should be noted that Creator/{{Nintendo}} ''did'' give Disney permission to use Mario in ''Wreck-it Ralph'', but the filmmakers didn't know where to fit him without turning the whole movie into a full-blown ''Mario'' adaptation. On the flip side, [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic and Dr. Eggman]], both of whom appeared in the previous film and whose [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2019 movie rights]] were tied up with Creator/{{Paramount}}, were allowed to appear in ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' at Paramount's blessing.

* A complicated case in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo''; after Compile's bankruptcy, Sega owns the rights to Puyo Puyo and seemingly any character that has appeared in those games, but D4 Enterprises owns ''Madou Monogatari'', Puyo Puyo's parent RPG series. This lead to an awkward situation where Sega can make Puyo Puyo games and use the characters Compile initially created (but not the world they come from or any characters related to them that did not make an official ''Puyo'' game appearance before 2000) and D4 can make Madou Monogatari games under the localized name ''Sorcery Saga'' but cannot use the characters from that franchise in their games. Sega has gotten around this by the use of soft reboots of the franchise with Compile's characters being transported into other worlds via [[ExcusePlot excuse plots]] while D4 and Compile Heart created thinly-veiled Expies of the Madou Monogatari characters in a parallel universe.

*** Interestingly, the Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine comic ''was'' able to get away with using Grace twice (in "The Fallen" and "The Glorious Dead").

* The SPECTRE fracas in ''Film/JamesBond'' movies is a good non-comics example. The villainous terrorist organization debuted in ''Literature/{{Thunderball}}'', a book written by Creator/IanFleming based on a screenplay he worked on with several other people. One of said people, Kevin [=McClory=], brought him to court in a complicated brouhaha; eventually, it was settled out of court, but the terms prevented SPECTRE from appearing in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. This is also what led to the Creator/DanielCraig films using the {{Expy}} organization Quantum. This legal battle finally ended on November 15, 2013 when MGM and Danjaq, LLC (the owners of the ''James Bond'' franchise) acquired the rights and interests of the estate of Kevin [=McClory=] (who died in 2006, about ten years after [[http://variety.com/1998/film/news/mclory-makes-official-claims-to-bond-rights-1117478405/ trying to inflate how he much contributed to Bond]]), and the title of the next Bond movie ended up being...''Film/{{SPECTRE}}''.

** A year or so ago, Catalyst Game Labs (the game's current publisher) gained the rights to use the artwork for much of the Unseen... except for Macross based designs, which Harmony Gold still retains control over.

* For many years, there was an embargo of Franchise/WonderWoman-related characters due to an obscure clause in the licensing agreements that forbade their use in any project wherein they were not featured in a "starring" role. This has meant that the second ComicBook/WonderGirl, Donna Troy, was initially not able to appear in DC's ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. Prior to this, Donna had been barred from appearing in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' and Wonder Woman was the only ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' cast member not to appear on ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''. The Franchise/WonderWoman (and, by extension, Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark) embargo was eventually cleared up. Since then, Wonder Woman has appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', the Cassie Sandsmark version of Wonder Girl joined ''Young Justice'' in Season 2 (though Donna did not), and Donna Troy was featured in the ''WesternAnimation/SuperBestFriendsForever'' shorts.

** ''Series/DoctorWho'': The new series [[https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a27269680/doctor-who-daleks-banned/ nearly wasn't able to use the Daleks]] due to difficult negotiations with the estate of Creator/TerryNation, their creator. Although the estate and Creator/TheBBC were eventually able to come to an agreement, the exact details are unknown. However, it was widely believed that part of the agreement was that the Daleks had to have at least one obligatory appearance in any given season of the new series, even if just a cameo appearance as was the case with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars "The Waters of Mars"]] in the 2009 specials and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong "The Wedding of River Song"]] in Series 6. However, former showrunner Creator/StevenMoffat debunked this not long before leaving the show, and it has been claimed that the Daleks' almost OnceASeason appearances are simply due to their popularity with those working on the show.