History Main / AdaptationalNationality

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' does this a lot, especially in the third season, which presents its SuperhumanTrafficking plot as a worldwide problem. For example, major character Halo becomes a {{Qurac}}i refugee living in the fictional Eastern European nation of Vlatava, Wendy "Windfall" Jones has an Australian accent and Dolphin is Indian.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'': Robotman speaks with a German accent, when Cliff Steele was American in the comics.

** A number of DC {{Elseworld}}s do this, either as the central point (''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'' is "What if Superman was Russian?") or as part of the set-up (''Batman: Castle of the Bat'' is "What if Bruce Wayne was Victor Frankenstein?", so relocates him to Bavaria).

* In ''Manga/BlackButler'', Baldroy's nationality is changed from American in the Manga to English in the anime, though for some reason he doesn't seem to know the words to "God Save the Queen" despite having served in the Army.

* In the English dub of Anime/UltimateMuscle (Kinnikuman Nisei) various characters had their nationalities changed.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Powerless}}'', ComicBook/{{Magneto}} is an American senator instead of a Polish Holocaust survivor.
* In ''ComicBook/SpiderGwen'', Felicia Hardy is French (and [[RaceLift black]]).
* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComics2015'', Cheryl Blossom is Swiss instead of American like she originally was.
* Catsai from ''ComicBook/AmalgamUniverse'' is a native of Egypt. Her original components, ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} and ComicBook/{{Elektra}}, were respectively American and Greek.

* ''Series/RuyisRoyalLoveInThePalace'': Xiangjian's historical counterpart [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rong_Fei Consort Rong]] was an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs Uyghur.]] The Uyghurs are currently being treated horrifically by the [=CCP=], so to be politically correct the series-makers made Xiangjian a member of a fictional ethnicity.
* In the 1954 US television adaptation of ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'', Franchise/JamesBond was an American agent called Jimmy Bond, and American Felix Leiter was now British and called Clarence Leiter (but played by an Australian).
* In ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld'', Malone is American, but the character was Irish in [[Literature/TheLostWorld1912 the original novel]]. He was also Canadian in the 1992 film adaptation.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': Due to the setting change, a lot of characters are turned American, such as Watson (who also received a RaceLift and GenderFlip) and Captain Gregson.
* Meanwhile, in ''{{Series/Sherlock}}'', Irene Adler goes from being an American in the books to English in the show, and the King of Bohemia is replaced by an unnamed British royal. Henry Baskerville is Canadian in the books, but his ''Sherlock'' counterpart, Henry Knight, is British.

* Trillian is English in the original ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978'' radio series, but American in the [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981 TV version]]. Creator/DouglasAdams later said that Sandra Dickinson could do a perfect English accent if asked, but the TroubledProduction was such that no-one thought of it. She is also American in the [[Film/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005 film]], portrayed by Creator/ZooeyDeschanel.

* In Creator/DCComics, Andrea Rojas is a member of Mexico's national superhero team, but in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' she's American. The nationality of the ''Series/Supergirl2015'' version has yet to be revealed (although her company's headquarters is in Argentina and she's played by an Argentine-American actress).
* In ''Series/{{Titans|2018}}'', ComicBook/LexLuthor's {{Bodyguard Babe|s}} Mercy Graves is British rather than American. And William Wintergreen is American rather than British.

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': Along with some adaptational socioeconomic class. While ComicBook/ThePenguin is usually an ImpoverishedPatrician of British or American origin, this version is Hungarian on his mother's side and has been raised by her his whole life in relative poverty. He is still presumably American on his father's side, however, as he is [[BastardBastard the product of a poor immigrant cook and the heir to a wealthy and reclusive Gothamite family.]]
* While ''many'' characters in ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010'' are portrayed by British actors, Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko is notable for being the only one to use her natural accent in the role. Since basically every character in [[ComicBook/TheWalkingDead the source material]] is presumably American (specifically, from the south-eastern United States) unless specified otherwise, this trope is likely in play for her.
* ''{{Series/Legion|2017}}'':
** Charles Xavier is an American in the comics, but his TV counterpart is an Englishman who speaks with a refined English accent, and he was a British army officer during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. When discussing tomatoes with his LoveInterest and hearing her pronounce it as "to-may-to", his response is, "Well, we say 'to-mah-to'." (The "we" refers to the British.)
** The comic book version of Gabrielle is an Israeli Jew, but her TV iteration is Romani with no fixed abode.
** By extension, their son David is an American of English and Romani descent on the show instead of being a British-Israeli of American and Jewish descent.
** The original Amahl Farouk is Egyptian, whereas the live-action character is Moroccan.
* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'':
** In the novel, Louis de Pointe du Lac was born in France and later moved to the French colony of Louisiana, and when he was turned into a vampire in 1791, it was still under French rule, so he had spent his whole human lifespan as a French citizen. In the TV adaptation, Louis is an American who was born in New Orleans in 1877.
** The show's Antoinette Brown, the GenderFlip of her book counterpart Antoine, is American instead of French.
* In [[InternationalCoproduction British-American]] ''Ragdoll'' (made for Creator/{{AMC}} and the UK's Alibi, Creator/LucyHale plays an LAPD cop who's transferred to London's Metropolitan Police; in the novel her character was a Brit.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': In the comics, Frenchie was hinted to be a Brit who had an obsession with France. Here he is from Algeria, which as a former French colony has French as a common language.
* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': In the [[Literature/GoodOmens original novel]], Anathema Device is British. In the series, while she's still of British descent (as her ancestor was Agnes Nutter, a witch from 17th century England), she's now American instead, having grown up in California.
* ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'':
** The Brain traditionally is French, but in this continuity speaks with an American accent.
** This continuity's interpretation of Madame Rouge is Scottish rather than French.

* In a stage adaptation of ''[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'', Henry Baskerville changes from Canadian to American for no particular reason.
* The stage version of ''Theatre/MoulinRouge'' changes Christian from British to American.

* In ''[[Theatre/TheMaidOfOrleansTchaikovsky The Maid of Orleans (Tchaikovsky)]]'', Lionel is a Burgundian knight rather than an Englishman like in the original play by Schiller.

* In the original ''VideoGame/SniperElite'', Karl Fairburne was a German-American. In the reboot series, namely ''VideoGame/SniperElite4'', Karl is instead German-British, but raised in the United States.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' and ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'':
** Because of the political tensions with South Africa at the time over issues like apartheid, Flintheart Glomgold is Scottish instead of South African in the [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 original show]]. As a MythologyGag, the [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 2017 reboot]] has him exaggerate his Scottish tendencies to a truly ludicrous degree [[spoiler:because he actually ''[[SubvertedTrope is]]'' South African, and assumed a fake Scottish persona to [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame one-up Scrooge in as many ways as possible]]]].
** Magica [=DeSpell=] was Italian in the original comics. Where she was from was [[NonSpecificallyForeign more vague]] in the series, with Creator/JuneForay using a [[{{Ruritania}} vaguely Slavic]] accent much like Natasha from ''Rocky and Bullwinkle''. Catherine Tate uses her natural British accent in the 2017 series.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'':
** In the ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comics, ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} originally hailed from England. In the cartoon, Cheetah is voiced by Creator/SherylLeeRalph, who uses her natural American accent.
** In the ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' comics, Plastique is a former terrorist from Quebec. Her animated counterpart instead speaks with an accent that suggests she's from somewhere in the Southern United States.
* In ''WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries'', the Beetle (an American in the comics) is British and has a distinct Liverpudlian accent (as a ShoutOut to [[Music/TheBeatles a certain famous band from that area]]).
* A retroactive example is found in the CINAR and [=DiC=] ''WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}}'' cartoons. Like most of the other characters, Madeline is portrayed with a French accent. But ''Madeline in America'', a discarded manuscript from the '50s by original author Ludwig Bemelmans that was eventually completed and published by his grandson in 1999, reveals that Bemelmans envisioned her as American, with the last name "Fogg" and with family in Texas. Meanwhile, the [[Film/{{Madeline}} 1998 live-action film]] portrays her with a British accent, though it's not clear whether she's actually supposed to be British or whether it's a case of TranslationConvention.
* In the original 1978 ''Film/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'' film, the sole female member of the Killer Tomato Task Force was a German athlete named Greta Attenbaum. In the '90s animated series, she is Russian and [[AdaptationNameChange renamed]] Mary Jo Nagamininashy.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'' sees Breaker changed from an American to an English college student.

* In Creator/MarvelComics, Lancaster Sneed/Shockwave is British, originally appearing in ''ComicBook/ShangChi'' as the nephew of [[Literature/FuManchu Denis Nayland-Smith]]. In ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'', he's an Australian.
* Downplayed with Calamity Jane in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfCalamityJane'', who changed areas rather than countries. She grew up in both Portsmouth, Rhode Island and Atlanta, Georgia. The real Calamity Jane is from Missouri.
* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': Leon Belmont, the [[OurFounder founder of the Belmont clan]], was of vague, unclear European origin in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence''. In the show, he is explicitly said to be French when someone comments his name sounds unusually non-Romanian. By extension, Trevor and his whole family who are Romanian-born have French descent because of their ancestor.
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' does this a lot, especially in the third season, which presents its SuperhumanTrafficking plot as a worldwide problem. For example, major character Halo becomes a {{Qurac}}i refugee living in the fictional Eastern European nation of Vlatava, Wendy "Windfall" Jones has an Australian accent and Dolphin is Indian.
* Very prevalent in ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh''--the clones of famous people from around the world are all portrayed as American teenagers.
* ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' plays with this in regards to Mr. Toad. In ''ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison'', where he debuted, he was depicted with a Cockney accent. In the show, he's voiced by Creator/UdoKier, thus like all characters played by Kier, he sports Kier's German accent and additionally, Toad's modeled on an African giant toad.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jellystone}}'':
** El Kabong is now actually Hispanic, with a Brazilian voice actor.
** Conversely, Bobbie (Baba) Looey is no longer Mexican. She's now Cuban according to WordOfSaintPaul.
** The Great Gazoo is now German instead of British.
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPugwash'': Tom the Cabin-Boy is portrayed with an English Home Counties accent in the first two television adaptations, and with an Irish accent in the 1997 series.
* The unnamed Scientist Supreme of A.I.M. in ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' has a strong Scottish accent. A.I.M's Scientist Supreme in the comics have all been American except for one Russian, and physically, the animated Scientist Supreme resembles George Clinton, one of the Americans.
* In the comics, the Brain is depicted as French, just like his [[InterspeciesRomance partner]], Monsieur Mallah. In ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'', he's depicted as [[HerrDoktor German]].

* In ''[[Roleplay/TimelineNES]]'', [[WebAnimation/ONELiamPlecak]] is British instead of American as in the series he originally is from.

** In the comics, [[ComicBook/BaronZemo Helmut Zemo]] is German, and the son of a Nazi war criminal. In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', he hails from Sokovia, much like the Maximoffs, but retains his distinctly German first name and is played by Spanish-German actor Creator/DanielBruhl.

* In ''[[Roleplay/Timeline-NES]]'', [[WebAnimation/ONE Liam Plecak]] is British, instead of American as in the series he originally is from.

** In the Post-Flashpoint universe, ''ComicBook/FirestormDCComics,'' Firehawk is a Frenchwoman who is the official Firestorm Effect of the French Government. In the original continuity, she was an American who was given Firestorm's powers by a villain.

* In the 1954 US television adaptation of ''Literature/CasinoRoyale,'' Franchise/JamesBond was an American agent called Jimmy Bond, and American Felix Leiter was now British and called Clarence Leiter (but played by an Australian).

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire,'' Tyrion's mistress Shae is a Westerosi woman with her dialogue written in working-class English dialect. In the TV adaptation ''Series/GameOfThrones'', she is played by Turkish-German actress Creator/SibelKekilli and is initially only identified as NonSpecificallyForeign. In Season 2, she is revealed to hail from the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture quasi-Mediterranean]] city of Lorath, which was likely done to account for the fact that she shares her accent with Jaqen H'ghar, a Lorathi character also played by a German actor.

** Charles Xavier is an American in the comics, but his TV counterpart is an Englishman who speaks with a refined English accent, and he was a British army officer during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. When discussing tomatoes with his LoveInterest and hearing her pronounce it as "to-may-to," his response is, "Well, we say 'to-mah-to'." (The "we" refers to the British.)

* In a stage adaptation of ''[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Hound of the Baskervilles]],'' Henry Baskerville changes from Canadian to American for no particular reason.

** ''Anime/GunXSword'' has been consistently subjected to this in all of its mainline appearances, as its characters were originally from a faraway planet called "Endless Illusion," but are always changed to being from Earth. In ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK K]]'', they come from an Earth different from the one where most of the cast come from, while in ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT T]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30 30]]'', they are from a terraformed Mars.

* Very prevalent in WesternAnimation/CloneHigh--the clones of famous people from around the world are all portrayed as American teenagers.

Sub-trope to AdaptationalDiversity. Compare with RaceLift, which changes the character's ethnicity rather than country of origin (although these may overlap) and FakeNationality. A ForeignRemake will usually do a nationality change on the entire cast, as does a ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange.

* Samantha, a character in the ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' series ''WebAnimation/StoriesOfSodor'' originally lived in Wales (and has an accent to match). Her counterpart in ''Fanfic/SodorsLegendOfTheLostTreasureBadEnding'' lived in England before arriving on Sodor.

** Cammy White is played by the Australian Music/KylieMinogue, but is English in the original ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', and in the later games her stages are set in London.
** Guile is more an example of NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent; Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme has played mostly non-Belgian characters throughout his career, the usual explanation being a Cajun or French-Canadian background.

* ''Zatoichi and the Flying Guillotine'', an unauthorized Taiwanese take on the ''{{Franchise/Zatoichi}}'' franchise makes the titular iconic Japanese character a native Chinese, who was only [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers captured]] by pirates as a child and then raised in Japan.

** Pre-Crisis Kristin Wells was an Earthwoman descendant of ComicBook/JimmyOlsen. In Post-Crisis Franchise/{{Superman}} story arc ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'', she's a Kryptonian woman whose real name is Karsta Wor-Ul.

** ComicBook/PeggyCarter was American in the original ''Franchise/CaptainAmerica'' comics, but is British in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' and ''Series/AgentCarter''.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

* [[Franchise/XMen The X-Men's]] Wolverine was given an Australian accent in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' and the 1989 animated pilot ''WesternAnimation/PrydeOfTheXMen'' instead of his usual Canadian origins.