History Main / InNameOnly

* An ongoing [[BrokenBase fandom debate]] revolves around whether ''VideoGame/SilentHill4: The Room'' is such a sequel, as it was originally intended as a separate title. On the one hand, Team Silent did make the game; it was turned into a ''Franchise/SilentHill'' project early in development, and there's no denying the similar concepts and atmosphere. On the other hand, most of the in-depth story connections to the rest of the series were only added later via an [[AllThereInTheManual official Konami website]], in [[NoExportForYou Japanese]], making their canonical value debatable. However, it should be noted that there are numerous direct connections and references to the first three games in the actual in-game story. Examples include the mention that Walter was essentially brainwashed by Dahlia, the main character's landlord being the father of James Sunderland of Silent Hill 2 fame, and the eponymous room having once been occupied by Joseph Schreiber, who's article about the Order can be found and read in Silent Hill 3. On that note, the article from Silent Hill 3 (which can also be read in The Room) describes the Wish House Orphanage and the Water Prison, both of which are major gameplay locations in the Fourth installment.

* When the GameBoy Advance franchise {{Boktai}} finally got a DS port it was almost completely different from the original in every way. 90% of the SpaghettiWestern elements were removed, there was no continuity of plot from the original game series, and most tellingly the game no longer had to be played outside in direct sunlight to access certain abilities (though that one at least is probably for the best). The only major similarity is that the two main characters, Django and Sabata, retain their names and appearances (and even they were renamed in certain localizations) but they both have entirely new backstories and motivations.

* Speaking of which, this was sort of the case with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2''. The game was originally a Japanese game called ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'' with the main characters replaced by more familiar ones for an American release. Most fans of the franchise don't even consider the game cannon.

* Speaking of which, this was sort of the case with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2''. The game was originally a Japanese game called ''Dream Factory'' with the main characters replaced by more familiar ones for an American release. Most fans of the franchise don't even consider the game cannon.

* Website/PlatypusComix's longest-running series, ''Webcomic/ScrambledEggs'', received inspiration from a juvenile fiction novel titled ''Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs'', but the cartoonist says the only similarities the current comic and the novel have are some characters' names and the use of "No kidding!" as a CatchPhrase.

* The trend over the last decade to produce in-name-only remakes of 1970s-era series has led to new versions of things like ''BionicWoman'', ''{{McCloud}}'' and ''{{Kojak}}'', that tended to port over character names but little else (including the formulas that made the original shows successes). A new in-name-only remake of ''{{Ironside}}'' has been announced for the fall of 2013 as the trend continues.

* The ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' [[Film/ResidentEvil movies]] got the ''look'' of the games down for the most part. Too bad they threw out the plot, characterization, atmosphere, and everything else that makes the games so enjoyable. The movies should have been called "The [[GodModeSue Amazing Alice's]] [[WaifFu Kung-Fu Adventures]] in {{Zombie|Apocalypse}} [[Film/TheMatrix MatrixLand]]." It would have made much more sense as a title ''and'' pissed off far fewer ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' fans.
** Which is such a shame, as the first few minutes of the first film really capture the 'feel' of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', only to have it immediately thrown away to move out of the mansion and onto the technological underground bunker.

* ''Film/IAmLegend'': The only thing the film and the book have in common is a disease that turns people into monsters. And even then they didn't get it quite right: the infected in the book are traditional vampires (which the book painstakingly comes up with scientific explanations for all their weaknesses: sunlight, aversion to mirrors and holy objects, garlic, staking) who are slow and stupid like zombies, while in the movie they are just hairless, pale cannibals like the monsters from TheDescent. In the new movie it's a virus, but in the old book, it was a type of bacteria. Also, a Caucasian-to-minority RaceLift for the main character, Robert Neville, who is nothing like the Neville of the book. Neville's unique immunity is just something that he was born with, and there are plenty of others who are also immune. The setting was a suburb in a small town, while the movie takes places in a desolated New York city. There is no Ben Cortman character (unless you count the nameless infected leader, and even then he shares nothing in common with the neighbor-turned vampire character from the book). There is no separate faction of intelligent, civilized vampires (maybe because they thought viewing audiences would be dense to understand that concept). The woman that Neville meets does not [[spoiler: turn out to be one of the intelligent vampires and betray him]]. Of course, ''I Am Legend'' isn't TheFilmOfTheBook so much as a remake of ''Film/TheOmegaMan'', which is ''itself'' an InNameOnly adaptation of the book ''Literature/IAmLegend''... Except for the name, of course, and the film gives the meaning of the title an entirely different meaning. Robert Neville is a legend because he developed a cure, while in the book Neville [[spoiler: is a legend because in a world inhabited entirely by vampires, the one normal human that hunts them is the monster. He walks in the daylight, he stalks them while they are sleeping and impales them to leave bloodless corpses behind. It makes him the "human Dracula" of this world]]. The original ending would've given it some connection with the book it was apparently based on, but that was changed too.

* ''Film/IAmLegend'': The original ending would've given it some connection with the book it was apparently based on, but that was changed too... now the only thing they have in common is a disease that turns people into monsters. And even then they didn't get it quite right: the infected in the book are traditional vampires (which the book painstakingly comes up with scientific explanations for all their weaknesses: sunlight, aversion to mirrors and holy objects, garlic, staking) who are slow and stupid like zombies, while in the movie they are just hairless, pale cannibals like the monsters from TheDescent. In the new movie it's a virus, but in the old book, it was a type of bacteria. Also, a Caucasian-to-minority RaceLift for the main character, Robert Neville, who is nothing like the Neville of the book. Neville's unique immunity is just something that he was born with, and there are plenty of others who are also immune. The setting was a suburb in a small town, while the movie takes places in a desolated New York city. There is no Ben Cortman character (unless you count the nameless infected leader, and even then he shares nothing in common with the neighbor-turned vampire character from the book). There is no separate faction of intelligent, civilized vampires (maybe because they thought viewing audiences would be dense to understand that concept). The woman that Neville meets does not [[spoiler: turn out to be one of the intelligent vampires and betray him]]. Of course, ''I Am Legend'' isn't TheFilmOfTheBook so much as a remake of ''Film/TheOmegaMan'', which is ''itself'' an InNameOnly adaptation of the book ''Literature/IAmLegend''... Except for the name, of course, and the film gives the meaning of the title an entirely different meaning. Robert Neville is a legend because he developed a cure, while in the book Neville [[spoiler: is a legend because in a world inhabited entirely by vampires, the one normal human that hunts them is the monster. He walks in the daylight, he stalks them while they are sleeping and impales them to leave bloodless corpses behind. It makes him the "human Dracula" of this world]].

* ''Film/IAmLegend'': The original ending would've given it some connection with the book it was apparently based on, but that was changed too... now the only thing they have in common is a disease that turns people into monsters. And even then they didn't get it quite right. In the new movie it's a virus, but in the old book, it was a type of bacteria. Also, a Caucasian-to-minority RaceLift for the main character, Robert Neville. Of course, ''I Am Legend'' isn't TheFilmOfTheBook so much as a remake of ''Film/TheOmegaMan'', which is ''itself'' an InNameOnly adaptation of the book ''Literature/IAmLegend''... Except for the name, of course.

** Which is such a shame, as the first few minutes of the film really capture the 'feel' of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', only to have it immediately thrown away to move out of the mansion and onto the technological underground bunker.

* According to [[http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-twilight-that-almost-was.html this article]], the film adaptation of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would have become this]]. ExecutiveMeddling at Paramount was originally planning to turn ''Twilight'' into a far more action-heavy movie -- think ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' [[RecycledInSpace in high school]] -- in order to bring in more male viewers. Bella was made into a far more active character (she was written as a track star) who fought back against the vampires, and gets turned into one herself in the first movie. AnyoneCanDie was in full effect, with Bella's dad dying by the end of the movie. A Korean FBI vampire hunter was introduced [[UnfortunateImplications as an antagonist]], and one scene had vampires picking off members of a SWAT team sent into a forest after them. Creator/StephenieMeyer decided to pull an ExecutiveVeto on that idea and, instead, sold the rights to Summit, which made an adaptation that was far more faithful to the novel.

* Subverted in the NES Game "Journey to Silius". Released in 1990 by Sunsoft and Tokai Engineering, the game was originally based on the 1984 film The Terminator, but Sunsoft lost the licensing privileges during development when the game was largely completed. Sunsoft went back, changed a few sprites and official story, but leaving the levels largely intact. Playing through the game shows a deep influence of the movie on the game.

** speaking of ''ComicStrip/LittleLulu'', the orignal cartoons produced by FamousStudios in the 1940s were barely true to the comics, keeping only the title character Lulu (though [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra some of her friends did appear in a few shorts. very few though.]] And that's about it.

** speaking of ''ComicStrip/LittleLulu'', the orignal cartoons produced by FamousStudios in the 1940s were barely true to the comics, keeping only the title character Lulu (though [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra some of her friends did appear in a few shorts. very few though.]] And that's about it.

** speaking of ''ComicStrip/LittleLulu'', the orignal cartoons produced by FamousStudios in the 1940s were barely true to the comics, keeping only the title character Lulu (though [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra some of her friends did appear in a few shorts. very few though.]] And that's about it.

** ''WesternAnimation/SonicSATAM'' also fits the bill. Aside from Sonic, Robotnik, a few token appearances by Tails, the rings, and Buzzbombers, there wasn't much to tie it to the games.

* Robo Bando is this to ''Manga/ElfenLied'' [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7444084/Robo-Bando]]

* Despite the title and what the credits claim, ''Anime/RomeoXJuliet'' has nothing to do with Shakespeare's Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet aside of the characters' names (but not their personalities). The setting was also retained, and the English version made use of some Shakespearean dialogue.