History Main / TranslationMatchmaking

* When Creator/WestoneBitEntertainment's ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' and ''Monster World'' were released in the West, the latter became ''VideoGame/WonderBoyInMonsterLand''. Its sequel Monster World II became ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap''. When the series picked up steam again in 2017, they StoppedNumberingSequels (and remakes).

* The Zombi movies get even worse. Zombi is the Italian name for Film/DawnOfTheDead1978. Film/Zombi2 (1979) is an unrelated Lucio Fulci movie. Film/Zombi3D (Zombi 3 1984) was at least done by Fulci until he got replaced. But, at least five other movies released before it were also called some variation of Zombi 3. It gets so ridiculous that the Spanish movie Vengeance of the Zombies (1973) (La rebelión de las muertas) is also distributed as BOTH Zombi 5 and Zombi 9. Oh, and another name for Film/BeyondtheDarkness above? Zombi 10.

* The Zombi movies get even worse. Zombi is the Italian name for Film/DawnOfTheDead1978 (1978). Film/Zombi2 (1979) is an unrelated Lucio Fulci movie. Film/Zombi3D (Zombi 3 1984) was at least done by Fulci until he got replaced. But, at least five other movies released before it were also called some variation of Zombi 3. It gets so ridiculous that the Spanish movie Vengeance of the Zombies (1973) (La rebelión de las muertas) is also distributed as BOTH Zombi 5 and Zombi 9. Oh, and another name for Film/BeyondtheDarkness above? Zombi 10.

* The Italian name for Film/EvilDead is the House (La Casa). The House 2 is Film/EvilDead2, fair enough. La Casa 3 was an unrelated Italian film released in the United States as "Ghost House". La Casa 4 and 5 were also unrelated Italian features called Witchery and Film/BeyondTheDarkness respectively in the States. La Casa 6 and 7 were Film/HouseIITheSecondStory and House III. So, that's at least 3 completely unrelated film series all jammed together as one!

* The Italian name for /Film/EvilDead is the House (La Casa). The House 2 is Film/EvilDead2, fair enough. La Casa 3 was an unrelated Italian film released in the United States as "Ghost House". La Casa 4 and 5 were also unrelated Italian features called Witchery and Film/BeyondTheDarkness respectively in the States. La Casa 6 and 7 were Film/HouseIITheSecondStory and House III. So, that's at least 3 completely unrelated film series all jammed together as one!

* The movie ''Film/{{Outlander}}'' is bizarrely titled in Mexican Spanish ''La Tierra Media y El Tesoro del Dragon Solitario'' (''Middle Earth and the Treasure of the Lonely Dragon''), which is inexplicable unless it is meant as a preemptive case of this trope regarding the ''The Hobbit'' movie.

* ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'' and ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' were originally two unrelated arcade games titled ''Senjō no Ōkami'' (literally "Wolf of the Battlefield") and ''Top Secret'' respectively in Japanese. Capcom USA would try to justify the connection between the two by claiming that the protagonist in the latter was Super Joe after being given a bionic arm, which was really just a grappling hook attached to his regular arm. The later NES version of ''Bionic Commando'' would try to solidify the connection between the two games by having the actual Super Joe around as a supporting character helping out new protagonist Rad Spencer. Ironically, ''Mercs'', which was the actual sequel to ''Commando'' (the Japanese title is ''Senjō no Ōkami II''), was mainly treated as a different IP overseas and it wasn't until recent years that Capcom would try to tie ''Mercs'' into the ''Bionic Commando'' series by claiming that Super Joe was really just a codename for Joseph Gibson, the Player 1 character in ''Mercs'', and even adding the subtitle "Wolf of the Battlefield" to the Wii Virtual Console release of the Genesis port of ''Mercs''.

* Sunsoft, who produced the NES port of the original ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'', later developed ''Battle Formula'', which was retitled ''Super Spy Hunter'' in English.

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' is known as ''Gloutons & Dragons'' (''Gluttons & Dragons'') in French, connecting it to ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' by way of the manga's adventure-friendly and campaign-styled premise. While the reference was present in the English title (it can be [[FunWithAcronyms abbreviated]] to ''D in D'', a soundalike of D&D), it was also a more covert example.

* The three ''VideoGame/{{SaGa|RPG}}'' games for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy were retitled ''Franchise/FinalFantasy Legend'' in North American English, probably to capitalize on FF's fame (...''before VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', yes. Don't laugh...).

* ''VideoGame/BeyondOasis'' (a.k.a. ''The Story of Thor'') has nothing to do with the earlier UsefulNotes/GameGear game ''Defenders of Oasis'' (originally titled ''Shadam Crusader'' in Japanese) other than they were both [=RPGs=] published by Sega.

** Said name, of course, being an adaptation from the name of the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 version: '''''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''' Puzzle League''.

* ''Toshinden S'' was released internationally as ''VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden Remix''. Both titles indicate a "remixed" UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn version of the original Platform/PlayStation game, though the international title seems to have taken after another 3D FightingGame for the Saturn, ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Remix''.

** Later games in the series are localized under the ''River City'' branding (e.g. ''River City Soccer Hooligans'', ''River City Sports Challenge'') in the west since the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS entries, despite the series no longer receiving the same Americanization treatment that the original ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' received during its localization. Likewise, the Canadian-produced sequel ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansomUnderground'' became ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari Underground'' for its Japanese localization.

* Xicat Interactive localized the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast title ''Imperial no Taka: Fighter of Zero'' under the title ''Iron Aces''. A few years later, it would release ''Iron Aces 2: Birds of Prey'' for the [=PS2=], this time adapating ''Kuusen'', an unrelated game by a different developer. The only real similarities is that both games are low-budget flight combat simulations featuring World War II planes, though ''Imperial no Taka'' focuses on a FantasyConflictCounterpart of WWII while ''Kuusen'' goes for a "Chronological history of air combat" premise.
* For its North American release, the UsefulNotes/Sega32X ShootEmUp ''Parasquad'' was retitled ''VideoGame/{{Zaxxon}}'s Motherbase 2000''. The game has little to do with ''Zaxxon'' beyond being an isometric shooter developed by Sega.

* ''Toshinden S'' was released internationally as ''VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden Remix''. Both titles indicate a "remixed" UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn version of the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation game, though the international title seems to have taken after another 3D FightingGame for the Saturn, ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter Remix''.

* ''Hana no Keiji'' is translated in Italy as ''Keiji il magnifico'' (Keiji the Magnificent), which is very similar to ''Ken il Guerriero'' (Ken the Warrior), the Italian title of Tetsuo Hara's other hit manga ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''.

* The Chinese name for ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' is 魔法奇緣. And then ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' became 魔髮奇緣. The Hong Kong version for ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' is 魔雪奇緣 (mainland and Taiwan has the slightly less similar 冰雪奇緣). Roughly, these are ''Magic Enchantment Romance'', ''Magic Hair Romance'', and ''Magic Snow Romance''. Suffice to say Chinese translators love this trope to death.

* The Hong Kong name for ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' is 馴龍記 ("Taming of the Dragons"), similar to the common Chinese name for ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' (literally translated as 馴悍記).
* The Hong Kong name for ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' is 大英雄聯盟 ("League of Big/Great Heroes"), which has nothing to do with ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' (英雄聯盟, "League of Heroes"). And its name for Baymax is 醫神 ("Medicine God"), same as ''Series/{{House}}''.
* When ''WesternAnimation/FreeBirds'' was released in Italy, it was renamed "Tacchini in Fuga" ("Turkeys on the Run"), in hope to somehow relate it to "Galline in Fuga" ("Chickens on the Run"--''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'').
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'' is titled ''O Poderoso Chefinho'' ("The Powerful Little Boss") in Brazil, associating itself with ''Film/TheGodfather'' (''O Poderoso Chefão'', "The Powerful Big Boss").

* When ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' was released in Japan, it was retitled ''オリバー ニューヨーク子猫ものがたり'' ("Oliver: A New York Kitten's Story"), apparently associating itself with local hit ''Film/TheAdventuresOfMiloAndOtis'' (''子猫物語'', "A Kitten's Story").

* In France, ''Film/TheHangover'' was released under the "translated" title of ''Very Bad Trip'', apparently due to the similarity to the movie ''Film/VeryBadThings''. Likewise, ''Film/TheOtherGuys'' was rechristened ''Very Bad Cops'' and ''Film/{{Visioneers}}'' became ''Very Big Stress''.
* When ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' was released in France, the title was changed to ''Y a-t-il un pilote dans l'avion?'' (Is there a pilot onboard?). Most of the movies produced by the ZAZ trio afterwards were renamed so they'd begin the same way.

* In Mexico, ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' is titled ''¿Y donde esta el piloto?'' (''So Where's the Pilot?'') and subsequent ZAZ movies have been titled accordingly, for instance the ''Naked Gun'' movies are titled ''¿Y donde esta el policia?'' (''So Where's the Cop?''), and ''Film/WhiteChicks'' was titled ''¿Y dónde están las rubias?'' (''So Where are the Blondes?''). Similarly, ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' movies were called ''Loca Academia de Policia'' (''Insane Police Academy''), and the ''Film/HotShots'' movies were therefore titled ''Loca Academia de Pilotos'' (''Insane Pilot Academy''). Even ''Film/{{Repossessed}}'' was retroactively renamed ''¿Y donde está el exorcista?'' (''So where's the Exorcist?'')
* In Germany, ''Airplane'' was [[TheFantasticTropeOfWonderousTitles called]] ''Die unglaubliche Reise in einem verrückten Flugzeug'' (''The Incredible Journey in a Crazy Airplane''). Subsequently, ''Ruthless People'' was renamed ''Die unglaubliche Entführung der verrückten Mrs Stone'' (''The Incredible Kidnapping of the Crazy Mrs Stone''). The titles of the ''Naked Gun'' movies were translated literally; however, the TV show ''Series/PoliceSquad'', which came to Germany ''after'' the movies, was renamed ''Die nackte Pistole'' (''The Naked Pistol''). Also, ''S.P.Q.R. 2000 e 1/2 anni fa'', a completely unrelated Italian movie that had Leslie Nielsen in it, was retitled ''Die römische Kanone'' (''The Roman Gun'').
* In Spain, ''Airplane!'' was renamed ''Aterriza como puedas'' (Land as you can), ''Film/TheNakedGun'' became ''Agárralo como puedas'' (Catch [him] the way you can), and ''Film/SpyHard'' was ''Espia como puedas'' (Spy as you can). In fact, most comedies with Leslie Nielsen follow the "X como puedas" [[FollowTheLeader and even some unrelated ones]]: ''Film/JaneAustensMafia'', for instance, became ''Mafia, estafa como puedas'' ("Mafia, Con [someone] The Way You Can". One explanation might be that ''Mafia!'' features Nielsen's ''Airplane!'' co-star Lloyd Bridges).
* In Israel, Leslie Nielsen's comedies received the same treatment. ''Film/TheNakedGun'' was named ''The Gun Died Laughing'', and its sequels were named appropriately. Since then, other films would be translated as "The [something] Died Laughing"--''Film/SpyHard'' was named ''The Spy Died Laughing'', ''Film/WrongfullyAccused'', a parody of ''Film/TheFugitive'', was named ''The Fugitive Died Laughing'', and ''[[Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceTravesty 2001: A Space Travesty]]'' was named ''Space Died Laughing''.

* Leslie Nielsen's movies also had this happen in Japan. ''The Naked Gun'' was known as ''The Man With the Naked Gun'', a parody of the Bond movie title in Japanese as well as in English. ''Wrongfully Accused'' became ''The Fugitive With the Naked Gun'', ''Men with Brooms'' (a curling movie) was ''The Man With the Naked Stone'', and even his earlier movies were renamed on video, so that 1990’s ''Film/{{Repossessed}}'' became ''The Man With the Naked Crucifix''! Japanese translators went on to rename ''S.P.Q.R. 2000 e 1/2 Anni Fa'' (an Italian film that he starred in) to ''Leslie Nielsen: The Naked Roman Empire'', and ''Santa Who?'' to ''Leslie Nielsen: The Naked Santa Claus''.
* ''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceTravesty'' was retitled in Italy ''2001: Un'astronave spuntata nello spazio'' (literally: "A Dull Spaceship in Space") in order to follow the Italian title of the ''Naked Gun'' movies, ''Una pallottola spuntata'' (literally: "A Dull Bullet").
* ''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceTravesty'' was renamed "The Sixth Element" in Russia in order to cash in on the popularity of ''Film/TheFifthElement''.
* Translators of comedy titles into Latin American Spanish are obsessed with the concept of "Loco" (Insane). The Police Academy case is well-known, but Creator/MelBrooks movies are frequent victims of this: ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' was changed to ''La loca historia del mundo'' ("The Insane History of the World"), ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' turned into ''La loca historia de las galaxias'' ("The Insane Story of the Galaxies"), ''Film/SilentMovie'' was known as ''La última locura'' ("The Last Insanity"), and ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' was changed to ''Las locas, locas aventuras de Robin Hood'' ("The Insane, Insane Adventures of Robin Hood"). The last one may derive from the fact that "loca" (crazy lady) is a common way to refer to a flamboyant gay man in Latin American Spanish (similar to the use of "queer" in English), making it also a PunBasedTitle.
* Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg movies in Latin America are put through the ''Una Loca Película De X'' (An Insane X Movie) formula. ''Film/VampiresSuck'' is ''Una Loca Película de Vampiros'', ''Film/MeetTheSpartans'' is ''Una Loca Película de Esparta'', and ''Film/EpicMovie'' is ''Una Loca Película Épica''.

* In Finland, ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' is known as ''Hei, me lennetään'' (Hey, we're flying). The "Hey, we're..." title format has since been used for numerous other parody movies, with e.g. ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'' becoming ''Hei, me rokataan'' (Hey, we're rocking).
* ''Film/DanceFlick'' was released in France as ''Dance Movie''.
* ''Film/ShriekIfYouKnowWhatIDidLastFridayTheThirteenth'' was retitled in Sweden to ''Scary Video'', an obvious nod to ''Film/ScaryMovie''.
* After ''Film/HomeAlone'' became a hit in Spain under the title ''Solo en casa'', Macaulay Culkin's earlier movie ''Film/UncleBuck'' was released there with the title ''Solos con nuestro tío'' ("Alone with our uncle") to suggest a connection.
* In the same spirit, another film of Macaulay Culkin, ''Film/RichieRich'', was released in Czechia with the title ''Sám doma a bohatý'' ("Home Alone and Rich").

* ''Film/FistOfFury'', another Creator/BruceLee film, was retitled ''The Chinese Connection'' (after ''Film/TheFrenchConnection''). The title (''Chinese Connection'') was actually intended for ''Film/TheBigBoss'' (since the plot of that film involved drug trafficking), but the American distributor messed up and ended up switching the titles for both films by mistake.

** After ''Film/TheProducers'' (in Swedish "Det våras för Hitler", referring to the ShowWithinAShow "Springtime for Hitler") all Creator/MelBrooks movies were titled similarly. The Swedish movie titles translate back into "Springtime for Space" (''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', "Springtime for the Sheriff" (''Film/BlazingSaddles''), etc. This didn't end until ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', which had a direct translation.

* The movie ''Film/{{Outlander}}'' is bizarrely titled in Mexico ''La Tierra Media y El Tesoro del Dragon Solitario'' (''Middle Earth and the Treasure of the Lonely Dragon''), which is inexplicable unless it is meant as a preemptive case of this trope regarding the ''The Hobbit'' movie.
* In Japan, ''Film/NapoleonDynamite'' is known as ''Bus Man'' in a blatant attempt to ride on the coattails of ''Literature/{{Train Man|2004}}'', though it was later reverted to its original English name after the backlash that ensued.
* ''Film/GameraVsViras'' was released in the U.S. by [[Creator/AmericanInternationalPictures AIP-TV]] as ''Destroy All Planets'', in obvious imitation of ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters''.
* The Soviet film ''Film/IvanVasilievichChangesProfession'' was translated as ''Ivan Vasilevich: Back to the Future''.'' Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' and ''Ivan Vasilevich'' are mainly related in that they have to do with time traveling.
* In France, ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'' is titled ''L'incroyable destin de Harold Crick'', which imitates the original French title of ''Film/{{Amelie}}'', ''Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain''.
* The Soviet-Finnish film ''Sampo'' was released in the US as ''Film/TheDayTheEarthFroze'', coming after not only ''Film/{{The Day the Earth Stood Still|1951}}'' but also ''Film/TheDayTheEarthCaughtFire''.
* The Dutch action film ''Film/VetHard'' was released in the US as "Too Fat Too Furious", an obvious nod to ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious''. The only similarity is that both are action films that have car crashes. [[note]]- The original Dutch title would ''literally'' translate to "fat hard" but is a slang term for something roughly in between "awesomely cool", "tough stuff" and "Up To Eleven", and as such is hard to translate -[[/note]]

* In Italy, ''Film/HighNoon'' was renamed "Mezzogiorno di fuoco" ("Fiery Noon"); some time later, ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' was renamed with a similar title, "Mezzogiorno e mezzo di fuoco", literally "Fiery Noon and a Half".

* For unclear reasons, ''Film/BatteriesNotIncluded'' was renamed to the equivalent of "Miracle on 8th Street"--which sounds just like ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet''--in just about every country where it was released, including France (''Miracolo sull'8° strada''), Germany (''Das Wunder in der 8. Straße''), Latin America (''Milagro en la calle 8''), South Korea (''8-beongaui Gijeok''), Italy (''Miracolo sull'8ª strada''), and Japan (''New York Higashi 8-bangai no Kiseki'').

* In Mexico, the Creator/DannyDeVito's film ''Screwed'' was translated as ''Y tu Abuelita Tambien'' (And Your Granny Too) after the Mexican film ''Film/YTuMamaTambien''.
* ''Film/{{Torque}}'' is ''Fury on Two Wheels'' in Argentina and ''Torque - The Fastest Law'' in Portugal, implying it to be part of the ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' franchise. One bootleg is called ''3 Fast 3 Furious''.
* In Germany, ''Film/DeathWish1974'' became ''Ein Mann sieht Rot'' ("A Man Sees Red"). Subsequently ''Lipstick'' became ''Eine Frau sieht Rot'' ("A Woman Sees Red") and ''The Star Chamber'' became ''Ein Richter sieht Rot'' ("A Judge Sees Red").
* Brazil has a few:

* ''El Ratón Pérez'', a 2006 Argentine 3D-animated film about a mythical mouse from Spanish folklore similar to the Tooth fairy, was renamed in Poland to "Stefan Malutki" (''Stephen Little'') to mimick ''Film/StuartLittle''.
** And ''[[ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon The Big Adventure of Mortadelo and Filemón]]'', a 2003 Spanish comedy based on popular comic book series was renamed for unknown reasons in Poland to... "Liga najgłupszych dżentelmenów" (''[[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen The League Of The Dumbest Gentlemen ]]'').

* The straight-to-video movie ''InterviewWithAHitman'' is known as ''Hitman Reloaded'' in Japan and Australia, despite being unrelated to the 2007's film adaptation of the ''Film/{{Hitman}}'' videogame series.
* After ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' was released in France as ''La Folle Histoire du Monde'' ("The mad history of the world"), Creator/MelBrooks's next movie ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' was released as ''La Folle Histoire de l'Espace'' ("The mad (hi)story of space").
* Speaking of ''Spaceballs'', in Italy the sci-fi comedy "Martians Go Home" was released as "Balle Spaziali 2: la vendetta" (''Spaceballs 2: The Revenge''). It goes without saying that these movies are totally unrelated.
* Yet another Mel Brooks case, this time in Brazil: ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' was ''Banzé no Oeste'' ("A Mess in the West"), so when ''Film/TheTwelveChairs'', an earlier movie of his that hadn't hit the country yet, arrived, it became ''Banzé na Rússia'' ("A Mess In Russia").
* After the ''Film/ScaryMovie'' series of horror spoofs, Italy renamed other genre parodies with "(Something) Movie" titles, for example ''Film/StanHelsing'' became "Horror Movie" and ''Film/AHauntedHouse'' became "Ghost Movie".

* A few countries made sure to point out how ''Film/RatRace'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'': Latin America had "The World Is Mad Mad" in Spanish and "Everybody's Gone Mad" in Brazil, while Portugal was "Everything's Mad!" and Greece, "Mad Treasure Hunt".
* ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'' in Poland had the subtitle ''Policjanci z jajami'', meaning "Cops with balls" but pronounced similarly to ''Policjanci z Miami'' ("Cops from Miami"), the Polish title of ''Series/MiamiVice''.

* In Nepal, ''Film/AbraxasGuardianOfTheUniverse'' was billed as the 9th film in the ''Film/{{Zombie}}'' series, despite not even having any zombies in it.
* In Slovenia, ''Film/{{Keoma}}'' was billed as a sequel to ''Film/{{Django}}''.
* ''Film/BlackSunday'' was billed as ''The Hour When Dracula Comes'' in the German-speaking world, despite {{Dracula}} having nothing to do with it.

* ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' is ''Public Enemy of The Country'' (国家公敌) in China, and ''Public Enemy of All People'' (全民公敵) in Taiwan. ''Film/IRobot'' is called ''Robotic Public Enemies'' (機械公敵) in Taiwan, because of ''Creator/WillSmith'' starring in both films.
* ''Film/StoneCold'' was retitled in connection to Marvel character ComicBook/ThePunisher in Brazil.
* In Italy the ''Film/FatAlbert'' movie was renamed ''Il mio grosso grasso amico Albert'', or "My Big Fat Friend Albert", a clear pun on ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding''. The only relation the two films have is that they share the director. To put it in perspective, the original cartoon was retitled in Italy "Albertone", or "Big Albert".
* The Spanish horror-comedy ''Lobos de Arga'' was retitled ''Game of Werewolves'' for the US release, presumably to make viewers think it had something to do with ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
* Do yourself a favor and do not, under any circumstances, play a drinking game of how many comedy films have been retitled in Latin America as "Crazy" something (ex. ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' as "Crazy Police Academy" and ''Film/{{RV}}'' as "Crazy Vacation on Wheels"). You ''will'' drop dead.

* ''Film/DumbAndDumber'' was retitled ''Creator/JimCarrey wa Mr. Dumber'' (''Jim Carrey is Mr. Dumber'') in Japan, which is likely a reference to ''Mr. Mom'', with the only connection between two being the fact that they both feature Creator/JeffDaniels. ''Trial & Error'', another unrelated movie with Jeff Daniels, was later released as ''Mr. Dumber 2 1/2''.

* ''[[LovecraftOnFilm The Resurrected]]'', a film adaptation of Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/TheCaseOfCharlesDexterWard'' received in German-speaking markets the title ''[[Franchise/EvilDead Evil Dead: The Seeds of Evil]]'', which even reused the cover art from ''Evil Dead 2''.

* ''Film/{{Django}}'' became ''Zoku Koya no Yojimbo'' (a sequel to ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'') in Japan, and, interestingly enough, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' in Taiwan.
* ''Film/BrideOfTheMonster'' became ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'s Bride'' in Greece.
* ''Film/FrostbiterWrathOfTheWendigo'' became ''Another Franchise/EvilDead Chapter: Frostbiter'' in Japan.
* ''Film/TheVampire'' became ''Literature/{{Dracula}}: Always at Nightfall'' in Germany.
* ''Film/MarsAttacks'' became ''Franchise/StarWars Destroyer'' in Taiwan.

* ''Film/CemeteryMan'' became ''Film/{{Demons}} '95'' in Japan.

* ''Film/DeepRed'' became ''Film/{{Suspiria|1977}} Part 2'' in Japan.
* ''Film/OneMansJustice'' was listed as a sequel to ''Film/StoneCold'' in Portugal and Spain.
* ''Film/CannibalFerox'' became a sequel to ''The Man from Deep River'' in Australia.
* ''Film/EveryWhichWayButLoose'' became ''Dirty Fighter'' in Japan, a reference to Creator/ClintEastwood's Film/DirtyHarry film franchise. Its sequel, ''Film/AnyWhichWayYouCan'' becase ''Dirty Fighter: Moeyo Tekken''.
* ''Film/Absurd1981'' became ''[[Film/TheAnthropophagusBeast Anthropophagus]] 2'' in Russia.
* ''Film/FromBeyond'' is listed as a sequel to ''Film/ReAnimator'' in Thailand.
* ''Film/TheReef'' became ''Film/OpenWater: New Victims'' in Russia.
* ''Film/HollywoodChainsawHookers'' became ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre 3: The Final Massacre'' in Brazil.

* ''Film/AmericanCyborgSteelWarrior'' became ''Film/{{Cyborg|1989}} 2: Steel Warrior'' in Mexico.
* ''Film/CyborgSoldier'' became ''Film/{{Cyborg|1989}}: A Secret Weapon'' in Portugal.
* ''Film/TheAfflicted'' became ''[[Film/AnAmericanCrime Another American Crime]]'' in Germany.
* In Israel, ''Film/GrumpyOldMen'' became ''[[Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless The Old and the Restless]]''
* In New Zealand, ''Film/RaisingTheWind'' and ''The Big Job'' were released as ''Carry On Fiddling'' and ''Carry On Crooks''. While they were produced and directed by Creator/PeterRogersAndGeraldThomas, and do share many actors with the ''Film/CarryOnSeries'', they are not official entries in the ''Carry On'' series.

* In Spain, ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' was titled ''Embrujada'' and ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was ''Embrujada'''s'''''. Note the extra "s". And neither was 100% accurate (But acceptable, this trope aside).
** Same in Mexico. Bewitched is know as "Hechizada" and Charmed as "Hechiceras".
** In Finland Bewitched is known as ''Vaimoni on noita'' (''"My Wife Is a Witch"'') and Charmed as ''Siskoni on noita'' (''"My Sister Is a Witch"'').

** ''Series/RelicHunter'' was transated as ''Raiders of the Lost Relics (Elveszett Ereklyek Fosztogatoi)''

* In France, ''Series/HikariSentaiMaskman'' and ''Series/ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'' became ''Bioman 2: Maskman'' and ''Bioman 3: Liveman'' respectively, due to the fact that ''Series/ChoudenshiBioman'' was the first ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' series to air there. While they're technically part of the same franchise, none of them are actually set in the same universe (later crossover appearances notwithstanding). Same with the Philippines (Albeit in the commercials only), excluding Liveman, since that never aired there.
** ''Super Sentai'' is locally dubbed in South Korea under the ''Power Rangers'' brand since ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' (which was dubbed under the name of ''Power Rangers: Dino Thunder'', not to be confused with the actual ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder''). Before ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' began, dubbed versions of the 80s Sentai shows were aired in Korea starting with ''Series/DaiSentaiGoggleFive'', followed by every Sentai show between ''Series/ChoudenshiBioman'' and ''Series/KousokuSentaiTurboranger'', but then this was changed to ''Power Rangers'' dubs following ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' before switching back to Super Sentai dubs after the Korean dub of ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' ended.
* In Argentina, ''Series/StreetHawk'' became ''The Fantastic Motorcycle'', ''Series/KnightRider'' became ''The Fantastic Car'' and ''Series/AirWolf'' became ''The Fantastic Helicopter'', implying a connection between three very different series.
* In Brazil, the ''Series/MetalHeroes'' series ''Series/JikuuSenshiSpielban'' became ''[[Series/KyojuuTokusouJuspion Jaspion]] 2'', trying to pass up as a sequel to a previous Metal Hero who was really popular there.
* ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'' didn't air in Italy until the success of ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'', starring ''Kotter'''s breakthrough star Creator/JohnTravolta. When it did, it's title was changed to ''Saturday Night Guys'' (''I ragazzi del sabato sera''). Particularly nonsensical, considering it's a show about a high school.
* In Finland, ''Series/{{ER}}'' is known as ''Teho-osasto'' or ''intensive care unit''. ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' in turn became ''Tuho-osasto'' or loosely translated ''destructive care unit.''
** Similar thing happened in Italy: ''ER'' got the subtitle ''Medici in prima linea'', or ''Medics on the frontline'', while ''Scrubs'' is subtitled ''Medici ai primi ferri'', which means ''Rookie medics''.

* In Spain, ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' is known as ''Mystery In Space'' (''Misterio En El Espacio''), in an attempt to tie it into ''Series/LostInSpace'' which is known as ''Perdidos En El Espacio''. It went so far as Spanish commercials claiming that Joel was the long lost member of The Robinsons.
* In Japan ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' aired under the title of ''0011: Napoleon Solo'', emphasizing ''007'' creator Creator/IanFleming's involvement in the show's conception. The later spinoff show, ''Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE'', was subtitled ''0022''.
* In Italy ''Series/EerieIndiana'' was renamed ''Gli Acchiappamostri'', which sounds almost like ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}''' Italian subtitle, ''Acchiappafantasmi'' (something like "Ghost Catchers").
* In Israel, ''{{Series/Cybergirl}}'' apparenly became ''The Bionic Girl''.

* ''[[VideoGame/RoboWarrior Bomber King: Scenario 2]]'' was published as part of the ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'' series, as ''Blaster Master Boy'' in North America and ''Blaster Master Jr.'' in Europe.
* The three ''VideoGame/{{SaGa|RPG}}'' games for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy were retitled ''Franchise/FinalFantasy Legend'' for the USA, probably to capitalize on FF's fame (...''before VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', yes. Don't laugh...).
** Subverted with the original ''Seiken Densetsu'', which was given the title ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'' overseas. This may seem like an invention of the localization department, but in reality the full title of the original Game Boy game in Japan was ''Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy [[GaidenGame Gaiden]]'' and the game has a few ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' references (notably the presence of Chocobos).

* Sunsoft, who produced the NES port of the original ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'', later developed ''Battle Formula'', which was retitled ''Super Spy Hunter'' in the US.

* While technically an American-developed game, ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'' got its title to cash-in on the success of ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' (''Seiken Densetsu 2'' in Japan). The WorkingTitle was originally "Evermore" and the game was never meant to have any ties to ''Secret of Mana''.
* ''VideoGame/BeyondOasis'' (a.k.a. ''The Story of Thor'') has nothing to do with the earlier UsefulNotes/GameGear game ''Defenders of Oasis'' (originally titled ''Shadam Crusader'' in Japan) other than they were both [=RPGs=] published by Sega.

* The Konami arcade game ''VideoGame/{{Jackal}}'' was first released in the U.S. under the title of ''Top Gunner'', as a possible nod to the movie ''Film/TopGun''. When it was ported to the NES, they went to back to the original ''Jackal'' naming used in other regions, likely to avoid confusion with their own ''Top Gun'' video game for the NES.
* ''Fire Shark'', a World War II-themed shoot-'em-up by Toaplan, was released in Japan under the title of ''Same! Same! Same!'' (lit. "Shark! Shark! Shark!"), a play on the 1970 war movie ''Film/ToraToraTora''.

* ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'' was originally titled ''Gaia Gensouki'' (or "The Gaia Fantasy Chronicle") in Japan. While the American title is a rough approximation of the Japanese original, when Nintendo of America picked up the publishing rights from Enix's US division, they also redesigned the logo and boxart to resemble the one used for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. Specifically they both have the same stylized font and layout, with the names "Zelda" and "Gaia" spelled in larger letters below the rest of the title and an object (Link's shield or the Earth itself) behind the first letter.
** In a more conventional example of this trope, the English version of ''Illusion of Gaia'' was originally planned to be released in the US as a sequel to ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'' before switching publishers from Enix to Nintendo. While they were developed by the same company (Quintet), the two games are vaguely connected at best, with the most obvious connection being the first boss of ''Soul Blazer'' making a cameo appearance as the {{Superboss}} of ''Illusion of Gaia''.
** At one point Nintendo also planned to localize ''[[VideoGame/{{Terranigma}} Tenchi Sozo]]'', the unofficial third game in the ''Soul Blazer'' "series", under the title of ''Illusion of Gaia 2''. The name was dropped before release and the game ended up being localized only in PAL territories under the name ''Terranigma'', although the unused English title is still referenced in the game (despite the fact that the PAL version of ''Illusion of Gaia'' was titled ''Illusion of Time'').
* Creator/{{Psikyo}}'s ''VideoGame/{{Gunbird}}'' came to the US and Europe as ''Mobile Light Force''. Alfa System's ''[[VideoGame/CastleOfShikigami Castle of Shikigami]]'' came to the US as ''Mobile Light Force 2'', and to PAL regions as ''[=MLF2=]''. The games have no relation to each other, though XS Games' strongly implied they were part of a series of budget-priced [[Series/CharliesAngels Charlies Angels]] knockoffs.

* ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'' and ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' were originally two unrelated arcade games titled ''Senjō no Ōkami'' (literally "Wolf of the Battlefield") and ''Top Secret'' respectively in Japan. Capcom USA would try to justify the connection between the two by claiming that the protagonist in the latter was Super Joe after being given a bionic arm, which was really just a grappling hook attached to his regular arm. The later NES version of ''Bionic Commando'' would try to solidify the connection between the two games by having the actual Super Joe around as a supporting character helping out new protagonist Rad Spencer. Ironically, ''Mercs'', which was the actual sequel to ''Commando'' (the Japanese title is ''Senjō no Ōkami II''), was mainly treated as a different IP overseas and it wasn't until recent years that Capcom would try to tie ''Mercs'' into the ''Bionic Commando'' series by claiming that Super Joe was really just a codename for Joseph Gibson, the Player 1 character in ''Mercs'', and even adding the subtitle "Wolf of the Battlefield" to the Wii Virtual Console release of the Genesis port of ''Mercs''.

** The Game Boy Advance game ''Bakunetsu Dodgeball Fighters'' was a {{spiritual sequel}} to the arcade/Famicom game ''Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club'' starring [[{{expy}} expies]] of the Downtown Nekketsu cast, since the developers didn't have the rights to the Kunio-kun IP at the time. When the game was localized in North America, it was retitled ''Super Dodge Ball Advance'' (after the U.S. version of its predecessor) with most of the same character names used for the prior localization of the NES version (e.g. Rajiv, Boris, Sam).

* The 1996 [=PlayStation=] beat-'em-up ''Perfect Weapon'' by American Softworks Corporation was localized as ''Body Hazard'' in Japan, no doubt hoping to capitalize on the success of ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 Bio Hazard]]'' released during the same year.
* Downplayed with ''VideoGame/RiverKing''. It is known as ''Harvest Fishing'' in Europe in order to connect it to the more popular ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon''. ''River King'' and ''Harvest Moon'' are sister series that [[SharedUniverse share a universe]].

* After ''[[VideoGame/TwinBee Pop'n TwinBee]]'' on the Super NES turned out to be a success in Europe, Konami brought over the earlier Game Boy entry ''[=TwinBee=] Da!'' ("It's [=TwinBee=]") under the same name and even used the same boxart from the SNES game, despite the fact that the game features a different set of (unseen) protagonists from Light and Pastel. Likewise, ''[=TwinBee=]: Rainbow Bell Adventure'', a side-scrolling platform game spinoff released a bit later, was renamed ''Pop'n [=TwinBee=]: Rainbow Bell Adventures'' for its PAL release.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Band Geeks" is called "Hör mal wer da spielt" (Listen, who's playing) in Germany, a pun on ''Series/HomeImprovement'''s German title ''Hör mal wer da hämmert'' (Listen, who's hammering). Which in itself seems to have been an attempt in cashing in on the (literally) translated title of ''Look who's talking'' which spawned a lot of similarly themed names.

** ''American Dad'' is dubbed in Latin America under the title of ''Un agente de familia'' (An Agent of the Family). This is a play off Creator/SethMacFarlane's other animated show ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', which is dubbed in the same region under the title ''Padre de familia'' (Father of the Family)
** Spain follows the trope in a slightly different way. ''Family Guy'' is still known as ''Padre de familia'', while ''+American Dad'' is ''Padre "Made in USA"'' ("Father 'Made in USA'", notice the English). In a stroke of luck, adding the ''padre'' part to the title of the first series actually helped them connect it to the second series.
** In Italy, ''Family Guy'' is called ''I Griffin'' (The Griffins) to match the title with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and also with ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' (which is called ''I Robinson'' in Italy).
* Cartoon series starring Macaulay Culkin ''WesternAnimation/WishKid'' was translated in Latin America as ''Mi Pobre Angelito'' (My Poor Little Angel), which is the title given there to the ''Film/HomeAlone'' movies, thereby making it seem as if the series was a continuation of the movies even though (save obviously for the presence of Culkin) they're entirely unrelated. It was also called ''Perdido nas Estrelas'' (Lost in the Stars) in Brazil, which could also be seen as a ''Home Alone'' allusion.
* In Russia, ''WesternAnimation/MonkeyDust'' is known as ''[[Animation/ThirtyEightParrots 38 Monkeys]]''.
* In Brazil, ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' is known as "A Turma do Bairro" (literally "the Gang of the Neighborhood", both the show's name and the name of the organization), which caused some to associate it with the popular Brazilian comic book franchise, [[ComicBook/MonicasGang "Turma da Mônica"]], to the point that the latter occasionally shows up in Google search results if you search for the former. Which must be why the "KND" acronym is put before the title, even though it's never used in the show itself in the dub since the organization doesn't have the same name.

* [[Creator/MediaBlasters Kitty Media]] released the {{hentai}} ''Hitozuma♪Kasumi-san'' in English under the {{Parallel Porn Title|s}} ''[[Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977 The Hills Have Size]]''.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* The NES game ''Contra Force'' was actually a localized version of a canceled Famicom game titled ''Arc Hound''. The game has no actual ties with the rest of the ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' series, although the people in charge of localizing ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'', which was released a few months earlier on the SNES, would try to fix this around by claiming that the ruined post-apocalyptic city in the beginning of the game, which is unnamed in the Japanese version, was actually Neocity, the same city where ''Contra Force'' takes place.

* ''Kogareru Yubisaki'' by You Higashino was called ''[[Series/GreysAnatomy Gay's Anatomy]]'' in English, JustForPun and to disguise the fact that it's actually a sequel to a previous series that [[NoExportForYou wasn't translated]].