| 1 | To put it simply, this is when a work that is part of a series or franchise is re-tooled into a standalone work, with most or all signs of its heritage completely erased. This is, for all intents and purposes, the exact opposite of a DolledUpInstallment. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Just to be clear on this, here is what this trope is '''not''' about: |
| 4 | |
| 5 | * This trope is '''not''' about being a CanonDiscontinuity or an AlternateUniverse. If an author writes a novel about ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' in a dystopian future, and later declares that novel never happened, it's still a Sherlock Holmes novel. If he rewrites that book so that it no longer has anything to do with the Sherlock Holmes mythos, ''then'' it's this trope. |
| 6 | * This trope is '''not''' about having a simple title change or partial omission. If a work is called "Sherlock Holmes Without a Problem," and is later renamed to simply "Without a Problem" (or is simply called that in the first place) but still stars Sherlock Holmes, it's still a Sherlock Holmes story. If Sherlock Holmes and any recognizable characters from his universe are renamed and re-written into completely different characters, ''then'' it's this trope. |
| 7 | * With some exceptions, this trope is '''not''' about an idea changing into a completely different idea during the creative process. The only exception is if an idea started out as an installment of a franchise and turned into either something original, or an installment of a completely different franchise. If an author starts out writing a story about cats but it ends up being about cyborgs, it's ''not'' this trope. But if an author starts out writing a Sherlock Holmes book and winds up turning it into something original, it ''is'' this trope. If he starts out writing Sherlock Holmes and then turns it into a James Bond book, it ''is'' also this trope. Yes, this trope ''can'' overlap with DolledUpInstallment, and often does--see the examples. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | If you're not sure if an example counts, read on and ask yourself if it fits in with the ones below. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Subtrope of WhatCouldHaveBeen. Compare SerialNumbersFiledOff, SpiritualAdaptation, AscendedFanfic. Sometimes overlaps with MarketBasedTitle. A SubTrope of DerivativeDifferentiation. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | !!Examples: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[Sandbox/DivorcedInstallmentFranchises Franchises]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 22 | * ''Anime/EagleRiders'' was actually a mash-up of ''Gatchaman II'' and ''Gatchaman F''. Because [[Creator/SabanEntertainment Saban]] did not own the rights to either of the previous ''[[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]'' adaptations (''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets'' and ''[[Anime/GForceGuardiansOfSpace G-Force]]'') they had to pitch their dub as an unrelated series. |
| 23 | * ''Anime/GearFighterDendoh'' is partially based on ''Saint of Braves Baan Gaan'', the proposed ninth installment of the ''Anime/BraveSeries'' and a sequel to both ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' and ''Anime/{{Betterman}}''. |
| 24 | * ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' is a strange case. It's well known that this dub is a mash-up of ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'', and ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'', but the rewrites mean that ''Robotech's'' version of events are unconnected to the events of its originators (though you could still watch a sequel like Macross 7 and understand what's going on), and in fact Robotech wound up having its own canon with events that play out completely differently. |
| 25 | [[/folder]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 28 | * ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}:'' Originally written by Creator/AlanMoore to make use of Creator/CharltonComics's superheroes after DC Comics acquired the rights to them, but because they wanted to incorporate said heroes into the mainstream DC Universe, the characters were [[SerialNumbersFiledOff changed into original characters in a reality of their own]], e. g. ComicBook/CaptainAtom to Doctor Manhattan, ComicBook/TheQuestion to Rorschach, ComicBook/BlueBeetle to Nite-Owl, ComicBook/PhantomLady to Silk Spectre etc. |
| 29 | * Also in the 1980s, ''ComicBook/KravensLastHunt:'' Based on a storyline involving ComicBook/WonderMan and the Grim Reaper that J. M. [=DeMatteis=] submitted to Marvel and was rejected. He then reworked it into a ComicBook/{{Batman}} vs. ComicBook/TheJoker project that got nixed because ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' was already in production. Next [=DeMatteis=] developed the "return from the grave" story into one about Batman and Hugo Strange, but that also was rejected by DC. Finally he reworked and expanded the story for Marvel into the epic we know today featuring ComicBook/SpiderMan, his wife Mary Jane, Kraven the Hunter and Vermin, which was published in 1987. |
| 30 | * ''ComicBook/ContestOfChampions1982'' was originally written and drawn as a tie-in to the 1980 [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Summer Olympics]], following a similar tie-in that featured ComicBook/SpiderMan and ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk at the Winter Games. Unexpectedly, UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter decided to boycott the Summer Games that year, resulting in the crossover being shelved. It was eventually revived two years later, with the plot heavily {{ReTool}}ed to omit all references to the Olympics. |
| 31 | * ''ComicBook/AstroCity: The Dark Age'' started life as a sequel to Kurt Busiek's ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' series. It was originally to be called called ''Cops & Robbers'', and then ''Crime & Punishment''. When Marvel ended up not going ahead, Kurt retooled the story to take place in Astro City rather than the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. |
| 32 | * Creator/RobLiefeld's ''ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics'' was originally a proposed ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' spin-off, explaining Shaft's "[[{{Expy}} coincidental similarities]]" to ComicBook/GreenArrow's sidekick Arsenal. In addition to Shaft being an obvious Arsenal stand-in, Diehard was supposed to have been a S.T.A.R. Labs android, and Vogue would have been a new version of the Harlequin. Additionally, the characters Brahma, Photon, Combat, and Cougar were recycled from a rejected ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' pitch Liefeld created with Jim Valentino during the 90's. |
| 33 | * Liefeld's ''Fighting American'' series started off as a way for the artist to reuse some unfinished artwork and plots from his short-lived tenure on the ComicBook/HeroesReborn ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' series. This resulted in the Fighting American becoming even ''more'' of an {{Expy}} of Cap, which in turn led to Marvel taking legal action against Liefeld. |
| 34 | * Liefeld also created a character for the ComicBook/{{New 52}} ''Grifter'' series named Niko, who was originally supposed to have been Cheshire from the ''Teen Titans''. The name was changed, but her Asian ethnicity and green costume were kept. |
| 35 | * Creator/JackKirby's character ''Captain Glory'' began as an unused ComicBook/CaptainAmerica design Marvel had asked him to create in the event that the company lost ownership of the character. |
| 36 | * Duncan, the main protagonist of ''ComicBook/{{Firebreather}}'', originated in a pitch for a Marvel series called ''The Crew'', which would have starred a ComicBook/YoungAvengers-like group of teen heroes. When that plan fell through, the character was simply {{Retool}}ed for use at Creator/ImageComics. Had he been published at Marvel, the Firebreather would have been the son of Fin Fang Foom. |
| 37 | * ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}'s costume began as an unused design Alex Ross had come up with for a modern take on ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}. |
| 38 | * ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} and ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} from the ComicBook/XMen were recycled from a pitch Dave Cockrum had for a ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'' SpinOff called ''The Outsiders''. Nightcrawler ended up being the same, while Storm was created as a CompositeCharacter of a few different unused characters: Trio (cape and headdress), Quetzal (long flowing hair) and Typhoon (weather powers), as well as a prototype X-Men character called Black Cat (costume and basic physical appearance). Silkie from ''The Futurians'' was also conceived as a member of the X-Men before rights issues got in the way. |
| 39 | * Many of the characters and plots from ''ComicBook/Hardware1993'' were originally part of a ComicBook/LukeCage series Creator/DwayneMcDuffie had unsuccessfully pitched to Marvel Comics. |
| 40 | * Likewise, [=McDuffie=]'s ''ComicBook/{{Deathlok}}'' series was originally supposed to be a licensed ''Franchise/RoboCop'' comic book. |
| 41 | * Creator/GrantMorrison originally envisioned ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' as a ''ComicBook/{{Justice League|Of America}}'' SpinOff focusing on some of the ComicBook/DCUniverse's lesser-known heroes. |
| 42 | * Creator/FrankMiller's graphic novel ''ComicBook/HolyTerror'' was originally going to be a ComicBook/{{Batman}} story in which Batman fights Islamic terrorists, but Miller decided that it would work better with an original character. Or, alternatively, Creator/DCComics read his proposal and told him there was no way they were going let him do this with their most valuable property. |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/{{DEMO}}'' was spawned from unused ideas Creator/BrianWood came up with for ''ComicBook/{{NYX}}'' back when he was going to be the writer for that book, as well as stuff he wasn't allowed to do when he was writing ''ComicBook/GenerationX''. |
| 44 | * Creator/PeterDavid originally created the characters ComicBook/SachsAndViolens for his landmark run on ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk''. Concerns about the content led to David instead giving the characters their own limited series at Epic Comics, and later using them in ''ComicBook/{{Fallen Angel|2003}}''. |
| 45 | * The short-lived DC series ''Takion'' was originally pitched as a revamp of the Will Payton version of ComicBook/{{Starman}}, who'd seemingly died at the end of the ''Darkness Within'' crossover. |
| 46 | * ''Breach'' was originally going to be a ''ComicBook/CaptainAtom'' reboot. |
| 47 | * Likewise, the Creator/{{Vertigo|Comics}} series ''Scarab'' was conceived as a DarkerAndEdgier take on ''ComicBook/DoctorFate''. |
| 48 | * Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky turned his unproduced script for ''[[Film/JodorowskysDune Dune]]'' into ''ComicBook/TheMetabarons'': elements such as the Hooker-Nuns Shabda-Oud are a clear {{Expy}} for the Bene Gesserit, with the same kind of genetic agenda. |
| 49 | * Creator/NeilGaiman originally pitched ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' to Creator/GeorgeRRMartin as part of the ''Literature/{{Wildcards}}'' universe. Martin passed because of Gaiman's lack of writing credits, and the idea was eventually revived at Creator/VertigoComics. |
| 50 | * Similar to the ''Watchmen'' example above, ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'' was originally going to be a reboot of DC's Secret Society of Supervillains, but was converted into a stand-alone work when Creator/MarkMillar decided he wanted to go DarkerAndEdgier. |
| 51 | * ''ComicBook/TheOrder2007'' was supposed to be a revival of ''[[ComicBook/Champions1975 The Champions]]'', a Marvel team book from the '70s that starred ComicBook/BlackWidow, ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules, [[ComicBook/WarrenWorthingtonIII Angel]] and ComicBook/{{Iceman|MarvelComics}} of the ''ComicBook/XMen'', and ComicBook/GhostRider. Unfortunately, Marvel had lost the trademark to the name "Champions," so the series had to be named something else. |
| 52 | * ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}'' was created after DC tried and failed to get the license to publish a ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' comic book. |
| 53 | * Creator/HarlanEllison's "Five Dooms to Save Tomorrow" was originally written as a ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} and Hawkgirl'' story, but was rejected by Creator/DCComics for being "too sophisticated." Following this, a truncated synopsis of the story was published in an issue of the fanzine ''Comic Art'', with Hawkman and Hawkgirl swapped out for a pair of thinly-veiled {{Expies}} called Falcon and Greywing. This version of "Five Dooms" was eventually read by Marvel editor Roy Thomas, who liked it so much that he contacted Ellison to see about publishing the story as an issue of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers''. After Thomas adapted the synopsis and made the necessary character changes, "Five Dooms to Save Tomorrow" finally saw official publication as ''The Avengers'' #101. |
| 54 | * Creator/JohnByrne's ''2112'' was originally a pilot of sorts for the project that eventually became the ComicBook/Marvel2099 line. When he parted ways with Marvel, he simply excised the Marvel-exclusive parts of the story and published what was left as a graphic novel. |
| 55 | * In the 1970's, ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' was cancelled at issue #56, ending on a CliffHanger. Writer Steve Skeates later created a similar hero named Prince Targo for the ''Eerie'' magazine, and used his plot for what would have been ''Aquaman'' #57 for one of Targo's adventures. He later did a direct sequel to ''Aquaman'' #56 in the pages of ''ComicBook/SubMariner'' over at Marvel, with the set-up involving a BroadStrokes recap of #56 and a LawyerFriendlyCameo from Aquaman himself. |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/ShangChi'' exists because Jim Starlin and Steve Englehart wanted to do a licensed ''Series/KungFu1972'' comic book, but had to replace Kwai Chang with an original character after learning that the show was made by Warner Brothers, the parent company of DC, Marvel’s biggest rival. |
| 57 | ** The character of Shang-Chi himself has since been divorced from his origin as the son of Literature/FuManchu, after Marvel lost the licence to adapt the novels. His evil genius father has been retconned to be an original character named Zheng Zu. |
| 58 | * Goldrush, a one-shot character from Creator/GeoffJohns' ''ComicBook/{{Justice League|Of America}}'' run, was originally supposed to be the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroine Lady Luck. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/TomorrowStories'' was intended to have a Cobweb "story" which consisted of Cobweb narrating a comic biography of the real-world rocket scientist and occultist Jack Parsons. DC refused to print it because it described the alleged involvement of Creator/LRonHubbard in ritual magic and questionable financial dealings in the years before he founded the Church of Scientology, which they feared would get them in trouble with the Scientologists. The item was eventually printed in a Top Shelf anthology called Top Shelf Asks The Big Questions, with the Cobweb transparently renamed as La Toile, a French translation that had already been used in the main series as the alias of an earlier Cobweb who lived in France. However, the incident heavily contributed to Creator/AlanMoore's second break with DC. In addition, Moore's wife and Cobweb co-creator Melinda Gebbie stopped drawing the comic. |
| 60 | * Willoughby Kipling of ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' and Creator/AmbroseBierce in ''ComicBook/StanleyAndHisMonster'' were both meant to be ''[[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]]'' but ''Creator/{{DC|Comics}}'' wouldn't let the character be used in child friendly comics. |
| 61 | * John Wagner and Alan Grant's ''ComicBook/{{Lobo}}'' story, ''Bob The Galactic Bum'' was reprinted in ''[[ComicBook/TwoThousandAD The Judge Dredd Megazine]]'' and for copyright reasons, Lobo had to be replaced with a female Bounty Hunter called "Asbo". |
| 62 | * Creator/{{Moebius}}' ''Airtight Garage'' originally had Jerry Cornelius from ''Literature/TheCorneliusChronicles'' as a protagonist but Cornelius was renamed "Lewis Carnelian" in reprints after his original author, Creator/MichaelMoorcock complained about him being out of character. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'' was originally pitched as ''Fury Force'', starring son of ComicBook/NickFury leading a ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} team against [[Characters/CaptainAmericaCentralRoguesGallery Baron Zemo]] and ComicBook/{{Hydra}}. When Creator/LarryHama has been picked to write comics based on ''G.I.Joe'' license, he used what he had from that pitch as a basis. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 67 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' was originally going to be sort of a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', with Cruella [=DeVil=] as the villain, but they decided to replace Cruella with an original villain. |
| 68 | * Likewise, ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' was originally going to have Penny from ''The Rescuers'', but they replaced her with Jenny. |
| 69 | * ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' was going to be a film adaptation of the comic book Rex Havoc but became completely rewritten during pre-production. |
| 70 | * Creator/RalphBakshi wanted to direct an animated ''Film/{{Grease}}'' movie which would have ended with Danny killing himself. He went on to direct a {{Deconstruction}} called ''WesternAnimation/HeyGoodLookin'' about similar greaser characters, one of whom kills himself. |
| 71 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' was originally meant as a bridge between ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'' that would show how things evolved post-Thanagar invasion and how the Justice League went from only seven members to HeroesUnlimited. However, timing problems messed that up so the idea was shelved until it was completely repackaged as one of the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies. Some traces still remain, however: the League are building a new Watchtower at the start of the film, the Flash inherits DCAU Wally West's personality, Wonder Woman gains her invisible jet (which she did not have in JL but had in JLU), and the film ends with the League acknowledging they need to expand their ranks. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 75 | * ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' was originally going to be part of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, with Creator/BenAffleck, Creator/JeremyIrons, Creator/JKSimmons and Creator/JoeManganiello reprising their respective roles as Batman, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon and ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} from ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' and ''Film/{{Justice|League 2017}} [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague League]]''. However, due to Affeck's departure from directing duties then from the role, the project was reconfigured into a new continuity. The film now stars Creator/RobertPattinson as Batman, Creator/AndySerkis as Alfred and Creator/JeffreyWright as Gordon. Affleck is still expected to come back in the DCEU however, in the ''Flash'' film more precisely. |
| 76 | * ''Film/{{Colombiana}}'' staring Creator/ZoeSaldana, was originally written by Creator/LucBesson as ''Mathilda'' a sequel to ''Film/TheProfessional'' which would have followed an older Mathilda Lando getting revenge on the men who had wronged her after the death of her mentor Leon Montana. [[CanonWelding It was also intended to be set in the same universe]] as ''Film/{{Nikita}}'' but because Besson left Gaumont (the production company behind the film) after the failure of 1998's ''Film/TheMessengerTheStoryOfJoanOfArc'' coupled with him unable to get Creator/NataliePortman interested, it became a standalone film. |
| 77 | * ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'': |
| 78 | ** The American dub for ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas'' similarly omits mention of the fact it's a sequel to ''Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld'' by removing all mention of Frankenstein from the original dialogue. Which, admittedly, wasn't that hard since the connection was [[ContinuitySnarl rather tenuous]] to begin with. |
| 79 | ** The Japanese film ''Film/{{Gunhed}}'' originally began life as a proposed sequel to ''Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla'', submitted as part of a sequel writing contest, ultimately losing out to the film which became ''Film/{{Godzilla vs Biollante}}''. When ''Gunhed'' became a standalone film, it lost many of its original elements, aside from the removal of Godzilla himself. |
| 80 | * The Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme movie ''Film/{{Cyborg 1989}}'' was originally going to be a sequel to ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' (though as TroubledProduction shows, the story is complicated). It also utilized props, sets and costumes from a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' movie that was almost made before Cannon lost the rights. |
| 81 | ** ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' was itself written to be a ''ComicBook/NewGods'' film, which is why it imports its cast to Earth, something that was never an element of the franchise, but makes total sense if it's Orion fighting Darkseid. |
| 82 | * ''Film/TheBlacksheepAffair'' was originally written as a sequel to ''Film/HighRisk'', with Creator/JetLi reprising his character (now working as a bodyguard in the fictional country of Lavernia) but when Li declined to return, a new character played by Creator/VincentZhao (a.k.a discount Jet Li) is written into an original storyline. |
| 83 | * ''Film/DoctorMordrid'' was originally written as a ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'' movie, but the script was changed after the rights expired and returned to Marvel. |
| 84 | * ''Film/DieHard'' is a weird case: it was based on a novel titled ''Nothing Lasts Forever''. Since the predecessor novel, ''The Detective'', had already been turned into a film (starring Music/FrankSinatra), it was written as a sequel to ''The Detective'', but when Sinatra turned it down, it was rewritten as a stand-alone film. It was also briefly considered to be used for a ''Film/{{Commando}}'' sequel. ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' started life as ''Film/LethalWeapon4'', making it a Divorced Installment ''and'' a DolledUpInstallment. |
| 85 | * ''Film/TearsOfTheSun'' started life as ''Die Hard 4'', but became stand-alone when it was decided it was too different from the other movies. Bruce Willis said John [=McClane=] should die at the end of ''Die Hard 4''. |
| 86 | * ''Film/TheCollector2009'' started as a ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' prequel. |
| 87 | * In what is probably the most bizarre case of this happening in film history, the plot of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' was originally meant to be used as a second sequel to ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'' (which kinda crosses with DolledUpInstallment, as the film is [[Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit based on a book]]). |
| 88 | * ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' was originally written as ''Film/{{Grease}} 3'' (which explains a lot), with Sharpay being Rizzo's daughter. |
| 89 | * It's been speculated that ''Film/Zombies2018'' originally started out as ''Film/HighSchoolMusical 4'', only for it to be rewritten into a standalone musical. |
| 90 | * ''Film/ShockTreatment'' was the final incarnation of a horrendous script titled ''Rocky Horror Shows His Heels,'' which would have been a very direct sequel to ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow.'' In the end, the plot was changed entirely while many of the songs remained, though the final film bears no resemblance and only weak connections to ''Rocky Horror'' |
| 91 | * ''Film/SnowDay'' was originally written as a [[Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete Pete & Pete]] movie, but Nickelodeon took so long to approve the script that by the time they gave the go-ahead to start filming, the actors who played Pete and Pete themselves (Michael Maronna and Danny Tamberelli) were too old for their roles (and as well a good part of the kids cast), resulting in the change of characters. |
| 92 | * ''Train'' (essentially ''Film/{{Hostel}}'', [[RecycledInSpace on a]] [[ThrillerOnTheExpress train]]) was initially going to be a remake of ''Film/TerrorTrain''. |
| 93 | * ''Camp Fear'' was originally slated to be a sequel to ''Film/CheerleaderCamp''. |
| 94 | * The UsefulNotes/HongKong movie ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dd5vDftTrI The Avenging Fist]]'' started out as a LiveActionAdaptation of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''. A lot of the source material's influence remains, though. |
| 95 | * ''[[Film/Chaos2005DeFalco Film/{{Chaos}}]]'' was going to be a remake of ''Film/TheLastHouseOnTheLeft'', though the change was so last minute that both films are still extremely similar. |
| 96 | * ''Ghosts of Goldfield'' was originally going to be the fourth ''Film/UrbanLegend'' film, but was released independently of the series at the last minute. |
| 97 | * The 1997 made-for-TV Disney film ''Film/TowerOfTerror'' removes all ''Franchise/TheTwilightZone''-based elements from [[Ride/TheTwilightZoneTowerOfTerror the source ride]]. |
| 98 | * ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' was originally a ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' film, but the license never worked out. The similarities are obvious, just to start with the plot: An unlikely hero rescues his political love interest (the governor in ''MI'', the governor's daughter in ''POTC'') from an undead pirate. Many of the locations from the games were recycled as well. Examples: the Voodoo Lady and her shack accessible by coffin became Tia Dalma and her cabin in the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' sequels, and the town cobbled together from various ships in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third film]] was taken directly from ''[=LeChuck's=] Revenge''. |
| 99 | ** There's actually a circular dependency here. ''Monkey Island'' was originally inspired by the Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean ride at Disneyland. And then it came full circle when the first ''POTC'' movie took elements from ''Monkey Island''. The ride has since been remade to be more in line with the films. |
| 100 | * ''Film/KullTheConqueror'' was originally going to be the third ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' movie, but Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was unavailable at the time. Amusingly, this is the reverse situation of the first Conan story, see under literature for that one. |
| 101 | ** Arnie's character in ''Film/RedSonja'' was supposed to be Conan, but the film did not have the rights to this name. |
| 102 | * ''Film/{{Eurotrip}}'' was originally supposed to be a sequel to ''Film/RoadTrip'' before it was realized that other than the concept, had little to do with the previous film. ''Road Trip'' would later get an InNameOnly sequel in the form of ''Road Trip: Beer Pong'' (which is more of an American college version of ''Film/{{Beerfest}}''). |
| 103 | %%It's still a prequel to Alien* ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' was originally planned as a prequel to the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' series until Ridley Scott decided to rewrite it as a stand-alone story (it's still set in the ''Alien'' universe, but has very few ties to the actual storyline). However, the ''Alien'' connection is so obvious that it's nearly impossible to not think of it as a prequel, to the point that the sequel was even titled ''Film/AlienCovenant''. |
| 104 | * ''Film/MinorityReport'' was originally written as a sequel to ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', with Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in the leading role. Both films are based on short stories by Creator/PhilipKDick, but the original works do not share a protagonist. |
| 105 | * ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington'' was supposed to be a sequel to ''Film/MrDeedsGoesToTown'', but when Creator/GaryCooper was unavailable, Creator/FrankCapra rewrote the film as a vehicle for Creator/JamesStewart. |
| 106 | * When Creator/VinceOffer started making another SketchComedy AnthologyFilm, he announced it as ''Underground Comedy 2010'' to be a sequel to his 1999 film '' The Underground Comedy Movie''. When it actually got released in 2013, it was titled ''Film/InAPPropriateComedy''. |
| 107 | * The 1955 film serial ''The Adventures of Captain Africa'' was intended as a sequel to the 1943 serial ''Film/{{The Phantom|1943}}'', but Columbia lost the film rights to the Phantom and had to substitute an "original" masked jungle hero. |
| 108 | * ''Mysterious Doctor Satan'' from Creator/RepublicPictures was written as a ComicBook/{{Superman}} serial, but the whole project had to be altered when it turned out that the character's film rights were actually at [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons Fleischer Studios]]. A quick round of rewrites turned Superman into a new hero called Copperhead, ComicBook/LoisLane into Lois Scott, and the villain into the titular Doctor Satan. |
| 109 | * ''Film/District9'' was originally going to be a ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' movie, before it became apparent that the final production budget would be in excess of $250 million; Universal had paid $5 million for the option alone, and that was only after Microsoft had asked for $10 million and 15% of the gross; they settled for 10%. 20th Century Fox even came on board as a partner, but eventually the production was cancelled because Creator/PeterJackson and executive producer Peter Schlessel refused to cut their percentage points in the gross, reducing the profit margin for the studios even further. Jackson allocated $40 million to Creator/NeillBlomkamp both as way of a good will gesture, and to salvage all the work that had already been done. Many of the props used in the film were repurposed from their original intended use. |
| 110 | * ''Film/VantagePoint'' was a discarded script for a ''Series/TwentyFour'' movie. |
| 111 | * The first ''Film/{{Final Destination|1}}'' was originally written as a spec script for an episode of ''Series/TheXFiles''. |
| 112 | * The script for ''Film/SuperheroMovie'' was originally intended for ''Film/ScaryMovie 4'', until they realized it had no horror movie references, and so it was made it into a superhero spoof. |
| 113 | * ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' started life as a sequel to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension''. |
| 114 | * ''Film/GhostsOfMars'' was originally a third [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake Plissken]] film called ''Escape from Mars'', but after ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' flopped, it became a standalone film. |
| 115 | * ''Film/FoxyBrown'' was originally a sequel to ''Film/{{Coffy}}''. |
| 116 | * Creator/QuentinTarantino' originally envisioned ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' as a ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' TieInNovel (called, apparently, ''Django: White Hell''), until he realized the disadvantages of having a main character the audience already knew was the good guy, and was also [[PlotArmour not likely to die in his own sequel.]]. |
| 117 | * ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'' was born out of Creator/JohnBoorman's failed attempt to adapt ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. |
| 118 | * When Creator/SamRaimi was unable to obtain the rights to ''Radio/TheShadow'', he made ''Film/{{Darkman}}'' instead. |
| 119 | * ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'' was an unused script for ''Film/DieHard'' 3. |
| 120 | * ''Film/FastFive'' started life as ''The Brazilian Job'', a sequel to ''Film/TheItalianJob2003''. |
| 121 | * ''Film/PrinceOfDarkness'' was originally written as the fourth ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' film (when the series was to be unrelated Halloween anthology films like ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'') but was rewritten as a stand alone film when the producers decided to resurrect Michael Myers, a story arc Creator/JohnCarpenter felt he had concluded with ''Film/HalloweenII1981''. |
| 122 | ** Speaking of which, ''Film/Halloween1978'' was originally a sequel to ''Film/BlackChristmas1974''. |
| 123 | * It's rumoured that ''Film/BioDome'' was meant to be the third ''Franchise/BillAndTed'' film, though Creator/AlexWinter (understandably) denies this. |
| 124 | * Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/BulletInTheHead'' was meant to be a prequel to ''Film/ABetterTomorrow''. When he fell out with producer Tsui Hark, he made a standalone film, while Hark made the prequel ''A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon''. |
| 125 | * ''Film/{{Nighthawks}}'' was originally ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' III with Creator/GeneHackman reprising his role opposite new sidekick Creator/RichardPryor. When Hackman said no, it became a standalone thriller. |
| 126 | * ''Film/{{Solace}}'' was originally a sequel to ''Film/Se7en'' called ''[=Ei8ht=]'' focusing on Detective Somerset as a psychic who helps the FBI find a known serial killer. |
| 127 | * ''Film/TheKissOfTheVampire'' was meant to be the third in Film/HammerHorror's Literature/{{Dracula}} series. It was an attempt to make a Dracula film without Creator/ChristopherLee. |
| 128 | * Legend has it that ''Film/RoboCop1987'' started out as a ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' film that got changed for legal reasons. |
| 129 | * ''Film/KnockedUp'' was originally a sequel to ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'', with Creator/SethRogen and co. to reprise their roles as the Smart Tech team. |
| 130 | * ''Film/AvengingForce'' was originally written as a sequel to ''Film/InvasionUSA1985'' with Creator/ChuckNorris returning to the role of Matt Hunter. When he was uninterested, the role was rewritten to be younger and was given to Michael Dudikoff instead and it became a standalone film. |
| 131 | * Creator/WilliamWyler originally conceived ''Film/HowToStealAMillion'' as a follow-up to ''Film/RomanHoliday'', another film he made with Creator/AudreyHepburn. |
| 132 | * ''Film/TheSicilian'' was based on a book that was a SpinOff from ''Film/TheGodfather'' focusing on Michael Corleone's exile in Sicily, but all references had to be removed for copyright reasons. |
| 133 | * ''Film/TheClimax'' was originally intended to be a sequel to ''Film/PhantomOfTheOpera1943'', and was filmed on the same sets as that movie. However, it was ultimately changed to be a standalone story featuring all new characters. |
| 134 | * ''Neighborhood Watch'' (also known as ''Deadly End'') was recycled from an early idea for a sequel to ''Film/DrGiggles.'' |
| 135 | * ''Film/{{Venom 2018}}'' had been in various stages of production since TheNineties. At one point, it was going to be a SpinOff of ''Film/SpiderMan3'', with Creator/TopherGrace apparently reprising his role as Eddie Brock. When the series was rebooted after Creator/SamRaimi's departure, it was then decided that ''Venom'' would now be part of Sony's new shared ''[[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries Amazing Spider-Man]]'' universe, but this too fell apart when ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' underperformed at the box office and [[FranchiseKiller killed the series]]. ''Venom'' ultimately wound up being released as a standalone film without any ties to either continuity. |
| 136 | * The book ''Film/{{Zathura}}'' was based on was a sequel to ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'' where the boardgame turned itself into a space game because the new kids who found it had no interest in jungles. |
| 137 | * Creator/JackieChan's ''Film/MrNiceGuy'' was initially planned to be the fifth film of the ''Film/PoliceStory'' series before being rewritten as a standalone film. |
| 138 | [[/folder]] |
| 139 | |
| 140 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 141 | * ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'' is a Divorced Installment ''and'' a DolledUpInstallment -- originally an abandoned ''Series/DoctorWho'' story proposal called "Doctor Who and the Krikketmen", it was first considered as the plot for one of the many unsuccessful proposals for a ''Doctor Who'' [[TheMovie feature film]], and then divorced from ''Who'' and dolled up as the second season of the ''Guide'' TV series. When that got canceled in pre-production, it finally became the third ''Guide'' novel. |
| 142 | * Similarly, ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' was originally "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E6Shada Shada]]", a ''Series/DoctorWho'' script by Adams that was never completed due to a BBC strike (and has since seen other adaptations). The plot also contains elements of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" (also by Adams), a serial that ''was'' filmed. |
| 143 | * At the time of his death, Adams was considering transforming ''Literature/TheSalmonOfDoubt'', which in the existing draft is a Literature/DirkGently novel, into a ''Hitchhiker's'' novel. |
| 144 | * The first Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story, "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword", is a rewrite of a rejected Literature/{{Kull}} story, "By This Axe I Rule". Many passages are word for word identical. |
| 145 | * Project Itoh's novel ''Genocidal Organ'' was based on a ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' fan-fiction he wrote. |
| 146 | * The Creator/JTEdson novel ''Blonde Genius'' was originally written as a screen treatment for a ''Film/StTrinians'' movie. |
| 147 | * Creator/MercedesLackey's short story "Fiddler Fair" was originally written to fit the world of Ithkar for a shared-universe anthology, before being rewritten into the springboard for the ''Literature/BardicVoices'' series. |
| 148 | * John Grant's 1994 licenced ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' novel ''The Hundredfold Problem'' was republished in 2003 with all references to the Mega-City One 'verse removed. Judges Dredd and Callisto were replaced by Dave Knuckle and Petulia [=McTavish=]. |
| 149 | ** The ''Franchise/DoctorWho'' novel, ''The Burning Heart'' was supposed to be a crossover with ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' but after the failure of the [[Film/JudgeDredd 1995 movie]], Dredd was replaced with Adjudicator Joseph Craator. |
| 150 | * Creator/ThomasLigotti and a friend wrote a spec script called "Crampton" for the ''Series/TheXFiles'', which they later reworked and published as an original story. |
| 151 | * Creator/RLStine wrote a stand-alone book called ''The Adventures of Shrinkman,'' which he has confirmed was originally supposed to be a ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book called ''[[https://www.lostmediawiki.com/Goosebumps_Series_2000_%22The_Incredible_Shrinking_Fifth_Grader%22_(found_unreleased_Goosebumps_book;_2000) The Incredible Shrinking Fifth-Grader]].'' |
| 152 | * ''Popcorn Love'' by KL Hughes is an AscendedFanfic that started as a ''Series/OnceUponATime'' TransplantedCharacterFic with [[{{Mundanization}} no magic whatsoever]], pairing Emma and Regina. When it was revised, they became Allison Sawyer and Elena Vega, respectively. |
| 153 | * ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' started as a ''[[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Twilight]]'' fanfic before it was changed to an original story. |
| 154 | * ''The Hot Rock'' originally began life as a draft for a novel in author Donald E. Westlake's ''Literature/{{Parker}}'' series. Westlake can up with the idea of a story in which Parker had to repeatedly steal the same object. However, the story didn't work with Parker's personality (the pragmatic Parker would have just walked away from the caper), so he abandoned it. However, the idea would not let go of him, and he returned to the manuscript and created a new protagonist for whom the plot did work: the BornUnlucky John Dortmunder. Thus was born the ''Literature/{{Dortmunder}}'' series. |
| 155 | [[/folder]] |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 158 | * The third ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' show, ''Series/BattleFeverJ'', was originally planned to star a Japanese counterpart of Marvel's ComicBook/CaptainAmerica character named "Captain Japan", following up on the success of Creator/{{Toei}}'s live-action ''[[Series/SpiderManJapan Spider-Man]]'' series. |
| 159 | * ''Series/TheFollowing'' was based on a discarded screenplay for ''Film/{{Scream 3}}''. Both the series and the movie franchise are produced by Kevin Williamson. |
| 160 | * ''Series/TheLAComplex'' was split off from the ''Franchise/{{Degrassi}}'' franchise, presumably so it could be sold to US networks outside the Viacom group. |
| 161 | * ''Series/{{Helstrom}}'': Originally planned to be part of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, the changing of the guard at Marvel Television caused this series to instead be a completely standalone Creator/MarvelComics adaptation with no official connections to the MCU. The continuity that the series is set in was unofficially dubbed [=Earth-TRN836=], rather than the MCU's Earth-199999. |
| 162 | * ''Series/{{K9}}'' was the only Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} show not to ever reference or be referenced by the other TV series in the franchise, as it was licensed by Bob Baker, the character's co-creator who owned the rights to him, with no involvement or permission from the BBC. |
| 163 | * ''Series/StrangerThings'' came about because the studio passed on the Duffer Brothers' treatment for ''Film/It2017''. Coincidentally, both projects would feature Creator/FinnWolfhard. |
| 164 | * Creator/RowanAtkinson's ''Comic Relief'' sketch, ''Spider-Plant Man'' was originally conceived as a fifth season of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' where Blackadder and Baldrick would have been ''[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batman and Robin]]''-style superheroes. |
| 165 | * Creator/RobBrydon's gameshow, ''The Guess List'' was meant to be called ''[[Series/MrsBrownsBoys Mrs Brown's]] Celebrities''. A pilot episode was recorded but Brendan O'Carroll turned down a full series because he thought it would water down the ''Mrs Brown'' brand. |
| 166 | * ''Series/WhatsHappening'' began life as a TV adaptation of ''Film/CooleyHigh'' before being {{ReTool}}ed into its own thing. |
| 167 | * Horribly subverted by the fan creation rules of ''Franchise/StarTrek''. [[http://www.startrek.com/fan-films According to rule 9]], once a fan film starts in the concept of a ''Star Trek'' fanwork, it can essentially never be divorced from the original franchise, even if the actual franchise imagery and terms are removed and replaced. |
| 168 | * ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' co-creator George Markenstein treated the series as a sequel to ''Series/DangerMan'', believing that Number Six was John Drake. Patrick [=McGoohan=] disagreed. |
| 169 | * [[WhatCouldHaveBeen One idea]] that Creator/JJAbrams had for ''Series/{{Felicity}}'' was a PlotTwist in which it turned out that Felicity Porter was a UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} agent. While it was obviously never used for the show, he did turn the idea of "college student moonlights as a secret agent" into a different TV series, ''Series/{{Alias}}''. ([[HilariousInHindsight Funnily enough]], Creator/KeriRussell, who played Felicity, would eventually get to play a spy on ''Series/TheAmericans'', albeit a [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] agent instead of CIA.) |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 173 | * Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1 is named for the fact it was started in 2001. The original concept of the promotion was called "Pro Wrestling Zero", as it was conceived at least a year earlier, and was intended to be an extension of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling dedicated to a purer strong-style product and commanded by Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto. However, with bookers Wrestling/AntonioInoki and Wrestling/RikiChoshu shutting down the idea, and especially after Inoki mistreated Hashimoto's career to build Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa's, Shinya left the company and started the company as an independent promotion, capitalizing on it to rebuild his career. |
| 174 | * Pro Wrestling El Dorado was born under the Wrestling/{{Toryumon}} flag, very much like its predecessor Dragondoor, but before its debut show they declared the promotion as independent from Toryumon or any of its marks. |
| 175 | * Perros Del Mal Producciones was drawn up as an idea to make a Perros Del Mal angle in Wrestling/{{CMLL}} more believable to audiences by having the PowerStable run their own promotion. Disputes lead to PDM starting up a year late and having nothing to do with CMLL. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Sports]] |
| 179 | * Anaheim, California's NHL hockey team, the Ducks, were once known as [[Film/TheMightyDucks the Mighty Ducks]] of Anaheim, wearing uniforms which matched those from the second film and owned by Disney themselves. In 2005, Disney sold the team, who thus changed their name and removed the movie iconography from their brand. That said, their mascot, Wild Wing, still wears the mask from the classic logo. |
| 180 | * For many years, the mascot of the University of Oregon Ducks teams was none other than WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, thanks to a unique trademark agreement originated by Walt Disney himself. By 2010, the University had grown tired of the highly restrictive guidelines placed on the character, and modified the agreement so that the costumed mascot appearing at sports games and local events is merely "the Oregon Duck", no longer considered to be Donald. [[https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/The_Oregon_Duck?file=The_Oregon_Duck.gif The cartoon version]] still looks exactly like him, though, and is still covered by the agreement. |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | [[folder:Theme Parks]] |
| 184 | * Nara Dreamland was an entire theme park that resulted from this. The owners had obtained a license from Walt Disney to make it into a [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] in Nara, Japan, but partway through construction, the deal suddenly fell through. It was decided to just remove the Disney elements and make it into its own park. Alas, being a Disneyland knockoff was its downfall. Twenty one years later, an ''actual'' Japanese Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, was opened, and it became the world's third most-visited theme park, after Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom. However, the park continued to limp on (mainly thanks to distance; Tokyo and Nara are 4 hours apart by train) until 2001, when both Tokyo [=DisneySea=] and [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios]] Japan opened within months of each other, the latter of which is located less than an hour away from Nara Dreamland and basically ate up whatever's left of the park's visitors. Sales hit rock bottom, maintenance issues abounded due to the lack of visitors, and the park was abandoned in 2006. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 188 | * The ''ComicBook/SpiderMan: Techno Wars'' and ''Franchise/XMen: Mutant Armor'' lines began as a way to recycle {{ReTool}}ed Iron Man action figures leftover from his short-lived [[WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries animated series]]. |
| 189 | * The Mutant figures from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' were retooled prototypes from the cancelled ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' line. |
| 190 | * ''Beastformers'' were a SpinOff of the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' ''[[Anime/TransformersHeadmasters Headmasters]]'' line in Japan. When Creator/{{Hasbro}} imported the line as ''Battle Beasts'', they dropped any connection to the Transformers. |
| 191 | * The ''Team America'' series from Ideal Toys was created as a way to salvage their earlier line of UsefulNotes/EvelKnievel products after Knievel was arrested on battery charges. A tie-in comic book series was even published by Creator/MarvelComics as a way to promote the toys. |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' was going to be an ''Film/AlienS'' game, but became its own game when the creators could not secure the license. |
| 196 | * The Platform/TurboGrafx16 platformer ''VideoGame/KeithCourageInAlphaZones'' was originally one of many games based on then-popular anime series ''[[Anime/MashinHeroWataruSeries Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru]]''. The story went from being about a kid pulled into a spirit realm to battle demons, to being about an adult who is part of a military organization that fights aliens. However, the game's title screen still shows a Creator/{{Sunrise}} copyright, perhaps because only the ExcusePlot was actually altered. |
| 197 | * ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': |
| 198 | ** The [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 first game]] was originally conceived as a [[VideoGameRemake remake]] of Creator/{{Capcom}}'s 1989 horror game ''VideoGame/SweetHome1989'', itself an adaptation of [[Film/SweetHome1989 the film of the same name]], but since they didn't have the license to that film anymore, they turned it into an original title instead. (This would make the original ''Resident Evil'' double as a SpiritualAdaptation of ''Sweet Home'' the movie, as well.) Tokuro Fujiwara, the director of ''Sweet Home'' the video game, worked as a producer on ''Resident Evil'' and envisioned it as a SpiritualSuccessor. |
| 199 | ** One of the most successful examples came from Capcom's attempt to create a sequel to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', which spawned not only ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', but three other potential versions of that game (out of four) which saw release as their own games. |
| 200 | *** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' is the most well-known. It originally starred a new protagonist named Tony who had superhuman abilities (explained here, in traditional ''RE'' fashion, with biotechnology instead of demons), and the dev team's research trips to the UK and Spain to study medieval castles wound up influencing the settings of both games. It was turned into an original game after the team realized that it was straining credibility to have an action-packed hack-and-slash as the next entry in what was then still a pure SurvivalHorror franchise. Dante, the protagonist of ''DMC'', uses the alias "Tony Redgrave" as a DevelopmentGag, while several of the monsters in the ''DMC'' franchise bear a distinct influence from the ''RE'' series' [[EvilIsVisceral visceral baddies]]. |
| 201 | *** ''VideoGame/OnimushaWarlords'' also began life as ''Sengoku Biohazard'', a ''Resident Evil'' game [[RecycledInSpace set in the Sengoku period]] where the player would use {{ninja}} weapons to battle monsters in a house filled with booby traps. It helped inspire the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' combat system, with pre-release versions of ''Onimusha'' allowing the player to knock enemies into the air, [[GoodBadBugs then juggle them by continuing to attack]]; while this was fixed in ''Warlords'', it would be incorporated into ''DMC''. |
| 202 | *** Finally, ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Resident Evil: Dead Aim]]'' was based on one of the final rejected proposals for ''[=RE4=]'', and thus bears quite a bit of resemblance to it due to being an actual ''Resident Evil'' game, in particular the duo of hero Bruce [=McGivern=] and flip-flopping sidekick/nemesis Fong Ling [[{{Expy}} being similar to]] Leon S. Kennedy and Ada Wong. |
| 203 | * The ''VideoGame/WonderBoy'' games were developed by Westone and published by Creator/{{Sega}}. While Westone owned the rights to the programming of each game, Sega owned the rights to the title and character designs, and as a result Creator/HudsonSoft was forced to graphically modify and rename each game when they got the license to work on ports for non-Sega platforms. The only exception was ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIIMonsterLair'', which remained unchanged when it was ported to the Platform/TurboGrafxCD, though "Wonder Boy" was dropped from the title in the US. |
| 204 | ** The original ''VideoGame/WonderBoy1'' itself was remade for the NES as ''VideoGame/AdventureIsland'' (with Hudson's spokesman/gaming expert Toshiyuki Takahashi serving as the model for the new protagonist Takahashi Meijin, [[DubNameChange also known as Master Higgins]]), which inspired its own series of sequels independently developed by Hudson for the NES, Super NES, Game Boy, and the [=TG16=]. |
| 205 | ** ''VideoGame/WonderBoyInMonsterLand'' was remade for the Japanese PC Engine as ''Bikkuriman World'', a licensed game based on the ''Bikkuriman'' series of trading stickers. There was also a Famicom version of ''Monster Land'' by Jaleco titled ''Saiyuki World''. This version inspired its own sequel (''Saiyuki World II''), which was localized for the NES under the name of ''Whomp 'Em'' and had its ''Journey to the West'' motif replaced with a Native American one. |
| 206 | ** ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap'' was remade as ''Dragon's Curse'' for the [=TurboGrafx 16=]. The PC Engine version of said game was curiously enough released under the name of ''Adventure Island'', the same name that Hudson's own ''Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima'' series is known as outside Japan. |
| 207 | ** ''Wonder Boy in Monster World'' became ''Dynastic Hero'' on the [=TurboGrafx CD=] and had all the original characters replaced with bug people. |
| 208 | ** Outside the ''Wonder Boy'' series, Hudson Soft also ported the Sega/Westone arcade BeatEmUp ''Riot City'' to the [[Platform/TurboGrafx16 Turbo CD]] under the name of ''Riot Zone'' (or ''Crest of Wolf'' in Japan) with different player characters, while ''Blood Gear'' (a mecha-themed action game) was originally planned as a sequel to ''Aurail''. |
| 209 | * ''VideoGame/DecapAttack'' was originally a tie-in to the anime ''Magical Hat'' in its Japanese version. The localization team didn't feel like paying the licensing fees for an obscure and unimported anime series, so the graphics and story were redone from scratch. |
| 210 | * Several games released by Bandai for the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem were anime {{Licensed Game}}s in Japan that were released overseas in disguised form: |
| 211 | ** ''Dragon Power'' was originally a ''Franchise/DragonBall'' game. At the time, ''Dragon Ball'' was not well-known in the United States (although the game was also translated to French with the ''Dragon Ball'' license intact). Bandai tried to change it into a more generic ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' game, which, while still not being well known in America, unlike ''Dragon Ball'', is public domain. They didn't do a very good job at it, incidentally; Bulma, Oolong, and Yamcha, among other characters, all kept their original designs, while Puar became [[PinkGirlBlueBoy pink]] but was otherwise unchanged. |
| 212 | ** ''Chubby Cherub'' was originally a game based on the anime ''Manga/LittleGhostQTaro''. Few changes were made to the game aside from replacing Q-Taro with a cherub. |
| 213 | ** ''Ninja Kid'' (not to be confused with the UPL UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame) was a similar alteration of ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro: Youkai Dai Makyou''. |
| 214 | * ''Black Belt'', a side-scrolling [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] for the Platform/SegaMasterSystem, is a localization of a ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' game for the Mark III in which the graphics were altered to remove all traces of the original license. Kenshiro was renamed Riki and his blue vest and jeans outfit was replaced by a white karate gi, while all of the other characters and backgrounds were modified as well, changing the game's locations from post-apocalyptic deserts and towns to modern day temples and cities. The Japanese Platform/MegaDrive sequel, ''Hokuto no Ken: Shin Seikimatsu Kyūseishu Densetsu'', was released overseas as ''Last Battle: Legend of the Final Hero'', but the changes made during the localization were lazier by comparison to the first game. All the sprites were recolored and the names were changed, but the character designs remained almost identical and the seemingly nonsensical script (which consisted mainly of out-of-context dialogue transcribed verbatim from the manga) was a word-to-word translation of the original, aside for a few minor changes. Gore was also removed for the overseas release. |
| 215 | * Sega made two video games based on ''Kujaku-Oh'' (''Manga/PeacockKing'', also known as ''Spirit Warrior''): one for the Platform/SegaMasterSystem, based on the anime series, and a sequel in number only for the Platform/SegaGenesis, based on the second OVA. The Master System original came out in America as ''Spellcaster'' and the Genesis sequel came out as ''Mystic Defender'', in both cases having all the ''Peacock King'' elements replaced with wholly new storylines and characters (the BigBad of the Genesis game was originally DemonKingNobunaga, for instance). |
| 216 | * ''Street Combat'' for the Super NES was originally a ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' game in which you played as either male or female Ranma and battled the rest of the anime cast. The U.S. version turned Ranma into a mulleted soldier named Steven (female Ranma was Steven in street clothes, while male Ranma was Steven in PoweredArmor), and the Ranma cast with all sorts of things (Kodachi, for example, became a ''clown''). This was averted with the sequel, which was brought to the U.S. as ''Ranma ½: Hard Battle''. |
| 217 | * ''VideoGame/ThunderForce IV'' for the Platform/SegaGenesis was released in America was ''Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar.'' Not only the spelling of this was odd, as two previous games in the series had been released internationally under the ''Thunder Force'' title, and ''Thunder Force IV'' came out under its actual title in Europe. |
| 218 | * One of the original concepts for ''Fighting Force'' was to make it a 3D sequel to the ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' series (and indeed, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySus04u7sRo leaked Saturn prototype]] has much more overt similarities to SOR, such as Hawk looking like Axel), but Sega pulled the deal after disagreements with the developers over what platforms the game would be released on, and it became its own thing. |
| 219 | * The WorkingTitle of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' was ''Franchise/StreetFighter '89''. According to producer Yoshiki Okamoto, he was originally commissioned to work on a sequel to the first ''Videogame/{{Street Fighter|I}}'', but he wanted to make a side-scrolling [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] after being inspired by the success of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon''. When it was obvious that the resulting product looked nothing like the original ''Street Fighter'', the game was renamed ''Final Fight''. Despite this, many of the characters from ''Final Fight'' later crossed their way into the ''Street Fighter'' series and other Capcom fighting games (including a spin-off of its own titled ''Final Fight Revenge''). |
| 220 | * An inversion: Natsume's side-scrolling action game ''VideoGame/{{Shatterhand}}'' for the NES was first released in Japan as a LicensedGame for the Famicom based on the ''Series/MetalHeroes'' series ''Series/TokkyuuShireiSolbrain''. However, the ''Solbrain'' version, despite being released first, is actually the modified version, not ''Shatterhand''. Angel, a subsidiary of Bandai, agreed to cover the publishing costs for Natsume under the condition that they could modify the game to promote one of Toei's superheroes. |
| 221 | * ''VideoGame/RedFaction'' was originally conceived as the [[{{Vaporware}} cancelled]] ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} 4''. Some elements were carried over, such as the textures, the protagonist's name (Parker) and [[UnexpectedGameplayChange the jet fighter combat level]]. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/JourneyToSilius'' started development as a game based on ''Film/TheTerminator'', but was reworked into a stand-alone title when Sunsoft's license expired. |
| 223 | * Creator/{{Sunsoft}} also started work on a ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' game for the NES (following its success with the ''VideoGame/{{Batman|Sunsoft}}'' games), but was later re-tooled into a CaptainErsatz called ''VideoGame/{{Sunman}}'' for some reason or other (it did release a ''Superman'' game for the Platform/SuperNES and Platform/SegaGenesis). It ultimately ended up not being released in any form. |
| 224 | * ''Power Punch II'' was originally developed as a sequel to ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!]]'', with the original title ''Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch''. A beta version of ''Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch'' has since leaked out. And no, just in case you were wondering, there is no ''Power Punch I''. |
| 225 | * ''[[VideoGame/DesertStrike Nuclear Strike]]'' had a trailer for a new installment called ''Future Strike'', which ended up being turned into the unrelated game ''Future Cop LAPD''. |
| 226 | * The sequel to ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: Shift'' dropped the ''NFS'' from the title and was titled ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' (not to be confused with the other ''VideoGame/{{Shift}} 2''. |
| 227 | * The first ''VideoGame/BattleTanx'' started out as a Platform/{{Nintendo 64}} port of ''[=BattleSport=]''. |
| 228 | * ''VideoGame/AgentUnderFire'' was originally a [=PS2=] version of ''VideoGame/TheWorldIsNotEnough'', before it was turned into an original Bond story. |
| 229 | * ''VideoGame/KunioKun'': |
| 230 | ** ''Renegade'', ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall'', ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' (aka ''Street Gangs''), ''Nintendo World Cup'', and ''Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge'' were all localizations of different games in the Japanese ''Kunio-kun'' series that were westernized (or in the case of ''Nintendo World Cup'', globalized) in order to make them more marketable overseas. The Platform/NeoGeo version of ''Super Dodge Ball'', along with the Platform/NintendoDS games localized by Aksys Games, are the only games in the series where Kunio and Riki retained their Japanese identities in the overseas versions. |
| 231 | ** The original ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' was planned as a sequel to the original ''Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun'' (aka ''Renegade''). The change in title, setting and characters was precisely done to appeal to the western market from the get-go without the need of making a separate overseas version. |
| 232 | ** The Super Famicom game ''Super Mad Champ'' was originally planned as a Kunio bike-racing game. Developer Almanic was the same team that worked on ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirlsZero'' for Technos. |
| 233 | * The NES game ''Destiny of an Emperor'', along with the arcade games ''Dynasty Wars'' and ''Warriors of Fate'', were all games by Creator/{{Capcom}} based on Hiroshi Motomiya's manga series ''Tenchi o Kurau'', which was loosely based on the Chinese novel ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. While the former two kept the characters and plot mostly intact [[PublicDomainCharacter which isn't really hard to do]], ''Warriors of Fate'' removes even that and replaces everyone's names with Mongolian names. |
| 234 | * ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'' is a borderline example. The WorkingTitle was ''Advance Wars: Under Fire'', but Nintendo decided to change the name due to the fact that it was a very different game from the original ''Advance Wars'' and it wouldn't have made much sense to release a game [[SuperTitle64Advance named after]] the Platform/GameBoyAdvance on the [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] (it's still part of the overall ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Wars]]'' series, though). In Japan, the game was released as ''Totsugeki! Famicom Wars''. |
| 235 | * ''Lunar Knights'' for the Nintendo DS is actually the overseas version of the fourth ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}'' game (''Boktai DS''). The first two games sold poorly outside Japan due to its solar sensing gimmick and as a result, the third game didn't get an international release and Konami took out the solar sensor in the fourth game. The localization team attempted everything to distance the fourth game from the franchise by changing the title and renaming the main characters Django and Sabata into Aaron and Lucian. |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' was originally meant to be a licensed game based on ''Manga/AstroBoy'', but they lost the license, so Capcom tried something different. |
| 237 | * The NES game ''Tecmo World Cup Soccer'' is actually a ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa''-themed soccer sim with Westernized character designs, likely changed because ''Captain Tsubasa'' is not licensed in the United States. |
| 238 | * ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' was initially going to be a ''Film/UniversalSoldier'' video game, but ended up as an original property when a deal couldn't be reached. This can be seen in Johnny Cage, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme with a GroinAttack move inspired by a scene from ''Film/{{Bloodsport}}''. |
| 239 | * ''VideoGame/ProjectSnowblind'' was originally going to be ''VideoGame/DeusEx: Clan Wars''. It was changed to be a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Deus Ex'' when that game's own sequel ''[[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar Invisible War]]'' sold poorly. |
| 240 | * A persistent rumor has it that ''Lady Stalker'' was originally going to be a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' GaidenGame based around Alena from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'', but was quickly made into an unrelated game when the license was lost partway through development. The rumor has strong supporting evidence, including: the party being near carbon-copies of the party from Alena's chapter in ''DQIV''; a series of tomato enemies that are suspiciously similar to the ''Dragon Quest'' slimes in appearance and near-identical in mechanics, right down to having a "rotten tomato" that can inflict poison equivalent to the Babble/Bubble Slime; and some items being identical between the two games, ''down to their price''. |
| 241 | * The [=PS2=] shooter ''Dragon Rage'' was planned to be a ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' spinoff. |
| 242 | * After the developement of ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', 3D Realms planned to make another side-scrolling Duke Nukem titled ''Duke Nukem Forever'' (no, not [[VideoGame/DukeNukemForever that one]]). The project was cancelled and sold to another developer, which finished and released it as ''Alien Rampage''. |
| 243 | * The [[Platform/AtariJaguar Jaguar]] shooter ''Hover Strike'' was originally meant to be a remake of ''VideoGame/{{BattleZone|1980}}''. |
| 244 | * ''Beetle Adventure Racing'' for the N64 started development as a ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' game, and used the same engine as the NFS games of the time. |
| 245 | * The Platform/Commodore64 game ''Astérix and the Magic Cauldron'' was released in the United States as ''Ardok the Barbarian'', likely because ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' was not popular enough there to be worth licensing. |
| 246 | * ''Tower of Doom'' for the Platform/{{Intellivision}} was to have been the third ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] Cartridge'' for the system (and the Platform/Atari2600 as well), but it was released without the license after Mattel abandoned the game and the console midway through development; most gamers couldn't tell the difference, of course. (The later Capcom UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragons: Tower of Doom'' is completely unrelated.) The two earlier [=AD&D=] games would have the license stripped out for emulated {{Compilation Rerelease}}s, appearing under their {{Working Title}}s ''Adventure'' and ''Minotaur''. |
| 247 | * The unreleased NES game ''Time Diver Eon Man'' by Creator/{{Taito}} started development as a sequel to ''VideoGame/WrathOfTheBlackManta''. |
| 248 | * The original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was reportedly a ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' game initially, but changed because Creator/{{Nintendo}} couldn't get the license. After their success with ''Donkey Kong'', they would make a ''VideoGame/{{Popeye}}'' game. |
| 249 | * ''Secret Weapons Over Normandy'' was apparently born out of a cancelled ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' spin-off called ''Fighter Command''. |
| 250 | * ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' was originally going to be based on ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. To add insult to injury, it was {{macekre}}d further into ''The Krion Conquest'' for the US market. |
| 251 | * ''Heavenly Guardian'' for the Platform/PlayStation2 and Platform/{{Wii}} was originally announced in Japan as ''Kiki Kai World''. Apparently the ''VideoGame/KikiKaiKai'' characters were replaced with original ones because the developer somehow lost the license. |
| 252 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'''s game system was originally meant as a computer adaptation of ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' called ''Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure'' before disagreements with Steven Jackson caused Black Isle to terminate their license and create their own SPECIAL system. |
| 253 | ** And before that, it was intended to be a sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' before rights issues got in the way. |
| 254 | * ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' was to have been a sequel to ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D''; its working title was "''Wolfenstein 3D Part II: Rise of the Triad''". |
| 255 | * ''VideoGame/RageOfTheDragons'', a Platform/NeoGeo fighting game by Evoga and Noise Factory, was originally intended to be a sequel to the Platform/NeoGeo version of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', but the developers were unable to get a hold of the rights. Thus, all the characters were turned into [[CaptainErsatz ersatzes]] of the ''Double Dragon'' cast: the Lee brothers became the ''Lewis'' brothers, while Abobo became ''Abubo''. |
| 256 | * After Creator/{{Rare}} was bought out by Microsoft, ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' characters were removed from two of their upcoming games for the Platform/GameBoyAdvance: ''Diddy Kong Pilot'' became ''Banjo-Pilot'', and ''Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers'' became ''It's Mr Pants''. |
| 257 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates]]'' for the SNES was retooled for its Japanese release as ''Yōkai Buster: Ruka no Daibōken'', starring the mascot character of ''Marukatsu Super Famicom'' magazine. |
| 258 | * ''VideoGame/PaxCorpus'', a 1997 [=PlayStation=] action game by Creator/CryoInteractive, was retooled from a canceled ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' game. |
| 259 | * Zig zagged with ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'': started out as an original game, was later incorporated into the ''[[VideoGame/TrueCrimeStreetsOfLA True Crime]]'' franchise by Activision who later cancelled it, then it was revived by Creator/SquareEnix who turned it into an original game again. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' was going to be a ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' sports game and the Miis were just going to be placeholders. People liked the Miis though so they were kept in the final version. A ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix'' did get made later, despite this. |
| 261 | * ''VideoGame/StarGladiator'' was originally going to be a licensed ''Franchise/StarWars'' fighting game developed by Creator/{{Capcom}} and Creator/{{LucasArts}}. [=LucasArts=] instead opted to make their own fighting game, ''VideoGame/StarWarsMastersOfTerasKasi'', which was released to decidedly mixed reception. Elements of the original source material can still be seen in ''Star Gladiator'', as Hayato's Plasma Sword is essentially a lightsaber, Gamof bears a very strong resemblance to Chewbacca, June has a [[LukeIAmYourFather seemingly-dead father who turns out to be working for the villain]], and Bilstein is a rather blatant Darth Vader {{Expy}}. |
| 262 | * ''Videogame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' was originally supposed to be a licensed fighting game starring the Franchise/UniversalHorror monsters. This influence can still be seen in many of the characters, as Demitri Maximoff is an obvious stand-in for Film/{{Dracula|1931}}, Jon Talbain for Film/{{The Wolfman|1941}}, Rikuo for the Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon, Victor von Gerdenheim for Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'s Monster, and so on. |
| 263 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' was planned to be a ''Mario'' game at one point in its development, its idea being in part born thanks to the ''Super Mario 128'' tech demo for the Platform/NintendoGameCube. |
| 264 | * ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' was born as a gameplay concept, and amongst the possibilities its developers considered was to make it a ''Mario'' spin-off game. They eventually settled with making it a new IP with the shapeshifting Inklings as the protagonists instead. |
| 265 | * Coming full circle, ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker'' was originally envisioned as a ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' puzzle title starring Link, thanks in part to one of the main elements in the game being not having the ability to jump obstacles, which at first appeared to be out of place for a ''Mario'' title. |
| 266 | * Obscure Mega Drive/Genesis shooter ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKnGldM_C0k CrossFire]]'' was originally released in Japan as ''Super Airwolf'', based off the ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'' TV series and intended to be a sequel to Kyugo's 1987 arcade {{licensed game}}. The Western localization edited the theme song to a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong suspiciously similar version]] and the rest of the references to the show were removed. |
| 267 | * ''VideoGame/{{Trapt}}'' suffers this twice over. Not only is it a game that would have been previously localized as a ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' game, but by Japanese reckoning, it's the first genuine NumberedSequel, being ''Kagero 2.'' It was instead marketed and released as a standalone title, and since it was a NonLinearSequel in the first place, this removes all franchise ties. |
| 268 | * ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' began development as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', only to be divorced from that series and renamed ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' before becoming a ''Mana'' game. |
| 269 | * ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' was apparently planned to be either ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' or ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' during its development, but it was retooled into an original title because it was [[DarkerAndEdgier too dark]] for either franchise. |
| 270 | * Both the little-known RPG ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' by Creator/LarianStudios and the somewhat better known first installment of the HackAndSlash franchise ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}}'' by Ascaron were originally supposed to be set in the ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' universe (having no connection whatsoever otherwise). The Larian game had the title ''The Lady, the Mage and the Knight'', abbreviated as LMK, which, in the German title, would have stood for ''Legenden der Magierkriege'', i.e. "legends of the Mage Wars" (the Mage Wars being a period in the history of Aventuria in the TDE setting). The precursor of ''Sacred'' was called ''Armalion'' (a powerful artefact in the TDE universe). In both cases, problems with the license prevented the projects from leaving the pre-alpha stage, but the existing code and parts of the art were used as building blocks for ''Divine Divinity'' and ''Sacred'', respectively. |
| 271 | * The SNES racing game ''Cyber Spin'' was originally a game based on ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'', it was brought overseas with references of the series removed, and in the American version, the setting was changed to a futuristic UsefulNotes/FormulaOne setting. |
| 272 | * In its '''very''' earliest stages, ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' was actually a ContinuityReboot of ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter''. Creator/NaughtyDog decided to make it a new IP instead when they realized the ideas they liked best had nothing to do with ''Jak and Daxter''. |
| 273 | * The TwoAndAHalfD HackAndSlash ''Final Exam'' began life as an {{interquel}} in the ''VideoGame/{{ObsCure}}'' series of SurvivalHorror games. It was retooled into a separate game after the original developer, Hydravision Entertainment, closed its doors and reformed into Mighty Rocket Studios. However, it still has many {{Shout Out}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s to the ''[=ObsCure=]'' games, most notably [[spoiler:Shannon, one of the series' protagonists, returning as an NPC, and the first game's villain Principal Friedman serving as the FinalBoss]], to the point where fans of that series consider it all but an unofficial sequel. |
| 274 | * ''Family Pinball'' was originally a [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] game in Japan, but a different publisher brought it to the U.S. as ''Rock 'n' Ball''. The Namco characters were replaced with generic equivalents, and the ''VideoGame/PacMan'' table was not only genericized but slightly altered in layout. |
| 275 | * ''VideoGame/YoungMerlin'' developed out of a canceled SNES version of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfKyrandia Fables & Fiends]]''. |
| 276 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bombshell}}'' was originally conceived as ''Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction'', but a legal dispute arose over use of the ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'' intellectual property (specifically, Creator/GearboxSoftware said that their deal with Creator/ApogeeSoftware - the one which resulted in ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' finally coming out - precluded Apogee from publishing any more Duke Nukem games). As such, Duke was replaced by Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison as as the game's protagonist. |
| 277 | * ''VideoGame/TabulaRasa'' was known as ''Ultima X'' in development, and was intended as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}''. The first version was going to be a fantasy MMORPG, then was scrapped to make a second fantasy MMORPG, then it was scrapped entirely and made into a completely different MMOFPS. |
| 278 | * ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' started out as ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic'', a ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' fangame. While still early in development, ''Fighting is Magic'' got so much attention that Hasbro sent them a Cease and Desist order. Creator/LaurenFaust liked the game, however, so she helped ReTool it into an original game about several different kinds of quadrupedal animals. |
| 279 | * The planned third installment of the Amiga hack-n-slash series ''Switchblade'' was completely retooled into the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''-style platform game ''VideoGame/{{Zool}}''. Much later, after ''Zool 3'''s second cancellation, shovelware developer Data Design Interactive picked up the pieces and used them to create ''VideoGame/NinjabreadMan''. |
| 280 | * Creator/{{Codemasters}} distributed the Spanish Platform/ZXSpectrum game ''Phantomas'' under its original title, but distanced its sequel from it by retitling it ''Vampire''. Interestingly, ''Phantomas'' and ''Phantomas 2'' began development as unrelated but similar games, but Dinamic convinced the coders of both games to use the same main character. |
| 281 | * Similar to the ''Them's Fighting Herds'' example, ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' started as a ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'' fangame, but later became its own thing for commercial release. In this case, it switched over before getting a C&D. |
| 282 | * ''Mickey Mouse III: Yume Fuusen'' was being localized as ''Mickey Mouse: Dream Balloon'', but licensing difficulties apparently intervened because Kemco ended up editing in their own character and releasing the game in the US as ''Kid Klown in Night Mayor World''. Indeed, every Mickey Mouse game from Kemco that wasn't published overseas by Creator/{{Capcom}} or Creator/{{Nintendo}} was modified into something else outside Japan. |
| 283 | * There was once a sequel to the original ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' in development. Due to the controversy of the original game it was cancelled and retooled into ''Hard 'N' Heavy''. |
| 284 | * ''Jimbo'', released with the March 1995 issue of German Platform/{{Commodore 64}} magazine ''Magic Disk 64'', doesn't do much to hide that it was originally developed as the fourth game in Creator/{{Codemasters}}' ''CJ's Elephant Antics'' series. (The third game was never released in any form. The first game, for that matter, was built on the engine of an unfinished Commodore 64 port of ''VideoGame/TheNewZealandStory'', different from the one actually released by Ocean Software.) |
| 285 | * ''VideoGame/NexusTheJupiterIncident'' started out as ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica 3: Genesis''. It then got bounced around several developers/publishers under the title of ''Galaxy Andromeda'' before finally being released as its current title. WordOfGod is that the storyline remains largely unchanged, so ''Nexus'' can be considered a [[SpiritualSequel Spiritual Prequel]] to ''Imperium Galactica''. |
| 286 | * ''VideoGame/RetroCityRampage'' started as an NES hardware-based [[VideoGameDemake demake]] of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' titled ''Grand Theftendo'', but eventually ended up an 8-bit-{{retraux}} ReferenceOverdosed SpiritualAdaptation of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoClassic''. |
| 287 | * ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' was at one point planned to be a sequel to Rare's ''VideoGame/RCProAM'' series until the game was shown to Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, who suggested to add Diddy Kong as the main character. This change happened late enough in development that a small amount of merchandise was printed under the ''Pro-Am 64'' title. |
| 288 | * The Famicom game ''Moeru! Oniisan'' was based on a Creator/{{Toho}} OAV of the same name. Toho published a Westernized NES version of this game under the title ''Circus Caper''. |
| 289 | * A sequel to the ''Combat Wings'' series titled ''Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII'' was delayed at the last minute and renamed ''Dogfight 1942''. Though considering the previous ''Combat Wings'' games were very generic arcade WWII flight combat games with little recurring characters or plot elements, this doesn't change much. |
| 290 | * ''VideoGame/ZeraMythsAwaken'' was meant to be a ''Spyro the Dragon 4'' styled in the same way as the original Insomniac trilogy. A cease-and-desist order put an end to that idea. It was reworked into its own concept starring a pink, female, semi-pedal CartoonCreature named "Zera", but it's still clearly ''Spyro'' inspired. |
| 291 | * ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' was originally going to be a ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' game before becoming [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed its own franchise]]. |
| 292 | * ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' was planned as a sequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'' [[SpiritualSuccessor but became its own series]]. Aside of sharing a character designer/art director in Akihiko Yoshida and similar battle systems, the first ''Bravely'' title even features the Demon Lords from ''4 Heroes of Light'' as Nemeses, accompanied by a remix of that game's normal battle theme, "Battle with Monsters." |
| 293 | * Rare had planned to develop a sequel to ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', but lost the license as they were outbid by Creator/ElectronicArts. Downplayed, as the ''Goldeneye'' development team hadn't wished to create another ''Franchise/JamesBond'' game anyway, instead wanting to create their own, original spy-based title. Thus ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' was made as a standalone game with similar mechanics. |
| 294 | ** The cancelled ''Perfect Dark Core'' would have undergone the same thing had development continued; by the time it was cancelled it had turned into a completely different game, featuring a new male protagonist fighting HumongousMecha. |
| 295 | * One early design concept for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' would have been a detective mystery set in contemporary (mid-late '90s) [[BigApplesauce New York]]. While this obviously didn't pan out, the basic idea would later be reworked into a [[VideoGame/ParasiteEve video game sequel]] to Hideaki Sena's novel ''Literature/ParasiteEve''. |
| 296 | * ''[[VideoGame/DefJamSeries Def Jam Vendetta]]'' was originally planned to be a Wrestling/{{WCW}} game, tentatively called ''WCW 2000'' or ''WCW Mayhem 2'', depending on the source, for the then-upcoming [=PlayStation 2=], but EA lost the WCW license after the latter company was acquired by the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]] in 2001. |
| 297 | * ''VideoGame/TheForgottenCity'' started its life a [[GameMod quest mod]] for ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' released in 2015. The mod was met with acclaim by the modding community, and even managed to garner some praise from the mainstream gaming press. Encouraged by the postive response, the mod's project leader Nick Pearce, decided to work on expanding the mod into a full game, divorcing it from ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' universe and instead transplanting it into its own original setting. |
| 298 | * ''VideoGame/Daymare1998'' was originally a FanRemake of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' before the developers received a cease & desist letter from Creator/{{Capcom}}, who were working on [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake their own official remake]] of that game. This led them to {{retool}} it into an original SurvivalHorror title that served as a GenreThrowback to the genre's late '90s heyday. |
| 299 | * ''VideoGame/{{Remothered}}'' started out as a 2D remake of ''VideoGame/ClockTower1995'', but the developers made the decision to go all the way and make it its own IP after deciding to make the jump to 3D. In addition to being an excellent game in its own right, it also still manages to capture the spirit of the original ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series quite well. |
| 300 | * ''VideoGame/{{Oddity}}'' started life as a {{fan sequel}}, ''[[VideoGame/{{Mother}} Mother 4]]'', before the developers decided to drop nearly all references to the Mother series to potentially avoid a cease-and-desist. However, some fans still refer to it as ''Mother 4''. |
| 301 | * ''VideoGame/{{Freespace}}'' originally started life as a sequel/spin-off of the developer's ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' series. It developed into its own thing quickly, but in America was still called "Descent: Freespace" for [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope strange copyright reasons]] (it was released as "Conflict: Freespace" elsewhere). |
| 302 | * ''Dota Auto Chess'' was an extremely popular mod for ''VideoGame/Dota2'', and proved popular enough to the point that Dota's competitors [[FollowTheLeader created their own versions of Auto Chess]]. Discussions between Valve and the mod creator ultimately led to the decision that each of them work on their own separate auto chess games. What was left from ''Dota Auto Chess'' turned into simply ''Auto Chess'', while Valve created their own version of the game, ''VideoGame/DotaUnderlords''. |
| 303 | * The arcade ShootEmUp ''Turbo Force'' was [[https://twitter.com/VGDensetsu/status/1333162602499870721 originally developed]] as an international graphic swap for a spin-off of the ''VideoGame/RabioLepus'' series named ''Metal Rabbit'', until ''Metal Rabbit'' was scrapped and ''Turbo Force'' was the version released worldwide. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/MarioParty 9'' includes a ''{{VideoGame/Tetris}}''-esque mini game called "Castle Clearout". This game would later appear in ''VideoGame/ClubhouseGames: 51 Worldwide Classics'' under the name "6-Ball Puzzle" with ties to the ''Mario'' series removed. |
| 305 | [[/folder]] |
| 306 | |
| 307 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 308 | * ''VisualNovel/StarswirlAcademy'' was originally a visual novel where you could date humanized versions of ''My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' characters. Hasbro caught wind and told the devs to change some elements. They changed the character names and now we have characters like the rainbow haired Robin Douglas (Rainbow Dash). |
| 309 | [[/folder]] |
| 310 | |
| 311 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 312 | * According to Creator/LaurenFaust, the ''WesternAnimation/SuperBestFriendsForever'' shorts and her ensuing ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' TV series were recycled from a rejected pitch she'd made starring ComicBook/KittyPryde and the ComicBook/NewMutants. |
| 313 | * ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' was the result of a collaboration between Creator/DiCEntertainment and Creator/TMSEntertainment, but it originally started life as a [[LighterAndSofter kid-friendly]] spin-off of ''Franchise/LupinIII''. It was to be called ''Lupin VIII'', starring the descendants of the ''Lupin III'' cast, and would feature a lot of futuristic gadgets. The pilot episode was nearly complete, but the estate of Maurice [=LeBlanc=], creator of the original ''Literature/ArseneLupin'' series which ''Lupin III'' was based on (without permission), decided to threaten legal action against the companies. This put a stop to ''Lupin VIII'', but since both companies had already put money into production, they needed to make ''something''. The result was ''Inspector Gadget'', which ran with the idea of a show centered around gadgets, and switched the main character focus from the thief to the police inspector, with Gadget being something of an {{expy}} of Inspector Zenigata. |
| 314 | * ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' was originally pitched as a SpinOff of ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'', but Jeffrey Katzenberg rejected it, as work on ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' was beginning in the feature department. |
| 315 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' was originally conceived as a ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' spinoff with Hank being Tom Anderson's son, but Fox couldn't get access to ''Beavis and Butthead'' characters. |
| 316 | * ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' began development in 2008 as a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'', but issues with the rights to the original movie meant that Netflix launched it as an unrelated TV series instead. |
| 317 | [[/folder]] |
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