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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Coming soon from Paramount Pictures - '''[[Airplane!]] III
'''[[William Shatner]]:''' Wait! That's EXACTLY what they'll expect us to do! }}
A common way to name movie [[
The result of this is that the original ''Foomovie'' will become known as ''Foomovie 1'', and on occasion will actually be rereleased this way (see [[Retronym]]). This is actually a recent practice, beginning in the 1970s.
If the movies in a series were made out of chronological order, the numbering can refer either to the order in which they were made or the order in which they take place. The latter gets you titles like ''[[Resident Evil]] Zero'' and ''[[The Lion King]] 1½''. Very rarely, you'll see a prequel with a negative number. The print version of the webcomic ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has two prequels, numbered #0 and #-1, and the French comic ''Donjon'' (planned to run from #1-#100) has spinoff series planned to run from #-99 to #0 and #101 to #200.
Some series use Arabic numerals, some use Roman numerals, and some use either. The distinction between Roman numerals and Arabic seems to be the distinction between grand-scale affairs that take themselves very seriously (and thus borrow a bit of grandeur from the western world's most prominent [[Vestigial Empire]]), and stories that either don't take themselves entirely seriously, or have a futuristic bent that makes the Arabic numerals look all sciency and mathematical.
This trope [[Stopped Numbering Sequels|can be subverted]]: The ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' series started with ''Marathon'' and ''Marathon 2'' but then jumped to ''Marathon '''Infinity'''''. The subsequent release and open-source development of ''Marathon 2''{{'}}s game engine restored sequential numbering by naming the engine ''Aleph One'', [[Up to Eleven|the next largest infinity]]. (See below.)
This is, if anything, even more common in video games than in movies, although the "Part 2" variation is absent there. Literary examples, on the other hand, are very, very rare.
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Parodies take this to extremes with [[Ridiculous Future Sequelisation]].
Compare [[Sequel Number Snarl]], [[Episode Zero:
Contrast [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]], [[Recycled Title]], [[Trope 2000]] and [[Super Title 64 Advance]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
* ''[[Macross 7]]'' is not the seventh ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross|Macross]]''
▲== Anime and Manga ==
▲* ''[[Macross 7]]'' is not the seventh ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross|Macross]]'' series -- it's the third in the official continuity, after ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' and ''[[Macross Plus]]''. Confusingly, a different production group created an unofficial sequel called ''[[Macross II]]''. It wasn't well received. The prequel series ''[[Macross Zero]]'' really does come first chronologically.
* Not a movie series, but deserving of mention, are the cyborgs of ''[[Cyborg 009]]''. The protagonists are [[Hollywood Cyborg|cyborgs]] designated 001-009. But the one that follows 009 ("zero zero nine") is named ''0010'' ("zero zero ten"), rather than the logical 010. The series also does this with {{spoiler|all subsequent cyborg characters.}}
* ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' looks like this, as it ''is'' after all the second ''[[Digimon]]'' series, but the number actually derives from its status as being [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|set in the year 2002]]. One could assume the number doubles as this.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[100 Bullets]]'' has an interesting twist on this
▲* ''100 Bullets'' has an interesting twist on this- every story arc/trade paperback has a title that either incorporates its number into it (eg- book 4 is ''A Foregone Tomorrow'', book 9 is ''Strychnine Lives'') or uses part of a known phrase that includes the number, but leaving the actual number out (eg- book 7 is ''[[Seven Samurai|Samurai]]'' and book 12 is ''[[Dirty Dozen|Dirty]]'')
* ''[[The Ultimates]]'' 2 and 3.
* ''[[Kick-Ass]]'' 2.
* The first major film to start using this technique was ''[[The Godfather]]'' in ''The Godfather Part II''. It was one of [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s three demands for working on the sequel. His two other demands were approved, but the studio highly objected to simply following the title with a number. Its success began the tradition of numbered sequels.▼
== Films -- Live-Action ==▼
▲* The first major film to start using this technique was ''[[The Godfather]]'' in ''The Godfather Part II''. It was one of Francis Ford Coppola's three demands for working on the sequel. His two other demands were approved, but the studio highly objected to simply following the title with a number. Its success began the tradition of numbered sequels.
** Oddly, enough, this was [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] for ''The Godfather Part III''. Coppola wanted to call it ''The Death of Michael Corleone'' but the studio wouldn't let him.
* The ''[[Rocky (film)|Rocky]]'' series followed this trope until the sixth installment which was called ''Rocky Balboa'' (as if the other movies were about some other guy named "Rocky").
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* Parodied by ''[[The Naked Gun]]'' series; ''The Naked Gun'' was followed by ''The Naked Gun 2½'' and ''The Naked Gun 33⅓''.
** 33⅓ is the speed one plays an LP.
*** If you have to explain the 33⅓, then you better explain that an LP is a [[What Are Records?|vinyl record]] ([[Tech Marches On|what music was recorded on before CDs]]).
** Another sequel, provisionally titled ''The Naked Gun 444.4'' or ''The Naked Gun 4 Score and 3 Sequels Ago'' was in development in the late '90s, although obviously nothing came of it.
* ZAZ didn't want to have anything to do with ''[[Airplane!]] II - The Sequel'', (and even claim to this day to have never watched it), even though they'd later make sequels to ''Naked Gun'' and ''[[Hot Shots]]!''. ''Airplane II'' lampshades the trope with the announcement at the end of the credits "Coming soon from Paramount Pictures : ''Airplane III''" followed by William Shatner saying "Wait! That's exactly what they'll be expecting us to do!"
** Speaking of ''[[Hot Shots]]!'': its sequel was ''Hot Shots! Part Deux'',<ref>[[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|French]] for two</ref>
* The ''[[Ocean's Eleven]]'' remake proved popular enough to warrant a couple of sequels. Instead of using the rather cumbersome ''Ocean's Eleven Two'' or
** And the titles end up being spot-on with the number of people involved in the main heist (12 adds Ocean's wife, 13 adds [[Enemy Mine|the antagonist of the other movies]] and a technical expert).
* Likewise, the second live-action ''101 Dalmatians'' film was titled ''102 Dalmatians''.
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* Many ''[[Star Wars]]'' fans were rather confused when the 1977 original, simply titled ''Star Wars'', was followed by Episode '''Five''', ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''. A rerelease of the original rechristened it "Episode Four: [[A New Hope]]", paving the way for later prequels.
* For its European release, Italian director [[Lucio Fulci]] heavily re-cut George Romero's ''[[Dawn of the Dead (film)|Dawn of the Dead]]'' to produce what was essentially a completely different movie, which he titled ''Zombi''. After its success, Fulci went on to produce five sequels, which were titled ''[[Zombi 2]]'', ''Zombi 3'', and so forth. ''Zombi 2'' was simply retitled ''Zombie'' for its North American release, but the later sequels shared their numbering on both sides of the pond - meaning that while you can find ''Zombie'', ''Zombie 3'', and ''Zombie 4'' at your local video rental outlet, there is no movie available in North America titled ''Zombie 2''.
** No longer true on DVD. ''Zombie'' is available as ''Zombie''
* According to popular myth, the reason the play ''[[The Madness of George III]]'' was filmed as ''[[The Madness of King George]]'' was in case people avoided it until they'd seen ''The Madness of George'' and ''The Madness of George II''.
** Along similar lines, though this was just a joke, was the story of people wondering how they had missed seeing the nine prequels to Spike Lee's ''Malcolm X''.
** A similar joke is used in a ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'' companion guide, which features the aliens documenting their understanding of Earth. When describing the concept of movies, Dick cites ''[[Apollo 13]]'' and ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'' as examples of movie sequels. He then mistakes the film ''[[Se7en]]'' for being a prequel to the [[Blake Edwards]] film ''10''.
* Spoofed in ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]] Part II'' (itself a victim of this trope, along with ''Part III'') with the fictional movie ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]] 19''. In reality, the ''Jaws'' series never spawned more than four movies, and the last two weren't even
{{quote|'''Marty McFly:''' Shark ''still'' [[Special Effects Failure|looks fake]].}}
** You're forgetting [[The Mockbuster|Jaws 5: Deadly Jaws]]
** Actually the third falls under a rule listed below: ''Jaws [[Third Is 3D|3-D]]''.
* The entries in Matthew Barney's avant-garde "Cremaster cycle" were filmed out of their numerical order: ''Cremaster 4'' (1994), ''Cremaster 1'' (1995), ''Cremaster 5'' (1997), ''Cremaster 2'' (1999), and finally ''Cremaster 3'' (2002).
* In the [[Jerry Stiller]] film ''[[The Independent]]'', long-time exploitation film director Morty Fineman is asked by the
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' movies go like this: "Pokémon: The First Movie", "Pokémon The Movie 2000", "Pokémon 3 The Movie", "Pokémon 4Ever", and then they stop trying to incorporate the numbers into the title and just go to straight subtitles.
** Made absolutely ridiculous by the fact that the subtitle of "The First Movie" is "Mewtwo Strikes Back", clearly implying that it was a sequel. (This had long been what we Americans had been told, but it turns out that this is not totally true, as ''The Origin of Mewtwo'' was just a short featurette of the same length as those ubiquitous Pikachu specials.) The origin story, which had been removed from the American theatrical release of ''Pokemon: The First Movie'' in order to preserve the G rating, was eventually packaged on the direct-to-video release Mewtwo Returns. So we have a "Strikes Back", and then we have a "Returns". Is anyone else sensing a ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Homage]] here?
* The ''[[Shrek]]'' films seem to be using the same system as ''[[Blackadder]]'' as an [[Homage]]: ''Shrek'', ''Shrek 2'', ''Shrek the Third'', and ''Shrek Forever After''.
** They were supposedly reluctant to use the title "Shrek 3," lest it create confusion with the short "Shrek 3-D" which was released in a box set with the first two films. Apparently [[Viewers are Morons]].
* The ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' series is surprisingly consistent with this. Of the 10 movies (excluding ''[[Freddy vs. Jason]]''), 7 of the movies were numerically numbered, with #4 being (the misleading) "The Final Chapter", and #9 being "Jason Goes to Hell". #10 uses the roman numeral "X". Because [[Xtreme Kool Letterz|it's cool]] and took place [[Recycled in Space|in space]].
* Since you mentioned Freddy ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' was similar, with five numbered sequels, then ''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'' (which is not much misleading, as all the following sequel and ''[[Freddy vs. Jason]]'' have him truly dead) and ''[[In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It|Wes Craven's]] New Nightmare''.
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* The ''[[Saw]]'' film series went from 1 to 6 (using Roman numerals for the second to sixth films). Then an [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo|Oddly Numbered Sequel]] (at least over here) is the seventh movie, known as ''Saw 3D''.
* ''[[King Kong]] Lives'' was released as ''King Kong 2'' in several countries.
* The
* The first three ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)||Mission Impossible]]'' films do this. Then the fourth was ''Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol''.
* ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'' has two sequel, but the first uses Roman numbers (''Men In Black II'', stylized ''MIIB'') and the latter Arabic ones (''Men In Black 3'', stylized ''MIB<sup>3</sup>'').
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* One of the few literary examples is ''Rama II'', and there the title can also be taken to refer to the spaceship the book features.
* The sequel to [[E. E. "Doc" Smith]]'s ''[[Skylark Series|The Skylark of Space]]'' was called ''Skylark Three'', again after a ship starring in the story.
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* ''Psycho'' was [[Adaptation Displacement|originally a book]]. The sequel ([[Alternate Continuity|which was never filmed]]) was called ''Psycho II''. None of the actual Psycho sequel films adapt Bloch's sequels, ''Psycho II'' and ''Psycho House''. A similar situation exists with Brian Garfield's sequel to ''Death Wish'', ''Death Sentence''. None of the Charles Bronson sequel films adapted it. ''Death Sentence'' was later filmed with a different hero.
* [[Martin Caidin|Martin Caidin's]] first book about Steve Austin, Cyborg, had three sequels, with the last named Cyborg IV (the other two had completely different names).
* Gary Brander wrote ''Howling II'' and Howling ''III''.
* Numerous paperback original series such as the Destroyer, the Penetrator, the Marksman, etc. had numbered titles.
* The UK versions of ''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' by Meg Cabot have fun with this; the sequels are called ''The Princess Diaries: Take Two'', ''The Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky'', ''The Princess Diaries: Mia Goes Fourth'', ''The Princess Diaries: Give Me Five'', ''The Princess Diaries: Sixsational'', ''The Princess Diaries: Seventh Heaven'', ''The Princess Diaries: After Eight'', and ''The Princess Diaries: To the Nines''.
* The [[Stephanie Plum]] novels by Janet Evanovich take this to the extreme, being no more than a short phrase containing the number in the series (except for holiday specials). The series goes from ''One For the Money'', ''Two for the Dough'' and ''Three to Get Deadly'' all the way to ''Explosive Eighteen'' in 2011.
* Megan McCafferty's popular series includes ''Sloppy Firsts'', ''Second Helpings'', ''Charmed Thirds'', ''Fourth Comings'', and will conclude in April 2009 with ''Perfect Fifths''.
* Several [[Marcus Didius Falco|Falco]] novels had a count ''down.'' Thus ''Three Hands in the Fountain'' was followed by ''Two for the Lions'' and then ''One Virgin Too Many''. Since the Romans never got around to inventing the number zero, subsequent novels had to drop the numerical theme.
* David Charney wrote ''Sensei'' and ''Sensei II: The Swordmaster''.
* The second and third ''[[
* Some printings of ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Second Jungle Book]]'' use the title ''The Jungle Book II''.
* [[The BBC]] science fiction comedy series ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' opened its third series with a ''Star Wars'' spoofing scroll past of text ending with the line Red Dwarf III: The Same Generation (Nearly). This led the BBC's official listings magazine, the Radio Times, to list the series as Red Dwarf III. Subsequent series were likewise shown as Red Dwarf IV, Red Dwarf V and so on. Eventually, the creators began numbering the series on screen... after which the Radio Times just called it Red Dwarf. This was dropped for the ''Back to Earth'' three-parter, although it is referred to (usually unofficially) as Series IX.
* Another BBC comedy, ''[[The Black Adder]]'', was followed by Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth (bad pun!)
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** Which is kind of an oxymoron if you think about it.
== [[Music]] ==
▲== Music ==
* [[Led Zeppelin|Led Zeppelin's]] self-titled debut album was followed later the same year by ''Led Zeppelin II'', and by ''Led Zeppelin III'' the following year. The untitled album that followed it is informally called ''Led Zeppelin IV'' by fans.
* [[Meat Loaf
* [[Metallica]] released the song "The Unforgiven" on their self-titled album. Six years later, on the album ''Reload'', came the song "The Unforgiven II". Subverted a bit in the lyrics; they are about the Unforgiven from the previous song finding a lifemate and asking "are you unforgiven [[A Worldwide Punomenon|too]]?".
** And another twelve years later, on ''Death Magnetic'', Metallica released "The Unforgiven III". Strangely enough, it's the only song in the cycle that ''doesn't'' contain the word Unforgiven in any of the lyrics, and musically and lyrically it has very little to do with the other two.
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* Most of [[Nine Inch Nails]]' albums, singles and EPs have a "Halo number" appended to the title, indicating the chronological order of its release. ''The Downward Spiral'', for example, is designated "Halo 8", while their most recent release, ''The Slip'', is "Halo 27". Usually the releases that don't have a Halo number are releases that Reznor's record company forced him to release and fall under [[Canon Discontinuity]].
* As a response to the NWOBHM, Guitar Player columnist Mike Varney established the Shrapnel Records label, and issued a ''U.S. Metal'' compilation to spotlight unsigned American metal bands. ''U.S. Metal Vols. II-IV'' followed.
* An unusual case of this happening with a band name: King Missile III, so named because it was the second time they'd made significant lineup changes since forming. Technically, there was never a King Missile II: The first incarnation of the band was King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) and the second was simply King Missile.
* Similarly, Big Audio Dynamite became Big Audio Dynamite II once Mick Jones was the only original member left.
* Normally, in classical music, number of works isn't really that important, but there's a particular superstition around writing exactly nine numbered symphonies...
** Gustav Mahler, superstitious that several other previous composers had died either leaving 9 symphonies, or 8 and an unfinished 9th, at one time said that the symphony now numbered his 9th was actually his 10th, by counting the symphonic cantata "Das Lied von der Erde" as a symphony and thus as his actual ninth (this is what qualifies him for this trope). Subverted in that nobody else has since accepted that renumbering, so "Das Lied" remains defined as a symphonic cantata, is NOT counted in the sequence of symphonies, and the 9th symphony as a 9th. Oh, and he died shortly afterwards, leaving sketches for a half-completed 10th.
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** On the other hand, both Ralph Vaughan Williams and Malcolm Arnold have written 9 symphonies and then died. At a very advanced age in both cases.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==▼
* The [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s ''Wrestlemania'' Pay-Per-View events are normally numbered (although they seem to have trouble deciding whether to use Roman or Arabic numerals), with three exceptions: the sixteenth was dubbed ''Wrestlemania 2000'' to capitalize on millennial fever (and because it was in the year 2000), and the seventeenth and eighteenth were ''Wrestlemania X-Seven'' and ''Wrestlemania X8'', respectively, for [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]] effect. Their other Pay-Per-View events don't use any form of numbering, instead being identified by the year in which they were held▼
▲== Professional Wrestling ==
▲* The [[WWE]]'s ''Wrestlemania'' Pay-Per-View events are normally numbered (although they seem to have trouble deciding whether to use Roman or Arabic numerals), with three exceptions: the sixteenth was dubbed ''Wrestlemania 2000'' to capitalize on millennial fever (and because it was in the year 2000), and the seventeenth and eighteenth were ''Wrestlemania X-Seven'' and ''Wrestlemania X8'', respectively, for [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]] effect. Their other Pay-Per-View events don't use any form of numbering, instead being identified by the year in which they were held
** The only other Wrestlemania not to use Roman numerals was XIII - which was promoted with Arabic numerals.
* [[WCW]]'s first nine ''Superbrawl'' PPV events were appropriately numbered, then the next was named ''Superbrawl 2000'' much like WWF did with ''Wrestlemania''. This was followed by ''Superbrawl Revenge'', the final Superbrawl before WCW was closed down.
== [[Theatre]] ==
* William [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Henry IV]], part 2'', and ''Henry VI, parts 2 and 3''
** Spoofed by ''The Book of Sequels'', a book consisting of humorous fictional sequels, spinoffs, and adaptations of famous works, with ''Romeo and Juliet Part 2'', which reveals that Romeo's poison was actually a sleeping potion, the knife was [[Actually a Doombot|actually a fake prop knife]], and that Romeo and Juliet [[Sequel Reset|live on]] to go on a bunch of wacky adventures.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Only three of the first six ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games were released in North America. Two of those -- ''[[Final Fantasy IV|IV]]'', and ''[[Final Fantasy VI|VI]]''
** The series also features ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'', which - perhaps confusingly for some - is neither ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' nor ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]''. Or ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', for that matter.
▲* Only three of the first six ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games were released in North America. Two of those -- ''[[Final Fantasy IV|IV]]'', and ''[[Final Fantasy VI|VI]]'' -- were renumbered for North American release, making them ''II'', and ''III''. This was made all the more confusing when, starting with ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', Square decided to release the games with their proper numbers globally, making it seem in North America as though ''Final Fantasy IV-VI'' had simply vanished. This was further muddled when the NES and SNES games were rereleased worldwide on other consoles and given their original numbers.
**
** Notably, ''[[Final Fantasy
**
** There also exist Final Fantasy Legend II and III for the original Game Boy, although the Japanese versions were a separate series named [[SaGa]] and only branded Final Fantasy for international releases.
* The ''[[
* Similarly, the ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'' series also had its share. The original was called simply ''Unreal Tournament'', the sequel was ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' (to sound like other sports titles such as ''Madden 2004'' - they wanted to emphasize the 'bloody sporting competition' aspect). The sequel/re-tool of that was ''[[Unreal Tournament 2004]]''. The next game was originally ''Unreal Tournament 2007'', but now it's just ''[[Unreal Tournament 3|Unreal Tournament III]]''. Apparently, even the developers didn't think 2004 was that different from 2003.
** The 200X games were both based on the Unreal Engine 2. UT 3 uses an entirely new engine (The Unreal Engine 3, naturally), and is therefore the third generation of the series.
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* Depending on which games you count as canon, ''[[Worms]] 4: Mayhem'' was either the sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth Worms game.
* The Japan-only ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]] NINE'' is almost a subversion: [[Multiple Endings|'nine' is the number of endings,]] the main series only having 3-5 games depending on what you count as a spin-off. Counting spin-offs and remakes, the number of games actually jumps over 50...
* ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' actually had a subtitle when it was first released in Japan, namely ''[[Super Mario Bros.]] 4''. Then, for the Western releases of [[
** ''[[Wario Land]]'' fits this trope to a T, with Wario Land games 1-4. (Though ''Wario Land II'' is numbered with the Roman numeral, unlike 3 and 4, and all later Wario games used subtitles rather than numbers.)
** When the ''Super Mario'' games were rereleased for the [[Game Boy Advance]], gamers were treated to ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2|Super Mario Advance]]'' ''';''' ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2]]'' ''';''' ''[[
* ''[[Mario Party]]'' has numbered sequels from 1-9.
* Mostly avoided by ''[[Mario Kart]]'', which instead went for the [[Super Title 64 Advance]] format (though the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube installments were examples of <nowiki>[[Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]</nowiki>). For the 3DS installment, however, it will be released as ''Mario Kart 7''.
** But technically its the 9th installment in the series, guess the arcade don't count huh?
* ''[[Super Mario Bros the Lost Levels]]'', ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'', ''[[Super Mario Bros 3]]'', ''[[Super Mario Land 2:
* The ''[[Contra]]'' series only had two numbered sequels. ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' for the SNES, which directly followed the original arcade and NES games, ''Contra'' and ''Super Contra'' (aka ''Super C''), although ''Contra III'' was just the [[Market-Based Title]] for the American version (the Japanese version was titled ''Contra Spirits''). The second numbered sequel was ''Contra 4'' for the Nintendo DS, although it was released more than a decade later after other ''Contra'' sequels were made. The "4" on its title has less to do with its release order and more to do with its setting (taking place after ''Contra III'', but before ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'')..
* The Anno series started with ''Anno 1602'', then 1503 (yes, exactly like that), then 1701 and finally (as of now) 1404. The only pattern in this sequal numbering is that the numbers add up to 9.
* All of the 2D ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' sequelsreceived consecutive numbers from II to VI (plus V Special); however, in Japan, each game had a variation of the ''[[Samurai Shodown|Samurai Spirits]]'' title and some were prequels. Still, ''Samurai Shodown V'' in Japan was ''Samurai Spirits'' '''''Zero'''''. The fictional chronology goes like this: V, VI, I, III, IV, and II.
* Subversion: '''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' was followed by ''Marathon 2'' which was followed by ''Marathon Infinity''. ''Infinity'' was then given a joke award by ''MacFormat'' for "largest version number increase." As if this wasn't enough, the game engine for ''Marathon 2'' was subsequently released and developed into an open-source version named ''Aleph One'', thereby restoring sequential numbering at the expense of being understandable by anyone who wasn't a math major. (The subversion was partially justified, if that's the right term, in that much of the "plot" of ''Infinity'' was based on [[The Multiverse|universe hopping]] and the game was released with the creators' level-design, physics-editing, and graphics-editing tools so that players could make their own stories, making the game "infinite.")
** ''[[
* [[Infocom]]'s "[[Zork]]" series/universe started with ''Zork I'', ''II'' and ''III'', but after that got complicated, with the Enchanter Trilogy (''Enchanter'', ''Sorcerer'' and ''Spellbreaker'') and then titles like ''Beyond Zork'' and ''Zork Zero''.
* Another bizarre example is the ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]]'' series: The first three games were numbered normally, but after the third one the series' primary game designer realized he'd painted himself into a corner by giving the franchise closure in the third game. He then decided to skip the fourth chapter in the series altogether, and went on to make ''Leisure Suit Larry 5'' while leaving the events of the fourth game to the players' imaginations, so that he himself wouldn't have to explain how Larry got to where he was in the fifth game.
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* The original ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' sequels used Roman numerals in the actual games, even though the packaging logos always used Arabic numerals. This caused a bit of confusion when the [[Sequel Series]] ''[[Mega Man X]]'' was eventually released, as some people assumed the letter "X" was the Roman numeral for ten and not the letter, even though a ''[[Mega Man 7|Mega Man VII]]'' was eventually released for the SNES alongside ''X2'' and ''X3''. Capcom switched to Arabic numerals for the in-game logos starting with ''[[Mega Man 8]]'', so there wasn't that much of a confusion anymore by the time the actual ''[[Mega Man 10]]'' came out.
** Note that this was never an issue for the Japanese versions, where the ''Rockman'' sequels always used Arabic numerals.
* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' is a notable aversion. Officially, the games are primarily identified by their subtitles, not numbers. However, the internal programming for most of the games [https://web.archive.org/web/20130912011501/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/fe/few_series.html and official sites] do use numbered titles reflecting their placement in the series (i.e: the GBA games are numbered 6 to 8) and the English speaking fandom do use numbered titles as a shorthand for the sake of simplicity.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' games are similar to the ''Fire Emblem'' games in the lack of numbers in the titles; only the second game ever released was a numbered sequel -- ''Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'', which was a direct sequel to the original game. As with the ''Fire Emblem'' series, most of the others are [[Anachronic Order|Nonlinear Sequels]], which probably accounts for the lack of numbers, although fans sometimes do refer to ''A Link to the Past'' as "Zelda III".
* ''[[Touch Detective]]'' called its sequel ''Touch Detective 2½'' as an homage to the Naked Gun.
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* Most Bemani series use "[game title] ''n''th Mix" (such as ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'', up to 7th Mix), though ''[[Beatmania]] IIDX'' used "beatmania IIDX ''n''th Style" up to 10th Style. From IIDX 11 onards, IIDX uses just numbers followed by a subtitle ("RED" for 11, "Happy Sky" for 12, etc). ''pop'n music'' uses numbers too, with the 12th main installment onwards having subtitles ("Iroha" for 12, "Carnival" for 13, and such).
* ''[[Initial D Arcade Stage]]'' used "Initial D Arcade Stage ver. ''n''" for the first three releases; the fourth game onwards drops the "ver," signifying an overhaul in the game's mechanics.
* ''[[Bubble Bobble]]'': [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo|Oddly named]] [[Non-Linear Sequel|Non Linear]] [[Numbered Sequel
* The ''[[Wild
** The [[Turn-Based Strategy]] game in the series inverts this pattern, being ''[[Wild
* The only numbered sequels to the original ''[[Castlevania]]'' were ''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest|Castlevania II Simons Quest]]'' and ''[[Castlevania III:
* The first ''Metal Gear Solid'' game is actually the third ''[[Metal Gear]]'' game, following ''Metal Gear'' and ''Metal Gear 2'' on the MSX2, but uses the word "Solid" as a substitute for the number "3". The subsequent sequels kept the word "Solid" as part of the title and began a new line of numbered sequels (''MGS2'', ''MGS3'', and ''MGS4''). ''Portable Ops'', despite being part of the ''MGS'' canon, is not counted as part of the numbered series due to the fact its on a portable platform. Ironically, Kojima's original intention for ''MGS2'' was to call it ''MGS III'' just to confuse people about the numbering.
* ''Street Fighter II'', the sequel to ''[[Street Fighter]]'', had its own sub-series of pseudo-sequels, none of which were named in anyway that reflected their release order. On the other hand, the original ''Street Fighter III'' was followed by ''2nd Impact'' and ''3rd Strike'', and before that there was the ''Street Fighter Alpha'' prequel series, which had its own pair of sequels (''Alpha 2'' and ''Alpha 3''), as well as the ''EX'' series (''EX 2'' and ''EX 3''). Then there's ''Street Fighter 2010'', an obscure NES platformer that has nothing do with the rest of the series and is named after the year its supposed to take place.
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* The sequels to ''[[Sakura Wars]]'' are ''[[Sakura Wars]] 2'', ''3'', ''4''... and ''V''.
* The ''[[Frasnchise/Sonic The Hedgehog|Sonic The Hedgehog]]'' series has become very cluttered with sequel numbers. The games for the [[Sega Genesis]] include ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' (also called ''Sonic 1''), ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'', ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' and ''Sonic & Knuckles'', [[One Game for the Price of Two|the two halves]] of [[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|one game]]. Three console generations later, a fourth game was added to the series, called [[Sonic the Hedgehog 4]].
** Sonic 1, of course, should not be confused with the [[Recycled Title|identically named]] ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006
** Numerous other games in the franchise have their own sequels, some more straightforward than others:
*** ''[[Sonic Drift]]'' 1 & 2
*** ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'', and ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' ([[Updated Rerelease|rereleased]] as Sonic Adventure DX, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle) neither of which are connected to ''[[Tails Adventure]]'' or ''[[Sonic Rush Series]]'''s unnumbered sequel ''Sonic Rush Adventure''.
*** ''[[Sonic Advance Trilogy]]'' 1, 2, and 3
*** And finally, not a direct sequel to anything, ''Sonic 3D'', which was released as ''Sonic 3D Blast'' in America, but ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'' in Europe to avoid confusion with the similarly named, but entirely unconnected ''[[Sonic Blast]]'' for the [[Game Gear]].
* id Software likes to do this with their ''[[Doom]]'' and ''[[Quake]]'' games, but their ''[[Wolfenstein (2009 video game)|Wolfenstein]]'' titles avoid this.
* The ''[[Jumper (video game)|Jumper]]'' series, consisting of ''Jumper'', ''Jumper Two'' and ''Jumper Three''.<ref>and ''[[Video Game Remake|Jumper Redux]]''</ref>
* ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'', which consists of the [[Assassin's Creed (video game)|original game]], ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', and the upcoming ''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''. Also includes a pair of sequels, ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'' and ''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' to the second game.
* The three Compile-developed sequels to ''[[Puyo Puyo]]'' have puns on numbers. ''Tsū'', the Japanese word for expert, also sounds like the English word two; ''SUN'', when pronounced in English, sounds like the Japanese word for three; and the "yon" in ''Puyo Puyo~n'' means four.
* Namco [[Four Is Death|really, really didn't want to make a fourth game]] in the ''[[Ace Combat]]'' series. When they had to, it was only under condition that its number was padded to ''[[Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies]]''. They finally [[Stopped Numbering Sequels|gave it up]] after ''[[Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation]]'', only to bring it back with ''[[Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown]]'', having released several games in between.
* ''[[Gauntlet (1985 video game)]]'' was followed by ''Gauntlet II'', ''Gauntlet: The Third Encounter'' and ''Gauntlet IV''. ''The Third Encounter'' is an oddball not only in title; it was only released for a handheld system, namely the [[Atari Lynx]].
* The ''[[Ys]]'' series had two different fourth installments produced concurrently: ''Ys IV: Mask of the Sun'' for the Super Famicom and ''Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys'' for the [[
* Two different games titled ''[[Spelunker]] II'' were released in Japan: one for arcades, one for the Famicom.
* Rather than going with the obvious name of [[Pokémon|Pokémon Grey]], the sequels/remakes/reimaginings to [[Pokémon Black and White]] are, get this, [[Pokémon Black 2 and White 2]].
▲== Webcomics and Web Animation ==
* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' spoofs this with its movie, "Dangeresque 2: This Time, It's Not Dangeresque 1". The end of that e-mail announced "Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective" (in 3D). In an e-mail concerning Dangeresque 3, Dangeresque 1 was revealed as "Dangeresque 1: Dangeresque, Too?" (not in 3D).
** Also, in the Halloween cartoon "Three Times Halloween Funjob", Coach Z tells Homestar he's dressed as Kool Moe Dee of the Treacherous Three (and not "Wesley Snakes"), and Homestar remarks "I only saw Treacherous 1 and 2, so I wouldn't know."
** The most recent Halloween cartoon is titled ''Jibblies 2'', although it is pointed out that there was no original ''Jibblies''. Quoth the Strong Sad: "Original? Horror movie? Not these days."
* The ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Story Arc "KITTEN" was based around parodying horror movie tropes. Naturally, it was given a sequel titled "KITTEN II."
== [[Web Original]] ==
▲== Web Originals ==
* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', a RP board, is split up into "versions" by [[Big Bad|Danya]]. Each version takes place on a different island with ~150 characters trying to be the [[Kill'Em All|last one standing]]. Version 0 refers to the final "test run" which was only shown on an obscure channel, and Version 1 was shown nation-wide (and the first where people started writing). These were followed a year later by Version 2 and another year later by Version 3. The fourth version takes place [[Webcomic Time|in 2008.]]
* [[World War II]], the "sequel" to the Great War also known as the War to End All Wars that is now commonly referred to as World War I. Of course, there is also the as yet hypothetical [[World War III]]. Higher numbered World Wars are occasionally referenced in media set far enough into the future.▼
{{quote|'''Albert Einstein:''' "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."}}▼
* [[The Crusades]] were numbered retroactively by historians, from the First Crusade (
* The European alliances that were fighting against France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were successively numbered coalitions of various countries opposing the expansion of French power. The coterminous military conflicts between the two sides are subsequently also most often referred to as "The War Of the First/Second/etc. Coalition".▼
==
* Each [[Super Bowl]] is known by its Roman numbered ordinal. This began with Super Bowl III in 1969, after the first two were simply known as the "AFL-NFL Championship Game" and later retconned into Super Bowls.
* The [[Olympic Games]] are officially referred to by number. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing were the Games of the XXIX [29th] Olympiad of the modern era. (it's worth noticing the ones cancelled due to World Wars still count.)
* In boxing and mixed martial arts, rematches between notable competitors are often numbered, such as Ali-Frazier 2.
* The [[Mixed Martial Arts|Ultimate Fighting Championship]] began using numbered sequels after the first event, which was retroactively renamed "UFC 1: The Beginning." Interestingly, there was much fanfare over UFC 100, even though it was actually the 105th UFC event due to the fact that five previous events did not follow the traditional numbering scheme. The smaller Ultimate Fight Night series of events used a numbering scheme until UFN 6, after which they were usually named after their headliners. The Ultimate Fighter reality series is numbered based on season. A new{{when}} line of free events airing on the Versus channel is set to debut{{verify}} with "UFC Live on Versus 1," a rare instance of a work receiving a number before it has any sequels. Many other mixed martial arts promotions have followed suit by numbering each of their events.
▲== Real Life -- Other ==
▲* [[World War II]], the "sequel" to the Great War also known as the War to End All Wars that is now commonly referred to as World War I. Of course, there is also the as yet hypothetical [[World War III]]. Higher numbered World Wars are occasionally referenced in media set far enough into the future.
▲{{quote|'''Albert Einstein:''' "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."}}
▲* [[The Crusades]] were numbered retroactively by historians, from the First Crusade (1096-99) to the Ninth Crusade (1271-72) and many unnumbered Crusades also.
▲* The European alliances that were fighting against France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were successively numbered coalitions of various countries opposing the expansion of French power. The coterminous military conflicts between the two sides are subsequently also most often referred to as "The War Of the First/Second/etc. Coalition".
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Title Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than
[[Category:Sequel]]
[[Category:Film Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Numbered Sequels]]
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