Gaiden

Gaiden (外伝 or 外電, Template:IPA-ja) is a Japanese-language word with two distinct meanings, depending on the way it is represented in Japanese text or speech. The first meaning, "side story" or "tale", is used to refer to an anecdote or supplementary biography of a person. This use of gaiden is commonly used in popular Japanese fiction to refer to a spin-off (canonical or otherwise) of a previously published work that is neither officially considered a sequel nor a prequel. However, some gaiden are retold stories in the perspective of a different character, similar to that of a flashback. The second meaning for Gaiden is a 'message', 'letter', or 'telegram'. At times the two meanings have been mistranslated by English speaking people as meaning one or the other.

Works that includes the use of the word gaiden in their titles include Fire Emblem Gaiden, Kakashi Gaiden (a set of chapters of the Naruto manga which tells the story of a young Hatake Kakashi's actions during the Great Ninja War approximately a decade before the start of the series), the Turn Back the Pendulum gaiden of Bleach which is set a century before the start of the main series, Ten no Haō Hokuto no Ken Raō Gaiden (spin-off of Fist of the North Star, which is told through the eyes of Kenshiro's brother, Raoh), Gensō Suikogaiden (spin-off of Suikoden), Albert Odyssey Gaiden (released in English as Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean) and Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (released in North America as Final Fantasy Adventure and in the PAL region as Mystic Quest). Saiyuki Gaiden is considered a prequel to the Saiyuki timeline, showing the lives of the Sanzo party in Heaven and Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden where the story of the first priestess of Genbu to ever arrive inside the "Universe of the Four Gods" is told. In addition, the word gaiden has been used in English titles as well such as Ninja Gaiden (literally "Ninja's Tale", the American title for the Japanese series Ninja Ryūkenden) and Resident Evil Gaiden (a European-developed spin-off of the Japanese Resident Evil franchise), Super Robot Taisen Alpha Gaiden, which tells a future that would happen without the heroes fighting at the time of need as well as Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden (an apocryphal epic detailing the canon account of Charles Barkley, who revives the condemned culture of b-ball to save New Neo New York and his son hoopz from the mechanations of the traitor Michael Jordan)).

Films such as Battle Royale use the term Gaiden to refer to supplementary or additional works