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Den (伝) is a Japanese word that comes after a person's name and means his/her biography. "Tomasu Ejison Den" means the biography of Thomas Edison, for example. It can be considered an abbreviation of the Japanese language word "denki", biography. "Den" sounds a bit old-fashioned, but is still often used as the tile of fantasy stories or historical fictions.

Gaiden (外伝, literally outside biography) means the biography or episodes untold in the official biography. Recently even native Japanese speakers often misuse this word as "another story" instead of "another biography", but it should always come after a person's name. Albert Odyssey Gaiden and Raoh Gaiden are correct examples.

Sometimes the English phrase "Another Story" is used within a Japanese title. Sometimes the side story is considered to take place in an alternate universe from its original counterpart, and does not affect the main story. In other cases, the side story is a moderately long filler-like story of the characters in the manga or anime, to better inform readers of their personalities, background or childhood.

"Gaiden" is used frequently in video game, manga, and anime series. Notable examples are Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (聖剣伝説, ～ファイナルファンタジー外伝～, literally Outside Story of Final Fantasy: Holy Sword Legend; Final Fantasy Adventure in North America, Mystic Quest in Europe) a Game Boy videogame, Albert Odyssey Gaiden, Shura no Toki: Enmei Mutsu Ryu no Densetsu Gaiden, Fire Emblem Gaiden, Saiyuki Gaiden (manga), Ninja Gaiden (game), Teito Monagatari Gaiden (movie), Naruto Kakashi Gaiden (manga), Resident Evil Gaiden, Hokuto No Ken Raoh Gaiden and Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoiyo! Masaru-san. The name "Zelda Gaiden" was also used before an official title was selected for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Gaiden.

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