10 Video Game Enemies We Can't Believe Got Cut
When the cutting room floor swallows some amazing ideas.
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00:00 It would be hard to play the hero if you had nothing to stand up against, wouldn't it?
00:03 Here's to you, villains, scoundrels and general ne'er-do-wells,
00:07 for giving us video game players something to overcome in our journeys.
00:11 Some enemies are just as, if not more iconic than the heroes of their series,
00:15 from the kingly Bowser to the lowest Goomba.
00:18 You can't see it right now, but I'm pouring one out for every weird walking fanged mushroom
00:22 thing that I've ever made Mario stomp on.
00:24 Just like everything else behind the scenes in video game development,
00:27 enemies get redesigned and reiterated until they fit.
00:30 Out of all the initial ideas, it's best to focus on just a few at a time and bring them to life.
00:34 As such, some bad guys get left behind, either considered no longer relevant
00:38 or simply can't quite make it into the game before the clacks and calls and the product has to be shipped.
00:43 And whilst many titles make the right choices,
00:45 leaving their half-baked ideas off the printing line,
00:47 sometimes a sneaky look at what could have been has you asking why on earth
00:51 companies would let something so great not make the final cut.
00:54 You can't help but wonder what could have been.
00:56 I'm Sci for WhatCulture.com and these are 10 video game enemies we can't believe got cut.
01:01 Number 10 - Cuphead - Demon Bat
01:04 When games get announced to the public, they often contain trailers that use ideas
01:07 that are unfinished or, by the end of the project, hit the famous cutting room floor.
01:11 It's often pretty remarkable to watch the trailer of a game you've just finished and
01:15 find yourself saying "wait, where was that?"
01:17 What makes Cuphead's cut boss, who has been named Demon Bat by fans so noticeably absent,
01:22 is that he was a major part of the game's original 2014 reveal trailer.
01:26 This is where gaming audiences were introduced to Cuphead's undeniably unique style,
01:30 which was so fresh that the trailer went rather viral.
01:32 As such, the Demon Bat was used in a lot of early pre-release material.
01:36 Screenshots imply a flurry of bat minions to contend with,
01:39 as well as a form where the boss shields from attack by hiding in a coffin.
01:42 Come the final game, however, and Cuphead and Mugman jump from
01:45 fighting King Dice to the Devil with no hellish flying middleman in sight.
01:49 Not that Cuphead isn't stuffed with enough insanely hard boss fights as it is,
01:53 but it certainly would have been great to have Demon Bat be a penultimate boss,
01:56 a gatekeeper for hell and a sign you were very nearly there.
01:59 More than that, those following the project for the three years between
02:02 reveal and release were keen to fight the winged creature and were left disappointed.
02:06 Number 9 - Shadow of the Colossus - Devil
02:09 Team Ico's Shadow of the Colossus remains a unique moment in gaming even today,
02:13 foregoing the standard adventure game fare of side quests and NPCs,
02:17 and instead presenting a quiet, vacant world inhabited only by the Colossi.
02:21 However, the 16 in the final game were originally meant to be joined by
02:24 a lot more gigantic stone friends. Honestly, we could have picked any of them,
02:28 but one of the things that makes the Devil particularly cool is that it wasn't giant.
02:33 In fact, it's expected to have been similar in size to the Leo Colossus,
02:36 making it perhaps the smallest Colossus in the game.
02:38 Devil can be seen in both designer sketches and in early screenshots,
02:42 a tribal mask wearing gargoyle of sorts that was,
02:45 according to the Shadow of the Colossus artbook,
02:47 designed to be drawn towards the player and then attack from behind,
02:50 with Wanda leaping out of the grass to jump on its back.
02:52 Something else that makes it unique, at least in the design sketches,
02:55 is that it's seen to be holding a bow and an arrow,
02:57 which means that at one stage it had a perhaps single-use ranged attack.
03:01 This theory would have made it an incredibly unique fight.
03:04 As it stands, Devil and his forgotten brethren never got to see the light of day
03:07 due to time constraints and storage space limitations.
03:11 Number 8 - Silent Hill - The Grey Children
03:13 The opening of Silent Hill is iconic for being disorientating, frightening and overwhelming,
03:18 which, come to think of it, sums up the vibe of the entire game.
03:21 After finding himself searching down a dark alleyway of the eponymous town for his missing daughter,
03:26 Harry Mason is surrounded by one of two things - grey children or mumblers.
03:31 Those of you out there in the good old US of A may well be confused by this entry,
03:35 as you were lucky enough to see the little grey buggers,
03:37 but anywhere else in the world, we had to deal with the mumblers.
03:40 Close enough, counterparts, in both this scene
03:42 and in the Midwich Elementary School part of the game.
03:45 Rejected by the censors many times, the grey children were seen as too close to being like
03:50 real children and the ratings boards outside of America
03:53 were not happy with Harry pointing his weapon of choice at them.
03:56 Which is a real shame because they add so much more of an air of creepiness to the school,
04:00 especially with their horrible little laughs when they grab you.
04:02 It's sometimes surprising where the line is with these things,
04:05 especially considering most of Silent Hill's enemy roster are twisted human forms,
04:08 but it's fairly understandable when it comes to tiny twisted forms roaming a school.
04:13 More than anything, it's a shame that this legendary game can't be a uniform experience,
04:16 no matter which region you play it in.
04:18 Number 7 - Final Fantasy VI - The Saur Dragon
04:21 If your classic medieval fantasy doesn't end with facing down against an all-powerful dragon,
04:26 you certainly better make sure you put one in there somewhere that players can seek out.
04:30 Nothing says destined warrior better than slaying these legendary creatures,
04:33 and Final Fantasy has had plenty of dragons in its tenure.
04:36 The sixth entry is no different,
04:37 but it sadly got its ultimate one shaved off from the final release.
04:41 It would have been a choice made really rather late into development too,
04:44 as not only does the Saur Dragon have a full set of stats,
04:46 it also has a line of dialogue that got translated into English.
04:49 The only things it doesn't have is more than a basic attack and a way to encounter it,
04:53 at least without hacking anyway.
04:54 After facing the eight legendary dragons in Final Fantasy VI,
04:57 the side quest sort of just stops.
04:59 As such, Storm Dragon, who is just one of the eight that can be slain in any order,
05:04 is made to be arbitrarily the most powerful.
05:06 It makes a lot more sense that he plays second fiddle as intended to the king of dragons.
05:10 This one ends on a happier note though,
05:12 as Square Enix quite rightfully restored our scaly friend,
05:14 who got his own dungeon and a fancy new name as the Kaiser Dragon
05:18 in the Final Fantasy VI Game Boy Advance port.
05:21 Number six, Persona 2 Devil Joker.
05:23 The major plot drive of Persona 2 Innocent Sin is the idea of words transforming the real world.
05:29 It's used by the game's main antagonist Joker,
05:31 and then is half used against him when it comes time to face off with him.
05:35 With different NPCs calling the character both an angel and a devil,
05:39 thus begins a rumor which can change reality.
05:41 As players get set to stand off against him, he takes an angel form.
05:45 The devil form, however, never comes, and defeating him just moves the story onwards.
05:49 So, uh, what gives?
05:51 Artwork for the devil form does exist,
05:53 and rather uncomfortably seems to imply that such a thing would have split Angel Joker in half to appear.
05:58 Furthermore, existing in the data for Persona 2 is indeed a Devil Joker sprite,
06:02 set of stats, and even more unfortunately, some really cool unique skills.
06:06 Considering that turning rumors into reality is such a core part of not just Persona 2,
06:10 but Joker's character specifically,
06:12 it feels like an incredible shame that the devil side of this rumor didn't come to fruition.
06:16 It's not just an awesome and gnarly boss design that we didn't get to go up against,
06:19 it's integral for the overall arc of the character.
06:22 Be it time, money, or storage space demands, Persona 2 is still a beloved title,
06:26 but it's hard to believe that such an important part of the game got shelved for whatever reason.
06:30 Number five, Metal Gear Solid 2 Chinaman.
06:33 When it comes to unique characters that push the boundaries in video games,
06:36 the early Metal Gear Solid titles have some of the best.
06:39 Hideo Kojima laughs in the face of those who say,
06:41 "That's maybe a bit too much, don't you think?"
06:43 Chinaman, once planned for Metal Gear Solid 2,
06:45 is as bombastic as you'd expect from any game in the franchise.
06:48 A Vietnamese man who, after being abducted as a child,
06:51 grew up in the Chinatown district of New York,
06:53 and would claim he was more Chinese than the Chinese.
06:56 That's already a little bit of an eccentric setup,
06:58 but it gets weirder when you start looking at his skill set.
07:01 Not only did he have the world record for holding one's breath underwater,
07:04 but he could also summon sharks.
07:07 Oh, and his full-bodied dragon tattoo would apparently come to life when it touched water.
07:11 Because Kojima.
07:12 With his boss battle taking place underwater,
07:14 it certainly would have added not just another memorable twist on the MGS gameplay formula,
07:18 but, considering the game was released in 2001,
07:21 it would have been mighty impressive to behold.
07:23 Vamp's boss fight that ultimately replaced Chinaman's was fun,
07:26 but fighting sharks and a dragon made out of tattoos?
07:29 Who can say no to that level of madness?
07:31 Needless to say, had this happened,
07:33 Chinaman would have been remembered right up there
07:35 as one of the most memorable bosses in the MGS franchise.
07:38 Number 4 - Pokemon Gold and Silver - Misty in the Elite Four
07:41 One of the most treasured things about Pokemon Gold and Silver
07:44 is the moment where you beat the Elite Four
07:46 and are told you can now head east and return to Kanto,
07:48 the region from Pokemon Red and Blue,
07:50 to revisit old haunts and catch yet even more of your favourite battling buddies.
07:54 It blew many young Pokemon trainers' minds
07:57 that even after what felt like the final battle,
07:59 there were eight more gym leaders to fight,
08:00 most of which felt like old friends from your previous journey.
08:03 Before this was the case, however,
08:05 in what is dubbed the "Spaceworld 1997" demo of the game,
08:08 there were plans to make Johto big enough to represent all of Japan,
08:12 and familiar faces would have been dotted all around.
08:14 It was decided early on that Misty was to ascend
08:17 from her post as Cerulean City gym leader to the Elite Four.
08:20 This selection makes sense because of the popularity of the Pokemon anime
08:23 that Misty was a large part of,
08:25 and it would have been an absolute joy to see.
08:27 Compared to the show, her appearance in Red and Blue felt very minimal,
08:30 so it would have been a really good nod to her importance in the wider Pokemon series.
08:34 When the project changed, Misty was once again relegated to the gym leader spot.
08:38 Number 3 - Sonic Adventure - Sky Chase Dragon
08:41 Whether or not Sonic Adventure's roster of characters and playstyles
08:44 are a high or a low for the game is at the eye of the beholder.
08:47 Personally, I'm a fan of just how many different ideas
08:50 Sega managed to fit into the Blue Hedgehog's first real 3D adventure,
08:53 although some are definitely stronger than others.
08:56 Looking at you, Big the Cat, and your Sega Bassmaster bulls***.
08:59 Twice during the story, Sonic and Tails give nod to both Sega's Panzer Dragoon series
09:04 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by flying their biplane towards Robotnik's Egg Carrier.
09:08 The stages themselves are certainly some of the weakest in the game
09:11 as they don't really amount to much beyond locking onto targets and firing over and over.
09:15 It turns out that's because something was missing,
09:17 and that something was a robotic dragon.
09:19 Eggman's most ambitious machine to that point,
09:22 if hacked into the game, will follow the plane, breathing fire.
09:25 Even though it wasn't finished and therefore can't hurt you,
09:27 it's a sight to see and certainly adds some much needed drama and wow factor
09:31 to the stages of Sonic Adventure that drag the most.
09:34 When you realise that the original concept for the Sky Chase stages
09:37 was to include a set of boss fights,
09:39 it all starts to make a lot more sense as to why they feel so empty.
09:42 Number 2 - Resident Evil 2 - Manspider
09:45 The Resident Evil series has enough cut content in its history
09:48 that it could fill an oversized spooky mansion with it.
09:50 There's no better example of this than what is now referred to as Resident Evil 1.5,
09:55 the scrapped version of RE2 that got dropped about 80% of the way into its production.
10:00 Such a strange gem is this version that allows us to see early takes
10:03 on classic Resident Evil 2 characters, themes and enemies.
10:06 Specifically, there's a selection of the latter that got left behind completely
10:09 when the project was restarted.
10:11 Chiefly among them is the absolutely horrific Manspider.
10:14 As legendary as the licker is,
10:16 the Manspider called back to the scientific mishmash of creatures in the first game
10:21 by being a man-sized arachnid that ran around at quite considerable speed
10:25 on a pair of additional human legs.
10:27 Good luck sleeping tonight, arachnophobes.
10:29 In the final version of Resident Evil 2, the laboratory does include some plant enemies,
10:33 but being static, they pose very little threat
10:35 when you've got a backpack full of ammunition.
10:37 Were the Manspider not cast aside in the project's reboot
10:40 and included in the lab where they were planned,
10:42 it would have given Resident Evil 2 even more variety
10:45 and made the final act of the game pants-wettingly scary.
10:48 I don't care how many shotgun shells you've got,
10:50 if that thing runs at you, it's not a good day.
10:52 Forget first aid sprays, we might need some bug sprays up in here.
10:55 Number 1 - The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess - Armos Titan
10:59 The Zelda series is so vast and sprawling that it's got no shortage of ideas
11:03 that have hit the cutting room floor at different points in development.
11:06 Many of these don't get past the concept stage
11:08 and we can only wonder if we'll see them re-evaluated for later entries.
11:12 Some however seem like pretty much the finished article
11:14 and yet can only be dragged out of the code by passionate fans.
11:18 This is true of the Armos Titan,
11:20 a unique enemy type from Link's adventure through the Twilight Realm on GameCube and Wii.
11:23 It was impervious to melee attacks and needed to be taken down with a bow and arrow,
11:27 stopping dead in its tracks when Link finally got the upper hand on it.
11:30 What makes this exclusion a shame is that the normal Armos enemy
11:33 actually has a long history in the Zelda franchise,
11:35 appearing in the vast majority of mainline games,
11:38 so it was an inspired choice to have a spin-off
11:40 or a more souped-up version appear in Twilight Princess.
11:43 You always love to see people or, uh,
11:45 living statues get their dues for putting the time and work in.
11:49 The Armos Titan's design is excellent and feels very at home
11:52 with the Twilight Princess overall aesthetic,
11:54 considering as a full set of animations we expect it got pretty far along
11:57 before it was rather unceremoniously dropped.
12:00 And that's the list!
12:01 Head down to the comments to let us know what you thought of this video,
12:04 which of these video game cut enemies are you the most broken-hearted about,
12:08 and additionally other cut enemies that we didn't include.
12:11 Make sure to hit that like button, the subscribe button, and the notification bell.
12:15 I've been Sy for WhatCulture.com, and have a good week.