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