History WhatCouldHaveBeen / Anime

* ''Manga/WanderingSon'' was originally going to be about a HighSchool [[{{Transsexual}} girl that yearned to be a boy]], but the author realized that a boy who wants to become a girl before entering into puberty would have a lot of worries related to growing up and decided to go for it, changing the plot accordingly. The original idea was used with the secondary protagonist though, Takatsuki Yoshino (albeit she was in elementary at the start of the series).

** The 1979 anime had been attempted three times to be released in the US, however, none of them were successful. The first was in 1985 by Ted Tuner, who acquired the US license to it and planned to air the first 50 episodes on Creator/{{TBS}}. The second was in the late 1990s by {{Streamline Pictures}}, who asked several TV producers, such as Fred Patten, to get them the anime. Unfortunately for the company, the TV producers rejected the request due to concerns about it being "too ethnically Japanese" and having content that would be inappropriate for American children. The third and final one was in the early 2000s by Unbound Creative Inc, who actually created a pilot episode and pitched it over to US networks. And of course, no one picked it up.

*** Even when Cell appeared, it wasn't over; his Imperfect form was conceived as his ''only'' form, but Toriyama's ''current'' editor, Yū Kondō, saw him as ugly and suggested he transform like Frieza. His Semi-Perfect form was intended to be around for a lot longer (likely due to being Toriyama's self-admitted favourite character design), but Kondō now saw him as "a moron" and pressured Toriyama to have Cell reach his final form quicker.

** Watsuki originally planned for it to be revealed that Hannya had been stepped on in the womb like TheElephantMan, explaining his featureless death-mask of a face. Luckily, he realized the UnfortunateImplications of that idea and changed it to reveal that Hannya had intentionally mutilated his face so that he could easily disguise himself as just about anything.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia,'' Bakugou was actually going to be Izuku's ''best friend,'' of you can believe it. He was originally pictured as a nice guy with a tendency to be InnocentlyInsensitive; this wasn't very funny, though, so he got reworked into a JerkAss [[TheBully bully]] with some HiddenDepths.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Ash's original partner in the anime was supposed to be a Clefairy instead of a Pikachu. Think about it: if successful as a franchise icon as Pikachu has been, ''Videogame/SuperSmashBros'' players could have been able to play as a Clefairy that could Metronome other fighters' Final Smashes for its own Final Smash... Another choice for Ash's original partner was also a Jigglypuff, but one who couldn't sing.
** Also, [[http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Masaaki_Iwane:_Pokémon_anime_originally_slated_for_18-month_run the anime was originally just supposed to last through Kanto]], with an assumed ending of Ash defeating Gary and winning the Pokémon League.
*** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b70GRNYnacI very first trailer]] for the movie ''Mewtwo Strikes Back'' in Japan, it is completely made out of scenes that didn't make it to the final product; the grown-up Misty segment, in particular, is a huge source of speculation and discussion withing the fandom, specially by taking account the movie would be the GrandFinale for the anime. Creator/TakeshiShudo, in a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/5d496d/new_translation_of_takeshi_shudos_idea_for_final/ blog entry]], explained his concept of a series finale that may have been related: in this ending, elderly Ash would remember that Pokemon never really existed, and his entire adventure had been AllJustADream; he'd then wake up as a child again, wanting to travel on his own. The adult Misty scene from the trailer may have been part of this, with Pikachu only existing in the girl's imagination.
*** Media Blaster wanted to release uncut [=DVDs=] in America at one point, but of course Viz got the rights and they were unable to do this.
*** There was originally going to be an episode that celebrated the Japanese New Year during the Kanto run. This episode was intended to air soon after the infamous Porygon "seizure" episode, so production was halted, and after a while simply cancelled.
** Here's one to consider in light of that 18-month report: ''Videogame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' was originally scheduled for release in Late 1997, but was delayed to be adapted for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor. The first episode of the Anime aired on 1 April 1997:
*** Had the game been released as originally scheduled, or even with a slight delay (i.e. Spring 1998), would an immediate sequel have followed?
*** Given that the delay happened, what if the "Porygon Incident" never happened and the series ended in October 1998, 1 year prior to Gold & Silver's actual release (As opposed to January 1999)? Would we have had a whole year [[FillerArc in the Orange Islands]]? Or would the Anime have taken the year off?[[note]]Note that even with the FillerArc, the Johto season in Japan still started 1 month early.[[/note]]
*** In either of the above cases, (presuming that they ''didn't'' go the FillerArc route,) would Ash still have been the protagonist, or would he (and his companions) have been replaced?
** The GS Ball was originally going to contain a Celebi that was to star in a large portion of the Johto arc. After ''Anime/{{Pokemon 4Ever}}'' came out, it was decided that having a Celebi in the anime right after a movie featuring Celebi would be redundant, so the idea was shelved.
** ''[[Anime/{{Pokemon 3}} Spell of the Unown]]'' was [[http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/movies/pm_lord_unknown_tower_entei/lord_unknown_tower_entei_mythical_third_movie.html originally set to address the question of "What happened to real-world animals in the Pokemon universe"]] and instead of Entei and the Unown (Gold and Silver had been delayed at this point of development and they were unsure about doing another movie debut Pokemon) the focal point would be the reanimated fossils of a TyrannosaurusRex.
** Early previews for ''[[Anime/{{Pokemon 3}} Spell of the Unown]]'' refer to it as ''Tower of the Unown''.
** According to ADR director Tom Wayland, in Anime/PokemonArceusAndTheJewelOfLife Arceus was originally going to be voiced by actor Vincent D'Onofrio of ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' and ''Film/MenInBlack'' fame. However, before his recording session, there were difficulties with D'Onofrio's agent and he was unable to record for the movie. After re-auditioning, Tom Wayland himself was chosen to voice Arceus instead.
** Team Plasma was supposed to make their debut appearances in Castelia City during ''Best Wishes'', in their original game incarnations, but their episodes were indefinitely postponed after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor disaster, as the episodes featured Castelia City threatened by destruction from earth seizures and fiery energy. A related episode about the fishing competition was also postponed, but was broadcast without any references to the original setting of Castelia City.
** When the ''Advanced Generation" was in pre-production, there was a discussion on who would get PutOnABus, Misty or Team Rocket. Misty leaving the show was controversial enough, but one wonders how much the fandom would have flipped their lids if [[EnsembleDarkhorse Team Rocket]] left.
*** Team Rocket was also going to be PutOnABus in ''Best Wishes''. Ironically, their intended write-off was ''still'' advertised as their GrandFinale, which was intentional since there were still plans for them to make some appearances after said write-off and only when ''Best Wishes'' ended would they be gone for good, so the promotion about their farewell was testing the waters with fans and getting a response before working on the end of the series and the start of the next series, ''XY''. Because fan reaction was negative, Team Rocket was kept in the anime.
** Takeshi Shudo had story plans for finding out more about Ash's father. This idea was scrapped and we ended up with the show we have now because of it.
** ''Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea'' was supposedly going to focused on Jackie Walker as the protagonist, along with Manaphy as his sidekick, but this shifted around as May became a more interesting viewpoint for the story and they realized how May and Manaphy's Mother/"Son" dynamic might appear to be recycling Misty and Togepi.
** Latias from ''Anime/PokemonHeroes'' was originally meant to join Ash for at least the remainder of the Johto season, but that plan was scrapped possibly due to the staff not willing to work with [[InterspeciesRomance a serious Pokemon/Human relationship]] on a kid's show (then again Bayleaf did like Ash too).
** Following Diamond and Pearl, there were serious discussions about possibly replacing Ash with a new protagonist. Likely like the Indigo example, this would have led him to win Sinnoh. It's also likely why Tobias, the trainer who beat Ash in Sinnoh, came out as he did: it was likely decided after they had written the Ash vs Paul battle and the writers realized they needed to knock out Ash so they could keep him going in Gen 5.
** Ash's name was originally "Casey" in the English dub. Ironically, another character - a girl - would later end up with that name.

** Here's one to consider in light of that 18-month report: ''Videogame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' was originally scheduled for release in Late 1997, but was delayed to be adapted for the GameBoyColor. The first episode of the Anime aired on 1 April 1997:

*** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b70GRNYnacI very first trailer]] for the movie ''Mewtwo Strikes Back'' in Japan, it is completely made out of scenes that didn't make it to the final product; the grown-up Misty segment, in particular, is a huge source of speculation and discussion withing the fandom, specially by taking account the movie would be the GrandFinale for the anime. Takeshi Shudo, in a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/5d496d/new_translation_of_takeshi_shudos_idea_for_final/ blog entry]], explained his concept of a series finale that may have been related: in this ending, elderly Ash would remember that Pokemon never really existed, and his entire adventure had been AllJustADream; he'd then wake up as a child again, wanting to travel on his own. The adult Misty scene from the trailer may have been part of this, with Pikachu only existing in the girl's imagination.

* The pilot for ''Manga/DragonBall'' was called "Dragon Boy". Its hero, Tanton, was a boy with bat wings that would evolve into the monkey-tailed Goku. The pilot interestingly featured an artifact called a Dragon Ball, but it was pretty useless. All it did was release a puny dragon. The story was also heavily based on ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' and had Tanton escorting a princess that strongly resembles Bulma back home to her country. When the story ends, the heroes still have nine-tenths of the way to go. Just think of all that could have been here...
** Also in regards to ''Manga/DragonBall'', the incredibly obscure and short lived Harmony Gold dub in the 80s. Goku was named [[MyHeroZero Zero]], Bulma was Lena, Krillin was Bongo... It would be completely different to the Dragon Ball of today where Creator/{{FUNimation}} kept most of the Japanese names.
*** And speaking of the Funimation dub, imagine if the later seasons had remained with Creator/TheOceanGroup instead of being taken in-house in Texas. Many of Funimation's big name actors ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And]] Creator/SeanSchemmel) got their start in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. If it remained in Canada, what would have become of the dubs of all Funi's later properties?
** The Android Saga went through a ''lot'' of changes. Originally, Android #19 and Android #20/Dr. Gero was supposed to be the main villains of the arc, but Toriyama gotten a call from his former editor, who mocked him for such goofy designs for a villain. Thus, Toriyama created Androids #17 and #18 to be the villains. The man called him again to mock him over making a bunch of brats, so he created Cell. The form now-known as Semi-Perfect Cell was supposed to be around for alot longer, but his ''current'' editor didn't like his design, leading to Toriyama rushing to get to Perfect Cell. Likewise, Gohan was intended to take over as lead in the Buu Saga however Toriyama did not feel he was right for the role and gave it back to Goku.

** A bad example... imagine if the English dub turned out like the Poltergeist Report movie's English dub from Central Park Media/TAJ Productions!

* The ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion [[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_Proposal Proposal]]'', being a rough outline of the series made for promotional purposes. Differences are, among others:
** There are a total of '''28''' Angels; the document uses the same Japanese word as in the series but also includes "Apostolo" in katakana. In order to get the extra twelve/thirteen out of the way quicker, the twelve strongest ones were supposed to have [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs attacked]] '''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill all at once]]''' during the finale, completely erasing America from the map.
** The Evas look slightly different. Units 05 and 06 are specifically mentioned; Unit 05 was to have been brought into Japan after Zeruel while Unit 06 would've perished during the finale. While not making it into the series, these Evas were recycled for the ''Anime/{{Rebuild|OfEvangelion}}'' movies as the personal Units of [[GodCreatedCanonForeigner Mari]] and Kaworu respectively.
** Ritsuko is a fan of bonsai and ''punk rock'', of all things.
** [[BridgeBunnies Hyuga, Ibuki and Aoba]] aren't present and [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] isn't mentioned. There is however mention of a character named Conrad Lawrence; based on the description of him being an old man who set up NERV and put his later nemesis Gendo into position, he might've been the earliest draft of Lorenz Keel.
** Sketchy descriptions of the final episodes taking place differently: after Rei's secrets are revealed, the twelve strongest Angels descend from the Moon and completely annihilate America, destroying Unit 06 in the process and plunging humanity into mass panic. The UN decides they have nothing to lose and aborts the Human Instrumentality Project over Gendo's protests, [[DoNotGoGentle resolving to go down fighting instead]]. A cryptic mention of "the ruins of Arka, the Promised Land" (located in the Geofront) being a key objective.
** Kaworu mentioned without name as a child with a cat. To those who have read the manga, this sounds even weirder. According to interviews with Anno the cat would have made it into the final product had it not been for budget-constrains. The same interviews also reveal that they had at one point considered introducing Kaworu earlier than they eventually did and that Shinji first would have found him playing an abandoned piano in some ruined house; this was incorporated into the manga adaptation.
** Arael was supposed to have engaged the Evas in close aerial combat instead of MindRape, using some sort of vibroweapon on its wingtips. The Evas themselves would've been equipped with flight harnesses in order to fight the Angel. These plot elements both found their way into the third ''Rebuild'' movie.
** Shinji was supposed to have received the MindRape (from an Angel unrelated to Arael), not Asuka.
** And Shinji realized Asuka was in love with him rather than remaining oblivious to her hints.
** Dub-related: According to the commentary, Creator/AmandaWinnLee originally wanted to try out for the role of Misato, before Allison Keith's performance changed her mind.
** Creator/RobinWilliams, famous comic/actor and [[OneOfUs a big fan of Evangelion]], is said to have tried out for the role of Gendo Ikari for the English dub of the ''Rebuild'' movies.
** Kaworu was originally going to be a transfer student at the kids' school, rather than the newest Evangelion pilot. This was changed after Creator/HideakiAnno realized that the school setting had more or less been written out of the show by the time episode 24 came around.
** What would the later episodes have been if they had had the money? What is clear is that ''End of Evangelion'' was basically an expanded version of what was originally scripted for the final two episodes, hence the film being split into two parts. Had Gainax's budget not been shot, the finale would have just been a shorter version of the movie (albeit with less violent and sexual imagery.)
** According to WordOfGod, Rei was initially supposed to die during the battle with Zeruel in the second ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movie. However, screenwriter Yoji Enokido argued that she should survive this time around.
*** Ironically, the director of the films, who really wanted to develop the third Rei, was pissed off at this and managed to overturn the decision in the third movie, where it's revealed that Rei wasn't rescued after all and now Rei III has replaced her.
*** Another scrapped plan for the second movie would've had Asuka and Mari piloting Eva Unit 02 together during the battle with Zeruel. In the final film Mari pilots it by herself since Asuka is hospitalized, though storyboards of the original idea can be seen on the DVD extras.
*** Yet another abandoned idea would've shown Bardiel's mental attack on Asuka in greater detail. At one point Asuka would hallucinate [[BodyHorror her own face being ripped off]], only for it to [[AndIMustScream begin mocking her]]. Like the above scene, storyboards for the sequence can be found on the DVD release.
*** Almost nothing of the preview for ''Rebuild 3.0'' made it into the actual film, which makes one wonder what they were planning originally.
** Shinji was supposed to be a girl but they changed her into being a boy because ''Anime/GunBuster'' and ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' both had female protagonists.
*** Shinji was supposed to have longer hair that would wave in the wind and that he could [[HiddenEyes hide behind]] during dramatic scenes. They cut his hair because [[DudeLooksLikeALady he looked too feminine]] and too messy.
** The plug suits would look closer to the classic space suit look, Rei was initially dubbed Yui Ichijo, had black hair, got along better with Asuka and was friendlier and less the ReiAyanamiExpy we know today.
** Initially the final line of End of Evangelion was going to be "I won't let you kill me" rather than the infamous "I feel sick". (The original scrip for Episode 26 had the line be proceeded by a trademark "baka!"/"idiot!", but it was removed from [=EoE's=] storyboard). According to Yuko Miyamura (Asuka's voice actor) Anno couldn't make her say it how he wanted it to sound, eventually he instead described [[spoiler:the masturbation scene to her from Asuka's perspective]] and had asked how she would react if it happened to her, which led to the current line.
** The leaked original script for episode 25 and 26 (which was used for the End of Evangelion) featured two different proposed epilogues, neither of which corresponded completely with the one in film: The first one (Last A) is the closest to the final one, [[spoiler:but lacked the BookEnds Lilith/Rei, had the cast's names on the graves Shinji raised, showed Asuka kicking down hers (it is still shown to have been toppled in the final film after she returns from Instrumentality) and has the original version of the final line (see above)]]. The second one (Last B) however was much bleaker than the final film. It starts with Shinji laying on the beach holding Rei's hand before [[spoiler:Shinji turn his head to see the BookEnds Lilith/Rei. The camera then pans out to show that Shinji is only clutching the arm Rei lost earlier. His monologue then reveals that he was the only human self-reflective enough to ever return from Instrumentality, meaning he will be spending the rest of his life alone after finally finding the will to live with other people]]. After the credits starts both would have shown scenes revealing that Unit-01 had ended up on the moon, its/her helmet broken and revealing woman's hair.
** Published drafts for episode 24, as well as the previously mentioned ones for episode [=25+26/EoE=], shows that there had been plans to include a minor sub-plot about different characters visiting Toji in the hospital that eventually was cut.

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwQSWrA9CNg Saban Moon.]] Technically, it wasn't by Saban, but this what would happen if Renaissance Atlantic (the co-producers of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' and a partner of Bandai America) and Toon Makers got the rights to ''Anime/SailorMoon''. It has it's own page at ''WesternAnimation/ToonMakersSailorMoon''.
** In liner notes for the manga rereleases, Takeuchi revealed that she had thought of making Ami a cyborg and having her do a HeroicSacrifice, along with the idea of Makoto being a gang-leader.
** Early plans for a Sailor V spinoff (that evolved into "Sailor Moon") had Sailor V as the team leader with no Usagi present, while her friend Hikaru would be in the "Ami"/Mercury role. The early gang-leader version of Makoto was in the treatment as well, named "Mamoru Chino" (and depicted as a chain-smoker). Rei also appeared, but with the name "Miyabi Yoruno". The girls would be in search of a mysterious princess named Artemis (relation to the cat unknown). This version was to be produced as an OVA, but plans fell through.
** An early advertisement for the Sailor V manga had her with Usagi's hairstyle and a small crown on her head, with the working title being "Pretty Soldier Sailor V".
** Takeuchi also intended to include a character named "Diana the Moon Fairy", a talkative, impertinant, and playful fairy. She was to be found in the ruins of the Moon Kingdom, and would have stuck with Luna (whom she didn't get along with) and Usagi. She was eventually replaced by Queen Serenity, and the name Diana was used for Luna and Artemis's future daughter.
** Also, Tuxedo Mask could have been named "Mysterious 2098 Face". Takeuchi was later stunned she could have come up with such a bizarre but meaningless name.
** During the early creation phase of ''SailorMoon'', Takeuchi initially drew each of the girls with [[http://www.soul-hunter.com/sailormoon/manga/materials/003.jpg individual]] [[http://www.soul-hunter.com/sailormoon/manga/materials/002.jpg costumes]] before choosing the rather uniform versions later used. She admits she doesn't remember creating this costumes at all.
** The hair colors of the senshi repeatedly changed. Usagi and her mother were once thought to be green-eyed and brunette, then later changed to both being depicted with pink hair. Ikuko retains her pink hair and red eyes in some manga images, where as the anime went with the brown eyes and blue hair variety. Usagi initially being portrayed with pink hair was first done, as the idea was that pink was her image color, but this was later changed to white.
** Originally, Creator/KunihikoIkuhara envisaged that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune were going to be the main characters in the [[Anime/SailorMoon Supers movie]], and it was going to be independent of the main series. Sailor Neptune was going to be in a deep sleep at the end of the world, and Sailor Uranus would have had to steal the talismans from the Sailor Senshi to revive her. These ideas were later used in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''.
** Ami Mizuno was originally conceived as a {{Cyborg}}. There were plans to give her PinocchioSyndrome and a HeroicSacrifice. If this had actually happened, then the ReiAyanamiExpy trope would have been titled Sailor Mercury Expy.
** Allegedly back when a live action Sailor Moon movie was in talks in the late 90's Geena Davis was considered to play Beryl. Fan rumors around the time suggested that Rini was going to be turned into Serena's little sister not her future daughter (which is kind of weird for their parents to gave their daughters similar names, since Rini is a dimunitve of Serena) and Amy was going to have normal hair.
** Creator/DiC had originally considered dubbing up to the first 13 episodes of Sailor Moon S, but they were only able to afford to dub the rest of R. However, their considered names for the Outer Planetary Soldiers did make it on to the early Irwin Canada doll releases, with Haruka being called "Corrinn", Michiru being "Nerissa", and Setsuna being "Celia". Allegedly, DiC would have portrayed "Corrinn" and "Nerissa" as best friends, which would likely mean the S season would have experienced quite the editing (which it did with Cloverway, although they didn't edit enough at times, making the "cousins" cover-up look rather strange).
** The Mixxzine[=/=]Creator/{{Tokyopop}} verion of the manga briefly had Hotaru (who later became the only senshi to retain her original name in the Cloverway dub) named Jenny. It was changed back in later issues.
** During the creation of ''Sailor Moon Stars'', animation director Yoiuchi Fukano designed a new form for Sailor Moon called "Sailor Moon ''La Cygne''" or "Sailor Moon Swan". Given the FanNickname of "Fukano Moon" because of who created it, [[http://38.media.tumblr.com/99da5189d29cb8adae9568662de3c3b5/tumblr_ne9vrnRLus1qjkedbo1_1280.jpg the design]] went completely away from the sailor motif that was standard of all Sailor Guardians, looking like a transition between Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity. Ultimately, though, it was decided to use Naoko Takeuchi's Eternal Sailor Moon instead.

* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise has had What Could Have Beens aplenty:
** The original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' would have had the original RX-78-2 Gundam destroyed not by the Zeong, but by a grunt unit. As well, Char would have taken up a unit known as the Kikeroga and used it to drop Luna II on Earth, predating his Axis asteroid drop by 13 years!
*** Another interesting turn of events was the case of Miharu, the Zeon spy girl that became Kai's love interest. According to source books, she was originally going to be a member of the Zabi family!
*** Another was that the meeting between Degwin Sodo Zabi and General Revil would have been much different had the series been allowed to be fully completed: they would have met on the White Base and during the meeting, Degwin would have spotted Sayla and, recognizing her as Zeon Zum Daikun's daughter Artesia, would break down and beg for forgiveness, revealing that he indeed murdered Zeon!
*** Creator/YoshiyukiTomino wanted the Gundam to be all-white like a ''Franchise/StarWars'' stormtrooper, a notion vetoed by the producers, who wanted kid-friendly primary colors.
** At one point, there were plans to make a manga known as ''[=MSX=]'', set a few years after the One Year War and featuring a whole new slew of Mobile Suits. However, it ended up getting canned when ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' was announced.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' was supposed to have Char reappear and lead the rebellion against Haman Karn, but when ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'' got greenlighted, Glemy Toto replaced him.
*** As well, there are a number of abandoned Mobile Suit ideas as to what could have shown up. Included were a G-Defensor Mk-II (The original destroyed at the end of ''Zeta''), two different Gundam Mk-IIIs (one of which was a contender for the main hero unit. A Mk-III would later become a Mobile Suit Variation), a Double Zeta Gundam which utilized various combiner parts, which suggest that they had different, almost SuperRobot-like ideas for the suits.
** ''GaiaGear'' was a serial novel written by Yoshiyuki Tomino and adapted into a radio drama, set over a hundred years after the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''; the plot involves a "memory clone" of Char Aznable, named [[MeaningfulName Affranchi Char]], leading a [[LaResistance resistance]] group called Metatron against the corrupt Federation government. It is a complete CrazyAwesome MindScrew, and we will never see it animated, because it was retconned out of the Gundam franchise by (of all things) ''Film/GSaviour''.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91'' was supposed to have been a full-fledged series, but was shortened into a movie instead. While the Crossbone Gundam manga answered several questions, the question remains as to what the series could have been if it went that way.
** This happened with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'': the titular Gundam was to be introduced in the fourth episode instead of the first. However, thanks to executive meddling, and a need for the Gundam to always appear early, the fourth episode was made into the first, much to Tomino's consternation. It happened again with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'', which was originally to follow the 'Big Bang' aftermath of ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', tying into the UC timeline and, as an interview said, "planting the seed for the future". The concept was not followed up on by Fukuda, however, and, once again, Tomino was not happy about it. Most recently, it happened ''yet again'' with the revelation that Mizushima wanted ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' to be originally set in the UC timeline, a proposition Sunrise turned down.
** Had ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' not tanked and got its full 49 episodes, DarkActionGirl Ennil El would have gotten her own Gundam-esque Mobile Suit, the Esperansa II.
** Speaking of Turn-A, Tomino didn't ''just'' want all the Gundam series used in this series, he wanted to use ALL the mecha series he created, including ''Ideon'' and ''Daitarn 3''. That was shot down.
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' had a number of things planned for the second half of the series, including having Flay pilot the Strike Rouge as propoganda material for the Earth Alliance, Flay and Sai dying in an attempt to save the Archangel from a bomb and even [[KillEmAll killing just about everyone]] save Athrun (who'd lose a leg). This never happened due to the immense popularity of the Seed characters among the viewers.
*** And a close fight between Strike Freedom and Destiny in the ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' finale, both terribly damaged from all the fighting.
*** Also from ''SEED Destiny'' was the rumor that Neo Roanoke would pilot the N Dagger N, an [=MSV=]-based suit based off of the Blitz Gundam. Instead, he rode in on the Exus.
*** Speaking of ''SEED Destiny'', the original names for the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice were the "Super Freedom" and "Knight Justice", respectively. In the case of the former, it would have explained the "[[AttackDrone Super DRAGOON]]" name.
*** Shiho Hahnenfuss was to have been voiced by Music/NamiTamaki (who sang one of the theme songs in both ''SEED'' and ''SEED Destiny''), but she declined the role.
** In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'', the ''incredibly'' feminine Tieria Erde was at one point planned to be a [[{{Bifauxnen}} beautiful woman dressing like a man]]. That screaming you hear is the many straight male fans of the series that got [[UnsettlingGenderReveal trapped]] by Tieria during the series run, particularly during his single episode as an incredibly hot WholesomeCrossdresser. Interestingly, despite this plot point being dropped early, there is still arguably some foreshadowing for it in early episodes of the first season, such as the name and visual metaphors his gundam presents, Tieria's feminine appearence multiplying several thousand fold when he's upset, and the PronounTrouble he experiences after revealing his extremely masculine gundam's inner female form that dips in to the gender neutral. Sadly, fans lost a probable MsFanservice and a chance to get a female "main" pilot in the series in exchange for what's probably the closest we're going to get for a canonically gay Gundam pilot.
** Years before ''Gundam Wing'' came to American shores, Sunrise released a pilot for a series called ''Doozy Bots'', which had a scientist named Professor Doozy turn a bunch of stereotype high school students into SD versions of various heroic Mobile Suits to battle laughable versions of Zeon-based Mobile Suits.
** Speaking of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', one of the original ideas for the series was to continue its multi-national theme. The original designs for the five main Gundams centered around Japan (Wing), Europe (Deathscythe), America (Heavyarms), China (Shenlong) and the Middle East (Sandrock). Also, the character who would eventually become Wufei was at one point planned to be from Africa.

** An early idea was to have Near and Mello be L's ''twin sons'', but this was eventually dropped because L is implied to be about 25 years old [[spoiler: when he dies]], when Near and Mello are both about 14 years old. Which would imply that L became a father [[{{Shotacon}} incredibly young]].

*** Team Rocket was also going to be PutOnABus in ''Best Wishes'', but their fans in the production staff vetoed the decision. Ironically, their intended write-off was ''still'' advertised as their GrandFinale.

** Ash's name was originally "Casey" in the English dub.

** Team Plasma was supposed to make their debut appearances in Castelia City during ''Best Wishes'', but their episodes were indefinitely postponed after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, as the episodes featured Castelia City being destroyed. A related episode about the fishing competition was also postponed, but was broadcast without any references to the original setting of Castelia City.

** According to TheOtherWiki, ''Manga/TokyoBabylon'' originally debuted in a set of doujinshi by Nanase Ohkawa. It contained the original three main characters (Subaru, Hokuto, and Seishiro), but was supposedly about hunting elves. Also, while Seishiro was still a veterinarian and still had a dark side, it's said that it wasn't as pronounced as it was in the final product, thus having him undergo the most character change between the doujinshi and the final manga.

** The Android Saga went through a ''lot'' of changes. Originally, Android #19 and Android #20/Dr. Gero was supposed to be the main villains of the arc, but Toriyama gotten a call from his former editor, who mocked him for such goofy designs for a villain. Thus, Toriyama created Androids #17 and #18 to be the villains. The man called him again to mock him over making a bunch of brats, so he created Cell. The form now-known as Semi-Perfect Cell was supposed to be around for alot longer, but his ''current'' editor didn't like his design, leading to Toriyama rushing to get to Perfect Cell. As well, Goku was supposed to stay dead after the Saga and let Gohan take over, but the fans wanted Goku back.
** In the Buu Saga, things were being laid out so that Goku and Vegeta were going to fuse into Gogeta to battle Super Buu. However, the 12th movie, ''Fusion Reborn'', ended up introducing their own Gogeta, forcing Toriyama to create Vegito.

** The Android Saga went through a ''lot'' of changes. Originally, Android #19 and Android #20/Dr. Gero was supposed to be the main villains of the arc, but Toriyama gotten a call from his former editor, who mocked him for such goofy designs for a villain. Thus, Toriyama created Androids #17 and #18 to be the villains. The man called him again to mock him over making a bunch of brats, so he created Cell. The form now-known as Semi-Perfect Cell was supposed to be the final form, but his ''current'' editor didn't like his design, leading to the creation of Perfect Cell. As well, Goku was supposed to stay dead after the Saga and let Gohan take over, but the fans wanted Goku back.

** Creator/SteveBlum originally intended to audition for the role of [[{{Badass}} Kamina]]. When he saw a picture of [[CampGay Leeron]], however, he ''begged'' the producers to let him try out for him instead.

** Creator/SteveBlum originally intended to audition for the role of Kamina. When he saw a picture of Leeron, however, he ''begged'' the producers to let him try out for him instead.

** For the dub, Creator/ToddHaberkorn was originally cast as England, with an unnamed voice actor cast as Italy. Said unnamed voice actor dropped out, and Todd had to drop England to try out for Italy (owing to the fact that the voices were too similar for scenes the characters shared). England was taken over by Scott Freeman. And before Todd was finalized for the voice of Italy, he was in competition with VicMignogna, who later was cast as Greece. Also mentioned was that Todd auditioned for Germany, using a voice not unlike what was later used for Prussia. (The story can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzIKIKveL8g here]])

* A one episode ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' anime remains unpublished, based on the Famicom port of ''VideoGame/UltimaIII'', with some footage of the anime featured in a game commercial. Tapes of the anime were found in a warehouse and sold off, but the entire episode remains [[MissingEpisode missing]].