History RefittedForSequel / VideoGames

** [[SeriesMascot Moogles]] were meant to debut in Final Fantasy II. Originally called Cryons, they would reside in cold environments and were ultimately replaced by beavers in the final game. The sprite was reused in FFIII and they were renamed moogles.

** One of the proposed characters who didn't make it into ''Videogame/StreetFighterIV'' was "Fighting President," a [[ActionPolitician martial artists/politician]]. The concept was again submitted for the initial release of ''Videogame/StreetFighterV'', but didn't make it in that time either. The idea would eventually come to fruition with the introduction of G in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition]]''.

** The original concept for Rise Kujikawa was a blonde, [[ChainPain chain-wielding]] ice queen {{delinquent}} who was a fully-controllable party member. By the time of the final game, Rise's blonde hair was lost when she was redesigned to look more like [[Creator/RieKugimiya her voice actress]] (some aspects of the original design went to Social Link NPC Ai Ebihara), the delinquency aspect was dropped to avoid redundancy with fellow party member Kanji Tatsumi, and she was moved to a MissionControl role providing support for the party. In the [[VideoGame/{{Persona 5}} next game]], party member Ann Takamaki uses a number of these rejected concepts: delinquency, blonde hair, and a frontline ActionGirl who fights with [[WhipItGood whips]].

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' was originally meant to feature female scientists, one of whom would have betrayed Gordon and sold him out to the military. The concept of a traitorous lady doctor would eventually be realized with Dr. Judith Mossman in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.

** Not so much a sequel, but another series in the same extended universe. One of the potential characters designed for ''Videogame/StreetFighterIII'' was "American Girl," a young female fighter clad in [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead a red, white and blue outfit]] and a pair of boxing gloves. While she didn't make it into ''III'', elements of her design were seemingly recycled for Tiffany Lords from ''Videogame/RivalSchools'', another Capcom fighting game.

** WordOfGod says most of the new Pokémon introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' were originally planned to be in ''Red and Blue'' before being cut for space. Subverted with the Kotora family, however, since they were cut from ''Red and Blue'', added into the Spaceworld prototype of ''Gold and Silver'', and then cut ''again''. They may have ultimately gone on to inspire the Shinx line, another three-stage family of Electric-type big cats.
** The ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' Spaceworld demo featured many scrapped Pokémon that would eventually be repurposed later on in the series: Evolutions for Lickitung and Tangela, a pre-evolution for Mr. Mime, and a Grass-type Eevee evolution were cut from ''Gold and Silver'', then made a reality once ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' was released several years later. Another scrapped evolution from the Spaceworld demo was an evolution for Farfetch'd; decades later, Farfetch'd would finally gain an evolution in the form of Sirfetch'd in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield''. And an [[https://hirespokemon.tumblr.com/post/177697797056/1997-april-issue-cover-for-microgroup-game unused turtle character]] drawn by Ken Sugimori for a magazine cover (which wasn't originally intended as a Pokémon) resembles Tirtouga, which was first introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' reuses a lot of elements that were originally going to part of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'''s story. The genre shifts from SciFiHorror into GothicHorror, the plot revolves around [[spoiler:the protagonist getting infected with a dangerous virus that eventually results in their death (though Ethan doesn't die ''directly'' from the virus whereas Leon would've)]], has some layers of supernatural and psychological horror, and the game [[spoiler:later focuses on the true origins of [[EvilInc Umbrella]]]].

** Vector was originally supposed to be part of a rock band with Sonic in the first game, which was going to be seen on a sound test screen which showed them playing whatever music was selected. The concept was scrapped when that screen had to be cut out due to memory limitations. He was reintroduced in ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix'', and became a recurring character; although the idea of him and Sonic being in a band has since been mostly dropped, as have the other band members, Sonic himself was in a band with [[CanonForeigner his siblings]] in the animated series ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' [[note]]and ''[[EarlyDraftTieIn prior]]'' to that screen being dropped, he was in a band in ''Manga/SonicTheHedgehogStoryComic''[[/note]], and Vector plays music ([[DreadfulMusician badly]]) with his teammates in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes''.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' had more DLC conceptualized than what was officially released in the Expansion Pass. However, as the number of DLC ideas and the size of the content were substantial, the development team decided these ideas would serve better as building blocks for the direct sequel.

** DummiedOut battle data in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' shows that there was once going to be [[spoiler:a {{superboss}} fight against Professor Oak, who would use the starter not chosen by you or your rival]]. This concept came back in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' for [[spoiler:the FinalBoss fight against Professor Kukui, who pulls the same stunt]].

** ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'' has a level ("Contingency") with a setpiece that can't be seen during normal gameplay -- as you fight off enemy forces, Price goes inside the Russian submarine and activates a nuclear missile. It was originally possible to follow Price inside the sub yourself (instead of being stuck outside on the dock), and could watch as he went through the process of arming and firing the missile in real-time. Come ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'', the first level of the game concludes with a sequence where you follow your AI partner inside a similar Russian submarine to disable it, using the same animations and level layout as the scrapped sub interior from the previous game.

** An early version of ''VideoGame/DoomII''[='s=] Map 10 can be found in an alpha version of the first game.

** [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Mewtwo]] were planned to be in the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64 first game]]; they did not get in due to time and budget constraints. Bowser and Mewtwo would eventually make it into ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'', while King Dedede would not join until ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]''.

* ''Videogame/{{Bayonetta 3}}'': [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible Less "for sequel" and more "from cancelled project"]]. Bayonetta fighting alongside the massive demons she summons brings to mind the dragon controlling aspect of ''VideoGame/{{Scalebound}}'', a cancelled title from ''Creator/PlatinumGames''. Considering that game's lead director, Yusuke Miyata, went on to direct ''Bayonetta 3'', this was likely intentional. Additionally, Viola's heavy resemblance (both in looks and backstory) to Nero from the ''Videogame/DevilMayCry'' series seems to also be recycled from ''Scalebound'', whose main character was a Nero {{Expy}} named Drew.

** Risky Boots, Bolo, and Rottytops were all going to be playable in a multiplayer mode for a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance entry that never got off the ground. Years later, the fourth entry in the series (''Half-Genie Hero'') would give Risky Boots, Bolo, Rottytops, and Sky their own campaigns; "Pirate Queen's Quest" and "Friends to the End", respectively.
** One of the pieces of Pirate Equipment that was scrapped in ''Pirate's Curse'' was a grappling anchor. It was later incorporated into the "Pirate Queen's Quest" mode of ''Half-Genie Hero''.

* ''Videogame/TheKingOfFighters95'' was originally going to have a ''Videogame/SamuraiShodown''-themed team consisting of Nakoruru, Haohmaru and Galford. However, the team was cut due to worries that ''Samurai Shodown'' wouldn't be a popular enough series to boost sales, though Nakoruru was still included in the Game Boy port. Decades later, Team Samurai would finally make their official debut as a DLC team in ''Videogame/TheKingOfFightersXV'', albeit with Galford replaced by Darli Dagger.

** During the planning stages of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', the writers considered killing Barret Wallace but ultimately decided against it because they didn't think it would have enough of an impact. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', [[spoiler:Sepiroth stabs Barret through the chest in order to draw out the Whispers; he would have died had they not intervened.]]

** Not only was ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' meant to have a more photorealistic art style (in lieu of the more stylized look the final game had), but Ryu's default costume, which was eventually relegated to an alternate, had him [[WalkingShirtlessScene missing his gi top]] and sporting ManlyFacialHair. Flash forward to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwPzuBj01AM the reveal trailer]] for ''Street Fighter 6'', which not only showcases a photorealistic look for its characters, but also depicts Ryu as shirtless and bearded.

* ''VideoGame/Oddworld'':

** Concept art for Mondo Owada had a design that would later be used for Gundham Tanaka in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair.''

* The BonusBoss of ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]], was originally designed for the [[{{Vaporware}} canceled]] [=GameCube=] ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' game. Its concept art for said game was shown, without context, in the commemorative booklet about the franchise's history included with ''[[CompilationRerelease Kirby's Dream Collection]]'' in 2012.

** DummiedOut battle data in ''Red and Blue'' showed that there was once going to be [[spoiler:a BonusBoss fight against Professor Oak, who would use the starter not chosen by you or your rival]]. This concept came back in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' for [[spoiler:the FinalBoss fight against Professor Kukui, who pulls the same stunt]].

* Not for a direct sequel but a sequel ''franchise'', ''Creator/InsomniacGames'' originally created spherical worlds for ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'''s skateboarding levels, but cut them for time. They liked the idea so much they revisited it for ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando''.