History WhatCouldHaveBeen / Bloodborne

* Due to how out-of-the-way it is, it's heavily speculated that Cainhurst Castle is host to a great amount of unfinished content.

* There's a cut character that was supposed to be found in the Workshop named Izzy, a wheelchair clad old man that would be a helper NPC for the hub. He was eventually stripped out of the game and his role got shifted to Gehrman, who was originally ''just'' The First Hunter. The only remains of Izzy is the version used as a historical/lore character.

** The One Reborn (an Incomplete False God, or "[=HalfBakedDevil=]" as it is internally called), which was supposed to work more like the Tower Knight from ''Demon's Souls'' than in the final game.

* The boss room that the Witch of Hemwick is fought in not only doesn't match the aesthetic of Hemwick, it doesn't even make sense layout-wise in comparison to the massive exterior it's found in. Due to a combination of the aesthetic more matching the Cathedral Ward, the release of ''The Old Hunters'', the fact that you find the Rune Workshop Tool there, and early footage of encountering Vicar Amelia in the room, there's speculation that the basement was originally part of a cut area somewhere in the Cathedral Ward.

** There's dialogue from a very early version of the Vileblood Queen still in the game, with the lines being voiced by Evetta Muradasilova (who voices the Doll, and later Lady Maria) instead of Jenny Funnell. Tying into this, the original description of the Eye Cord found at the Abandoned Workshop says that a child from Cainhurst was used to call down the Moon Presence. Even though Maria and the Doll do kind of resemble each other (there's still enough differences between them to show that they aren't completely identical), the data mining reveals that they technically aren't connected at all: Maria was created solely for the ''Old Hunters'' DLC to bridge together the mysteries of Gehrman's dead apprentice buried at the Abandoned Old Workshop and who the Doll was based on. The Doll is most definitely related to this very early version of the Queen, at least until she was further developed into Annalise.

* A couple of text dumps of the in-game dialogue [[https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/7lk35v/bloodborne_cut_dialogue_subtitles_heavy_spoilers/ have been]] [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tKLlX6rB66gmz6Y3b2GMATu0j-LfBEMSjia2lqp8PkM/edit#gid=522521462 made public]], and both including cut dialogue that gives way more context for some of the stuff that happens in the game and revealing an earlier draft of the game's storyline. [[spoiler:Mainly, the PC knew Laurence in some capacity before the game, with you waking up from a month long coma then going to search for him after he left two weeks beforehand to search for the "blood of a sage" (an early version of Paleblood). The Hunter's Dream was originally called the Dream Refuge, with the Doll calling it a haven for the diseased and the implication was that the PC "inherited" a deceased Hunter's dream versus being chosen by the Messengers as a new Hunter. Micolash also had a greater presence, the early script having him claim that he was the head of the Healing Church. Willem's internal name in this version, "Micolash's Cast Off Shell", implies that this early version of Micolash was some kind of projection or strange "reincarnation" used to lead hunters to Byrgenwerth.]] This is about as much of the original story draft that's known, since nothing taking place after the events at the Grand Cathedral has been found yet and likely don't even exist anymore.

* Archibald was going to be encountered one point as a friendly NPC, instead of just being a reference character. His cut dialogue mentions gathering and bringing him blood-crystals (blood gems) to "make them into your power", meaning that he'd be the way to socket blood gems into your weapons, rather than getting the Blood Gem Workshop Tool from a chest after defeating Gascoigne. Unfortunately, Archibald was cut early enough that the script only appears in the TGS Alpha build of the game, and in Japanese at that.

* In the Future Press interview with Miyazaki, he mentions that he wanted to include an option to keep Iosefka alive, but the rest of the studio wouldn't let him. Gascoigne's daughter was similarly intended to survive - this is why the daughter ''does'' have a model [[spoiler:that's used in the final game as the corpse of the supposed "older sister" after she gets the ribbon]]. Although closer inspection of both the child's model and Viola's model reveal that they're reused and altered versions of the Doll's model.

** Next is Mergo's Wet Nurse, although named "Dream Demon" at this point and the Liver calls her a "Lesser Demon of Death and Darkness", which is her internal name. She was supposed to be the original Iosefka early on, even having her own unique human model. Her, the spiders found in the Nightmare of Mensis, and the Shadows of Yharnam, were supposed to be their own separate faction encountered either during or after going through the pathway between the Forbidden Woods and the Central Yharnam clinic, or even within their own dreamscape.

** Then the Liver of the False God's Apostle, most likely Micolash since the Amygdala's internal name is "[=FalseGod=]". At some point afterward, the Amygdala was supposed to be fought. On the note of the Amygdala, it was supposedly at one point to a late-to-endgame boss in an earlier version of the game. Whether it was supposed to be just ''a'' final boss (like Mergo's Wet Nurse) or ''the'' final boss (Moon Presence) is unknown.

** Where it gets the most interesting is the last three Livers: Fresh Liver of ''Kos'', Fallen Child of the Moon; Fresh Liver of ''Ebrietas's Inheritor''; Fresh Liver of the ''Moon's Messenger'', the Nightmare's Inheritor. The implications are astounding, meaning that at one point the version of Ebrietas in the final game was supposed to be not just Kos, but the child of the Moon Presence and the Moon Presence's real name used to be Ebrietas instead of Flora.
*** This version of Kos was implied to have been fought within the Nightmare of Mensis, rather than the being that became Mergo's Wet Nurse.
*** Gehrman is likely still set up as Ebrietas's Inheritor and fought in the same place.
*** Where this version of Ebrietas was supposed to be fought is unknown, although the Lumenflower Garden has been found to have a spawn point for the Moon Presence to spawn in. It's even possible that she was supposed to be fought multiple times, since there's a number of boss variants within the game files.

* At one point '''really''' early on in development, ''Bloodborne'' was initially planned to be a StealthSequel to ''Demon's Souls'', with the reveal of the Chalice Dungeons being that the Pthumerian civilization underneath Yharnam was the buried ruins of Boletaria. The tiniest sliver of this made it into the public beta test, wherein Gasciogne would utter "Umbasa" on killing a player; however, not even this survived into the final game. Within the final game, however, some of the oldest parameter files for enemies are tagged "[=DS2=]", which likely means "Demon's Souls 2".

* There's still a lot of cut content still in the game files from earlier builds of the game, [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIWTlCX6FT19aXU30kwRRZKW4qzpCh81 ranging from]] armor sets, weapons, [=NPCs=], enemies, to even bosses. Enemies similar to the Beast-Possessed Soul and [[spoiler:Lawrence's Cleric Beast form]] with fire powers, alternate or prototype versions of enemies, more medieval arms and armor. One of the biggest things is there's at least two cut Chalice Dungeon bosses: the Great One Beast, which has a very horse-like appearance, and [[spoiler:two more forms for the Moon Presence. One is a more haggard-looking variant form, incomplete with no textures or animations, and the other is almost complete, with a partially finished moveset, crude body textures, and it's own special boss arena which is ''suspiciously'' similar to the coastline where you encounter the Old One in ''Demon's Souls'']].

** Then the Liver of the False God's Apostle, most likely Micolash since the Amygdala's internal name is "[=FalseGod=]" and at one point was supposed to be the final boss. At some point afterward, the Amygdala was supposed to be fought.

* There's a cut character that was supposed to be found in the waking world version of the Workshop named Izzy, a wheelchair clad old man that would be a helper NPC for the hub. He was eventually stripped out of the game and his role got shifted to Gehrman, who was originally ''just'' The First Hunter. The only remains of Izzy is the version used as a historical/lore character.

* At one point '''really''' early on in development, ''Bloodborne'' was initially planned to be a StealthSequel to ''Demon's Souls'', with the reveal of the Chalice Dungeons being that the Pthumerian civilization underneath Yharnam was the buried ruins of Boletaria. The tiniest sliver of this made it into the public beta test, wherein Gasciogne would utter "Umbasa" on killing a player; however, not even this survived into the final game.

** You were apparently supposed to start the game in Hemwick. [[https://twitter.com/manfightdragon/status/1007812288739307520 Unlocking the map flow]] in the Alpha test would make the game try to load the area. In a way, this makes way more sense than waking up in the Clinic right smack dab in the middle of the city.

* There's still a lot of cut content still in the game files from earlier builds of the game, [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIWTlCX6FT19aXU30kwRRZKW4qzpCh81 ranging from]] armor sets, weapons, [=NPCs=], enemies, to even bosses. Enemies similar to the Beast-Possessed Soul and [[spoiler:Lawrence's Cleric Beast form]] with fire powers, alternate or prototype versions of enemies, more medieval arms and armor. One of the biggest things is there's at least two cut Chalice Dungeon bosses: the Great One Beast, which has a very horse-like appearance, and [[spoiler:two more forms for the Moon Presence. One is a more haggard-looking variant form, incomplete with no textures or animations, and the other is almost complete, with a partially finished moveset, crude body textures, and it's own special boss arena which is ''suspiciously'' similar to the coastline where the Orphan of Kos is fought in the final game]].
* A couple of text dumps of the in-game dialogue [[https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/7lk35v/bloodborne_cut_dialogue_subtitles_heavy_spoilers/ have been]] [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tKLlX6rB66gmz6Y3b2GMATu0j-LfBEMSjia2lqp8PkM/edit#gid=522521462 made public]], and both including cut dialogue that gives way more context for some of the stuff that happens in the game and revealing an earlier draft of the game's storyline. [[spoiler:Mainly, the PC knew Laurence in some capacity before the game, with you waking up from a month long coma then going to search for him after he left two weeks beforehand to search for the "blood of a sage" (an early version of Paleblood). The Hunter's Dream was originally called the Dream Refuge, with the Doll calling it a haven for the diseased and the implication that the PC gets mistaken for a Hunter due to scavenging for gear to survive the hunt, versus being chosen by the Messengers as a new Hunter. Micolash also had a greater presence, the early script having him claim that he was the head of the Healing Church. Willem's internal name in this version, "Micolash's Cast Off Shell", implies that this early version of Micolash was some kind of projection or strange "reincarnation" used to lead hunters to Byrgenwerth.]] This is about as much of the original story draft that's known, since nothing taking place after the events at the Grand Cathedral has been found yet and likely don't even exist anymore.
* The Messenger Lanterns weren't [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3SLPLN6WfA originally going to be lanterns]]. The early Project Beast trailer portrayed them as strange Archstone-like statues that the player had to plant spectral swords into to activate, likely a very early idea that became the cut "create a bonfire" idea in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII''. These can still be found in the oldest developer test maps in the final game, but all the associated animations are long gone, even in the Alpha test. During the Alpha test, there were chairs in the place of where the Lanterns are in the final game, which were complete to the point that they have dummied out activation and sit/stand animations and the Messengers were positioned to face the chair. They were changed from the chairs to lanterns late enough during development that the player spawn point locations they are assigned to are still called "warp chair" [=IDs=]. But earlier on still, you were supposed to interact with special corpses to be sent to various areas, like the earliest version of Hemwick had a dead Hunter corpse there that was supposed to send you to the Hunter's Dream.

* The coldblood items were originally "fresh livers" in the Alpha build and were complete to the point of having usage animations. Not only that, but all the bosses were supposed to drop their own "fresh liver" and the list reveals some very interesting things about the early story, most notably the flow of the main story bosses, or at least how they were listed in the inventory screen. Father Gascoigne is the first boss listed. Next is the Cleric Beast, who was supposed to be the boss for the Grand Cathedral. Then the Blood-starved Beast and the Witch of Hemwick. Then the Fresh Liver of a Snake Ball, implying that one was supposed to be a boss instead of the Shadows of Yharnam, and there's a massive lo-res textured model of one that's half-way complete still in the game files. Next is Mergo's Wet Nurse, although named "Succubus" or "Dream Demon" at this point and the Liver calls her a "Lesser Demon of Death and Darkness", which is her internal name. Then Martyr Logarius, who is called "King Reaper" in the description. Next is Provost Willem, or rather "Micolash's Cast Off Shell", whose status as a former enemy/boss is supported by the cut attack animations. Rom is next in line, then The One Reborn (an Incomplete False God, or "[=HalfBakedDevil=]" as it is internally called). Then the Liver of the False God's Apostle, likely a follower of the Amygdala since the Amygdala's internal name is "[=FalseGod=]". Then Vicar Amelia, known at this point as "Saint Laura" and the "Beastess Saint". Where it gets the most interesting is the last three Livers: Fresh Liver of ''Kos'', Fallen Child of the Moon; Fresh Liver of ''Ebrietas's Inheritor''; Fresh Liver of the ''Moon's Messenger'', the Nightmare's Inheritor. The implications are astounding, meaning that at one point the version of Ebrietas in the final game was supposed to be not just Kos, but the child of the Moon Presence and the Moon Presence's real name used to be Ebrietas instead of Flora. "Ebrietas's Inheritor" is likely still Gehrman. The identity of the "Moon's Messenger" or "Nightmare's Inheritor" is unknown as to whether it's the original idea of having an Amygdala as the final boss or one of the versions of the Moon Presence.
** There's also some magic items in the Alpha: the Augur of Kos (mostly functions like the Auger of Ebrietas, but makes a huge spike emerge from the ground in a random spot and the tentacles don't stun/damage anyone); the Rage of Kos (has mostly the same animation of A Call Beyond, but summons one tiny meteorite that strikes a random spot); Reflective Light Wall (early Beast Roar tool); Consume Sacred Serum (maybe an early version of the Lead Elixir item, has an animation but no effect); Compelling Awakening (early Choir Bell tool); Double Accelerator (early Old Hunter Bone tool); Cane of Shock (early Tiny Tonitrus tool); Stalker (functions like the Executioner's Gloves, but fires three Messenger spirits instead of three arcane skull spirits); Opportunistic Chance (Shaman Bone Blade item, but the icon is different); and Follower's Obligation (early Messenger's Gift tool, but you appear as a single large Messenger/Follower with a vastly different appearance compared to the final game).

* The Lecture Hall is in the same map file as the version of Byrgenwyrth in the final game. Comparisons between the in-game version, concept art, and a very early map of all the "waking world" areas of the game show that the campus was originally planned to be ''much'' larger, with the lecture hall being it's own building across from Willem's study/lunarium. It's unknown as to at what point the lecture hall was put "in the void" to serve as a waypoint to reach the Nightmare Frontier and Nightmare of Mensis. Additionally, there was ''another'' building that got completely cut and the lake wasn't there at all. And there was supposed to be an inverted version of Byrgenwyrth shown in the Rom boss fight room.

* In the Future Press interview with Miyazaki, he mentions that he wanted to include an option to keep Iosefka alive, but the rest of the studio wouldn't let him. Gascoigne's daughter was similarly intended to survive - this is why the daughter ''does'' have a model [[spoiler:that's used in the final game as the corpse of the supposed "older sister" after she gets the ribbon]].

* A couple of text dumps of the in-game dialogue [[https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/7lk35v/bloodborne_cut_dialogue_subtitles_heavy_spoilers/ have been]] [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tKLlX6rB66gmz6Y3b2GMATu0j-LfBEMSjia2lqp8PkM/edit#gid=522521462 made public]], and both including cut dialogue that gives way more context for some of the stuff that happens in the game and revealing an earlier draft of the game's storyline. [[spoiler:Mainly, the PC knew Laurence in some capacity before the game, with you waking up from a month long coma then going to search for him after he left two weeks beforehand to search for the "blood of a sage" (an early version of Paleblood). The Hunter's Dream was originally called the Dream Refuge, with the Doll calling it a haven for the diseased and the implication that the PC gets mistaken for a Hunter due to scavenging for gear to survive the hunt, versus being chosen by the Messengers as a new Hunter. Micolash also had a greater presence, the early script having him claim that he was the head of the Healing Church. Willem's internal name in this version, "Micolash's Castoff Shell", implies that this early version of Micolash was some kind of projection or strange "reincarnation" used to lead hunters to Byrgenwerth.]] This is about as much of the original story draft that's known, since nothing taking place after the events at the Grand Cathedral has been found yet and likely don't even exist anymore.

* The coldblood items were originally "fresh livers" in the Alpha build and were complete to the point of having usage animations. Not only that, but all the bosses were supposed to drop their own "fresh liver" and the list reveals some very interesting things about the early story, most notably the flow of the main story bosses, or at least how they were listed in the inventory screen. Father Gascoigne is the first boss listed. Next is the Cleric Beast, who was once the cut Father Norbert/Herbert character. Then the Blood-starved Beast and the Witch of Hemwick. Then the Fresh Liver of a Snake Ball, implying that one was supposed to be a boss instead of the Shadows of Yharnam. Next is Mergo's Wet Nurse, although named "Succubus" at this point and the Liver calls her a "Lesser Demon of Death and Darkness", which is her internal name. Then Martyr Logarius, who is called "King Reaper" in the description. Next is Provost Willem, or rather "Micolash's Castoff Shell", whose status as a former enemy/boss is supported by the cut attack animations. Rom is next in line, then The One Reborn (an Incomplete False God, or "[=HalfBakedDevil=]" as it is internally called). Then the Liver of the False God's Apostle, likely a follower of the Amygdala since the Amygdala's internal name is "[=FalseGod=]". Then Vicar Amelia, known at this point as "Saint Laura" and the "Beastess Saint". Where it gets the most interesting is the last three Livers: Fresh Liver of ''Kos'', Fallen Child of the Moon; Fresh Liver of ''Ebrietas's Inheritor''; Fresh Liver of the ''Moon's Messenger'', the Nightmare's Inheritor. The implications are astounding, meaning that at one point the version of Ebrietas in the final game was supposed to be not just Kos, but the child of the Moon Presence and the Moon Presence's real name used to be Ebrietas instead of Flora. "Ebrietas's Inheritor" is likely still Gehrman. The identity of the "Moon's Messenger" or "Nightmare's Inheritor" is unknown as to whether it's the original idea of having an Amygdala as the final boss or one of the versions of the Moon Presence.

** There are icons for an item to refill your quicksilver bullets, a doll repair kit, an unused Hunter Badge, Petrified versions of Blood Gems, and text for unused Chalice Dungeon ritual items.

* Due to how out-of-the-way it is, it's heavily speculated that Cainhurst Castle is host to a great amount of unfinished content. Even getting there seems to have been changed in the final game: rather than the carriage appearing at the Hemwick crossing obelisk and going across a bridge that makes no real geographical sense, it's likely that the player would have had to make their way through the massive building that the Witch of Hemwick is fought in, then emerge out the rear of the building to find the carriage and the ruins of a bridge that goes straight to Cainhurst. The fact that even though it's very low resolution, the back of said building is almost fully modeled for the Cainhurst Castle area, supports this.
** On that note, the boss room that the Witch of Hemwick is fought in not only doesn't match the aesthetic of Hemwick, it doesn't even make sense layout-wise in comparison to the massive exterior it's found in. Due to a combination of the aesthetic more matching the Cathedral Ward, the release of ''The Old Hunters'', the fact that you find the Rune Workshop Tool there, and early footage of encountering Vicar Amelia in the room, there's speculation that the basement was originally part of a cut area somewhere in the Cathedral Ward.
** You were apparently supposed to start the game in Hemwick. [[https://twitter.com/manfightdragon/status/1007812288739307520 Unlocking the map flow]] in the Alpha test would make the game try to load the area.

* The Messenger Lanterns weren't [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3SLPLN6WfA originally going to be lanterns]]. The early Project Beast trailer portrayed them as strange Archstone-like statues that the player had to plant spectral swords into to activate, likely a very early idea that became the cut "create a bonfire" idea in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII''. These can still be found in the oldest developer test maps in the final game, but all the associated animations are long gone, even in the Alpha test. During the Alpha test, there were chairs in the place of where the Lanterns are in the final game, which were complete to the point that they have dummied out activation and sit/stand animations and the Messengers were positioned to face the chair. They were changed from the chairs to lanterns late enough during development that the player spawn point locations they are assigned to are still called "warp chair" [=IDs=].

Whoo boy... To put it bluntly, the basic story concept was pinned down very early, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen but specific details were slowly and gradually changed as the game was being developed, to the point where certain background stories and events either end abruptly without any sort of resolution or just appear out of nowhere for a one-note thing.]]

* The Lecture Hall is in the same map file as the version of Byrgenwyrth in the final game. Comparisons between the in-game version and concept art version implies that the campus was originally planned to be ''much'' larger, with the lecture hall either part of Willem's lunarium or a separate building entirely. It's unknown as to at what point the lecture hall was put "in the void" to serve as a waypoint to reach the Nightmare Frontier and Nightmare of Mensis.

* At one point '''really''' early on in development, ''Bloodborne'' was initially planned to be a StealthSequel to ''Demon's Souls'', with the reveal of the Chalice Dungeons being that the Pthumerian civilization underneath Yharnam was the buried ruins of Boletaria.