Here it is, the third and final installment in my Curse blogposts - the one that goes over the cutting room floor to bring you all the Curse members and event ideas that didn't make it to the forum.
We start with Watson up there, who was my "faceclaim" for Evolution, the evil supercomputer that got merged with Masher in an earlier draft of the plot. That story was already recounted in Masher's entry in the previous installment of this series, so let's move on.
UNUSED CURSE MEMBERS
Origin: Kirby Triple Deluxe
Possible Rank: Empress
Possible Codename: QUEEN BEE
Yes, my Season 10 major villain was originally going to be an actual Curse member - one of the Big Five, in fact! (She was replaced by Lord Dominator.) She either would have been a lategame boss or would have escaped and been fought in Season 10. Instead she was only Curse affiliated (through Masher and CRAY) and did not directly participate.
Origin: Shadow the Hedgehog
Possible Rank: Master Of Darkness
Possible Codename: ENDLESS ABYSS
Another cut member of the Big Five, whose spot was filled by Screenslaver (who was originally not as big a deal, before I decided on his true identity). Black Doom would have been a very late-2000s edgy dark villain parody, and he would have been the final boss of Gang Wars, a scrapped Curseplot arc.
If you're familiar with Black Doom, you know that he has a sort of scouting agent that he can project into distant places to interact with people far from his true location. This critter is called "Doom's Eye", and it made it to RP as the true form of D21. Originally D21 and Black Doom had a connection, but I changed this after Black Doom was scrapped so that D21 was instead a malformed/errant Dark Matter that had acquired unique abilities.
Origin: Villainous
Possible Rank: Weapons Supplier
Possible Codename: ARMORY
A higher-ranking Curse member who would have made and sold weapons to his allies as well as other villain groups, both onscreen and otherwise. His role was mostly taken by De Loco in the final product, and we had other weapons suppliers/armory managers like Peacock and Mr. Dominion appear to fulfill this important niche.
Origin: Villainous
Possible Rank: Ambush Hunter
Possible Codename: REPTILE
Using Black Hat would have course also meant the return of Fite Club battler Demencia. Not much here, just another callback baddy.
Origin: Flush Force
Possible Rank: Superior Scouters
Possible Codename: TRIPLE TROUBLE
I mentioned these three in Street Freaks' entry in the second Curse blogpost. They would have been stronger and more evil versions of the original Street Freaks. They were cut due to the Street Freaks' role shrinking as a result of how enormous The Curse was becoming.
The hydrant is Hideous Hydrant, the traffic lights are Autobahn Ron, and the bug is Roach Rage. These three look a lot more sleazy to me than the original batch, ESPECIALLY Roach Rage who looks grumpy and mean whereas Dead Stop looks sad and pathetic.
Origin: The Amazing Bulk
Possible Rank: Humanoid Avalanche
Possible Codename: MOCKBUSTER
The Amazing Bulk appeared in Curseplot as a Shrapnel who had drank a concoction made by Myra Rotspring. However, there were possible plans for the Bulk to be a full-fledged member! The Bulk was briefly considered to be my BBB9 Secret Fiter, too.
Origin: Rollergator
Possible Rank: Team Pet
Possible Codename: RADICAL
Rollergator was planned as a possible pet for Plague, to appear in the same way a James Bond-esque evil mastermind would dramatically swing around to face the hero from behind their desk, sitting in a chair stroking a cat. This moment would have instead been Plague stroking either Rollergator or a dinosaur action figure. Rollergator was scrapped in case Sheep wanted to use him as a Secret Fiter or Garbage Curse.
Origin: Mega Man Zero
Possible Rank: Undetermined
Possible Codename: Undetermined
Saw this cool robot bug lady while reading Bogleech's Mega Man X reviews and considered using her somewhere, but the lack of familiarity combined with a lack of hooks to keep her from seeing the light of day.
Origin: Digimon
Possible Rank: Tactical Strategist
Possible Codename: Undetermined
Bogleech again. Briefly considered this lady as one of Queen Sectonia's minions as well.
Origin: Whatever ancient comic book that panel is from
Possible Rank: InGen Experimental Experimenter
Possible Codename: Undetermined
Would have appeared in InGen pretty much solely as a joke after the above comic panel had been posted in Chatzy free of context the previous year.
Origin: Silent Hill: Downpour
Possible Rank: Brute
Possible Codename: Undetermined
Once again a character I know about because of Bogleech. Back when The Curse was accepting every idea I could think of in an effort to fill space, I considered co-opting this dude as a faceclaim for an elite mook, a position that ended up getting filled by the toyline Curse members like Ogre and Troll.
Origin: Wonder Woman
Possible Rank: Chemical Weapons Expert/InGen Scientist
Possible Codename: TOXIN
First considered for my Dr. Bulgrave plot back in 2017, Dr. Poison has hung around on the backburner for a few more seasons as a potential villain. She missed out on InGen which was probably her best shot, so I'm giving up and sticking her here. She would have attacked with chemicals and the like, but Myra Rotspring pretty much stole her niche.
Origin: Streets of Rage 3
Possible Rank: InGen Roboticist
Possible Codename: DR. ZERO
Another early InGen concept when I was trying to fill the ranks. Would have focused more on robotics and possibly led to an Isotope dayplot. Being unable to find a good picture of him was partly why he was cut.
Origin: Mad Scientist
Possible Rank: InGen Scientist
Possible Codename: Undetermined
And a third cut InGen scientist! Not much to this guy, mostly just felt like making a reference to an obscure old toyline.
Origin: Streets of Rage 3
Possible Rank: Samurai
Possible Codename: SOJUTSU
A possible Curse member who almost appeared as the ninja/Japanese type enemy I needed to draw out Naoko Hoshino. I realized Vega could take his place, however, and let him do so to cut an unneeded Curse member.
Origin: Contra Hard Corps
Possible Rank: Undetermined
Possible Codename: Undetermined
Another old Fite Club character considered as a callback Curse member, this one hailing all the way from 2012.
Origin: Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
Possible Rank: Attack Shark
Possible Codename: RIPTIDE
Was considered as a Curse ally for Dr. Bergman during the Mosasaurus plot. The scope of the battle (and the protagonists rolling low a lot) was big enough of a boost that the enemy forces didn't need further bolstering.
Origin: Super Mario Brothers
Possible Rank: Undetermined
Possible Codename: Undetermined
Considered briefly as a component of Gang Wars. I might have used Audrey II instead, having him return from his brief appearance in Halloween Plot.
Origin: Super Smash Brothers
Possible Ranks: Hand Of Guidance and Hand Of Destruction
Possible Codenames: RIGHTY and LEFTY
These two are leftovers from when my Season 10 plot had more of a Super Smash Brothers flavor to it than a Kirby feel. They would have foreshadowed that plot during their time in The Curse (and also served as Fite Club callbacks, since Master Hand had been in a Fite Club match)
Origins: Black Clover and Sword Art Online
Possible Ranks: Undetermined
Possible Codenames: Undetermined
This was an idea I had for M Sheep to vent his frustrations on anime he hates. They would have been joined by Tamaki Kotatsu from Fire Force and the three of them would have ganged up on a powerful M Sheep character like Basu or David Mammoth only to be pulped in a single turn. This didn't work because during big Curse melees, Sheep was much more preoccupied with playing Garbage Curse and didn't have the time to spare to send protagonists as well. At least he got to beat up Tamaki Plague.
Origin: Disgaea
Possible Rank: Street Thug
Possible Codename: Undetermined
The biggest cut is saved for last. Natasha was originally The Curse's big breakout good guy, set up with a sympathetic backstory. I played Disgaea 5 during the 2018-2019 offseason, and fairly early on in-game you are introduced to the concept of winning enemies over to your side. This concept is demonstrated with a stage where your characters overhear two enemy warriors talking. They are deeply unhappy about working for the bad guy and don't want to fight your characters. When the stage starts, other enemies still attack you, but these two refuse to fight and instead stand in place. You have a capture ability you can use to take enemies prisoner, so I captured them. After spending time in your prison, the characters can be recruited as party members if desired, and I did so with the generic female Warrior who was named Natasha. Natasha eventually became one of my strongest characters as she fought for peace, and I was smitten with the sympathetic character and wanted to use her in RP.
Natasha in RP was a low-level gang member with a sad past of a broken home and life on the streets in the Undercity. She would have been eliminated via the Big Bar Brawl, entering it to represent The Curse but secretly hoping the Kobbers would bail her out. I even did up a redesign of her that made her fit in with the setting better and even gave her an interesting and unique weapon! Ultimately, however, I wasn't able to find my footing with the character and her roles were all taken over by other characters. Plague represented the Curse (a much better choice since the Brawl is a huge deal and Plague would have sent someone better than a bottom-feeder grunt) and Cordie and Frost were The Curse's big redemption stories. I had already reluctantly decided to set her aside by the time this last bit happened, but the final straw was when another Natasha showed up, a much more important one in-story, and was a Curse member. I could have altered or changed this Natasha's name, of course, but that was the signal from fate that it was time to give up.
I do have a possible idea for Natasha to save her from the waste bin, which is why I have not shown off the redesign. We shall see if she can get her second chance next season.
UNUSED/REWORKED PLOT IDEAS
Indoraptor Encounters
I'd wanted to build up the Indoraptor as a bigger threat by having a few different characters encounter it and come off second-best. Think of how Cornwind built up Hook-Jaw. There was also an idea for a surprise reveal where after the initial Indoraptor was beaten, Dr. Wu would reveal that that one was just a prototype, and he had dozens more. His plot event would have featured a single Indominus Rex leading an army of Indoraptors in an assault on the Kobbers. This was scrapped after I decided to make the Indoraptor event a one-on-one collab with Brinehammer, as I didn't want to take away from Giselle's accomplishment in slaying the beast.
Engage In D21's Gamble
D21 initially had his own event, but it was cut for time as The Curse grew ever-larger. I combined it with the Bass Vegas event, so we didn't miss much here.
Trouble On The Tracks
This was Mach Rider's event, back when Mach Rider was anti-F-Zero. A chase scene involving Mach Rider planting explosives on the track was the basic concept I had. Scrapped when F-Zero developed strong Curse ties.
Take The Underdome
A prototype version of the Dr. Wu/Bonechill event. I would have used a final battle at the Underdome to take a bunch of random Curse members I had no direction for off the board. Characters considered for this event included Kabal, Masher, Vega, and Sagat. Fortunately, they all found better niches later on as I streamlined the plot and teamed up with other users like Cornwind and Chao to set these guys on the paths they took in the final version of the plot.
Gang Wars
An arc inspired by beat-em-ups a la Streets of Rage and Final Fight, this would have been a series of midsummer plots that had the Kobbers visit various Curse-controlled facilities and beat up the bad guys running the show. Some of the locales that would have been part of Gang Wars included a sports stadium, a warehouse, a nightclub, the sewer, the mall, a factory, a construction site, a department store, and the Engine District. Most of these locations ended up getting used for battle scenery in Season 9 anyway, for instance Metxel's event making it to RP intact without the Gang Wars trappings, the Secret Fiter Scuffle taking place in a factory, and JRM using a nightclub and the mall for plot locations, so all in all we didn't miss much by this concept being ditched.
Original Amiga Event
The original Amiga event was very different from what we got. Dolby would eventually trace Amiga's location to the Undercity's scrapyard, and after fending off attacks from massive tendrils of electronics for a round or two, a gigantic abomination of mashed-together broken computers and screens would have risen from the center of the scrapyard. The reveal was that the entire scrapyard was Amiga, using a shattered Jumbotron for a face and attacking in similar ways to Dolby.
A second, later concept more similar to the final Screenslaver event featured an elevator ride into Screenslaver's lair, just like what we got, except that Millennium Bug (as himself) would have tried to stop the Kobbers because Screenslaver had made Amiga go berserk and he was trying to keep them out of danger. Amiga would have attacked by sending her many limbs punching through the walls to swipe at the Kobbers, and the reveal this time would be that not just the scrapyard but a significant portion of Olympia had become Amiga as the demands of Drain.exe grew ever-greater, with the implication being that, if left unchecked, Amiga would eventually consume every electronic in Olympia, then wither and die with no further room to expand. Hacker characters like Miu and Reiko would save the day by isolating Amiga's spirit from the monstrous body. Instead, Amiga rescued herself when Screenslaver made the grave error of feeding her Millennium Bug's data. The bug would have survived in this second version of the plot. RIP.
Vs Lisa Basil and Queen Sectonia
A possible lategame event, the fight right before the finale. I don't have many details on this concept that weren't mentioned earlier, but I'm pretty sure the only reason these two were together was because I was trying to fit as much into the plot as I could - I don't think planning ever got far enough for me to give these two a real connection. Lisa would have been a real villain here, though.
Vs Evolution/Masher
The original finale for The Curse, featuring Masher combining with Evolution to become a massive world-destroying AI. Heavily inspired by Kirby: Planet Robobot, it would have featured a big showdown in space, over Earth's atmosphere.
RANK AND CODENAME CHANGES
Sedusa's rank was initially "Elite Crook" before being changed to "Curse Recruiter".
Giovanni's rank was initially "Curse Elite" before being changed to "Master Tactician".
Frost's codename was originally "DEEP FREEZE" before being changed to "WELCOME WAGON".
Valentine's codename was originally "BODYBAG" before being changed to "FLATLINE".
Bonebreaker's codename was originally "MURDERDOZER" before being changed to "ONSLAUGHT".
Balrog's codename was originally "KNOCKOUT" before being changed to "TEN-COUNT".
Shadow's codename was originally "SMOKE" before being changed to "EDGE".
Screenslaver's codename was originally "KILLSCREEN" before being changed to "KILLSWITCH".
UNUSED IMAGE GALLERY
And that's the end! I'll answer any additional questions people have in the Blogpost Bulletin Board, but I'm done making blogs about this hecc dang plot. Thanks again to everyone who participated, as well as everyone who read these posts! See you next season!
Funny enough, Indominus Rex showed up as a BBB opponent years before The Curse plot.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the security robots I mentioned in the Dr. Bergman posts were intended to reference the attack drones used during the finale of Zoofights to blow up Gadahara and the armadillo.
I remembered the Indominus Rex appeared before! However, it was only there to be a victim of the Worf Effect, OHKOed by the ACTUAL boss fight. I felt it deserved better than that in RP, so I used it for real.
DeleteGood thinking with the security bots. It definitely made sense that even at the end, Prawn would have defenses left. That lobster had a million and one schemes.
Sol Titanion is actually from the Mega Man Zero series, if you want to be technical.
ReplyDeleteAlso, SK later used the Indominus again for a proper boss fight, and I did note IIRC that the program was glitching and the OHKO'd Indominus wasn't functioning at 100 percent.
Oh, so he did! Popped up in forum search and everything, plus I participated in that fight. Dunno how I forgot... but I did still want the I-Rex in my Jurassic Park/World-themed plot for obvious reasons, and it had been four years, so that should still be okay :V
DeleteEdited Sol's entry to fix the series, thank you.