Forgotten, obscure and unreleased Nintendo characters

[Evie ❤✿]

I recently learned like how in English we can refer to "discontinued" or "lost" characters as characters that used to appear in the media but never have appeared again (almost as if they were forgotten and abandoned from the franchise that released them), Japan has a similar term called 幻のキャラクター (phantom characters).

To illustrate what I mean, here is a BuzzFeed page about some examples of phantom TV characters:

www.buzzfeed.com/ajanibazile/tv-show-characters-disappeared

Until the recent Super Mario RPG remake, in a way characters like Mallow and Geno were like this (though Geno did have that minor appearence in the Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga; which added a copyright in the credits that Square Enix own him and eventually appeared in the Smash 4 and Smash Ultimate DLC Mii Costumes) since they never appeared in Mario again.

We could also argue in a way stand-alone game characters (franchises with one game, or the series hasn't been renewed) are like this, but I personally find it more interesting when a franchise continues, but since very long ago, it's like the character never existed.

Maybe a better example is the King of Subcon (王様/Ōsama) whose only game appearance may have been in BS Super Mario USA; the Satellaview sequel to Super Mario Bros. 2.

There is also the subject of how the Mario Kart series tends to avoid obscure characters.

Discuss.

[nocturnal YL]

I have never seen 幻のキャラクター (maboroshi no kyarakutā / phantom character), but if its use is similar to that of 幻のゲーム (maboroshi no gēmu / phantom game), then it's not about neglected or forgotten characters at all. It'd be referring to characters that have never seen the light, i.e. unreleased characters. Characters like Peach's equivalent to Luigi's Waluigi.

[Evie ❤✿]

Nov 25, 2023 8:47:54 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

I have never seen 幻のキャラクター (maboroshi no kyarakutā / phantom character), but if its use is similar to that of 幻のゲーム (maboroshi no gēmu / phantom game), then it's not about neglected or forgotten characters at all. It'd be referring to characters that have never seen the light, i.e. unreleased characters. Characters like Peach's equivalent to Luigi's Waluigi.

About that; you're right I don't actually know. However, the first time I saw 幻のキャラクター in the wild wasn't actually pertaining to video gaming at all. On Twitter, Hisato Inoue (a famous Japanese mascot creator; one of his best known works is Badtz-Maru from Sanrio) used this to refer to Donragon and his sub-characters. Note that these characters actually appeared in some media (unlike what we believe re: Wapeach) and the Donragon anime was released as a portion of Daisuki! Hello Kitty. Donragon sub-character Monster Zakki also appeared in Sanrio Timenet, but Hisato Inoue confirmed Donragon isn't going to return.



Another example is Jungle Bikky; who appeared to address racial discrimination(?) about 30 years ago, but disappeared.

If you Google Image search this term; you can also find various Japanese mascots not pertaining to gaming, or that previously mentioned artist.

Then about Wapeach.. It's funny her concept art was unearthed and suddenly became viral circa the time of this thread. Maybe her ghost came to haunt us haha.

I'll rename this thread to be about forgotten, obscure and unreleased characters.