This article shows cut content from Little Nightmares II. Since this content was removed or modified from the final draft, most of it cannot be considered canon.
Characters
Mono
It looks like Mono would have started his journey on the beach of the Pale City, or had to get there after teleporting through the TV, since at the beginning of the 2019 trailer, he lies unconscious right in front of it.[1]
Earlier, during his nightmares, Mono would not have seen a corridor with the door to the mysterious room, but rather the silhouette of the Black Tower and the Thin Man approaching him, similar to how Six sees the Lady in her nightmare at the beginning of Little Nightmares.
Some mechanics were also removed:
- In the Hunter's shack, Mono originally had to use a bolt cutter found in one of the rooms to break the chain on the basement door.
- Each time, after teleporting through the televisions, Mono's paper bag (or headgear) would have been swept off his head.
- In Mono's official profile the clasp on his coat is used to carry keys, but in the game itself, he hides all important items in his coat.
Several ideas for Mono's role in the game were also cut:
- Mono was initially thought to have a black string on his head, similar to the strings of the experimental children and the Principal.
- Initially, Mono was supposed to have pale blue skin. It is not known why the design was discarded. However, it's speculated that the design was discarded as it could detect the connection between Mono and the Thin Man, becoming a possible drawback of the game.
Six
In the early stages of the game, Six looked different:
- One of her models, which can be found in the game files, shows that Six would have had very long hair.
- Another model shows Six would have worn white underclothes and her hair would be straight and clean, like in Very Little Nightmares.
Several ideas for Six's role in the game were also cut:
- At one stage of development, Six would have experienced bouts of hunger, since at some point Mono would have found her in the refrigerator while she was eating something.[2]
- Six was originally supposed to be found by Mono in an apartment in the Pale City, and later in the same place she found a yellow raincoat.[1] The decorations of this place is similar to the bedroom where the Thin Man captures Six.
During the development of the game, several ideas were implemented on how Six should betray Mono in the Transmission:
- According to one of the plans, Six and Mono would have had to balance and climb various obstacles before reaching the exit from the Black Tower, the tune played near the end is the same one heard when Six betrays Mono in the official release, implying Six would have still abandoned Mono before reaching the exit.[3]
- According to another idea, Six and Mono would have traversed through various teleporting doors before reaching the exit. Just as in the final version of the game, she would reach the exit before Mono. Mono would have grabbed the edge of the bridge, but he would not have been able to pull himself up without assistance. Six would have ignored the boy's helplessness, standing with her back to her friend, after which Mono, presumably, fall into the abyss.[4]
Glitching Remains
At some point, Mono would have ended up in a hideout of the Glitching Remains, presumably after teleporting through the television. Among them, he would have met Dark Six.[5]
The Hunter
The Hunter's design remains mostly unchanged compared to the final version. However, his mechanics in early designs differ slightly from the final version. Watch towers of different variations were supposed to be present for the Hunter to hunt and shoot the fleeing children, and the children would have had to sneak behind various objects to avoid his detection. In the final game, a similar mechanism is produced from this concept, where the children will need to hide in tall grass and swampy waters to avoid the Hunter's gaze.
Near the end of The Wilderness chapter, instead of cornering the children inside the shack, the Hunter was supposed to be shot while his leg is stuck on a bear trap. This was modified probably to fulfill the T-rating.
The Teacher
Although the Teacher's design remained practically unchanged during the development process, she was originally supposed to have a different model with fewer wrinkles on her face and light brown hair, which was not as disheveled as the final version's. Concept art depicts the Teacher having once had a much more flexible body as she is seen bending to the side, a broken head like the Bullies, and at one point, designed to have cords extending from her head just like the children in early hospital concept art as well as the Principal.
At some point someone proposed giving the Teacher wings, but this idea was quickly abandoned.[6]
The Bullies
Early concept art portrayed all of the Bullies with broken heads. There is also concept art that depicts fat and naked headless Bullies. In the final version of the game, this concept remained, but only partially, since for most Bullies, breaking the head would lead to their deaths. However, some of them are seen still active with their half-broken heads. Portraits of some of the Bullies appear in the Residence of Secrets of the Maw, before the release of Little Nightmares II.
The Patients
Initially, The Patients had much more variation - up to bodies without limbs which moved on crutches. Among them were sketches of Patients who looked almost human, but with incomplete heads. Inexplicably, some were depicted with no undergarments under their gowns.
Much of the concept art for the patients remained in the game as pictures or portraits scattered in the Hospital. Limbless patients can still be seen in some parts of the Hospital without additional prosthetics like those depicted in the concept art, serving as a jump-scare during gameplay and an Easter egg nod to the original designs.
The Patients may have also been intended to have a attraction to televisions, similar to the Viewers, such as in the Hospital's concept art depicting a nearly empty room filled with Patients watching a lone hanging television.
In the trailer shown at Gamescom 2019, one of the Patients gets out of bed despite a light shining through the window. The mechanics of immobilizing patients under lights, or ultimately a flashlight, were probably not yet developed at that time.[1]
The Doctor
The Doctor was supposed to have a droopier face and was shown to be crawling around a crudely stacked mash of hospital furniture in the concept art. He was also shown to demonstrate his work in front of a court working on a Patient. This concept art can be identified within the game among the pictures hanging on the Hospital walls.
The Viewers
The Viewers went through many different design changes before making it to the final product. One of the first pieces of concept art that we get for a Viewer involves them having a more rotund shape, looking more like a Guest. The second appears to have had their head sucked into a television, the television now being their head.
Through data mining, a room with a TV hanging outside a room while a Viewer sits on a couch watching the TV from inside the room was found. A similar room to this appears in the Pale City Level when Mono enters a room through the roof of a building, after passing by several viewers staring at the Signal Tower.
There was originally an encounter in the alpha build of the Pale City, where Mono has to pass a Viewer in the train's subway system. It is functionally similar to the rooftop section where Mono must trick a Viewer into falling to their deaths, which likely meant that scene was scrapped and repurposed.
In the Viewers' animation folder, there are several animations of the Viewers not seen in normal gameplay. At one point, Viewers were originally going to be seen falling off the edge of a cliff, alongside with animations indicating there were extended sections where the Viewers were present without a nearby TV, with an interesting animation titled "handle life"; this is likely to show the Viewers' struggle to cope without a TV. Several more animations exist of the Viewers growing increasingly frustrated while watching a TV, titled "less calm".
Concept art presents Viewers wielding a mouth in one form or another in billboards and posters, advertising televisions and cigarettes .
The Thin Man
Concept art of the Thin Man portrays him to somewhat resemble a stereotypical 1950s noir detective, as seen with concept art of Thin Man sitting at a table writing notes, while a child (likely Mono) would've sat on the other side, like an interrogation. To fit the stereotype more, the Thin Man in the concept art is depicted with an ash tray and cigarette. A leftover model exploring this concept remains in the game, with an interrogation table present in the files, albeit misspelt as "interrogation table".
The Thin Man had an early model with less detail, fewer wrinkles, and a suit with a tie. Concept art shows versions of the Thin Man with a wide grin and eyes, sagging face, or a smoking head. The first drafts show the Thin Man without a hat.
The Thin Man would have had more appearances, which likely meant that the Thin Man was originally meant to appear more frequently throughout the chapter. As seen through these examples:
- At some point in the game, the Thin Man would try to find the protagonist in a supermarket. The Thin Man would try to peek through a shelf in an aisle to search for the protagonist taking cover behind the props.
- The Thin Man would have also appeared in an elevator, encountering Six, but with his head obscured by the top of the elevator's threshold as a result of his tall stature. Apparently, an edited version of Playtime (discovering the School soundtrack) was meant to play, revealing his presence.
- Another concept depicts the Thin Man glancing at Mono and Six through an operating railcar as they run away.
Another concept art depicts Mono's transformation into the Thin Man with flesh-like televisions growing in size and number.
Flesh Walls
There were many different concepts that were planned for The Flesh Walls. Some include being were more than just an endless stretch of flesh and eyes. We see in the concept art that they were supposed to have teeth and noses, making their appearances almost human-like. Some were also supposed to pour out of a wall of televisions, having a more stringy shape. It appears that in the concept art, it would take the form of different limbs and bodies piled and mixed together. It was also thought to be walking creatures or a giant baby (later reused for the next game). They would have appeared outside of the tower, being based in the city. They seem to have been able to be independent of one mass, forming individual beings. They also seem to have sucked up surrounding objects.
Some flesh walls with human-like appearances appear as portraits hanging on the walls in some parts of the Transmissions inner structure.
Children
One of the sketches for the location of the Hospital shows that previously there could be experimental children with appendages sticking out of their heads, with which they, apparently, could connect to televisions. It is not known whether this idea was originally intended to appear in the game or not, given that it is only depicted as sketches, but a photograph of these children can be found in the Hospital, which most likely hints at the opposite. In the Principal's concept art, the latter is shown in front of an experimental child, suggesting that they should also have appeared in other areas of the Pale City such as the School.[7]
Also, the six protagonists of Little Nightmares Comics were originally going to appear in Little Nightmares II, as evidenced by their concept art and unused low-textured models in the game files. Given that they are depicted alongside older versions of Mono and Six, the children were conceived even before the comics were released. The portraits of the six children appear in different parts of the Pale City. An alpha build of the Pale City chapter indicates that the comic characters were to initially re-appear as Glitching Remains alongside Shadow Six, watching Mono in what is likely to be an earlier version of the prelude to the Thin Man's final encounter.
The Toddler is the only child without a model. Three of the children had slightly-different designs compared to the concept art, with Ghost's model remaining relatively unchanged due to the simple design of their appearance.
Cut Characters
The Barber
The Barber was a scrapped enemy. He wielded a large scissor that would presumably be used to attack and cut children. The Barber also a had a section based on him, which is a hair salon. The Barber is most likely cut from the game due to lack of time, lack of necessity, and Tarsier Studios trying to maintain the T-rating.
Although he didn't make into the final game, he is still alluded as portraits spread throughout the world of Little Nightmares and as a picture in newspapers scattered on the streets of the Pale City.
The Lunch Lady
The Lunch Lady was a scrapped enemy. She was supposed to be one of the enemies encountered in the School, likely in the kitchen and cafeteria section.
Although she didn't make into the final game as an enemy, a model of her appears as an (albeit headless) corpse that can be found in a secret room before entering the cafeteria.
The Principal
The Principal is a cut character that would have appeared in the School. According to the official Twitter, his body currently resides in an unseen office area. He has three extensions coming out of his head, which could be wires or a gas of some sort. His portrait appears in some parts of the Pale City.
Moths
The giant moths that Mono finds locked in cages when he walks from Six on the roofs of residential buildings in the fourth chapter are remnants of the idea of adding them to the game as secondary enemies on a par with the Bullies and the Living Hands, which he could kill with melee weapon. This is confirmed by unused animations of moths and Mono from the game files.[8]
The Baker
Although The Baker isn't in the game, a person (presumably the Baker with a Viewer-like head) can be seen in the television channel the Viewers are watching in the fifth episode of Little Nightmares Comics. The Baker also makes a cameo appearance in a newspaper.
Other actor-like characters can be seen in the concept art.
The Television with an Eye
In the asset file, there's a model of the television with an eye attached to flesh on the screen. It would work like the Eyes in the previous game installments. However, instead of turning like a pendulum, these scrapped enemies would activate and deactivate for a while. A person, presumably the Thin Man, stands beside the television in the alpha build of the game.
It appears as one of the stickers which people are able to collect after buying the TV Edition.
Spirit
In the game files, you can find a character model known as "Spirit". Outwardly, it appears to be a child dressed in a ghost costume, similar to Ghost from Little Nightmares Comics. It is likely the texture used is a placeholder texture, due to the arrangement of the stripes looking unfinished.
Other characters
The Artbook shows some minor characters that were omitted from the final game. The role of these characters is currently unknown, however, it is speculated that some of them were intended to serve as minor antagonists.
- Headless Men: Initially Mono was to encounter headless humanoid beings in a long narrow corridor similar to those featured in The Transmission. It can be speculated that the Headless Men were minor enemies like the Bullies, the Patients and the Viewers.
- Possible Actors: These large, deformed, actor-like humanoids resemble the stereotypical TV sitcom families. In the concept art, the Actors perform in a set resembling a house.
- Television Woman: In the concept art, the Television Woman is represented in a poster and billboard. Inside a Television, this character resembles a Viewer, but she has a large smiling mouth on her face. The Television Woman appears in the various newspapers scattered throughout the Pale City in Little Nightmares II. Due to her strong ties to television and advertising, it is speculated that the Television Woman is responsible for some programs broadcast by the Transmission.
Chapters
The Wilderness
Initially, the Hunter's house was supposed to have more stuffed animals. For example, in the courtyard there would be two stuffed moose, in the hallway there should be small stuffed people sitting on the shelves, the stuffed old woman would be in the attic just like its final version, but in front of the TV, and the walls should be hung with animal heads. Also, cotton wool should have been scattered throughout the hut, including in furniture and doorways (unlike the final version of the game, where it lies only in the basement).[9]
A number of sub-locations were also cut out - for example, initially the Hunter was supposed to shoot escaping animals or children from a hunting tower in the field while they were hiding behind stones and bushes. In addition, one of the early images shows a dilapidated structure, inhabited by many Nomes.
In one of the promotional trailers and posters, Six appears in the Wilderness already wearing a raincoat, implying that the Wilderness was not the first chapter at the time of development.[1]
In a version much closer to the final one, the television Mono wakes up next to displays a warped image of the Transmission rather than just a blank screen.[10]
The School
There were supposed to be other rooms in the School, including a gym room and the Teacher's quarters. Mono and Six were also supposed to enter the School after passing a ravine chasing after two Bullies that were hiding behind a trash can in the alpha build. During the ravine crossing section at the end of the School chapter, and using console commands to view out-of-bound locations, the two Bullies can still be seen off-screen hiding behind a trash can. This is a leftover, and it is likely that the original ravine entrance was simply repurposed to the end of the School chapter.
The drawings that the Bully tied with a rope was drawing were changed before the game's release, but can still be seen in promotional content.
The science lab was intended to have been larger with more desks.
In one of the promotional posters, Six appears in this place already in a raincoat.[1] In the final game, Six does not wear her raincoat inside the School and until the duo leave the School, finding it in one of the abandoned stores in the Pale City.
The Hospital
Originally, the Hospital was supposed to be larger, and seemed to have been planned to be almost entirely upside-down. Many concepts throughout the art book depict what should be the ground on the ceiling. Several sections of the Hospital also resembles an unused Little Nightmares concept art, where endless staircases were spread across a descending chasm.
Multiple rooms were conceptualized where The Patients were depicted in various situations, such as sitting in a waiting room, being operated on, or congregating into one large, empty room to watch television, not too dissimilar to the Viewers.
There seems to have originally been children in this setting, that would have had their heads being sucked into televisions and/or wires coming out of their heads, implying the Doctor may have initially been conceptualized to have a bigger presence in the story's plot or background story by running experiments on children.
The Pale City
In one of the promotional trailers, Six initially appears in a kid's bedroom room playing her music box, without a raincoat. She encounters Mono in this room for presumably the first time.[1] This room is similar to the one that the Thin Man abducts her in within the events of the Pale City level. In the final game, Six encounters Mono in the Wilderness then obtains the yellow raincoat in the Pale City. Furthermore, in concept art, the Thin Man would've chased both Six and Mono throughout the chapter, indicating that Six was meant to be kidnapped much later on.
Early builds of Little Nightmares II and the announcement trailer implies that most of the game was actually meant to take place in the Pale City, but confined to an apartment, mostly in allowing Six and Mono to traverse between locations via televisions. This was likely meant to act as a sort of 'hub', similar to the Hospital's hub location. The apartment hub was never used, thought its location resembles the final game's location where Six is kidnapped by the Thin Man (kid's bedroom, living room), which may imply its location was partially reused, or at least its ideas were repurposed.
In concept art, the Pale City appeared far more desolate and wet from constant raining, with buildings stretching down a seemingly endless street and skyscrapers reaching impossible heights.
A concept art depicting train tracks suspended over an elevated height while tall skyscrapers are seen in the background imply that an entire section dedicated to running alongside an abandoned and extensive train track was planned, but cut likely due to it serving little to no purpose. A remnant of this remains in the announcement trailer. Additionally, there was a whole section in the chapter that was based on a train station or a subway, with an alpha build showing that there would have been Viewers encountered. Only parts of a station and the railcars made it into the final production of the game.
Several concept art explores more open areas of the Pale City, such as an extended railway section, a larger supermarket, a sewage system, restaurant stands, and doors opening up to large ravines. There seems to have intended to be a landscape area that was wide open with remains of destroyed apartment buildings. The Thin Man seems to have watched them there.
Some buildings would have had giant eyes poking out of the windows.
As mentioned prior, the city was planned to have been covered in the flesh walls that were encountered in the tower. These blobs would have more or less sucked up most of the city around it.
The Transmission
Mono is seen dragging Six to the Transmission in the concept art through the blizzard. This may imply that the Pale City was supposed to snow rather than rain.
The interior of the Transmission, according to concept art, appears less dilapidated compared to the final product, with light fixtures somewhat resembling ones used in modern contemporary hotels. Inside the Transmission later, Mono would be chased by headless humanoids while also having to guide Monster Six.
Miscellaneous
Soundtrack
Below is a list of soundtracks that have been changed or removed from the game.
| Song title (unofficial) | Time | Location(s)/ plot points in the game where the track was supposed to be used |
|---|---|---|
| Little Nightmares II (Main Theme) (Old) | 3:00 |
|
| Hunting Grounds[11] | 2:39 |
|
| True Colours (Old) | 0:49 |
|
| Hypno | 1:01 |
|
| Nothing Lasts Forever (Old) | 2:27 |
|
| End of the Hall (Extended) | 5:37 |
|
| Unnamed soundtrack 1 | 2:11 | An unused track that shares the same tune as Tiny Flickers. |
| Unnamed soundtrack 2 | 3:58 | |
| Unnamed soundtrack 3 | 2:32 | |
| Unnamed soundtrack 4 | 2:21 |
|
Hats
There are four unused hats inside the game. The list below are:
- A gas mask.
- Glass textures of the gas mask exists in the files, but the mask itself has no model.
- A Native American bonnet.
- A TV mask.
- The Wax Bellman's mask.
Trivia
- When reversed, a slightly modified version of the old version of Nothing Lasts Forever can be heard in Old Friends Anew.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The announcement trailer
- ↑ Little Nightmares 2 Apartment Hub Full Chapter with Cutscenes
- ↑ First version of the original scene of the Six's betrayal.
- ↑ Second version of the original scene of the Six's betrayal.
- ↑ https://youtu.be/B-HsW88RTTI
- ↑ https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5bapw/inside-the-creation-of-the-terrifying-teacher-from-little-nightmares-2
- ↑ The Principal Full Concept Art.jpg
- ↑ https://youtu.be/eGjCMGwiYNw
- ↑ https://youtu.be/UKTPnkR6qeo
- ↑ https://youtu.be/XuQaxZUghD4?si=m81hNLYKN-c68y8t&t=40
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ArchivesLn/status/1758259091342787010?s=20
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ArchivesLn/status/1753527949351960614?s=20
- ↑ https://youtu.be/unbwCB0-y1w