12 Ridiculous Early Concept Designs Of Iconic Characters

No video game series can ever be weirder than Kingdom Hearts, a collaboration between an animation juggernaut and a JRPG giant, all to make a game featuring their biggest intellectual properties, all rambling on tangents that about heart, friendship, and childhood.

With the duty of designing the game's main characters being left to Square, they designed some furry human hybrid with a chainsaw sword. He looked like the result of Zidane from Final Fantasy IX deciding to splice his genes with Simba from the Lion King, with clawed hands, hairy legs, fuzzy ears and a feline tail. He at least had good fashion sense. That hoodie and shorts combo wouldn't look out of place outside of a local fashion district.

Disney rejected the design, appealing that the game should have distinctly human looking characters, or at least, as human looking as Final Fantasy is capable of. Square gave it another go, giving Sora human hands and bare legs under remarkably complex shorts. They decided to sneak the tail and the ear fuzz in, hoping the finalized keyblade might get Disney to overlook everything else.

Disney again rejected the concept, forcing Square to eventually capitulate, giving us a completely human Sora, but his worst outfit by far, with the one piece swimsuit, a tiny jacket, and a belt that serves no practical purpose.