8 Weirdest Enemies Cut From Video Games
4. Dummy (Final Fantasy VIII)
As the name implies, Dummy is Final Fantasy VIII's punching bag, a foe who was used as a test enemy for the developers to try out abilities and attacks on. Once his usefulness had expired, he was sloppily hidden within the game's data, only to be uncovered by hackers further down the line.
Nothing more than a couple of blocks with some eyes and a mouth (we think) crudely scribbled on the front, Dummy looks like he was built in about two seconds flat, which wouldn't be surprising. He also has the Japanese word for "sorry" written on his back, which is... slightly disturbing.
Now yes, a lot of games have test enemies so Dummy is hardly special in that regard, but his inclusion in Final Fantasy VIII is odd for one main reason: why is the game's test enemy a uniquely-designed model?
You'd expect a test enemy to be some random pre-built model from the game (i.e. a generic thug) and not a brand-new, original creation. Why waste time building a test enemy that the player will never see? Was Dummy an extremely early design for an enemy that was going to be featured in the game, only to be cut and used as a test model instead? There might be a story here that we'll never know.
Anyhow, by hacking the game, it's actually possible to fight against the character, although these battles aren't really too interesting, since Dummy can't do very much. It doesn't help that he's stuck in a permanent "I surrender!" pose either. Poor guy.