Mr. X

[Shoko]

Mr. X is a mysterious character who was originally going to appear in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, but he was dropped from the final game for unknown reasons. Here's an artwork and a scan of him:

This was included in an official German player's guide. A short passage which mentioned Mr. X was translated to read this: "No one knows him or has seen him anywhere before.". Since the character was a beta element, it is unknown why he was included in the game guide at all.

Years later, late 2011 to be precise, the subject was being discussed by fans on a public forum, and this ultimately led to a former Rare employee being contacted by a fan through Facebook, who was asking about Mr. X's role in the game. Their response:

Mr X would be an earlier version of the skeleton that chases you on the rollercoaster level. Can't remember him at all though.

So Mr. X was replaced by a similar foe who was named "Kackle" in the final game. I just find things like this quite fascinating. Credit to ThePremiumYoshi who earthed a lot of this info.

 

[ThePremiumYoshi]

Thanks for giving me credit Virtual Dino! Yeah, I love solving mysteries like this too. I thought Mr. X was supposed to be the boss of Stronghold Showdown, since that stage doesn't have a boss battle, but who knew he was an earlier version of Kackle? My mind was blown when I read that on DK Vine.

 

[MnSG]

I guess Mr. X didn't look ghostly enough, which is when Kackle entered the picture. Still, he could've always acted as the semi-final boss, appearing as the boss of K. Rool's Keep. Then again, Kerozene covered that issue in the Game Boy Advance remake.

 

[Shoko]

I thought Mr. X was supposed to be the boss of Stronghold Showdown, since that stage doesn't have a boss battle, but who knew he was an earlier version of Kackle? My mind was blown when I read that on DK Vine.

Same here. I'm also really hoping that some information appears about that unused Kong which was also being discussed on DK Vine.

I guess Mr. X didn't look ghostly enough, which is when Kackle entered the picture. Still, he could've always acted as the semi-final boss, appearing as the boss of K. Rool's Keep. Then again, Kerozene covered that issue in the Game Boy Advance remake.

Yeah that's true. He may not be very ghostly, but he's got a pretty neat design nevertheless. Mr. X could of been used as a boss, if anything.. but he somehow got scrapped from the game entirely. I would have liked to see him in the GBA remake.