36 replies to this topic

[DiGi Valentine]

Remember how Iizuka was interviewed last Friday in London and when we asked Arch' to enquire about the deleted boss 'Selph' from the original game, NiGHTS into Dreams, Mr. Iizuka seemed somewhat shocked at how we knew about it and then proceeded to talk briefly with his translator before they actualy answer our question?

Well, our sister in Japan, Seiya has heard the interview and has translated EVERYTHING that is said between Iizuka and the translator during that short exchange of sentences. It goes like this -

---TRANSLATIONS---
*Archangel ask about Selph*
A translator- "What is it? Such a boss was in the plan of original NiGHTS?"
Mr.Iizuka- "Yeah, it's true. I had thought I wanna add a boss called Selph to original NiGHTS."
A translator- "Well, is it ok if I tell it (in English)?"
Mr.Iizuka- "OK. Maybe Mr.Naka had already told it before."
A translator- "Ah, so they know... But why was it deleted?"
Mr.Iizuka- "Because... The story of original NiGHTS already had been made perfectly. So I thought the boss isn't needed anymore. So I deleted Selph."
-----------------------

And that's the truth behind the famous deleted boss, Selph. Iizuka himself was responsible for Selph's deletion. XD
This most certainly wraps up the entire myth as to what Selph originaly was, and now we know. He was indeed a boss character but was removed because the story was as good as it could be....which now brings up the speculation as to what made Selph so important that he changed the flow of the story. From one mystery answered brings in a whole new mystery. My money is on Selph being and evil form of NiGHTS or a 'mirror' that you have to fight but they removed him from the game because it probably conflicted with the story too much, perhaps.

I would like to say a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Seiya for translating that part of the interview because without her, this small little bit of information would have been lost in translation. So thank you.


...and i know this has nothing to do with JoD news but it's linked to the interview so i decided to put it in here. ;;

[viperxmns]

Thanks Seiya!

[TRiPPY]

Lol poor Naka, he gets the blame for everything XD

I'm so glad this was translated, Seiya you win all the beans.

I'm still awed that we managed to ask about this 11 years later, ahaha. Us lot are so persistant.

[iNSOMNiAC]

So he WAS a boss! The mystery of Selph has been solved! I think Selph was probably going be a 'Shadow NiGHTS' kind of character, but since an evil NiGHTS wasn't /really/ needed, they ditched 'em. =P Poor dude.

[iLLViLLAiN]

THANK YOU SO MUCH SEIYA!! Nice to know we were pretty much right all along lol. Such intelligent fans we are.

[Meggiemaccat]

..... Ah, but this contradicts what the translator told us (at least from what I'm thinking he's saying it is). She told us that Selph never made it into the game, but Iizuka quite clearly says that he DELETED Selph... but from where? If it were the game itself, that would explain the pole being found. ..... I'm afraid, though, he's going to ask around to see if information on Selph was officially disclosed, and when he finds out there wasn't he's going to be wondering exactly how we found out. ..... Uh-oh. XDDDD I do hope nobody gets into trouble over this.

[TehLazyOne]

ahhh... so he once had a more "concrete" existence, rather than being just an idea...
fascinating...

well done, Seiya.
(awards a patch)

[The wise Kitsune]

Ahh...ok! That clears up much! THANKS SEIYA!!!

[Deraj]

XD That's a relief. XD For a second there, I thought my RP was in trouble. XD We still have no idea what Selph actually LOOKS LIKE, though. Hopefully the Beta will help clear that up. ... If Selph's model was in the game at that point, anyway.

[Tangocat777]

He just..... deleted it? He deleted it completely and only left the name in the game's coding?
This does make me rather sad. Something that could have been that may never be.....
Well, the thought of a mirror NiGHTS is up to speculation, unless DiGi is mysteriously insisting it like he did with JoD's chains. *suspicious eyes*
Well, now that that's over with, we can all play some Fire Emblem in peace.

[Drannore]

Ah, so the truth finally comes out. Actually, it would be interesting to see some artwork or some sort of concept drawings of what he could have looked like. Not that it is all that interesting to me personally. Still, it would be nice to know.

[Poly C:]

well...maybe Selph never had a "look". As Izuka said, he was just an idea, so maybe there is no concept art of him c:U but again, it's a speculation.

horray for Seiya and her translations-powers :3!

[Kichigai]

"OK. Maybe Mr.Naka had already told it before."


....XD *lol* I wonder what Mr.Naka must be thinking.


Maybe someday in the future someone would ask him to doodle Selph if he remembers. On a napkin, receipt, anything for curiosity sake.

[Ronnie]

I beleive U.V. is more Selph then anything else. I like to beleive so anyway.

[NNR07]

My money is on Selph being and evil form of NiGHTS or a 'mirror' that you have to fight but they removed him from the game because it probably conflicted with the story too much, perhaps.

XDD;; That's what I originally thought when I heard of said 'Selph'.

...

*chucks away '2nd NiGHTS in Wizeman Battle' idea*

...

<< >> Now if only we could get some character design art on him... if there even is any.

[Meggiemaccat]

He just..... deleted it? He deleted it completely and only left the name in the game's coding?
This does make me rather sad. Something that could have been that may never be.....

You know, Selph might still be. I suddenly had a theory last night about why Iizuka's translator told us he was just an idea when he said to her in Japanese that Selph was deleted. Selph... may be... in JoD. ..... Well, it's the only reason I can come up with for his translator telling us one thing and him telling his translator another (or maybe his translator didn't quite say it right in English). Granted, with all the bosses' general looks revealed (the only ones left are spider-boss and cerberus-boss, from what I gather), so in all likelihood I'm wrong. ^^;

[Tangocat777]

You know, Selph might still be. I suddenly had a theory last night about why Iizuka's translator told us he was just an idea when he said to her in Japanese that Selph was deleted. Selph... may be... in JoD. ..... Well, it's the only reason I can come up with for his translator telling us one thing and him telling his translator another (or maybe his translator didn't quite say it right in English). Granted, with all the bosses' general looks revealed (the only ones left are spider-boss and cerberus-boss, from what I gather), so in all likelihood I'm wrong. ^^;

Well, that's getting back to the mirror NiGHTS theiry and the news of a Shadow NiGHTS being in JoD.

[Jackle's best friend]

I always thought Selph would be kind of like NiGHTS, only at light green and with head wings instead of those weird head things.

I don't know though, I'm just crazy.

I still thought it was kind of weird that he had such epic music and all the other bosses were kind of lighthearted, maybe he was a secret final boss after getting all A-ranks?

[Shae]

Oh wow~! Very neat to hear this bit about Selph, thanks Seiya, and thanks for posting DiGi.

[spinningcannon]

*has died from absolute joy*

Oh thank God. I was worried Iizuka would end up revealing Selph was originally a full-blown game character.

I personally am incredibly relieved that he was simply an abandoned character idea... now no one's theories can be debunked, really. Which is nice.
Spinny the Selph addict here loves seeing everybody's ideas!

*hugs Seiya to death* Thank you so much, sweetheart. I'll have to draw you something. XD



This also means my own Selph theory is now entirely possible here in the fandom. <3 That makes me very happy.


Thank you, DiGi and Seiya, for making my Monday absolutely fantastic!!

[^_^ Go Dreamer]

Heeeeee!!!! Thanks so much Seiya!!!! *hugs* I'm so glad thats cleared up, but still I wonder what was Selphs purpose... I wonder if his boss battle was right after Reala's... *thinks to self*

[kidninja]

*revives seiya* Spinningcannon your not supposed to hug good people to death.
Thanks seiya *hugs* .

[spinningcannon]

*revives seiya* Spinningcannon your not supposed to hug good people to death.

Sorry! XD Got a little over-enthusiastic, I guess.

Of course, though, I'd never really hug anyone to death, especially not Seya dear!
She's such a lovely person. I owe her quite a lot already. ^^;


But this Selph news...! I've been giddy with joy all fishing day! <3

[Dark Magician]

Seiya, thank you very much!

So Selph was to be a boss for the game but was cut out in the end *poor guy*. Finally one more mystery has been solved!

*Throws theory of Selph being NiGHTS and Reala's predecessor over shoulder*

[iLLViLLAiN]

He may no longer be around but Selph will always remain in our hearts... I'm just tryna lively up the mood

[viperxmns]

The NiGHTS mirrors that attack you in Crystal Castle are like Selph Jrs..

[Rick Hunter]

hmm... it would appear that there is still some mystery here... we know now Selph was a deleted boss, also from Travis and his 40% beta we know Selph was actually spelled "Self"
so here's my theory: Self either looked like NiGHTS or one of the kids, so you'd be fighting your-Self. see how well that works? and if you think about it, it would be a fairly symbolic battle, as the child would be conquering there own negative self image. works rather well with the theme of NiD if I do say so myself however it was likely deleted because the kids solved their negative self image problem already using the ideya of courage which already worked very nicely. Also if they defeated Self, then there would be no reason for the kids to fight against wizeman symbolically, only for the literal salvation of nightopia. By leaving Self out, the battle against Wizeman becomes the symbolic achievement of gaining the courage to face your fears.

there's that... opinions?

[DiGi Valentine]

Well, Reala is a mirror image in the fact that he's NiGHTS' equal. But in terms of Elliot and Claris, i don't think it's symbolized in the same way. Firstly, Claris never meets Reala, it's Elliot's boss only, meaning that if Reala was to represent fighting yourself/mirror then only Elliot achieves this. Secondly, i think what Rick has said is spot on, personaly. I do think Selph was to symbolize over-coming your own personal fears because you'd be technically facing your'self' ...which, in the long run, kinda leaves no point to fighting Wizeman as the kids would have already overcome their fears by that point.

What we always knew about Selph though was that he was set just before the Wizeman fight and since there were a boss signed to each level, it's possible that Selph was Twin Seeds original boss and Wizeman was to just be a boss without a level OR Selph appeared before the fight with Wizeman, meaning you'd have to fight two bosses one after the other. It made things too complicated, interfered with the story in such a way that it created a loophole of sorts and so Iizuka decided to remove Selph altogether.

But the research is far from over, as i said. Suri is still researching into it and i'm sure we'll learn a little bit more about Selph within the next few days.

[Rick Hunter]

well knowing sega's style... it's possible self was to be the final boss you got for passing all the other levels... and wiseman could have been the one to fight if you passed with all A ranks. They do that with sonic games a lot I know.

( wow it feels good when people agree with your ideas, thnx DiGi you made my day)

[Malan]

lol that's so funny!
It's very intersting to ear what they said, poor poor Naka x)

[spinningcannon]

What if Wiseman was Selph's replacement?
It sounds like Selph would have been a decent ending boss.
Then again if he was used as a replacement I would have thought they may have gone to reuse his file as such.
Perhaps it was a separate ending boss for either Elliot or Claris instead but perhaps they decided to lessen the work or that it really didn't fit.
In a sense Wiseman would be "facing your self" as well.
Since you over come him by doing that you concord your fears.
Fears being a big part of yourself in the sense that if you don't learn how to control them they become big ugly monsters, metaphorically speaking of coarse, and can take over your life.

That's also a very good theory... but I just can't see Selph (heck, any other 'Maren) being raised up to Wizeman's level. That's only my opinion, though. You never know.

I've been wondering about this, though... DiGi just brought up that "Claris never meets Reala." That's true.
On that same note... does anyone remember the hidden "SPIRAL:CLARIS" alleged level someone found hidden in the game? Was that ever explained, or is it still up in the air?

If it's still a mystery... could it be possible that Selph was Claris' version of Reala or something? Correct me if I'm wrong or way off track, but it's an idea.

Rick Hunter, I do agree with your thoughts very much also. And even if Selph didn't resemble the dreamers at all, I still think he would be able to show or personify their fears somehow, either through his own appearance or through his environment. That's how I see him anyway.

DiGi also has a brilliant idea, what with Selph being Twin Seed's boss. If the whole "Spiral" thing is debunked, I'd run with his theory. Wizeman does seem like the sort of guy to have his entirely own "mare", and his actual fight-level really does seem to suggest that.


Regardless, I do so hope to find out more information on Selph from Suri's efforts! <3 Best of luck with that, dear!

[Meggiemaccat]

Well, since Elliot's bosses are Puffy, Claws, and Reala, then Claris's are Gillwing, Gulpo, and Jackle. Judging from the order, Jackle is Claris's Reala (which leads me to believe a theory that'll be a spoiler in my fanfiction, which I've decided I'll submit here instead of fanfiction.net should I finish any of them).

I do agree with the theory that Selph was either Claris's final boss or Elliot's final boss, with Wizeman being the other, but the developers decided that two seperate bosses for them would change the plotline of the story too much and, thus, scrapped him.

I also agree with spinning's take on Selph; even if Selph doesn't look at all like the dreamer, he could still be a self one must fight. For example, my version of Selph represents the 'beast within', which is why he has such an animalistic personality despite his humaren appearance.

..... *just now realized she accidently gave him sleeves in her signature image when she'd drawn him without his trenchcoat, and therefore he shouldn't have sleeves* Whoops. XDDD Oh well, I can't draw muscles, anyway.

[DiGi Valentine]

SPIRAL CLARIS? o.o I have not heard of that before. What is it?
As for Selph being a replacement to Wizeman, i think it's highly unlikely. Two pieces of evidence back up this theory. Firstly, the boss list had shown Selph before Wizeman in the list. If Selph could have been a replacement he would have been listed as Wizeman/Selph to indicate that either of those two would be the last boss. Secondly, Wizeman had been scheduled from the start to be the evil bad guy. The story revolved around NiGHTS rebelling Wizeman the Wicked, lord of Nightmare. Selph seems to have been thought up later in development, judging by Iizuka's interview - 'the story had already been perfected'.

So, i think Selph was a character who interfered with the main plot too much. But, if that's the case, then it means Selph is strong enough to hold his own storyline. If Iizuka wants to make more NiGHTS games in the future and wants to keep the storyline fresh without having to bring back Wizeman from the dead everytime then Selph would be a great candidate for a bad guy in future games (this was just a passing thought, by the way).

[spinningcannon]

SPIRAL CLARIS? o.o I have not heard of that before. What is it?

XD My darling Q-Lok gave me the same reaction! I'm surprised not that many people have seen that...


There was a list on SonicCult a while back, listing all the levels and bosses... and it went like this::

Bosses:
#M1:FROGED-DRAGON
#M2:MRS.FATTY
#M3:FIRE-CAT'S
#M4:THE-REALA
#M5:MANTLE-MAN
#M6:MONSTER-FISH
#M7:SELPH
#M8:WIZED-MAN

LEVELS:
#P1:ALPS-WINDS
#P2:SNOW-WAY
#P3:WOODS-FOREST
#P4:SEA-PARK
#P5:RUBBER-PALACE
#P6:MAGNETIC-MINE
#P7:ELIOT'S-CITY
#P8:SPIRAL-CLARIS


See what I mean?

With that in mind, I figured Selph dear might have had his own level at the end of the game.
Also, considering the codenames, do you think it could've been possible that "SPIRAL" was a sort of "Twin Seeds" for Claris? Even if it was the same city... it could've been a different experience or the like. Just a thought.

And yes, DiGi, I wholeheartedly agree with your Wizeman point. He's always been the main villain, while Selph was declared "unneeded" and so wouldn't have nearly as much plot prestige.

I don't know if I'd want Selph's enigmatic reputation debunked by a later "debut", though. Maybe if the fandom's ideas were taken into serious consideration and a viable, agreeable conclusion was reached, I'd go for it... but unless something like that occurs I wouldn't want him to be brought back yet, if at all.

Geez, though... we're coming up with some fantabulous theories here. XD Nice. I do so love reading this stuff!
*is hoping her own Selph theory holds out against the speculation odds*