There’s a lot about a game one can learn by inspecting its unused leftover data and The Minish Cap is no exception. The image above is a small section of a test map of Hyrule Castle that can be found in the files of The Minish Cap and it shows a handful of assets that don’t show up in the final version of the game. The most notable of these assets is a collection of stained glass portraits that depict three important figures from The Wind Waker: Valoo, Jabun, and the Deku Tree. Interestingly enough, these cut portraits are part of a pattern of cut content that relates to The Wind Waker in the games files.
One asset actually did make a public appearance, but it was only in the flash game that was released as an advertisement for The Minish Cap. The flash game made use of many assets that would eventually find their way into the final release of The Minish Cap, but also included some that would end up being left out. One of these is an animation that did not make it to the final game, but was yet another reference to The Wind Waker, the friendly postbox. While the same red postbox can be found on top of the post office in the final version of The Minish Cap, the flash game had the postbox bounce around, just like it did in The Wind Waker. Like the others, this animation still exists within the game files, though.
Another notable cut asset in the game files were the three Goddess Pearls from The Wind Waker, though they are not used in any test content and simply exist in the files as sprites. Compared to the rest of the cut content discussed, these are most likely just leftover placeholders from early testing. It is possible, though, that what ended up becoming the four collectible elements of The Minish Cap, were originally the Goddess Pearls that had been changed following a story rework.
Speculating on cut content is often an exercise in futility, as most of this content was likely cut for a very good reason. Or sometimes it was simply cut because a place for it couldn’t be found in the final product and, as a result, means very little compared to the final game. I do personally find it interesting that a lot of the content seems to be related to The Wind Waker. Despite The Minish Cap having been released shortly after and taking many artistic cues from it, it ended up on the Zelda timeline much earlier. It’s even possible that the developers for The Minish Cap were asked to cut direct references to The Wind Waker as Phantom Hourglass may have already been planned as the official continuation of that world.
