This is a page of pre-release and unused content for Dragon Quest III. They showed up in the Toriyama 30th anniversary Illustration book
Unused Monsters[]
Gas Dragon[]
Possibly a very early version of the Wyrtle monster. This dragon seeps fumes out of the holes on its back, possibly a poisonous gas.
Mandrake Major[]
An early version of the Mandrake major monster of the same name. Their appearance was changed drastically when they made their game debut in Dragon Quest V. The manga character Crocodine is closer in design to the unused monster and predates their main series debut.
Minotaur[]
These monsters were possibly an earlier draft of what would become the Troll monster family. Their appearance consists of a blue Archdemon's head on a body of a regular troll.
Halloween Man[]
An unused pumpkin monster, the concept of which would possibly go on to become the Pumpkin knight introduced in Caravan Heart. Interestingly, its blue cloak is emblazoned with the Children of Hargon symbol seen throughout Dragon Quest II on various monsters, but there's no instance of the cult in III.
Stalker[]
What looks like a Mean spirit, only with a skeletal face. Whether it was intended to be a redesigned mean spirit or a separate monster is unknown.
Tower of Eyes[]
This unused monster has many eyes and various tentacles. It seems to be based on the Hyakume folklore monster. It also bears a resemblance to the Eyesaur, and may have been an early draft of what would become that monster family. Interestingly, a sprite of this monster can be found in old previews in Japanese magazines.
Asashion[]
A fat pig monster that resembles Oolong from the Dragon Ball series. It's named after Asashio Tarō, a ring name used by four separate sumo rikishi, one of whom attained the rank of yokozuna.
Unused Shaman[]
This shaman enemy seems to be an early version of the Heedoo voodoo family of enemies. It was scrapped either due to the racial caricature depicted, or perhaps its colour palette was too ambitious.
Hand Wood[]
A tree monster with many hands at the end of each branch. This concept may have gone on to become the Stump chump enemy family that would debut in Dragon Quest IV, albeit with fewer limbs and a more modest stature.
Hentekorīno[]
An unused alien-like monster. "Henteko" comes from 変てこ, meaning "strange; weird; odd".
Roper[]
A monster based on a D&D monster. It bears some resemblance to the Woebergine monster family debuting in Dragon Quest VII, and may have been reworked into them later on.
Evil Bush[]
An unused monster that looks like a forest of trees with a monstrous face.
King Satan[]
A monster that seems to be an evolution of the Imp family of monsters.
Boss #2[]
An unused boss monster who has an ethereal serpent around them. The Japanese feel to their design suggests they may have been intended to have some connection to Jipang.
Unused Zoma form[]
What seems to be Zoma's unused after-transformation second form looking like a yellow Hellspawn.