Beyond Good & Evil (video game)/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Uncancelled: Everyone thought that poor sales of the first title pretty much doomed the game to being a one-shot... up till Ubisoft dropped the trailer for the sequel out of nowhere.
  • What Could Have Been: A recently-revealed series of design documents for the game reveal that its early design was much different. It featured such things as the IRIS Network (here called, uh, SPOON) having a flying home base, a second alien race called the Nazh, lost characters such as one Colonel Garis and others.
    • Original French: Here.
    • English Translation: Here.

The Original Story: What Could Have Been

The recently revealed "alternative scenario" documents [1] present both a radically different take on the game's story line and a rather different game. The most striking difference between the two is the addition of a third alien race: the Nazh, who take the role of primary antagonist the DomZ have in the final game. Gameplaywise, in addition to more dungeons, the original story featured a third partner character for Jade, named Toy'l. A second set of recently-revealed documents is a set of storyboards from 1999, with an even more different take on the story.

  • Base on Wheels: The SPOON's (the original name of the IRIS Network) flying air treatment plant.
  • Brother-Sister Team: In the '99 storyboards, Jade had a brother who was supposed to be kidnapped instead of Pey'j. The brother as a character was axed, but his character model eventually became Nino.
  • Collector of the Strange: The collector Jade meets who collects pictures of one specific rare animal, and that's it.
  • Cool Airship: To an extent, the SPOON base.
  • Dances and Balls: Jade must find a way to attend a fancy dance in order to meet with her benefactor, Colonel Garis.
  • Dangerous Deserter: The government propaganda treats Double H as one, although he really made an off-screen Mook Face Turn.
  • Goggles Do Nothing: Jade's very first design--created in 1999, when the game was still in preproduction, and not shown to the public until a recent storyboard reveal--wore these and radio antenna. To paraphrase the fansite that revealed them, "She looked like a giant fly."
  • Good Is Not Nice: Jade's secret ally in the Slaughterhouse... helpful, but not exactly friendly.
  • James Bondage: Pey'j was always one, but he spends a much greater time being kidnapped in this game version.
  • Last-Episode New Character: Toy'l, who joins you in the final dungeon.
  • Power Limiter: Jade's inability to use her powers without the DomZ around.
  • Psychic Powers: This is the nature of Jade's powers in this game. However, she can only use them when Toy'l is around.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Col. Garis, much like his replacement, the Governor.
  • Stone Wall: Toy'l's power is to allow Jade to defend herself. Psychically.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Colonel Garis, who is extremely similar to the Governor in the final game.
  • Who You Gonna Call?: In the '99 storyboards, Jade, Pey'j and Jade's now-nonexistant brother were members of the alien-busting "Insecticide Gang".

Actual Trivia

  • The introduction to the song "Akuda House Propaganda", with a woman speaking, came from part of a phone conversation with a Bulgarian woman that composer Christophe Heral recorded. The rest of the song, however, is in nonsense.
    • The clanging noises in "Metal Gear DomZ" were achieved by Heral recording his neighbour's son playing with scrap metal.
    • Heral provided the voices of the Hillyan citizens.
    • The bar was originally supposed to use a song called "Funky Mullah", which included sampled muezzin vocals. Heral removed it because 9/11 occured during the game's production, and he thought it would have been in bad taste.
  • In several rooms of the upper levels of the Lighthouse, there are photographs on the wall. Several of them depict Jade's first model: she was more angular, had longer hair and more almond-shaped eyes.
    • This model was redesigned and changed over the course of a single week to the current Jade model. The reason for the change was to avoid more Mood Whiplash than the story already packed: they felt the cute, cartoony model clashed with her character, who was supposed to be a mature young woman.
  • In the "Security Camera" MDisk you acquire in the factory, one guard makes reference to removing Pey'j's "jumpsuit". In the early versions of the game, Pey'j did indeed wear a jumpsuit; however, his model was altered before the final release. Because the dialogue was already recorded, the reference stayed.
  • The "Pearl and the Currents" MDisk you get on your first visit to IRIS headquarters similarly displays the Dummied Out model for Double H. He has a much larger Lantern Jaw of Justice, less pronounced cheekbones, and slightly spikier hair. His model changed so late in production, most official screenshots of him use the old head.
  • In the very earliest stages of the game's development, Jade was called Sally. The name was changed because Ancel was worried it sounded too "old-layish".
  • There is a possible reference to the original name of the IRIS Network ("SPOON"): when Jade recites the IRIS password to the newspaper seller in the city, he asks if it's a spoonerism.
  • The original idea for the game came from a glitch in Rayman 2, where a player could jump onto a flying ship and fly over the world. The dev team wanted to make a game that could capture that same feeling of flying over a world.
    • As a homage to Rayman, one creature Jade can photograph (an insect in the Nutripils Factory) is called Aedes raymanis. It bears a striking resemblance to Mosquito from the first Rayman game.
  • Peter Jackson was such a fan of this game, that, when the time came to design the video game adaptation of his remake of King Kong, he hand-picked Michel Ancel for the project.

"Fun and Mini-Games"/"Spanish Bar" lyrics, in Spanish with English translation

Spanish

  • Un poquito de bencena
  • Para tu lindo coche,
  • Juanito el mecánico[2]
  • Está pa' petar el turbo
  • Para que quedes el mejor. (¡El mejor!)
  • ¡Ole, olé! ¡Ole, olé!
  • Cuatro ruedas al sol.
  • ¡Ole, olé! ¡Ole, olé!
  • Cuatro ruedas al sol
  • Tres, dos, un, ¡VAMOS!

English

  • A little bit of benzene[3]
  • For your handsome car,
  • Juanito the mechanic
  • is here to boost your turbo [4]
  • So that you end up the best. (The best!)
  • ¡Ole, olé! ¡Ole, olé![5]
  • Four wheels under the sun. [6]
  • ¡Ole, olé! ¡Ole, olé!
  • Four wheels under the sun.
  • Three, two, one, LET'S GO!
  1. ↑ Original, translation.
  2. ↑ Pronounced more like "mec-a-no".
  3. ↑ A regional name for gasoline or petrol.
  4. ↑ This is roughly translated
  5. ↑ Come on, do I really have to translate this for you?
  6. ↑ This phrase is a bit ambiguous, as they made up the pronunciation of most words.
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