Xowar
The Xowar, also known as the Xovar, is a species of gigantic gorilla-like creature from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. In all its appearances it has a distinctive tusk protruding from the right side of its lower jaw. It was planned to be the boss of the Clearleaf Forest level, and Rayman would have escaped the battle during a race/chase (viewed from the front), while doing his best to avoid certain obstacles (similar idea of the fight with Foutch in Rayman 2), but its size made it too difficult for the programmers to work with, so it was replaced by Master Kaag.
The Xowar can still be seen at two places in the final version of the game:
- In a secret room found just before the final Reflux fight in the Tower of the Leptys. In this secret room, generally known to players as the 'Xowar Secret', there are three room-sized (and unbreakable) cages, each containing a different scrapped character. One cage holds a tiny jumping blue bird, one holds an in-game model of a Flabar similar to the one in the intro video (except the one in the cage is blue), in the third cage is a Xowar running on a treadmill.
- In the arena of the Master Kaag battle in the Clearleaf Forest, there is a 'Wanted' poster depicting the Xowar. It has been speculated that the Hoodlums want him for his fur for their costumes or as an ally against Rayman.
In the loading screen for the Windows demo version of Rayman 3, a Xowar is partially shown, lining up with various Hoodlums for a police mugshot.
According to an examination of the files on the Rayman 3 disc, a Xowar minigame was once planned for inclusion in the game. The premise of the minigame was that the Xowar is the kindest of creatures, and that it takes pity on Rayman due to the fact that he has no limbs. Convinced of Rayman's suffering, the Xowar chases him in an attempt to kill him and put him out of his supposed misery. The player would presumably have controlled Rayman as he fled from the Xowar. The Xowar minigame's description is similar to that of the scrapped Xowar boss fight in the Clearleaf Forest, making it seem likely that the minigame was a recycled version of the fight. It is not known why the minigame was omitted from the final version of the game; the Xowar was initially removed as a boss because he was too large for the programmers to work with, and the minigame may have been removed for similar technical reasons.
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