Mergo’s Wet Nurse is one of Bloodborne’s most detailed characters in terms of design. The succubus makes a dramatic entry when the Hunter approaches Mergo’s pram. However, this introductory cutscene wasn’t always the way we see it in the game. The character design, animations, and even the choreography went through a number of iterations before the final one was fixed.
In the retail version of the introduction of Mergo’s Wet Nurse, The Hunter approaches the pram in the Lunarium but the Wet Nurse descends upon it gently and envelopes the pram with its wings. After this the fight begins.
However, thanks to YouTuber Lance McDonald, we get to see different unreleased iterations of the cutscene which actually reveal different interactions between the Wet Nurse and Mergo. McDonald shows us five revisions, each of which show a subtle change in the character model of the Wet Nurse and the animation.
The first cut is merely a placeholder with the concept of the Nightmare Newborn not even being invented. The Wet Nurse was simply called the Succubus, a demon sustaining Micolash’s unending nightmare.
The second Iteration however, shows a cutscene dramatically different from the final version, Here, the Hunter approaches the crib and looks at Mergo closely, the Wet Nurse appears from behind, causing the Hunter to dash aside. She then reaches down to carefully pick up the child, turns around and puts it to her chest before turning to face the Hunter. This version is clearly different from the final iteration and gives us a better understanding of what was supposed to be happening in the retail cutscene.
The third iteration is not too different from the second one, it features subtle changes to the animation and the character model. The Hunter turns towards the Wet Nurse before leaping out of the way, a light extension of the Wet Nurse’s neck towards the end makes it look like she’s yelling out, and the drawing of her weapon is slower and more menacing. There’s also the addition of the dark glow surrounding the Wet Nurse.
The next iteration is a shorter version of the third. The Wet Nurse immediately jumps at the pram and envelopes the baby without holding it up. The Hunter’s leaping animation is also completely removed, making the whole exchange a bit more concise.
The fifth iteration is the closest to the retail release, except that instead of landing gently, the Wet Nurse crashes down on the pram and destroys it. These iterations give us a look at what the developers intended to show, but may have not come across in the final edit.
Lance McDonald’s YouTube channel is filled with cut content and various other videos on Soulslike games, you can check it out if you want to get into the lore or developmental processes.