[Luseu]

I found the program "jpsxdec" and decided to open up the July 17th prototype and look through the graphics.
I found this image as FILE.BIN[2351] and it seems to exist between the graphics for V 5-2 & 6-1.

It could just be due to the palette, but I don't recognize these two (I see some guy sitting on something facing away, and some ghost). I should also note that jpsxdec normally shows character graphics with a monotone palette.

Does anybody recognize these characters, assuming they're even characters at all? 

[HylianBran]

That guy has a big butt.

[mushroom32x]

Yeah, these little guys appear during the Joka boss fight, which eventually are replaced with purple crystal flames in the final game.
They remind me of yokai out of Japanese folklore but I cannot 100% confirm it.

[HylianBran]

These guys look so silly I really hope they were just an inside joke or something

[Luseu]

Yeah, these little guys appear during the Joka boss fight, which eventually are replaced with purple crystal flames in the final game.
They remind me of yokai out of Japanese folklore but I cannot 100% confirm it.

Nice, thanks for finding it!
I guess the palette wasn't wrong after all?