Super Mario Strikers datamine discovers creepy wannabe Mario models

gamesradar.com:

Super Mario Strikers has been hiding some bizarre secrets since it debuted on the GameCube in 2006. 

Dataminer @Dogon_McBanana took to Twitter with a thread of examples found within the annals of Super Mario Strikers, including a team of "generic Mario style humans". Aside from resembling comic character Andy Capp, these humanoid models are dressed in Mario-esque costumes, almost as though they're clones. 

Was digging through the game's files on a whim, and evidently the final build of Super Mario Strikers on Gamecube just has an entire team's worth of generic Mario style humans and a whole bunch of other unused stuff that I've never seen anybody talk about?? (thread) pic.twitter.com/Lty9Jp4zDHFebruary 25, 2022

The same thing is seen with DK, with the insinuation, according to @Dogon_McBanana, that each team captain was meant to have their own "unique team of sidekicks" at some point. Each captain, including DK and Luigi, have their own duplicates, textures included, but in a "weird" format. 

It seems like at some point each captain was going to have their own unique team of sidekicks. DK has a team of other Kong-like characters, for example. Luigi also has a dupe of himself for his sidekick, likely placeholder. They all have textures, but they're in a weird format. pic.twitter.com/kaJXoat76oFebruary 25, 2022

In addition to these strange characters, the game was hiding a Dull Bones from the Paper Mario series, referred to as a "Medic" in addition to security Pianta characters as seen in Super Mario Sunshine, which appear to have gone unused.

There's also a Dull Bones from the Paper Mario Series fully realized in 3D, labeled as "Medic". I think some form of these security Pinatas were in the E3 Prototype, but so far as I