Concept art shows that Yuri Sakazaki originally had a trio of friends designed in order to help flesh out her character, which consisted of a part-time model, a student, and a 10 year old girl who views Yuri as a big sister of sorts. None of them appear in the game, with the idea being dropped during development.

During the development of Art of Fighting 2, the early original design for Jack Turner bore a slight resemblence to Ray Jackson from the movie Bloodsport.

Early concept art shows that Ryo Sakazaki's stage "National Park" more closely resembled an actual national park, while the final version resembles a farm instead.

Early concept art shows that Eiji Kisaragi's stage had a Japanese motif, whereas in the final version his stage is located in an airport.

During the development of Art of Fighting 2, the early concept behind Eiji Kisaragi was that of a "Short, Mexican Wrestler type character". Additionally, concept art shows that he originally wore a type of mask used by Samurai warriors to hide both their identities and their emotional state as well as to scare the enemy.

Ryuhaku Todoh was considered early on as a playable character, but he was scrapped due to unknow reasons.

Concept art for Temujin shows early character designs as a Karnov-style character, as well as a cowboy.