HOT TAKE: New Mortal Kombat characters should be ninjas.

[Krankk]

Mortal Kombat X

Kotal Khan? Not a ninja.
D'Vorah? Not a ninja.
Ferra / Torr? Not a ninja.
Cassie Cage? Not a ninja.
Jacqui Briggs? Not a ninja.
Kung Jin? Not a ninja.
Erron Black? Eh. Not really a ninja. Maybe a cowboy-ninja and that's me being generous.
Takeda? Eh. Somewhat of a ninja. Should look more the part though. Full face mask and stuff.

Mortal Kombat 11

Geras? Not a ninja.
Cetrion? Not a ninja.
Kollector? Not a ninja.
Kronika? Not a ninja. Yes, why not an elder god ninja?
The returning MKX characters aren't ninjas either.

Am I crazy to assume that most of us fell in love with Mortal Kombat due to the many cool ninjas the franchise has at its disposal? Ninjas are always cool. It's not like they're cowboys and have lost their appeal with the death of wild wild west movies.

To me it feels like Mortal Kombat is losing its identity with MKX and MK11. Now I'm not saying that they're getting worse storywise or anything. Obviously they are not. But when it comes to characters... Most of them strike me as so forgetable.
And while the 3D era added mostly non-ninjas as well, these old characters didn't age well. Kenshi has become a fan favorite, but Kenshi too has some ninja / samurai elements to him. I don't think that 10 years down the road Kotal Khan and Jacqui Briggs will have won as many players over as Kenshi did. They're just there. Yes, it's interesting to see how Kotal Khans story will unfold, when (if at all) he meets Shao Khan. Or D'Vorah. But once that part is over, we're left with Ancient Ogre. While at the same time most fans would take Smoke and Rain over Kotal Khan in an instant. And these two characters are arguably less fleshed out storywise. But just by being ninjas they are so much more appealing.

I legit wouldn't have complained at all, if we would have gotten more new ninjas. Give them another color, make them do crazy stuff and you have my attention. Force feed me two soldier girls, who are copying their parents, and you lose my interest.

 

[Law Hero]

I definitely agree that more ninjas would be really nice. Even if they're more Lin Kuei (edit: not TECHNICALLY ninjas), Shirai Ryu, or Brotherhood of Shadow. Ninjas are always awesome.

I'm definitely of the mind that Erron is kind of a cowboy ninja. He's got that cool mysterious ninja-ish mask to compliment his cowboy hat. Hopefully we can get more ninjas in the next MK game for sure.

 

[DDustiNN]

Go ninja, go ninja, GO!

 

[Pizza]

Quick, what colours are still available?!

lol but I agree. However, while Erron Black is some kind of ninja-cowboy, I think Tremor and Skarlet (MK9) are 'new' ninjas too since they weren't really playable back in the day. Plus, they have been revamped in almost every way.

 

[Saint Op Omen]

Ninjas don't exist.
also none of those characters are really ninjas anyway.

 

[Swindle]

No more ninjas.
Not in my neighborhood.
They bring down the property values, and their dogs are always shitting on my blue fescue.

 

[colby4898]

I love MKX and Injustice for the gameplay. I don’t think any of the characters have any interesting personality. Lots of them look cool and have cool ‘abilities’ or whatever. But so boring. Raiden, Lui Kang, Kung Lao, Sonya, Jax, Reptile, Kitana, Jade etc. All staples of MK. All have dull personalities. The only character that has personality is Johnny Cage, especially from his gameplay in MK11. I really hope he’s not alone in this game.

 

[Jhonnykiller45]

MK9 had Skarlet and Cyber Sub, MKX had Tremor and Triborg, MK11's probably gonna have Khrome or some shit, plus the klassic ninjas are always gonna be there. I don't think "MK's identity" is going anywhere.
Besides, before MK9 when was the last time we had seen a new ninja anyways? The 3D era went by without adding a single new ninja in (except Frost I guess) so we're doing really good in that department right now actually.

 

[Rathalos]

No all new characters should be Black Dragon.

 

[StormGoddess]

LOL- the 90s are over -

NRS seems to want SUB-zero and Scorpion to be the only true "ninjas" standing.

why do you think reptile looks well -more reptilian
and ermac is a mummy
and scarlet is a mage
smoke is a robot
tremor is whatever tremor was...
ect
-of course to appease fans that can't let the past go of their childhoods, they'll add classic palette swap looks but i doubt it'll be their default designs.

PS
Erron Black is a cowboy - there is nothing ninja like about that design ( and people complain about Jacqui and Cassie's design being basic)

 

[Krankk]

Erron Black is a cowboy [...] and people complain about Jacqui and Cassie's design being basic

 

[HeavyNorse]

Takeda? Eh. Somewhat of a ninja.

Takeda is an actual ninja though, like Scorpion is. The rest aren't.

I wouldn't want any more "MK ninjas" though. I'd rather the ones they have are being evolved past their palette-swap days. Putting a mask and some random colour on a character and calling it a day should be a thing of the past.

As much as I like those we have, I don't want NRS to keep spitting out new ones.

 

[stokedAF]

We don’t need more ninjas we need the existing ninjas being more like ninjas. The animations in mk11 help that a lot. Scorpion looks great finally using his chains. You can’t be more ninja than shadows and sickles. Noob has a lot of ninja potential.

I think there will be a ninja in each Kombat Pack. It will be reptile and smoke because those characters need the reboot as ninjas. The new characters should be new things. I like the inclusion of elder god characters and the weird new races. The ninjas are good and getting better.

 

[Yoaks]

I would say the only true ninjas in the series now are Sub, Scorp and Takeda. The rest like Reptile, Ermac, Rain etc have evolved past that.

 

[Metin]

Please shut up!

 

[Dankster Morgan]

I would say the only true ninjas in the series now are Sub, Scorp and Takeda. The rest like Reptile, Ermac, Rain etc have evolved past that.

Sub even seems to have evolved past it too, he doesn't have the same demeanor as Scorpion, he seems more like just a straight up warrior

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

I'd be okay with this is Tremor had gotten a ninja suit in MKX like the one he had in the MK9 Vita Tower.

Khrome/the white ninja is the end. That's the last one you need to complete the set.

 

[mr_papageorgio__]

I do wish they go back to their roots with revolving around a tournament with actual warriors. it's basically a fantasy game now with all the new characters the past few games

 

[HeavyNorse]

Khrome/the white ninja is the end. That's the last one you need to complete the set.

Fuck no.

 

[PapaRegadetho]

Characters are better when they have a feature thats unique,doesnt have to be a good thing,might be even a flaw. NRS doesnt take one face and continue to use it, theres is always a facelift and it kind of ruins the whole appeal of it and doesnt work for the new characters as much,they need strong personalities without being cosmetic.

The reason why the "ninjas" are still super popular,is because of their color. It defines their character and is the consistent feature that we familirise with ,even if they lack the personality. Also, mystery is attractive. Kabal was a huge favorite from the MK3 era, Kenshi from the 3d era ( and why people like more Frost than Li Mei, even though Frost is just a female Sub) and just like them, Erron is the favorite of the current era. Just look at any band with masks, helmets and make up, they are incredibly popular. Kiss, Slipknot, Daft Punk, Ghost and many more..

 

[VSC_Supreme]

D'vorah is just a female Bug ninja, or at least she would have been 25 years ago

I think the ninja category is pretty well covered in MK, I'm loving the newer more outlandish other worldly characters a bit more.

 

[pure.Wasted]

I do wish they go back to their roots with revolving around a tournament with actual warriors. it's basically a fantasy game now with all the new characters the past few games

Back to their roots like... MK3...? Which didn't have a tournament.

MK4...? Which didn't have a tournament.

Deadly Alliance...? Which didn't have a tournament.

Deception...? Which didn't have a tournament.

Armageddon...? Which didn't have a tournament.

I actually agree with you that I'd love to see a tournament storyline done justice with NRS's new tech and writing. But to suggest that this is somehow a brand new development for the MK universe is silly. The only games that have ever prominently featured tournaments are MK1, MK2, and MK9. That's it.

 

[pure.Wasted]

and just like them, Erron is the favorite of the current era.

Erron Black was the least played new character in MKX, and the second least played character overall after Reptile. Lol.

 

[PapaRegadetho]

Erron Black was the least played new character in MKX, and the second least played character overall after Reptile. Lol.

Thats still doesnt mean he isnt the most well recevied. Cassie has personality its why she is loved, while Erron is liked because? Surely not because he is such a well written character.

 

[pure.Wasted]

Thats still doesnt mean he isnt the most well recevied. Cassie has personality its why she is loved, while Erron is liked because? Surely not because he is such a well written character.

I get that playtime isn't the same thing as popularity, but how do you go from "28th character out of 29" to "actually more popular than 6, 7, and 10." Like, what in the world are you basing that on?

My impression from MKX and pre-MK11 release is that at least Cassie, Takeda, Kotal Kahn, and D'Vorah are all more popular new characters than Erron.