In retrospect, which new MK9/X/11 char was an instant MK staple?

[kabelfritz]

as the title says. characters i can think of that became core mk characters without being in the first three games are for example quan chi (mk4) or kenshi (mkda).

in mk9/x/11 i can see only cassie cage and dvorah, with maybe erron black and kotal and as runner-ups. cassie, because simply the idea of johnny and sonya actually becoming a couple after their "rough start" is so hilarious and they nailed cassie with her millenial pop culture attitude (there was no need to clone that attitude three more times though with those superfluous kombat kids, in my very honest and personal opinion). dvorahs design fits perfectly in MK and she has some strong and independent moments that make her outstanding, like assassinating mileena and standing up to shao kahn - with success. i think if any new NRS era chars should stay, its those two. kotal and erron are also well designed outworlders with strong attitudes, but kotal is too much of a failure and errons background could just be fleshed out more, "300 y.o. realm traveling cowboy granted long life by shang" has a lot of potential. cetrion is also good, but feels a bit far-fetched, like from another universe.

there are other cool chars that fit in like geras, kollector, tremor, skarlet, cyber sub and ferra/torr, but they ultimately feel too much like jobbers to me to achieve "MK staple" rank.

but of course all of these are just my opinions, i added a poll for fun, multiple choices possible.

 

[Vslayer]

Cassie. I know I'm biased but hear me out.

She was perfect in MKX. She had a unique look, had her dad's sense of humor but her mother's heart and work ethic. This is how you do generations. She can stand out on her own, but was still clearly Johnny and Sonya's kid, and it felt like she was raised by them. I know people don't like guns and blah blah, but at the core of it, Cassie was a great character regardless of which faction she was part of. I think they missed the mark with her in 11 in too many ways (voice actor, no undercut, more preppy than she should be etc.,).

BUT, If Cassie does make it in MK1 as DLC, whether that's as a Kameo or a full character, I think they'll defo be able to bring that original MKX vision they had for her.

 

[Amplified$hotz]

Takeda is #1 for me. Kenshi’s son, loyal member of the Shirai Ryu, and he embodies what MK is all about.

Surprised Cassie has so many votes. In my opinion she’s an example of where MK went wrong. Too much special forces stuff.

 

[kabelfritz]

Takeda is #1 for me. Kenshi’s son, member of the Shirai Ryu, and he embodies what MK is all about.

Surprised Cassie has so many votes. In my opinion she’s an example of where MK went wrong. Too much special forces stuff.

i always imagine takeda could have been some mysterious techno ninja, like ryu hayabusa with blade whips. but they decided to give him this wimpy attitude. i hope he will be better in MK1.
and about cassie, im not a fan either and its a totally unexpected blessing to have an MK1 without special forces, (only beaten by "Liu Kang is dead" in deadly alliance), but i can respect that she doesnt just sit totally right with mk but also adds flavor to it.

 

[xenogorgeous]

Cassie , D'vorah and Skarlet ...... and I hope NRS put all of them , in a mandatory way, in MK2 , in the next game, in future !

 

[Felipe_Gewehr]

Cassie, Kotal and maybe Dvorah are mostly what I think about. Also MAYBE Skarlet, as she was a rumored character way before MK9 and this franchise seems to love rumored characters.

 

[Amplified$hotz]

i always imagine takeda could have been some mysterious techno ninja, like ryu hayabusa with blade whips. but they decided to give him this wimpy attitude. i hope he will be better in MK1.
and about cassie, im not a fan either and its a totally unexpected blessing to have an MK1 without special forces, (only beaten by "Liu Kang is dead" in deadly alliance), but i can respect that she doesnt just sit totally right with mk but also adds flavor to it.

I agree, but many people today prefer those type of male characters over stoic ones.

Cassie defeating powered up Shinnok was one of the worst things in MK history for me.

 

[kabelfritz]

I agree, but many people today prefer those type of characters over stoic ones.

Cassie defeating powered up Shinnok was one of the worst things in MK history for me.

she had the legendary green power of earthrealm though, that is no joke. to me it was more upsetting how the kombat kids owned kotal.

 

[Pizza]

Cassie, Dvorah, Skarlet and Geras

 

[Amplified$hotz]

she had the legendary green power of earthrealm though, that is no joke. to me it was more upsetting how the kombat kids owned kotal.

Haha in that case Cage shouldve been Earthrealm’s champion over Liu Kang. Heck, he should be the god of earthrealm xD

There’s a difference between a character being pushed vs gravitated towards.

In my opinion Cassie (and Jacqui) is the former, and Takeda is the latter.

 

[kabelfritz]

Haha in that case Cage shouldve been Earthrealm’s champion over Liu Kang. Heck, he should be the god of earthrealm xD

There’s a difference between a character being pushed vs gravitated towards.

In my opinion Cassie (and Jacqui) is the former, and Takeda is the latter.

hey lets not take mk logic too serious . or maybe johnny should have, but his personality stopped him.

anyway, i feel the other way round with cassie and takeda, agree about jacqui though. its a matter of taste i guess.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Takeda is a telekinetic, telepathic (I think to a degree) ninja with lightsabers and barbed energy whips, trained and raised by the most popular character in the series, and the son of another legendary character (Kenshi fucks confirmed). He trains with Johnny, Sonya, the other kombat kids, and Sub-Zero too by the end of MKX. He fights with his father to avenge his mother.

He could stand on his own without being a novelty of x character's kid better than other kombat kids. Hypothetical 40-year-old Takeda would be amazing to see in a game.

 

[RYX]

for me it's gotta be kotal and takeda

i also really really REALLY liked ferra/torr but i'll probably never see them again

 

[Shania Twain]

Skarlet and Erron Black. Easy.

Several of the others had cool designs but that is it. D'vorah was one and Cetrion had nice alts but her default was too poison ivy.

The kombat kids were a nice touch for representing the young crowd and youth.

Tremor is cool but i don't know if is a staple.

You forgot to put Kronika. (She is responsible for the entire games so she is here to stay I think)

 

[Mandolore1123]

Honestly I love Kotal. His whole Aztec aesthetic was very unique. Too bad in MK11 they didn't bring back his sun command grab, I felt that was his most iconic move in MKX

 

[JGillette]

im torn between skarlet and geras

 

[haketh]

Cassie, Takeda, D'Vorah, Kotal, and Erron all should be locks to show up regularly

Honestly I don't think their was a single bad character introduced in MKX/MK11. NRS should proud they've created a ton of characters that really resonated in some way with people. Diving into the curative side of fandom and you see a lot of love and appreciation for everyone.

 

[Juggs]

Geras, Skarlet and Erron Black are my top 3

Then there’s D’Vorah, Cassie and Kotal.

Geras is also my favorite new MK character in the NRS era. Mainly because of his powers. Time manipulation is one of the most OP super powers you can have and is always the one I choose in those “wish” hypotheticals. And Sand powers have always been something I’ve found super cool ever since Gaara in Naruto. So he basically combines my 2 favorite super powers into one character. The marrying of the “sands of time” as a power concept is just dope to me.

 

[Shania Twain]

Cassie. I know I'm biased but hear me out.

She was perfect in MKX. She had a unique look, had her dad's sense of humor but her mother's heart and work ethic. This is how you do generations. She can stand out on her own, but was still clearly Johnny and Sonya's kid, and it felt like she was raised by them. I know people don't like guns and blah blah, but at the core of it, Cassie was a great character regardless of which faction she was part of. I think they missed the mark with her in 11 in too many ways (voice actor, no undercut, more preppy than she should be etc.,).

BUT, If Cassie does make it in MK1 as DLC, whether that's as a Kameo or a full character, I think they'll defo be able to bring that original MKX vision they had for her.

Well...she did grow up and have to fast. Her MK11 default outfits were good. I love the Blue version of the default. Although her hair grew out really really fast from MKX to MK11. Her story mode in MK11 seemed somewhat out of character with her dialogue in gameplay. Altho ... her alt skins in MK11...talk about out of character. lol. but I'm sure you agree with that. They could have easily given her the classic mkx outfit. I digress.

 

[chrisisnice]

Cassie Cage for sure - she had a whole game where she was the main character.

I think Kotal is a bit of a staple now. Such a well designed character and one of the best receieved

 

[Ptehu]

Cassie of course, not sure if I need to explain further.
As much as I love some of the newcommers, all the others seem to be quite forgettable for casuals.

We can argue a bit for Kotal, D'Vorah, Erron and maybe Takeda but none of them are as memorable and appealing to the regular players, apart from that:

Kotal is just suffering from poor story writing. Hardcore fans will still consider Shao as the one and only kahn and everything else is just a cheap imitation. I love Kotal and I consider him as a best newcommer from NRS era, but they really did him wrong in the story, so that he can be treated seriously.

D'Vorah got the impact in the story but she is now one of the most hated for killing so many other staples: Mileena, Baraka & Scorpion. I can't hear a lot of voices missing D'Vorah and even I, myself think that it's good that she took a break from MK1.

Erron was a classic jobber, as cool as he looks - he didn't win a single fight in the story mode. Unless he is properly developed in one of the future games - no chance for him to be a staple.

Takeda had everything to be a new staple. Cool name, his story properly introduced in the comic, being one of the main good guys and having a romantic relationship with another cast member - yet he got dropped and forgotten completely in MK11 and now degraded to a DLC in MK1 - he was a perfect combination between old (martial arts, telekinesis) and new (being special forces, hi-tech gear) but NRS didn't decide to actually push his story forward properly and also I feel that there is just too many archetypes mixed in his persona. Just like NRS couldn't decide which way they should go.

 

[kabelfritz]

You forgot to put Kronika. (She is responsible for the entire games so she is here to stay I think)

didnt forget her, i just focused on playable characters

 

[NeonGroovyGator]

I like D'Vorah so much more than anything else new they've done in the last 12 years it's not even funny. If it were up to me she'd be in every game and I'd honestly not miss any other NRS era character that much if they never came back, barring Skarlet, maybe Takeda and Kotal when he's not a jobber.

I'm open to liking Geras more depending on how he ends up being in this game, too.

 

[Juxtapose]

Honestly, almost all of the new characters were really good. The only one I didn't care for is Kollector.

For the purpose of the pole, I voted for Kotal.

 

[Eddy Wang]

The most Iconics will end up being
Skarlet
Erron
Devorah
Kotal