Lt. Boxy Angelman
I WILL EAT THIS GAME
I forget, did Shujinko even make the list?
I should've written down the whole damn list...
Okay. I'm gonna lay some beautiful knowledge on you sexy muscular bastards.
This is how I feel. Let it konsume you.
Before I begin, I hope someone can help explain to me what it was they did with the Kamidogu in the comics, because it could invalidate whatever insane argument i'm about to make. This is a case made with the thought in mind that they're still going to be a serious crux of the story. Other than the ability to trap, corrupt Shinnok and fire pretty lasers, its whole reason to exist in the story is that it's the device that fuses the Kamidogu and recongregates the One Being. Don't know why it would still be so important if that wasn't still the endgame. But I didn't finish the comics, and idk how canon they're considered, so...could be wrong.
But here we go, in case I'm not.
First: playing devil's advocate because I absolutely want Shujinko in, but I know a lot of people don't.
You CAN'T make the fucking game that revolves around the Kamidogu without the guy whose entire purpose in life is to gather the Kamidogu. However, you CAN, technically, open the game with a story-establishing chapter that highlights whichever stories are in motion, out comes Shujinko, here comes so and so, dead, new person chasing the Kamidogu.
It has been confirmed, I'm pretty sure, that this game is going to be the new timeline take on Deception and Armageddon, with MK4 and Deadly Alliance being mutated into something brand new-ish in MKX as its precursor. If we're sticking to the original story - like, whatever can still happen happens the same if that person is still alive/corporeal - it can be safely assumed that the SUB-plots of MKDA may still very well be going on, like the resurrection of Onaga most prominently, which would require Reptile, Nitara, and for Cyrax to come out from wherever he's hiding.
It is bad enough that Fujin hasnt been playable since MKA and that he of all people missed MKX. But I think it'd be even dirtier to relegate the character who was, to the best of his knowledge until the carpet gets pulled out from under him, brought into creation to fulfill whatever final goal it is the Kamidogu will serve when he gathers them all...to cutscene or NPC status.
A lot of you may not believe in the old man, but I do.
Shujinko is our Master Roshi. He's our Pai Mei. He is the literal master of a thousand holds.
He is every badass skullbreaking old man in every fighting game ever, rolled into one.
He is Granddad AND Stinkmeaner at the same fucking time.
His entire life has been a battle since the moment he trained with Bo Rai Cho and left the village.
The man deserves a real shot.
Second: It wouldn't just be good for business. It'd be good for the story.
Scorpion, as of right now, doesn't have a damn thing to do. Quan and Shinnok are dead, the Shirai Ryu & Lin Kuei are all homies, being alive and not having to chase QC across hell means no having to fight Moloch and Drahmin or get thrown into the Soulnado...none of it. Buuuuut that also means he doesn't become the not imposter Champion of the Elder Gods in the last fight of MKD Konquest. So he's gotta be sent on that quest via other means...how, I have not that far ahead yet, but I believe Hanzo is going to semi get his arcade ending where he gets powered up with Jinsei and works for the Elder Gods. Maybe/hopefully from Fujin, but also maybe from a new character. His whole future's been reset a few times over, it can go either way. But it ends the same, in him having to fight Shujinko. You do the Shujinko story, it means he's not actually the Champion. so you need an actual anoited Champion. Math.
Third, and this is just a spooky hypothesis of a way the Armageddon arc could go if i'm right...
...do you think the same thing will happen that happened the first time, that everyone who was part of the Mortal Kombat conflict across the realms was brought back to life when the Pyramid of Argus rose? I mean, that story would carry WAY more emotional weight now that we've literally watched Armageddon replay itself with Raiden ending up in Shao Kahn's actual shoes, but it'll be absolutely bonkers if they do, and there's a giant fight there in that pit again...and you end up with Raiden and Liu fighting on top...was "He Must Win" meant for THIS fight? Most importantly, was MKD Dark Raiden THAT FAR ahead of the game that he saw Past Raiden overthrowing Shao Kahn and fighting Shinnok and being corrupted? That one of them had to leave with the power of Blaze and it couldnt be him because he was corrupted? Because if the presumed Kung Jin/Kung Lao story from the endings happens and KJ helps Lao get himself right even though he's a wraith, then you just have to have Lao go talk some beautiful knowledge to Emperor Kang, Liu snaps out of it and decides not to be a dick anymore, so that by the time he GETS to the top of the Pyramid, then you have someone win who isn't Evil (Kahn) or corrupted (Raiden) who's kiiiinda pure of soul again. Bam.
BUT THERE'S ONE MORE PLUG I HAVE TO GET IN
GUESS WHO YOU COULD ADD TO THE ROSTER THAT COULD PURIFY LITERALLY ANYONE THAT'S LEFT THAT WAS RESURRECTED BY QUAN CHI'S MAGIC BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT SHE DOES
TAKE A GUESS
https://goo.gl/images/2aiaZ2
ASHRAH SOLVES ALL OF THOSE PROBLEMS
You want Liu Kang alive so he can save us from Armageddon?
One tap on the shoulder with her Kriss, poof. You're good, Liu.
Kitana. Sindel. Kabal. Lao. Any of them.
Hell, SHANG TSUNG. Maybe he was wandering down there after he assimilated Ermac and ran into her and now he's righteous.
She's a reformed, revived demon with a magic sword that can help purify souls.
That's storyline loophole closing gold.
And in the age we're in, a good guy serious and seriously important imposing woman figure who isnt young, eye candy, or Sonya, could go a significantly long way.
Shujinko and Ashrah.
They deserve it. They make sense. Make them happen.
