Charybdis
We are returned! Death to the False Emperor!
With the announced return of the Mortal Kombat series, the fanbase is clamouring to see which characters will return for the latest iteration of our favourite franchise. Something many people are looking forward to in MK11 is the return of some of the 3d era characters given the possibilities and implications of the ‘Krisis on Infinite Earthrealms’, a sobriquet I am determined to make stick.
As I noted here (https://testyourmight.com/threads/op-ed-likely-returning-3d-characters.67549/) some of the more popular characters of the 3d era are almost expected to appear in MK11, such as Li Mei and Havik. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: go look at any Let’s Play of the 3d era and, amidst the undeserved mockery, those characters will generally be grudgingly acknowledged as pretty good.
But what about the mockery and the mocked? Here, I’ll be defending the merits of the 3d era games in general elsewhere but here I want to focus on the mocked characters. In my view, a lot of these characters are unfortunately dismissed out of hand, when there is, in truth a lot of potential in them. Some of them are dismissed as a by-product of the unfortunate graphical design of the game, some of them unfortunately lack personality as a result of the more Tekken-style fighting system and some of them because their names sound funny.
I forgot the Shakespearean naming system of Capcom which gave us…El Fuerte. Or the high art that is….Eyedol.
Now, I’m not for a minute arguing that these characters are in any way instant classics but, with a little development, they all have the potential to be series mainstays. Well almost all of them….some of them should probably be written off.
DAIROU
A former Seidan Guardsmen turned mercenary, Dairou is hired in Deception by Darrius to assassinate Hotaru and steal the constitution of Seido.
http://www.game-art-hq.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Dairou-Mortal-Kombat-Deception-Alternate-Costume-for-the-MK-Tribute.jpg
Honestly, the fact that someone did tribute art for Dairou shocks me.
THE PROBLEM
There’s a lot of problems with Dairou. His design is fairly bland, his story potential is extremely limited as is (it’s incredibly tangential to the overall storyline of Deception and never gets a real resolution) and, although his Tombstone Drop was pretty broken even by Deception standards, his moveset was phenomenally dull, essentially a Kreate-A-Kharacter list of special moves. He is, in truth, the first character I’d drop from Mortal Kombat but even he can be redeemed.
THE REDEMPTION
The key to redeeming Dairou is, in my view, to bring him back closer to the original conception of the character.
Dairou was conceived of as Kenshi’s enemy, a ronin wielding dual katanas hired by Shang Tsung as his personal bodyguard who would stalk Kenshi from the shadows. That idea, of the samurai turned mercenary, formed the crux of Dairou. We can get back to that crux.
Mercenaries and bounty hunters are inherently cool. Erron Black proved arguably the biggest hit of the new characters in MKX, primarily because bounty hunters (and cowboys, to some strange people) are cool. Hell, it’s been Kano’s stock in trade for almost three decades. Dairou can easily step into the role of an inter-realm merc, plying his trade for the highest bidder. He would never, unless deliberately written for it, be a central player in a Mortal Kombat story but he would serve well as a goon/henchman, be it for good or evil.
His design would have to be altered, admittedly. A redesign more along the lines of his original conception, as a dark samurai, and an altered moveset would be key. Nevertheless, the core of a teleport, launching ground pound and fireball shot from his leg could be replicated.
Ultimately, I have no hope of seeing or hearing of Dairou again. And frankly, I’m not unduly bothered by this
DARRIUS
A citizen of Seido, Darrius grew disillusioned with the overwhelming order enforced by Hotaru’s Seidan Guardsmen and establishes the resistance to their rule. He works with Havik in engendering Chaos to oppose Hotaru’s reign.
THE PROBLEM
Darrius is an odd character. His design is somewhat eye catching, particularly his bladed gauntlet weapons and his padded doublet but he’s doubtlessly something of a pastiche, or at the very least heavily influenced, by Wesley Snipes’ Blade. His moveset is pretty dull but functional.
THE REDEMPTION
Darrius is hard to redeem. His moveset is fine as it is, albeit somewhat bland, his design is fairly uninteresting and his story role is necessarily limited and distinctly circumspect. He couldn’t really step into a nondescript ‘goon’ role and his role in Seido, while central to that realm, is in no way connected to the currently ongoing MK story.
The solution, as far as I see, would be to build him up and create some mystique around the character. In my piece on Hotaru (cheap link here), I noted that the best way to bring Hotaru into the current storyline would be to have him enlisted as a lieutenant of Dark Raiden. If you bring in Hotaru, you can then bring in Darrius IF you have some of the protagonists note that Hotaru and the Guardsmen can be drawn away from Raiden by creating a diversion in Seido by utilising Darrius’ resistance. From there, Darrius could be folded into the next conflict, although the writing would need to be done deliberately.
Ultimately, however, although Darrius has potential as a character, I would be hugely surprised to see him return. His most likely fate will never be mentioned or, if it is, he will be mentioned as being killed off screen.
I make no comment on his alternate, Jim Kelly inspired costume.
It’s funky, you jive ass turkeys, but it should not be goddamn canon
NITARA
A member of the Moroi race, also known as vampires, Nitara is a sorceress and warrior, charged with defending the realm of Vaeternus and freeing it from the control of Shao Kahn.
THE PROBLEM
In truth, Nitara’s primary problem is in her costume designs. Taking Mortal Kombat as a game of tropes (albeit far less so than Killer Instinct), vampires fit right in, and her role as a defender of her realm fits in well with the expansion of Mortal Kombat’s mythology and lore. Her moveset is classic vampire fare, including spitting blood and regaining health from draining blood, along with unique signature weapons, the Kama, which are begging to be used in dial-a-combos.
So what’s the problem? Well….her primary costume is, essentially, a pirate hooker and her alternate is a goth chick. Her costume design reeks of Soul Calibur and, while there is no lack of detail, she would likely need something of a redesign.
THE REDEMPTION
Nitara is already well on the road to being redeemed, insofar as she required redemption. In the MKX comic, she is portrayed largely in keeping with her original inception in Deadly Alliance, as manipulating others and utilising blood magic in order to help free her realm. Story-wise, Nitara’s quest to free her realm would fit in well with Kotal Kahn’s collectivist regime, much as Tanya and Rain’s campaign for a free Edenia did. With her manipulation and blood magic, she could easily be used as an ally of Dark Raiden or whoever opposes Kotal’s rulership.
The Deadly Alliance Krypt had some genuinely funny pictures. Also, why are her gloves incomplete?
Gameplay wise, Nitara should be the ‘flight’ character, with her features lending themselves to a hit and run playstyle centring around zoning and hit and run tactics, with her moveset needing no real expansion. As noted, Nitara’s costume design leaves a deal to be desired. There are solid beginnings to work from, however and with the sex appeal which formed a huge part of her character in Deadly Alliance, she could easily step into the Mileena role.
Ultimately, Nitara simply does not need a great deal of redemption and serves as a prime example of a character who, with some investment on NRS’ part, could easily occupy the role of a series mainstay.
ASHRAH
A former demonic servant of Quan Chi, Ashrah desires nothing more than escape from the Netherrealm. To that end, she discovers a mystical sword which removes the stain of evil from her sole a little more with each evil being she slays with it (called a ‘Kriss’ and based on an actual traditional Indonesian blade). As the Netherrealm can only hold souls containing evil, should she purge her soul entirely, she would be expelled from Hell. In truth however, the weapon itself actually deceives its wielder with promises of redemption to lure them into killing vampires under the delusion that they are demons.
THE PROBLEM
I don’t really know what the problem with Ashrah is. Her story is one of redemption, an arc which always works, her design is wonderful (she was the only covered-up female character before MKX redeemed the female character designs, although people seem to have an obsession with portraying her as a sexy nun given the results of my research), with a solid moveset. In truth, the problem is likely a lack of investment: although her design is solid, the true potential of Ashrah only shines through when you’re aware of her story. In addition, there is the risk of her potentially sharing Raiden’s role with regards to some of her special moves
THE REDEMPTION
This is going to be short because Ashrah, in my view, needs no redemption. She’s a phenomenal character design with a unique weapon, a moveset which would work well in 2d and a story motivation, which could eventually be naturally worked into a feud with Nitara, as a demon seeking redemption would work perfectly with any conflict with the Netherrealm.
Regardless of whether the conflict is between Liu Kang and Dark Raiden or Liu Kang and Cassie’s crew, Ashrah is ideally placed story-wise and would serve as a colossal breath of fresh air.
The only distinct problem with Ashrah, as I see it, is that she operates in the same space as Sareena, a demonic former servant of Quan Chi in the form of a human woman seeking redemption. Sareena is an absolute must for MK11 (as noted here cheap link) and it may take some dexterous writing and design to make sure Sareena and Ashrah can nicely co-exist. The answer may be to have one as DLC.
Ultimately, while Ashrah has as much potential as almost any character, to the degree where she could become a genuine series mainstay, I don’t expect to see her in MK11, but I wouldn’t be surprised. She may be best kept as a draw card for future games.
HSU HAO
A high ranking officer of the Red Dragon, Hsu Hao long ago infiltrated the Special Forces, where he rose high and gained the trust and friendship of Sonya and Jax. As intelligence officer, he played a critical role in helping the Special Forces eliminate the Black Dragon, the arch rivals of the Red Dragon.
THE PROBLEM
Well….what isn’t the problem with Hsu Hao?
His design is incredibly dull. His cybernetic chest piece is noteworthy, but other than that, he is a shirtless buff dude in green army pants. His alternate replaces that with white army pants. His special attacks are dull in the extreme, though Armageddon did at least give him a chest laser.
His storyline is, to be fair, not necessarily bad. More than any other character, Hsu Hao serves to actually make the Red Dragon feel both a threat (by showing how easily they’ve infiltrated Special Forces) and a part of the universe (through a wonderful piece of slotting them and Hsu Hao into existing canon). That can, and should, be preserved in the extremely unlikely event NRS ever decide to redeem Hsu Hao. Speaking of…
He lifts, at least.
THE REDEMPTION
It’s possible Hsu Hao cannot be redeemed. He’s become almost mimetic as the worst character in the history of Mortal Kombat and, as that conception of the character has taken hold amongst the fanbase, it will likely be hard, if not impossible, to shake. His status as the undisputed joke of the franchise seems to have taken route even amongst NRS, at which point we can probably write the character off.
Nothing about the character shines through as demanding redemption, with both design and moveset generic in extremis and, canonically in the current story, he’s almost certainly dead (at Scorpion’s hand/kunai).
It should be noted, however, that I still struggle to see what makes Hsu Hao the clear example of ‘this character sucks’ in MK. He’s bland and dull, yes, but he isn’t as offensively bad as his reputation would lead you to believe. There are, as far as I can see two options at bringing him back, the two being diametrically opposed.
On the one hand, he could be brought from the beginning of the games. At the next reboot, which will likely be MK9 but done differently a la Legacy Season 2, play up Hsu Hao’s infiltration of the Special Forces and his role in the Red Dragon, with him serving as the intelligence officer of the Special Forces. The longer he spends with the Special Forces, the more his eventual betrayal will mean. This could conceivably be done in MK11, particularly if the Red Dragon are genuine antagonists to the Takahashis, but would require writing off his death in the MKX comic.
Change him from a nameless, bland brute with lip service paid to his intelligence, and instead show him as a huge physical bruiser also possessed of an exceptional intelligence. Think Bane. This would demonstrate the characters worth beyond a shirtless buff dude in army pants and give him an actual role, as well as finally giving Jax his ‘Kano’.
On the other, he could operate as essentially Dan Hibiki, the self conscious comedy character. In my view, that role should be Chameleon’s however, and I see no reason why the former method could not be pursued.
Ultimately, of course, I have no expectations of ever seeing Hsu Hao in a game ever again. The above is purely hypothetical; most people would scoff at the very concept of his presence in a game. All I say is that a lot of those people likely would have scoffed at Stryker before MK9. Any character can be redeemed with only one good appearance.
MAVADO
The second in command of the Red Dragon, Mavado serves as the ‘street boss’, loyally running the organisation on behalf of Daegon. He controls the day-to-day inter-realm criminal business of the ancient clan and brokers the highest level contracts the Red Dragon undertakes, and is willing to carry out missions himself when requested by a prospective client.
THE PROBLEM
I’m tempted to say his duster. Why does he only have one arm covered? Otherwise, however, Mavado is a fairly solid character. Like the Red Dragon as a whole, he fits in well with the overall ‘feel’ of Mortal Kombat, with solid story potential (canonically, he’s beaten both Kabal and Kenshi to near death) and a good design (bizarre asymmetrical trenchcoat aside).
It's like Nitara's glove, what the hell was with the DA team and pointlessly incomplete pieces of clothing?
I think the primary problem with Mavado is the gameplay of Deadly Alliance (and Armageddon). Midway decided on a focus on real world martial arts, in an attempt to capitalise on the Soul Calibur and Tekken heyday and, by so doing, drastically reduced the number of special moves special characters had. Many characters suffered as a result, but arguably none more so than Mavado.
His ‘elastic bands’ didn’t really do anything, letting him do a flying kick and side step but added no real personality The presentation didn’t help either, with the goofy sound effect.
You know what isn’t the problem? His name
Yes, this bugs me way more than it should for some reason
THE REDEMPTION
I actually think just having Mavado playable and fully fleshed out in the modern NRS fighting engine would redeem the character. Away from the blocky graphics and crude presentation of Deadly Alliance, a handsome Latino dude in a black trenchcoat would immediately come across well. Add in the gameplay potential of colossal mobility all around the screen with his grapples, presented more along the lines of Batman’s grapple gun, and I honestly think Mavado would redeem himself.
It’s possible too, given that the Red Dragon (and thus Mavado and Daegon) have been hyped as antagonists for Takeda and Kenshi. Given the vendetta between the Takahashis and the Red Dragon, it isn’t impossible that Mavado would show up in story mode.
Ultimately, there’s no way we’re seeing Mavado in MK11. It should be noted that he did technically die in the MKX comic but even if didn’t, and he handed out cans of whoopass like it was going out of style, there’s very little chance of seeing him.
KIRA
A hardened gun-runner and criminal operating out of the highlands of Afghanistan, Kira had concealed her identity for years, knowing that being a woman in such environs would be, at best, bad for business and, at worst, potentially lethal. Once her secret had been uncovered, however, Kira killed all those who were present to prevent the rumour from spreading. She was recruited to Kabal’s Black Dragon on the strength of such cunning and brutality.
THE PROBLEM
The problem with Kira is, in short, everything bar the concept. The concept of a no-bullshit female gunrunner and criminal is perfectly serviceable, and her backstory in Afghanistan (a tad ‘ripped from the headlines’ in 2004) establishes her credentials well but everything built on that foundation…sucked.
Her design was and is dull and a clear BloodRayne rip off, with generic black and red leather ensuring that nothing stood out about her visually. Well….two things did.
Christ alive. Her back must be in pieces.
Her gameplay was even less inspired. One of the ways Deception was put together so quickly after Deadly Alliance was by a reusing of assets that would give the Unity engine pause. This is understandable, given that Mortal Kombat was essentially the last profitable Midway title and was keeping the company alive on its own, but does result in incredibly dull characters. Kira inherited Kano’s cannonball (and knives) and Sonya’s kiss of death. There’s nothing really there, it’s potentially the worst asset reusing, in terms of gameplay, in the history of the franchise.
THE REDEMPTION
Redeeming Kira is going to basically require a total revamp and redesign of the character. Tanya’s positive reception proved that there’s a fertile market in the fanbase for a cunning, manipulative female character and Kira can be established
Visually, the character is pretty dull and nondescript, boobage aside, so I’d recommend a total redesign in that regard. She could, however, take over the ‘sex pot’ role from Mileena given her….ehm….attributes.
Similarly, her moveset is absolutely going to need a total redesign. Sonya’s kiss of death and Kano’s cannonball? Nerp. MK is in desperate need of a gun-kata characer, however: it’s the direction I’d have taken with Cassie but, despite MKX having Cassie, Jacqui, Jax, Sonya and Erron, no one who uses guns approaches a gun-kata style. That could be the niche to make Kira.
Also, given that Kira is depicted as a redhead, can we change her name to Ciara? Speaking as an Irishman.
Ultimately, there is of course no way in hell we are seeing Kira in MK11.
KOBRA
A highly skilled martial artist, Kobra often wondered whether or not the skills he learned and excelled at in training had any practical use. To find out, he ventured into the underground of the city and picked a fight. Finding that his skills were of use, Kobra murdered his opponent effortlessly. Becoming addicted to the rush of combat and murder, Kobra found himself committing murder after murder with his superlative martial skills until being recruited to join Kabal’s new Black Dragon.
THE PROBLEM
The problems with Kobra are manifold. His gameplay is essentially the only thing that isn’t a problem: although basic, his manipulation of his chi manifesting as fireballs and fire on his limbs works well with the Asian mysticism which has always played such a core role in Mortal Kombat. With a fireball, dash punch, flipkick and wheel kick, there’s nothing particularly juicy to work with for Kobra’s gameplay, but there’s also plenty of room to work with.
His story is fairly dull, essentially a standard Black Dragon goon, but his primary problem, and the reason Kobra often gets brutally mocked when people go back and play the 3d era games, is his design. There is a fine line between homage and knock-off and Kobra leaps across that line. His primary costume is a recoloured Ken Masters (to the point of his ‘beta name’ being Ken as an in-joke) while his alternate costume is a Karate Kid homage (which looks awesome).
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/muc/images/0/01/Kobra_kick.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140828064645
Sweep this leg, bitch. Also, there's no way Kira can run with those things. I mean for the love of Christ.
Also his name is stupid. Yeah, fair due on this one, that’s a dumb name.
THE REDEMPTION
So how could we redeem Kobra? Nondescript gameplay, nondescript and minor role in the story and a design which is unoriginal in the extreme? And why do I think Kobra has the potential to be, sit down for this, the single best character in the series?
His backstory. Not the Black Dragon goon stuff, but the fundamental story of Kobra. A skilled martial artist who discovers his skill and aptitude for murder and dedicates his life to the pursuit of combat? That is an amazing jumping board for a character and, in particular, an anti-hero.
Leave aside what you know about Kobra and instead focus just on the following story.
An exceptionally talented martial artist (maybe an MMA or BJJ guy) wonders how effective his techniques would be outside the ruleset of the sport and gets into street fights to find out. His first fight, he kills a guy. And he likes it, the adrenaline rush from beating someone to death is nirvana to him.
So he does it again.
And again.
And again, until he’s basically a serial killer, getting into a street fight every night and beating a man to death, getting stronger and stronger all the time. And then he hears about this tournament where, if you kill every other competitor, you get to live forever, to be eternally young and to be lauded by the very Gods themselves as ‘The Champion’.
Obviously, this does it for him so he seeks out those who can help him join. He gets turned away by the Shaolin/Lin Kuei/Shirai Ryu for being an absolute psychopath (unless one of the clans has turned heel recently) so he gets recruited by the Black Dragon or Red Dragon or whoever, and they introduce him to the realms and teach him about chi etc etc.
Or, alternatively in MK11, let’s say the Kombat Kids have turned against Raiden due to him becoming a genocidal despot. Raiden needs a new champion, one who is both immensely talented and totally okay with murder. Et voila, you technically nominated champion for Mortal Kombat (given Raiden’s position as Protector God) being all murder-happy and anti-hero without needing to go Legacy Liu Kang on it
Tell me that doesn’t sound awesome.
This ‘headcanon’ version of Kobra is honestly one of my absolute favourite Mortal Kombat characters, and absolutely in the same league to me as Shang, Shao and Reptile. I honestly cannot see a way in which this version of Kobra would not work for at least part of the fanbase: it absolutely screams Mortal Kombat, taps a niche which is surprisingly vacant and has plenty of story potential. Kobra is my secret Mortal Kombat shame, the Mortal Kombat version of Powerwolf: I shouldn't like it....but lord, I do. Lord save me, I do.
Oh, but do change his name. In the name of Christ, how was the character ever meant to succeed with this name?
DRAHMIN
Originally a brutal Earthrealm warlord, Drahmin was damned to hell upon his death, whereupon he was reincarnated as fearsome Oni. Drahmin quickly gained esteem in the Netherrealm for his incredible skill at torture and the infliction of pain upon the damned souls of hell. After centuries honing his craft, Drahmin happened upon an enchanted mask. While wearing this mask, the relentless rage and anger that clouds the minds of the oni dissipates, allowing Drahmin to think clearly and plot his escape from the Netherrealm.
THE PROBLEM
Similarly to Mavado, I suspect that the problem with Drahmin was in the graphical presentation and gameplay of Deadly Alliance.
On the graphical front, Drahmin is actually a fairly strong fundamental design. A skinless monster, dripping gore with every step and with a cloud of flies feasting on his flesh, with a mystical, somewhat gaudy, mask? That sounds like Mortal Kombat to me.
I dig this. I dig this a lot.
His gameplay was atrocious. Deadly Alliance featured a drastic reduction in the number of special moves, in exchange for an expanded combo and normal system. Drahmin was the exception to this, however, featuring more special moves than any character in either Deadly Alliance or Deception (Shujinko aside) with no combos. This, unfortunately, did not work and made him an absolute chore to play. Even then, his specials were incredibly bland (hokey-ass ball of flies aside).
Admittedly, Drahmin’s story needs work. His background is fine, but he is only brought into the story of Mortal Kombat as a hired goon, first employed by Quan Chi against Scorpion and then by Shang Tsung as a back-up plan against Quan Chi. That would have to change, as would his depiction in the MKX comic, where he is killed along with Moloch by Scorpion.
THE REDEMPTION
More so than any other character in my view, Drahmin suffers from the general brush the 3d games are tarred with. Had he been introduced in MK1-4 or MKX, I don’t think he would be as readily dismissed. One of the most frequent criticisms levelled at MKX was that it lacked the ‘monsters’ and ‘freaks’ that characterise Mortal Kombat, that feeling of otherworldliness most powerfully felt in MK2. I can think of no character better placed to resolve this than Drahmin.
Presenting Drahmin as the enforcer of Liu Kang as the ruler of the Netherrealm, with the incredible graphical and presentational polish NRS demonstrates these days, with a new set of specials and according with the overall gameplay theme of the game would be an unmitigated success. Imagine a reveal trailer where you slowly hear the drag of an iron club, and the buzz of flies, the camera focusing on skinless feet with blood spreading with every step….if Drahmin didn’t exist and a new character was introduced with all of Drahmin’s traits, he’d be a huge success.
Ultimately? No, we won’t see Drahmin. He has unfortunately been reduced to Mokap-levels in the eyes of much of the fanbase and NRS so, despite having an extraordinary amount of potential, I can’t see Drahmin appearing in a Mortal Kombat game ever again.
So what do you think? Who do you want to see redeemed in MK11? How bad should I feel for my secret Kobra shame?
As I noted here (https://testyourmight.com/threads/op-ed-likely-returning-3d-characters.67549/) some of the more popular characters of the 3d era are almost expected to appear in MK11, such as Li Mei and Havik. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: go look at any Let’s Play of the 3d era and, amidst the undeserved mockery, those characters will generally be grudgingly acknowledged as pretty good.
But what about the mockery and the mocked? Here, I’ll be defending the merits of the 3d era games in general elsewhere but here I want to focus on the mocked characters. In my view, a lot of these characters are unfortunately dismissed out of hand, when there is, in truth a lot of potential in them. Some of them are dismissed as a by-product of the unfortunate graphical design of the game, some of them unfortunately lack personality as a result of the more Tekken-style fighting system and some of them because their names sound funny.
Now, I’m not for a minute arguing that these characters are in any way instant classics but, with a little development, they all have the potential to be series mainstays. Well almost all of them….some of them should probably be written off.
DAIROU
A former Seidan Guardsmen turned mercenary, Dairou is hired in Deception by Darrius to assassinate Hotaru and steal the constitution of Seido.
Honestly, the fact that someone did tribute art for Dairou shocks me.
THE PROBLEM
There’s a lot of problems with Dairou. His design is fairly bland, his story potential is extremely limited as is (it’s incredibly tangential to the overall storyline of Deception and never gets a real resolution) and, although his Tombstone Drop was pretty broken even by Deception standards, his moveset was phenomenally dull, essentially a Kreate-A-Kharacter list of special moves. He is, in truth, the first character I’d drop from Mortal Kombat but even he can be redeemed.
THE REDEMPTION
The key to redeeming Dairou is, in my view, to bring him back closer to the original conception of the character.
Dairou was conceived of as Kenshi’s enemy, a ronin wielding dual katanas hired by Shang Tsung as his personal bodyguard who would stalk Kenshi from the shadows. That idea, of the samurai turned mercenary, formed the crux of Dairou. We can get back to that crux.
Mercenaries and bounty hunters are inherently cool. Erron Black proved arguably the biggest hit of the new characters in MKX, primarily because bounty hunters (and cowboys, to some strange people) are cool. Hell, it’s been Kano’s stock in trade for almost three decades. Dairou can easily step into the role of an inter-realm merc, plying his trade for the highest bidder. He would never, unless deliberately written for it, be a central player in a Mortal Kombat story but he would serve well as a goon/henchman, be it for good or evil.
His design would have to be altered, admittedly. A redesign more along the lines of his original conception, as a dark samurai, and an altered moveset would be key. Nevertheless, the core of a teleport, launching ground pound and fireball shot from his leg could be replicated.
Ultimately, I have no hope of seeing or hearing of Dairou again. And frankly, I’m not unduly bothered by this
DARRIUS
A citizen of Seido, Darrius grew disillusioned with the overwhelming order enforced by Hotaru’s Seidan Guardsmen and establishes the resistance to their rule. He works with Havik in engendering Chaos to oppose Hotaru’s reign.
THE PROBLEM
Darrius is an odd character. His design is somewhat eye catching, particularly his bladed gauntlet weapons and his padded doublet but he’s doubtlessly something of a pastiche, or at the very least heavily influenced, by Wesley Snipes’ Blade. His moveset is pretty dull but functional.
THE REDEMPTION
Darrius is hard to redeem. His moveset is fine as it is, albeit somewhat bland, his design is fairly uninteresting and his story role is necessarily limited and distinctly circumspect. He couldn’t really step into a nondescript ‘goon’ role and his role in Seido, while central to that realm, is in no way connected to the currently ongoing MK story.
The solution, as far as I see, would be to build him up and create some mystique around the character. In my piece on Hotaru (cheap link here), I noted that the best way to bring Hotaru into the current storyline would be to have him enlisted as a lieutenant of Dark Raiden. If you bring in Hotaru, you can then bring in Darrius IF you have some of the protagonists note that Hotaru and the Guardsmen can be drawn away from Raiden by creating a diversion in Seido by utilising Darrius’ resistance. From there, Darrius could be folded into the next conflict, although the writing would need to be done deliberately.
Ultimately, however, although Darrius has potential as a character, I would be hugely surprised to see him return. His most likely fate will never be mentioned or, if it is, he will be mentioned as being killed off screen.
I make no comment on his alternate, Jim Kelly inspired costume.
It’s funky, you jive ass turkeys, but it should not be goddamn canon
NITARA
A member of the Moroi race, also known as vampires, Nitara is a sorceress and warrior, charged with defending the realm of Vaeternus and freeing it from the control of Shao Kahn.
THE PROBLEM
In truth, Nitara’s primary problem is in her costume designs. Taking Mortal Kombat as a game of tropes (albeit far less so than Killer Instinct), vampires fit right in, and her role as a defender of her realm fits in well with the expansion of Mortal Kombat’s mythology and lore. Her moveset is classic vampire fare, including spitting blood and regaining health from draining blood, along with unique signature weapons, the Kama, which are begging to be used in dial-a-combos.
So what’s the problem? Well….her primary costume is, essentially, a pirate hooker and her alternate is a goth chick. Her costume design reeks of Soul Calibur and, while there is no lack of detail, she would likely need something of a redesign.
THE REDEMPTION
Nitara is already well on the road to being redeemed, insofar as she required redemption. In the MKX comic, she is portrayed largely in keeping with her original inception in Deadly Alliance, as manipulating others and utilising blood magic in order to help free her realm. Story-wise, Nitara’s quest to free her realm would fit in well with Kotal Kahn’s collectivist regime, much as Tanya and Rain’s campaign for a free Edenia did. With her manipulation and blood magic, she could easily be used as an ally of Dark Raiden or whoever opposes Kotal’s rulership.
The Deadly Alliance Krypt had some genuinely funny pictures. Also, why are her gloves incomplete?
Gameplay wise, Nitara should be the ‘flight’ character, with her features lending themselves to a hit and run playstyle centring around zoning and hit and run tactics, with her moveset needing no real expansion. As noted, Nitara’s costume design leaves a deal to be desired. There are solid beginnings to work from, however and with the sex appeal which formed a huge part of her character in Deadly Alliance, she could easily step into the Mileena role.
Ultimately, Nitara simply does not need a great deal of redemption and serves as a prime example of a character who, with some investment on NRS’ part, could easily occupy the role of a series mainstay.
ASHRAH
A former demonic servant of Quan Chi, Ashrah desires nothing more than escape from the Netherrealm. To that end, she discovers a mystical sword which removes the stain of evil from her sole a little more with each evil being she slays with it (called a ‘Kriss’ and based on an actual traditional Indonesian blade). As the Netherrealm can only hold souls containing evil, should she purge her soul entirely, she would be expelled from Hell. In truth however, the weapon itself actually deceives its wielder with promises of redemption to lure them into killing vampires under the delusion that they are demons.
THE PROBLEM
I don’t really know what the problem with Ashrah is. Her story is one of redemption, an arc which always works, her design is wonderful (she was the only covered-up female character before MKX redeemed the female character designs, although people seem to have an obsession with portraying her as a sexy nun given the results of my research), with a solid moveset. In truth, the problem is likely a lack of investment: although her design is solid, the true potential of Ashrah only shines through when you’re aware of her story. In addition, there is the risk of her potentially sharing Raiden’s role with regards to some of her special moves
THE REDEMPTION
This is going to be short because Ashrah, in my view, needs no redemption. She’s a phenomenal character design with a unique weapon, a moveset which would work well in 2d and a story motivation, which could eventually be naturally worked into a feud with Nitara, as a demon seeking redemption would work perfectly with any conflict with the Netherrealm.
Regardless of whether the conflict is between Liu Kang and Dark Raiden or Liu Kang and Cassie’s crew, Ashrah is ideally placed story-wise and would serve as a colossal breath of fresh air.
The only distinct problem with Ashrah, as I see it, is that she operates in the same space as Sareena, a demonic former servant of Quan Chi in the form of a human woman seeking redemption. Sareena is an absolute must for MK11 (as noted here cheap link) and it may take some dexterous writing and design to make sure Sareena and Ashrah can nicely co-exist. The answer may be to have one as DLC.
Ultimately, while Ashrah has as much potential as almost any character, to the degree where she could become a genuine series mainstay, I don’t expect to see her in MK11, but I wouldn’t be surprised. She may be best kept as a draw card for future games.
HSU HAO
A high ranking officer of the Red Dragon, Hsu Hao long ago infiltrated the Special Forces, where he rose high and gained the trust and friendship of Sonya and Jax. As intelligence officer, he played a critical role in helping the Special Forces eliminate the Black Dragon, the arch rivals of the Red Dragon.
THE PROBLEM
Well….what isn’t the problem with Hsu Hao?
His design is incredibly dull. His cybernetic chest piece is noteworthy, but other than that, he is a shirtless buff dude in green army pants. His alternate replaces that with white army pants. His special attacks are dull in the extreme, though Armageddon did at least give him a chest laser.
His storyline is, to be fair, not necessarily bad. More than any other character, Hsu Hao serves to actually make the Red Dragon feel both a threat (by showing how easily they’ve infiltrated Special Forces) and a part of the universe (through a wonderful piece of slotting them and Hsu Hao into existing canon). That can, and should, be preserved in the extremely unlikely event NRS ever decide to redeem Hsu Hao. Speaking of…
He lifts, at least.
THE REDEMPTION
It’s possible Hsu Hao cannot be redeemed. He’s become almost mimetic as the worst character in the history of Mortal Kombat and, as that conception of the character has taken hold amongst the fanbase, it will likely be hard, if not impossible, to shake. His status as the undisputed joke of the franchise seems to have taken route even amongst NRS, at which point we can probably write the character off.
Nothing about the character shines through as demanding redemption, with both design and moveset generic in extremis and, canonically in the current story, he’s almost certainly dead (at Scorpion’s hand/kunai).
It should be noted, however, that I still struggle to see what makes Hsu Hao the clear example of ‘this character sucks’ in MK. He’s bland and dull, yes, but he isn’t as offensively bad as his reputation would lead you to believe. There are, as far as I can see two options at bringing him back, the two being diametrically opposed.
On the one hand, he could be brought from the beginning of the games. At the next reboot, which will likely be MK9 but done differently a la Legacy Season 2, play up Hsu Hao’s infiltration of the Special Forces and his role in the Red Dragon, with him serving as the intelligence officer of the Special Forces. The longer he spends with the Special Forces, the more his eventual betrayal will mean. This could conceivably be done in MK11, particularly if the Red Dragon are genuine antagonists to the Takahashis, but would require writing off his death in the MKX comic.
Change him from a nameless, bland brute with lip service paid to his intelligence, and instead show him as a huge physical bruiser also possessed of an exceptional intelligence. Think Bane. This would demonstrate the characters worth beyond a shirtless buff dude in army pants and give him an actual role, as well as finally giving Jax his ‘Kano’.
On the other, he could operate as essentially Dan Hibiki, the self conscious comedy character. In my view, that role should be Chameleon’s however, and I see no reason why the former method could not be pursued.
Ultimately, of course, I have no expectations of ever seeing Hsu Hao in a game ever again. The above is purely hypothetical; most people would scoff at the very concept of his presence in a game. All I say is that a lot of those people likely would have scoffed at Stryker before MK9. Any character can be redeemed with only one good appearance.
MAVADO
The second in command of the Red Dragon, Mavado serves as the ‘street boss’, loyally running the organisation on behalf of Daegon. He controls the day-to-day inter-realm criminal business of the ancient clan and brokers the highest level contracts the Red Dragon undertakes, and is willing to carry out missions himself when requested by a prospective client.
THE PROBLEM
I’m tempted to say his duster. Why does he only have one arm covered? Otherwise, however, Mavado is a fairly solid character. Like the Red Dragon as a whole, he fits in well with the overall ‘feel’ of Mortal Kombat, with solid story potential (canonically, he’s beaten both Kabal and Kenshi to near death) and a good design (bizarre asymmetrical trenchcoat aside).
It's like Nitara's glove, what the hell was with the DA team and pointlessly incomplete pieces of clothing?
I think the primary problem with Mavado is the gameplay of Deadly Alliance (and Armageddon). Midway decided on a focus on real world martial arts, in an attempt to capitalise on the Soul Calibur and Tekken heyday and, by so doing, drastically reduced the number of special moves special characters had. Many characters suffered as a result, but arguably none more so than Mavado.
His ‘elastic bands’ didn’t really do anything, letting him do a flying kick and side step but added no real personality The presentation didn’t help either, with the goofy sound effect.
You know what isn’t the problem? His name
THE REDEMPTION
I actually think just having Mavado playable and fully fleshed out in the modern NRS fighting engine would redeem the character. Away from the blocky graphics and crude presentation of Deadly Alliance, a handsome Latino dude in a black trenchcoat would immediately come across well. Add in the gameplay potential of colossal mobility all around the screen with his grapples, presented more along the lines of Batman’s grapple gun, and I honestly think Mavado would redeem himself.
It’s possible too, given that the Red Dragon (and thus Mavado and Daegon) have been hyped as antagonists for Takeda and Kenshi. Given the vendetta between the Takahashis and the Red Dragon, it isn’t impossible that Mavado would show up in story mode.
Ultimately, there’s no way we’re seeing Mavado in MK11. It should be noted that he did technically die in the MKX comic but even if didn’t, and he handed out cans of whoopass like it was going out of style, there’s very little chance of seeing him.
KIRA
A hardened gun-runner and criminal operating out of the highlands of Afghanistan, Kira had concealed her identity for years, knowing that being a woman in such environs would be, at best, bad for business and, at worst, potentially lethal. Once her secret had been uncovered, however, Kira killed all those who were present to prevent the rumour from spreading. She was recruited to Kabal’s Black Dragon on the strength of such cunning and brutality.
THE PROBLEM
The problem with Kira is, in short, everything bar the concept. The concept of a no-bullshit female gunrunner and criminal is perfectly serviceable, and her backstory in Afghanistan (a tad ‘ripped from the headlines’ in 2004) establishes her credentials well but everything built on that foundation…sucked.
Her design was and is dull and a clear BloodRayne rip off, with generic black and red leather ensuring that nothing stood out about her visually. Well….two things did.
Christ alive. Her back must be in pieces.
Her gameplay was even less inspired. One of the ways Deception was put together so quickly after Deadly Alliance was by a reusing of assets that would give the Unity engine pause. This is understandable, given that Mortal Kombat was essentially the last profitable Midway title and was keeping the company alive on its own, but does result in incredibly dull characters. Kira inherited Kano’s cannonball (and knives) and Sonya’s kiss of death. There’s nothing really there, it’s potentially the worst asset reusing, in terms of gameplay, in the history of the franchise.
THE REDEMPTION
Redeeming Kira is going to basically require a total revamp and redesign of the character. Tanya’s positive reception proved that there’s a fertile market in the fanbase for a cunning, manipulative female character and Kira can be established
Visually, the character is pretty dull and nondescript, boobage aside, so I’d recommend a total redesign in that regard. She could, however, take over the ‘sex pot’ role from Mileena given her….ehm….attributes.
Similarly, her moveset is absolutely going to need a total redesign. Sonya’s kiss of death and Kano’s cannonball? Nerp. MK is in desperate need of a gun-kata characer, however: it’s the direction I’d have taken with Cassie but, despite MKX having Cassie, Jacqui, Jax, Sonya and Erron, no one who uses guns approaches a gun-kata style. That could be the niche to make Kira.
Also, given that Kira is depicted as a redhead, can we change her name to Ciara? Speaking as an Irishman.
Ultimately, there is of course no way in hell we are seeing Kira in MK11.
KOBRA
A highly skilled martial artist, Kobra often wondered whether or not the skills he learned and excelled at in training had any practical use. To find out, he ventured into the underground of the city and picked a fight. Finding that his skills were of use, Kobra murdered his opponent effortlessly. Becoming addicted to the rush of combat and murder, Kobra found himself committing murder after murder with his superlative martial skills until being recruited to join Kabal’s new Black Dragon.
THE PROBLEM
The problems with Kobra are manifold. His gameplay is essentially the only thing that isn’t a problem: although basic, his manipulation of his chi manifesting as fireballs and fire on his limbs works well with the Asian mysticism which has always played such a core role in Mortal Kombat. With a fireball, dash punch, flipkick and wheel kick, there’s nothing particularly juicy to work with for Kobra’s gameplay, but there’s also plenty of room to work with.
His story is fairly dull, essentially a standard Black Dragon goon, but his primary problem, and the reason Kobra often gets brutally mocked when people go back and play the 3d era games, is his design. There is a fine line between homage and knock-off and Kobra leaps across that line. His primary costume is a recoloured Ken Masters (to the point of his ‘beta name’ being Ken as an in-joke) while his alternate costume is a Karate Kid homage (which looks awesome).
Sweep this leg, bitch. Also, there's no way Kira can run with those things. I mean for the love of Christ.
Also his name is stupid. Yeah, fair due on this one, that’s a dumb name.
THE REDEMPTION
So how could we redeem Kobra? Nondescript gameplay, nondescript and minor role in the story and a design which is unoriginal in the extreme? And why do I think Kobra has the potential to be, sit down for this, the single best character in the series?
His backstory. Not the Black Dragon goon stuff, but the fundamental story of Kobra. A skilled martial artist who discovers his skill and aptitude for murder and dedicates his life to the pursuit of combat? That is an amazing jumping board for a character and, in particular, an anti-hero.
Leave aside what you know about Kobra and instead focus just on the following story.
An exceptionally talented martial artist (maybe an MMA or BJJ guy) wonders how effective his techniques would be outside the ruleset of the sport and gets into street fights to find out. His first fight, he kills a guy. And he likes it, the adrenaline rush from beating someone to death is nirvana to him.
So he does it again.
And again.
And again, until he’s basically a serial killer, getting into a street fight every night and beating a man to death, getting stronger and stronger all the time. And then he hears about this tournament where, if you kill every other competitor, you get to live forever, to be eternally young and to be lauded by the very Gods themselves as ‘The Champion’.
Obviously, this does it for him so he seeks out those who can help him join. He gets turned away by the Shaolin/Lin Kuei/Shirai Ryu for being an absolute psychopath (unless one of the clans has turned heel recently) so he gets recruited by the Black Dragon or Red Dragon or whoever, and they introduce him to the realms and teach him about chi etc etc.
Or, alternatively in MK11, let’s say the Kombat Kids have turned against Raiden due to him becoming a genocidal despot. Raiden needs a new champion, one who is both immensely talented and totally okay with murder. Et voila, you technically nominated champion for Mortal Kombat (given Raiden’s position as Protector God) being all murder-happy and anti-hero without needing to go Legacy Liu Kang on it
Tell me that doesn’t sound awesome.
This ‘headcanon’ version of Kobra is honestly one of my absolute favourite Mortal Kombat characters, and absolutely in the same league to me as Shang, Shao and Reptile. I honestly cannot see a way in which this version of Kobra would not work for at least part of the fanbase: it absolutely screams Mortal Kombat, taps a niche which is surprisingly vacant and has plenty of story potential. Kobra is my secret Mortal Kombat shame, the Mortal Kombat version of Powerwolf: I shouldn't like it....but lord, I do. Lord save me, I do.
Oh, but do change his name. In the name of Christ, how was the character ever meant to succeed with this name?
DRAHMIN
Originally a brutal Earthrealm warlord, Drahmin was damned to hell upon his death, whereupon he was reincarnated as fearsome Oni. Drahmin quickly gained esteem in the Netherrealm for his incredible skill at torture and the infliction of pain upon the damned souls of hell. After centuries honing his craft, Drahmin happened upon an enchanted mask. While wearing this mask, the relentless rage and anger that clouds the minds of the oni dissipates, allowing Drahmin to think clearly and plot his escape from the Netherrealm.
THE PROBLEM
Similarly to Mavado, I suspect that the problem with Drahmin was in the graphical presentation and gameplay of Deadly Alliance.
On the graphical front, Drahmin is actually a fairly strong fundamental design. A skinless monster, dripping gore with every step and with a cloud of flies feasting on his flesh, with a mystical, somewhat gaudy, mask? That sounds like Mortal Kombat to me.
I dig this. I dig this a lot.
His gameplay was atrocious. Deadly Alliance featured a drastic reduction in the number of special moves, in exchange for an expanded combo and normal system. Drahmin was the exception to this, however, featuring more special moves than any character in either Deadly Alliance or Deception (Shujinko aside) with no combos. This, unfortunately, did not work and made him an absolute chore to play. Even then, his specials were incredibly bland (hokey-ass ball of flies aside).
Admittedly, Drahmin’s story needs work. His background is fine, but he is only brought into the story of Mortal Kombat as a hired goon, first employed by Quan Chi against Scorpion and then by Shang Tsung as a back-up plan against Quan Chi. That would have to change, as would his depiction in the MKX comic, where he is killed along with Moloch by Scorpion.
THE REDEMPTION
More so than any other character in my view, Drahmin suffers from the general brush the 3d games are tarred with. Had he been introduced in MK1-4 or MKX, I don’t think he would be as readily dismissed. One of the most frequent criticisms levelled at MKX was that it lacked the ‘monsters’ and ‘freaks’ that characterise Mortal Kombat, that feeling of otherworldliness most powerfully felt in MK2. I can think of no character better placed to resolve this than Drahmin.
Presenting Drahmin as the enforcer of Liu Kang as the ruler of the Netherrealm, with the incredible graphical and presentational polish NRS demonstrates these days, with a new set of specials and according with the overall gameplay theme of the game would be an unmitigated success. Imagine a reveal trailer where you slowly hear the drag of an iron club, and the buzz of flies, the camera focusing on skinless feet with blood spreading with every step….if Drahmin didn’t exist and a new character was introduced with all of Drahmin’s traits, he’d be a huge success.
Ultimately? No, we won’t see Drahmin. He has unfortunately been reduced to Mokap-levels in the eyes of much of the fanbase and NRS so, despite having an extraordinary amount of potential, I can’t see Drahmin appearing in a Mortal Kombat game ever again.
So what do you think? Who do you want to see redeemed in MK11? How bad should I feel for my secret Kobra shame?
