Wow Thanks !!!!! :) Yeah Alexandra took a while to draw and create, but I indeed did want to go towards a gladiator route. Very soon her alternate will be up, (the first time i sent it there was something wrong with the image) keep on a lookout for it. I'm proud of how her alternate turned out! And thank you very much for the compliment!

Top 3 are alexandra, adsler and clyde, rest seem okay but not enough originality from everyone but some people have excellent so well done, ive got the last two left to read. Gd Luck Evry1

Okay. My vote goes to Clyde the Cajun Cannibal. Rock on, mes ami!

I have a bit of a flaw in Alexandra's story...

The Greeks gave up the baby to Kahn to save themselves, but Kahn wants to merge the Earth with Outworld. So in tern, the Greeks would be annihilated too anyway?

I don't think Kahn would destroy the world but leave Greece standing on it's own. Kahn has planned to take over Earth for thousands of years and I don't see anything or anyone taking him off his goal.

Just my opinion.

On the topic of bio length, I find it a bit off-putting to see a bio that goes past the scroll bar on my screen. Sure, it could be "high quality", but I don't know that from just looking at it, and seeing a post that long makes me not want to read it, especially when we've got 99(?) characters to go through.

When I read a book, a magazine/newspaper article, or a blog, I expect it to be long, so I don't mind giving it a good read through (if it keeps my interest), but I don't expect character biographies to be more than a paragraph or two. Thus, when they are that long, I have a natural reaction of not wanting to read them.

And having said that, several of the biographies I read from the 13 posted weren't interesting enough to go on that long (not ALL of them, some were intriguing), so as Crow said, there's the double whammy of it being long AND boring in some cases.

Anyways, that's just my two cents (and advice) on bios. I actually told more about my character through her moves/fighting style and her ending...her bio mainly just presents her as a mysterious character (sorta like Ermac and Noob in the old days). But her true identity is revealed in her ending

While I have some criticisms of the characters we've posted so far (which is natural), I won't post them now or say who my favorite is out of respect for everyone. Most of the fighters haven't impressed me that much, but there is a select group that has won me over for this first round. Best of luck to everyone!

Ummm...but thats the whole point......he still didnt merge the two realms. He was going to but he was defeated in this timeline, remember?..he just got killed by the elder gods in this story.sooooooooooo...even if he had merged the two realms..the greeks were able to save themselves...temporarily....her story took place about 17 years ago before his own death..and Shao Kahn was defeated so nothing happened. The whole point was to sacrifice the baby to save themselves..until Alexandra would return. ...Her story starts 17 years BEFORE he was about to merge the realms...when he was rounding up soldiers and troops.Hope that cleared up the FLAW for you. Cant wait to read your character........ Next time you have a direct flaw like that..it'd be more decent if you could send me a message. This is the same thing with the MUGEN thing...i asked what Mugen was and you flipped. Next time, just im me please.

And for the record... MK 9 in game bio length is approximately 100 words or so.

I also think bio length should be more on line with those in the game. Just a small paragraph that captures who that character is, what their role is in the story at that time, and what their intentions are.

It's definately challenging, but it comes off a lot more powerful than a long, drawn out one.

so far my favorite is onyx, probably because he's pretty close to an idea that I had not that long ago

I was thinking along similar lines until I recalled Crow's point that the characters in this contest don't have the benefit of story mode to allow for proper exposition and characterization. As a result, I think going beyond the in game bio length is a good idea.

In regards to reviewing the preliminary characters, I'm basically breaking it down to 3 categories: Backstory, Appearance, Gameplay with a simple "like" or "don't like" plus/minus. There's several contestants that meet 1 of the 3 criteria but none that go beyond that for me personally. I'll refrain from further explanation out of consideration for the applicants. Good luck to all.

Alexandra's story is still flawed because how is Kahn able to step foot on Earth without the Elder Gods punishing him like they did at the end of MK9 story mode?

I am looking for plausibility. You still have to stick to the rules that are set by the games story.

And as we are here to talk about our stories and created characters, we should be looking for things like this as I am sure the judges will too!

Like I say... It's my opinion. I will also be expecting criticism over my character bio/story But we all have a right to pick out mistakes and other things that just don't quite fit.


The judges will be harsher than me dude! Don't take it personal.

My personal hierarchy of what I find important about a character:

Bio:

I consider the bio like... IDK, the entry fee. Having a spectacular one isn't going to help you much more than having one that's just good, but having one that violates what I look for in bios gets you major points deducted and once we're down to 1-on-1 matches, it will almost guarantee a vote against from me.

Things that I take points off for in bios:

Directly contradicting canon: When there is something firmly established, establishing something that directly goes against it is a major no-no to me. This does not mean that, say, a Zaterran other than Reptile and Khameleon surviving would be a contradiction. He just wasn't known of until this point. But saying people were somewhere doing something when canon says they were completely elsewhere doing something else is a contradiction.

Re-writing the universe: Character creation is, in my opinion, about making something not from canon that blends seamlessly with it. Changing the rules of the universe to suit the story you want to tell is, to me, flawed character creation.

Incidental canon character interactions: If they don't play a role in your character's story, I feel there is no reason to mention "Oh, they happen to also have met here." If they were the ones who trained them, fine. If they're seeking revenge, fine. If they're looking to meet them for some reason, fine. But there's no need for mentioning that they were childhood friends, or worked on a case once, or happened to run into each other at the local Fresh Market if it doesn't affect the character.

Fighting style/Special Moves/Fatalities/X-Ray:

Looking for a unifying theme that goes with the bio here, as well as interesting and creative ideas.

Personality

From the above two areas I should be able to get a good grasp on who your character is and what they're like. Also, things like taunts and entrances are just made for this area of evaluation.

Character Appearance

Should look like they go with the moveset and bio they've been given.

Everything else:

If I ever make it all the way down here without already having decided who I like best I'll be amazed.

Anyways, just my two cents on character creation.

First off , good job everyone. You can tell that you all really put a lot of thought into your creations, and it shows .... HOWEVER

My biggest problem with the majority of these submissions is that while they are great for fan fiction, they don't fit in with MK9 at all. They either just feel like side stories involving MK characters that could really be from any game, or they are tied to characters from the later games, which really have no bearing on MK9.

Again, while they are all great as fan fiction, my votes are being based off of what Crow's judging criteria.

Based on

Bio length :

Most are waaaayyyy too long

Moves :

Some have a ridiculous amount of specials, or their specials sound really really cool, but from a gameplay perspective they don't really define a character. Awesome sounding specials are great, but I have to try to imagine actually playing the character, and how I would link these moves, or how they would be used together to define their fighting style ( Keep away, rush down, spammer ect ). A lot of these characters just seem to have moves that fit the character, but don't pay attention to actual gameplay as far as how you would use the character.

Fitting into MK9 :

This is my biggest problem. All of these characters are great fan fic characters, and could somehow tie in with the universe, but the contest is about MK9. You could make any old character, attach them somehow to a MK character, and call it an MK fighter, but the contest is supposed to link them to the story of MK9, and quite frankly, no one really did that.


My top picks based on those things are

Clyde : I can just see him on the MK3 character select screen, short and to the point story, original, makes me want to play as him. His connection to Stryker is flow well with the story of MK9. Cons though, his specials sound awesome, but from a gameplay perspective, I don't see what kind of strategy you would use with him.

Kimya : Very very cool concept, very well thought out specials, could fit into ANY of the original games, just a very kick ass character. I would have liked to see his story tied more into the MK9 story though, maybe linked to nightwolf.

Onyx : Cool design, cool moves, I can see playing as him. Seems like a better fit for the 3d games, but still pretty cool.

Its gonna be a tough vote.

Great job to everyone though. Im not shitting on the other people, its just these 3 stand out the most for what the contest is really about.

Eternus's entrance, mid-fight and victory poses seems to be switched by onyx's =P

There is no rule saying we have to link the characters to the MK9 story line... So I'm sorry but I disagree with that.

The universe is wide open. Not just set in one time period. Because if it was, everyone's character would have that in common. Originality is key. But having everyone set in the same time period would just not work for most of the characters we have created.

Plausibility is also a key factor also.

One more thing I would like to touch on with the whole Bio / Ending length things.

I understand that you have to flesh out your character, and that takes more than a paragraph, ( my submission is three paragraphs ), but it has to flow. You have to keep the attention of the reader. Some of them just seemed like a chore to read through, and I think its because so much of it was original, that it didn't really feel like it had anything to do with the MK9.

As far as my opinion goes tho, the only two I find worthwhile characters in this group are Clyde and Adsler.

I like Clyde story and rivalry with Stryker, and I love that he is from New Orleans (cause so am I (: ) but I'm not won over on his specials. Also think he needs a more Cajun name than Clyde, lol.

Adsler also has a nice story, but I really don't like the appearance. In my mind she would be more like Ashlotte from Soul Cal.

The others lacked depth and originality. No offense (:

MK UNIVERSE.... Not MK9! We cannot be restricted to ONE time period...

I stand corrected. I could have sworn that the rules stated they wanted the characters to fit in with MK9.

At the same time though, my vote is still going to those characters. I feel like the majority of the characters I've seen thus far could literally be in any game, comic, anime , ect with their only real tie being a character or realm mention, OR they flesh out their connection to the universe, but just don't seem like they would look right on the character select screen next to the rest of the cast.

When I think of this contest, I think of who could be DLC for MK9. We are talking about ES moves, X-ray attacks and babalities afterall.

The biggest example would be Alexndra. GREAT FAN FICTION, but when you really think about her fighting Johnny Cage on the subway, you don't think Mortal Kombat all all. Now when you put her in with characters deception and deadly alliance , it makes more sense because those games focused more on fantasy elements, but right now MK9 is what is on my mind, and that's what I want to see in characters.

Crow did state that in fact. I don't know what savage is on about. Here, straight from the first page:

Character bio: (Your character's story and connection to the Mortal Kombat universe. Please use your judgment on what is a proper amount of information. Your biography should be at least as long as those in the game itself, but it may be longer if you wish. Please do not submit novel-length fan fictions, however. Please base your character around the most recently released game's timeline.

Savage is probably taking that to mean that they have to be based on the current canon, not necessarily be in the current game.

Whereas jpe (and you? I don't know for sure) sees it to mean that they should be based on the current timeline AND fit into MK9.

Just a question:

Did anyone else described the full moveset of their charachter? XD





Sorry, but if you are making a charachter for a game, you can't set him in other time period or in other place. A charachter that was during the whole time in the Orderrealm or a charachter who fought for Edenia but is now one of Ermac's souls makes no sence. Its out of context. Unless they make the story move foward in their ending (As Nitara's did in MKDA) its just out of place. It's not that it is a rule, but if you make a charachter that is out of context, i'll give it a negative vote.

And yes, it is set in one time period. If you make a charachter who belong to the brotherhood of shadows and is helping Shinnok to invade Earth after Khan's death, its out of place, that did not happen yet.

But crow did say it could be immediately after mk9 so actually as that would be next that would make sense, as they are currently plotting.

Even though my story starts way back to Kahn was just settling into being 'ruler' of Outworld, It does push forward to Earth's so-call final tournament. But at the same time, you have to think about the repercussions of OUR character(s) being in this tournament. We are retelling game history. Be it arcade of not, that is what we are all doing.

I could have my character's story start in the year 4000+, Have them come back in time to compete in Earth's so-called final tournament, Just by this alone, changes the game history. So please take that into consideration too.

To that I can only respond with...



Crow wrote:
1) Yes, the characters should be set within this game's timeline. That's basically MK1-MK3, of course.

2) Yes, of course. Don't go wild with changing existing charactersand attemptto follow the canon,butifsomething isn'telaboratedon,feel free to elaborate.

3) Yes, you may do that.

4) Sure.

~Crow~ -