You just can't please anyone anymore. Last few games Sonya was "too manly". Now they sex her up and make her hot as hell and you want her to be dressed by someone who parodies DRAG QUEENS (I'm not attacking you or your post personally NS922 you're post was just amusing and kinda summed up my point)?? So Sonya can't look like a man but she should look like a woman trying to dress like a man dressed as a woman? Now granted with her background being trained by the U.S. Special Forces (with it's values being as uptight and thoroughly christian-values oriented as most of you obviously are), she has less of a reason to wear an outfit like that compared to Kitana or Mileena (see my rant below) but hey if Sonya wants to gain a tactical advantage by showing some cleavage I'm not gonna argue because while I'm wasting my breath she will be kicking my ass, lol. Frankly I find the 1950's conservatism on this board IRONIC for an MK video game forum. Just goes to show what's wrong with our society and with the friggin' ratings system. Blood and violence are great but even the HINT of *gasp* nudity or sexuality THAT IS JUST SINFUL and won't be tolerated, rah rah rah. ::laughs:: The hypocrisy is so thick I think I can taste pea soup. I know the rest of my rant isn't as related to Sonya so much but it is relative to the sexy outfit rants going around and how tiresome I find them.

It's the same for Kitana and Mileena. They show skin and SUDDENLY you guys go all conservative, screaming "SLUT!! WHORE!! Bring the branding irons.. we got us a scarlet letter to burn in some bitch!!" or "They look like strippers!" NO, ACTUALLY, They look like female ninja a.k.a. Kunoichi. Kunoichi were just as combatively capable as their male counterparts but they had one weapon the men didn't. BEAUTY and the underestimation of a half-naked woman! While you are half-gawking and half-ranting at them about how they offend your sensitive, good christian eyes with their "skanky..... ::blech gag choke::"... Yes that was the sound of you already getting your throat slit and choking on your own blood. Sex doesn't just sell. For a female assassin it KILLS. Sexuality is a WEAPON, just another tool in the hands of a beautiful assassin who knows how to use it to her advantage. THAT is why Kitana and Mileen are dressed that way. Not because they are whores, sluts, skanks, strippers, etc. but because it provides them with a huge tactical advantage over the targets they have been sent to kill (usually men)!! Men underestimate them or belittle them for their risky outfit and will be too busy being DISTRACTED by that outfit + his holier than thou attitude which will ultimately lead to their demise. It actually does have a tactical advantage and the art of seduction has been used by assassins, both male and female, for countless millenniums. By the way for those of you who somehow obviously don't know this, The Art of Seduction is actually FAR more akin to TACTICAL FLIRTATION to DISTRACT than it is just 'fucking an enemy and killing him' as some of you choose to believe. This is why Mileena saunters around and giggles and why Kitana gives you a sassy and charming *wink* in her win pose. Some of you have an extremely narrow view of what it means to be an assassin or a ninja and should really study more than one society's way of viewing things before you make a statement like "They don't look like assassin's they look like prostitutes."

Sorry for those who don't hold this narrow view of "assassin" but seriously... I'm so friggin' tired of people whining about sexuality or the expression of it. It's part of human nature and our psychology and it is something that can and has been WEAPONIZED and used as a powerful tool in the arsenal of a charming and intelligent warrior who realized just how easily manipulated most of their targets are. Sonya, Kitana, and Mileena look AMAZING in this game aside from a few touch ups here and there as others have mentioned and I hope the other main lady's from MK1-3 are still coming!!

Kitana in DA too. Her royal costume was intended to be her primary.

Despite your lengthy rant, it's clear you are not reading the complaints of people or simply reading what you want to read. This has nothing to do with conservatism. It has to do with bad character design and unfitting costumes. I would like this no better if Sonya was dressed as a Shinobi ninja, because it does not fit her personality or character, therefore would be a bad character design.

I'm not sure how many more people need to be told this.

Actually Crow you were one of the ones exempt as yours WAS a valid point in regards to Sonya. I'm posting in regards to those who keep throwing around Skank, Slut, etc. about ALL of the girls in general. As for Sonya I do LIKE the outfit for reasons mentioned by a few others but I do agree that a shirt underneath would do her some more justice as far as fitting her character's personality goes. Mileena and Kitana are seductive assassins, Sonya not so much. Sonya has typically always been more modest. In the photoshopped spread adding different t-shirt ideas I myself thought #2, 5, and 7 suited her best as being more reminiscent of her glory days. Sorry for any confusion as to whom I am being hostile towards.

Mileena and Kitana are NOT seductive assassins and never were. The point is that using their bodies was NEVER part of their character. It would be like Liu Kang killing someone in cold blood.When both Kitana and Mileena first appeared in MK2, sure they were pretty, but never hinted at the fact that they used their bodies to get men or used it in their profession.

Nor did they until Deception , under Vogel and a few others, the storyline really changed the storyline turning Mileena into “Look at my hot body”. Now they are doing it for pretty much every female character. Before now, every female character had a certain taste and feel. Now they are just cookie cutter near naked females that current mainstream young people like in today’s media. The is one of the biggest problems with this game, for a retelling of MK1-MK3 ,NRS aren’t doing very good jobs of capturing the characters they created in 1992.

Sonya, Kitana, and Mileena attire don't match up. Again why do so many females character look so over to top ? Why aren’t the females getting their representations as they were back in 1992 , in terms of design. If not a new spin for old outfits, why not something that fits their character like MK has done in the past? Sonya, Kitana, and Mileena look so out of character. Do Kitana and Mileena look like professionally trained ninja assassins ... No They look far from it. From a creative stand point, is this the best NRS could do to make Sonya look like a professional special forces agent, with sexy aspects... I doubt it.

Just dropping in. Noticed things are still hilariously awesome and insane around here. Just thought I'd leave this and be on my merry way.

LMFAO.

Garlador wins once again.

Am I the only one who feels middle ground?

Unfortunately until recently we've NEVER actually SEEN or even READ what KIND of assassins Kitana and Mileena were outside of non-cannon movies, tv shows, and fan-fiction. Judging from their original appearances and weapon choices like Kitana's fans... not to mention John Tobias's love for Asian Mythology that influenced the early MKs SO strongly (what initially drew me to MK actually was the blend of western and eastern mythical themes not just the violence, lol), I was always under the impression that they were intended to have training very similar to a kunoichi. Which actually was more than just using their body, as I've said, it utilized alot of flirtatious or other non-sexuality related distraction tactics. The key words here are distraction tactics. To a ninja or similarly trained assassin they stop seeing things in terms of what is socially exceptable or moral (they are assassins after all so they are already beyond THAT) and start seeing things in terms of what will give them an advantage over an opponent who is unwilling to do the same. In Japanese culture this led to ninja using weapons and tactics that a Samurai following the code of Bushido would NEVER use and in fact when used on them would be so caught up and DISTRACTED by just HOW dishonorable and against Bushido the tactic or tool being utilized was that it enabled the often less trained but more cunning ninja to actually BEAT an ARMORED samurai when they had NO armor at all. So I don't think it's that big of a leap to consider that in a game SO heavily inspired by the myths of the east that a character in said game would have a background very similar to an eastern-style assassin. Not to mention the aspects they choose to use of that very DIVERSE training may vary from time to time as well since Ninja or "eastern inspired assassins" if you will are not one trick ponies. Do I think Kitana or Mileena would have sex with an enemy just to catch them off guard... maybe, maybe not, we actually don't know that much about her other than what we fans transfer onto her. I do however think they are both intelligent and cunning enough to know how to utilize a weapon that they have in their arsenal to their advantage. A giggle here or a wink there. Their opponents are all like "Oh she's no warrior, she's just a..." ::gasp choke gurggle:: Back on topic ^ Garlador, THANK YOU! LMFAO. Lack of middle ground for the failure.

Dismissing the desire to see a special forces soldier dress in more vocationally appropriate attire as 'overly conservative' strikes me as far more mindless and lazy a criticism than the opposing perspective. Particularly when the bare-chested alternative is so utterly boring as a design, with overt sexuality being the only significant conceptual trait -- something the character has never represented, and has little reason to.

Sigh and repost my previous reply/apology to Crow now substituting "Crow" for "those making intelligent comments regarding Sonya's personality rather than just calling Sonya, Kitana, Mileena and any other future female reveal a whore, slut, skank, prostitute, etc."

I can poke so many holes into the "they use their bodies to distract their enemies; that's the kind of assassins Kitana & Mileena are/were" but I'm in no mood.

Instead, I'll just say this:

It's fucking stupid. It makes them look stupid and it makes me want to hate them both (probably Jade too, because they'll most likely do the same thing with her). It's lame and dumb and I want nothing to do with that interpretation of either character.

There are more eloquent ways to express that and I could back it up with logic and fact...but I'm just going to leave blunt: it's fucking lame. And it sickens me to see Kitana reduced to such a pathetic state.


Yeah, they're not whores. They just look and act like whores.

I applaud that statement, you worded it really well!

I couldn't agree more with you. If your going to dress the women in skimpy, revealing outfits, they're not going to look like warriors they are going to look like exotic dancers and porn stars. I dont care how effective they are in battle, or how badass they are, you cant expect to take any self-respecting warrior seriously in those outfits. Mileena, you can look past considering she's the female of the franchise who flaunts her body, but there's no excuse for Sonya or Kitana. It's disrespectful to who and what the character has been for all these years and what we know them for, and it might turn some people on but it's personally not to my taste at all.

How about...an outift with Sonya in a sports bra, baggy or at least loose fitting camo pants, combat boots, cut off gloves, and maybe just a little bit of thong showing? Or at least more of her pelvis, like just below the belly button?

http://kotaku.com/5618460/mortal-kombats-post+launch-balancing-add+on-character--pc-plans

If this game makes it onto the PC and character hacking takes off like it did for SFIV

http://shoryuken.com/f241/sf4-pc-custom-skin-mega-thread-199446/

Then this entire 20 page thread will be a useless argument

God, I hope it comes out for the PC!

Why would she be in camo? She's not in Iraq, she's hunting urban crime gangs :P

And why baggy pants? They're boring (to me, obviously). She's always had tight pants. Aesthetically far more pleasant than loose...


Obviously I'm being facetious but you said baggy and instantly I thought gangsta wannabes with their pants hanging off their asses. Lolz

Add an undershirt and maybe remove the heels and we're looking at one of the best sonya designs ever.

That's what the rest of the forum has used 20 pages on saying. :P You nailed it.

Maybe she removed some of the clothes because it would be too hot to fight in? Plus, nobody said she had to be dressed military (But it's a bit late for that considering the badge) just because she's in the special forces, maybe she didn't want people to notice while she was going after Kano. Think about it, if you're dressed like THAT nobody's gonna notice those little tags or that badge at first glance.

It is not practical to wear something like that into combat. I'm not a chick and I can see it would offer no support. Also there is no guard against slippage. Lets say she takes a round house kick, BAM it's Janet Jackson super bowl malfunction all over again. It's a thin vest covering D cups. That's my major problem with it. A regular woman wouldn't wear that in every day life, let alone fighting in some lethal tournament where she would be doing acrobatic kicks and hand stands .It'd be like a guy with a foot long dick being in MK with nothing but a lion cloth.

I realize it's just a game, but I find it to look ridiculous. Fine give her a large bust, but at least make it so there's something practical holding it in place.

lolno

You mean something like... this?

Just got back after a long couple of days and, woah. I missed quite a bit on the picture front. Great screenshots. They finally made a really attractive Sonya. I could tell from the earlier screenshot that they got her right but the zoomed in high def pic definitely shows they made her a stunner. Cool.

However, I still believe the outfit still is not right for the character. Particularly for this portion of the MK timeline. I've made the argument too many times before and I won't bother hammering it home anymore since others have continued it for me.

All I can do is hope for a better alternate at this point. Which is probably a bad idea since it will probably be lifeguard Sonya or something crazy.

On a positive note, structurely they did a great job this time (except the oversized breasts obviously). They've improved their design on female characters much in that department.

What's wrong with overt sexuality in a fantasy fighting game marketed predominantly toward male audiences? I for one have had a crush on Sonya since I can remember, and I'm glad to finally see more of her 'natural beauty'. I'm sure that many would agree with me, and I would hope they constitute a majority.

I understand that the costume may be vocationally inappropriate, but you could take this argument to many other MK games as well, for example, MK1, where Sonya looked like she just returned from Gold's Gym.

Look, even though Sonya is private special forces, you could viably argue that she would choose to wear her sexy costume in combat if she felt more comfortable in it. I for one feel much more comfortable with her in it.
Here's to hoping Sonya's alt looks something like this (old forum fan art):