Sorry Predator. I'll try and behave.

No it depends on how long it takes to create the character, and all related material (animation, textures, background, etc), and when they actually start to work on it. The DLC characters would also need to go through testing, and balancing to make sure their not broken or unbalance the game before they get released. A lot of developers start work on DLC pretty much as soon as the game goes gold, so they've already been working on the content prior to the games actual street date. If NRS was to wait until the game's street date before sitting down and deciding on DLC it would take longer.

I just dont understand the idea that Rain is considered a lesser character than say Ermac just because his name is a reference to a pop song. Ermac's name is just an abbreviation of a computer glitch (Error Macro), does that make Ermac a lesser character than Scorpion or Goro? Why should that logic only apply to Rain?

And on the subject of Ermac, I don't see how it's fair he gets included in this timeline and Rain doesn't. Call me Butthurt if you will but that's just blatant favouritism. Technically, Ermac could have appeared in MK1 due to the colouring glitches of Scorpion's outfit, but he was created in the exact same manner as Rain was: The fans demanded a rumour be made into something real.

In terms of the original Storyline, Ermac (when he officially debuted in UMK3, not MK3) was a legion of souls under the command of Shao Khan and one of his most ferocious warriors. The only thing established about his character was that he was an enigmatic ninja serving the Emporer. He made no real difference to the overall story and had no real interactions with any character up until his encounter Kenshi during the Deadly Alliance era. His character was given the chance to shine in Deception, and he was established as a reformed mystic who wished to atone for his sins and aid the Forces of Light. It took Ermac 9 years since his first official appearance to actually get a decent story and some decent limelight, but when it happened and he got his chance to shine, he became a fan favourite.

Rain got the exact same treatment , but the only difference was that he made his next appearance in Armageddon, and just because that game was kind of shit, a lot of people gave up on him completely. I personally think thats a heap of bullshit, and it's not fair to the character, or the fans of the character who hoped to see him develop and become popular. To exclude him in the remake of the game just on the basis of popularity is a joke, this is the perfect chance for them to actually define and mold the character into being just as popular and recognisable as the likes of Baraka or Sindel. And considering this is a remake, to put Ermac in over Rain when in all actuality it's Ermac who has the least amount of relevance or storyline at this point of time is a major let down. I hope the team dont give up entirely on Rain because he's a part of the lore and he's a part of the cast and to just kill him off on the grounds of popularity is absurd.

I'm sure that's unlikely the case for Rain (though I'm not claiming to know for sure). I'm sure most if not all characters that will be included as DLC are either finished or at least *nearly* finished. If NRS has the time to put in an elaborate Challenge Tower you know they had a lot of time to include a single character, Rain.


I actually liked Rain in MKT, and I hope NRS would retain his moveset in MKT and add any new ones from his later installments (and new ones) if they saw fit. Like they more or less did with Noob Saibot.

I'm also bummed he got the shaft and now will likely have little to no relevance in the overall plot when he's included as DLC.

I'm beginning to believe at this point that we're going to get a scenario similar to MvC3 - certain characters are on the disc, but we can't access them until later.

See though, that doesn't mean we can't fight them or encounter them during gameplay.

Experience has taught me not to hope for too much. And while this game is blowing my expectations away every single day, I realized this morning that, in my mind, I was separating "Hidden fights" with "DLC characters". I'm very sure what starts as one will later be the other.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rain's going to be a hidden fight, and that all his data and whatnot are present on the disc already. I'm sure he'll get his chance to shine...we'll just have to cough up five more bucks to actually see it.

Okay if Rain were a secret combatant in the game I would be *wildly* pleased. That changes everything for me in concerns of his involvement story-wise.

Here's the thing, guys. What Boon said was "pretty much everyone from MK1-3 is gonna be there," or something very close to that.

Pretty much everyone =/= every single character

If they have to make a cut from full list, then the first people on the chopping block are the ones that didn't really have stories in that time period, which basically leaves you with Ermac and Rain. And between the two of them, Ermac has the better concept (collection of souls bound to a body by Shao). Rain was just another Edenian, and didn't even get any real meat until he threw himself into the running of killing Blaze with Taven and Daegon.

I don't mind losing out on Rain for now, since he didn't exactly add much to the story of the age we're focusing on and was only supposed to be a joke in the first place.

Despite all the shit I talk about Rain, I actually used him a lot in each game he appeared in. I don't even mind his story; it does what it needs to do. I'd even go as far as to say I like him more than Quan Chi.

Thing is, I'd still give the roster slot to Quan Chi over Rain, because at the end of the day, he's simply far more important to the story and has more fans. Rain is going to be DLC, and if it had to be someone, I'm glad it was him.

Exactly. I'm a massive Rain fan and even I can understand the logic of including Quan Chi (or even Kratos) over him. Sure, I'm bummed he didn't make it, but it's not like I'm totally surprised considering Boon's carefully worded "pretty good chance" statement.

He's probably on the top of the list for DLC, if they really are committed to taking that road, so we should all just take comfort in that.

What really shakes my head in amazement is that they brought Stryker back. For the life of me I'll never understand why they brought him back, if it wasn't for fan-service and shits and giggles.

Stryker represents the citizens whose city is suddenly being attacked by monsters while the sky is falling, he's the only member of the cast who shows what the plot of Mortal Kombat 3 is actually about and the environment it takes place in.
MK1 was about a karate tournament, all the characters are competitors.
MK2 was about Outworld, most of the new characters were Outworlders.
MK3 is about this city. Stryker is the only guy from this city. Sure, you could make the argument that Sonya, Jax, and Johnny could fill the same role, but not really because they've already become accustomed to the existence of Outworld and they all have supernatural abilities. If your game is gonna have a part about magic and monsters attacking "the real world" for the first time ever, then you gotta have someone from "the real world" who doesn't know shit about fuck when it comes to magic and monsters.

So Stryker was nothing more than a poorly used, throw-away symbol of the events that happened MK3. That makes his importance in MK9... two-thirds less than what it was in MK3. Yep, he's pretty redundant all right.

lol if you say so, bro. Sure is a shame for you that the developers consider him important enough to put in and not Rain.

more the likely...

First downloadable. Dont worry. Just waiting on Smoke now...

You actually said it. I just backed it up with maths.
But really, with how good MK9 looks so far, including Rain in the first build would only make PS3s everywhere explode from sheer awesomeness.