I've supported Smoke since the UMK3 days.

Yes Liu Kang is the champion of Mortal Kombat. But, he has never evolved until he got murdered by Shang. All everyone knew was that he was the champion. As, for Smoke I would put him in no division at all. Simply, because he has a story and he has time to grow. I wouldn't put him in a class with sheeva(no offense) because where is the story that makes them unique.

In Smokes history I figured out that he has 3 forms human, cyborg, enera it's not about the generation. Its about the passion of the fan base. No one was expecting Cage to lose Jade, but Jades fan base has passion.
Even though cage won.

You can make up your "classes" but that doesn't replace the soul of the fan base.

As Jaded taught me you can't just judge a character by the story they have you have to look at gameplay and what makes them special.

What has had me as a fan to be honest.

Is to see if Smoke could find out who he was in the old timeline he was captured by Shao. Released to not know who he was in MKD explaining why he was with Noob.

And to me him being a cyborg not knowing who he was just enough. For me to be a dedicated Smoke fan.

Wait, I taught you that?

And I'm telling you, it really wasn't. I don't think you were here; there was lots of speculation for Smoke going back before MKDA came out. These forums were rife with threads speculating on whether or not he'd ever get his humanity back, what he'd be like if he got his own moves, etc. MK2011 Smoke is a direct result of a large fanbase clamoring for him to become an original character for years.

And I can very, very easily call Kintaro and Baraka C-class. There is no way in hell they're second-class; those two have up until now done virtually nothing but sit back and get the crap kicked out of them, save perhaps for Baraka's relatively minor role in MKD. Those are grunt characters, soliders, underlings, and to say that their roles in the universe are in any way important is just way off base. Putting them in the same category as Quan Chi? MK's evil mastermind of the last ten+ years? For real?

Jade I'd agree with and call second-class, but if you're doing that, it automatically proves that Smoke is too; his role for Sub-Zero is equivalent to Jade's for Kitana. And I know Smoke has never done much important to the grand scheme of things, but...has Sonya? Has Jax? Only big moment I remember for Johnny I remember is getting people together in MKA. That aside, they're just there for backup; I don't see how they're any different than Smoke.

I'm not even saying this because Smoke's a favorite of mine. I'm saying it simply because you're just not giving the character the credit he's due; that's why you're surprised he's beating Liu Kang so badly. This hardly comes as a shock to me: being labelled as MK's number one guy doesn't count for anything when half the fanbase is sick of the character - this is also exactly why Scorpion lost.

Sub-Zero is going to win this entire tournament because he's MK's honest to god real hero, has been for ages now, and virtually everybody loves him. And that's why Smoke is important, at the very least as much as Sonya and Jax - his initial loss and conversion into a cyber-ninja had an emotional impact on Sub-Zero - MK's real number one guy.

Wait a minute, I'm a bit confused on your argument. You're saying that you can't simply judge a character by its story, that you gotta consider gameplay and everything else? But then you do the complete opposite when you say Liu Kang's story has not evolved?

Smoke is pretty badass but every single MK character can be placed under a certain division based on their importance to the franchise. No character is special enough to have their own division, that's just silly. I understand Smoke to you is equivalent to one such as Raiden or Subzero. However, you gotta be realistic. Smoke is not as important to MK as other characters.

Another point I want to discuss is that I feel as if you are trying to explain to me why Smoke is a good character and why you're a fan. I know you LOVE Smoke, your signature gives it away. You dont have to prove me anything man trust me I know. Like I said, Smoke is a dam good character but not good enough to defeat Liu Kang by such a massive amount of votes. I don't feel Iike i have to give reasons why Liu Kang is so important to the series, his name is all I have to say.

I hope you understand my point, if not I can reword it for you if you want. I'm not hating on the Smoky guy, I'm a fan of him believe it or not, but I'm simply giving my opinion.

Smoke vs Kitana would be a great finals just saying lol.

I understand your point. But when it comes to a fan base you gotta give smoke his props. If this was a fight contest Liu Kang would shit on everyone

You have to understand, this poll has nothing to do with how things work in the world of Mortal Kombat. That Liu Kang is more powerful than Smoke in MK doen't mean he should get more votes in this poll.

Smoke has a strong fanbase on this site and is more liked by people on here than Liu Kang is, not to mention the few random votes by people who may not care about either of them, but who cares a wee bit less about Liu Kang than Smoke, so their votes go to Smoke's favour.

This is a popularity contest more than anything else, it has nothing to do with the characters' skills or power in-game. People vote for whatever reason they might have, but it all boils down to what character people like the most.

And THAT is why Smoke is kicking Liu Kang's ass in this vote-off!

Hey I have been here for a very long time, don't let my inconsistent posting on the forums trick you.

Baraka and Kintaro are definitely in the 2nd division. Dude Baraka is the dam leader of the Tarkatan race! Kintaro is one of Kahn's deadliest allies. These guys are iconic MK combatants. These characters belong next to Quan Chi. Of course Quan Chi is beyond powerful compared to them, but were not classifying characters based on powers alone. Smoke does not fit with them.

You keep mentioning Sonya and Cage. Honestly, if I were you I would leave these two characters out of your argument because it is only hurting it. Sonya and Cage are 1st division icons, up their with Subzero and Scorpion. Smoke is nowhere near the greatness of these legends. Not trying to be a jerk man, I'm just being realistic.

Subzero is one of my favorite characters. I love this guy, just as much as you love Smoke. He definitely has a great chance on winning this entire competition , specially because Scorpion is done. But I wouldn't be too confident. The same thing that happened to Scorpion can also happen to Subby. Hopefully my prediction is incorrect.

Yeah you are correct! Poor Liu is being torn up by the smoking ninja.
People who are voting obviously didn't read the instructions and recommendations that Mick-Lucifer wrote on the original page,

"but we recommend taking into account the past, present, and iconic powers of each character, to determine one true champion."

Its okay though, it doesn't bother me. Smoke, because of MK9, has developed a HUGE fanbase. Which is good for the series; make MK more famous new generation!


@annilation
haha yeah I agree with you bro! Liu Kang has a better chance defeating Shao Kahn + Kintaro + Goro in a fight, than defeating Rain in a popularity contest lol

In the end it is just Opinion VS Opinion based on the things each of you find important in a character. Whatever "division" each character fits in are up to each individual fan.

For example, the only characters I find should be in the 1st division are:
Shao Kahn
Liu Kang
Raiden
Quan Chi
Kitana
Sindel
Shang Tsung
Shinnok

Because storyline wise, these characters are the top most important characters. Shao Kahn is the reason the Mortal Kombat tournament exist, Liu Kang is the current Champion of Mortal Kombat, Raiden is Liu Kang's mentor and guide who is also the protector god of Earthrealm, Quan Chi has this massive plotting and scheming in the background all to resurrect Shinnok, Kitana is the key to free Edenia and foil Shao Kahn's plan, Sindel is the key to make sure Shao Kahn can take over Earthrealm, Shang Tsung is the host of the MK tournaments and representive of Shao Kahn when the tournament is held in Earthrealm, and Shinnok is the fallen Elder God who made sure that Sindel would awake in Earthrealm...

All the other characters are below that, because in the end, they have nothing to do with how Mortal Kombat's main storyline is affected. Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya, Cage, all those other so-called "important" characters can be done without, because they have no importance to the outcome of Earthrealm's fate. They all have their own agendas, are mere support characters just henchmen being thrown at the opposite side for distraction.

Kintaro and Baraka are henchmen. Nothing more, nothing less. They do not have any importance to the main plot at all. That said, I really like Baraka and though he isn't important at all, he has some significance by being the LEAD henchman of them all, leading the Tarkatan horde and shows his unmoved loyalty to the most powerful masters by tearing their enemies asunder. That's what Baraka does and he is freaking good at it! However, we only see him as a punchbag, because those who fight him are "more important" characters than he is.

The support characters are those like Kung Lao, Jade, Sonya, Cage, Jax... They are in for the sake of helping others while a few of them have each their personal agendas along with them, like Sonya hunting Kano for example. But they aren't important to the main plot.

Then there are those who are all in it for themselves, like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Nitara... They fight for themselves, for their own agendas, not caring to help others than their own personal gain. All these characters aren't important to the main plot either.

All that said... Does a character's importance to the main plot make him/her a better character or less of a character? Hell no! That is up to each individual fan to decide.

I like Jade more than Kitana. Jade has no initial importance to the main plot like Kitana does, but what she does and what she is, her gameplay, her looks, her story... I love that more than I do Kitana's. So to me she is more important. Not to the main plot, but to me. And that is all that matters.

And that is what this poll is about; what each individual fan think is more important to them, not to the game or it's storyline.

Smoke certainly is good enough to defeat Liu Kang by such a massive amount of votes when this is a fan community that has averagely delved into the characters pretty well: what is it to be a poor A-class hero when you can be a successful B-class hero instead? annilation stated that it's good to take gameplay etc. into account as well but he didn't say to what extent. Then what comes to Liu Kang's gameplay, it's decent but not that enjoyable compared to the others in MK9 for instance. Kano, Raiden, Cyrax, Kung Lao... Smoke, they're more fun in gameplay, in my view.
Kintaro is not good because he is "one of Shao Kahn's deadliest allies". In other words the developers could easily create a bunch of characters that are either 1) a leader of an army or 2) Shao Kahn's deadly warrior. Kintaro is my favorite sub-boss right next to Smoke but that's not why I like him.
Some say that Smoke is winning because he is a ninja. If that was the case, I wonder where is Tremor going right now. Smoke has got a diverse past behind and a terrific future as an Enenra. Liu Kang is a character based on Bruce Lee and the most of the major fighting game series has an equivalent. Liu Kang's only notable changes in the series were the change of looks in MKII and becoming a zombie. Raiden is based on Raijin and Cage is based on Van Damme, though has become his own individual in time. Smoke on the other hand is a smoke demon, I wonder if any other fighting game series has one. Like J-Ra stated, this is a popularity contest, but the MKOmmunists aren't fooled that easy by the so-called icons. Smoke is an underdog and people like him that way.
Even though the forthcomings as an Enenra seem exciting. I like Liu Kang as well – that's not the case – but I'm pointing out why people, including me, vote for Smoke here. Let me introduce you the legendary pop star, daryui, singing: "The Best". Give some applauds! It is okay El Piri, but realize that the MKOmmunity doesn't take Smoke lightly, for variable and noteworthy reasons (as light as he can be). If the developers say that "Liu Kang is the champion", MKOmmunists don't take it as Ed Boon want$.
MKO won't swallow without chewing first.

In our debate Cage vs Johnny I was using Cages story other than what made him who he is.

Baraka... Sniff... Sniff... I HATE YOOOOOOOU!!!! I'm kidding of course. I know that Baraka is a grunt character and even if I'd love to see the creatives at NRS wake up one day and suddenly come to the realization that Baraka doesn't have to be the guy that gets his butt kicked by everyone in storymode, and that he does have story potential... I'm not holding my breath.

But yeah, I agree that Quan Chi doesn't belong on that list at all. He was a final boss in MK:DA. He's manipulated other characters, he's been central to several characters plotlines etc. He's not a "B-team" character in my eyes.

If he was, then there's no way NRS would've even bothered putting him, a post-MK3 character, in a game that centers on the timeline of MK1-MK3.

He's just that important.

However, all of this stuff: "Who's more 'classic,'" or "Who's on the A Team or B Team of support characters" and what not is all in the eyes of the beholder.

To me, Baraka's an awesome character with a lot of potential, but to many others, he's again, a grunt with zero story who never does anything.

There are a lot of MK3 fans on this site that love Sindel, the cyber-ninjas, etc, but I really don't like any of the MK3 characters other than Kabal and thought that the MK3 iterations of Sub Zero, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung and others were by far the worst looks they've had in the series.

But there are still others that love Sindel, love Stryker, or Sektor or Cyrax or Sheeva etc and probably hope for big things both gameplay and look/story-wise going forward.

All of that is really just my way of saying that people on this site need to stop assuming these absolutes that it's just a given that everyone thinks that this character is a lesser character or that character is too classic to lose or whatever. Clearly that's not the case and this poll is illustrating it.

Just because you don't think that Scorpion should ever lose, doesn't mean that everyone agrees with you. Just because you consider Quan Chi a 2nd or 3rd tier character doesn't mean that a lot of other people would slot him that tier as well.

Cage VS Johnny?

An epic battle of inner turmoil where one man stares in to the abyss of his own soul, faces down his own demons and in so doing, conquers them.

Cage VS Johnny.

One man will win, and one man will get Caged.

Johnny as in Johnny Sasaki



Uh-huh... Akiba!!!

Akiba! Woo! What a boss. And I won't be voting since I dislike both of these contenders sooooo no go for me.

I can see in the end it will be Brother against Brother and it being Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot and my vote going to Noob Saibot because of it's history and his new ninja look in MK9 LOOKS SO FUDGING AWESOME! Especially Noobs mask I would wear THAT! His mouth piece just looks to cool and Noobs coolness and the fact that he laughs at you after doing an X-Ray or Fatalities is to fucking awesome and is why I'm getting his Statue when it comes out! Though I want a Statue of Noob Saibot doing his not fatality Pose with his Co-Partner........... Noob Saibot! HUURRAAAHHH!!!

Lol! I meant cage vs jade lol wasn't thinking at the time! XD!

Ha ha, no problem man, I was just being stupid

So you think that Noob's going to get all the way to the end? I dunno, it might be tough, but if he gets through Sonya in this round, which would be no small feat, then I could see him beating Kung Lao and possibly the winner of Smoke/Ermac.

I agree with you Baraka407, I don't think Noob is going to get past Sonya but if he does, he's got a great chance to win?

WHY DON'T WE JUST END THIS NOW!?! IT'S ALREADY CLEAR THAT LIU KANGAROO HAS LOST!

why dont you go outside and play until tomorrow like a good little boy? You know the rules for round 3.

What's happening here is we're measuring these characters from two different perspectives; you seem to be approaching it from an 'iconic' perspective, and I'm measuring them through relevance to the plot. Now I'll readily attest that Smoke isn't as iconic as Cage or Sonya, perhaps (nevertheless, he's proven popular enough to show up on Robot Chicken, which Cage and Kano have also managed), but when it comes to his importance to the saga as a whole - a completely different matter - I feel I've clearly stated my intentions already; he equals them. J-R's already reinforced my point about Baraka and Kintaro - to that end I'll submit that a sizeable population of people seem to really regard Kintaro as a Goro knockoff; he doesn't have the iconic status that Goro has enjoyed.

And I stand firm by my statement that this whole thing comes as zero suprise and Smoke's always been popular, at least here; no matter what form: humansmoke4ever, Temp, annilation, Zmoke, noobsmoke92, daryui, and Jerrod are only some of the many faces here who've shown their support for this guy over the years. Liu's popularity, meanwhile, has been slipping for years now...sufficiently so that the staff snapped his neck back in 2002, proving once and for all MK games don't need him around every time. No offense.

Still betcha a million bucks Sub takes this easy. Scorpion lost due to becoming stale and counter-votes popping up left and right. Conversely, Sub's never gotten boring.