^ All of this. Those are good questions. Ninja is a type of fighter/warrior/whatever, it has nothing to do with what clothes they wear.

This. Although I don't blame you for sticking with "the other factor" more instead. The so-called palette-swap ninjas of MK are based on Scorpion, who is a ninja – even Classic Sub-Zero is partially based on Scorpion sprite-wise (emphasis on "sprite-wise"). It's all about the philosophy of language we're discussing here, less about people's comprehension.
I think that Smoke should win because we already lost Reptile and Jade due to somewhat questionable events – Reptile was pitted with Ermac in the round one while there would have been "lesser" opponents like Frost available and Jade lost due to the stagnation of the contest. I wouldn't like to see the Jade occasion happen once again. Yet, vote for who you wish.
It looks like;
*puts sunglasses on*
It's not easy being green.
YYYEEEAAAHH

As I write this, the vote-off is 50/50. ^^

Yep. Pretty interesting. :0

Cyber ninjas icluded. I've used the term ninja for 20 years (and counting) smoke had the win around midnight but now it's a tie. I'm really enjoying this. Clearly one of the best rounds so far...

thank you your minty puffiness ^_^
it all boils down to the word ninja. I know people have their own thoughts on what a ninja is to them. But you cant dress up like a ninja and be a ninja. Its years of dedication and hard work.
Characters like ibuki from sf and taki from sc. Its explicit that theyve trained forever to be ninja. They are indeed ninjas.
Ryu kind of resembles a ninja. But he is not a ninja.
The zeo rangers transform into ninja clothing. But they are not ninjas.
Classifying those that look like ninjas as ninjas is lazy and incorrect. Thats why its so easy to do.

could this round be a tie?

Noob Saibot was a palette swap of Kano in... was it the Arcade version of UMK3? Something like that. So that must mean Kano is a ninja too, because he is a palette-swap. Oh, and he is cyborg too, because of his eye, so he must be a cyborg ninja!

I'm kidding of course. ^^

i despised the fact that noob was a pallete swapped kano but im sure it's because there were no male ninjas in MK3 which noob also appeared in...

kano being a cyber ninja? then jax should be one too

Haha, you're welcome! :)

All of that, exactly! That's completely correct. I understand when people use it as a blanket term, as said earlier, but you can't argue that they're actually ninjas, because they're not. There's been a lot of wonderful explanations on better classifications for each of the characters. I like how people are thinking about that . :)

I guess it doesn't bother me as much when people call them ninjas... just when people use the fact that the character is a 'ninja' as a basis to dislike them is sort of ridiculous, IMO, but it's definitely their opinion. I imagine (hope) they have other reasons for disliking the character.

So I do have a chance to be a ninja while dressing like this:



Sweet.

ctfu...i guess LOL

Actually I was thinking about putting Reiko and Tanya in there. Especially Reiko because of how he dressed like an MK ninja in MK4 but decided against it.

MKT is the definitive version of MK3 so nope it does count

Damn, 50/50 last on the last voting day. I voted Ermac, though I didn't really expect him to keep up, so this should be interesting.

"Kunoichi" would be in turn the term for female "ninjas" in reality while "shinobi" is another word for "ninja". It makes one marvel why NeRdS never utilized the other characters' models for palette-swapping to the same extent aside Liu Kang (Hornbuckle & Blaze MKII) and Kano (Noob MK3): I guess it's due to the fact that MK1 already had three palette-swap ninjas out of ten, of whom everyone had their unique outfits except that trio.
Later on we've gotten more Shokans, SF agents, sorcerers and gods however, even if with unique costumes. The palette-swap ninjas had become a mainstay attribute to the series in MK1. I believe that NeRdS misinterpret the terminology on purpose to cause some confusion and action amidst the MK fans; their latest prank being naming the cyborg achievement as "Robots Rule!". There might never be a concensus. Ah well, I'm happy as long as your post delivers the message intended.

I voted for ole Ermac, but that's not a surprise seeing as how I've been against Smoke winning. Sorry Smoke I just drunk some haterade when I looked at you and I've never got over it.lol.

Anyway, I also wanted to tell you guys that I've started a discussion over in the Future MK Games forum that will discuss each kharacter from MK4-MKA individually and everyone can vote whether that particular character should return for MK10 or not. I really hope you guys check it out and hopefully get discussion going for some of these characters. Also give a Yes or NO when you enter to vote for that character. Just letting you guys know.

The first character I started with is Fujin.

The suspense of this poll is murdering me.

I can't with this anymore. WHY DOES IT KEEP FLIP-FLOPPING.

Holy GOD why didn't this end yet?! THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!!
















Go Smoke!

are we seriously having a cage/jade suspension

OH GOD.

Good comparison.

I didn't vote yet. I want to vote for Ermac because I like Ermac more, but when I guessed how the final 8 would go down, I put my money on Smoke winning. So now I don't know if I want my favourite to advance, or my bet to go through.

Vote Ermac. ;D

Vote Smoke, darling. *winks twice instead* $$$

Aw Smoke you should of won last night. But hey let's go SMOKE. Let's give Ermac lung cancer! Lol!

This is insane. O_o

Ermac was winning this morning, Smoke held it through most of the day, now back to Ermac. Whoever wins this is taking it by a hair. Easily the closest match so far.