I go with Kai. Really liked him in MK4 and for some reason i loved his Body Rip fatality even though its a Johnny cage fatality copy. And i can see him being in MK10.

Kai.

Seriously I voted Kung Lao. He's my favorite character in the entire MK series. I've always liked Kung Lao since I was a kid. Thought he had the coolest hat ever (still do). Truly an amazing character.

I actually do like Kai. I love his moveset. He looked really cool in MK4. But like Nephrite said "Kung Lao is just on another level."

What about Kai, except him being a shaolin monk apprentice, is ripping off Liu Kang?
His story? He fights for the Forces of Light, but many other characters do that and he never becomes te champion of anything, so that's a no.
His looks? I can't point out a single thing about Kai's look that Liu Kang has too, except for the fact that he is wearing clothes... one thing though, they both wear bandana. OMG, he MUST be a rip-off then!!! No... Then Nitara would be a Liu Kang rip-off too. XD
His moves? Not a single one of his moves are like Liu Kang's. They both use their legs in some special moves and they both have fireballs... which is over half the roster I just described there.
His Fatalities? Liu Kang and Kai have completely different fatalities.

So I ask, what about Kai is making him a Liu Kang rip-off?

Frost is a generic rip off of Sub-Zero. Kung Lao is NOT a generic rip-off of Liu Kang. The only thing they have in common is being from the White Lotus Society.

Kung Lao all the way. He's one of the best characters in the franchise. He better make it far! I'm hoping for an upset over Scorpion and Sub-Zero.

I do miss his quiet, mysterious character traits from MK2-MKDA, though. I thought that was what made him so unique, like a Shaolin version of Clint Eastwood.

I guess Kai have more fans than initially thought.

Kai lacks storyline and game appearances, but I think what can easily break a character is when he/she is in many games so the story has a change to become inconsistent and you see sides of that character that you dislike. Having too much spotlight can also be bad for a character.

Kung Lao!

They have similar projectiles which in MK is a large part of how we judge characters. At MKO a character is only as good as his/her special moves and generic fire powers just don't cut it for anyone but Liu Kang and Scorpion(who has other more memorable moves to fall back on).

Generic fire powers go for many of the MK characters. Their projectiles have only that in common, that they are both fire. Other than that, they aren't alike. With that arguement, all the characters with fire projectiles are Liu Kang rip-offs. So no, I don't count that arguement for anything.

You can forget the story/personality stuff for starters, because I don't care. As far as his moves go: yes, he uses fireballs. He might shoot them up and down but speaking in terms of broad strokes, yes he's a Liu ripoff. The fact that other shitty clone characters all had generic fireballs in the later games because Boon and Vogel were creatively bankrupt at the time doesn't excuse Kai of being one of the first. He's a White Lotus who shoots fire at people; he was basically created to be "black Liu Kang" and nothing else.

Now, if you don't think he's a ripoff that's fine. But can you explain to me how Kung Lao, who really does have a COMPLETELY different playstyle and moveset (and personality, for that matter) IS a Liu ripoff? Because that's what I was responding to; the post by Kratos2011 that was implying Kung Lao is a Liu ripoff and Kai is not.

You only read half my post it seems, and skipped the most important part.

And your Nitara/bandana stuff is a total strawman. Oldest trick in the book. "Well you think this...so you must ALSO think this!" Um, no I don't. Please, learn to debate.

I never said Kung Lao is a Liu Kang rip-off, nor do I think he is. So I don't think I would be the one to answer that. And no, I always read through an entire post before responding to it, because everything else would be half-assed.
Also, why this need to get personal with me? Have I offended you by questioning your reasoning?

I voted for Kai because I want to see him in the next Mortal Kombat game.

The thing about Kai is he was directly inspired by Liu Kang. If you watch Kai's MKA bio card Ed Boon will say "We wanted an African American character who is very nimble, very quick like Liu Kang."

Ed also mentions projectiles in the video and says how they are different. But they are still fireballs. I like Kai, I think he's a great character. I just wish they would do more with him.

Kung Lao.

While I like Kai and he certainly has potential, if his moveset from MK4 would be expanded, Kung Lao is an epitome of stylish fighter. His moves, wining stances, finishers, (some) costumes screams "Style". It is very pleasurable to see character in fighting game that fights with style, not with generic fireballs ans simple moves. It gives a personality to a character and make him stand out from the crowd of the other good characters. His personality was bucthered in MKSM, but in MK9 developers found a "golden middle" where Kung is still arrogant, yet not an hot-headed idiot he was in MKSM. I liked his interactions with Liu Kang in this game, though it's maybe because Liu Kang finally received some dose of personality of his own. He had one of the best costumes in the series (both in MKDA), so that is also counted as a plus.

Kai, as of now, is generally "generic good guy". His MK4 moveset is interesting, but I am afraid different parts of it will be given to different characters, like that happened with his fireball in MKD. I think one of the possible futures to the character is t become a fullfleshed capoiera fighter (I think, one of the MK-team members said something to that effect). But right now I vote for the Kung Lao. His style beat Kai's potential.

i voted for kai. i enjoyed playing as him in mk4 but in mka not so much. love that handstand move. plus his fire moves juggled the opponent as liu does not.

I wrote a rather extensive post about the comparison between Kai and Liu Kang. I turned it into a thread in the MK General section which you can go to here:

CLICKY CLICKY!!!

Kai just really has nothing going for him aside from maybe appearance... and that's stretching it. His moveset is thoughtless and bland, his story is boring as sin, and he's just another tag-along as far as I know.

If people are fans of him... cool, I guess... but I really don't get what there is to like. He hardly exists.

Kung Lao, though he had his personality butchered. (A touch of arrogance and envy is cool, but don't let that overshadow his honor and loyalty). Is still one of the most stylized and inspired fighting game characters out there. He left such a mark on me when I saw him in MK2, he was shrouded with this bad ass hat, everything he did was awesome.

The most unique thing Kai ever did was a hand stand, and that was fuckin' retarded.


Disclaimer: Opinions.

Glad you stated this yourself.

Kung Lao,i just wish they'd hide his face with his hat like in mk2 & mk3.

i don't want to anger anyone-but HOW THE NETHERREALM DID FROST BEAT TAVEN?!?!?! In the actual story mode, it is demonstrated that Taven defeats Frost. And you are supposed to vote based on power and skill, not popularity, and Taven obviously could kick Frost's ass. *sigh* Sometimes you feel people really are insuperior to primates.

People vote for who they like. Simple as that.

We're supposed to be voting on power levels now? I thought this was pretty obviously a popularity contest.

Also, "insuperior"? You mean "inferior". You're welcome.

Frost may have had a lower power level but she mastered the Kaioken and Spirit Bomb off-screen.

Naaah! I rather vote for Sub-Zero....

Edit: Fixed. ^^

I don't know how I should feel about this. But I vote the same way.