Dude wasn't it a few threads back you were saying how much you were trying to drop your interest in MK's story because it was clear it wasn't the priority of the Developers and it was letting you down quite a tone?

With that I'm sorry to say, with respect. This is a fighting game. The story, lore and progression of characters, doesn't matter. We were both commenting on how apparent it was that not even NRS gives much of a sh*t about the story. If they did Sub-Zero would still be a cyborg. This isn't a Bioware game it's a fighting game.

Of course with the roster gradually building the characters still would change asthetically and NRS could go nuts with whatever Bio they pulled from their asses to explain why so and so was still fighting this time around. And you know perhaps if they had done things this way? instead of focusing on gimmicks and injecting unnecessary filler characters like Kobra, and Jarek it wouldn't have taken until 2011 for them to finally lay down the foundation for a good fighting system.

We know MKX is introducing a least the same amount of new characters as MKDA and MKD did, so that hasn't changed.

I rather see newcomers/mk4 characters than my favorites returning.

I'm in complete agreement, and have thought for a while, that they shouldn't have created so many new characters each game. Because each game starting with MK3, had at least 1-2 characters that had they just used more of the roster from the previous game(s), wouldn't be dead weight on the roster.

For example:

MK4 - Tanya and Jarek(insert Sareena and Kano)
MKDA - Mavado, Mokap, and Hsu Hao
MKD - Kobra, Kira, Darrius, and Dairou

Those spots could have easily been filled by several fan favorites from the previous game(s), to further flesh them out.

I don't believe the story would have suffered or gotten stale. You would just have to write it differently. Which isn't the worst thing.

Now we're sitting with a bloated roster, tons of underdeveloped characters, dead weight, and only so many spots to fill. That's why you shouldn't blame MK 9 characters returning for the lack of MK4-MKD characters being limited, blame the fact that they are once again trying to add a bunch of new characters. We should only get 5-6 max, IMO.

Let's look at who's left from MK9 and play a guessing game with their chances, shall we?

All opinions subjective based on my own gut feelings and observations. When I say 'Legacy character', I refer to someone whose track record indicates to me that they're a favorite at NRS, considered a major recognizeable face of the series, and have strong odds of appearing regardless of popularity or lack thereof.

Mileena - Known opposing force in Outworld civil war against Kotal. Insanely popular. Rumored Gamestop leak. 99% guaranteed. EDIT: Perhaps not Thursday's reveal, but still thinking she's a lock.

Johnny Cage - Apparently accidentally confirmed months back.

Sonya Blade - Apparently accidentally confirmed months back.

Jax - Legacy character. Directly hinted at by Ed on Twitter. One of the boots is the lineup is huge. Extremely likely.

Shang Tsung - Legacy character. Rumored Gamestop leak. Moderately popular. Quite possible if not likely.

Kabal - Extremely popular character online, strong fan following, but not terribly necessary to the overall plot post-MK3. 50/50. Calling him a maybe. Good DLC candidate.

Nightwolf - Fairly important side character. Not much of a following online but sorta has a fanbase. Status unknown after MK9. May not even be in a position to come back. Saying unlikely.

Stryker - Side character. Considered much improved in MK9 with decent online presence but not a huge fanbase. Makes the odd appearance historically. Unlikely.

Sektor - Fairly popular online and in general. Important to the Lin Kuei story, but as time has shown it's possible to resolve the entire cyber-ninja plot and not even have him present, and the plot in general had its peak during the MK3 era. At this point in time I can't see both Cyber-ninjas being necessary. Wich leads me to...

Cyrax - Fairly popular in general, extremely ppopular online, considered one of MK9's best characters and very nearly ridiculously broken. Has inherited Smoke's old plotline where he's the unwilling prisoner inside his body. I'm expecting at least one cyber-ninja present for variety's sake. I'm going to say possible but unlikely for Sektor, possible and likely for Cyrax.

Smoke - Highly popular in general, strong online presence, but a side character. Something of a demand for a return based on his Arcade ending and multi-formed history. Demand makes him an excellent DLC candidate. Strong Maybe.

Ermac - Same as Smoke. Excellent DLC candidate. Due to the likely presence of Takeda and/or Kenshi, I'm going to also say I think it's as unlikely to have two telepaths two games in a row plus two cyber-ninjas. Putting him in a 'strong maybe' pile along with Smoke as excellent DLC candidates.UPDATE: Looking like he'll be Thursday's character.

Liu Kang - Legacy character, somewhat popular. Highly rumored as a boss. Current status unknown. Possibly not even selectable if he returns. For simplicity's sake I'll put him in the 'no' pile.

Noob Saibot - Highly popular character, but the Bi-Han situation is dicey. May be back as Sub-Zero. Saying 'Unlikely' for now.

Jade - Side character. Smallish fanbase. Considered unwieldy and awkward to use in MK9. I'd call her chances low to non-existent (sory Jade fans, I like her too).

Sindel - Comparable fanbase to Jade's. Also one of MK9's poorer characters for gameplay. Major plot moment is MK3, and had a great showing in MK9. I'd say very low to non-existent chances because her major chapter is closed and she got a great showing in 9.

Sheeva - Far and away the trilogy era's least popular character (and don't get me wrong, that's a shame). Not coming back and we all know it.

Cyber Sub-Zero - Almost universally loathed. Bad gameplay-wise. If Kuai Liang is back, he'll probably share the human slot with Bi-Han/whoever. Not coming back.

Kenshi - DLC status in MK9. Borderline legacy character, big face of the post-MK3 era, has shown up in recent comics and confirmed to be alive during the forthcoming miniseries. Strong maybe. UPDATE: With Ermac looking like Thursday's character, I'm wondering about his chances. Betting now he'll be replaced by Takeda, shoving him in 'Unlikely' pile.

Rain - DLC status last time. Deconfirmed by Ed, won't be present this go-around.

Skarlet - Same. No deconfirmation that I know of, but not exactly popular. Not expected by anyone.

Freddy - We know there'll be a guest character, but the same one twice in a row? Unh-uh. DLC anyway.

Kintaro - Showing up in comics = possible death sentence. Goro already present. Chances unlikely to nonexistent.

Shao Kahn - Dead dead dead, whole point of MK9. Expected by nobody. Chances borderline nonexistent.


Now keep in mind my own calculations and observations are just that: My own. I'm just trying to come up with a ground figure based on speculation.

So breaking that down, my "Likely" pile consists of Mileena, Jax, Sonya, Johnny, Cyrax, Ermac and Shang. I'm going to throw in Kabal/Smoke as one more, and relegate the other one to DLC/surprise exclusion (there's always one we miss desperately) for a total of eight more returning MK9 characters maximum.

Now I've always felt that the "late 20s" estimate is far too conservative. It's in the nature of sequels to expand on roster sizes (for chrissakes, look at USF4 in the end. That's what we're competing with). So that said, I think we're looking at a roster of, to be on the safe side, thirty, regardless of whatever's been said. They like to surprise us.

Now with the nine returning characters we know of, plus an estimated eight more returning, we're looking at 17 returning fighters from MK9, plus 13, subtracting the four new characters we know of; that means there's room for up to nine more mixed post-MK3 returning characters and new faces. And that's a pretty solid damn figure. Respectable, and roughly in line with the amount of new folks we've seen in past MK iterations.

The fresh blood is coming, folks. Just don't be surprised if it takes a while; gotta reassure the masses more of their old faves are returning. The payoff is on its way for those of us with ants in the pants.

Very nice analysis, Shadaloo.

You missed Baraka, lol. He's kind of a legacy character, but I'd put his chances up with your Kabal, Smoke and Ermac.

I generally agree with most of your choices, except I think Liu Kang, Ermac and/or Kenshi are more likely and Cyrax much less so.

IMO:

Likely: Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, Jax, Mileena, Ermac/Kenshi

Maybe: Shang Tsung, Ermac/Kenshi, Smoke/Kabal/Cyrax/Baraka (likely for DLC)

Unlikely: Kintaro, Shao Kahn, Nightwolf, Sektor, Sheeva, Sindel, Stryker, Jade, Noob, Rain, Cyber Sub-Zero, Skarlet

and I think we're getting 6-8 more returning out of ~28 total roster spots

Wow, lol. Chrissakes, I can't believe I forgot to post Baraka entirely. The fact that I skipped over him though....yeah, that's pretty indicative of his likelihood in my eyes. I'm going to say "Possible, but unlikely", because it's been a very, very long time since he took a day off (MKDA IIRC), and I can't really see anything for him to do this time through. Kind of a "law of averages" thing. EDIT: Updated my list as it looks like Ermac is Thursday's character now, in my opinion diminishing Kenshi's chances, esp. with Takeda heavily rumored.

Yes, It was me, and I still agree with you, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to drop what I care about in MK completely, since that means dropping MK entirely. Aesthetics changes (more detailed, shinier suits) and wackier Bios are no substitute, they're nothing more than marketing strategies to fool people into believing they are buying something different. They not only try to add new characters but dare to remove iconic ones since the beginning, does that involves some major screw-ups? yes, but most franchises don't do that, because its not a profitable choice. For fighting gaming standards, they still do give a shit about the story, not by a huge amount, but still. For example, these comics have an intention that goes beyond of merely advertising MKX, it means NRS holds some value in the lore and it's willing to expand on it. I fail to understand how trying to have a sense of fluidity and degree of continuity between titles compromises the foundation of a good fighting system.

I concede caring too much about the story is a wasted effort but to let it fall to the standard mediocrity most Fighting games have is even more depressing. That's like accepting a downgrade in the overall quality of what makes a MK game.

I hate to sound so purist and idealistic but there's a thin line that separates MK from other franchises, that attracts people outside the core fighting game community and, in a way, you're asking to remove that line.

I just can't with this whole philosophy of "OH NOES!!! WHY ARE THEY BRINGING BACK *insert universally recognized classic character* IN FAVOR OF *obscure 3D era disposable character that nobody gives a sh** about*?!?!"

Are some of you born after 2000 or simply have amnesia? They tried to do a cast overhaul in Deception and it ended in the franchise nearly dying. Why would they do this again?? "Hey you know what, let's scrap Raiden, Liu Kang, Reptile etc. and replace them with Havik, Nitara, Reiko etc. that would totally be a ballsy move that is SURE to pay off!"

It's basic marketing. They're not going to alienate the general gaming populace to satisfy a handful of hardcore fans who want the franchise to experiment at it's own risk.

Hell, minus Quan Chi, there wasn't even a MK3 and MK4 character that returned in the next sequel, so good luck if you think a 3D era character will come out of nowhere to be revamped after all this time. I'm starting to think that even Shinnok appearing at the end of the last game was just a nod.

The original Trilogy(or MK9) is the core of Mortal Kombat

It makes sense for most of the roster to be filled with these characters in every mortal kombat game.

again not even half the roster is revealed yet, everyone needs to calm down, April is only 2 1/2 months away and none of the reveals will matter, since you'll be able to play the full roster.

Wait you forgot Khameleon and, more importantly, Chameleon...

He's always there...

In the shadows...

We don't know How many characters are in. Assuming it's 24 since That's all we've seen on the select screen than yes half of the roster has been revealed.

I agree that Baraka can sit out of this one.

I've had enough of the MK9ers. But there's still like 10 of them they will likely fall back on to make repeat appearances. at least 10.

Mileena should have been revealed already! Im not getting why they arent marketing her IF she's in the game.

They're also not 'marketing' 10 other people who are in the game. All in due time.

Hopefully we'll see her early next month.

It's so strange to me when people refer to those characters as "MK9 characters."

Most of the characters in MK9 are just the most iconic characters of the franchise. Calling them MK9 characters is like calling Kabal a Mortal Kombat Deception character.

Certain characters are just a given, always. Getting upset because they were in the last game and are now in this game is absurd to me. It always should have been expected that most of those characters at the foundation of the franchise would make their way into this game. People are so quick to hit the panic button. They came out at E3 with so many new characters because they knew there would be a long road of, as Shadaloo put it, Legacy characters.

When they did that, people were upset. They worried that their returning favorites were going to get the axe. I'd even bet that NRS tossed in a couple extra Legacy characters they weren't intending on having in the wake of that. Be patient. At the end of the day it'll be half and half. I'm happy they're keeping the new shit close to the chest.

Sadly a lot of people here didn't grow up playing the orginal trilogy when they were actually released( what ive noticed since ive been back on this site)

I think the biggest thing right now is how popular this game is becoming. it climbed its way to the top three upcoming games of 2015 on gamespot. I think they are trying to cram as many characters as they can before releaseand then 4 DLC I can see them adding a lot more characters.I would love to see about 40 characters after its all said and done.

Saying a bunch of characters are the "foundation/core of the game" is an absolutely arbitrary and subjective distinction, nostalgia goggles aside, it means nothing.

They call them MK9 characters because it was a reboot, a retelling of the original trilogy where most characters got retconned. And just because not everyone holds the original characters on a high pedestal doesn't mean they didn't grew up playing them, what an elitist thing to say.

Deception ended up nearly killing the franchise?? It was considered the fighting game up the year, received great reviews, and was the fastest selling MK title to date( and it sold more than MK 4 and MK:A,which both better suit the idea of killing off the franchise).......

Just to make it CLEAR
I ́ve been playing Mortal Kombat since 97 (Yeah, I played MK 2 and 3, and also, 4)
I referred to the Trilogy era as "MK9" characters only because MKX is a sequeal to that game, and also, I included Quan Chi.

People vastly overstate how important a large chunk of MKTrilogy roster is.
NRS could do MK2 roster + new characters + postMK3 characters and the vast majority of fans would be very pleased.

Except for Ermac, Noob, Cyrax, Smoke, Sektor, Nightwolf, Jade, Sindel, Kabal etc. fans and tournament players.

I mean it wouldn't hurt my feelings if Cyrax sat out for one game, but to exclude ALL the MK3 characters would be a bad idea.