Ermac got his own identity LONG ago. They all do now...Evolving a design and improving it is great, but that's not what that Ermac fan art piece is, It's a complete deviation, totally different vibe...

The more ninjas the better. In fact, I want it to be all ninjas all the time fighting on Ninja motorcylces, to the point where the title has to be changed to MKX: Rise of the Ninja.

As few as possible.

Well that's because you're not one. Everyone has their preference of a character. I get it. Not wanting a palette swap of ninjas with no identity makes sense. But I still want a white ninja like his outfit nothing bit white and gold. Lol

I want a brown and white ninja that use Scorpions Spear and are just general scorpion clones with other colors, just because its so damn awesome.

I want a Orange and teal Kitana clone, just because its so "cool"!

I want a golden, silver and Platium/copper Robo-Ninja, just because its soooo damn cool, they should have Cyrax moves, nothing original, cuz I don't like original characters, just cheap clones please.

Also I want 5 new kid-ninja's, just because they are cool, they should have all colors of the big ninja men.

Originality can kiss my tight-teenage-ass. X Mary Cherry.

I find it annoying how people still class Ermac, Reptile and Rain as ninjas. Hell, I personally think Noob And Scorpion aren't ninjas either. Sure they use to be ninjas before they died, but the only link they have is that they dress somewhat similar to ninjas now. Scorpion is a spectre and Noob is a wraith, that's how I see it. To me Sub-Zero and Smoke are the only ninjas in MK, seeing as they are the only two who are part of a clan. Ermac, Rain and Reptile are their own characters, and the palette swap days have been over for two decades now. People need to move on and stop classing characters as ninjas even though they haven't been so for 20 years.

Anyway, I would think we are going to see the following characters;

Ermac
Rain
Noob

I have a feeling we'll be getting a brand new Zaterrian (I apologise if that's spelt incorrectly) character, so I think Reptile is going to take a break. Ermac is a given due to his popularity and the many signs we've seen that hint to his inclusion. Rain's popularity has increased recently, and it'll be good to give him a second chance and make him more than just a character based off a bad pun. With this story possibly being based around the Netherrealm (if we go the MK4 route) then Noob can have a big role in the game. He's probably the character that makes the most sense if the Netherrealm and Shinnok have a big role, which they probably will.

I'd be completely okay with this IF AND ONLY IF, they decide to flesh out Tiamat, also he must have the same abilities as Reptile with some newness tossed in.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind them fleshing out Khameleon and replacing Reptile with her in this game. She's basically a Zataran (sp?) who's only barely been explored story-wise? Would be fun to see what NRS can do with her, while advancing the whole Zataran storyline.

I love the Tiamat concept art! I would be really happy if we pretty much got him or a slight variation of him.

Same here, basically. Once upon a time I wanted Rain, Chameleon and Tremor to fall into a hole and die. I've slackened my views somewhat. I still find Tremor hilarious, but for all MK9 screwed up plotwise, they did a good job fleshing out some characters; atop his minor feature in MKA, Rain was done more than enough justice in MK9 for me to look forward to seeing him again.

Lame :P

Come on dude, maybe they were clones in the old days, but even then they had there original moves, and honestly there are no clones anymore. Every ninja has made his own unique development :)

Then why do people still consider them for ninjas? Apparently Ermac and the others aren't unique enough from one another for people to consider them their own individual identities.

What I like about the fanart piece is EXACTLY because it has a complete different vibe than the whole MK ninja one. It's unique and different from other MK characters and I think it fits Ermac alot.

People still call them "ninjas" because that's what they're used to calling them. It's easy to say, "name all the ninjas in MK", and you could easily name all of those characters off. I don't know what you expect people to call that group of colorful characters. As a whole they're "ninjas", of course they're not literally ninjas. Only one of them really is. I disagree and think they are all in their own right very unique. They are all still slightly based off their older designs of color pallet swaps, but in a line up they're all completely different looking. Hell, only Scorpion and Sub-Zero still have the same style of clothes as all the older games. You couldn't say the same about Noob, Ermac, or Reptile.

Of course I can, because they still do have that palette swap look to them. The V vest, the mask and the loincloth. Ermac less so than the others, but I still hope for all of them to step completely away from that look. Ermac's alt in MK9 was possibly the best look he ever had, imo, the only thing remniscent to his original look being him wearing a mask.

Other characters have a loin cloth, I agree on the V chest but I really think MKX will mostly change that. I guess it's just the style in that universe. But I think Ermac's alt would have been miles better if it was mostly red, not mostly black. It was a nice look but took away from his color.

Injustice was Loaded with alt costumes. So I think MKX will do the same thing. Its almost a no-brainer to give all these "Ninjas" an alt that is very "NON-Ninja" like Ermac's scarecrow koncept for example. I wouldnt be surprised if he had an alt with his MK6-MK9 mummy look, and a 3rd alt in Ninja form. Its a simple solution to please everybody (and we all know thats hard to do! haha).

One of Ed Boon's interviews said that he wanted MKX to be "A grand spectacle" of a game. To me, that means most characters with elemental-based attacks are IN, becuz it will look amazing in-game (being next-gen). This gives me hope for ALL of our ninjas, seeing as each one is associated with an element of some sorts.

I try to look at it from a development viewpoint as well. Can each one of these guys have THREE variations? IMO, the hardest one to think of variations for is Smoke. I honestly believe THIS thinking is what led to Cassie Cage being created, over including Sonya and Johnny.

It's those things combined, not individually.
And I prefer the most black look for Ermac. I just think it looks better.

I actually take back what I said, I don't agree on the V chest. Reptile did not have the V chest look in MK9. He had a chest plate, more reptilian battle armor than clothes. His alternate had that going on, but again it could just be the style and obviously a throwback to all the other times he's V chested. Noob Saibot absolutely did not have the V thing going. He looks nothing like his classic "ninja" look. Smoke absolutely had the V going on, but he is Lin Kuei after all. Even Sub-Zero's alt which is Noob's alt wasn't even the old ninja style anymore. So yeah, Scorpion, Sub-Zero's primary, and both of Smoke's costumes had the oldie style V chest and whatnot going for him. And the mask argument is kinda dumb, the girl "ninjas" have masks. Masks shouldn't be considered a ninja trait. They all have their own very unique look now.

Yet as long there's a mask over their mouths, people consider them ninjas.
As for Reptile, had he lost the hood, mask and loincloth, then yeah, he'd have a unique look. I am not agreeing on Noob though. The V vest isn't there, but the mask and the loincloth still were.

Let people call them ninjas, but you really shouldn't say they don't have their own identity. People know what each character's special power is, that's enough for them to be considered unique IMO. Having some old throwbacks in their look is fine, loincloth, mask, etc. I really can't wait to see what other "ninjas" they include just to see how even more different they look.

Are we talking male or female or both?

If we are talking about the palette swaps I would say:
Scorpion
Sub Zero
Reptile
Ermac
Kitana
Mileena

5 out of a possible 30 character roster isnt too over kill.

When they no longer appear like their palette swap look, I'll be satisfied.

If they were palette swaps then they'd dress the same but with different colors, which they clearly don't anymore. Just cause SOME of them have a few design aesthetics that are the same doesn't mean they are just clones. There's a clear difference now, and it's your fault if you can't get over it. The palette swap era finished around two decades ago, people need to move on and understand that there's originality in these characters now.

The same reason you still refer to them as ninja, its just a word to classify them there's a long history here, but that's besides the point...

Completely changing a character's appearance with the reason simply being "I dont like them" Is a poor excuse. You don't just go from looking like a mystic "ninja" with middle eastern influenced design to Scarecrow straight out of Batman for no reason.