Well, hello. I was skipping back through the pages, trying to find a thread similar to the one I had in mind, but to no avail. The purpose of this thread is to kick around some ideas about the storyline, and possibly some gameplay concepts, namely Konquest. If there is a thread like this, if you could link it, that'd be great, and this thread can be closed.

This thread is not a rant, but merely some provocative thoughts. This is an attempt to create some new storyline out of what has been given to us, and possibly add some new concepts and ideas for MK8.

Anyways, here we go. I really did enjoy the storyline build up to Onaga. The Deadly Alliance was pretty well-done actually, instead of some new oneshot face that pops up and causes mayhem. Quan Chi was pretty awesome I thought, this time around anyways. I didn't really appreciate him so much in Mythologies and MK4/Gold, but he soon came to be one of the most successful villains, and one of my favorites.

Personally, I always thought Quan Chi was one of the best villains, if not the best in the series. He was always operating behind the scenes, since before the first Mortal Kombat tournament if memory serves me correctly. He had unwillingly created Scorpion, who would be his foil in MK4 for a short time, and caused the death of the original Sub-Zero. In that circle, he also created an enemy with the second Sub-Zero by creating Noob Saibot. If Scorpion would pursue an interest in defeating Noob Saibot, that'd be a great storyline, as Quan Chi would be the root of all their problems.

I was never that receptive to Shang Tsung until Deadly Alliance, and even then, he falls short compared to Quan Chi in my eyes. I do love the concept about soul stealing, as that sounds deliciously evil. It's a curse to others, but a gift to him in a sense. After absorbing The Great Kung Lao's soul, he saw where the Map of Elements was, and also in a way, though very thinly, created who we know as Scorpion and Noob Saibot.

Adding these two characters together was a great plan. Both of them are one of the most deceitful characters to ever grace the series, and that added a lot of interesting conflict between them at the end. Quan Chi would gain military power, which I didn't see coming. I thought he would go for the "I am supreme ruler, I need no army" route, but the Dragon King's undefeatable army was much more engrossing. Shang Tsung did kind of fall flat until after they defeated Raiden, where he goes for the Amulet, but is ultimately defeated.

This is where, quite possibly, the most vicious enemy comes to life. Shao Kahn couldn't kill him alone, so he had to poison him. Shao Kahn is strong, probably one of the best combatants in the history of Mortal Kombat, but only being able to poison Onaga makes him seem dwarfed in power compared to the Dragon King.

However, Onaga didn't seem so powerful this time. Supposedly defeated by Shujinko, he just didn't seem all that powerful compared to the Deadly Alliance. The Kamidogu were a very interesting concept, but that also fell tremendously flat, being overshadowed by MK7's story.

So, the aftermath? Armageddon is thrown in our faces at the wrong time. I would have liked to see what made Onaga so overwhelming and evil. What if Shujinko had failed, just like the heroes in Deadly Alliance? Did Onaga resurrect Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, thus explaining their return? What of his undefeatable army, why didn't he just call them forth to the pyramid and have them obliterate all of the competition?

Anyways, that fell short. Onaga really dozed off, and didn't use his undefeatable army for anything. He didn't seem to take over Edenia, or invade Earthrealm, or do anything. He worked on fusing the Kamidogu, yes, but didn't work out so well. This also one chance for Scorpion to redeem himself. Shujinko wasn't all too popular, it's not hard to see that, but I feel everyone would have wanted to see Scorpion hold Onaga's head high instead of some naive old geezer, for the sake of bringing something new to his story. Damn whippersnappers.

What does the future hold in store for us? I'm going to assume we spent 4 hours through Konquest with Taven for his ending to be true, and not have Stryker or Chameleon take the glory. With his ending, every fighter becomes even stronger. However, something is amiss.

Except for Onaga, rest of the previous villains are assumed dead if Armageddon did not occur. Shao Kahn is without power now, and the Deadly Alliance is presumed to be dead. Who are we left with? Daegon was presumably killed, Shinnok is probably still in the boiling cauldron called the Netherealm, and the Red Dragon clan is probably gone now, or at least a large chunk of them are gone. Raiden did have connections with the main villains, but now that Armageddon is over, and Taven has the power, what's he to do? Onaga will probably go his on route, assuming that the Forces of Darkness did not ally for long after Armageddon, and is still in position of the Amulet.

As for new villains, I just remembered Kochal, from Deception's Konquest. I thought that was an interesting concept, as the Oni spoke of him often. A three-headed demon, supposedly Kabal, Kira and Kobra, and one who sends Oni to sorcerers looking for a lackey. However, Kabal, Kira and Kobra have just met according to the game's storyline, so Kochal couldn't be around for eons. Could Kochal simply inhabit their bodies in a combination of flesh and bone to be born anew, and in a human(ish) form? Kochal could simply be a flop, just intended to keep dorks like me interested, or be exactly what his name implied, a Koin Challenge. He doesn't have a build up story either, so that defeats this chances of having an impact on the story.

Oh well, after all of this rambling, I've come up with nothing at all. If I had a choice, I would have had them continue with the Dragon King's storyline--saving the Armageddon storyline for something in the future--, ride it until a proper ending, and see how it would lead to Armageddon. They had some potential to work with that as much as every character, namely Scorpion who missed his chance to stop being a hot-headed moron with a foam sword, and now the future seems empty. Taven is the new protector as Edenia, as self-proclaimed, where can he go with this? How can he stave off Armageddon if everyone is already on PCP?

Taven, though I never really liked him, could be the open door for something new, but I don't know what. Onaga and his army could attempt to overthrow him, possibly attaining full godhood, or he could just bulldoze over him to topple any competition in his quest to rule the realms. Taven could simply be the bad guy, corrupted with the power he has received, an unforeseen effect much like where he strengthens everyone.

With all of that in mind, does anyone else have any ideas or predictions for the future storyline?

Edit: Wow, wrote up too much...trimmed down the worthless junk.