I disagree with the Shang inclusion as well.

I have always considered him unnecessary and inferior when you have quan chi.
that being said I think he makes sense to be included if they were looking for a type-changing character on the roster. I am assuming his inclusion will guarantee chameleon/khameleon exclusion.

He was awesome when u could switch to any kharacter

Shang Tsung is a character everybody likes but nobody plays.

Story wise, with Kotal and Quan Chi as major villains and and a big bad we still don't know about, I feel he's just going to get overshadowed by them, like in the last game. (Unless the boss guy turns out to be Shang, that is)

If he returns, I'd Iove a more serious and modern design, the corny snake motifs and suspenders look have got to go. I still like movie Shang the best.

Fuck yeah.

Seriously...the Shang hate...why?

Just like Kang and Noob, his story needs closure. So we'll see them one way (comics) or the other (game).

All the ones who don't want Shang and think he's a waste of a roster spot, just lay off the crack will you?! However your opinions are your own.

Hey who knows, to your benefit he may be the boss and you won't have to cry.

Shang Tsung is my fuckin shit. Love him. Only thing I'm hoping for is a new voice actor. Whoever did him in MK9 was gawwwwd awful. Same with Smoke.

I disagree. He's among the most memorable for me.

My problem personally is half and half. I'm half not thrilled because yes, he is mainly overused. The other side of my argument is 90% of the time when he pops up, he's used BADLY. He went from being a strange, mystical powerhouse to Kahn's bitch to henchman status then back up to half of a bad-ass, brutal duo, then dead then back to bitch ass henchman. And his fatalities over the past several installments have also been incredibly lackluster. Based on those performances alone, I feel they have no idea where to take him creatively and I'd rather a new character or a post-Trilogy one to take his spot rather than him just being here because he is who he is and he's been around forever. If he's included, they have to wow me or I'm gonna roll my eyes and say it's a wasted spot compared to how creatively inspired everyone else seems to be.

However, if they can gladly prove me wrong then whatever, I'll end up being happy (I guess) with his inclusion and happy that his fans are happy. But as for right now, that's why I am at least not thrilled. Can't speak for everyone else.

Totally agree about Shang. But while Smoke's was still far from the best, I did like the idea of his voice being....raspy.

Why do people think how a character plays determines their chances of appearing in the next game? Especially in a series like MK, where the gameplay is totally different in every installment.

What if in MKX Sub-Zero is bottom 10? Does that mean he'll be booted from MK 11?

Also:



That's...cold dude.

Deal with it, i mean he's not even confirmed but you're already crying? :-/

And if he's a WASTED character slot to you, go make your own game. He's a staple and not a waste to NRS and that's the way it is.

LOL Wow, so many people crying foul over people's personal preferences.

Can I second the "Wahhhhh" except towards some (not all) of you folks? It's called an opinion. People have them. We don't have to go make our own game if it's called expressing an opinion. No one here is saying anything roughly insane, merely arguing whether or not a character should appear, something that goes on daily here. How this is new to any of you people is beyond me.

I think Shang has played terribly the past several installments and they, again in my opinion, never fixed any of the issues I had with his character or the characters game play. If you like him, that's fine, more power to you. I don't and wouldn't mind him sitting out a game or two until they resolve whatever creative bump in the road they've seemingly hit with him because I think they're stuck in a rut with him and don't know how to improve upon him. You have a problem with that or anyone else's issues? Counter-argue it instead of point out that we're complaining of which you are then also complaining about the complaining and that isn't exactly constructive discussions.

And to all those who have a problem with Shang, go into said detail about why exactly you have a problem to help out those who actually want him. Not only will it lead to better conversation, it'll hopefully lead to less bitching and moaning from both sides.

The more I hang on MKO these days, the more I'm beginning to understand a generation of fans who grew up with the 3D games during their formative gaming years are or have become the majority of posters. Younger players aren't as resentful of Quan Chi as those of us who grew up with Shang as the series' main sorcerer are; they see him as a better character while some of us old folks see him as a usurper.

I disagree with him being a wasted spot. If NRS can make Kano of all people look decent to play, they can make Shang look good too. I also like Shang as a character too, I haven't really liked him as much since MK1-3, but I still think NRS can make him awesome again.

I hadn't thought of that. That's a very good point on perspective.

I agree about the younger posters definitely. If I had to choose a sorcerer, I'd definitely go with Shang Tsung because Quan Chi has overstayed his welcome with me. Granted, he looks like he'll play great but the character just needs a break. Now before the Quan fans jump down my back, I'm speaking break as in MK terms of break (meaning more than likely just one game). Scheme this, plot that, backstab here, backstab there. It's always the same with him and it lost its interest to me at least.

The last great thing they did with Shang was ironically the Deadly Alliance. I'm really, really tired of seeing Shang used as a lackey for lack of a better term. He honestly deserves better than that. Just this old, creepy looking man scared the shit out of me as a kid playing MK1. Give him an edge, something that will make him stand out and be unique again. And on that note, instead of the way he played in MK9, I'd prefer them to stop relying too heavily on the fireball stuff and give him something new, unique. Sure, it's a mainstay, it needs to be there in some shape or form, but if that's all there is game after game after game, it gets stale. Give him some new special moves maybe that rely on using souls or something. But like I said previously, if he's here, hopefully they can blow me away and wow me.

I have to disagree with Shadaloo. It has nothing to do with age.

Shang was cool when he was able to morph into every character. I liked his Snake style in Deadly Alliance. In the most recent games he's just not menacing and interesting enough.

I grew up with Shang, but Quan Chi is the better half of the sorcerer tandem - story and gameplay wise!

I agree, there seems to be a lot of 3D era love on these forums lately, and it's mainly from new users who obviously grew up in that era

It's not a bad thing but MK was built on the backbone of the trilogy characters like Shang and needs to stick with it,

Because MK wouldn't be MK without its staple characters, it would be like street fighter without Guile or tekken without Yosimitsu etc

Regardless of Gameplay, Story, Tie-Ins. He's still an original design and one of my all time personal favorites because of that alone. None will ever forget Big Trouble In Little China thus Lo Pan will live on in Shang Tsung forever. They could butcher this character into a million pieces the fact he was an original design based off a historical movie more then conceals his character amongst the mk lore. No matter who comes along in this series his attitude down to his originally spelt awesome name makes him at least to me a staple main stay in the franchises history. I will never remember a character like I have shang tsung.

Why does everyone seem to get the impression unskilled plays only use Shang and Kano? I am quite skilled and apart from Kabal those two are my favorites.

To be honest, they're doing such a great job revamping characters that I think they can make any character one you want to play as at this point.

They made Kano look much better, they made me see Kitana as a deadly assassin instead of the bland princess that I always saw.

Shang Tsung still has lots of potential, even if the "shceming sorceress" thing now clearly belongs to Quan Chi, Shang Tsung could be a wildcard here. Something like his MK9 ending but with some twists and him trying to get advantage of the situation would be really cool.

A lot of the "least used" characters from MK9 have a lot of potential for revamp. I'm hoping to see Sindel in MKX too even if she wasn't popular, as she would fit perfectly in the variations style of combat and I like the character more than any other edenian girl and the Ermac/Jerrod story would be better if Sindel is around.

For those claiming to have never played a skilled Shang Tsung player online for MK9, if you have XBL I will give you a challenge. Just PM me for my gamertag. I would welcome Shang with open fucking arms. IMO, he's hands down the best villain in the entire series.

So far my mains from MK9 are all returning:

1. Kitana
2. Kano
3. Shang Tsung (probability is increasing)

Fuck yeah.

I'll freely admit that losing a major part of his appeal in universal morphing has hurt him somewhat, but it's not the main reason he's less of a credible threat; it's because Quan Chi is consistently given the spotlight, constantly written as being better and smarter than everyone (Shang included). I can buy that, but we're at the point where it's becoming dangerously close to Mary Sue status. There was zero logical reason for him to have been given Shang's MK3 idea to resurrect Sindel in MK9's Story mode; I still don't know what they were thinking with that.

Shang was a survivor who constantly proved his worth and was one of the main faces of evil in the overall plot; now the snivelling aspects of his character have been magnified while omitting his charisma and guile. I'd call him "barely written" for the better part of the last decade; this is why I feel younger players, or people introduced into the series with the 3D games may not hold as high an opinion of him.