I hope the bosses are strictly non playable affairs. Give us at least one hulking monstrosity. Tie each boss to a specific background that they need to be on in order to fight properly. This could be done through some kind of background object that the character has to interact with. This could also be an environment attribute such as water or fire that needs to be utilized by the boss in some way in order to have his full move set work. That way if the game is hacked the game will crash or freeze if you try to play as the bosses on the solo ladder. I want that sense of awe and mystery back that the first few MK games invoked.

Yes for playable. Whether he is the final boss or not in MK10, he should be playable.

In MK4 he was able to obtain every characters fighting styles, just like Shang Tsung, but the difference was that Shinnok did not morph into the other characters. You could have him fight like that as the final boss along with his own fighting style, but have the playable character unable to obtain other characters fighting styles but only have his own moveset.

Do we really need a "hulking monstrosity"? Bigger =/= Badass boss

Look at Goro, Kintaro, and Shao Kahn in MK9. They are pathetic as boss fights. Players can beat them with little to no effort. They're big but are predictable, slow, and don't even use Breakers. How is that even remotely challenging?

You tell me what's scarier. A big stupid boss that does ridiculous damage but is dumber than a second coat of paint, or a smaller boss with an adaptive AI? With the latter, you have a boss that doesn't fight the same way every time. It's a boss that can learn how you fight, and can counter accordingly.

I'll take the latter anyday over some big hulking idiot.

[ . . . ]

@ShaolknChuan:

So basically you want Shinnok to be another cheap rip-off of Shang Tsung like he was in MK4? Shinnok was a HUGE disappointment in MK4, he had no original moves, not even his own projectile. There was literally nothing exciting or unique about him. At least if he actually morphed in to the other characters it would have been visually cool, but just taking over their move sets was the biggest let down imaginable for a final boss. What made it worse still was the fact that there wasn't a sub-boss in the game either, a fact that Ed Boon later stated was one of his biggest regrets about MK4.

I really doubt NetherRealm would repeat a past mistake, especially one this big. It would be the same thing as adding Jarek again with all of Kano's moves. Shinnok was given original moves for his appearance in MKA and they were actually pretty cool. I'd like to see those god-like powers he had in that game make a return, but expanded upon.

Should this thread have a vote? I say yes. I like playable bosses (all characters really) because there are more options to play as and it feels more immersive to use all the characters.

I find it a shame to not play as Goro, Shao Kahn or even random challenge tower Zombie in MK(9), it feels like a waste of untapped potential.

Shinnok as a boss with hard difficulty isn't that different from MKDA's setup. And as for Shinnok vs Shinnok, well that isn't different from any other mirror match (where it's possible to imagine the opponent is a morphed Shang). This scenario has another possible explanation, we know Shinnok is capable of making a clone of himself.

Here are the results:

Yes: 8

No: 9

In between: 3

Edit again: Votes are now in the OP

I say YES to both him being playable & non-playable.

Thanks KLDS, seeing the tally makes it clear.

It would be only natural for him as a boss to be non-playable, but then, the question is whether he will retain the characteristics of a stereotypical MK boss (buffed-up body, immunity to majority of projectiles, intimidating look, hits so hard that they make the opponent bounce off, etc.). Evidently, he hardly ever differed from any 'regular' fighters regarding the looks and stamina/ vulnerability, not to even mention the array of special moves (in MK4, he had none!). That said, I'm guessing his saving grace will probably be his knowledge of magic.

I played as Shinnok a lot while beating MK4 arcade mode, but I never favored him because of his charisma, which he never really had (not enough for a 'boss character', anyway). I loved him because I used to love Shang Tsung in previous MK, and Shinnok, with his mimicking and penchant for mysticism rather than brute force, seemed to me like a homage to Shang Tsung. And naturally, I was attracted by being able to chose and control the only MK fighter who was an Elder God himself (more advanced even than Raiden, Fujin, or Shao Khan).

I wonder whether he will retain his mimicking in the next game (along with his original special moves)?

No they put too much work into giving Shinnok his own persona to just give him the copycat thing again. It was one of the reasons Shinnok sucked as a boss in MK4, because Shang Tsung already did it before. So Shinnok felt very unoriginal.

They should just keep building off of his established moves. (Skeleton hands and portals)

Wow, I didn't think the vote would be that split! Great topic, OP!

My ideal scenario would be this: Have him be unplayable initially. Have him be overpowered; armor, speed, moves etc. Maybe even give him a cool look that lets you know that you're playing the boss of the game and not a gray bell hop.

But after you beat the arcade mode with every character as well as the story mode, you unlock Shinnok, only in a more ruined state. He's balanced out with other characters (which might make sense story-wise given that he's an elder god, though I guess they never took that whole thing to heart when it came to Raiden or Fujin).

And maybe his look is a little less "I'm a freakin GOD" and more "I'm now down here on your level." Just a less intimidating look to go with his less intimidating power, armor, speed, maybe make his moves a little less impressive etc.

Then, have his arcade story line up with what happened in story mode and have his arcade ladder have a different final opponent at the top. Perhaps the person that defeated him in the story. Maybe it ends with him clawing his way back after the final scene and now you get the "real" game ending. Or maybe he fights someone else that sets his story or THE story in a different direction.

That's my idea scenario. Assuming they don't do something like that, and I just have to pick a yes/no right now? I'd say sure, make him playable, but do a MUCH better job with his look and moveset so that he feels way more like a boss when you fight against him in story/arcade, but still balances out with other characters when you're actually using him.

I have to say I really like this idea. It lets us play Shinnok after unlocking him (much better than paying for him), and actually makes sense with the story. I like the idea of earning Shinnok, gives him actual grandeur.

Thanks man! That's exactly what I was going for. You want him in the game, cool, but he should be the grand prize, the final advancement of the story, etc. And yeah, he definitely shouldn't be DLC. He should be a core part of the story experience beyond being the main villain (though that's obviously substantial as well).