Good thread! I like the idea.

I think that there's more to consider than just the story possibilities. Sure, her look could be changed, but that change would also have to reflect a change in the story. What about her special moves? Sure, they could be added to, but you also have to take a look at what the character has been so far.

If a character is weaker now in terms of story, look, moves etc, then I'd think that it would require a lot to make that character better or capitalize on what potential they may have. So it might just be worth it to sack the character and make a new one.

For Ashrah, the one plot that I COULD see her coming back in would be a force for something like... The armies of Heaven if there was a heaven vs hell type of storyline. Even then, however, I wouldn't see her as a central character to a plot like that. More like a support character and I'm honestly not a fan of support characters (unless we're talking about Baraka, who's just a badass lol).

Other than that? Her story, to me at least, seems kind of like a one off. Sure fought her way out of hell by killing demons and now she's in heaven.

The end. Anything else that's done, in relation to her old story would simply be an elongation of that story, which I don't see any necessity for.

Also, as far as her look is concerned, I never liked it. Without her hat, she looked like Kitana dressed in white. With her hat, she looked like Rayden. Her moves were even Rayden-esque. Sadly, she falls in to the category of unimaginative characters from the later generations.

Verdict: GONE

I liked Ashrah and I'd like to see her back.
Personally, I think Ashrah's best potential is in her tie to Sareena...whom I believe should definitely return. Either as her "best friend" character...like Jade to Kitana...or as her antithesis. Of those two choices, I think antithesis works best.

Ashrah acting as Sareena's "best friend" would make sense because they share similar backgrounds and are both "good" characters. It would make sense that Ashrah would see a reflection in Sareena and adopt an "older sister" role for her and try to keep her on the "good" side.
Downside with this is it limits Ashrah's role in the story and...as seen with Jade and Kung Lao...it doesn't take long for the "best friend" characters to wear thin.

Alternatively, suppose they portray Ashrah as Sareena's antithesis....which in itself sounds like a more interesting idea.
Since Sareena is a "good" character...how Ashrah, who is also "good," could represent her "dark mirror image" makes for potentially intriguing situation. They're both similar in they're Demons who used to serve Quan Chi, but turned against him. Maybe they even have history together. I think it would interesting if they'd played with Ashrah being the "bad one" and Sareena being the "good one." Firstly, from a visual perspective, it'd be interesting because to just look at them one would sterotypically assume Sareena was the "villain" of the rivalry.

Although Ashrah has the attributes of a "good guy" she's shown to be rather overzelous in purifying of things. And that's something I think sets her apart and could lead to something interesting.
They could play up that zeal in purifying things and have her deem Sareena an impure creature that must be destroyed....even though Sareena wants to be good and doesn't mean anyone harm. Or maybe at first Ashrah does see a reflection in Sareena and wants to help her...but somewhere along the way, things just go wrong. Nitara could be involved, turning it into a three-way fight. Perhaps further down the line, Ashrah sides with Raiden...who himself is becoming rather overzealous. And maybe that's where the conflict for Sareena comes into play.

I'd vote to keep Ashrah.
She has a distinctive look amongst the female characters and story-wise, Sareena could really benefit from having a personal rival.

I'd vote to keep her around. She stands out as being the only heroic character with a working knowledge of the Netherrealm. That's got to come in handy at some point.

I like Ashrah.

I dont like that she looks like a female Raiden.
They could just give her a different look and that problem would be sorted.

Her moves were cool and the whole voodoo doll thing was good.

I say STAY!

I vote she should stay, but only if her model is heavily redesigned. She looks way too bland as she is (her alt was okay, though). Definitely lose the hat.

Liked her story concept, though. It would be cool seeing her and Ermac form sort of a supernatural duo.

at first i said no but i got to thinking. ashrah was in bad fighting games to me with the fighting styles and stuff. deception felt stiff to me and armaggeddon, oh yeah you know. so i never got a good feel for her. i did like her special moves and her story was alright. her fighting stance needs work and her outfit shpuld be different. so a semi revamped ashrah would be nice.

I think Ashrah should stay because she is one of the only new characters that has a lot of potential. I thought her story, fatality and hat with the veil was creative. I also like how she doesn't wear a revealing outfit like most of the MK chicks do. I hope Ashrah returns with a new outfit, but I hope she keeps her hat just like Rayden and Kung Lao keep their hats on.

Her story doesn't seem complete yet. She should stay with a more feminine style of clothing.

Hate her design, hate her moves, hate her finishers, but I love her story. She's got one of my favs, so I'd like her to return. They just need to really make her design and moves cooler. Enough with that wannabe Raiden look. She's got magical talents so I'm all for a "white witch" type of look.

Uhh... how isn't her story completed?

In other words, I don't know what happened to her in Armageddon.

Get rid of her. She never interested me, and she looks dumb.

That's just like with all the other characters. No one knows what happened to them. But Ashrah's story in general is basically a completed one since she defeated the demons to purify herself from evil and got her wish.

It's a matter of, would anyone like to see this character come back or not for the time period I have her up for to debate on.

A slight win towards the "yes" side from me. She was a cool character, and I feel that she could have really been something. She wasn't 100% perfection right from the start, but those sort of things are easily fixed. Some development could have been interesting. That being said, I'm not a big fan of the direction her story took. The overzealous thing can work, but wasn't what I was expecting. Still, I feel that the vampire tie-in feels a bit forced. It gives Nitara someone to rival her, but as Xia suggested, I think Sareena would have been the natural way to go.

i say keep her...but like its been said. she needs a new appearance and fatality gimmick...the voodoo doll is just not right in my eyes either icey. but other than that her story has lots of potential and could be worth a chance.

Since majority of you would like to see Ashrah stay, I guess she's a keeper. Well, that's all the time to debate with Ashrah...Today we’re featuring Baraka

Now, I’m sure you all know the story behind Baraka, but, for those who have absolutely no clue what he did in MK, let me clear things up for ya:

In the first game that he was introduced: Mortal Kombat 2, he led an attack into Liu Kang’s Shaolin Temple. Because of this, it gained the attention of Shao Kahn, who eventually recruited him into the army. In the ending, he goes on a rampage defeating the Earth warriors and the villains of MK2. Because of killing Kahn, he became “King Baraka” (Of course, this never happened for real)

In the next game that he was featured, Mortal Kombat Gold, he was wondering around many realms until he traveled back through Edenia. Quan Chi made him an offer to rule the realm, but as he accepts the offer, Baraka has a different idea of how things will turn out. Of course, in the ending, he eventually kills Quan Chi.

Lastly, we see him make a grand return in Deception. In his biography, he states that his race has been served under many masters such as Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Kahn. They have been weak, but now they’re under new management, Onaga the Dragon King. Onaga ordered Baraka and his race to destroy Outworld in order to distract many allies to give time for Onaga to complete his plans. He’s also working with Mileena who is pretending to be Princess Kitana and misdirect all those who are trying to kill Onaga.

In the end, Baraka believed that Mileena had given her armies powerful magic, betraying Baraka. Hearing that Mileena would like to meet with him in some ancient lair, he agreed to but only having someone taking his place, since Baraka was no fool. Hearing that Sub-Zero was close by, he ordered the remaining militia to deal with Sub-Zero and headed out to ambush Mileena. He smelt the Tarkatan blood on Mileena, knowing that she had already killed the decoy and managed to kill Mileena for her betrayal.


Okay... apparently nothing changes with this guy’s story. He’s under some new master and manages to kill them in the end. He has not once given a twist in the story whatsoever. It’s the same thing over and over again and quite frankly it’s getting rather boring. Yes, we all know he’s one of thousands of Tarkatans, yes, he sticks by them all the time, it’s basically a soldier’s story. But let’s get out of that trend and do something completely new to this guy for good.

His moves, no, don’t change them. His moves are fine for what kind of a character he is. His blade spark, his slice ‘n’ dice, and that blade ramming move suits him fine. He doesn’t need new moves. His fatalities that he had are also fine. There’s nothing I would change in-game, it’s just that his story seriously needs to be different.

His appearance is quite dull. He doesn’t look different from any game he was featured (yes, Gold was quite a different costume, but it’s still the same look.) I would rather see him in some sort of cool-looking bone armor and such.

So, I’d say that if there’s not going to be a story change, don’t come back, because otherwise we’d be seeing the same old thing from the past three games Baraka was in. So this is a no for me.

Let’s debate, do you want to see Baraka stay or go?

Huh, I always seem to bet first on these so far lol.

Anyways, as my name would indicate, Baraka is my favorite MK character. He's also the one that has the worst story, unfortunately. As you said Icebaby, he's always following some new big bad in each game.

You say soldier though, and I say henchmen. No one wants to play as the henchmen. So yeah, he definitely needs a new story.

I could see something where his entire clan is wiped out and he seeks revenge against the newest big bad guy, maybe forcing him to throw in his lot with the good guys for a change...

Maybe in this betrayal, he's severely injured and this alters his appearance. Maybe he only has one blade and the other one is broken off. Perhaps part or all of his face is masked somehow because of how hideous it is now.

I'd kinda like to see a plot where he's not just a bloodthirsty savage for evil, but a bloodthirsty savage that's trying to rise above his evil tendencies and reclaim honor for his slain brethren. Maybe in this regard, he finds an unlikely ally in Reptile?

As for his moves, if he has only one blade, his moves would need to be revised heavily. I could see a move where he kneels down and sends his one blade out to stab incoming jumpers. Maybe with his other blade that was broken off, he sends pieces of it flying at people as a projectile move. Like, it won't stay in his skin or something.

I think that in future MK games, each character should have AT LEAST 6-8 special moves. So certainly there would need to be more here, but between using his one blade, his broken blade and his savagery, I don't think it would be hard to come up with more moves that fit his character.

VERDICT: STAY, but only with severe revision to his story.

I can understand why some fans like Baraka. Within Mortal Kombat, his appearance stands out somewhat, and there is an appeal in playing a wild beastly character, but he's become firmly established as the designated mindless lackey that now he's just redundant and unnecessary.

He's worn out and evidently there's nothing that really differentiates him from any other Tarkatan. His act as the standard issue henchman is old and beyond that I don't see very many possibilities.

In my opinion, his best bet would be a feud with Mileena for betraying him....but I think if Mileena comes back, there are better things that can be done with her.
He could take command of the Tarkatans and try to conquer....like what Noob Saibot's doing in the Netherealm....and Sektor's doing with the Tekunin...not to mention numerous other clans and armies that are sprouting up. Personally, I think Mortal Kombat as a whole would benefit from fewer clans, armies, and factions.
He could just go rogue and be some sort of wild card character...but personally, I'd be more interested in Mileena or maybe Reptile do that.

I vote go.

When I first started playing MK2 around age 7 or 8, i remember that baraka always interested me. I loved how his up punch attack had him flying through the air kinda like superman.

i definitely have a lot of sentimental feelings towards baraka, but he has hardly impacted the series at all. if he does stay, they need to utilize him much better, and i'm guessing the only way they could successfully pull this off is by rebooting the series.

if they reboot, and go back to the first tourney, they could have baraka kind of like a soldier or something. Maybe a fighter in the tourney, i dunno, i just feel that he seems like the type of character that people should be afraid of, ya know? nowadays, his blades coming out of his arms are more of a novelty than anything else. those blades should make him unique, but they become dull.

so i say, umm, dammit.....go.....sorry b-man

Baraka has his place. I didn't like him at first, but his evolution through MK Gold all the way to Armageddon has made him a fantastic character in my opinion.

Baraka, for me, is one of the easiest characters to answer: No. I'm sorry, but there is no redeeming aspect to his character's story what-so-ever. I'm glad even you can see that, Baraka407, and I am sorry.

Let's take a look at the guy: Mortal Kombat II was probably where the guy's story was strongest. This is sad, as it is his first game. It's counter-balanced with his worst look, in my opinion. There is something so..."bland" about Baraka in this game. The story that has him attacking the Shaolin temples on behalf of Shao Kahn to actually instigate Mortal Kombat II makes his a deceptively influencial character, though.

This is where his character should have ended. Kung Lao fights and defeats Baraka, and uses his Hat Slice Fatality. This shows us how different Kung Lao and Liu Kang are personality-wise, and can move both protagonists further in the story. Thanks, Baraka. You did a great job.

Unfortunately, Baraka returns time and time again, each time with a more impressive visual appearance (the stitches down the body is a cool touch, and makes Baraka appear resilient as hell), but an even worse story. How many times can we get Baraka as a gutless henchman?

They had an opportunity to really go places with Baraka in Mortal Kombat: Deception. With Onaga representing the order to Shao Kahn's chaos, when The Dragon King returned, he could have been disgusted with the Tarkatan race that rose to power under Shao Kahn's rule. Suddenly, Baraka would go from being a lackey to the boss you're fighting against, to being the protagonist of his own story.

As the leader of his people, Baraka would take it upon himself to end the oppressing force facing his people, without him finding too many allies within the game. That is a story I could get behind for the Wolverine-inspired "mutant" of Outworld. But right now, I feel anything they do with Baraka will be too little too late.

like many others i agree his story is repeated and needs to end....perhaps bring in a new tarkatan or give Mileena some blades and lose the sais. she is a tarkatan is she not? anyways...without the story he is a fun character to use in game but i think he needs a new rival or something...otherwise i think he needs to take a rest from the series unfortunately.

Fodder.

Served his course, do not overuse him. As of now he is quality, so put him away at his potentiality peak.