Kai
Poor Kai. When you really think about it, he should have been given the exact same story that Kung Lao got in Deadly Alliance. MK4 pretty much set-up Kai to take over from Liu Kang as the main hero of Mortal Kombat, but instead they pulled Kai and gave the starring role to Kung Lao. Then they screwed over Kung Lao. As a result, Kung Lao looks like a joke and Kai looks like an afterthought.

I can understand why people would want him back. There was so much potential with him. But ultimately, I think you need to cut your losses with him. Nothing about him really demands to come back now. If he wasn't good enough for Deadly Alliance, I don't think MK9 is the place for him. It won't disappoint me if he is back, but I will pray that he is done right this time.

But yes, I can understand why people would rather take Kai over Kung Lao. Come on, Kung Lao is fucked. They had him all ready to be written off after MK3, it seems. He returned in Gold, and then got set-up to be the new hero. As a peace-loving, reluctant hero, Kung Lao going after Shang Tsung was strictly for personal reasons. That could have been cool. Had Kung Lao defeated Shang Tsung, I think that technically would have made him the Mortal Kombat Champion, too. Now there is an interesting story -- Kung Lao finds himself stuck with the crown of being Champion, even though he just wants to sit at home and watch TV. Too bad we didn't get it. I think I would still take Kung Lao over Kai, but that is just because I think Kung Lao is a fair bit more iconic than Kai. It has nothing to do with Kung Lao having all this potential, or having a great story, or anything like that.

Kano
I am a big fan of Kano. I don't even know what it is about him. I normally hate characters that are relegated to being henchmen, but I feel that Kano has got that market cornered in Mortal Kombat. Mainly because above all, what the character values is his own survival. There is something in there that attracts me to the character. I also think it is kind of charming that despite all the media references, and how "weak" he seems to be in the story; he actually has managed to survive so far, with any apparent death being something he ultimately canonically avoids.

If you wanted, I could analyse so much about this character. The fact that he is half-Japanese/half-American or Australian is interesting. They haven't really explored Kano's youth, but I am sure there is something fucked up going on there to lead Kano to be head of an international gang. I also think that canonically, the character is tougher than people give him credit for, too. They probably didn't put much thought it, but Kano defeating Sonya in MK1 actually makes the most sense from a storyline perspective. Unless they did go with the "tournament is stopped and all hell breaks loose thing from Shaolin Monks, but whatever.

Mortal Kombat 3 is where Kano got really interesting to me. MK1 led us to believe that Kano was just a thug interested in wealth, but that is expanded in MK3. When Shao Kahn goes to take over Earthrealm, Kano actually betrays his species and everything he knows as reality. Kano's desire to survive takes precedence with him over the rest of humanity, and that is a bleakness to the character that I absolutely love. We associate Kano as being a pig due to the way he has been depicted in film, television and even some of the hints we have been dropped about his attitude: But concepts such as sex, money and comfort take a backseat to Kano's desire to, above all, survive. Fascinating character to me.

But no, he should not return. I think he has served his purpose, and that he is definitely one character that should remain in the past saga.

I'm a big fan of Kano. The character of a merciless mercenary has just always been bad ass to me. He's from Earth, and playing for Outworld. I'd like to see him get even more evil somehow. Take him to the next level. I say stay for sure.

First of all, since I just joined, hello everyone!

I've been following a couple of threads here at MKO for some time now and I got tempted to join the community, so I did.

Now then, Kano...

At present time I'm bored with Kano. At first, when you see a guy with a metal patch on his head and a red glowing eye, he seems quite interesting. Unfortunately, his story never really offered anything interesting. I think he should have died after MK3 or maybe they could have made him steal some fortune from Shang's palace in the first game and make that his happy ending.

My verdict for Kano: GONE.

... ... ...

If you guys don't mind, I would like to go back to Kai. I really liked his design in MK4 and I also liked his special moves. Story wise he definitely feels empty, but that's better than having a totally screwed up story, I guess. Even though he debuted all the way back in MK4, to me, he still feels fresh. I'd like to see him interact with Nightwolf, both of them feel kind of exotic, so I think Nightwolf could be a good mentor to Kai.
On one side, I would like to see Fujin in charge of Earth's actions/diplomacy and Kung Lao as his general, but I'd also like to see some tension between Earthrealm heroes, some little arguments and maybe even fights here and there, just to spice things up a bit. Therefore, I'd have Nightwolf and Kai, as his "student", prefer different kind of diplomacy and actions for the sake of protecting the Earth than those of Fujin and Kung Lao.
I don't think there needs to be one leading/main Earthrealm hero (like Liu obviously was), I would like to see more characters play equally big roles, I think Kai could be one of those.
So yeah, I'd like for Kai to stay.

... ... ...

I'd also like to say my verdicts for all the characters that were already discussed about and the status I'd prefer for them (regular character = playable in every game; background character = playable in some games, cameo appearance in others). So here we go...

Ashrah: STAY (regular character)

Baraka: GONE

Blaze: GONE

Bo' Rai Cho: STAY (background character)

Chameleon: GONE

Cyrax: STAY (background character)

Daegon: GONE

Dairou: STAY (background character)

Darrius: GONE

Drahmin: STAY (background character)

Ermac: STAY (regular character)

Frost: GONE

Fujin: STAY (regular character)

Goro: GONE

Havik: STAY (background character)

Hotaru: STAY (background character)

Hsu Hao: GONE

Jade: STAY (background character)

Jarek: GONE

Jax: GONE

Johnny Cage: GONE

Kabal: STAY (background character)

Kai: STAY (regular character)

... ... ...

I hope you guys don't mind my first post ended up so long, but I really wanted to go through all the characters.
I apologize if some of my sentences are not totally understandable, English is not my first language.

Hello.

Now I missed deciding on Jade so I definitely need her to STAY. She has a lot of potential with her moves and weapons. Especially with that staff of hers. Not only that, but Jade should be a secret character that we must unlock with a special code.

As for Kano: I say he should stay IF either Kira doesn't return or if Kira gets her own set of moves and if she doesn't have Kano's Cannon Ball move anymore. Kano's Laser Eye is what made me say he could stay.

I thought Kano was pretty good in MK Vs DC. He just had those appaulling "Fatalities" lol.

*POW!* Right In The Kisser!... FATALITY!

I like him being an Aussie but IMO the voice actor doesn't do a very good accent (any Australians on MKO can correct me if it is actually a good one).

I think he needs a new storyline as the constant stalking of Sonya is getting tedious. Maybe introduce someone from his past or a family member etc.

I think he should STAY!

Hi, nephrite. Welcome to MKO!

And just to stay on topic,

Kano....eh. If they're just going to give all his moves to Kira, there's really no reason to keep him around. Gone.

i have not been on in a bit so i will just address the ones i missed quick...

kai...gone

kabal...stay

kano...i see alot of hate on kano but i like him and think he should stay but i also could handle him sitting out of a few games

My thoughts are pretty much the same as XD's. Fuck Kano. I'd really rather like to never see him again, outside of remakes.

i say kano stays but only with vincent proce concept and more creativity in story(no thug junk again). kano has really gotten boring with the same ole roll attack. lol

That's just like saying Sub-Zero's boring because he's got the ice blast. Scorpion is boring with the spear... so on and so on...

Anyways, I didn't figure that this character was going to be well liked after he was being mentioned a lot while discussion about Kabal, so I'm going to move on to another character.

Kenshi

Sensing cries of his captured ancestors, he made a vow to himself that he will slay Shang Tsung in order to free them. When he heard about Shang Tsung escaping to Outworld, he agreed to help the Special Forces to help find Cyrax in order to gain access to that realm, which allowed him to act as both rescue party and spy. After discovering the sorcerer’s whereabouts, the Agency was destroyed and with it his only means for return to earth. He now finds himself facing the Deadly Alliance on his own.

Years ago, he wandered to Japan to challenge the greatest warriors. Shang Tsung discovered Kenshi’s true heritage as a descendant of a long forgotten line of warrior kings. Shang’s desire was to consume the souls of those warrior kings and tricked Kenshi into releasing them from their tomb, an act that left him blind.

Catching up to Shang Tsung in the end, he cut open Shang and released the souls, his duty was fulfilled.

In Deception, a brawl against Mavado left him nearly dying, but Sub-Zero found him and helped him out. The souls of his ancestors told him of their return to his sword. Their captor, Shang Tsung, was dead, though he did not know how or by whom. (WTF?) Having no other reason to remain in Outworld, he made a temporary alliance with Sub-Zero and headed back to Earthrealm.

Traveling with Sub-Zero, he noticed his armor was charred and worn from battle. Sub-Zero told him of Hotaru who attacked him for slaying a Tarkatan.

They were trying to keep hidden, only traveling at night, but they were attacked by Hotaru. Since he was blind, the blast from Hotaru’s projectile did not effect him, he killed Hotaru and that was the last mistake he would ever make.

Oye, Kenshi was certain an interesting character, but to be honest, I hate that he’s a telekinetic character. I’d rather have Ermac be the one with telekentics. And if he’s supposed to be a descendant of a line of warriors, he barely had any moves that made him act like a warrior.

I never liked this character’s appearance. He doesn’t look like a warrior, instead he looks like some Matrix-looking character with a hint of Tron going on there. I say give him a warrior-look appearance if he’s supposed to come from a line of warriors.

His story, if the Special Forces are still around, I’m certain he’s got a spot on that line, or he can continue being allies with Sub-Zero. That’s really all I can think of for his story.

Meh, he had his chance and I never liked this character. I’m saying go.

So, let’s debate. Should Kenshi stay or leave?

No, he didn't. He was attacked by Mavado before he even got anywhere near Shang. And as for Shang Tsung....well, did you watch the Deception intro? Shang got blown up by Raiden.

The Mortal Kombat endings are always what-if scenarios. Just because Kenshi killed Shang Tsung in his MK:DA ending doesn't mean it happened or was going to happen. I noticed you mentioned Kano's MK3 ending....that never happened either. He fought Sonya at the end MK3....which was her ending, as a matter of fact.

It's been that way since day one. Sub-Zero's MK1 ending had him killing Shang Tsung and retiring from the Lin Kuei. Raiden's MK1 ending had him blowing up the Earth. Obviously, neither happened.

We never know what happens for certain until the next game comes out and confirms it. Sometimes endings happen, sometimes they only partially happen, and sometimes they don't happen at all.

It's just a matter of figuring out what comes between A and C. It's always been that way.


I'll give my thoughts on Kenshi later. I just wanted to point that out.

kenshi: I really liked this character. I thought he looked cool, and his story was interesting enough. His moves where alright, and I do agree that Ermac should be the only telepath, but damn Kenshi is just so much cooler. I like the idea of a blind swordsmen, and his out fit works, because it looks like it is set for espionage with an oriental flare to it.

I would have liked it if Kenshi at least kicked Shang's ass, but Icebaby needs to realize that this is Mortal Kombat. Very rarely are the character endings canon. Also Kung Lao has a right to defeat Shang after killing his boy friend Lui.

Verdict: The best new character means a big fat STAY.

Haha, WOW. I totally forgot about that intro. Thanks for clearing that up. I'll edit that post. This is what happens when you come back from a psychology exam... Totally brain dead right now

I don't get why so many ppl love Kenshi, I think he is one of the most boring characters there is.
He basically has Ermac's moves so is a waste of space IMO.

I say GONE!

kenshi is amazin stay

Kenshi is a pretty good character, I say stay. I think they should definitely give him different moves though. He is basically a blind, samurai Ermac.

i agree with mkd...Kenshi is over rated imo. this character is a perfect example of a concept gone wrong...i say gone

Though I understand the resentment behind Kenshi borrowing Ermac's moves, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with it. Ryu and Ken share numerous moves, but no would dare criticize that, and for good reasons. 1) There's a logical story explanation behind the shared movelist, 2) There are distinguished subtleties and advantages that separate the characters, and 3) it gives players who enjoy the playing style but not the character concept an alternate playing design. I kind of wish MK would do this sort of thing more often (but with explanation of course).

Hell, if they explain it right, I wouldn't even mind Noob being a cryomancer again. Give him demonic AND ice powers so long as the ice features aren't copy/paste from Subzero.

As for Kenshi, I think he's one of the best new characters since MK3. His design is an easy A minus, his MKDA ryu-ish alt looked great, and his story motivations are solid. The only real criticism I have is that the lone wolf attitude feels kind of forced in his case. I kind of like his affinity for solitude, but a character with so many allies really ought to more dynamic.

Verdict: Stay. Out of all the characters I never ever use, he's probably my favorite.

I appreciate Kenshi as a solid concept that I think was executed very well.

Story-wise, I like the lone wolf thing...especially since I can't stand the Special Forces. My only issue with him...and this might just be me...but when I imagine what Kenshi is like as a character, I imagine him with a very stoic and disciplined persona. My problem with that is, that's pretty much how I see Sub-Zero and Kung Lao. None of them are really loners, but they share that kind of solitary "dark silent hero" thing.

I think I would like Kenshi more if he had something that made him stand out a little bit from that template. I'm not really sure what that could or should be, though. MK:DA's Konquest and his Armageddon bio showed Kenshi has a bit of an ego...that's a start. He used to travel around, challenging warriors to fights to test his abilities and prove he's the best. Maybe they can tie that into a long-term goal...because he can't be out for revenge forever.

In terms of looks, I liked his MK:DA and I liked the sleek, modern warrior look he had. I didn't care so much for his Deception attire which looked kind of clunky and too futuristic. I think he should always retain a sleek, streamlined appearance. I mentioned my thoughts on his gameplay in relation to Ermac earlier. I'll just copy and paste:
Personally, I would rather the put more emphasis on Kenshi's swordsmanship in his special moves than the telekinetic stuff. Just my opinion, but I found the "master swordsman" aspect of Kenshi more interesting than his telekinesis. Not saying they should completely abandon Kenshi's telekinetic moves, but I'd rather being a swordsman be more his thing and telekinesis be more Ermac's thing.

I vote stay for Kenshi. I would like a few minor touch ups, but overall I would like to see him continue.

I don't hate Kenshi, but I'm not a massive fan, either. I feel that they've gotten away from Kenshi/Ermac's relationship (though if I think there were a mentor/student type thing, it should be this). I wouldn't mind him coming back and seeing if his path crosses with Ermac's. Could be interesting.

I remember when Kenshi was reveiled to us prior to MKDA's release and I remember how much I liked the look of him. He reminded me of Neo in the Matrix, even moreso due to his eventual telekinetic abilities. I was very pleased with his concept and he was my instant favourite of all the new characters MKDA produced and he was one of the first I learnt to use.
I really liked his story and the motivation behind it. I liked that he was a lone fighter and had a nice independent plot (ignoring the Special Forces as he was never really too heavily inviolved with them) and he was incredibly fun to use. Learning moves from Ermac was an interesting move and one that was utilised well. The differences between the two in terms of gameplay perfectly showed who was the master and who was the teacher. It'd be nice to see more sword techniques with him if he returns. I made a thread some time ago about him using his sword combined with the telekinesis for long range attacks or even whilst he attacks the enemy freely.
It's a shame then after that brilliant debut that he ran head first into dull territory. His story sort of went nowhere. As Raiden ended up killing Shang Tsung and his ancestors souls returned to his sword, Kenshi was pretty much saying to himself, 'Oh, I have nothing to do. Let's just stmble into MKD (thanks to Sub-Zero) and be boring'. It's a shame we never got to see an MKA bio for him.
I would vote that Kenshi stays provided they don't drag him into the dirt. He shows promise and it'd be a shame for them to ruin him. Thanks to MKD, I'm not as much a fan of him as I once was but he is much better than most others out there.

We did:
With Shang Tsung rumored dead, I had no further need of the Special Forces. And although I had an ally in Sub-Zero, I had no desire to join the Lin Kuei. I returned to Earthrealm, content to be a lone warrior once again. Guided by my ancestors' sword, I hunted the wicked, slaying those who would threaten the meek. In the dark, my blindness was an advantage. I struck unseen and toppled many criminal organizations from the safety of the night.

As I fought against the underworld, I intercepted encrypted communications to Mavado from a secretive clan known as the Red Dragon. The messages revealed an elaborate plan designed to ensnare one man: an Edenian half-god named Taven. The Red Dragon were in a frenzy, and it seemed as though something very important was underway. Before I could determine the location of the Red Dragon base, however, I was met by a former ally, Johnny Cage. He believed that the fallen Elder God Shinnok had resurfaced and wanted to gather the Forces of Light to discuss a battle plan. I refused the invitation, not wanting to get involved in yet another pointless melee between "good" and "evil". I had my own agenda: bring down the Red Dragon and finish Mavado.

Alone in the Botan Jungle, stalking Red Dragon scouts, I was overwhelmed by an intense psychic scream. I became aware of Taven and Daegon and their quest to slay the fire elemental, Blaze. My sword also heard the scream and pleaded with me to ally with the Forces of Light once more. I had received insight from my blade before, but this time it seemed drawn to kombat. It was as if I could feel the sword pulling me towards some epic clash.

I will not deny its cry for blood. Though Johnny Cage is gather the Forces of Light, I will be the one to take them into battle. The lone warrior will become a leader of many.

Thanks, XiahouDun84. I'd forgotten about it. I even have it saved in my documents. It shows how little I paid attention to Kenshi after MKDA. That bio restores some faith in him. Hopefully he'll return and we'll get to see what happens next.

I hate that line. I'm not saying that every good character has to have a cheerleader's enthusiasm for fighting evil, but calling the battle pointless just makes him sound like an emo-brood. I get that he's a loner, but loner doesn't mean apathetic jackass. And fighting Shinnok pointless? He's only the FUCKING DEVIL!!!

Welcome to the boards, Nephrite!

Kenshi was a huge win for the series. I truthfully believe that this character could become an icon of Mortal Kombat. He's got a strong image -- the whole blind samurai thing is pretty distinguishable. He's got a theme behind his special moves (psychic powers -- and although they borrowed it from Ermac, Kenny felt like a more proactive force in the story), and I like the way he almost seems to use the Special Forces to further his own goals.

If they had gone with Kung Lao defeating Shang Tsung in Deadly Alliance (as I believe they should have), then Kenshi's MK6 story could have easily been him helping Kung Lao fight against The Dragon King, but only so that he could challenge Kung Lao to Mortal Kombat afterwards, and become the Champion of MK -- thus allowing him to practice and perfect his arts for eternity. The goal of being MK Champion seems like something that would fit Kenshi -- his pride and his ego, anyway.

The lone wolf thing could be explained quite easily. Kenshi has displayed both telekinetic and telepathic abilities, right? That means Kenshi should be able to read minds. That he knows the dark thoughts people generate could lead to him putting up barriers between himself and others. At the same time, I would like to see a bit of wisdom and manipulation from the character now and again. As he can read minds, he could use that to tell a character exactly what they wanted him to hear. That Kenshi is "too likeable" to some could be a nice little quirk that develops over time.

I'm not sure if anyone here as ever watched a show called "The Wire." I could see Kenshi having a personality like the Lester Freamon character from that show. Seemingly wise and intelligent beyond his years, but on the inside burns a self-destructive, obsessive and almost childish ego.

If I had to choose between Ermac and Kenshi for the next saga, I would take Kenshi. Not that Ermac is a bad character, it's just that in a toss-up between two greatly designed characters, Kenshi just has the most depth so far. Ermac could be developed further, but I'd like to see the immediate future be Kenshi's. Perhaps have Ermac's essence broken up and consumed by some sort of sorcerer (Shang Tsung could be around for one more game), and Kenshi avenges Ermac before continuing his personal quest towards greatness. It would also give Kenshi even more of a reason to want the Shanger dead. I think a lot of those sort of iconic villains and heroes should be brought back if just to give a rub to some newer characters. A proper one.

Kenshi is a must stay for me. Ermac I could live with, but only if he doesn't step on Kenny's toes.