I'm not sure what you're talking about. I have not seen anyone dissing Liu any more than any other character. While he got on my nerves in the last game I don't truely hate him. Infact he used to be my favorite.

Where is all this Liu Kang hate you are speaking of?

Well, it's called an "opinion."

Despite I don't "hate" Liu, I do dislike him. Since you're dying to know why there's a "lot" of hate, even though I don't see it, I'll explain.

Liu Kang is bland. He's the typical hero. They haven't done anything remotely interesting with him alive. When they finally killed him off in Deadly Alliance, I was ecstatic. Like, "holy shit, they killed Kang!" And I really thought that was interesting, it was the first time I actually cared about the damn story for once.

That here, this game's story might finally get interesting by killing off the main hero and focusing on the other characters that don't get the love as the hero.

But then they decided to do the stupidest thing ever to a character and bring him back as a zombie. The story behind him being a zombie sucked and I really wanted him to stay dead. Of course, they can't.

2011, again, nothing interesting. It raised an eyebrow when Raiden zapped him but still... nada.


But you're bringing up a topic I really wish people would just drop. I hate the fact that the second movie made these two love birds all of a sudden. And the romance between them in the movie made no goddamn sense. Liu, who only had met Kitana for a couple of hours, suddenly develops this deep, deep love for her suddenly? I felt like whoever decided to write that plot was watching Disney movies for inspiration. Disney movies have two characters develop a strong love for each other over a duration of a few hours.

There was absolutely no strong love between him and Kitana during 2011. As I said it before in the other thread, all there was really was very light flirting, and Kitana didn't even seem remotely interested in some of the advances he was making. I seriously wish people would just stop bringing this up because they've had various times where the romance could have blossomed, but it never got executed. Now is too late.

Liu is dead, who knows what the hell will happen to his character, Kitana is back from the dead and seems to be more interested in taking out the enemy rather than when and where she wants to have a kid.

So there, that's my reason for disliking this bland ass character.

Right here...I just don't like him! nothing about him is like WOW to me about him...I prefer Kung Lao over him.

The only think i will say that might be a positive is that IF, IF Liu Kang would seemingly make a better bad character...only bc we know how good he is and to see how far he fell from grace so to speak. but other than that...the best thig they did was kill him in the MKDA opening scene!

People just get tired of that character being the "one"
Or the chosen one.

Because Liuie needs character development.

I agree that Liu Kang was POORLY presented in MK9, but at least he did have a character transition from being loyal to Raiden to questioning and justly being angry with the Thunder God and all of his fuckups.

I honestly thought the Liu Kang in the original canon was SUPPOSED to be the main hero and be developed before killing him off in DA which I thought was a good run. He was supposed to be the Batman archetype who dislikes killing people because that's his persona as a peaceful Shaolin monk, but he has to make some hard decisions during kombat rather than letting people get killed and having their souls absorbed sadistically by Shang Tsung. One of the main mistakes of Liu Kang was letting Shang Tsung live two times in MK and MK2 which ended up biting him in the ass in DA. He has a main weakness which is giving too much mercy to his enemies.

But the main point that I like about Liu Kang is that he actually has a love interest and there's good and fully developed motives behind all of this. It's a shame the relationship hasn't progressed significantly in the game timeline along with the stupid move to reboot the franchise, but I guess what's done is done. To those that say Kung Lao and Kitana should be together, I honestly thought they're just good allies, but really? Kung Lao, to me isn't the guy to be interested in hitting women and more into preserving his lineage's honor (I hope he and Goro have closure in MKX. That would be badass.) I think my discussion with Razor a few years might sum up the good main points on the relationship issue.


krajax Wrote:
The first thing is the relationship between Liu Kang and Kitana. Is King's attraction to her just at first sight or does it develop as they learn more about each other's back stories?


Kitana approaches Liu shortly after the tournament has started, to tell him she wants to defect and help him defeat her "father". The way I'm hoping it comes across when I write it is that Kang is initially suspicious of her (albeit much less so than his allies are since he's the nice, naive, trusting one), but as she tells him what Kahn did to her real family, and takes him and Kung Lao around Outworld showing them stuff like the Flesh Pits and the remains of the Edenian castle Jerrod and Sindel used to rule from, in a style sort of similar to the exploration plot of MKSM, to prove she's telling the truth, they start falling for each other.

I never liked the way the games keep showing their relationship being all like "Liu sees her for the first time and goes "wow, she's hot, suddenly I'm in love" or "here comes a cute girl to beat me up, time to flirt!" He's a monk, it wouldn't normally occur to him to think about a woman that way, they spend their whole lives learning to ignore shallow physical urges. The reason I've always liked the idea of LiuxKitana is their PERSONALITIES fit together well.

She's spent her whole life killing people and doing evil things but wants to change. The only kind of person she could be with is someone who could support her and raise her self-esteem rather than treating her like a killer, someone who forgives easily, doesn't judge people harshly, and sees the potential best in everyone. He's ALSO the only person in the universe who can defeat Kahn, the cause of all her misery.

And to Liu, her most attractive feature wouldn't be her appearance, it'd be her devotion to saving/restoring her realm, and the fact that she ages super-slow, at a time when he's dealing with the fact that, as the MK champion, he doesn't age anymore so he's going to tragically watch all his human friends grow old and die while he stays the same Highlander-style if he doesn't die in battle first.


krajax Wrote:
Plus will Kang refusing Kitana's proposal to rule Edenia alongside with her in MK4 be included in your story?


Yep. I prefer to never erase something from canon or contradict it, only add to it.


krajax Wrote:
Is there some hostile cultural bias between Edenians and Earthlings that make Liu Kang and Kitana's relationship appear irreconcilable?


It's not anything like that. If you listen to the reason WHY Liu Kang turns down her proposal, his reason is pretty clear.

He literally felt like he wasn't ABLE to say yes because as the still-reigning MK champion, he HAS to live on Earth and defend it in future Mortal Kombat tournaments if there are any. He can't be moving to Edenia and ruling as their prince or king.

And by the same token, Kitana wouldn't have given up her crown and moved to Earthrealm to be with him. Their responsibilities to their own separate realms is what prevented them from being together.

I'm torn on Liu Kang.

On one hand, he's a Bruce Lee clone, which I always enjoy. He's fast, he has some cool moves and I enjoyed the way he played in 2011.

On the other hand, NRS painted themselves in to a corner with Liu Kang being the chosen one because it basically put every other hero in to a supporting role. When Liu Kang died, my immediate thought was "wow, who's going to be the hero now?"

A game series with 70 some odd characters shouldn't have one single character that's "the hero."

That said, I'd have zero problems with him returning provided they took his character in a COMPLETELY different direction (vengeful fire god, for example).

People get sick of seeing the same old thing. The same moves made him seem bland for a long time. Even the extra stuff that they gave him in 2011 didn't solve that problem entirely or at all for some. He kept winning. It got old.

My boy Baraka's had similar issues. Same-ish move set, stuck in lackey role, now a lot of people don't like him as much and refer to him, Reptile and Sheeva (among others) as the series punching bags. I still think he has a lot of potential, but like Liu Kang and so many others, it's up to NRS to realize it and make these characters what we think they could be.

I don't hate him but he needs another role besides champion and zombie. I'd like him to fight more like bruce lee instead of just bird chirping like him. He didn't feel fast enough for me in mk9.

What I don't like is how they went away from his Asian look. In MK2 and 3 he looked great, was fast and very tough to beat. That was also because it was not HD and you could tell little detail. With the details came the fall of Lui, his character development went to shit, no serious fighting styles added to his repertoire, the air bycicle kick move got lame, his speed was gone and his look became bland and even non-asian.

I think they can re-invent him in this game, give him some mystery, not be the hero but maybe torn between good and evil. And just for the sake of it, give him his Asian look and quickness back. No more bland hero typical fighter, but the quick, lethal, bruce lee copy he used to be with a twist.

I beg to differ that Liu Kang is a bland character. You guys need to read his character biography again throughout all the games and put the pieces together, just how John Tobias intended.

For one, Liu Kang is the hero, but at first he was the reluctant hero of Mortal Kombat. For one, Kung Lao was meant to be the one that represented the White Lotus in the Mortal Kombat tournament and not Liu Kang. Liu Kang didn't want that responsibility and abandoned the Shaolin Temples and spent some time in America before he decided to return. In MK4 it alludes to that, not just the movie. During Liu Kang's time in America he met Kai. What makes Liu Kang such an awesome character in my book is that during the Mortal Kombat tournament he didn't take a life. Shang Tsung encouraged each fight to the death but in spite of Shang Tsung when he beat him he brought honor back to the tournament and defied Shang Tsung by sparing his own life, which as a result led to the events of MK2.

Now the Kitana romance, in MK2 it was Liu Kang who made Kitana not see mortals the way the rest of Shao Kahn's empire did as puny and pathetic. She saw the true character of mortals through him and he was the catalyst in her changing her entire life as a pawn and assassin for Shao Kahn. She secretly aided Liu Kang and the rest of the Earth realm fighters in MK2. That was the plot element but I feel that Liu Kang while keeping his rage in check from the slaughter of his temples, found Kitana to be a distraction for his revenge on Outworld.

I could go on for days about Liu Kang, he does not suck. He is the main protagonist at least up until the first 4 games.

I like Liu Kang. If the stoey wasn't semi rebooted I'd of liked him, to continue being champion and gwt a kid with Kitana. I was, suprized when he died in MKDA but that was interesting. What would also, be intresting is, if he was returned by Quan, Chi in X and stayed evil. Maybe even the ultimate boss of the game to be different. We, know the boss, is, a, suprize returning character. I don't want a hey, he's evil like Shang quan, or Shao khan. I also don't want Kotal Khan as, boss. LIU would be fun or Noob Saibot

I've explained in another thread why I think Liu is awesome. Quick recap:

"Liu Kang is among my favourite characters and I'm quite excited to see where NR will take him after his shocking (har) death in MK 2011.

among this "darker/hooded/scarred" talk, I kinda agree that his persona should go that route, but not a full-blown heel turn ala Legacy II. MK is full enough as it is with brooding anti-heroes, which is one of the reasons why I love Liu: he's the noble bright light in a sea of darkness.

I know many see Captain America/Superman-like personas "lame" and "boring", but to me, the universe, whether it be MK or some other, needs that brave, hopeful, never give-up soul when all else is lost.

I understand the criticisms of Liu not really evolving over the years, but I just hope many will take the above into account. I do see the appeal of a white knight falling into despair, if only that knight will learn something about himself that will stick with him for the rest of his life."

his voice is annoying. he looks annoying. fireballs are annoying. hero storyline is annoying. now work it out

The problem is twofold:

1.There is nothing wrong with a nice guy hero, who just does his job. The problem is with humble Kang who never got any characterisation beyond shaolin (big fat lie, as shaolin have to be bald and celibate etc. / ex-shaolin, what has not been mentioned since MK2) and great warrior (no chosen one. That shit was made up by the movies because shit writing).

Kang only ever got a decent shot at being someone in MK9, andf frankly I liked it. Though this applies to most of the characters, as there wasn't really any personality for the characters beyond that previously, only a string of events and some description mostly in MKDA's conquest mode.

Kang is observant and somewhat sardonic (Notice that I am ignoring you) in MK9. Also I liked how well they showed him questioning Raiden's seemingly insane shenanigans.

The big thing is, for 4 games in a row, we did not have anything about him. The big thing happened in MKDA, where he was killed (excellent move) and came back: Zombie/Spirit Liu was good stuff.


2. Batman-syndrome: all in all Batman is the most boring thing in his own mythos. What really makes the caped crusaer is his rogue's gallery. it should be so, that if Liu is brought in, then there needs to be a focus on why and how he opposes his enemies, most of al Shang tsung as those are basically nemesi.

It's not so much hate. It's just lack of appeal since mkd. Zombie liu kang was an awesome idea. At least to me. It's was Development for him after MKDA. Then after that he just went back to normal old liu kang from the 90's. Just seems rehashed now every game he appears in he's forced into the story somehow.

That's what I don't like about him tbh. Same with raiden, forced character due to popularity.

Sorry. My meaning was: "What's with all the negatives of Liu not coming back for more and evolve!?"

Back in MK4, Kitana offered him a place at her side as the new king. And he turned her down due to his responsibility on Earth. But now I think its time he reconsidered the offer. Maybe wait for another 500 years for a new tournament to come and pass the title of champ to someone else before joining her.

Dislike is a more appropriate word. Hate is too harsh of a word.

Liu Kang:

Same specials throughout the series.
Practically the same design.
Always lifted his leg to throw his standing fireball (looked like he was taking a piss, lol).
Wasn't able to use his chains in MKD.

The thing from him that I liked is his Bike Kick.

This. I just don't like his gibberish. It's annoying BOTH when you play AS or AGAINST him.

I would not miss him even if he don't make it.

I'd take him over Cage/Sonya. As long as he's unique and different than his general self. I'm hoping for that supposed "Firegod" Liu people sometimes talk about.

Liu: Fire God

Shang: Enlightened

I am a fan of Liu if he comes back I will not complain.

I never disliked Liu Kang. I can't hate a Bruce Lee clone. But he really needs a new voice actor, and to be honest I wouldn't have any problems if his character was completely retconned and replaced with the Legacy version.

He did evolve though. I think he got more character development in MK9 than he ever did in the OT. He went from being Raiden's loyal golden boy to straight up trying to kill Raiden. And it was awesome. It was the first time I appreciated Liu as a character.

Raiden gets his best friend killed, his love interest killed, and nearly every other Earthrealm warrior killed. Something had to give and it was great to see Liu doing something different.

Now the reason others are bored of him is simple. He never changed much throughout the series at all. But I do want to see him in MKX. His story needs closure and MKX could be the game to spice up his moveset.

I couldn't agree more.