Scorpion and Sub Zero ARE Mortal Kombat to the vast majority of anybody that knows Mortal Kombat. There will not be another game without them. There would be huge outrage without them.

Liu Kang, Cage, Sonya, and these other characters they keep putting in are NOT that. Liu Kang was not in Deadly Alliance and the game was still very successful. He was not a major part of Deception other than being an unlockable surprise character. Johnny Cage and Sonya were not in Deception, nor was Jax or Kung Lao. That game was still successful and I particularly liked it for its fresh roster that used a lot of new characters (even though most of them weren't that good) as well as characters that didn't appear as much previously. I thought this game would be similar to Deception with a bold new direction, but it's not. It's way more "safe" than that.

Once again, You always know better than NRS. You're superior and NRS are a bunch of dummies because they don't appeal to your liking.

On topic: Baraka is boring, no one really likes him, he's more expendable than Reptile because the fanbase is much larger for Reptile. That's my $.02 anyways.

HEYO! But no, seriously that was the best. I pretty much hovered over Gamestop's life-size one. Had to have it in muh life....and now I do.

As for the thread question itself (from a couple months or so back, prior to his reveal) -

Not saying it's impossible for Baraka, but it was obviously easier for them to highlight the variety in Reptile's abilities.

I don't know... Maybe you have some daddy issues or something and that's why you keep on latching on to everything I say like a dog would latch of his masters legs. But I'm just wondering, a guy in this same thread said that NRS are not smart also. Why didn't you comment on what he said?

Just goes to show that you really have an issue with me only... Either way, yes NRS are not smart enough, people all over the forums not just MKO have said that, the roster picks are not the best and I have the right to question whether their decisions are smart or not.

I never and I mean ever pointed out that I am smarter, even though I am .

I'm sure they can make variations for him, just not what was suggested in the thread. And I'm not sure why he was even compared to Reptile in the first place....

Baraka has been around just as long, has been in just as many games, and has done far, far less to advance the plot or even his own character since his debut, than any one of the guys you just mentioned. I am a huge fan of Baraka's simple savagery, and I am not personally holding that against him. I am also not arguing that he has no place in the story, because he's the freaking alpha male of the whole Tarkatan species. But if we're going to be objective here, his lack of variety and progression is a legitimate weakness that a lot of people have brought up to say he's one of the most useless characters in the series. At least, it seemed like that was the loudest and most widespread opinion up until the very moment it started looking like he wouldn't be coming back.

I'm detecting a pattern here, but I can't quite put my finger on what it might be....



The point is that Kano can use all of those things, a huge variety of things, and Baraka only -- ONLY -- has those blades. He uses them in multiple ways, sure, but even if you split up all the possible ways he can swing those blades into three styles with distinct gameplay, they are not going to feel any different because he's still just swinging those blades. Even other signature-weapon fighters like Kung Lao and Kitana can do more with their weapons than just swing them around and throw them.

Now, as much as I'm insisting that his options are severely limited, that doesn't mean it's impossible to come up with three very different-feeling Barakas who don't just do the same slash-slash-bladespark shit all the time. After giving it some thought, here's my idea:

Universal: Blade Charge, Chop-Chop, Slices, Blade Spin, Blade Spark

1. Berserker: Adds "Tarkatan Rage," which makes him temporarily unstoppable like Doomsday, though he still takes damage from hits. In addition, he builds up meter twice as fast while in Rage, to fuel his EX attacks. Chop-Chop becomes an easy pop-up for juggling. Your basic rushdown Baraka, obviously.

2. Savage: Adds a "Crouch" stance that allows him to propel himself with explosive power by releasing his blades at the ground. It looks like he's doing a quick handspring, and comes with several attack and maneuvering options to make a highly mobile, acrobatic, and unpredictable Baraka.

3. Leader of the Horde: Baraka can "tag-in" a Tarkatan grunt to take his place in the fight. The grunt has only normals and doesn't earn meter, and dies after taking a small amount of damage. But while the grunt is onstage, Baraka stands in the background like Ferra and cannot be touched, while you deal as much damage as you can with a nerfed Tarkatan and try not to get hit. The EX version allows Baraka to slowly heal as long as the grunt is onstage. Just for fun, when the grunts die from an uppercut or any other "power" hit, they bonesplode all over the place. Otherwise they just fall down.

... So yeah, it's possible to make interesting variations with Baraka. But it takes a lot more effort to conceive and even more to build, than to just slap together the handful of blade techniques he already has in different, limited combinations.

I don't know, those all seemed pretty fucking cool to me. The last one especially.

I'd prefer the grunt to get knocked out of the arena while shouting hilarious gibberish though.

Uh huh.

He's not.

I beg you a pardon?

There is a reason Baraka was in MKvsDC and Reptile wasn't.

Yep. He was a counterpart to Deathstroke. Coulda gone Reptile vs. Killer Croc or something, but that's a little too on-the-nose, you know?

Baraka has to be playable in this game because of the Barack Obama silhouette that they had in the early stage of the game. If he is not main roster he will be DLC for sure they like him too much to abandon him.

Don't asssssssssk ssssssssssssuch sssssssssssilly questionssssssssssssssssss!

How in the world is Baraka a counterpart to Deathstroke? Is it because they both kill? I honestly don't see the similarities.

I never saw Baraka fire a gun or hold a sword, he doesn't even have swords and he is no where near as smart as Deathstroke...

Yeah that's because the MK team made terrible roster choices for that game.

Kano more popular than Mileena?
Jax more popular than Kung Lao or Johnny Cage?

Come on

Baraka is more popular than some of you guys give him credit. Get out with that shit.

I don't get it though, how can people know for certain who is more popular than who?

MK9 Stats don't mean shit because there are 100 of them and each one of them is different and even if they were official they only count for that game.

Baraka is popular maybe even more popular than Reptile, Maybe I am wrong. There is no way to truly know.

This man is obviously not biased.

Kidding but Baraka is pretty popular, the dude was in MK2. That's all you really need to be a series staple. Hell, Baraka had several staples at one point. How many people can say that?

I just want my bby to come home. :C

Do you think mama Baraka worries every day, asking her son when he'll finally settle down and ask out that Mileena girl over dinner, only to sigh when Baraka just says he'll think about it, work is more important right now, etc.?

This sums it up succinctly enough. They put up videos linking certain MK and DC characters as narrative "counterparts."

Was Baraka ever an assassin? Never knew, but thanks for the link.

WAS BARAKA EVER AN ASSASSIN?!

I personally think that list was forced, I mean come on. Scorpion and The Flash?

Batman and Subby?

I would have actually thought Scorpion and Batman would be counterparts, I mean they are both driven by revenge.

But again thanks for letting me such thing exists.

Baraka is by far my favorite character. I'm holding off on buying the game until he is playable. I'm not sure where all the not popular talk is coming from. He was a bottom tier character in MK9 so of course he wasn't used much.

Says the guy who's been implying Baraka is more popular than Reptile because Baraka got into the shit-show that was MKvsDC.

Shush... you have no say here. Ferra/Torr is very unpopular, don't ask me how I know. I just know.