I'm thinking like the OP that the next MK will mostly be comprised with old characters with a single moveset mostly to "retire" them though.
Firstly unplayable boss characters:
1) Goro
2) Shao Kahn
3) Motaro (4 legged version plz)
4) Shinnok (Make him with a badarse moveset.)
5) Onaga

The no shit Sherlock characters. These are character that should be in the game without a second thought.
1) Liu Kang
2) Kung Lao
3) Raiden
4) Sub Zero
5) Reptile
6) Scorpion
7) Shang Tsung
8) Quan Chi
9) Kitana
10) Mileena
11) Jade
12) Sindel
13) Sonya
14) Jax
15) Kano
16) Baraka

These characters are the ones that need a bit of justification to include.
17) Fujin (If Raiden is still angry, the good guys will need a guide character, Fujin fits the bill.)
18) Kai (I think the guy has potential, given the right moveset of course)
19) Sektor (Loved the Tekunin)
20) Sareena (She has nearly been in so many games and now she needs to be in this one)
21) Tanya (Delightfully evil. Possible master manipulator?)
22) Frost (She could become an interesting "Lone Wolf" character)
23) Kabal (It'll be interesting to wee what happens when Kano and Kabal interact)
24) Kira (She is a solid character, given the right storyline she could become great)
25) Hotaru (I kinda liked the whole Chaos/Order realm nonsense, but they need to become a part of Outworld or something to give some genuine friction)
26) Havik (As above really, plus Havik was just plain awesome I think Hotaru and Havik are the new age Scorpy and Subbie)
27) Cyrax (Needs his net back and a continuation to his story)
28) Kenshi (I like him, but he needs a direction.)
29) Bo Rai Cho (He is a noble soul in a universe filled with selfishness)
30) Mavado (The Red Dragon were screwed over in Deception, They need to die so Mavado can live!)
31) Ashrah (The rising demon story needs to continue but with more twists in the tale.)
32) Johnny Cage (I forgot about him. Which shows you how highly I rate him.)

Possible Old school style "fight X times without losing" fights
1) Khameleon
2) Ermac
3) Noob Saibot

Possible Story mode Background/DLC characters.
1) Darrius (He could become interesting the in Chaos/Order realms fight)
2) Reiko (He would add depth to the background, as one of Shao Kahn's generals.)
3) Sheeva (It would be a tease, like in the movie)
4) Kia (Sareena's evil again and had sided with QC. So she could appear again)
5) Jataaka (As above)
6) Li Mei (Li Mei needs to sort out her own goals really.)
7) Drahmin (He just vanished off the face of the earth in Deception)
8) Kintaro (Like Sheeva really)
9) Nitara (She could become a manipulator again but to save the vampire race from Ashrah.)
10) Moloch (I liked him, Especially the whole Owl gimmick that was dropped. And his unearthly howl)

Noob.

5 New characters. That's it, most of the new ones suck.

But anyways.

1.Sub-Zero
2.Scorpion
3.Reptile
4.Noob-Saibot
5.Smoke
6.Liu Kang
7.Kung Lao
8.Raiden
9.Jax
10.Stryker
11.Sonya
12.Kitana
13.Johnny Cage
14.Kano
15.Kenshi
16.Bo Rai Cho
17.Reiko
18.Kai
19.Cyrax
20.Sektor

Bum-ped

1) Kung Lao
2) Reptile
3) Raiden
4) Cyrax
5) Baraka
6) Jade
7) Rain
8) Kitana
9) Sindel
10) Tanya
11) Reiko
12) Sheeva
13) Mileena
14) Shinnok
15) Quan Chi
16) Khameleon
17) Kabal
18) Mavado
19) Scorpion
20) Sub-Zero


I guess MAYBE a couple new characters, but honestly, a story that introduced sixty characters and they still need more? After all, MKD introduced about eight or something new characters and none of them turned out to be too popular.

For God sakes give each character something unique to them, none of that ctrl+c, ctrl+v BS.
Like..... give Baraka a blade/no blade stance..... okay that one was kind of obvious.
Give Sindel a flight stance
Or give Cyrax like some magnetic ability that sucks the opponent closer to him giving him an interesting twist in combos.
Or.... well I can't really think of any on the spot, but ever since MK's been going down-hill I've noticed I've been playing different fighters. There, every single character has their own move list unique to their style. There's always an interesting twist when learning a new character, unlike in Mortal Kombat Armageddon where picking up a character takes less than the average lunch break.

So yeah. Those characters up there, plus some damn originality would be on my wish list.

They can just say these people survived the armageddon

1. Liu Kang
2. Smoke
3. Sub Zero
4.Scorpion
5. Raiden
6. Sonya
7. Kitana
8. Kung Lao
9. Baraka
10. Johnny Cage
11. Noob Saibot
12. Shang Tsung
13. Jax
14. Quan Chi
15. Kano
16. Mileena
17.Ermac
18. Rain 19. Reptile

7 new characters

The entire MK1 cast
Stryker
Quan Chi
Kahn

Those are the only ones i really care about.

Sub-Zero, duh
Kenshi, the best of the new character after MK3
Raiden, duh
Liu Kang, maybe as like a mentor to the new hero
Scorpion, duh
Johnny Cage, just cause he kicks ass
14 new characters

15 Returning Characters
Scorpion - MK vs DCU costume with MKDA mask
Kung Lao -Redesigned MK 3 costume
Sub-Zero - MK vs DCU costume with No Mask
Reptile - MKA costume with MKDA face
Sektor - Resigned his MK 3 costume
Kira - New Design
Jade - MK II costume
Nitara - New Design
Sonya - MK 3 Costume with hair down
Fujin - New Design
Chameleon - MKA costume
Kenshi - MKDA costume
Kintaro - New Design
Motaro - MK 3 COstume with FOUR LEGS!!!
Shang Tsung - MK 3 and MK vs DCU costume

10 New Characters for
X - Black and Red Ninja
Tiger Claw - Tiger color Ninja
Skull Crasher - Caveman looking, red paint across eyes with ponytail
Lt. Duke Page - Male looking Sonya Blade
Jin Chang - Asian Kickboxer
Thunderfoot - Nightwolf's brother
Nikita - Red Dragon Spy, ponytail redhead dressed in skin tight black bodysuit.
Gorgan - Brown Cyclops with two spikes on each side of his head
Siren - Pretty looking woman with a mask over her face only see her eyes
Belokk - Originally going to be in Mortal Kombat Gold (http://www.jimmmcshane.com/mortalkombat/characters/extras/belokk03.jpg)

These are all existing characters basically

X-Ermac
Lt. Duke Page - Duke Nukem
Jin Chang - Hwoarang or Jin from Tekken
THunderfoot - Nightwolf
Nikita - Kira
Gorgan - Brown Moloch
Siren - Madam Masque

Reptile
Raiden
Shaung Stung
Lui Kang
Scorpion
Sub-Zero
Baraka
Kung Lao
Noob Ninja
Smoke Ninja
Kitana
Syndel
Sheeva(alot better)
Hidden Boss Characters:
Goro
Shao Kahn
Hidden Reg. Characters:
Sonya
Jax
Kai
Melina



I spelled some wrong

Yeah now that you bring it up, they all do sound and look alike don't they

I think the Armageddon bios are actually foretellings of what's to come. Why waste time coming up with new, juicy plot if you're not going to use it?

+ Scorpion - *groan*

+ Sub-Zero - *groan again* These two will nnnever...eeeever...go away! I kind of hate how you almost have to mentally reserve space for these two sacred cows in these predictions.

+ Fujin - He's pretty much the new god-leader of the Forces of Light, taking over Raiden's former station. He'll probably be trying to make Raiden "good" again.

+ Raiden - The "evil" twist can be continued in this game. Raiden will be in it to further develop this change. I’m betting on him being one of the main bad guys.

+ Liu Kang - Still a zombie, working as Raiden's "enforcer.”

+ Shinnok - I don't know what his deal will be exactly, but I'm predicting he'll be involved with Raiden somehow.

+ Kung Lao - Earth’s new main hero. I can see Fujin and Kung Lao rising to fill the roles of the now evil Raiden & Liu Kang.

+ Kitana - Heartbroken over Liu Kang’s fate, she teams with Kung Lao, Fujin, and Nightwolf to save Liu.

+ Nightwolf - Being a shaman, he may probably be the only (good-aligned) one who can use the powers necessary to reunite Liu Kang's spirit with his body.

+ Jax - His Armageddon ending, Sonya's Armageddon bio, AND his MK vs. DC ending (non-canon though it may be) point to him becoming robotic and losing his humanity. It's like the writers are flashing a big neon sign saying "HEY! JAX IS GONNA BE VERY ROBOT-LIKE SOON!" I think this will come to pass in MK 9. My bet is that he was captured by the Tekunin and made nearly full-cyborg.

+ Sonya - Their roles reversed from MK2, Sonya attempts to find and rescue Jax.

+ Sektor - The head of the Tekunin behind Jax's disappearance. Since Sonya and Jax’s stories will most likely lead to conflict with the Tekunin, I think it’s a safe bet to say he’ll be playable.

+ Cyrax - Assisting Sonya in rescuing Jax from the Tekunin. He may also have some bad blood to settle with Sektor.

+ Nitara - Her plot's really just beginning, and she and her race were given a little more background in Armageddon. I can see her and Ashrah being mortal enemies.

+ Ashrah - Same as above. A new way to evolve her story. An ascending demon aspiring to greater good.....or genocidal tyrant under the control of a sword?

+ Johnny Cage - The guy’s getting visions? Kicking an evil god‘s ass? Leading the Forces of Light into battle? Wow, he’s come a long way from being the egotistical comic relief character. Maybe we can see him further “mature” in this game.


+ Kai - The Forces of Light are gonna need some help to combat an evil thunder god and a zombie monk. Furthermore, Kai has connections with both Liu and Raiden. I’d say he’s got a really nice chance, and this would be a great way to flesh him out a bit more.

+ Tanya - I can see her allying with Shinnok once again. She worships him, after all. Maybe they’ll further develop her occultist side, since she‘s also quite adept at magic. This game is supposed to have a darker feel, and she’s always struck me as Mortal Kombat’s version of a Satanist. Quite possible.

+ Jade - She’ll be part of the Forces of Light; but while Kitana, Kung Lao, and Nightwolf focus on restoring Liu Kang, Jade’s story will focus on hunting down Tanya’s bewitching, backstabbing ass.

+ Sareena - I can see her storyline being developed with her internal conflicts and loyalty to Sub-Zero in question. Who’s side are you on, Sareena?

+ Noob - Keeping tabs on Sareena and Sub-Zero for the Brotherhood of Shadow. Will be involved in Sub and Sareena’s storyline. Minion of Shinnok.

+ Vampire Male - Male of Nitara’s race from Vaeternus. Also trying to stop Ashrah from killing his people.

Well, that’s 22. Probably room for about 4 more, but my mind’s drawing a blank on anyone who would have relevance based on information from the Armageddon bios. Not to mention that I’ve been up all night.

I wanna see more Females back, they have better stories and look nicer lol

1.Scorpion
2. Sub Zero
3. Sonya
4.Reptile
5. Kitana
6.Mileena
7. Jade
8. Sektor
9. Cyrax
10. Tanya
11. Smoke
12. Sheeva
13. Frost
14. Shang Tsung
15. Noob
16. Sheeva
17. Kintaro
18. Motaro (with 4 legs)
19. (New character)
20 (New Character)

Here's who I think should be in the next MK game.
Rain
Noob Saibot (I know I'm going to get blasted on for this, but with cyromancer powers.)
[these^ are my favorite characters]
Scorpion
Sub Zero
Baraka
Liu Kang (alive)
Raiden
Kung Lao
Kitana
Mileena
Jax
Smoke
Cyrax
Sektor
Kano
Shinnok
Quan Chi
Shang Tsung
NPB's
Goro
Motaro (FOUR LEGS!)
Shao Kahn
Onaga

*sniff* *sniff* i smell a shadow ban coming

Oh, and kill most of the cast, or have a descendant come back for the next one.

The question is.. what movie influences should it have?

Best of the Best? - a couple of characters that are close friends, and enter a tournament. One who seeks revenge. One with a young son.
One who's a rough-neck/party animal. One is really zen/new-agey. Etc.

The Matrix? - Characters show up to tell combatants that they are living in a artificial/simulated world, and that Shang Tsung is actually a scientist/dictator in another world, keeping them asleep, thinking they are fighters, when they are actually influential people, held hostage, and that constant combat keeps them aggressive and in a comatose state.
Or even immortal beings, held hostage in the material world, who must engage in mortal kombat until they reach Nirvana/Valhalla/Heaven etc.

The Hidden Fortress - Asian film that Star Wars is based on. Or other Akira Kurosawa films.

Alfred Hitchcock films? - Tension/paranoia.

Dark 'kids' movies.. Friday the 13th, Legend, Gremlins, Goonies, Black Cauldron? - Teenagers in way over their heads. (So far no playable teenagers in mk)

Jurassic Park? - cloned creatures made by Shang Tsung, that roam the backgrounds, form part of the story, and background fatalities/environmental special moves.

Hmm, there's a thought. So far there have been background weapons and finishers, but not special moves activated in certain spots.
Bring it on, mk team, please.

But what would really be cool, is to put fights between micro-story events.
Just like 5-10 seconds of, for instance.. Sub-zero defeats Scorpion, but Scorpion runs away, because they're allies now, so you can't 'finish' friends, but do 'friendships' when opponent is almost powerless, but the 'friendships' are like, Subbie says, 'Scorpion.. it was Quan Chi that murdered your family, not me, remember?..'

So the character you select, puts you in a given 'story-mode', with a set sequence of opponents, but doing fatalities changes the story, and determines the character's story ending.


MK9: Rise of Brawndo!!

I'll predect 26 characters, 6 of which will be new characters

1. Sonya
2. Jax
3. Johnny Cage
4. Liu Kang
5. Sheeva
6. Kano
7. Reiko
8. Kitana
9. Kung Lao
10. Reptile
11. Rain
12. Cyrax
13. Sektor
14. Nightwolf
15. Quan Chi
16. Shang Tsung
17. Shao Kahn
18. Tanya
19. Jade
20. Frost

Kinda hard, because I want a large new cast but at the same time I would love to see some classic characters return.

Chracters that I would love to see
- Scorpion
- Sub Zero
- Kung Lao
- Fujin
- Ermac (or Kabal)
- Reptile
- Kitana

And 7 new characters would be cool. A total of 14 characters would be enuff, as long as they are all quality.

hidden charectors should only be big time mk fighters like fung lao or raiden, not people who were in two games like kai or fujin.

ROSTER:
10 MK Fighters
-Lui Kang
-Scorpion
-Kitana
-Sub-Zero
-Kung Lao
-Millena
-Reptile (huminoid form)
-Baraka
-Nitara
-Kenshi
-Li Mei
5 New Fighters
-?
-?
-?
-?
-?
5 Unlockable Fighters
-Raiden
-Sonya
-Smoke (huminoid form)
-Johnny Cage
-Quan Chi

- Sub-zero
- Scorpion
- Raiden ( mkda look )
- Shang Stung ( mk v.s dc look )
- Quan chi
- Noob
- Reptile
- Fujin
- Shinnok
- Melina
- Kitana
- Jade
- Frost
- Shoa Kahn
- Reiko
- Taven
- Kintaro
- Argus ( suggestion )
- Delia ( suggestion )
- Kreated fighter
- Havik

Returning cast choices:

Havik
Kenshi
Kitana
Li Mei
Liu Kang
Noob Saibot
Sareena
Scorpion
Shao Kahn
Sub-Zero

I would consider putting Hotaru in the team, but I don't know if he is exactly neccessary, and I think that the story needs to be streamlined a bit. That's ten returning characters, and I would most definitely make Liu Kang and Havik characters you need to unlock. So that would be eight returning playable characters, which I do not think is too much for the new saga to handle. They are also a healthy mixture of old and new, in my opinion. Havik, Kenshi, Li Mei and Sareena are all from the 3D era of games, while Kitana, Liu Kang, Noob Saibot, Scorpion, Shao Kahn and Sub-Zero are all classics.

Havik
He still has a lot to offer the series. He's striving to bring chaos to the realms, and that allows him to pretty much get involved in any story to some degree, taking whichever side he wants. He's got a cool look, and a great theme which always allows for inventive special moves, Fatalities and whatnot. I would argue that Havik should become a staple of the series in the same way that Sub-Zero and Scorpion have become.

Kenshi
He's one of the better characters from the 3D era, as everything about him just comes together. All he needs is a more pivotal role and he is right. I'd definitely take him over Ermac, as far as telekinetic fighters go, because Kenshi is just a whole lot fresher, and a lot more unique than Ermy is. A less cluttered story would do Kenshi a world of good.

Kitana
She provides the new saga with an iconic female. Kitana's role in the games is very important, and if given a focused purpose, she still has a lot she can offer. The new games might also allow them to take her concept from being the "blue ninja girl" to evolving her into a more three-dimensional character, image-wise. I'd have her purpose in these games to kill Shao Kahn, with it becoming an unhealthy obsession which puts Edenia at risk without a leader.

Li Mei
I have a soft spot for this character, and I do not quite know why. I think she got a rough shake in Deadly Alliance, and that Deception greatly corrected this. As a student of Bo' Rai Cho, she should, in story's terms, enter into competitive frames with Liu Kang and Kung Lao in terms of ability. Maybe have Bo' Rai Cho wounded or dead, but somehow still guiding her growth as a fighter. The taint on her soul could lead to interesting possibilities, as well.

Liu Kang
Like it or not, he's a staple of the series. Like Kitana, I think he needs to visually evolve past looking like the Liu Kang we see every game, but I think Kang entering a sort of "enlightened" state and guiding new Earth warriors gives them a lot of credibility. He shouldn't play a massive role in the story, but I think he needs to be phased out rather than forced out.

Noob Saibot
The revelation that he is, in fact, the older Sub-Zero makes his character infinitely more interesting. I think that some changes to him visually would be daring, but that his story is enough to keep him around as a major villain -- even if just for one game of the new saga. I'd have him trying to gain power in the vacuum after Armageddon, with Sub-Zero and Scorpion both (separately) trying to stop him, for different reasons.

Sareena
I've never liked her, but I'll take the bait. A lot of people want to see her back, and her appearance as an actual fighter is about as new as you can get. I do think she needs an image upgrade, and I don't think she should be the main heroine or anything, but I think that her potential involvement in the Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot story is enough reason to give her another chance. Does she do the hard thing, and side with the younger Sub-Zero, or does she do the easy thing and succumb to the same darkness she was bred into, like the man that originally inspired her. She can become her own hero, or her own puppet. This has potential.

Scorpion
He will be back. And he will be back the time after that. And the time after that. I think they need to come up with a way to tie Scorpion in permanently to the series, though. Why not have him fail to kill Quan Chi, and have someone like Kitana do it? This means that his revenge can never be enacted, and he can thus never rest in peace. A Scorpion vs. Kitana feud is...interesting on paper. Or they can have Scorpion realise that Noob Saibot is his responsibility, and race Sub-Zero to killing him. When Subby succeeds, and Scorps fails, binding him to the realms for eternity, this could trigger a Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion feud, which may be played out to some degrees, but is iconic in others.

Shao Kahn
What do we really know about Shao Kahn. About as much as Jack does. Kahn is an iconic villain in the games, and as one of the more (canonically) powerful characters, you'd think he'd have a better shot at surviving Armageddon than, say, Kenshi, wouldn't you? I like the idea of a fallen Emperor trying to regain his dignity and power, too. I wouldn't have Kahn become a good guy, or anything, but in the threat of a greater power to even him, Kahn could become the wrong thing at the right time for the "heroes" of the Mortal Kombat universe.

Sub-Zero
See Scorpion. He's coming back. I'm not sure what is going on with his Dragon Medallion, or anything, but as soon as I found out that it increases his powers while aging him, I immediately thought of the struggle that Sub-Zero could face presented with this choice -- power or humanity. Does Sub-Zero have the internal strength to cast away the Dragon Medallion before his powers consume his soul? Can he somehow master this, and strike a balance? Does he deceive himself into thinking this is possible? The idea of an old-age Sub-Zero amongst younger characters, presenting the powers of an Ice God is interesting. Sub-Zero may be a "*sigh* Here we go" character, but he's too much of a marketing attraction to leave out, and he does still have a lot of storyline potential.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that Li Mei might be a bit redundant in there, which is a shame. It might be best to take her out, and leave it at just nine returning characters -- Liu Kang and Havik whom I would make hidden. So your core playable seven returning would be Kenshi, Kitana, Noob Saibot, Sareena, Scorpion, Shao Kahn and Sub-Zero.