Mortal Kombat Thread - GET OVER HERE!!!

[NaggotFigger]

I’ll be fair, LSD Floyd is just a reskinned and faggier variant of Chameleon. Very creative, NR.

Also, a lot of his moves were recycled from 3 previous MK titles, so awesome, Ed Netherrealm. Too bad it’s still a meh Easter Egg addiction for the sinking ship that’s MK1. I suppose the Chink fangirls has a new palette swap ninja husbando to pair with.

 

[Mayor Cody Travers]

Time to give me puzzle pieces: for more fun, based on my post where I made an Armageddon roster with ONLY living characters in the timeline up to that game…. I dived into the idea that having only so many characters, and a smaller-and-streamlined Konquest mode, would free up extra time for Midway to polish the rest of the game. It would DEFINITELY still be a recycled assets game but a much more smartly done, way less obvious, one and IMO feel meatier on the whole and a better send-off in gameplay to the Midway timeline:

-Every character retains two unarmed styles and a weapon like MKDA and MKD. Amazingly, there’s just enough unique, named fighting styles across the 3D-era games to match up to this roster amount! I’ve tried to justify each fighting style to a character receiving them based on personality or character connections. I’ve put my proposed list in a spoiler box.
-I’d assume in addition to MKA’s additions to the fighting (wake-up attacks and air combat), dropped MKDA aspects like wall-slam damage, power-up/nejins, escapes (like Sub-Zero’s slide-back) or weapon impalements can be returned alongside polishing the parry and breaker systems more to create as wide-ranging-and-fast-paced combat as possible. Give a couple extra nejins, slide-backs and impalements to fighters who didn’t have them to fill the concepts out.
-As I said in my earlier post, Konquest is streamlined through a lot of useless fights being cut and only one plot point gone - the “Super Deadly Alliance” between Shao, Onaga, Quan Chi, and Shang Tsung doesn't happen because the latter three are dead. Even then, Taven can still come to Shao’s throne and encounter Raiden as seen, with the caveat he merely made a deal with Shao for Earthrealm’s security instead of all four.
-This presumed freed-up development time can allow for importation of a lot of classic costumes from Shaolin Monks for various characters and split up the various get-up poses from dead characters to living ones that would sensibly use them with their own special effects. I’ve put those proposed lists in another spoiler box.
-Everyone gets one fatality from Deception, again sometimes using their own specific effects. Same deal as fighting styles - there's just enough to go around for each character to get one and I list them in another spoiler box. I would propose “Kreate-a-Fatality” not just be kept but renamed “Brutality” as a callback to UMK3 and the advertised second/new finisher.
-BTW, anything not stated in these lists is unchanged from the real game, like get-up poses or costumes not listed.

Spoiler: Fighting Styles

Forces of Light
-Raiden - Jujutsu, Nuan Chuan, Staff
-Fujin - (X)/Chou Jaio, (X)/Crane, Devastator
-Johnny Cage - Shorin-Ryu, Jeet Kune Do, (X)/Kickboxing
-Kung Lao - Mantis, Shaolin Fist, Broadsword
-Kai - Moi Fah, (X)/Mi Zong, Spiked Club
-Bo’ Rai Cho - Drunken Fist, Sumo, Jojutsu
-Sonya - Kenpo, Tae Kwan Do, Kali Sticks
-Jax - Muay Thai, Judo, Tonfa
-Kitana - Eagle Claw, Ba Gua, Steel Fan
-Jade - Fan Zi, Kuo Shou, Bojutsu
-Sindel - Zha Chuan, Fu Jow Pai, Kwan Dao
-Ermac - Choy Lay Fut, Hua Chuan, Axe
-Li Mei - Baji Quan, Lui He Ba Fa, Kunlun Dao
-Sub-Zero - Shotokan, Dragon, Kori Blade
-Smoke - Mi Tzu, (X)/Aikido, (X)/Ninja Sword
-Cyrax - Ninjitsu, Sambo, Pulse Blade
-Kenshi - Tai Chi, San Shou, Katana
-Stryker - (X)/Escrima, (X)/Wing Chun, Nightstick
-Nightwolf - Val Tudo, (X)/Wrestling, Tomahawks
-Taven - Gold Dragon, (X)/Karate, Drakesword

Forces of Darkness
-Shao Kahn - Lui He, Tai Tzu, Wrath Hammer
-Goro - Shokan, Kuatan, Dragon Fangs
-Kintaro - Tiger Fist, (X)/Horse, Saber Teeth
-Reiko - Yin Yueng, (X)/Leopard, Crude Hammer
-Reptile - Crab, Hung Gar, Kirehashi
-Shinnok - (X)/Netherrealm, (X)/Snake, Amulet Staff
-Noob Saibot - Monkey, (X)/Tang Soo Do, Troll Hammer
-Rain - Zi Ran Men, (X)/Silat, Storm Sword
-Sareena - Ba Shan Fan, (X)Oni, Demon Fang
-Sektor - (X)/Yue Chuan, (X)/Shinto Ryu, Pulse Blades
-Kabal - Goju Ryu, Sun Bin, Hookswords
-Kira - Xing Yi, (X)/Mian Chuan, Dragon Teeth
-Scorpion - Hapkido, Pi Gua, Mugai Ryu
-Frost - Tong Bei, Yuan Yang, Daggers
-Liu Kang - Jun Fan, Pao Chui, Nunchaku
-Blaze - Flames
-Daegon - (X)/Long Fist, (X)/Shuai Chiao, Drakeswords

NOTES
-Characters keep as many styles from their first appearance as possible: MKDA takes priority, then MKD, and finally (X) means a character is given a replacement style from an inactive character when it conflicts with the first two.

-Kickboxing (MKD Kobra) is given to Johnny Cage due to Liu Kang using Nunchaku and Cage being famous for strong and agile kicks.
-Chou Jaio (MKD Ashrah) and Crane (MKDA Shang Tsung) are given to Fujin with the former a style that uses jumps, kicks, feet-poking, and fast punch sequences that fit a wind motif and the latter for being a Shaolin ally.
-Mi Zong (MKDA Bo’ Rai Cho and MKD Li Mei) is given to Kai due to Bo’ Rai Cho training Shaolin.
-Netherrealm (MKDA Drahmin) and Snake (MKDA Shang Tsung and MKD Havik) are given to Shinnok with the former in stated Drahmin’s MKDA Konquest he developed it for his demon army and latter alluding to fellow shapeshifter Shang Tsung.
-Tang Soo Do (MKDA Quan Chi and MKD Havik) is given to Noob alluding to his reviver Quan Chi.
-Oni (MKDA Drahmin) is given to Sareena as a fellow demon who also succumbs to her evil side as in her MKA bio.
-Long Fist (MKDA Mavado) and Shuai Chiao (MKDA Hsu Hao) are given to Daegon as fellow Red Dragons’ styles.

-Aikido (MKDA Kano) and Ninja Sword (MKDA Scorpion) are given to Smoke a la his MKA Judo and as a non-Pulse Blade sword.
-Escrima (MKDA Quan Chi) and Wing Chun (MKDA Mavado and MKD Dairou) are given to Stryker as police training styles.
-Wrestling is given to Nightwolf due to Amerindians being prominent in pro wrestling and the Oglala Sioux wrestling style of Wahukeza Napaslipa.
-Karate (MKDA Cage) is given to Taven per his other styles being fictional and him old enough to train in the original, generic Okinawa Karate style.
-Leopard (MKDA Nitara and MKD Darius) is given to Reiko being a style meant to hit-and-run and overcome superior forces with inferior resources as befitting his military career.
-Silat (MKD Baraka) is given to Rain due to its southeast Asian and Indian origins matching his de-facto ethnicity.
-Yue Chuan (MKD Tanya) and Shi(n)to-Ryu (MKD Darius) are given to Sektor with the former developed by a Song dynasty general as a forward-facing militaristic boxing style for his troops as befitting his Grandmaster status and latter alluding to Subzero, Cyrax, and MKDA Sector ironically using hated ninjas’ styles of Shotokan and Ninjitsu.
-Horse (MKA Motaro) is given to Kintaro as a fellow boss’s style and reference to Sub-Zero, Cyrax, and MKDA Sektor ironically using hated ninjas’ styles of Shotokan and Ninjitsu.

Spoiler: Costumes and Get-Up Poses

Scorpion - MKDA (main), MKD (alt)
Johnny Cage - MKDA (main), MKSM (alt)
Jax - MKDA (main), MKSM (alt)
Raiden - MKD (main), MKDA (alt)
Smoke - MKD alt (main), MKSM (alt)
Kitana - MKDA (main), Mileena MKD but blue (alt)
Liu Kang - MKD (main), Ghost (alt)
Noob - MKD alt (main), MKSM P2 Sub-Zero no ice (alt)
Kabal - MKD (main), MKSM (alt)
Li Mei - MKD alt (main), MKDA (alt)

-Several characters get their MKSM costumes to represent proper callbacks to their looks in older games, or dropped costumes in MKDA and MKD for variety’s sake.

-Scorpion’s MKDA main and MKSM render is his original 3D-era ninja costume (like Sub-Zero’s MKDA alt) and returns to it as his main while his MKD main, his costume as Champion of the Elder Gods, is his alt.
-Jax’s MKSM costume is for a proper old-school costume.
-Raiden’s MKDA main is to allow play as normal Raiden.
-Smoke’s MKD alt is his main to represent his new look after his MKD ending while his MKSM costume is for a proper Human Smoke costume.
-Kitana’s MKDA main is her 3D-era ninja costume and uses a blue version of Mileena’s MKD main is to represent her would-be costume in MKD.
-Liu Kang uses MKD’s Ghost as his alt to represent his split between his physical body being a zombie and his consciousness being a corporeal spirit.
-Noob uses Sub-Zero’s MKSM alt without the icy arms to represent his time as Sub-Zero with a proper Sub-Zero costume, albeit colored all black.
-Kabal uses his MKSM costume as his alt both to represent his time as a normal human but also ease of importation since it is his MKD main sans oxygen mask and tank.
-Li Mei uses her MKDA main as her alt as a chance to represent her without Onaga’s influence.

GET-UP POSES
Reptile - Mileena’s
Sonya - Tanya’s
Frost - Sub-Zero’s
Johnny Cage - Kai/Cobra’s
Rain - Noob’s
Kung Lao - Dairou/Jarek’s
Kitana/Jade - Ashrah’s (pixie effects)
Cyrax - Sektor’s

-Jax, Smoke, Stryker, Kabal, Taven, and Daegon use the generic get-up pose.

Spoiler: Fatalities

Forces of Light
-Raiden - Raiden first MKD fatality
-Fujin - Kabal first MKD fatality (Devastator sword)
-Johnny Cage - Hotaru second MKD fatality
-Kung Lao - Nightwolf second MKD fatality (Hat)
-Kai - Kobra first MKD fatality
-Bo’ Rai Cho - Bo’ Rai Cho first MKD fatality
-Sonya - Li Mei second MKD fatality
-Jax - Hotaru first MKD fatality
-Kitana - Shujinko first MKD fatality (Steel Fans)
-Jade - Jade first MKD fatality
-Sindel - Sindel first MKD fatality
-Ermac - Ermac second MKD fatality
-Li Mei - Li Mei first MKD fatality
-Sub-Zero - Scorpion first MKD fatality
-Smoke - Ashrah second MKD fatality (smoke effect)
-Cyrax - Kenshi first MKD fatality (Pulse Blade)
-Kenshi - Kenshi second MKD fatality
-Stryker - Dairou second MKD fatality
-Nightwolf - Nightwolf first MKD fatality
-Taven - Dairou first MKD fatality

Forces of Darkness
-Shao Kahn - Shao Kahn first MKD fatality
-Goro - Goro first MKD fatality
-Kintaro - Goro second MKD fatality
-Reiko - Havik first MKD fatality
-Reptile - Smoke MKD fatality
-Shinnok - Liu Kang second MKD fatality
-Noob Saibot - Noob MKD fatality
-Rain - Tanya second MKD fatality (Storm Sword)
-Sareena - Tanya first MKD fatality
-Sektor - Baraka first MKD fatality (Pulse Blades)
-Kabal - Kabal second MKD fatality
-Kira - Kira first MKD fatality
-Scorpion - Scorpion second MKD fatality
-Frost - Sub-Zero second MKD fatality
-Liu Kang - Liu Kang first MKD fatality
-Blaze - Shao Kahn second MKD fatality (just fists)
-Daegon - Shujinko second MKD fatality

-Every character recycles a MKD fatality they either used before or is a “fresh” one to a MKDA or new MKA character.
-If visual effects must be changed to reflect a character better it is noted though this is only for weapons or elemental effects.
-Kreate-a-Fatality becomes "Brutality" as the second finisher in the game.

 

[Gondolindrim]

Have they brought back Shujinko yet?

 

[God of Nothing]

Have they brought back Shujinko yet?

no
a massive wasted opportunity for the old reboot timeline
he was spared the humiliation of this one...for now

 

[Rome's rightful successor]

Uh I think the Conan trailer dropped like a month ago? Surprised you guys are talking about how it's going to save the game.

At this point guest fighters is all Mortal Kombat 1 has left.

 

[The handsome tard]

Mortal Kombat really wrote itself to a corner, didnt they? Now all they have left is Noob Saibot and the Lin Kuei as villains which, uhhh, something tells me doesnt hold the same weight compared to the ever growing stakes we had in the last entries. On one side, smaller stakes are appreciated but on the other, it doesnt feel natural as its very clear that they fell into the trap of time travel and multiverses.

Have they brought back Shujinko yet?

Everytime Shuji is brought back post Deception is usually doesnt end well for him...at best he is reduced to a Kameo and thats it.

 

[The Nothingness]

Mortal Kombat really wrote itself to a corner, didnt they? Now all they have left is Noob Saibot and the Lin Kuei as villains which, uhhh, something tells me doesnt hold the same weight compared to the ever growing stakes we had in the last entries. On one side, smaller stakes are appreciated but on the other, it doesnt feel natural as its very clear that they fell into the trap of time travel and multiverses.

NetherRealm Studios really screwed the pooch by taking villainous characters and making them heckin' wholesome (Mileena, Baraka, Tanya, and Reptile). The only "smaller stakes" that could be done is having another Outworld civil war, only this one would be between Mileena and Shao.

 

[DenseDeerFather]

In before the ugly women and male feminists chime in, but yes. You can want attractive characters and not be a gooning pervert about it.

Really. Major unpopular opinion here but I do like it when they blend the two so long as it makes sense to the character. Like Sonya in MK9 always cracked me up and the games seems aware of it even. I wouldn't mind if they covered her up a little. Like idk something like DC VS Mortal Kombat. She looked fine there. Or even MK4.

Versus someone like Skarlet who should be skimpy because it makes sense for her lore. And then Kitana could be somewhere in the middle because Edenia got those exotic Persia vibes.

Without question. MK is a dead franchise after ruling for 20 years. MK9 wasn't bad, but I didn't like it either. MK10 was meh. MK11 I liked more but it started agenda pushing. MK1 failing is so delicious.

I've no doubt mentioned how fond I am of MK9 but I agree with the rest. MKX gave us some outliers of good like Erron and Takeda but that's about it.

MK11 really ramped up the jewery and fuck Kronika. But Fujin came back so....

MK1 was dead on arrival though and just existed on life support. I hope someone over at NRS or Warner will take this as a sign to think long and hard about their bullshit. Or someone will just do a full reboot, shelf the agenda shit and multiverse nonsense and just focus on making a good game.

Realistically they will do the exact opposite.

Entire package feels half-baked at best.

The entire game is half-baked at best.

There's a new character named Floyd:

Wh...

Is this a joke character? Yeah that will save the franchise.

Anyway as promised many moons ago, old doodle of dragon Fujin for no particular reason. It's from last year actually but I never got to post it before now.

Spoiler: Anime autism

In short, I based my idea of him on the oriental dragons, particularly parts of the mythos that states they have bovine ears for no other reason that I could. The thingies on his arms were me trying to half-ass the glowing lines on his arms that he has in MK11.

 

[NaggotFigger]

NetherRealm Studios really screwed the pooch by taking villainous characters and making them heckin' wholesome (Mileena, Baraka, Tanya, and Reptile). The only "smaller stakes" that could be done is having another Outworld civil war, only this one would be between Mileena and Shao.

It’s a calling of how DoA MK1 was. NR way off-limits to try to resuscitate MK to when it peaks in the 90s. They tries too hard to try to lean to both pandering to DEI, whilst attempting to par their writing to Tobias, who since has left Midway in 1999.
They turned Mileena and Tanya into interracial/interspecies lesbians, in spite of how very bad their personality synergies with each other. They use the same bad personality synergy again with Rain and Tanya, which already caused further damage to MK1, including an awfully expensive DLC expansion pack during its release. And because that didn’t do enough money for NR, they have to put that DLC in discount to regain their loss.

Even that, I digress; the DLC, even for MK1 standards, are no more than nostalgia baits for quick bucks. Plot is a huge slog of mess of multiverse autism that the NR trannies would think of. Don’t get me started with them girlbossing Ketchup and Mustard. It’s a slander to Cyrax and Sektor’s character. Not even the game alone can make good player rates in EVO.

Even the 3D era female skins are botched and was for nostalgia bait. Some skins that they released aren’t promisingly delivered as well, even didn’t matches what the specific character they belonged. For example; Scorpion’s invasion and MKDA alt skin was meant for Hanzo, but they plastered it on not Hanzo; Sub-Zero’s MKDA alt and MK3 alt, which belongs to Liang, was plastered on Han.

Mortal Kombat really wrote itself to a corner, didnt they? Now all they have left is Noob Saibot and the Lin Kuei as villains which, uhhh, something tells me doesnt hold the same weight compared to the ever growing stakes we had in the last entries. On one side, smaller stakes are appreciated but on the other, it doesnt feel natural as its very clear that they fell into the trap of time travel and multiverses.

They don’t really know how to write a clan, left alone previous interpretations between the existence of the Cyber Lin Kuei, and the actual Lin Kuei. MK1 retcons that into bad tier writing, abandoning the existence of the Cyber Lin Kuei and Arctika for multiverse reskins and DEI genderswapping galore.
Worst case scenario, sheboon nigger Cyraxx (similar name to Chance Wilkins’ username, except, the goblin uses Cyrax’s name and add an extra x to the last x), and the bog hag Sektur (pun play on Sektor + Da Sektur), voiced by the same genderfluid bog hag.

Everytime Shuji is brought back post Deception is usually doesnt end well for him...at best he is reduced to a Kameo and thats it.

They all turned him into a filler fodder, and that still didn’t serve him justice at all. Also, MK1 has a younger Shu, but they just put him in Lao’s ending, and that’s about it. Deception Shu was more well-written than current Shu, because they put his namesake in use well with the Damashi, which was the avatar of Onaga.

Deception’s Konquest Mode was the best-written 3D era mode Midway could ever made, aside from Tobias’ depth and richness to his previous MK titles’ storylines before he departs Midway way before the company went bankrupt.

 

[DenseDeerFather]

They turned Mileena and Tanya into interracial/interspecies lesbians, in spite of how very bad their personality synergies with each other.

The Useless Lebsians could have worked if they didn't neuter the both of them and turned them into fucking wet blankets with the personality of uncooked dumplings.

But I guess DEI demands that fags cannot be portrayed as anything other than the purest heckerino cinnamon rollios.

Which is kinda ironic with how gay Reiko is for Shao Kahn in this when in the original timeline, it was a case of "Single White Female" where Reiko wanted to obtain as much if not more power than Shao.

 

[Tri-Tachyon'sClown]

You guys probably already saw this but...this is the most pathetic thing I've seen all day. They have MKX and the F.E.A.R. series on sale at least, and even then only F.E.A.R. 1 is worth it. Back 4 Blood fucking kek.

 

[NaggotFigger]

View attachment 6967373
You guys probably already saw this but...this is the most pathetic thing I've seen all day. They have MKX and the F.E.A.R. series on sale at least, and even then only F.E.A.R. 1 is worth it. Back 4 Blood fucking kek.

This is just sad.

 

[Level99Manchild]

They all turned him into a filler fodder, and that still didn’t serve him justice at all. Also, MK1 has a younger Shu, but they just put him in Lao’s ending, and that’s about it. Deception Shu was more well-written than current Shu, because they put his namesake in use well with the Damashi, which was the avatar of Onaga.

Shu was more or less the main character in Deception. He had flaws, and realized he needed to fix his mistakes. You won't see that kind of writing in current year because the writers will have the women take over the leading roles as infallible girlbosses everyone including the bad guys love (they'll be gay, fat, and ugly too).

 

[The handsome tard]

I saw someone bringing it up and I think it bears repeating here
Frost really should have been one of the Kombat kids, at least an unofficial fifth member. They really could have made Frost with intention of adding more depth to her character beyond of just an angry power hungry apprentice. She could have started similar to Frost but we actually see her and Kuai Liang having a proper mentor and apprentice relationship, maybe even a scene where they talk about Bi-Han and the Lin Kuei's dark past. We see her learning the value of humbleness, peace and sacrifice.

We could even have her attacking Hanzo during the tea talk but mostly because she taught that Hanzo was going to stab Kuai when the latter was handing over the tea cup. So its more a mistake in judgement rather than just an angsty "fuck peace" character.

I did even imagine Frost being the one to defeat or weaken Shinnok severely. During the final fight, Sub-Zero confronts Shinnok but ends up defeated, Frost runs to his limp body, believing he is dead. She stares at Shinnok who just mocks them both and how he will enjoy to turn Kuai into a wrath so they can be brothers again in death. Frost then grabs the grandmaster medallion from Sub Zero's body, only for him to grab her arm weakly and plead her to not do this, she isnt ready. She says she knows she isnt...she was always reckless after all. She uses the power of the amulet and unleashes all its power at once at Shinnok. He is caught off guard that she was able to unleash it all at once, even shouting if she had a death wish.

"If I have to drag you to a cold grave with me, its a small price to pay."

Shinnok is frozen still and Frost falls on her knees as anyone still able runs to check on her. She says she is ok but her arms are frozen still. They see Shinnok slowly cracking himself free and how even that wasnt enough. Cassie steps in as she is done watching people she cares for getting hurt or dying. Shinnok explodes free from the ice, now as Corrupt Shinno, trying to disguise the fact that this did take a lot out of him but the opening to take him down for good was open.

After Shinnok is defeated, we see Frost getting held by Sub Zero as she weakly thanks him for being the best master and father she could have had. He slide his hand softly on her cheek as he promises that this is not the end. They watch him freeze her on a block of ice as he explains that he shall preserve her until he finds a way to save her life, no matter how long it takes.

During MK 11, I suppose that we can have two Frosts, the one we from the game (from another timeline, maybe even the original) and the one from MKX. Maybe Frost would escape the block of ice or maybe we would only have the evil one, whatever you think would be preferable (tho the mirror match pre-match dialogue would always imply its MKX and MK11 Frost arguing)

Spoiler: Dialogue examples

"All that power and betrayal brought you what?"
"I got what was always meant to be mine!"
"A slave disguised as a grandmaster. You are pathetic!"

"Kuai Liang made us weak."
"Yet Im still flesh and bone, tin can."
"I would be stupid to not see the benefits"

"The more I look at you, the more I appreciate what Sub Zero taught me"
"We are the same in looks only, it seems."
"I am glad for that"

"You? Buddies with Cassie Cage?"
"Urgh, buddies might be stretching it."
"You allow her to live, thats more than enough for me!"

NHR's handling of Frost was just very uninspired and given how MKX wanted to have this "next generation" angle, Im surprised they didnt take proper advantage of it by using the character Midway had for that same purpose. They could have made something special that was unique and yet had ties to the original to keep newcomers and veterans properly engaged.

View attachment 6967373
You guys probably already saw this but...this is the most pathetic thing I've seen all day. They have MKX and the F.E.A.R. series on sale at least, and even then only F.E.A.R. 1 is worth it. Back 4 Blood fucking kek.

B4B, the game that reminds you should play L4D2 a bit because it still holds up well

 

[Mayor Cody Travers]

@The handsome tard

I quite like what you did with Frost there. It's very well-written and I appreciate you gave an opening for Cassie to step in and defeat Shinnok as in the actual game (I assume Johnny is still tied up as who Shinnok saw as the main threat), but having Frost play a part would really hammer how Shinnok's defeat should've been a team effort. I ALSO appreciate the timeline echo of her being encased in ice until she can get better. As an alternate history fan I'll say the NRS timeline, especially MKX, was oddly really good at that kind of echoing and the butterfly effect alike and you captured that straight-up.

The best part of your MKX Frost is that from what I can see, we can STILL have her original 3D-era personality as an evil bitch in that specific time period... only since the 3D-era events didn't actually happen, she can't give into the temptation of nabbing the medallion in MKDA and no Armageddon means literal extra years to better herself so the Hanzo attack is, as you said, a genuine judgement mistake - one still logically following from her asshole youth - than a pure power-play move. It gives a nice tragic element to the Midway Frost that all she needed in the end was more time and attention.

Also, you can have MK11 Frost be the same Frost from MKX and simply brought in from her young hothead days, when she could've made the wrong choices (IE, like in MKDA) and this particular variant did in taking Kronika's offer when your MKX Frost never would've. A reversal of Present and Past Jax, in fact.

 

[DenseDeerFather]

@Mayor Cody Travers and @The handsome tard Why the fuck has NRS not hired you two yet? You're just two randos on the internet and you came up with something that blows the actual writers to bits from orbit.

My god, now I'm almost sad of what could have been.

 

[The handsome tard]

@The handsome tard

I quite like what you did with Frost there. It's very well-written and I appreciate you gave an opening for Cassie to step in and defeat Shinnok as in the actual game (I assume Johnny is still tied up as who Shinnok saw as the main threat), but having Frost play a part would really hammer how Shinnok's defeat should've been a team effort. I ALSO appreciate the timeline echo of her being encased in ice until she can get better. As an alternate history fan I'll say the NRS timeline, especially MKX, was oddly really good at that kind of echoing and the butterfly effect alike and you captured that straight-up.

The best part of your MKX Frost is that from what I can see, we can STILL have her original 3D-era personality as an evil bitch in that specific time period... only since the 3D-era events didn't actually happen, she can't give into the temptation of nabbing the medallion in MKDA and no Armageddon means literal extra years to better herself so the Hanzo attack is, as you said, a genuine judgement mistake - one still logically following from her asshole youth - than a pure power-play move. It gives a nice tragic element to the Midway Frost that all she needed in the end was more time and attention.

Also, you can have MK11 Frost be the same Frost from MKX and simply brought in from her young hothead days, when she could've made the wrong choices (IE, like in MKDA) and this particular variant did in taking Kronika's offer when your MKX Frost never would've. A reversal of Present and Past Jax, in fact.

Ah, indeed, that would be a good work around. I can imagine them meeting Frost again and wondering how she left the block of ice until the twist comes this isnt the one they know but rather one from her past as you said. Maybe MKX Frost would be set free at some point or maybe during Aftermath (probably to have a mirror match).

MKX always had a lot of potential in my eyes and I didnt dislike its focus on newer younger characters if they were done right and Frost should have been one of them as vets would be wondering when she would turn evil only to do the ultimate sacrifice for everyone. That is a good example of subverting expectations and the more that shows that taking down an ELDER GOD required everyone putting their lives on the line, the better. Its rather ironic that the Shinnok/Quan-Chi stuff was one of the weakest things in it while the Outworld civil war and Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei making peace were far better plots in my opinion. If anything, MKX could have been a "Part 1" plot with MK11 being "Part 2" with the Shinnok stuff being setup in the background in MKX and then having the payoff in MK11. I guess it comes down to the storytelling format of the NHR Story Modes where we gotta have these chapters that tend to end when they are getting interesting and always following the good guys for the most part. It conflicts with its narrative and gameplay attempts.

MK is one of those few fighting game series of which the lore is legit very good despite being a mixing pile of things you would think wouldnt work.

@DenseDeerFather Ah yes, with all of this said, I am reminded of something else I wanted to add, not Frost related but might as well be on the same vein of "improvement".

Spoiler: Got a bit too wordy

So, get this...Stryker shouldnt have been killed off in MK9. I say this as someone that never cared much for him tho that is mostly thanks to his uninspired design and backstory. They could have setup Stryker as being an experiment to create the perfect law enforcer akin to Robocop (you even could have made that a twist revealed in his ending as maybe he didnt even know), as it stands, there isnt much of a reason why Raiden would choose him to represent Earthrealm in the last stand (and situation was even more dire in MK3 as everyone with a soul was gone except those protected by Raiden's final act as its protector god). So MK9 could have done that but lets assume they wanted to remain loyal, thats fine, so in that case, to make up for the fact Stryker is introduced in the third act, have him being one of the survivors alongside Cage and Sonya (you could have him have an ugly face scar from Sindel that would carry over to his MKX design). In MK X, he could have been reintroduced as either part of the special forces or maybe the head of some sort of Earthrealm organization that could take more "pro-active" approaches in protecting Earthrealm first before any other (something along the lines of Nick Fury mixed with The Punisher). He could possibly clash with Special Forces as he thinks their focus should be on Earthrealm and Earthrealm alone, fuck the other realms, they are chaotic shitholes who should stay in their own corner or be taught a lesson.

Also, take advantage that his crime fighting partner, Kabal, is now a revenant as he legit wants to restore his friend to normal (or put him other of his misery if that cant be done). They really didnt take much advantage of Stryker seeing Kabal getting brutally fucked up and turned into this cyber enhanced freak. Stryker could have been the perfect window towards how Earthrealmers dealt with the trauma of Outworld's invasion and how hopeless it was until the Elder Gods pulled a Deus Ex-Machina over their extremely arbitrary rules. A man bound to protect and serve strictly Earthrealm, no matter the cost (fuck, have him join Dark Raiden as they both want the same thing, Earthrealm protected at any cost and if that requires the realms to fear them, so be it). Or hell, have Kabal survive or get restored and now they are a dual again (instead of artificially make Kabal a villain again).

MK9's storytelling was doing relatively ok until the Sindel massacre scene as that felt like the writers got cold feet, maybe because they had too many characters to juggle around now or maybe they wanted to make things seem grim (tho it was artificial) and Stryker was an unironic improvement at first. Much better than have him appear sometimes as a revenant and then disappear in MK11 and be thrown into the Kameo pit in MK1

 

[Psyduck]

Reading these last posts just makes me sad when you consider how much of a mess the storyline currently is

 

[God of Nothing]

Reading these last posts just makes me sad when you consider how much of a mess the storyline currently is

it's fucking crazy how much missed potential this franchise is

 

[Mayor Cody Travers]

@The handsome tard

Re Stryker and Kabal:

That would be another nice twist the more I think on it too. Anyone back in MK9 days knows they finally redeemed Stryker in popularity with a proper application of "outsider guy" by making him a star SWAT cop (it's funny you mention Robocop when his bio had a reference to him basically reenacting Die Hard), and his friendship with Kabal strengthened BOTH of their personalities.

You say he's head of an pro-Earthrealm organization vis-a-vis the Special Forces. That can be the NRS's version of the Outerworld Investigation Agency, and a good application of the NRS timeline's butterfly effect since Jax dying meant that he couldn't help head up the creation of the OIA like in the Midway timeline, where it was regulated to easter egg dialogue (I forget if it's MKX or MK11 Sonya telling another she's in the OIA itself). Heck, Dark Raiden can even play Stryker's OIA and Sonya/revived Jax's SF off of one another or force them to work together alike could've highlighted how they were all hanging separately until forced to hang together, especially if you can have Stryker's humanity begin to come back when he's horrified at Present Sonya's death at the start of MK11.

I'm torn on Kabal himself. I agree it was an artificial villain turn. But Midway Kabal died to Mavado, then revived into evil and chaos by Havik, so him becoming evil again as a revenant in the NRS timeline despite his attempted face-turn is a good example of a "canon event/timeline echo" I spoke of earlier: it's the same idea as the "third cyborg" (Smoke or Sub-Zero) eventually becomes freed from the artificial body (Smoke becoming an cyberized enera in his MKD ending till rescued by Sub in MKA and Quan Chi reviving Sub's human body in MKX comics) and a good guy again, or that there's an NRS timeline "MK4" in the first chapter of MKX despite details being very different from the Midway one (Shinnok invaded free Edenia in actual MK4 but invades both Earth and Outworld-holding-Edenia in NRS "MK4"). Kabal continuously turning back to evil in myriad ways gives a rather realistic and tragic element to the MK series than all good guys staying good or everyone evil working for a singular villain of the game. So Kabal being revived could always be a goal out of Stryker's grasp and part of what stresses him even if he's a solid good guy otherwise.